Trading Online: A Step-by-Step Guide to Cyber Profits [Paperback]

Alpesh Patel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1999

The investment market is experiencing a massive swing towards online investing. Trading Online introduces private investors to this expanding world of Internet investing. Guiding investors step-by-step through the mass of information, the book directs them to the best deals and teaches them the necessary skills to trade efficiently, effectively, and profitably. Demonstrating the latest net strategies and offering practical advice throughout, the book will show investors, from net virgins to sophisticated users, how to apply key techniques to Internet trading.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Financial Times/Prentice Hall; 1 edition (April 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0273635417
• ISBN-13: 978-0273635413
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,088,449 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Time for a proper review, February 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Trading Online: A Step-by-Step Guide to Cyber Profits (Paperback)

The book is divided into Sections.

Section 1 deals in the basics for the novice of getting online, choosing ISPs, computer hardware, printers etc. This will be basic for most online traders, but as the author says, it can be skipped by those already 'up to speed'.

Personally, I would have prefered this section at the end. The final chapter(8) of Section 1 offers some interesting tips on speeding up access to the internet - which strictly do not fall into the field of Trading Online, but are appreciated.

Section 2 "The Road to Profit" represents the start of the book proper in my opinion. The section begins with an introduction to action plans. At first I was doubtful if this method of organisation would work, however, having tried them it does tend to provide a useful framework for trading.

These action plans, are composed of 7 steps, each necessary for trading online. The steps include price data, fundamental analysis, technical analysis, broker execution methods, portfolio monitoring etc. The book explains the importance of each, and for the important step of analysis for determining likely price moves, the book details some strategies and systems.

Having explained the significance of eaxh step and how it relates to each further step, the book moves on to Section 3, which is a list of recommended sites for each of the steps. The sites listed here are cross-referenced to Section 4 of the book, where they are grouped according to whether they are online brokerages, Mutual Fund Sites, Technical Analysis sites etc.

The idea behind Section 3 is that you go through each step, say for example Step 3 (Analysis) choosing the sites you think are worth visiting by looking at their description, review and summary of contents provided in the book. You then settle on the core sites for each Step, and stick to them each time you trade. As I have said, how best to use the sites as part of your overall plan is well explained.

At first I was a little sceptical of whether this would work, and admittedly it helped when I photocopied the action plans. This then meant that a lot of the hard work had been done for the reader.

The sites covered in Section 4 are quite exhaustive, but the book makes it clear, only sites considered worth visiting, in the opinion of the author, are listed. Sites are listed under, 'a little bit of everything', 'technical analysis sites', 'Brokerage sites', 'Mutual Funds', 'Futures and Options', 'Exchanges', 'Bonds', 'Forex', 'Options Analysis', 'Gurus and Newsletters', 'Discussion Forums', 'E-Zines'.

As one would expect stock traders are given the most space and are catered for best, and one complain.

Section 5 is the end-part of the book, and is aimed at further research. 3 chapters cover the issue of using Search Engines properly, Financial Directories and Online Bookstores.

There are a plethora of appendices covering tech analysis, fundamental analysis, options and futures. I take issue with some of the books in the recommended reading list, in that I definately disagree on some of the recommendations, but that is not a critical issue. For good measure there is a glossary and index.

The graphics and layout are very good, in that the font is easy on the eye, the layout helpful - with a side bar for comments, lots of screen dumps etc. The nature of trading books seems to be following those of internet books generally in design and that is no bad thing.

All in all very useful

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This book was not a good investment!, October 20, 1999

By 

Alan Tilstone ([e-mail]) (New Hampshire) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Trading Online: A Step-by-Step Guide to Cyber Profits (Paperback)

I was very disappointed with 'Tading Online'. It gives a superficial, incomplete and somtimes misleading view of the subject matter. For example, I read that "read only memory" is "RAM" (page 20), and that "firewalls" are "walls of fire" (page 113). Instead, I recommend readers try 'Online Investing' by Jon Markman which I give *****.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Do yourself a favor and don't buy this book, December 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Trading Online: A Step-by-Step Guide to Cyber Profits (Paperback)

"Gee, how can I make some money from writing about the internet? I know -- I'll write some worthless stuff about getting connected to the internet (target group-African bushmen?), and then I'll just put down the on-line investing sites I found after a few days of random surfing." I'm sure a similar train of thought went through the author's mind just before he came up with this lemon of a book. At the time of this review, this book had a four star review average; these other reviews that said this book was "brilliant" made me laugh. Shakespeare is brilliant; this author's intentions are merely expedient.