The Truth About Day Trading Stocks: A Cautionary Tale About Hard Challenges and What It Takes To Succeed (Wiley Trading) (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A realistic guide to day trading today's stock market

The Truth About Day Trading Stocks is an uncompromisingly realistic look at the challenges involved in becoming a successful day trader. Based on author Josh DiPietro's ten years of experience as a day trader, this book dissects the psychological and strategic pitfalls that cause most aspiring day traders to fail. Written in an engaging and sometimes humorous tone, The Truth About Day Trading Stocks relates his own experiences, and in so doing, provides the reader with valuable lessons. This book is an antidote to trading industry hype that encourages traders to believe that trading is easily learned and is a fast path to wealth. It explains that the conventional route of attending seminars, buying software, and opening an account with a major brokerage house is a path to failure. Instead, a trader must learn hard lessons of self-discipline, consistency, and staying in the game for the long haul to have a real chance of success. The goal of this guide is to slow down the over-eager, over-optimistic amateur day trader by imparting a realistic view of the challenges of day trading and providing tools, techniques, and insights to become a successful trader without losing a huge amount of money in the process.

Josh DiPietro (West Dennis, MA and New York, NY) has been day trading stocks for ten years. He operates a Web site, www.daytraderjosh.com, and provides training programs for aspiring day traders.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (July 7, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470448482
• ISBN-13: 978-0470448489
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,798 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The real story of being a day trader, July 7, 2009

By	Steve Burns "Life long learner" (Nashville, TN) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Amazon Verified Purchase

If you are searching around on Amazon for a book that will get you started in day trading, this is it. Josh DiPietro will give you the straight truth about the reality of being a day trader. It is a career choice like any other. It takes hard work to become successful. Almost every beginning trader blows out their account before learning to manage risk. You can read books and take seminars but only real trading will make you successful. I have been a trader for over 6 years and I agree completely with these observations from the author.
Josh's key points are to start with 100 share blocks only, to limit exposure and build skill. Do not move above this amount until you have been successful for months, then only increase trade size very gradually. You can make money trading 100 shares at a time through out the day. This also keeps your emotions under control when no one trade has to much riding on it. Use preset stop losses if your trade goes against you. Most amateurs make the mistake of stubbornly holding losing positions or even increase their position on the way down, this can be disastrous. The key to day trading success is consistency, making the money you need daily, by having a great win ratio.
Josh's system is scalping .20 cents to .40 cents off nice steady consumer staple stocks that trade at least a million shares daily on the market. He uses the previous days support and resistance levels as a trading range along with volume. His trading seems to be primarily counter trend, shorting at break outs to new highs and going long at support to try to catch retracements to profit. I have used this system in range bound markets for much success. So I can say his system is sound from my personal experience. He also wants to avoid stocks if they are in the news or earnings are expected, because that will disrupt the range and lead to volatility and trends.
He also explains the value of using pay per share brokers versus pay per trade brokers. If you qualify for an account with a pay per share firm you could get 10 to 1 or even 20 to 1 leverage. This is for the advanced and you must show them your ability to trade before they will release that much buying power to you. But it enables you to be profitable with $10 and $20 scalps because a 100 share trade is about .35 cents. This is an opportunity amateurs rarely hear about.
I have read over a hundred trading books and day traded successfully through this recent financial crises, with a 31% return from September 2008 to July 2009. I also was one of the rare people who went to a cash position in my 401K on January 5th of 2008. With my background I still learned several things from this book and it was great to get my mind focused during this break from trading. I highly recommend for all beginning and intermediate traders. I wish I would have had this book when I started day trading it would have saved me both money and time.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fresh trading perspective!, June 26, 2009

By	Sam "Sam" (Indianapolis) - See all my reviews

I've been trading for about a year and I've had wonderful highs but fewer mistakes that create larger lows. I've spent $4,500 for classes in Chicago & NYC. The classes attempt to teach me the trading equivalent of driving a golf ball 350 yards, or trading a stock that moves a clean 1 1/2 points. I can't hit a golf ball 350 yards & I can't find a 1 1/2 point move but I can chip and putt both on the greens and in the markets. I discovered Josh in a article in SFO (Stock, Futures and Options) magazine. Josh is not a professional national speaker with his head in the clouds. Josh is more like you and me yet has much to offer. His book tells how to get 25 cents many times, trading psychology (OMG), how to select stocks, manage risks and much more. I put myself on probation as I tend to have many gains but a few larger losses. Sounds like a simple thing to fix but welcome to emotions and money. In my 90 minutes of trading today after reading this book I netted $115. For me, that is good. Certainly go to the conferences and read other books but if want the opinion of a young guy that is more like us, Josh's book is a must.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Consistancy is Key, July 1, 2009

By	Joseph Casella (Astoria, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you want to get the right "mind set" for day trading - this book is for you. Josh explains in a clear, concise manner the good the bad and the ugly of day trading. He pulls no punches - in fact he says day trading is not for everyone. He stresses consistency, making small trades often and keeping your losses small. Josh also teaches how to select a watch list of the best stocks to trade.
Day Trading is a skill that needs to be developed and practiced until its perfected. This book will definitely show you the way.