Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

The sole reason I bought this book was the fact that it had such a high rating (5 stars) with over 30 reviews. The book is very easy to read and explains the truths of daytrading by telling real life stories and examples. It is simple, fun to read, and easy to understand.

However, after finishing the book (only 150 pages or so), I did not learn any real substance or valuable information that I use. The book contains so much fluff, fillers, and stories. As a matter of fact, the only valuable information is probably the last 10 pages that explains how he screens his stocks. Even then, his screens are broad and too simple.

Also, the book constantly promotes his "Day trading mentor program" throughout the book. While reading, you can't help to think that the author's book is only written to lure people into his $700 mentoring program. The book offers very little to no technical information which only helps in the author's favor as I guess he gets more customers.

In conclusion, I believe there are far greater books with more value and information with authors who are true day trading gurus, not author's who try to make money off of beginner day traders.

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.

The title of the book is misleading: It is not the truth about 'daytrading', what's presented here is a scalping system, a very special one. The stated 'musts' and 'must nots' refer to this special kind of scalping system. Other day traders may have other preferences. So the content of the book is by no means as ultimate ('the truth') as it sounds.

What did I like in this book: the strong emphasis of 'consistency'. That seems to be the main target first and foremost. And how do you get to the glory stage of 'consistency'? Through raw experience, through trying the same simple process time and again (50 times a day). You make mistakes, you fight (yourself) and you learn. The Author offers a step by step plan, so you can gradually build up skills and confidence and risk. And you shall start softly, small, first per paper-trading, then just 100 stocks a trade. So your risks an skills are in sync. And you should start sticking to just one stock, but watching that one all day long. So, the theory says you'd grasp the typical characteristics of the stock so that you'll know how the stock will behave in future.

Honestly speaking: I didn't manage to get started with this system because I'm skeptical for many reasons:
First and foremost: the author didn't proof his success with the system. No historical records. No records of a typical day where you can see and retrace how he'd do 50 trades using his guidelines. Just a verbal description of a good and bad trading day, no key numbers, no profit factors, no returns. Warren Buffett proudly presents is returns. Why do I never find a trader doing similar? Proudly presenting his success.
His approach seems to be too inflexible to me: it's based on counter-trading. I like counter-trading, but even in daily ranges: trends happen times and again. Why not use and harvest them? I looked at the charts of the stocks mentioned in the book. During the first hour you have a lot of volatility, almost too risky to trade, but the beneficent movement flattens during the day until the final hour. Hardly a chance to squeeze out 25 cents for 50 times. If though, I would have had a chance to see how, giving real examples, at least I paid $[...]bucks for the not too much pages.

But let make clear: I didn't expect to get all possible details of a truly actual working system. For me it's OK to get the principles of the trading system. I don't expect a Holy Grail for $[...]. But what I expect from a trading book is:
1) That it's written by a real active trader (No 'educators' allowed on my book shelve anymore).
2) The proof, that the author is actually doing what he's praying
But regarding the latter, I'm not quite convinced. So If you buy the book, expect no more than a tale, a fairy tale.

This book was very basic and overpriced.

Cons:
1. Redundant beyond belief. Trade 100 shares, use a pay-per-share broker...I got it...loud and clear...the first 10 times you said it.
2. When trading, percentages are what is really relevant, not absolute values. Trading 100 shares, capturing $0.25 - $0.50 in price action, etc...should all be standardized and I believe it is bad practice for even beginners to think in terms of absolute values rather than percentages.
3. Overly simplistic on virtually all of the subjects that are you need to master to become a successful trader.

Pros:
1. Very easy read
2. The main points that the author is preaching are valid and important to achieving success as a day trader (just not elaborated on or quantified nearly as much as they need to be)
3. Entertaining to read about his emotional swings when he first began trading (I was glad to find out that I was not the only day trader who was seriously verbally threatening to throw his monitor out the window if the price action didn't suddenly change in my favor)

Conclusion: I would say that you could squeeze some value out of this book as long as you are just starting to learn about day trading. Other reviews say "for beginners", but let me try and attempt to further define what kind of "beginner" would actually benefit from this book to save people some time and money. Generally speaking, if you are a financial professional that has worked on a trading desk, have any progress towards well-recognized financial charters/certifications, or have been trading your own capital with any degree of success for over 6 months, I would say that you have probably already logically figured out everything that this book has to offer. On the other hand, if you are just out of college, opening your first online broker account, or have very little educational training in the field of finance, then you will learn some valuable lessons from this book.

"The Truth" is most definitely what this book is all about. I have been a struggling online day trader for about four years now. The stock market has been a complete nightmare for me. I have been reading a lot of books lately, and The Truth About Day Trading Stocks has been the one that stands out the most. Josh DiPietro really knows the hard side of day trading stocks. I feel like he is in the trenches with all of us amateurs. His advice is straight-up, he holds no punches. If you are looking for a book that is gunna show you how to make loads of money with some proprietary trading strategy, then this is not the book. Josh purposefully sways from giving the "golden goose" of strategies that will turn you into a millionaire overnight. He teaches just the opposite, he shows the hang-ups to day trading, he shows all the pitfalls and landmines. This book should be a requirement for all beginner day traders. Unfortunately, many beginner day traders think they are advanced. I strongly suggest all degrees of day traders read this book, especially if you have not yet figured out why you can't generate consistent profits.

This title comes (at the time of writing) with a hefty price tag but if you are in the intended target audience I believe the book is well worth it and I give it 4 stars. Here is why:

It's not a "get-rich-quick" book. Rather it's a "Hey listen here, if you just jump in you have a good shot at bankruptcy" book.

