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244 of 264 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lessons From An Original Turtle, March 31, 2007
This review is from: Way of the Turtle: The Secret Methods that Turned Ordinary People into Legendary Traders (Hardcover)
Curtis Faith's Way of the Turtle is a significant contribution to the trading literature. As other reviewers have noted, it works on several levels: It is an engagingly written first-person narrative of one of the most interesting experiments in trading, but it is also a thoughtful presentation of the various ingredients of trading success.
Faith spells out the Turtle trading method in detail, providing a template for a more general approach known as trend following. Most helpful is the way he breaks down the method into components: entry criteria, criteria for adding to positions, position sizing, stops, and exits. A particularly interesting chapter draws upon his Trading Blox software to update trend following research and illustrate the results of several systems in recent markets.
If I had to identify a single theme for the book, it might be this: Relatively simple trading systems can provide a tradable edge, but it is psychologically difficult for traders to follow these systems and exploit that edge. Faith illustrates this with the variability in the results among the Turtle trainees (despite the fact that all of them were given the same system rules). He also provides a detailed accounting of the psychological biases that make it difficult to follow systems that ride relatively few big winning trades for an overall positive expectancy.
Among the gems provided by Way of the Trader is a discussion of stop loss criteria and surprising research about what works and doesn't; a concluding chapter that lays out the Turtle rules in manual form, along with execution tactics; and an insightful presentation of the reasons most traders do not succeed in trading. Faith questions both discretionary trading--trading without systematically testing one's trading ideas--and the notion that trading systems eliminate emotions from trading. He makes it very clear that traders need an objective edge in the marketplace *and* the psychological fortitude to ride out inevitable drawdowns on route to exploiting that edge.
I don't think it's necessary that one be a dedicated trend follower to greatly benefit from this book. Besides being a fun and interesting read, it is an excellent introduction to the various components of trading methods and how they impact outcomes. It is also a first-rate integration of the psychology and techniques of trading. Perhaps most important of all, Way of the Turtle is an illuminating presentation of risk management and consistency, two major contributors to market success.
There are no glaring weaknesses to the book that I can detect. Personally, I would have enjoyed a discussion of the pros and cons of trend following at shorter time frames. I also would have liked a discussion of the capital required to properly implement the Turtle approach, given that success derives from holding a diversified portfolio. Those, however, are small quibbles when compared to the book's strengths. The author's chapter elaborating the Turtle method as a life philosophy is, by itself, worth the price of the text.
In short, Curtis Faith has written the definitive book on the Turtle experience and way of trading. It's hard to imagine anyone reading this book and not coming away from the experience impressed with the blend of research and psychological strength that goes into trading success.
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127 of 141 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Trading Book Overall!, April 1, 2007
This review is from: Way of the Turtle: The Secret Methods that Turned Ordinary People into Legendary Traders (Hardcover)
This is one of the best overall trading books that I have read. The book covers the story of the Turtles, which for those who don't know was a group of people from different walks of life assembled out of a newspaper add to trade a system from two of the most successful traders in the world. This was done on a bet that these two guys could raise traders like people raise turtles, thus the Turtles. Curtis Faith, the youngest and most successful of the Turtles working for Richard Dennis at the time, starts out by telling his story from the selection process to trading as a Turtle in a brief history.
One of the more interesting aspects of the book was the focus on the psychology of trading. As a trader I can agree that psychology plays a large role in a person's success as a trader. Most books want to focus on the system and nothing else. The system is only one part of trading. The reason Curtis talks about one's psychology is that he said during the first month of trading as a Turtle he was the only one who stuck to the rules of the system! He said some of them just couldn't trade the system for one reason or another and eventually didn't make it. It was really interesting. Trading is a business that at times your mind will work against you.
There are 15 chapters in this 274 page book and here is a partial list of some chapter titles. Risk Junkies, Taming the Turtle Mind, Think Like a Turtle, Risk and Money Management, Turtle-Style Building Blocks, Turtle-Style Trading: Step by Step, Bulletproof Systems and Mastering Your Demons. In these chapters you will not only find what was originally taught to the Turtles but also some wisdom on different types of systems and what it takes to be a successful trader. There is a different look at position sizing and risk management from what most others teach along with all the original rules to trend following the way that Richard Dennis and Bill Eckhardt taught the Turtles. It is well written in a simple manner that gets to the point. Included are also some personal notes about Curtis' life and some business ventures that have not been as successful as his trading was.
All of that said this is not like some other books that are full of hype and don't reveal anything about actual trend following rules. This book lays out how to trend follow along with the realities that trend following ain't as easy as it sounds. Curtis mentions in the book how at one time he had a 70% drawdown and still kept trading the system!
Just a personal note here. A few years ago I had bought a package from Russell Sands, another one of the Turtles, on the Turtle method of trading and spent if I remember correctly around $200. This book is a bargain compared to that and it also includes some aspects that were not covered by Mr. Sands. I believe this book will be of benefit to anyone who is serious about learning more about trading and they will learn some stuff about themselves in the process. I highly recommend it.
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109 of 125 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing, May 29, 2007
This review is from: Way of the Turtle: The Secret Methods that Turned Ordinary People into Legendary Traders (Hardcover)
I bought this book and couldn't wait until it
arrived. I tore into it to find out the "Way of
the Turtle" or the religion of Turtle Trading. I
expected the author to uncover how he used the
Turtle Way in his trading and personal life.
Perhaps talk about the lessons learned from his
tech-company going belly up, and his failings in
trading, and business in general. Certainly the
discipline taught by Dennis and Eckhardt should
have better prepared him mentally to avoid the
large scale failures he has endured in his life?
What I found instead was a boring assembly of
trading descriptions that really had nothing to
do with the "Way of the Turtle" or Curtis Faith
in general. It was a poor attempt to be
everything to everyone. He very rarely stayed on
one topic, and scattered around trading ideas
while providing little tangible insight. Oddly,
he did not mention any of the other traders in
his Turtle class. A "reveal all book" would
certainly mention the other students in his class
- seeing that some of them have become Wall
Street's greatest traders!
Recently Faith revealed (on YouTube) that he lost
all of his trading capital. So I am confused. I
bought this book to see in depth about who the
"most successful" Turtle was only later to hear
him confess that he lost all of his trading
capital. Which is it? Are you the great trader
that you claim to be or did you lose all of your
money? After reading this book I am convinced
that the author has probably not traded in years.
This is a bargain basket book inside of 2 years -
don't waste your time or money.
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