Trading Day by Day: Winning the Zero Sum Game of Futures Trading (Hardcover)

by F. H. Chick Goslin (Author) "WHY TRADE? To make money, of course..." (more)
Key Phrases: Mar Cocoa, Hillary Clinton, Commitment of Traders (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Trading Day by Day is overflowing with the fundamental truths and reliable trading rules every trader needs to be competitive in any market, at any time. The three natural laws of trading, an intelligent approach and method, a sound mathematical system, the spike rule, the mistake rule, divergences, relative strength, the truth about options, businesslike money management, over a hundred "real time," day-by-day chart examples, and much more.

While specifically about futures trading, its approach and method are equally applicable to forex, stocks and any other market.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 375 pages
• Publisher: California Pub (December 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0974092118
• ISBN-13: 978-0974092119
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #326,377 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book and very unique, February 13, 2005

By	Y. Kacija (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have read hundreds of trading books and this is probably one of the top 5 books in my library. This book explains a very simple way to use indicators (or lines as Chick calls them) successfully without having to overanalyze the situation. It does'nt go much into pattern reading which personally I dont focus too much on. Pattern reading in my opinion should be secondary in the trade decision process and ones main focus should be on price which is what the indicators (the lines) follow. Chicks method uses three simple indicators as follows:

1. A long-term trend following indicator (the tail)
2. An intermediate-term indicator (the body)
3. A short-term indicator (the head)

Chuck compares the movement of all three of them to a snake which body parts I labeled above in parantheses. The art to reading the indicators is being able define the signals before they actually arrive by using what he calls a margin-of-error putting you a step or two ahead of the crowd. He uses a simple mathematical counting system on all three indicators to give you a status (bullish, bearish, neutral) on the markets you are trading.
Ive been trading for years an I am very reluctant to add new ideas to my arsenal but the ideas in this book really fascinated me. This book is a real gem and I highly recommend it to anyone with a basic knowledge of charting and the markets.
It really shows the reader a less-stressful way to trade at the discretionary level.
I have dedicated a small stake of my account to trading equities using Chicks methods and have done quite well for the last 3-4 months. The book discusses futures but the methods could work very well for a good stock picker.
Dont think twice about buying this book. Ive read hundreds and I can tell you that 97% of all the books ive read are pure garbage. There are very few good books written by successful traders and this is definitely one of them. IMO no other book explains the art of using indicators like this one. Chick has really made an effort to go into his minds eye and reflect that into this book. The Real-time trading examples are excellent and ARE NOT trades taken after the fact. He randomly selected around 10 futures markets and started all them on the same date. He then goes forward day by day on all of them through about 65% of the book.

22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book so far on trading technique, December 2, 2004

By	Anonm (USA) - See all my reviews

This book holds your hands, lays down the rules, shows the technique, and walks you through the technique - day-by-day for various futures market. Haven't read such a book on trading! I have applied his principles, and seeing the clear (positive!) difference in my trading.

The theme of the book is to trade with the trend. Look at he long, medium and short term trend, and trade.

Basically, he points out...

There are three natural laws of trading-no more, no less-and they are:
1) THE FUTURE IS UNKNOWN (Don't waste time to predict the price, rather look back)
2) CONTINUATION IS MORE LIKELY THAN CHANGE (trade the trend. Look in the past, if prices are going up, they will, if going down, they will, and if sideways, stay aside from that market, in short, trade the high probability markets)
3) PRICES FLUCTUATE (Take profits, and cut losses, after all, trading is a business).

There are numerous examples, suggestions, and guidance from author's 30+ yrs. of experience. Of course, there is no holy grail, and he admits he makes mistakes too, but as long as emotions and trading decisions are kept away from each other (and this book shows how), you increase the probability of winning.

Normally, I never mark or underline anything in my book, but this book prompted me to underline various points. Highly recommended.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for anyone serious about trading in futures, August 4, 2004

By	Mr M. J. Duncanson (Birmingham, UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is an excellent insight into the methods used by a successful trader, which Chick Goslin is.

Chick is not a day trader. He takes a position and will hold it until his oscilators and moving averages tell him it is time to get out, but the methods and ideas in the information in his book can also be adapted for use in daytrading, even on very short time frames. Chick has good insight into a variety of markets, as you will find in the book. There are also some sound ideas for approaching trading as a business.

I find it worthwhile anytime I can learn something from a successful trader. There is so much to learn in this game, and some people have methods that work over a wide range of markets. I believe Chick is one of those people.

Basically, this is one of the best if not THE best books in my trading library here. No flannel, just good information all the way through from someone who has actually made millions and still does from trading.