Customer Reviews

Gold Trading Boot Camp: How to Master the Basics and Become a Successful Commodities Investor

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This is one of the most useful trading books I've seen in a long long time.
As a broker and former Risk Manager in the financial markets, I am usually somewhat suspicious of books by "traders" and/or "pundits". I usually find myself confronted by lots of self-serving drivel and advice that is not in any way applicable to typical traders. This book is a refreshing change from that.
Every new or newer trader should read this book. The excellent charts and analysis contained on them are worth the book's price all by themselves. What I found of particular interest, though, was his honest and refreshing approach to the oft-neglected subject of Risk. Every trader should read this portion of the book.
The book lays out in intricate detail the process a true professional trader must go through to successfully speculate. Fascinating stuff!

Weldon is a highly regarded market watcher who, unlike so many others, actually puts his money where is mouth is. To me, this elevates his credibilty above those who don't really have "skin in the game", making this book that much more interesting and compelling to read.

I was interested to get an insider's view as to how he thinks and what techniques he brings to bear when he trades a market. I found that this book clearly lays out the macro-economic relationships that he puts into forming an opinion about a market - and it demonstrates that we are likely still in the beginning phases of what is going to be a multi-decade and significant bull market in gold. From this perspective the relevevance of the book is quite pressing. For the longterm investor, his fundamental view mandates an allocataion to gold in their portfolio.

Additionally, Weldon's discussion of the philosophy of technical analysis and demonstrations of his preferred methodologies provide timing and risk mangement guidelines for those who are more active traders.

Weldon shares a great deal of himself and his trading secrets in this book, and while the focus here is on gold, many of the lessons within can be applied to other markets. Truly a great read - and a must read for those who want to learn more about gold as well as the art trading.

I liked this book because it did not overwhelm me with gold bug rhetoric. There was some (deservedly), but it was muted.

The author reviews his trading background then presents many charts and indicators that he tracks when he trades gold (and silver). Many are just background indicators. Some have been developed by the author.

As I'm more of a quantitative person, I didn't like the emphasis on technical charting methods. Specifically, I don't think that price alone provides much information itself (that's price on price, like crossing over moving averages, etc.). I like to see causal action (one thing signalling another), which he discusses to a lesser degree.

Fortunately, the author provides a wide selection of indicators and information that provides a fertile ground for the reader to develop and analyze indicators in this specialized area. I also liked the author's creation and discussion of relating one index to another.

John Dunbar
Sugar Land, TX

Excellent book! Greg captures the emotion and opportunity that clearly exists in the trading of commodities, while providing one man's detailed odyssey towards mastering the subject. The writing style is easy to read and describes an evolution from his early days on the exchange floor into today's keenly focused proprietary trader.

Greg expertly outlines the macro-fundamentals of gold and clearly details some of his more memorable individual trades.

The first half of the book should appeal to everyone, as it illustrates the sometimes comical events that the author experienced while developing and tweaking his trading style. The second half of the book provides in-depth and explicit details on his trading systems and proprietary analysis.

I look forward to his second book - great job, Greg!

While the main focus of this book may be about gold and commodities, Weldon also provides readers with a great introduction into how a true "macro-style" trader considers an extremely wide array of different markets and economic factors in order to establish a tradable opinion. Although you may not at first be familiar with a lot of the ideas presented in this book, you will soon learn how important it is to move beyond the world of stocks (which receive the bulk of financial media coverage these days) in order to identify what non-equity factors truly drive the commodity and financial markets. It's also worth noting that this is NOT a dry academic treatise but rather a very animated exploration of the world's trading markets by someone who clearly loves to study and trade them every day. Consider yourself lucky if some of Weldon's enthusiasm rubs off on you.

I highly recommend this book. Not only to Gold traders, but to anyone who follows the financial markets in general. As a subscriber to his thought-provoking newsletter, I believe Weldon has a style all his own that is reflected in this book. (Most of which in this industry make for good "night-time" reading!)

Weldon's book kept me engaged while also providing useful information and insights that can be applied to many different markets. He is very good at illustrating his points with charts and graphs (many of which are of his own creation) and has a unique way of correlating many different markets, indicators and statistics.

Very well written.

I am a beginner in gold investing, and found this book an eye-opener in understanding the markets. I need everything in simple terms, and this book was incredibly informative.

Greg Weldon is an eloquent writer, and I felt that I came away with more confidence to invest in this market.

The weakness of this book stems from Weldon's advocacy of a purely intuitive approach. Wake up at four a.m., review dozens of charts for fundamentals and technicals, read all the headlines, run some technical indicators, look for some hidden correlations and then start trading. But the book never presents a coherent strategy. Should you trade on the MACD or on weakness in soft commodities? Base actions and stops on the bond markets or the latest headlines? Weldon never makes clear any basis for trades save pseudo-Hermetic platitudes about finding the universe of actionable stock data in a grain of tar sand futures. Beginners would do well to pick up something like the Encyclopedia of Trading Strategies and learn a system before opening up into Weldon's high-data intuitive approach.

Finally! This is the first book I've read on trading that wasn't either a hundred old war stories or dry scholarly prose. Weldon weaves together what he looks at with why, and then how to use this information for trading. It's detailed and sophisticated but also entertaining and easy to digest. If you invest in commodities and are looking for an edge, I'd consider this book to be well worth your time.

A lot of people don't know anything about precious metals investing and tranding. I know, since I work at Capital Gold Group, and everyday I have to educate clients about the basics of commodities investment. I wish I could give everyone who walks intot he office a copy of this book. It is easy to understand, clear, and factual. It has everything you need to know to become your own gold, capital and precious metals investor.