I didn't read all of these reviews until I had bought and read the book. And it was quite by accident that I did read them. I was looking for other books like it. While a number of the critics said the book wasn't as good as others, oddly, one critic bashs the authors of this book then recommends Toni Turner's book for which one of these authors, Oliver Velez, wrote the introduction.
Here are some actual results of their system. I checked my last five days of trading and found my results gave me a 5.2% gain on three losses and three wins! This is the 50/50 deal that is dismissed by one of the critics who said their system produces.
Now I will take that sort of gain any time. If I could have that every week it would give me a 268% profit for the year! Not bad for a beginning.
I give you specific trades I made to produce these results. Check them for yourself.
The trades were made from January 23 to January 29,m 2004.
1-23-04 - Bot ANDW @ 16.763
- Shorted SNDK @ 60.58
1-26 - Sold ANDW @ 17.467 (loss .704)
- Covered SNDK @ 58.33 profit 2.25
1.27 - Shorted CYBX @ 32.40
- Covered FRNT @ 10.80 profit .851
- Covered CYBX @ 31.80 profit .60
1-28 - no activity
1-29 - Shorted ERTS @ 46.30
- Covered ERTS @ 47.16 (loss .86)
- Shorted RYL @ 75.01
- Covered RYL @ 75.85 (loss .84)
Results: (losses = 2.304), profits = 3.701; net gain 1.497 on total of 240.554 share prices of initial trades, for a net profit of 1.497, or 5.2% gain in five trading days.
(Note: This does not include the holdings still in the account at the end of the period, only the trades actually made in the period. The FRNT was shorted @ 11.751 on 1-20, but was not closed until the period of these trades. The account still held RYL shorted (again) on 1-29 @ 75.76 and DHI shorted at 27.40 on 1-29. RYL was up .26 at EOD and DHI was down (.34) at end of day.)
Don't overlook the fact that the market had two huge correction days during this period, January 27 and 28, when virtually all the indexes were down on heavy volume.
I also would like to unravel a bit of the negative comments that have been posted here. Many of them have to do with the seminars that these authors conduct. I have nothing to say about the seminars, having never attended one, nor having any intention of doing so.
The rest of the negative comments about the book seem to revolve around the fact that there is 'nothing new' in the book, that its concepts are old news. That seems more positive than negative. If they are old techniques then they are to be trusted more, for they work well enough to still be around. Yes, I too found them to be old, but I need constant reminding of the techniques.
I can't recall one negative comment that didn't have a good word about the psychology that the authors propound in the first half of the book. Well, to me, technique is about fifteen percent of a good trade and psychology as well as risk management are the other eighty-five percent that make the difference between winning and losing in the market. At least, that is true of me. I have usually lost trades because of one or the other of these two being out of kilter. So, for me, these two - psychology (mine as well as the other players in the market) and risk management - are the pivotal elements in making good trades.
One other observation. A number of the critics have aimed their charges at the character of the authors, and their hype of their seminars and other products. To me neither of these are relevant to the system presented in their book. Either it works or it doesn't. That is the key.
I have found many of the books about the market to hype other products their authors have for sale. In fact, the one guy I follow the most, William J. O'Neil, may be the greatest hyper of them all. He owns Investors' Business Daily. He sells his books in ads on about every other page in IBD, as well as his chart service, his seminars, e-subscriptions and other books and services. Still, it is hard to beat his CANSLIM system for trading.
This book has good stuff for those who are serious about trading. As one reviewer said, the material on entry and exit strategies are worth the price alone. And do not under-estimate the psychology these guys are selling. It is key!
