Customer Reviews

Trader Vic: Methods of a Wall Street Master

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

How could this book ever be outdated? So he gives some examples of markets in the mid-90's, and talks about trading S&P futures back when they were 500 bucks a point and moved much less than they do now. SO WHAT. To get hung up on that is to blindly miss the big picture. It's like criticizing Shakespeare for being outdated.

What Sperandeo says about trading, discipline and risk management is a must read for all traders who hope to make it (and not just end up giving their money to professionals like Vic and me).

I have read more than 50 books on trading and this is in my top 5.

I had read many trading books. However, this book helped lay the practical groundwork for my trading to this very day. Honestly speaking I had been a regular loser for my lukewarm knowledge (worse than ignorance) of TA, trend, trading psychology and things like that. This book really helps aspiring traders to better understand knowledge of trading science through layman terms. Vic had honestly deliver what headings of some chapters, namely promised: Business Philosophy for Consistent Success, Finding Order in Market Chaos, A true understanding of Trends, The Merits and Hazards of TA, etc. I strongly recommend the passage devoted to double bottom/top (2B) which warns traders to have a time perspective of using individual TA tools. In a word, a must read!

This book has tons of practical advice. I have referred to it countless times when analyzing market conditions. My stock portfolio was entirely in cash two weeks prior to the massive selloff on October 27, 1997. The information in this book is directly responsible(the 2B criterion in particular). If I had even more experience with the author's methods, I probably would have been in cash in August when the correction began or possibly even initiated short positons. This book in conjunction with other informative volumes such as William O'neil's "How to Make Money in Stocks" and Nicolas Darvas' " How I Made Two Million in the Stock Market" provide incredible insights into the mechanics of Wall Street. Sperandeo's followup to this book, "Trader Vic-II" is also excellent. Read books by investors with PROVEN track records and you will greatly increase your odds of success in the markets. Thank you very much Mr. Sperandeo.

Victor Sperandeo says that if there were a Hall of Fame for trading he wouldn't be in it but he sees himself as a career pro who consistently performs at an elite level year after year. In fact consistent performance is his central theme, which he says requires not only a successful approach to trading but to life itself. He delves into this in the second part of the book that is dedicated to the psychological approach. Sperandeo says that he trained a group of traders but only a few were successful, and in searching for why he discovered the most important cause was false pride associated with the `idealised self'. I found this interesting in that paying a ton of money to be taught by any of the world's so called greatest traders isn't any guarantee of success!

His reasons for writing the book it seems is frustration with the image the world has of traders in which the unsung career pro goes unnoticed. Whatever his reasons are it is a privilege to gain an insight into the mind and methodology of a New Market Wizard.

His methods are a mixture of fundamental and technical analysis. He uses economics as a forecasting tool and says that cycle analysis actually just gets in the way. If you can understand the fundamentals of economics you can interpret government intervention in the market and profit from it.University taught economics is useless for this. All booms and busts are a result of credit expansion in an effort to lower interest rates, whereas Keynesian economics attempts to use interventionalist policy to smooth out the peaks and troughs but in fact is the predominant cause. Surplus production, savings and innovation create wealth as much for the individual as the economy on the whole. Wealth is actually consumed by government created prosperity via deficit spending. You can't get something for nothing. By understanding these cycles, you can speculate profitably.
Technical tools can then be used for timing entry. He demonstrates how trendlines can be drawn objectively to determine a change in trend using his 123 and 2B rules. A unique approach in this book is an approach to measuring risk by calculating market life expectancy profiles which he says has been instrumental to his success along with his business philosophy of protecting capital, consistent profitability and the pursuit of superior gains.

This book is as much a confession of the soul as a guide on trading methods, which I've found most of the best trading books are.

I am an equities trader and I have read over 20,000 pages about investing in the stock market, fundamental and technical analysis, and many related topics. The ideas presented in Trader Vic's book are extremely practical and relevant and I've not seen many of the ideas expressed in it anywhere else. His ideas about weighing the odds of the future course of the markets based on historical, statistical measurements of time and how far the markets have moved are truly useful. The background he gives about economics made sense and are useful as well. I'd rate it in the top 5 books I've ever read about the markets.

I was torn between 4 or 5 stars. Half the material rated 5 stars, but the other half was 4 stars or even 3 stars. The first 30% was part of what I was expecting -- psychology of the market and predictions. The last 20% was the other part of what I was expecting -- psychology of the trader. The rest is filler, but good filler, mostly geared towards beginners.

Some years ago an experienced trader introduced
me to this book. I read it and I learned many
things from it. The main topics in this book
include: Preservation of capital, consistent
profitability, technical analysis and trading
rules, etc. Trader Vic also talked about
macroeconomics and how it affects the stock
market.

One doesn't have to agree on everything trader
Vic said in his book. And I personally believe
that the writing style could be better. The
outstanding points in this book are Mr.
Sperandeo's great insights about trading and
his very practical real-world trading strategies.
This is a book every trader should read.

Rating: 4 ½ Stars

Over the last two years I have read over 20 books focusing upon trading. This ranks only second to lefevre's Reminiscences of a stock Operator.

In this book Vic details the critical factors / techniques necessary for successful trading. He focuses upon key areas which I believe summarise the key tenets underlying successful trading. It was almost as if this book was tailor made for me given the emphasis upon psychology and the necessary mindset to win. His comments so often ring true. He clarified a number of issues in my own mind and extended my thinking in critical areas.

Not to be missed

I bought this book based on all the positive reviews. But after reading half of it, I left dissapointed. Although there were some helpful stuff, I felt that Vic rambled too much and had difficulty staying on course. This is one of those books that you can't judge by the title, because a good portion of the content has little to do with "mastering Wall Street". At times I kept wondering whether I was reading an economics textbook. He has an entire chapter devoted to Austrian ideology, business and federal reserve history, and credit theory. Some of the chapters that sounded interesting, Conquering False Pride, ended up being extremely dry and torture to read.

If you are really interested in learning to trade, I'd recommend you read Marcel Link's book: High Probability Trading instead.

I bought this book mainly because that I was very impressed by the interview he gave in the new market wizerd book, and really looking for to find more about his insight on market and especially his trading methodology in this book. But kind of dispointed, more than have of the book's content is unnecessary, just I my opinion, where he used many papes to explain some basic economic 101 and dow theory.