Fibonacci Analysis (Bloomberg Financial) [Hardcover]

Constance Brown (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2008 | Series: Bloomberg Financial (Book 42)

Only someone who is both a successful trader and a successful writer could pull off what Constance Brown has accomplished in this book: distilling Fibonacci analysis to two hundred or so comprehensive, clearly written, eminently practical pages.

Brown knows exactly what a professional trying to come up to speed on a new trading tool needs and she provides it, covering what Fibonacci analysis is, how it works, where it comes from, pitfalls and dangers, and, of course, how to use it. Basic trading strategies are touched upon in virtually every chapter.

Fibonacci analysis is one of the most popular technical analysis tools, yet it is often used incorrectly. Brown quickly clears up common misconceptions and moves on to show, step by step, the correct way to apply the technique in any market.

Those with Fibonacci analysis software will learn how to use it with maximum effectiveness; those without will chart the market the old-fashioned way. All will find answers to the trader's most important questions:

• Where is the market going?
• At what level should my stop be entered?
• Based on the size of my trading account, how much should I leverage into a trading position?
• Can I tell if I am in trouble before my stop is hit?
• How much should I buy or sell if given a second or third opportunity?

Occasional references to other tools--including Elliott Wave, W.D. Gann, and candlestick charts--and an extensive bibliography make this book richer for accomplished technical analysts without confounding the less experienced. Plentiful real-life examples and dozens of carefully annotated charts insure every reader will get maximum value from every minute spent with this book.

Gold Medal Winner (tie), Investing Category, Axiom Business Book Awards (2009)

Winner: Book Series Cover Design, The Bookbinders Guild of New York/2009 New York Book Show Awards

Editorial Reviews

Book Description

Constance Brown, CMT, distills Fibonacci analysis to two hundred or so comprehensive, clearly written, eminently practical pages. She covers what Fibonacci analysis is, how it works, where it comes from, pitfalls and dangers, and, of course, how to use it. Basic trading strategies are touched upon in virtually every chapter. Fibonacci analysis is one of the most popular technical analysis tools, yet it is often used incorrectly. Brown quickly clears up common misconceptions and moves on to show, step by step, the correct way to apply the technique in any market. Those with Fibonacci analysis software will learn how to use it with maximum effectiveness; those without will chart the market the old-fashioned way.

From the Back Cover

In "Fibonacci Analysis," Constance Brown distills for traders the essentials of this little-understood but highly effective technical analysis tool. Emphasizing practical market applications that can be put to use immediately, this book: shows how to use Fibonacci ratios for price projection, provides detailed charts of actual trading situations, explains the importance of proportion when analyzing charts, alerts traders to the most common errors, and describes how to identify false signals. Brown gives traders a better understanding of this powerful technical analysis tool, leading to more effective trading.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Bloomberg Press; 1 edition (August 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576602613
• ISBN-13: 978-1576602614
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #87,484 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not recommended, November 29, 2008

By 

Jackal (New Hampshire) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fibonacci Analysis (Bloomberg Financial) (Hardcover)

Fibonacci seems to be an area of technical analysis that is very poorly covered in the literature. There are several books but many of them are by writers of newsletters (and the books often spend page after page on historical irrelevant detail). This doesn't automatically make the books bad, but it is likely that the author will hold back certain information.

This book is not for beginners. I would buy Robert Miner's book to get the received wisdom on Fibonacci retracements and extentions. Then I would experiment trading on those ideas for a couple of years. Anything above this level isn't in the public domain and you have to be prepared to spend a lot of time doing research. If you want to learn more you can consider buying this book or another specialised book (Greenblatt or Boroden). But be aware: The further you read this book the more opaque it becomes. I think you also need to subscribe to the author's newsletter. So this author does hold back information, but in the earlier chapter the writing is fairly straightforward and some testable ideas are presented.

Personally I have decided not to go down this route. I do believe there is value in basic Fibonacci ratios, but there is too much mysticism in the advanced literature for my comfort. Maybe I'm missing something, but I take the risk.

For a solid primer and intermediate description of Fibonacci and trading, I would recommend Boroden's Fibonacci Trading : How to Master the Time and Price Advantage. Many of the ideas are also found in Miner's High Probability Trading Strategies: Entry to Exit Tactics for the Forex, Futures, and Stock Markets (Wiley Trading). The authors seem to be friends so a lot of overlap in material. Another Fibonacci book that I would rate higher than the current book isHarmonic Trading, Volume One: Profiting from the Natural Order of the Financial Markets (Pearson Custom Business Resources).

I've still given this book 3 stars because I suppose it is cutting edge and if you are interested in the area it is worth getting other people's ideas for forward your own thinking. Still I'm on the borderline of giving the book only two starts because it could have been written in a much clearer way.

UPDATE 2011: I now have much less patience with poor quality trading books. When I wrote the original review I still believed that the author was honestly trying to convey her knowledge to the best of her ability. I will change the rating to one star.

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read This!, October 16, 2008

By 

pete (nj) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fibonacci Analysis (Bloomberg Financial) (Hardcover)

I have read this book twice and started using the confluence zones. Now the book is used like a daily reference manual.

Keep in mind that the other reviews you see above are correct; knowledge of technical analysis is helpful in understanding this information. I have been investing and trading for several years and I have also accumulated 100 books on the subject. None of these books ever compelled me to write to the author and thank them for writing their book; that is until this one. Constance has a gift for teaching. Being brilliant helps too! This book is required reading for the serious trader.
I am amazed at what happens in the confluence zones!! I am getting better and better at drawing the correct Fib Levels and my zones are becoming meaningful and respected. This makes me freak out a little because these are levels I would never see otherwise; they have no meaning until you find them!! (if that makes any sense at all)I know several traders who think they are using Fibonacci Levels. Now I recognize that they are using Fibonacci all wrong. I was too; before I read this book.

My advice; get the book, read it, read it, read it; then practice like you have never practiced before.

Tools are only as good as the hand they find themselves in; be committed and this will amaze you too.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, June 22, 2010

By 

C. Chen (Vancouver, BC CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fibonacci Analysis (Bloomberg Financial) (Hardcover)

This book might be more appropriately titled: "How Constance Brown Makes Fibonacci Analysis" so not to mislead readers into thinking this is a exhaustive exploration of the subject. The content is laid out as a narrative with little effort made on critically establishing contexts and criteria of the author's analysis/decisions. In other words, this book is more of a operator's manual than an educational piece.

Setting aside my opinions of the validity of Fibonacci analysis and the author's obvious success in the traders' world, my quarrel with this book is on the very, very troubling prose construction and content organization:

1. No provision of a master list of the o-so-important 'internal markers' that the author keeps alluding to throughout the text. Those 'markers' are sprinkled here and there, seemingly inconsistently applied to each case study.

2. Starting in Chapter 2, there are excessive usage of "I will discuss this later" without making clear references, well, later.

3. The utility of this book is hampered by its content organization. The reader will likely have to do a lot of note keeping (plus organizing and reconciling the notes eventually), which would not have been necessary if more work is done by an editor. The writing probably would not fare well in any college-level English course, as an example from page 46:
"(paragraph break)
But how can I be confident this is the price support level the market will respect for a significant rebound? From this simple method alone, I cannot answer this latter question. For this reason, we need to continue.
(paragraph break)"

Unfortunately, I must say this is a haphazard attempt at a subject I find very interesting, by a trader I respect, and from a publisher I trust. I certainly expected a lot more from a piece of work that is introduced as a author's legacy work.