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40 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Nothing good here, September 21, 2007
This review is from: Forex Conquered: High Probability Systems and Strategies for Active Traders (Wiley Trading) (Hardcover)
I would agree with Ctrader that this book is not good at all. The CD is a joke as the so called calculators are available for FREE on the internet, deceiving as the "calculators" are webbased and FREE. Unfortunately, once you open the CD you cannot return the book. The 3 systems are worthless, MA and MA of Pivot Point crossovers. A joke. The Fibonacci part, well the author actually missapplies these lines, on the wrong leg, LOL, applied on the current leg instead of on the leg being retraced. A joke. You could learn more for free on the internet from people that actually know how to apply what this author is trying, but not succeeding, in explaining. It is a shame the Wiley would let this author write this book and to allow this nonsense to be published. Shameful way to steal people's money, since once you open the CD slab you cannot return the book.
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30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
More of the same, December 22, 2007
This review is from: Forex Conquered: High Probability Systems and Strategies for Active Traders (Wiley Trading) (Hardcover)
I have bought this book as I had heard a lot about this author from trading symposiums. He may be a great trader and also may be a great presenter in symposiums but when it comes to writing a book, I would not say he was successful.
1. Good amount of content in this book is a repeat from his other two books. So if you happen to have one of his other two books you may want to ask yourself why do you want to buy this book.
2. Good amount of content in this book is freely available in the internet. Not only its covered for free in the internet, its actually more detailed and better articulated with good examples. Take the challenge and just do a google search for simple terms like candle stick, pivot points, stochastics, MACD, chart patterns etc and you will be amazed how much great content is there for free.
3. The three trading system methods being discussed is nothing new. Even if its not new, I would have atleast expected that these systems be covered in more detail with proper definition of the rules. Unfortunately, only overview of the system is provided and its up to the reader to figure out the missing pieces are. Book touches upon filters, entries etc but nothing detailed enough to be useful. I don't really know why the author calls the systems high probability. The first 2 of them are based on stochastics & MACD respectively. The last one is based on pivots & MA though not new, detailed information on tis system is not provided.
4. The tradestation back testing strategy code and the results looks like are cheri picked. You try to run that strategy with different instruments you will see the real truth. There is nothing great about this strategy. He talks about scaling when entering the trades but he does not incorporate that in the strategy and leaves it to the readers to figure that out. What is given in the strategy is the most basic version which you can find by posting in tradestation forum for free.
5. The pivot point moving average system strategy code is not presented. I was looking for clear rules on how this strategy can be implemented. If you talk about a strategy, you got to be specific about the rules so that anyone who want to backtest can do so. Unfortunately the rules are not specific. I had written to the author to get more information about this and found out that he would be selling this as an indicator in 2008. So looks like (my personal opinion) the Pivot point Avg system being mentioned in the book is a marketing instrument for his indicator being sold. I have read other books where the author refers to paid indicators he has written but does provide detailed information on how those indicators work and the details/calculation behind that in the book. If someone likes it and do not want to develop it themselves, they can always buy it if they like.
6. CD...... I am amazed that the author is marketing about calculators. All the calculators he talks about are available free in the internet. In addition, anyone who has excel can create these indicators in less than 5 mins. Most trading software automatically calculates these numbers. So I am not really sure what is the value of the indicator other than for marketing purposes. The CD does have a training video which is good. Other than that, I feel this CD is a way to make sure that you don't return this book as once you open the CD you cannot return it.
7. Looking at the chapters, you will notice...
Introduction to Forex... nothing new here... You can read about this in million sites for free.
Candlestick.... All this content is free in the internet. If you already own his previous book, you are wasting your money to read the same content thats available elsewhere.
Patterns..... Same as candlestick. Its filler information. No new insight. No actionable information. Unfortunately nothing of value here.
