Trading ETFs: Gaining an Edge with Technical Analysis [Hardcover]

Deron Wagner (Author), Marvin Appel (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 20, 2008 | ISBN-10: 1576603059 | ISBN-13: 978-1576603055 | Edition: 1

An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a basket of stocks that trades on an exchange with the same simplicity and liquidity of an individual stock. In this book, money manager Deron Wagner introduces the major types and families of ETFs and then provides step-by-step guidance to picking and trading funds. Unlike other books on ETFs, Wagner's strategies are based on technical analysis, a method of timing the market that greatly improves an investor's chances of predicting short and intermediate term ETF trends. Wagner's comprehensive catalog of the ETFs now available, his insights into successful trading techniques, and his solid research and informative examples, will be an invaluable resource for everyone trying to come up to speed on this new investment opportunity.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This book is recommended both to professionals who are using or should be using ETFs as an asset class within their portfolios, as well as for the individual investor who wants exposure to wider sectors and geographical regions than those available, with comparable cost-effectiveness, elsewhere. --Clive Corcoran, Publisher and editor, TradeWithForm.com

Deron Wagner has written an excellent book, backed up by solid research and informative examples. This is one of the most illuminating works on exchange-traded funds written in recent years. His incisive commentary on position sizing alone is worth the cost of the book. --Alan Farley, Publisher and editor, HardRightEdge.com

Review

"Valuable not only for a comprehensive cataloguing of the vast array of exchange-traded funds that are now available but also for the insights into successful trading techniques, Deron Wagner's Trading ETFs should become the definitive guide to this increasingly vital part of the capital markets. The book includes numerous examples of the kinds of techniques that Wagner uses in his selection of the most timely ETFs to trade and underscores one of the core insights of his trading discipline, which is to ‘trade what you see, not what you think.’ This book is recommended both to professionals who are using—or should be using—ETFs as an asset class within their portfolios, as well as for the individual investor who wants exposure to wider sectors and geographical regions than those available, with comparable cost-effectiveness,elsewhere."
—Clive Corcoran, Publisher and editor, TradeWithForm.com
Author, Long/Short Market Dynamics
Pension fund manager and commentator on CNBC's European Closing Bell

"Deron Wagner has written an excellent book, backed up by solid research and informative examples. This is one of the most illuminating works on exchange-traded funds written in recent years. His incisive commentary on position sizing alone is worth the cost of the book."
—Alan Farley, Publisher and editor, HardRightEdge.com
Author, The Master Swing Trader

"Deron Wagner has written a terrific book on ETFs based on his extensive experience as a trader. He provides numerous insights and examples of his successful trading style. This is truly a must-read book for anyone who trades or is thinking of trading this fascinating investment product."
—Michael Sincere, Author, Understanding Options and Understanding Stocks

"Having traded the ETF markets since their infancy, Deron Wagner offers the reader a voice of true experience. In this book, he describes an analysis structure that has withstood the test of time. Investors looking for an edge in the ETF marketplace need look no further!"
—Bo Yoder, Trader and risk management consultant
Founder, BoYoder.com

"With ETFs now available for the broadest market indexes to the most focused of sectors, Deron’s new book on ETFs is a must-read for investors and traders wanting to simplify the choice of which ETFs to trade and how to trade them."
—Greg Capra, President and CEO, Pristine.com

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Bloomberg Press; 1 edition (August 20, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576603059
• ISBN-13: 978-1576603055
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 1 x 9.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #512,287 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Simple, Logical & Highly Tradeable System, October 30, 2008

By 

John T. Morris (Palm City, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Trading ETFs: Gaining an Edge with Technical Analysis (Hardcover)

Deron Wagner,in Trading ETFs, has presented a very simple, logical and, I think, successful approach to trading ETFs. In a very readable and understandable style and utilizing numerous chart examples, Mr. Wagner describes how he goes about finding the highest probability trades, how he determines the optimum entry point, how he manages open positions, and how he exits positions be they big winners, breakevens, or losers.

He describes his approach as being a "top down strategy". His first step is to determine the direction of the broad market trend; then, once the trend is determined, he finds those indexes that have the most relative strength or weakness compared to the major indexes; then he selects the strongest ETFs within those indexes (or weakest if going short); then he looks at volume for confirmation; and finally he uses one or more of several techniques to properly time the new entry into the selected ETF.

The one thing that I liked most about Mr. Wagner's book was his use of clean and simple charts. He uses almost exclusively only two and sometimes three moving averages, draws simple trendlines and areas of support and resistance, and shows volume levels and averages. He does not "goop' his charts up with additonal indicators such as MACD-Histograms, slow stochastics, and RSI. While these indicators are certainly very useful to many traders, Wagner's plain, simple approach of looking only at price action and volume confirmation has a lot to be said for it.

Risk management and position sizing are touched upon only briefly but adequately and his comments about using trailing stops are most enlightening.

The two chapters describing case studies of 10 ETF's bought long and 10 ETFs sold short are most useful in illustrating the use of Mr. Wagner's various setups.

I have read Trading ETFs only once now but I am already looking forward to going through it again a second and third time. It is the type of book that you can only absorb only so much the first time around but pick even more pearls of wisdom on subsequent readings.

Needless to say, I recommend Mr. Wagner's newest book highly.

29 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book for ETF traders, September 13, 2008

By 

Trader Mel (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Trading ETFs: Gaining an Edge with Technical Analysis (Hardcover)

If you trade ETF based on technical analysis (chart reading), this is a book that you must read. I've been trading ETF for almost a year. As I'm trying to develop my own trading rules, and strategies, how lucky I am to be able to read a great book like this. It reinforces what I've already known, and completes what I don't know. To me, a successful trading system must clearly define all the following issues, and this book covers them all:

1. How to choose a trade. The book presents a top-down strategy based on relative strength, which is a very reliable indicator.

2. When to enter a trade. The book shows you how to enter on either pull back or breakout.

3. When to exit a trade. The book shows you how to exit a winning trade, as well as losing trade.

4. Position size. The book shows you how to calculate the position size based on volatility of the ETF so that the maximum risk of each trade is the same.

Armed by what I've learned from this book, I hope I am on the way to trading with consistent profit.

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Decent, not spectacular, December 22, 2008

By 

Paul (Irvine, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Trading ETFs: Gaining an Edge with Technical Analysis (Hardcover)

Pros

- good information on ETF's

- a trading strategy backed up by explanations and examples - charts with winning and losing trades

Cons

- not very well laid out, important information is concealed within the body of the book, I would have liked a more clear and concise approach.

- lacked some explanations of the basic principles;

- the chart examples are not always easy to follow.

All in all this book could have been much better simply with better layout and better formatted illustations. I think I will need to re-read it with a highlighter pen and some post-its

The content is good and the cons should not preclude you from buying the book if you are interested in trading ETFs be it on a day, swing or position basis.