Customer Reviews

Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques: A Contemporary Guide to the Ancient Investment Techniques of the Far East

5 star:		(92)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I have a few books on candlesticks. I bought others which were cheaper, even though many reviews pointed towards Nisons' work. Note that in Australia, we are talking about $35 (other books) compared to $150 (Nison's book) ... so anyway, after buying many others, and looking all over the 'net for info. on Candlesticks, I ran into Nisons' book in a shop, looked through it and had to have it.

It has a LOT LOT LOT more depth than the others. There is more to candlesticks (or any price movement analysis) than just a bunch of patterns, names, formations ... the other books are far far too brief. I cannot emphasise this enough.

Look at all the other reviews for this book, many many good words said.

It is very readable, very clear, the examples are excellent, but most valuable are the insights for all the patterns ... that other books simply do not have.

Sure, it costs a bit more than the other candlestick books, but hey, how much money are you trading? Does an extra 30 or 50 bucks make that much difference for the extra insight you will gain?

This is not just the best ~Candlestick~ book, but it is a very very good TA book as well. Candlesticks are, after all, just a way of plotting price movements.

Note that, in searching the web for info. on TA and investing, this book came up time and time again as ~highly~ recommended. Now I pass that recommendation on.

Note also Nison has another book, "Beyond Candlesticks", and while I think that this is also a good book, get this one first and learn it all, the second book concentrates more on a few "Advanced" techniques, I don't know if they are so much advanced as they are just a few more techniques + brushing over what is in the first book. Get this first book, because it has more depth on the essentials that you need to know. Get the other book later, don't try and save money by jumping to the second one in the hope it will make the first obsolete, don't try and save money by getting a cheaper candlestick book, don't brush this stuff off thinking you've learnt all the candlestick stuff just by seeing a couple of patterns and names.

I also highly recommend Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets, this is recently updated and so incredibly good.

Beginner trader: will help you a lot, a very good investment, but also look to the book recommended above.

Intermediate: what are you doing? making a profit? get the book. Not making a profit? get the book, or get out of trading.

Advanced: why don't you have it? it should be on everyone's bookshelf, have you no pride? can't you afford it?

This is one of those trading books you cannot afford not to have. I don't give that rating to many other trading books.

Good luck!

Oh, and it is enjoyable to read.

If you have heard of candlesticks but know nothing about them, look no further, this is THE book for you. In beautiful form and style, Steve Nison brings you into the world of Japanese candlestick charts and patterns. First giving you a fascinating history of the birth of the futures markets in Japan. Armed with that knowledge, Mr. Nison delves into the "psychology" behind the patterns that develope in the chart. He provides a thorough explaination of each pattern, down to it's historic name, and what to anticipate when the pattern unfolds. There is also a large part of the book devoted to using candlestick charts with various indicators i.e., stochastics, moving averages, relative strength, etc. You name it, he's got it. Actual charts are provided to visually enhance Steve Nison's explainations. Not only does he tell, but he showes you using various markets from coffee futures to the S&P market. This book is a must addition to the library of any trader who relies on technical analysis, from the beginer to the master.

I came across this book in 1998, read it reread it and memorized all the patterns. THe patterns are interesting and have meaningful names.

I can say that candlesticks have kept me away from losses. But you can hardly make good money following candlesticks alone.

THe continuation patternss are more important than the reversal patterns. Reversals can be treacherous. Reversals MUST be confirmed by a break in trend. Indeed candlestics alone can be dangerous. See it for yourself, only 35 percent of hammers are harbingers of a reversal.YOu have to combine candles with western moving averages.

All in all I have purchased hundreds of trading books and threw them in the garbage. This is the one I keep and regularly refer to.

Candlestics are superb in calculating stops.

Whether you are a short or long term trader, this book is a must have. Once you read this book, you will want to use no other charting method but candlesticks. More important than teaching very common chart patterns, you come away with a good understanding of what each type of candlestick is telling you about the psychology of the market you are studying. Although his clear illustrated examples use mostly futures, these methods definitely apply to equities as well. You will no longer fear shorting a stock when you can clearly see the "dark cloud cover" on strong volume. If you want to know more about technical charting and have money for only one book, this is it.