Fibonacci chapter was so theoritical even if you read it 10 times you will know what it is but will not help you in any shape or form. Its like learning about the internals of the car's engine which has no relationship to how to drive the car.
Trading system chapter was not detailed enough and lacked depth.
Psychology chapter was brief..
In essence, the book is like going to a mediocre Sunday buffet. It has references to different concepts but none of the concepts are covered in depth nor any new insight provided.
8. Since you paid good amount of money for this book, you atleast expect the book to be printed in good paper. You will surprised that the quality of the paper printed is also not good.
9. On the good side
Book discusses about Multiple Timeframe analysis which is good though Elder does a better job in his book.
Discussion on scaling out is interesting.
Quick Training video in the CD is good.
In summary, this book is not worth the money. No new information. Even the information covered is not covered in detail. Not much actionable information. So if you don't have access to the internet and cannot read content online, you can pay for this book to get all the basic information (in a printed form) though you can get such (better) information for free in the net. If you are looking for specific information on the 3 systems John is talking about, be prepared to get disappointed.
Hope this helps.
Ram
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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Must read, August 11, 2008
This review is from: Forex Conquered: High Probability Systems and Strategies for Active Traders (Wiley Trading) (Hardcover)
This is definitely not a beginner's book and I suspect that some of the reviews found here giving this less than 4 stars are beginner or very ignorant traders that expect to be spoon fed.
Is this book perfect? No, that is why I did not give it 5 stars. But it does come close. The only perfection I have seen is Steve Nison.
This book is basically about candlesticks, pivot points and some basic indicators like MACD, Stochastics, Fibbonacci. He also discusses risk management and psychology.
If you are looking for a 'system'...you will and you won't find it here. He gives you some basic systems to start with. Really...you have to learn, understand and create your own system and style of trading Forex and build on the knowledge given in this book. No book can give it to you. It comes from knowledge of yourself and experience with Forex.
I found his information on Pivot Points to be excellent and it definitely expanded upon my already strong understanding. I trade pivots, candle signals and at times use things like Bollinger Bands for confirmation. That is it. I stopped complicating Forex, made it simple and the money rolls in. Trending pairs, consolidated pairs, ranging pairs...doesn't matter. Once you understand price action...the world of Forex is yours.
One of the reviewers beneath me claims the techniques Person teaches do not work unless there is a trend. HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA WRONG!!!!!
I use these techniques in trends, ranges, for momentum and breakouts. It applies if you know how to trade those conditions. If you know what is and is not possible in those conditions!
If a market is only moving in a 20 pip range....DON'T TRADE IT. DUH! Nothing but scalping will work there. If the market is in a 30 to 40 pip range...I am making the money! Also, (common sense alert) what is possible depends on your broker, the spread, etc. My broker is an ECN so I have no slippage or spreads to deal with. I pay a $10 commission on each standard lot I trade. So, if I grab 20 pips ($200) and I pay a $10 comm. I made $190. With an ECN, I can trade anything.
Do not expect this book to be more than it offers. Any idiot can read the table of contents and clearly see what this book will cover and will not cover.
If you are new to Forex...get a strong foundation down first before you try this book. If you are already successfully trading and want to learn more...this book is for you. If you know pivots inside and out...you probably will not learn anything.
If you are not successfully trading Forex, have an intermediate to strong understanding of trading but do not use or know anything about Pivot Points....this is the book for you!
Before buying any book, before you even try trading...you had better have a strong understanding of Japanese Candles. They work in every market and on all time frames. I would not trust any material unless it is Steve Nison's. So start with his books and build from there.
Steve Nison's 'Profiting in Forex' DVD set (about $600) is THE gold standard when it comes to learning how to use candles with Forex in my opinion. That DVD course BLEW ME AWAY! And I knew my stuff too but I still learned new things! If you want to get good at Forex...combine that course with this book. If you are new...start with the basics first.
This book definitely provides a lot more than most may notice. The question is...are you capable of seeing what the other complainers missed?
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