30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A simple, clear, and persuasive idea, January 8, 2001
By A Customer
A stock's float is the total number of shares available to the public for trading. When this total number of shares gets traded in the market (whether over a week, a month, or a year), you have a "float turnover". This book argues that float turnovers are closely correlated with significant price moves. It's a simple and clear idea, made all the more persuasive by the fact that there's a common-sense explanation for it: a float turnover represents an (approximately) complete change of ownership in who holds the stock; so if, for example, the new owners are significantly more bullish than the previous owners, they will be more reluctant to sell, and the price will rise. Mr. Woods makes a good case that the float is a relevant piece of information, and I don't doubt that many traders will be grateful to him for bringing this to their attention. Only one thing prevents me from giving this book 5 stars: the incessancy with which the author can't refrain from referring to his "discoveries", going so far as to compare his "discoveries" to those of Columbus, Copernicus, and Newton (to name only three). He seems like a good enough guy and is probably doing this out of insecurity, but it's off-putting. The book badly needed a good editor to inform Mr. Woods that the best, indeed the only real way for him to advance his work is to present it clearly and let it speak for itself, and that for an author to constantly urge the reader to think highly of his "discoveries" is not only in bad taste, but detracts from the persuasive power of his idea. This, however, is a minor complaint which should not dissuade anyone from investigating the idea, which seems like a good one. I say "seems" because, unlike a previous reviewer, I have not yet back-tested it; but after reading the book I certainly intend to do so.
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45 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
ANOTHER SCAM, July 20, 2002
This review is from: Float Analysis: Powerful Technical Indicators Using Price and Volume (A Marketplace Book) (Hardcover)
The theme of the book is SCAM, and the book is full of CONS
Let me show you why I said so:
The author claims at any given turn, there is always one float turn over, and if the stock has not turned over yet after one float, he refers to multiple floats. This is the biggest con.
Pick a number from the air. Use that as the float of the stock and chart it the way the author says it. You will have the same result at every turn of the stocks, ofcourse, depending on which number you pick, your float turn over could happen before or after his float turn over.
You see, if you add enough day volume, you will sooner or later get to the float number you pick. When it happens at the time when the stock turns, you call it one float turn over. And if the stock price has not turned yet, and you keep adding to it eventually you will have another float turn over. When this process is repeated over time, guess what, the stock will turn direction while the number you pick has turned multiple times. The author calls it multiple float turnover. What a SCAM.
I bought the book because I need to get more indicators for my software but I did not realize that there are many people got bought into it and gave it a positive review. As a software developer, I had to buy the book to see if this is really another valid indicator, and I was so disappointed that even the professional like Martin Pring got bought into it (Not sure if Mr. Pring realized this)
There are several places where you could spot the scam. First, what I have shown you above. Second, to get more people interested, the author uses the names of professionals such as William O'Neil and Gann. You see, if you study and follow those professionals, you will be far ahead with your own experience. And by telling the readers to study other professionals, the author gets the free ride on one of the most useless tool. O'Neil and Gann probably would not mind have their names mentioned because that is free publicity. But Pring! I am so disappointed.
He claimed he turned a few thousands to ten fold from Sep 98 to Jan 2000. Well, like Wall Street used to say: even a monkey can pick a stock in a bull market. What happened to the author after Jan 2000 while the book is copyrighted in 2002? Too busy to write the book conveniently in that 2 years and not trading for another 10 folds? Are you ... me?
If you have not bought the book, ask someone about the theory and check it out first before you buy. If you already have the book and think it is valid, please let me know. If I am wrong, I would like to know.
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting but don't expect code, February 22, 2003
After reading the book, I have mixed feelings; this may be a brilliant new concept or a mathematical gimmick. What I can say is that this book comes with no software code. That costs considerable more. If you use Tradestation and can't code the concepts from the book yourself, your next book should be Professional Stock Trading by Mark Conway and Aaron Behle. They have a chapter on Float Trading with their adaptation of the Float Box, Float Channel, and Float Percentage. Also included is a trading system based on these concepts.
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