Customer Reviews

The Three Skills of Top Trading: Behavioral Systems Building, Pattern Recognition, and Mental State Management (Wiley Trading)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a gem of a book and well worth reading. It does an excellent job of describing Richard Wychoff's system, which is an incredibly powerful technique in the analysis of price movements, such as accumulation/distribution, supply/demand, and the topping/bottoming processes. Pruden also describes and charts specific events to look for as a stock moves from a base into it's rise, or from a top into it's fall. It's easy to look at charts now and match the patterns with Hank's checklists or the priceless figures in the book to know where in the price movement progression one is likely to be.

The book also talks at length about how to get one's mind right in order to be successful in the market. I'm convinced that many systems can work when executed by disciplined investors, while the same systems will fail when executed by the undisciplined investors. This is a great bonus in this book beyond the powerful Wychoff trading system.

I really like the simple nature of the point and figure chart to follow price movements, because it works. No need to overly complicate the system, like the Tom O'Brien's of the world try and do just to sell you on a $2500 trading class. In fact, I remember when Hank was interviewed by Tom on his radio show during the fall of 2007, and Hank was bullish (due to his simple point and figure chart) and Tom was bearish (due to his overly complicated "Timing the Trade" mumbo jumbo). Well, the next 5 to 10% move in the market was UP, which Hank had correctly predicted based on the classic point and figure methodology.

This book is in my top 3 investment books for 2007. Well done, Hank!

This book is written about how three mutually reinforcing links make a complete trader.

1). Pattern Recognition and Discretionary Trading.

Using the Wyckoff method you will see chart representations of how hot stocks are accumulated in bases for long periods of time, have pull backs then break out to new highs. You will also see how they eventually have exhaustion tops that fail to rally and they behind to break down in distribution. The author encourages discretionary trading through experience by being able to identify market action through the past models. I agree completely.

2). Behavioral finance and systems building.

You must be flexible in your trading. You are merely a ship on a sea of opinion. Follow the prevailing sentiment during the middle of the the trend, and go contrary to it at the extreme tops and bottoms. Hope, fear, and greed are the dangers in the market and move the markets in many ways. The action of the stock market is nothing more than a manifestation of mass crowd psychology in action. The Pruden model shows a chart of how accumulation, mark-up, distribution, and markdown works in the market tied to price, volume, sentiment, and time. It truly explains how the market in growth stocks works.

3). The ten tasks of top trading:

Daily self analysis
Daily mental rehearsal
Developing a low risk idea
Stalking
Action
Monitoring
Take profits or abort
Periodic review
Daily briefing
Out
The book covers all the aspects of trading psychology in depth, I found this information to revolutionize my trading and I have read over 100 trading books. It is worth the price of the book alone.


The book also discusses the principle of the "Composite Man", it is much like Benjamin Graham's "Mr. Market". It explains that you must think of the market as one person you are trading against and your job is to understand how he is trading to adjust your trading accordingly.

This book is geared toward traders who rely on patterns and psychology, and will appeal to traders interested in these styles. This book is a key book for all traders who truly want to be successful.

What can I say? This is, without a doubt, one the very best books on trading I've ever read. It is certainly the first trading book I've read that has given me a peak behind the curtain and into how the game is really played. Forget things like earnings, P/E ratio, the Fed, Obama, the talking heads on CNBC or anything else. And if you're a technician like I am, you can likewise forget about using mechanical systems, divining geometric patterns, oscillators and the myriad indicators available. Instead, as Deep Throat apparently said to Bob Woodward, "Follow the money." Or in this case, follow the volume and the order flow, which will lead you to the money.

Pruden does a wonderful job explaining how the markets are truly guided by the large, savvy operators, who do exactly the opposite of what the public does. In doing so, he sheds light on why the public is always wrong and how to follow the true insiders. But the book is far more than theory. Using some revolutionary models of crowd behavior, Pruden then shows us precisely how to use the tried and true methods of Richard Wyckoff to understand how this behavior manifests itself in the markets and, most importantly, how to trade it.

The result is a systematic way of trading that allows each trader to combine his natural, discretionary instincts with the structure necessary to support his decision making. An added bonus is his section on personal psychology - co-written with the noted trading coach and psychologist, Van Tharp - which will give you tremendous insight into your own mental states, and how to control them for maximum effectiveness.

Whether you subscribe to Wyckoff's method or not, this book will change the way you see the markets and your own participation in them. Truly, it is a must-read for any trader who is serious about succeeding on his own merits, talents and intelligence. The great traders understand how the markets work, have a method to exploit this understanding and possess incredible self-awareness while they trade. Want to be one them? Buy this book.

Hank Pruden's masterful book "The Three Skills of Top Trading" is a must-read for serious students of the art and science of trading. It would well serve the newcomer to the world of trading as well as an experienced trader. Whereas many trading gurus say "you must use stop-losses", Mr. Pruden gives you a three-legged system that creates the knowledge governing the use of a "stop". In other words, this book contains the "WHY" as well as the "WHAT" that will help users manage their trading effectively, at the buy and the sell ends of the trade.
Thank you Mr. Pruden, for providing me with a foundational book that has already helped me.

The full title of this books tells very much what it is about - there is no hyperbole. If you are new to trading this is as good as any book to read. It covers different areas (see full title), which is good for the beginner. For the more advanced trader/investor that becomes the book's liability. I have given the book only three stars because there is nothing really bad with the book, and neither is there something very good with the book. But if you're starting out, then this is a book I could recommend.

I have written several short reviews on trading books. The best way is to compare the score on the books I've read. Many reviews on amazon.com are just glorious 5 star reviews. I use all five categories; sorry but everything isn't "great". Books rated 5 are very good. Books rated 4 are good solid books well worth reading. Books rated 3 can be bought by some people who read a lot or have very specific needs. Books rated 1 or 2 I would not recommend buying or reading. Naturally all in my humble opinion.

A good book describing Wyckoff method and some usefull views about behavioural finance, trading psycology and the method for building a complete trading framework.
Some more examples and case studies would have been usefull.
A knowledge, even basic, of Wyckoff (the wyzard of trading ranges) is a must for every trader and this one is one of the best choices

I'll have to agree with the other 1 star reviewer. This book is very superficial. The book feels like a thrown together group of articles. There is no flow to it. Come to find out that is basically what it is. The author has written a number of articles concerning wyckoff and seems to have put them together into this book. Just download his articles online if interested. All the setups are subjective in nature and are of no use to someone looking for an objective style calling of the markets.
The book is filled with psychobabble dealing more with the psychological shortcomings of traders than anything else. Consider the good in this book as a thin piece of meat between two huge loaves of bread. If that's the meal which satisfies you then enjoy yourself. Otherwise this book fills no niche or genre that is meaningful and in my opinion had no right to be published. The true value of this book is in the $10 range.

This book covers everyting a trader needs to understand about the market and how to trade it. This is not a get quick rich book with a few hand-picked examples but a thorugh ook at trading Highly recommended

Prof. Hank Pruden has done it again! His depth of Wyckoff's knowledge associated with his keen sense of behavioural science illustrated through the Pruden Model, has made this highly acclaimed book one of the nowadays indispensable elements of the investor's and trader's arsenal. This book not only describes the psychological aspects of trading but also the "nuts-and-bolts" of Wyckoff's trading method. Highly recommended for the trader at any level he/she would be, on his way to conquer the learning curve difficulties.

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I am in the middle of the book, and I already see that it is going to have a solid impact on my trading behavior. I really needed the book.