Customer Reviews

Entries & Exits: Visits to 16 Trading Rooms (Wiley Trading)

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Having already stated in my review of the book that Trading for a Living changed my life (and it most certainly did,) I am obviously a fan of Dr. Elder and as such will be steadfastly determined to keep this review from falling victim to hyperbole. Entries and Exits: Visits to Sixteen Trading Rooms is an important and essential addition to any trading library. A novice trader or one of intermediate experience will find almost endless wisdom to be mined here, but there are also many, many gems for seasoned pros. Imagine being able to sit for hours with 16 traders and pick through in detail their philosophy of trading, their most commons errors, the wisdom they have learned from years of markets--bull markets, bear markets, consolidations, doldrums--and being able to view their trading logs and actually re-trade with them their winners and losers. These traders are both full and part-timers. They trade a variety of markets from futures, stocks, currencies, options, ETFs, mutual funds, and commodities. As a trader of currencies and stocks I found every single chapter to be relevant to my trading irrespective of the specific market favored by the trader being interviewed. The traders also use a variety of charts, methods, and indicators.

I was thrilled to see the MACD favored highly as an indicator since it is my personal favorite. For each trader we learn how long they have traded, the approximate amount of money they typically trade, and a fascinating and detailed description of their trading rooms including how their computers are setup and the specific tools they use (i.e. software, books, websites.) My own trading was immediately affected by the chapter which highlights William Doane, a high-dollar trader of stocks who made a very convincing case for watching longer time-frames. The voice of experience does not stammer. I immediately saw the long bases with breakouts that he favors. Another extremely helpful aspect of this book is the emphasis on and the practical, usable treatment given to money management. Any trader must understand the principles of capital preservation or he won't be a trader very long. Dr. Elder is a very careful teacher of this approach and his "rules" have helped me turn potentially devastating losses into smaller losses from which I can easily recover.

I remember when Market Wizards came out how revolutionary it was to have a glimpse into the minds of professional traders. This book goes far beyond that point because each trader gives examples of individual trades from their own records; some of them winners and some of them losers. The reader is invited to view the chart and set up rationale of each of those trades and determine for himself if the trade will make or lose money before going onto the next page to find out how it actually turned out. In every case, Dr. Elder gives commentary and wisdom. The traders tell the specific charting software and trading platform they use. They explain in detail which indicators they favor and why. Imagine the cost and logistics of gathering this hard-won wisdom. Entries and Exits is one of the best trading books I have ever owned. The information is of such a practical and useful nature that it was incorporated into my own trading within minutes of reading it on the page. The book itself, with high quality paper and boards, is beautifully produced. I expect it to last a lifetime.

If you are a trader of financial markets get this book immediately. If you hope to trade for a living, then think of how valuable it would be to spend some hours with 16 traders who have been in the trenches already with Dr. Elder as your guide. Just get it. It is a steal at twice the price.

Once again I believe Dr. Elder has written a book that could become a trading classic. I have read 60 books on trading and Dr. Elder is heads and shoulders above the other authors in his trading philosophy and his ability to communicate in a clear manner.
I would highly recommend purchasing this book along with his other books. This book really brings his principles of trading alive with real life examples of real traders making real winning and losing trades. Also the traders share some of their trading tactics. It is a great mix of traders and techniques. The beauty of this book is that these are people who REALLY trade for a living instead of vendors of trading materials or philosophies from writers or teachers. This book is large with glossy paper and full color charts for all trades displaying different indicators. There is not room here to go into all that I learned from this book so I will leave you with some of Dr. Elder's key principles:
1. Do not put more than 2% of your total capital at risk on any one trade.
2. Do not have more than 6% of your total capital at risk at any one time.
3. Keep your charts simple, two moving averages, an envelope, MACD lines and histogram with the Force index is enough.
4. Keep very good records for every trade along with its charts.
5. Develop your own method that you are comfortable with that gives you an edge in the markets.
6. You must do your homework to succeed, trading is a profession like any other, there is no easy money here.
7. You must love trading to be successful at it.
8. You need the support of your spouse to be successful.
9. Start trading a small size and build up your tolerance to risk.
10. Make a commitment of time, and stick to it.

