A Short Course in Technical Trading

Product Description

Learn to trade using technical analysis, market indicators, simple portfolio analysis, generally successful trading techniques, and common sense with this straightforward, accessible book. Essentially a course in making money, A Short Course in Technical Trading teaches proven long- and short-term trading techniques (with an emphasis on short-term), covering basic indicators and how you can best use them to your advantage.

The book includes a trading game so you can trade along with the lessons, posing likely problems that you'll encounter once trading begins. As trading becomes more complicated, so do the problems..

You'll get a running start as a trader with usage tips on the most popular trading tools. A Short Course in Technical Trading is unlike any other book on the market and is available at a convenient low price.
Product Details

* Amazon Sales Rank: #795345 in Books
* Published on: 2003-06-25
* Original language: English
* Number of items: 1
* Binding: Paperback
* 336 pages

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover
A one-of-a-kind guide to technical trading

"In trading, timing is everything, and now is the time to read this excellent and easy-to-follow book on technical trading systems by Perry Kaufman. He shares his trading tips, insights, and sound advice. He takes you from his rules on price to the recognition of trends and the importance of breakouts. Enjoy this book and find out why trading systems work and which ones work the best."
–Ralph J. Acampora, CMT
Director of Technical Research, Prudential Securities, Inc.

"Investors and traders who have been battered by the markets in recent years may find themselves saying, ‘There must be a better way.’ There is: systematic trading. In this timely book Perry Kaufman provides an excellent introduction to the world of systematic trading, where rules–not emotions–rule."
–John Bollinger, CFA, CMT
Founder, www.BollingerBands.com

"This book is a terrific basic text for those who are looking for a clear and concise introduction to technical analysis. Of great value are the personal insights of the author, a noted authority on the development of trading systems."
–David Krell, President and CEO
International Securities Exchange, Inc.

About the Author
PERRY J. KAUFMAN is a leading expert in trading systems and the developer of successful investment programs for over thirty years. He is actively involved in the practical analysis needed to support international investment management. Kaufman is the author of Trading Systems and Methods, 3rd Edition (Wiley) as well as eight other books. He has published numerous articles in Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities, Futures Industry, and Futures magazine. This book is the result of a graduate course taught at Baruch College in the Spring of 2002. Mr. Kaufman can be reached at pjk@perrykaufman.com.
Customer Reviews

Good for a short course, but a short course only2
TA is a highly sophisticated topic which cannot be covered thoroughly with a 316 page book. That's for sure. In fact, the author had been honest not to over promise with the humble title of his book. The scope of discussion is limited to chart patterns, trendlines, channels, moving averages, Fibonnaci numbers, MACD, Stochastics, RSI and a few others. As the author had emphasized his objective to make his book only an introduction to TA, I am not going to comment on the variety of TA tools covered. However, I still want to criticize on some of the weaknesses:
1) Number of real life examples/price charts are few.
2) The choice of parameters for MACD and Stochastics had not been discussed
3) False breakouts are so frequent in the author's graphs samples (that's a fact of life, I admit). However, the author made little attempt to teach readers how to avoid such traps with the use of multiple TA tools.
4) The relative weak Q&A sections that questions are focused on readers' understanding of the definition of jargons instead of the usage of TA tools.

Though the price is affordable, I am hesitant to recommend it to any aspiring trader/investor who are serious to get an elementary but quality course on TA. It's not the cost of the book that matters, but the cost of time and potential trading loss for reading it.

It's a start!5
In no way is Technical Analysis a easy subject to tackle. It's full of intricacies, formulas, and complexities that most people have a hard time getting a full grasp of what they are trying to accomplish with technical analysis.

Mr. Kaufman does an excellent job of bringing this subject to the reader in a digestible form. As the author of three financial books I can attest to the difficulty of separating the art from the science of technical analysis. In "Futures For Small Speculators" I only bring it up briefly. In this respect Mr. Kaufman shines and exceeds my communication abilities.

This is a great start into the world of Technical Analysis without having to be overwhelmed by mathematics.

I definitely recommend it.