Customer Reviews

The Ultimate Trading Guide

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

It's not easy for me to review this book. If I were a beginner I don't think i'd go very far with it. To the more experienced trader, he will surely find something to suite his whatever style of trading, but never leading you to the point of re-thinking a trading system... unless you were losing money already!

The book tries too hard to show all there is about trading, but never going deep enough to explain things in detail, hence the fact that it's not for the beginner...

I found some interesting stuff on it, particularly on patterns, but when you get to the end of it, it leaves you with this feeling that something is lacking.

But don't let my words put you off; it's a 'good enough' one if you already know your way around in Technical Analisys and are looking for something more to spice up your creativity to apply to your own trading system.

No news here. these guys are purely technical. Hill, Lundy and Hill have written their book from years of experience with mechanical trading systems that have made them highly regarded experts. In black and white, what works and what doesn't, will be made clear to the reader from the knowledge of its authors.

It is estimated that 80% of the 30 billion dollars in the managed futures industry is traded by systematic methods. It is also estimated that 80% of the traders lose money. This book was written to allow traders to recognize and exploit an edge in the markets. Examples in both the futures and securities are made to prove the authors' point.

In the beginning, there is the almighty bar chart and a whole chapter devoted to its proper interpretation. According to these guys, all you need to know is in the charts and nowhere else. And with those bar charts a very simple and complete take on the Elliot Wave Theory will demystify even the most obtuse of the technically impaired. Walk-through examples of trading styles and applications of chart patterns are engaging and relevant to all kinds of markets.

The book contains an introduction to mechanical trading systems. Tips on what to look for and where not to look for a system will be very valuable to the inexperienced. Advice on hardware, software, data and testing are also covered, making it a worthy read for anyone interested in mechanical trading.

The authors bring precious bits of wisdom with their experience. Though systems are mechanical in design, the mental toughness required to achieve success is important, and much can be learned from the experienced. Make no mistake, this book is not about easy money, but about the reality of achieving success. As the authors put it:

"There is a giant chasm between knowledge and a successful trader. Few of us are able to make the leap, and those that do must be on the alert or they will fall back into the abyss."

12 out of 10. But not for everyone. The book is designed to help ~you~ develop a trading system, it does not hand one out to you on a platter. Actually it does serve up many, many, many different systems, tests them, explains them in extreme detail to the point that you could computerise them (if you have that skill) however you won't find any of them work wonders.

If however you are very skilled you will get a lot of inspiration from this book. For example, if you are already very advanced, and have developed your own systems either in your head or on computer.

If you are a beginner / novice you might be completely overwhelmed.

Read the other reader reviews and you'll see generally those who are experienced loved it, those new to trading wanting easy answers hated it / disappointed.

It is one of the few books I am reluctant to promote because I don't want the secrets in it to get out - ha! oh well hopefully most people won't get it.

Don't let the title fool you -- this book is not an ultimate compendium in any way. You won't find anything on candlestick charting nor anything on volume-based indicators. With such large omissions the book doesn't deserve to use the title "Ultimate" -- that said, though, this book is a welcome addition to the trading literature.

If I were to nename the book I would title it "A Good Little Book on Trading." The chapter on 2- and 3-day bar chart patterns has some new ideas and the chapters on evaluating and using mechanical trading systems are very worthwhile. I am impressed by the material on historical backtesting because it addresses the statistical problems and pitfalls that many traders make (too many systems are optimized to produce statistical false positives). The authors backtested a non-optimized system and compared it with dynamic optimization and found optimization underperformed the static version of the test!

In a nutshell, despite it not being "ultimate" this book is "quite good" and will give you fresh insights not seen anywhere else.

I would normally give this only 4 stars but people have been giving Mike Covells poor book on trend following 5 stars (I would give it 1) so Hill gets 5.

This is a good review of a range of approaches to the market. It also gives you (free) a number of workable systems that you would pay a lot for elsewhere. If you email them with questions they will also answer.

Their work on Commoditity Channel Index is limited but so what. I use CCI possibly in the same way that Howdy does but I dont find that missing one (of so many) ways to make or lose money in the markets is much of an issue. There are lots of great strategies in here ... look up Woodies Club on the net if you want a CCI based one as well.

Good book John.

I found the book most helpful for my particular style of trading and give it the highest rating. The particular aspects that were of benefit to my trading are:

1. Looking at the big picture from a supply/demand point of view. This helps me select stocks/commodities that are likely to have a significant move.

2. Practical use of the Elliott Wave theory. If any theory needs help, this one does. This book guides one in trading this theory.

3. How to enter and exit the market via the use of short term trading patterns. Nineteen short term patterns are given that would be useful to short term or day traders.

4. System design and implementation based of interpretation of the charts.

I also note that some reviewers find the book of little value. That may be true for some people but definately not for me. I wonder if these comments came from people with a built in bias. One, who was not identified, comes from a geographical area in close proximity to a well known rainbow merchant. Frankly, I am surprised that there have not been a lot of negative reviews by disgruntled rainbow merchants selling "smoke" based on what I know about the authors and their work at Futures Truth.

This is my first Amazon review, I just couldn't believe any reputable publisher or reviewer would embrace such a horrible book!

I am a self-taught trader of 15 years, I love reading traing books, there are currently more than 2,000 traing books in my trading library. Of all the books I have read, this is one of the worst!

The trading strategies/methods presented in this book were poorly researched and the presentation is even worse. Take the indicators section for example, the authors wrote approximately half a page about Commodity Channel Index, barely even scratched surface of this indicator, then presented a table showing their back test result on over 21 individual markets, the results indicated that 20 markets were negative and 1 was about break even. If you are unfamiliar with Commodity Channel Index indicator, you would be missled to believe it is a poor indicator based on their back testing results, but in fact, their testing was based on their incorrect interpretation of how CCI can be used as trading strategy. My onw real trading result using CCI indicator for the past two years averaged over 78% win-loss ratio; I pick CCI as an example because CCI happened to be the best indicator I know. There were just too much poorly researched information presentled in this book, it made my stomach sick when I was reading them, I couldn't help but to write this review, take it whichever way you prefer, my advice to you: run, don't walk, away from this ultimate rip-off!

I have read The Ultimate Trading Guide by John Hill, George Pruitt and Lundy Hill with much pleasure. It is one of the best books I have read on the subject. It is clearly written and gives you the tools to design trading systems. It also is realistic and does not promise you The Holy Grail. I have learned a lot from it.

I advise potential traders to buy this book. It has some good ideas although the specific results on backtesting is not always provided. I liked larry williams book on long term secrets of short term trading because most time he mentioned a strategy he would show the results of backtesting it. The hill book does have good ideas and the assessment of trading systems which have been succesful such as ABERRATION makes you think about losses to be endured on your way to bill gates fortune. May be the best option is to give your money to a broker and ask them to trade a proven long term system eg Mystery system (see the book ), Clearly simple systems are robust and work over time. The channel breakoutsystem still appears to work if you can stand the drawdown. Some apparently highly rated by thier own futures truth magazine systems such as DUAL THRUST are not mentioned.

Overall a useful contribution. I am sorry but the book does not live up to its title although it is good.

Having traded futures for over 20 years, the last five full time, I have read countless books and articles on trading systems. The Ultimate Trading Guide brings together the wisdom of a trio that has probably seen more systems than virtually any other threesome on the planet. This invaluable book provides practical guidance on how to design, develop and trade a winning system. Traders who ignore the book's precepts do so at their own risk.