I have been trading stocks since I was 13 years old. In between classes, while my classmates headed for the lavatories to smoke cigarettes, I paved my way towards the pay phones to talk with my broker.

I am much older now. I still trade securities. Yet, I still consider myself a novice. I have read many books on trading. I thought Dr. Elder's book "Trading for a Living: Psychology, Trading Tactics, Money Management" was one of the best. I was wrong. "Entries and Exits" is even better.

Dr. Elder's latest book takes the reader into the trading rooms of 16 private traders. They live in different countries. They trade different markets. They employ different methods. Yet, each is dedicated to trading. Most are private individuals. A few - like Gerald Appel - I have followed for decades.

Each trading room visit begins with a description of the trader's background and methods. The trader then shares two trades with the reader - one successful, the other unsuccessful. They discuss the chart signals that attracted their attention. At that point, the reader is invited to decide whether or not that trade will make or lose money.

Turn the page, discover the results. Dr. Elder then offers his analysis of the trade and uses it to illustrate a principle.

This book's beauty is that it provides an intimate case study of how a real trader makes a real decision. Too often trading becomes a personal, isolated, emotional business. "Entries and Exits" offers a dispassionate opportunity to learn from others.

Great ideas are few and far between. This book, however, contains an endless mother lode. The more time spent mining it, the greater your yield.

I recommend this book not for the trading methods you will find it in (because I don't recommend using these methods at face value to trade), but in order to see how different people trade, and in particular the contrast between amateurs and experts. There are several amateurs, they tend to use a lot of technical methods and over rationalize their entries and exits. The professionals may not have better methods, but they are less fooled by the accuracy of the method. If this book is a good sampling of the trading population, then it would seem most traders, or at least beginners, fail to appreciate the unpredictability of the price action of markets. When they make a losing trade, rather than simply recognizing the probability of entering into losing trades at any given time, they rationalize it by saying they didn't "follow their method" or some such. Likewise, when completing a winning trade, they tend to give credit to their method, rather than recognizing that it was probably pure chance. As someone who trades by scalping, I was rather intrigued by the account of the gentlemen who developed a simple formula to trade against the public from the dealing desk. I'm curious about the success rate of this strategy. Alas it does not seem to be available. On a final note, Alexander Elder is a good writer, honest, clear and descriptive. In this book and others, he does a good job of describing technical analysis and other methods. My word of caution, especially to beginners, would be that there is a high failure rate of any method, including those described in this book. You must recognize that as the simple and unchanging truth and develop a strategy that deals with it.

In my opinion this is by far the best of Elder's three trading books. To really enjoy it, however, I believe you'd have to be at least somewhat familiar with Elder's trading style, and reading one of his earlier books would probably be a good precursor to exploring this one. This book consists of sixteen interviews of professional or aspiring to be professional traders. Some, like Gerald Appel (inventor of MACD) are very well known, and some are relative novices to the craft. But all are serious about their work. They have accounts of various sizes (from "small" of less than 250k to "large" of over 1m), come from all over the world, trade different markets, and have methods that range widely, though all are TA (technical analysis) based. I really have to give Dr. Elder credit for selecting such a wide range of trading styles and personalities-far too many to detail here.

There are several things to be garnered from this book. First is exposure to numerous systems. Each trader shows you two trades, one losing and one winning, and explains the system he or she uses to find them. Some of them are great setups (Gerald Appel's winning trade was beautiful) and some of them are questionable even from the outset, but all are profiled along with the author's reason for choosing the trade and Elder's comments as he screens the trade through his own system. It is very interesting to see both he and the trader arrive at the same conclusion using very different technical systems, and seeing so many different styles (from a purely computer-based system to trades based on which way "the crowd" is leaning) inspired a lot of thinking in me.

