37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Don't quit your job to day-trade quite yet!, March 5, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: How to Get Started in Electronic Day Trading: Everything You Need to Know to Play Wall Street's Hottest Game (Hardcover)
The information in this book is simplistic and (in my opinion) there does indeed seem to be a not-so-hidden agenda aiming readers toward the author's courses and his trading firm. On the other hand, if you don't know much about trading, it's a pretty good introduction to the basics.
Most of the strategies discussed would work equally well simply by using any of the reputable on-line brokerage firms such as Waterhouse or E*Trade for trade executions. In my experience, placing appropriate limit orders with a good online broker results in almost instantaneous executions and if you want to play the level II NASDAQ game, well, good luck! May I say from many years of trading: If you wish to "scalp" or do short term swing trading, or make money on 1/8 point moves at the speed of light, beware! (At least the author warns of the inherent dangers lurking to snag the day trader.)
It's OK to be optimistic, and this book certainly is. It's a little reminiscent of the now-infamous "Wall Street Money Machine" (by a former cab driver who will go un-named) but to be fair, it's not nearly as irresponsible. It IS a GREAT idea to simulate trades before you use real money and, to the author's credit, this rational approach is advocated. Then details get quite fuzzy and the clear message seems to be: For more details, take my course.
In the 1990's I have watched friends and aquaintances jump into the various "hot" and "exciting" arenas of OEX options, option writing and buying, commodity futures, short-term-day trading, and the like. These are not dumb or untrained people, but PhDs in engineering, business professionals and the like. Results have been, to put it kindly, mixed, and one of them got wiped out to the tune of $200K rather efficiently.
My wife was a financial analyst for a Fortune 500 company and I have been a trader for many years. Now that I am retired from my engineering career, I have lots of time to dedicate to the craft of trading...I choose the word "craft" deliberately...and my advice to those who "have a passion for trading" is: Take a cold bath for the passion, learn as much as you can as long as you can, and then start with teeny trades, one at a time. Maybe one day I'll actually meet somebody who was an instant success in this challenging area, but I haven't yet.
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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good Springboard to Understand Better Texts, December 17, 1999
This review is from: How to Get Started in Electronic Day Trading: Everything You Need to Know to Play Wall Street's Hottest Game (Hardcover)
I read The Electronic Day Trader and thought that was dumbed down for the layman until I read this book. A more appropriate title for this book is Electronic Day Trading for Dummies. Though incomplete and self-serving in the end, I think that this book helps the absolute neophyte dabble in day trading terms and dynamics. Start with this book to get a feel for day trading and then graduate up to The Electronic Day Trader to understand what tools are best for you. When you are proficient with the trading tools, take a look at Hit and Run Trading or Stock Trading Wizard to learn how to successfully apply those day trading tools.
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31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
response back after trading and reading the book, February 10, 2000
This review is from: How to Get Started in Electronic Day Trading: Everything You Need to Know to Play Wall Street's Hottest Game (Hardcover)
I read the book, learned the basics and did some trading. level two and direct access especially enhanced my trading abilities, and one key reason was the ability to see ahead of the market price if the marketmakers are going lower or higher and the second is the ability to get your price because of the high speed of access. skill in trading go beyond these tools, however, I found experience and logic being your most important skills. The book was invaluable in learning to use level two and in providing content that would be of interest to a beginner trading. I found holding one stock til I get a decent return better than trading that same stock day after day though, but for entering and exiting a trade and the ability to watch a trade closely is best with level two and for a beginner this is a good book, but its not a free ticket to easy gains. the level two can get you into trouble just as quick as any other method. Having said that, for understanding the market and information on how to use level two, the book was great for a beginner. The gains come from using all your tools intelligently. I made dumb mistakes that cost me but I did learn from the mistakes and made it to positive steady gains now after 6 months. I found understanding the market will always be an ongoing learning experience everyday, there are no templates that last for long except good company fundamentals. My advice is practice paper trading or with a simulator for 6 months for the cheapest learning curve after reading the book and know your stock from watching it trade on level two. The book talks about styles of trading, I have found that just watching and papertrading one stock day after day with level two a great insight for eventually trading the stock for the first time while keeping in mind the macro environment of the market and how that particular stocks sector is doing for daytrading purposes. The book also has good references and links.
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