Customer Reviews

Technical Analysis Plain and Simple: Charting the Markets in Your Language (3rd Edition)

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

 

 

This book is a good beginner's guide to technical analysis. The author touches on many aspects of technical analysis but doesn't go as deeply as Pring or Murphy. As an example, the author explains Elliot Waves in 4 pages, and there are 3 diagrams in those pages.

The book is 300 pages, but it's also 37 chapters. The chapter heading takes about a third of the page, there are breaks between subjects, there are a lot of charts, and not all the pages are filled completely top to bottom. There is less than you think. Take away the large headings, the subject breaks, the charts, fill up the pages completely and this book is probably only 150 pages to explain 37 chapters of material, which is barely enough to scratch the surface, which is what a beginner's book should contain.

One thing I like is that the author uses REAL LIFE examples. One thing I don't like is that while the author does a decent job of explaining the patterns, he doesn't show how to use those patterns as entry or exit points to help you make some $$$.

Overall, an average book at a good price if you want to learn technical analysis, but not trading. But if you want a GREAT book at a good price instead of just an average book, do yourself a favor and invest an extra $10 and buy "How Technical Analysis Works" by Bruce Kamich.

This is a great book for people who are fairly sophisticated about the market but don't have a clue about technical analysis (that would be me). It cuts the jargon to a minimum and treats each facet of technical analysis as a tool, explaining its use and its limitations. It gives the careful reader insight into the market, and is useful both as an introduction and as a reference. If you want to be a serious investor, I'd say this is a very useful book, perhaps even an essential one.

As a private investor and trader, I'm always on the lookout for pros that can take seemingly complex investment ideas and break them down in a thoughtful and understandable way. This is where the author's crawl, walk and run approach to technical analysis brings the message home, showing how it can be used as a "you are here" guide when you aren't exactly sure where your investments stand or when you should buy or sell, despite what the fundamentals are telling you. This book is chock full of powerful ideas and particularly timely given the fact that our markets and economy are facing increasing headwinds that will only worsen in coming months. I would recommend it to fellow investors, friends and family that want to protect their portfolios and add focus and discipline to their buys and sells, and also for those that want a reference text for the TA discipline. If you agree that a Dr. shouldn't sum up chest pains without first consulting X-rays and EKGs and that a sea captain shouldn't fare stormy weather without an up-to-date navigational chart, you may appreciate the insightful methods Mr. Kahn hammers home with his step-by-step guide to charting the markets.

This book is good if you have no clue about the role that intangibles (investor sentiment, momentum, etc.) play on a security's price fluctuations. There are plenty of good cliches about how a stock is priced. But other than that, I gained nothing in terms of actual technical analysis skill. The author spent too much time arguing the validity of using technical data with fundamentals which I would assume anyone who purchased the book, already knew there is value in technical analysis.

I like the writer's creative analogies and down to earth approach.
This is a terrific intro book to get a "taste" of what TA is comprised of.
It covers the elements that make up TA in a topical manner
It will give a solid foundation to start your TA education. I would recommend "Technical Analysis Explained" or "Technical Analyis of the Financial markets" to deepen your undertanding after reading this book.
Hope to see a follow up book from this author getting more detailed since he has a knack for conveying.

I am more interested in books that marry financial and technical analysis. Kahn does a reasonable attempt at that. Some reviewers mention this book is a bit on the basic side. I would have them look at the title and what it suggests the book is trying to accomplish, i.e. a simple and plain review of technical analysis. That it does quite well.

This book is a "must read" if you've wanted to learn more about this sometimes intimidating subject. You'll certainly learn to incorporate a few concepts of Technical Analysis (analyzing stock prices and volume trends over time) as an important part of your investing decision making. This book takes a very complex subject and breaks it down into some solid, easy-to-understand explanations for those of us who simply want to know "the basics". For example, one of the chapters is entitled, "This Isn't Brain Surgery". The author seems to be writing toward those of us who are thinking in a broader sense and want to utilize technical analysis as an additional validation to confirm our buy, hold, and sell decisions. The author's chapter on "When to Sell" is worth the price of this book alone. Yes, this book does cover some of the more intricate technical analysis tools, but, thankfully, the author provides a decent explanation, spends a little time on it, and then moves on (before we nod-off, that is!). If you've always wanted to know more about Technical Analysis (but were afraid to ask your "geek" friends), you'll enjoy this author's method of sharing these concepts along with some of his own investing wisdom. If you are willing to spend some of your own time every week incorporating a few of these tools into your investing decisions (just like Jim Cramer on CNBC advises every night on his TV show), then this book is definitely for you!

I am very skeptical of technical analysis but was interested in learning more about it. This book is clear but mostly definitional. You will learn about various tools technicians use and different chart patterns but there is very little on how to actually profit from these tools. For example, is the trader supposed to anticipate "head and shoulders" chart pattern before it happens or trade after it happens? Perhaps that is because you can't profit consistently from these tools but of course many successful traders would disagree with me. Whether it is useful or not, the fact remains that investors and speculators see these terms used widely and this book will get you familiar with the terms.

Now a challenge for all fans of technical analysis ... Take a random stock and look at its chart for a random period of time. It is important that you don't know what ultimately happened to the stock. Can you predict what will happen to the stock? You can instantly see if you are right. I would be curious to see how successful technicians are with this exercise.

This review is probably a little bias as it was my first book on TA.
Has helped me make a lot more and still keep it for good reference.
There probably are a lot better intro TA books, but once again this is pretty good for an intro.

The coverage on flags is a joke and enough to give this book a 1 star rating. You will not be able to trade any better after reading this book. It would be dangerous to think otherwise. This book has the depth of a dictionary.