Techniques of Tape Reading (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Christopher Schumacher (Author) "In the late 1980s-early 1990s in the Soviet Union- the birth of a new, rapidly changing economy emerged, a free economy..." (more)
Key Phrases: vertical price movement, shallow pullback, faster selling, Bar Volume, Townsend Analytics, Trader's Journey (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The RealityTrader mentor team are professional traders who are generous enough to share their style of trading with you and teach you the best truths abut trading what you see, following the tape and taking one trade at a time." --Linda Bradford Raschke, New Market Wizard and co-author of Street Smarts

Product Description

How to use trading's most time-honored technique to reap profits in today's fastmoving, point-and-click markets

Tape reading is among the oldest and most successful methods of technical analysis.

Techniques of Tape Reading shows traders how to incorporate the best aspects of tape reading into a modern trading plan, by understanding the correlation between volume and price and simply trading off what a stock's price movement is telling them to do.

A practical, how-to guide for using tape reading to improve trading decisions in today's screen trading environment, Techniques of Tape Reading discusses:

• Profitable use of tape reading in both swing and day trading
• How the best traders condition their minds and mind-sets
• Tape reading techniques for up, down, and nontrending markets

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (August 19, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071414908
• ISBN-13: 978-0071414906
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #185,272 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Destined to become a classic, February 21, 2004

By	Nev (UK) - See all my reviews

I have read a great many trading books and this has got to be in the top 5, I think it could well become a classic.

The book is divided into three parts. The first part is mainly concerned with the development and psychology of a new trader. Now although there are other books which are entirely devoted to trader psychology, "Trading In The Zone" by Mark Douglas springs to mind. The authors have covered this very important topic in a very easy to understand manner.

The second part delves into the art of tape reading, numerous set ups are explained, and stops and exit strategies are presented.

The final section describes in detail 33 different trades, each with the appropriate chart. These trades help to reinforce the material presented in part 2 of the book.

I think this book is not really suitable for the absolute beginner, but once one has got some basic TA down, then this would be an excellent next choice.

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Blank Tape, August 22, 2007

By	ProTrader (USA) - See all my reviews

There is nothing in this book about tape reading. Nothing.

I am a trader. I trade every day, and actually read tape. This poorly written, and unedited assemblage of words is virtually worthless for anyone desirous of becoming a student of tape reading. There is simply no real tape reading content, and the content that resides on these pages is not worth reading, especially if your goal is to become a better trader.

I was intrigued by the title, as you likely are. It seems that when an author has nothing of value to contribute to the trading community, they try to sell their junk by creating a catchy title. It must work to some extent, because the tactic seems to be used a great deal. Read my other reviews for more information.

For some insight into the art of reading tape try, Tape Reading & Market Tactics by Humphrey Neill, and Studies in Tape Reading by Rollo Tape. Both were written long ago, and are valuable contributions to a trader's education. There has been nothing of value written about tape reading in the past 50 years, that I can find.

A final word of advice. Be skeptical of favorable reviews of this book. If you are interested in tape reading, there is nothing here. Also, read reviews written by real traders. For insight into the reviewers' sincerity and discernment, scan all of their reviews. Similar to tape reading and market analysis, one can determine which book reviews to believe and which to ignore from the reviewers' history.

35 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's about time, January 8, 2004

By	dbphoenix (Phoenix, AZ United States) - See all my reviews

I finally got around to reading this book and am happy to say that I can recommend it (not that what I think matters all that much, but there is so little I can find to recommend, I just thought I'd mention it). There's been little of value written on tape reading since Neill's book in the 40s, and before that, Wyckoff's work in the 20s and 30s. Possibly the popularity of "indicators" stole some of tape reading's thunder, since indicators are purportedly "simpler" to use.

I had hoped that the book would be a bit more thorough, but after finishing it and giving it a second read, I understood that what Vad and Chris are trying to do is reduce TR to a set of basic principles, easy to explain, easy to understand. The buts and unlesses and on the other hands are left to many specific examples which illustrate just what it is they're trying to get across. In this way, one can come up with his own examples to illustrate the concepts rather than rely on some sort of "blueprint", in the event that he is trading a different market, a different bar interval, a different timeframe, or even using indicators to supplement his judgement.

Unfortunately, the book begins with what has become the obligatory "once I was a loser and then I became a winner" section. Not that it's boring or that there's anything wrong with this sort of autobiographical touch. After all, one would most likely be put off by someone who puts out a trading book beginning with only his successes and giving no hint of the often rocky road one must travel in order to achieve those successes. But those who have read more than a few trading books are likely to find that they could have skipped this and gone right to the meat of the book, i.e., the principles of tape reading, and there's plenty of meat here. No, the book is not encyclopedic, but, contrary to what you may have heard, tape-reading does not require the encyclopedic approach. Keep It Simple.

If all you have, then, are Wyckoff and Neill, this should pull everything together for you in a way that will enable you to gain some traction on this tape-reading stuff. The advice on how to create a setup and how to evaluate what you've created should be of particular benefit to beginners who continue to struggle with this and with the misleading notion that the riches lie in finding that one perfect golden setup.