Smarter Trading: Improving Performance in Changing Markets [Hardcover]

Perry Kaufman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1995

As a direct result of economic globalization and computerized trading, today's professional stock, bond, and futures traders face a career-making - or breaking - challenge: to track and immediately comprehend the bewildering place of market, volume, and price changes, then some how profit from this unexpected volatility. In "Smarter Trading" distinguished author and trader Perry Kaufman helps harried financial pros cope with financial market uncertainty by creating a "robust" trading model that adapts quickly to market changes and yields stronger, more predictable results. And he shows them how to make sense of the current barrage of sophisticated, hi-tech trading technologies - neural networks, fuzzy logic, expert systems, chaos, and fractals, to name a few - and align these weapons with their own trading strategies.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

McGraw-Hill authors represent the leading experts in their fields and are dedicated to improving the lives, careers, and interests of readers worldwide

Product Details

• Hardcover: 252 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (January 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0070340021
• ISBN-13: 978-0070340022
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #412,886 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a superb read for new and experienced traders, January 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Smarter Trading: Improving Performance in Changing Markets (Hardcover)

successful trading system development requires a firm grasp of financial markets, statistics, and clever computer programming and Mr. Kaufman offers a little taste of each to his readers. The chapters on "market reality", "risk and return", "trend following" and "robustness testing" are well written and very helpful, while sections on "neural networks", "fuzzy logic", and "expert systems" are basically filler material and of not much practical use. All said, it is one of the better books on the subject.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stop Loss vs Risk, August 18, 2003

By 

Georgina "tville" (san francisco, ca) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Smarter Trading: Improving Performance in Changing Markets (Hardcover)

The person who said that Kaufman does not believe in stop losses is quite INCORRECT. The whole purpose of this book is to weigh a stop loss against a possible incorrectly placed volatile sale.
If anyone trades with a regular basis they know the horror of being 'stopped out' because of volatile price swings. Kaufman helps by correclty analyzing the benefits of stops vs losses showing how mechanized systems for stops have their own pitfalls.

Kaufman's whole treatise on RISK is really worth the price of the book. Understanding risk and it's effect on your psychology is an important and very valuable treatise. Kaufman does a very good job on the subject. Also of benefit, is the Adaptive Moving Average algorithm. While this is also part of Metastock
having the formula is invaluable for those of us who want to modify it.

The weakest part is the computerized system analysis at the end is old and rather simplistic; I would not recommend it. Some of the ideas are interesting but Pardo's book is much much better.

21 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good info except for the "high tech" section at the end, August 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Smarter Trading: Improving Performance in Changing Markets (Hardcover)

Perry Kaufman seems like a very knowledgable technician. I think he should write more books. "Smarter Trading" is a good read, especially the discussion on stop-loss orders and market noise. The adaptive moving average is far superior to other MA's. You can skip the neural network and machine language garbage. Neural Networks are nothing more than the ultimate curve-fit.