The author is not an academic or armchair quarterback but rather he is a guy from the trenches who openly confesses to some of the stupid things he did that cost him money and he reflects upon why and how that may have happened and what he is doing now to trade better. He sets realistic expectations which is important in this day and age where people leverage 1:100 and go in with zero experience expecting to make a 5 figure profit every week from home.

I consider that to be quite honest. He doesn't portray himself as a know-it-all and he doesn't use the book as an advertising platform to push his own courses / seminars every second page. He does mention them of course and he is open about it but at the same time he makes no claims like "my way will make you rich" and "if you are serious about business, you ought to join my seminar and mine only".

This book contains none of that and I applaud the author for resisting the urge to turn his story into a vehicle for self-promotion without showing the reader any other options.

Being involved in day trading and swing trading myself I could identify with a lot of the stuff the author is writing about and I found a lot to take away from it. I will read it again in a year or so when my own trading style has matured some more.

One gripe I have with this (and many other Kindle titles) is that there are quite a number of spelling mistakes. Maybe I am old fashioned but when you publish a book you have a bit of a responsibility to make sure it's grammatically correct and there are no spelling mistakes.

As a developing amateur trader, I have read close to 100 trading books in the past 12 months. Of course, before I commit to buying one and reading it, I do my best to research the book and see if it will actually be useful. Even so, about 85% of what I read is of little substantial value. The fact is hype sells well, and is often well-disguised.

So, as someone fairly familiar with the trading world along with all the salesmen that can't trade, the tradesmen that can't sell, and the hype that is mass marketing, let me say that I am convinced that Josh is a real trader, consistently profitable on his own account. Let me say that I have looked at the primary method he talks about in the book, and it appears quite feasible. It is a real way to make money at this. It is not a way to get rich overnight, or generate ridiculous returns as a rookie. But if you are willing to work at it, making a good living at this game is well within the grasp of anyone who follows Josh's approach with discipline. Rough figures in the book hint at average returns around 10% per month and up on the total trading account (only investing a small portion at any one time), and I'd say that is a reasonable ballpark number, depending of course on infinite variables. The approach is about half mechanical and half discretionary - firm in the execution rules but flexible with exact setups, as you become more familiar with the symbols you will be trading.

Josh explains all of this quite well in the book, as well as basic money management practices and basic stock screening ideas. Much of the book is devoted to the psychological challenges of the game. Josh talks quite a bit about his own challenges as a newbie, and strongly cautions other novices not to underestimate the psychological pressures involved - most people will do very dumb things when real money is on the line. He stresses starting very small, using strict rules, etc.

Overall, a very good read. The book is very achievable and clearly aimed at the novice, but even an experienced trader unfamiliar with Josh's specific trading approach will get value from the book. The Automated Trader may want to give it a look - the flexible setups will not be easy to program, but may be worth the trouble. Programming would certainly aid a manual execution of the strategy in several simultaneous symbols, of course. It is also an easy read.

HI, JOSH
I HAVE GONE THROUGH BOOK , HERE IS MY COMMENTS AND THOUGHTS, I REALLY TO LIKE YOU HAVE YOUR ANSWER ON THIS.

1. YOUR BOOK IS GOOD FOR NEW BEGINER TO DO DAY TRADE TO VOID EMOTION ON THE TRADE(MOST PERSON WILL LOSS THEIR EMOTION OR CONTROL WHEN DO TRADE), I THINK THIS WILL BE HELPFUL TO BE AWARE THAT.

2. BUT FOR THE TRADE SKILL, I REALLY DOUBT IF YOU FIND THE WAY TO PROFIT CONSTANTLY. OTHERWISE YOU WILL NOT NEED TO PROMOTE YOUR MENTOR TRAINING PROGRAM(THIS IS WHAT I THINK, IF I AM WRONG , PLEASE CORRECT IT).

3. BASED ON YOUR TRADE SKILL DESCRIPTION,I ASSUME YOU USE PIVOT LINE TO IDENTIFY THE SUPPORT AND RESIST LEVEL TO DO THE TRADE, BASE ON THIS, I HAVE RUN STATISTIC STUDY ON ONE OF ETF STOCK WITH 3X, AND FOUND SOMETIMES IT WORKS, SOMETIME IT IS NOT WORKS. SO IT MAYBE 50/50 CHANCE ON THAT. I THINK THIS IS MAYBE THE REASON WHY YOU WANT TO DO MENTORING TRAINING PROGRAM, BECAUSE THE CHANGE TO WIN IS NOT HIGHER ENOUGH(GOOD THING ON YOUR TRADE METHOD, YOU MAY NOT LOSS BIG MONEY, BUT IT IS HARDLY TO MAKE MONEY TOO).

4. ALSO, I HAVE POSTED MY REQUEST ON YOUR WEB SITE BLOG, BUT IT HAS BEEN DELETED.
THE REASON I POSTED, BECAUSE I WANT TO PARTICIPATE YOUR PROGRAM IF IT IS REALLY WORK, SO I HAVE REQUESTED YOU CAN POST YOUR TRADING STOCK PERFORMANCE TO CONVINCE ME. BUT I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU HAVE DELETED MY POST BUT KEEP OTHERS OVER THERE. I ASSUME YOU SHOULD HAVE SOME CONCERN ON THAT(IF YOUR TRADE METHOD IS REALLY WORK, YOU CAN POST YOUR PERFORMANCE TO APPROVE THAT, THIS CAN BE MORE CONVINCEBLE THAN LOT OF EXPLAINING).

There is almost nothing of value for any but the most inexperienced traders in this overpriced book. When a book costs this much for so little information, it makes me think the author is out to make a fast buck and probably needs the money badly. I do commend the author for his candor about being wary of trading courses, but his own book falls into that same category. If the book cost less or had more info, I'd give it another star or two.