Another thing to be gained from this book is the psychology, the work ethic, and the personality of each trader. Though they're very different people and come from all over the globe, they all share certain traits which are essential to a winning trader. Though many books (including Elder's other books) detail these traits, this book lets you see them in action and see that, whatever the personality of each individual trader, all have what it takes to be successful. In fact, all but one trader (a woman who supposedly made fortunes selling options but nevertheless provided examples of equity trades) were very interesting people and taught me a good deal about trading in their own way.

Overall this is a great book on trading, despite a few annoying aspects, such as Elder's insistence on inserting his awful analogies into his traders' analysis and the fact that he feels the need to talk about how rich these people are and what kind of car they drive or how well they do with the ladies (apparently he thinks inspiring envy among readers will make them strive to emulate them-I don't know). You'll also notice a "reading list" in the back that plugs his earlier works over and over. Still, this is an excellent book, even worth the hefty price.

Sorry, this book is a huge disappointment. Very little is learned about trade entries and trade exits from the 16 interviews conducted for this book. I'm afraid this reeks of marketing. The only entries and exits that this book can describe are apparently the 16 entries and exits the good doctor made coming and going to these trading rooms. This book is simply not for those traders hoping to garner new trade techniques from other professionals. I suggest anyone expecting that to look elsewhere.

This book is a must read for the serious trader. I have been at the amateur level since 1999 and trading semi pro for the last three years. What I enjoy most about Dr. Elders work is it emphasizes the reality that "trading is work". The examples provided by the traders interviewed exemplify the daily grind of trading....NOT the handful of magnificent trades that one has made over the years. If you are looking for a "get rich quick scheme" this book is not for you. If you are serious about trading, this is the reality.

Unlike most other trading books "Entries and Exits" shows what happens when the rubber meets the road. Any trader knows that in the real world, things don't always work out as they do in the trade descriptions of most books. Successful trading is the accumulation of probabilities and effectively trading them. Have an edge -- trade that edge. Slippage here, is the difference between success and failure.

One naïve reviewer suggests the people in the book are all trading the same system. Clearly he doesn't understand trading and missed the key point of the book which is that to become a successful trader, you MUST find out what works for YOU, personalize it, and make it yours. Following anyone's system blindly is a recipe for ultimate failure, regardless of how good the system is. This book shows how each person really trades, their room, discipline and daily practices. Elder has laid out real world examples of traders sharing their trading styles, premises, and real records for scrutiny. It helps us as traders look at what they do and don't do, and draw meaningful comparisons to our own trading.

I agree with another reviewer who suggested a novice should start with Elder's classic "Trading for a Living" and work their way to "Entries and Exits". For any experienced trader, "Entries and Exits" is a significant trading book in that it is the only one I know of which celebrates the differences between traders and their particular styles in a coherent framework. If as trader, you want to improve, I recommend this book, not for any particular style of trading, but for the disciplined analysis as it applies to your trades. Most of us will not have access to Elder as a coach or the discipline of a professional trading room, but we can learn what good practices are and see the level of consistency we really operate with by analyzing our own trades in a similar vain.

Just ask when was the last time someone else reviewed your trade journal with you. You do have one of those don't you . . .

I have read Elder's other books and was looking forward to reading this one. Unfortunately, Entries and Exits, does not rise to the standards Elder set with his other books. I can honestly say, "read his first two books,but,skip this one" Sorry Dr. Elder.

I have read this book 3 times and I can honestly say it is the best I have come upon so far.

It is not for the beginner though. You need to have a clear understanding of technical charting to follow this read.

What it did for me is eliminate the clutter as to what tools you need as well as diverging philosophies from unique traders. The stress placed on money management and the common sense of many of the traders Dr. Elder sites are priceless.

Learn technical analysis then buy this book. You won't need anything else in my opinion.