I had learned the basics of candlestick charting before I purchased this book. I wouldn't always remember to do a candlestick analysis of my stocks, but when I would remember, I benefited. I came across this book when browsing and decided it would be a great way to extend my skills in candlesticks. I've read the book now got a lot out of it. I plan to make it the basis for all my future trades. I was also surprised, when CNBC interviewed a successful daytrader who started trading with this very book. Candlesticks are the way to go in this market, and this is an excellent book to get you started.

The most important reason to read this book is to learn candlestick charting. The next best reason is that this is a fine well written book for novices and experts alike. Nison gives clear explanations of the indicators important in candlestick charting, and then goes on to explain why the indicators are strong or weak. The result for me was that I learned some very concrete techniques while also gaining a deeper understanding of market behavior in general. In many areas the Japanese interpretation of chart events differ from the Western view, and this is most fascinating. I highly recommend this book for novices and beyond.

This book has opened up a whole new world of technical analysis for me. The subject matter is fascinating--the Japanese make everything they do into an art, and charting is no exception. These chart patterns are easy to learn because they make intuitive sense. Nison points out (wherever relevant) what each formation means in terms of market psychology and sentiment. The "emotional" side of the market is much more difficult to read using Western techniques -- at least for me. But with candlesticks I can really get a gut feeling for what is going on, in addition to a clearer analytical view. Nison is an excellent writer and makes everything clear and understandable. He includes an introduction on the history of candlesticks which is interesting. The book is beautifully layed out, with plenty of room in the margins for making notes. The charts are easy to read.
I cannot recommend this book enough.

...and this book is well worth every penny. It's not simply a candlestick charts book, but also a very good TA work. It helps a lot in spotting continuation patterns or reversing trends, although I have to say that I'd have prefered that mr Nison provided us with some more candlestick combinations with other TA tools. Trading using candlestick alone can be dangerous.

There's no way a barchart, a HLC, OHLC or any other kind of chart can tell you as much as candlesticks can do. While you can't tell which of the bars were up or down closes by looking at a barchart, a simple glance at the candlesticks could provide you much more information about accurate trade signals. One of the things that struck me the most is the fact that mr Nison explains the psychological and emotional aspects that go with almost every pattern. That's what the chart reading is supposed to be.

Shorting a stock has almost been a taboo for me for a long time, but since I learned to spot "the dark cloud" on strong volume and some other things, I became much more confident with the short side of the market.

This book is for everyone: for the novices, the intermediate, the advanced and professional traders too. This, I think, is a very rare thing to find in a trading book nowadays. Get it, no matter how versed of a trader you are!

Being a realatively new technical futures trader I was interested in Steve Nison's book on Japanese Candlesticks. Having purchased and read the book I can't say enough good things about it. In a clear and easy to understand style Mr. Nison explains the history, theory and ease of use of Candlesticks and their recognition. He also includes clear chart examples showing what to look for and how to interpret what you see. With book in hand I looked at my future's histories on my computer since my charting program will chart Candlesticks. I was gratified to find that time after time the patterns that Mr. Nison explains called the market moves. Today I'm waiting for a bearish confirmation of a Hanging Man in Hogs to enter my first Candelstick trade.

It's said that Japanese candlesticks are so universally used and well-regarded in Japan that you couldn't trade the Japanese market without knowing them. While I haven't tried it to verify that claim myself, many traders do believe in this technique of technical analysis and find it useful. Nison's book is probably the bible on the subject, and after a brief but interesting history of the Japanese market, he discusses what they are and how to use them in great depth and detail, giving the reader a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of candlesticks. Sometimes the prose gets a little dense and may be tough going for beginners, but overall, this is an excellent book on the subject.

If you're a novice trader, however, I would recommend you read one of the many introductory books and then a more advanced book on technical analysis before reading this one. The book isn't cheap, but I would do a search on Amazon's used books and see if you can pick up a copy that way. Finally, a caveat, which is that one indicator, or even one type of indicator (such as moving averages or oscillators) isn't enough to trade the markets, and the real skill in trading is knowing which indicator is applicable in any given situation, which only comes with experience. But this book will help you understand this important indicator so you will know how to use it when it's appropriate.