Customer Reviews

Trading Day by Day: Winning the Zero Sum Game of Futures Trading

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

I have successfully traded with the method described in the book for over 10 years . Daytrading or position trading ---the three line method as described in the book will work. This a no joke type of book. This is not a get rich quick method without any work. If you want to learn trading as a craft and are willing to put in the effort this book is for you. [...]

You will need deep pockets and a strong stomach for wipsaws inorder to succeed with a somewhat subjective method. It may be useful as a confirming directional tool, but so are simple moving averages. I was disappointed and found the method incompatible.

At least 2/3 of this book (hundreds of pages) consists of "Real-Time Commentary", "After-Action Critique", and a corresponding chart for trades that he has placed. I agree that tracking and analyzing trades is important, but this is clearly overkill and appears to be used because a longer book was desired.

In the remaining pages, the content is poorly organized and shallow. There is nothing new in this book, which was published in 2003. Mistakes that the author makes like calling a moving average a trend line don't inspire much confidence in his overly-simplistic Three-Point System, which simply enters a position in the direction of the long term trend if either the short or medium trend is also moving in that direction.

One of the worst books on trading that I have ever read.

I have been trading for more than 10 years, and have read more than 200 trading books. This book is at the very top of the list for a complete approach that really works. Trading is an individual endeavor, and each trader must find his/her own way. This book will guide you with PRINCIPLES (examined, amplified, and applied) while you practice and learn.

This book builds upon the concepts presented in Chick's first book "intelligent Futures Trading". Although to say it builds upon those ideas is really an understatement -- this new book really zeroes in on trading ideas that are more easily applied and understood because the author has sharpened his focus and his methods. Ideas such as trading concurrent mode markets is a groundbreaking idea and very effective methodology. And anytime a book can present a profitable trading method that has never appeared in print....well you are on to something! And there are several more profitable "rules" that I have not seen in any other book.

After Chick has covered the basics of his method, the real heart and soul of the book is a day-by-day analysis of several commodity markets. Each day includes a chart and momentum oscillators updated through that day with Chick's actual real-time comments he made at the time and his post-mortem comments. In addition to seeing how a real trader applies his methods on a daily basis, you will see how even the best of traders using their own methods such as the author are not right all the time, that no one is perfect in the tradng game. It is how you handle yourself when you are right and when you are wrong that makes the difference in addition to a solid trading method.

Whether you take to Chick's methods or not (and I suspect not everyone will be in synch with his approach), the book is still highly recommended even if you don't end up using his methods for your own trading.

Chick Goslin brings decades of experience and success sharing his day trading techniques. He is knowledgeable and credible. I enjoyed the book and found his methodology useful and profitable. I highly recommend his book.

Hello folks. A few months ago I decided to enter the wonderful world of trading. Read about 15 books. All current, and latest. I will put this book at the top of list. The beauty of this book is its simplistic approach. I like the authors approach. His 30+ years of experience is squeezed into this book. The author does not offer complex formulas for success but he has tried to point the OBVIOUS TRUTH which is normally so hard to see.
I would recommend this book to anyone already in the business of trading or thinking of going into. My money was well spent every penny on this book.

According to T.S. Eliot:
We must not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we began and to know the place for the first time.

Obvious truth is the hardest thing to accept. Trading can be as simple as you can think it can be and as complex as you want to make it. In the end, it is not the system but the TRADER who matters. You dont need a canon to kill a snake but you can do that job with a stick if you know how to strike. Trading system accounts for only about 10-15% of the whole game. More than 65% is the pshchology of trader behind the success.

Simple advice is often difficult to take. Experience is EVER BOUGHT NEVER TAUGHT. Lucky are those who has the capacity to utilize other people's experience.

Thanks for reading this review.

This is, bar none, the best trading book I have read. I am using the trading system in this book and am making money.

If you want to put the odds of trading futures in your favour read this book.