Customer Reviews

Day Trade Futures Online (Wiley Online Trading for a Living)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I enjoyed parts one and three of Mr. Williams book, which is why I give it 3 stars, but found much of the material in the center section -- the real meat of this book -- of dubious value. In the hands of an enthusiastic and overly trusting beginner, this book could lead to mass wealth destruction.

I programmed and tested many of the patterns Mr. Williams promoted but could not duplicate the results he claims to have achieved, even though I used the same time periods, same timeframes and same system parameters he indicated. Also, many of the patterns that are put forth as generating > 80% profitable trades are heavily optimized and filtered for the purpose of presentation in this book. Using TradeStation for back-testing, I could not get even one of the recommended patterns to perform above 20% efficiency.

My goal in writing this review is not to criticize Mr. Williams but rather to warn budding traders that reliance on such convincing, well-told material as this can get you into a lot of trouble. With all due respect to Mr. Williams and his heavily advertised record as a trader and systems developer, let us all understand that he has built a substantial business around training others to trade. I suspect that the bulk of his income is generated from book sales, seminars and other paid programming that he delivers each year -- and not from the full-time implementation of the trading approaches put forth in this book. Again, I'm not bashing Mr. Williams but rather am sending up the warning flag to those who read this book.

To end this on a positive note, I found Mr. Williams's advice on entry and exit strategy to be useful, especially using a percentage of the current bar's range added to the next bar as a trade entry point following a verified set-up. His thoughts on money management strategy are also sound. Thanks for letting me share my thoughts here and good trading to all!

I've heard about LW in the specialized press and because of his indicator %W.
I have been very disappointed by this book. There is something dishonest inside and outside of it. The title says "day trade futures online", in fact LW doesn't talk about day trading but about short term swing trading lasting 2 to 3 days !
He presents lots of wining systems which show quite good performances but mentions nothing about stoplosses nor exits. As we know, exiting a position is far more difficult than entering a trade. Believe it or not, the chapter about exit lays on less than 2 pages!

Disappointing...

I do not know why he decided to recycle his "Long Term Secrets to Short Term Trading" book. He is selling the same old stuff in a new book cover with a different name. Even the examples and the explanations of his setups are word to word the same. Nothing new at all. Shame on the publisher and shame on him too, for their disrespectable act. No need to buy the book.

Larry's books are generally fascinating and well worth a read. However this one struck me as being a rehash of Long Term Secrets to Short Term Trading. Both are good reads but if you've got one don't bother about getting the other.

Yikes - who edited this thing? While there are a few gems, I felt like I was reading a book with half the pages missing. Clearly, material is taken from his other books and recycled for this one, but he might have checked to make sure that all the referenced graphs and text were actually in the book! Numerous times I was flipping around to try to find a chart he was talking about, only to find that it wasn't anywhere in the book. You get the impression quickly that this was churned out to scrape in some extra dough. Larry's writing style is "conversational" - and that's a charitable way to describe it. Despite all these flaws, there is some good info, and some good trading ideas, but I can't recommend it.

Rather like a patchwork quilt this book is simply constructed from re-arranged sections of previous literary efforts of the same genre.And then written in haste.

If you have read any of this authors previous works then you do not need this patchedwork tome.

I am not a fan of day trading. I have been involved with futures for the past 11 years. In ever respect I have told my investors ... to stay away from day trading.

Now, I read Mr.Williams book and I begin to come a little more closer to understanding the idea of daytrading. Mr.Williams use personal anecdotes, clear concise language, and a very indepth analysis of what it takes to trade online.

It was a good read.

Larry Williams is one heck of an interesting trader to read. This is a book written by a guy who actually traded and made big bucks doing so. This is not one of those books written by brokers or MBA's who've never made a living off of trading.

Several minuses worth noting. 1) This book was written in 2001, so the whole section on brokers and research must be considerably out of date by now. 2) Williams outright cuts and pastes out of "Long Term Secrets to Short Term Trading". The difference between this book and "Long Term Secrets" is that this book features a day trading strategy, and it also features info on futures brokerages/research, which is a problem since the book is out of date in that area. "Long Term Secrets" has more material on technical analysis, though it is not written in the most comprehensible manner. 3) In "Long Term Secrets", Williams comes out directly against day trading, while this book obviously has a slightly different point of view. Still, if you want to find scalping strategies you're going to be disappointed - Williams primarily focuses on daily charts. 4) This is not a book for people who have no idea what trading is. You should at the very least have a 1-2-3 understanding of the basic concepts, otherwise you can get a bit lost. 5) Williams' style is somewhat informal, so that may take a bit of focus and re-reading at times to get a few things right. Its not an academic style book.

That said, Williams' greatest strength is that he puts across the correct attitude of a speculator. You really get a sense of a guy who's been out there and is now sharing you his war experience. This is where the book really shines. In particular, the chapter on money management (also featured in "Long Term Secrets") is a real gem. You really lose this in many of the other books. You sense the logic that he uses in designing a strategy (though I often wish he went into a bit more detail), the logic behind psychology, and the logic behind money management.

Larry Williams has a way of clearly explaining the in's and out's of trading, as well as sharing some of the insights that have helped him trade successfully. This book is no exception. I've followed his work from the beginning and will always continue to do so. Another clear, concise, and thoughtful researcher, Jeff Katz, has also written a day trading book ("How to Start Day Trading Futures, Options, and Indices") that is a good complement to the current Williams book. Katz also presents the basics for beginners, perhaps more thoroughly defines futures and options trading, but also gives his own solid perspectives on strategy and risk management, with some highly unique and effective methods for getting around the obstacles to trading futures and options on an intraday timeframe. I would say both books are good on their own, but together provide just about everything anyone needs to understand the subject and become a successful day trader.

This book is worth having for the Money Management techniques alone!!Some of the chart patterns have been around for a while and are good stand alone, but when coupled with some of his other easy to follow analysis ideas makes this a must read for all traders whether it be end of Day or Intraday. This book contains vital information that Larry normally only discloses in his Million Dollar Challenge Seminars (MDC 2000). He gives examples of these techniques in action -not just selected winners- but a whole year of take you by the hand trading examples. Momentum indicators, %R all uniquely blended in an easy to follow daily trading ritual. Excellent and enjoyable.