Technical Analysis for Direct Access Trading: A Guide to Charts, Indicators, and Other Indispensable Market Analysis Tools [Hardcover]

Rafael Romeu (Author), Umar Serajuddin (Author)

Book Description

Series: Direct Access Trader | Publication Date: May 14, 2001

Technical analysis - charts, oscillators, price and volume - is an important part of every direct access trader's arsenal. Understanding the basics of technical analysis allows a trader to more effectively trade his or her strategy, thus increasing the probability of success. Whether a trader is active on a daily basis trading many times a day or a longer term position trader, many aspects of technical analysis can provide valuable insight into the future movements of a stock price. "Technical Analysis" introduces the reader to the basic charts, screens and analysis used by direct access traders to determine when to enter and exit trades. Technical analysis is not as difficult as it is sometimes made out to be. For the direct access trader, it is more important to be familiar with the basic analytic techniques as well as how technical and fundamental analysis can be combined. This book shows the reader how to combine technical and fundamental analysis as well as finding the right combination of the two that fit a trader's particular trading strategy. "Technical Analysis" covers in detail the most frequently used and most important analytic systems, including: price, volume and volatility; support and resistance; relative strength and trends; and fundamental analysis. In addition the author discusses how to set up technical analysis tools and indicators on a trading screen for ease of use. The book also dedicates a chapter to deciding which charts to use, when and why. This is the sixth in a planned six-book series on making the transition from online trading to direct access trading.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

How to Use the Time-Tested Principles of Technical Analysis to Improve the Success of Your Direct Access Trading Program

To succeed, direct access traders must foresee near-term market movements with precision and­­using the Nasdaq level II screen­­act quickly to profit from those movements. In addition, savvy E-DAT traders are using technical analysis to identify which stocks are poised to move, determine the probable direction of the movements, and capture the subsequent profit opportunities.

Technical Analysis for Direct Access Trading explains how to use the charts, screens, and strategies of technical analysis to point out the profits hidden in regular market patterns. Analyses, examples, and "frequently asked questions" provide insights on topics including:

• Charts, oscillators, price and volume, momentum and market swings, and more
• Strategies to combine technical and fundamental analysis to fit your personal trading strategy
• Methods to incorporate charts and indicators into your trading screen

The Direct Access Traders Series shows you how to harness the power of today's financial technologies­­whether you make 2 trades per year or 2000. Other books in the series include:

• Understanding Direct Access Trading
• Direct Access Execution
• Mastering Direct Access Fundamentals
• Tools for the Direct Access Trader
• Trading Strategies for Direct Access Trading

"Understanding the financial markets is not out of the reach of anyone who is willing to spend some time and effort learning about where their money is going. All it takes to be a good investor is the willingness to take responsibility for one's decisions, and the patience to learn and understand the alternatives available."
­­From Chapter 1

Electronic direct access trading (E-DAT) is all about taking responsibility for one's own investment decisions. Technical Analysis for Direct Access Trading takes that idea one step further. It shows you how E-DAT professionals are using long-practiced methods of technical analysis­­from the trends and phases of Dow Theory to the recurring patterns of Elliot Wave Theory­­to analyze recent events, predict future movements in specific stocks, and markedly increase their ratios of winning trades.

Today's tumultuous market is ideal for combining the scientific precision of technical analysis with the technological advantages of direct access trading. Technical Analysis for the Direct Access Trader provides detailed explanations and examples of technical analysis in action to help you:

• Construct and read price/volume charts­­the "workhorse" charts of technical analysts
• Track the three types of trends­­primary, secondary, and minor­­that form the foundation of Dow Theory
• Determine whether a departure from a primary trend is a long-range reversal­­or a short-term whipsaw­­and act accordingly
• Generate profits in declining markets through short selling
• Use Bollinger Bands to adjust price forecasts based on current stock price volatility

Technical Analysis for Direct Access Trading introduces you to the basic technical charts, screens, and strategies that can indicate which stocks are poised to climb­­and when, and why. Written in plain English to be accessible to virtually every direct access trader, it explains how to fine-tune a direct access trading program that blends the best of technical and fundamental trading strategies into a comprehensive, marketwise trading program­­and profit more effectively from the turbulence of today's new-economy financial markets.

About the Author

Rafael Romeu teaches economics and banking at the University of Maryland in addition to his research on global equity and foreign exchange markets. Previously, he worked in the management of private sector pension funds.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies (May 14, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071363939
• ISBN-13: 978-0071363938
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,326,587 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I expected much more, June 26, 2001

By 

"[e-mail]" (Arecibo, P.R.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Technical Analysis for Direct Access Trading: A Guide to Charts, Indicators, and Other Indispensable Market Analysis Tools (Hardcover)

It explain well the relationship between price and volume, but I expected more discussion on the technical indicators like stochastics, MACD, Williams %R,RSI, OBV ect... It doesn't cover well time frame that has to be used when reading technical indicators. And it doesn't show you how to combine the diferents indicators.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A waste of money at any price, February 19, 2005

By 

Gregory Smith - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Technical Analysis for Direct Access Trading: A Guide to Charts, Indicators, and Other Indispensable Market Analysis Tools (Hardcover)

I tried very hard not to be predisposed against this book just because it was written by two academics. But once I started reading, it was impossible to ignore the fact that this title reads like a bad college textbook. The worst section here is that on moving averages, which suggests how to identify trends by deriving some equations related to the moving averages. This is complete with fancy looking formulas with epsilons and everything, and yet after all that no useful trading recommendations whatsoever are suggested. "For example, the technician will use a rule that if the price falls 10% below the moving average, it probably is not a whipsaw". This is a totally ridiculous commentary for trading at any time frame.

The reason my rating goes beyond just plain bad and into 1 star territory is that, in addition to providing negligable trading advice throughout, there were two sections that gave recommendations that are entirely the opposite of correct. In the section on support and resistance, the authors advocate selling at resistance points, and suggest that one will go broke if you always buy at resistance and sell at support. This is completely wrong; really great stocks will hover at resistance and then blow right through it on the upside, while poor stocks will linger around support for a while and then crash right through it hard. Buying at support and selling at resistance will put you on the wrong end of both of these. Read about the strategies of a great trader like Jesse Livermore to learn the right way to do things, which is to buy at the top end of the resistance point as the stocks breaks out and then sell it if falls to support.

Second example: "Say the CEO of Coke died in a plane crash along with the formula. Coke stock would plummet, right? But technical analysis would not pick that up". This shows the authors have a basic misunderstanding of TA: of course it would pick this up. You'd get a clear as could be gap down followed by a downward breakout in this sort of situation, a kindergarten market technician could tell you something bad had happened and that you should sell via the chart without even hearing the news. That's the basic premise behind technical analysis, and the fact that the authors don't even understand that fits right in with the rest of this dissapointing book.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great book for novice and intermediate traders, July 17, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Technical Analysis for Direct Access Trading: A Guide to Charts, Indicators, and Other Indispensable Market Analysis Tools (Hardcover)

i was thrilled with this book!! not only is the book easy to read, but it also very informative and well organized. I was often also pleasantly surprised with the authors' wit and humor with what is often a very dry and dense material. my favorite quote from book is "it is better to have invested and lost, than to have gained 50 pounds!!"

- i agree!!!