Quantitative Analysis for Investment Management by Jr. Robert A. Taggart

Product Details

* Amazon Sales Rank: #1516367 in Books
* Published on: 1996-01-05
* Format: Facsimile
* Number of items: 1
* Binding: Paperback
* 306 pages

Editorial Reviews

The publisher, Prentice Hall Business Publishing
The purpose of the book is to provide a concise overview of the quantitative tools and models that have been most widely used in investment management. It is the premise of the book that many of the most popular quantitative techniques have certain elements in common, and that if these elements can be understood, the reader can gain a working understanding of a wider variety of complex securities and portfolio management techniques.

From the Back Cover
Key Benefit: The purpose of the book is to provide a concise overview of the quantitative tools and models that have been most widely used in investment management. It is the premise of the book that many of the most popular quantitative techniques have certain elements in common, and that if these elements can be understood, the reader can gain a working understanding of a wider variety of complex securities and portfolio management techniques. Key Topics: Helps the professional who does not necessarily aspire to be a technical specialist gain a working understanding of the new technology of finance; focuses on the analysis and valuation of individual securities and considers portfolios of securities; emphasis is on the numerical problems and spreadsheet exercises at the end of each chapter, reflecting a belief that the material is best learned if readers work with it and try to apply the basic principles in a variety of contexts.
Customer Reviews

I recommend undergraduate student3
I'm graduate student now.I looked for the book to read more mathmatically ones.This book is very cleary, plain. You can read without knowledge of math and probability.So he explain wide area.

But is not suitable for me. Because of too easy! For finance with mathematics, I recommend [An introduction to the mathematics of financial derivatives:S.N.Neftci ].

Then if you haven't ever read the book of this field,this book is good for you!

Vault Career Guide to Private Wealth Management (Vault Career Library) by John Ransom

Product Description

Want to land a job or career in the private wealth management industry but don't know where to start? The Vault Career Guide to Private Wealth Management takes you inside the industry to make sure you can land the job you want. It covers the basics of equity and fixed income products to market and regulatory trends, and dissects career paths and job responsibilities at the both large and small firms.
Product Details

* Amazon Sales Rank: #212833 in Books
* Published on: 2007-02-25
* Number of items: 1
* Binding: Paperback
* 128 pages

The MBA Career Bible, 2005 Edition: The Vault Guide to Careers and Hiring for Business School Students and Recent Graduates (Vault MBA Career Bible)

Product Description

Now in one affordable guide, Vault provides an annual up-to-date overview of major MBA career paths.
Product Details

* Amazon Sales Rank: #1068810 in Books
* Published on: 2004-09-25
* Number of items: 1
* Binding: Paperback
* 224 pages

Customer Reviews

sloppy abbreviated excerpts from other vault guides with no MBA specific focus1
THis guide is comprised of disjointed industry snapshots taken from other vault industry guides with no specific advice for MBA job seekers whatsoever. It's a complete waste of money and the Vault people should be ashamed of themselves for attaching their name to such a shoddy product.

Not to mention it's full of typos and grammatical errors

DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK!1
Horribly written. The grammatical errors are ridiculous. I'm returning it.

Street Smarts: High Probability Short-Term Trading Strategies by Laurence A. Connors

Product Description

Published in 1996 and written by Larry Connors and "New Market Wizard" Linda Raschke. This 245 page manual is considered by many to be one of the best books written on trading futures. Twenty-five years of combined trading experience is divulged as you will learn 20 of their best strategies.

Among the methods you will be taught are:

* Swing Trading - The backbone of Linda's success. Not only will you learn exactly how to swing trade, you will also learn specific advanced techniques never before made public!
* News - Among the strategies revealed is an intra-day news strategy they use to exploit the herd when the 8:30am economic reports are released. This strategy will be especially appreciated by bond traders and currency traders.
* Pattern Recognition - You will learn some of the best short-term set-up patterns available. Larry and Linda will also teach you how they combine these patterns with other strategies to identify explosive moves.
* ADX - In our opinion, ADX is one of the most powerful and misunderstood indicators available to traders. Now, for the first time, they reveal a handful of short-term trading strategies they use in conjunction with this terrific indicator.
* Volatility - You will learn how to identify markets that are about to explode and how to trade these exciting situations.
* Also, included are chapters on trading volatility, trading Crabel, trading the smart money index, trading gap reversals, a special chapter on professional money management, and many other trading strategies!
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #157220 in Books
Published on: 1996-01-01
Number of items: 1
Binding: Hardcover
238 pages
Editorial Reviews

Commodity Traders Consumer Report, March 1996
* * * * (out of 4 stars) ... excellent!, Commodity Traders Consumer Report, March 1996
Customer Reviews

You need the sophistication to appreciate it.
This is an advanced book, and it does no hand holding. It is a trading niche book. It is not about day trading, nor momentum trading, but a unique subset of short term trading called "swing trading". If you do not know the difference, this book is not for you. It is not earth shattering. But, it is written by traders who have done it for a living for decades. Thus, it is worth knowing how they think, and how they have earned a living. And, yes, you mostly only make a few hundred bucks at a time, if you are good. Not riches, but "a living".

The price is high, but this is a small niche market. They will sell few copies. Linda Raschke has done this technique of swing trading and earned a living at it for decades. I would not expect her to take time off to write about it for chump change. If it were a mass market, a lower price would be in order, but this book is good for very few people.

I give it four stars only because of the terse format. BUT, they are traders not literary artists. I cannot fault them for not writing War and Peace.

If you are an experienced trader, and expect nothing more than a few hundred bucks when a trade goes well, and protection from loss when it does not, this book will either confirm what you know, which is helpful, or add a trick or two that you did not know, which is more helpful. Traders are successful who earn a living, a few hundred dollars at a time, several times a day, day after boring day. It is not a book for others at all, and not a book to start with. If you magically expect more money than this, buy another book. And, nothing in short term trading is really new over time. This is not a breakthrough book of new and novel ideas. The first idea, "Turtle Soup" came from the Turtles which have been around many decades. It is nice to read that this pattern has not yet worn itself out, and is still used. I am happy to have it in my library. I am happy to know that old tricks still work for old dogs.

VERY BAD AND OVER PRICED !!!!
I cant this book is $175 !!! for the material inside is plain junk, i have read ALLOT of books from gann to elliot to andews and this has to be the worst book i have ever read the methods taught are very indicator based and will not work in the long run the wolf wave method is basicly elliot wave rehased, there are better books to learn the elliot wave best book in my opinion robert miner's book, as for momentum is concerned larry williams. and for breakouts edward's and magee. I have been trading for 10 years but i constantly buy books just to see if i can atleast get one golden nugget out of them, this book however has no good insight into anything i did not get one good idea out of this book. As for some of the reviews on here if you click see all my reviews this is the only book they have reviewed ....hmmm but if you are serious about trading the books i reccomended above are very insightfull atleast they were for me, miners book is old but is full of new ideas and less based on indicators and has very easy to follow rules for elliot, i guess what they say is right old is gold. good luck

if you don't like this, you don't understand trading
you can always spot s loser by one of (or both) of two reactions:

1- They want to get into a business to make money but think $200 is too much!!

2- They expect what they read to agree with their bias

Anyone who wants to make money but thinks a book is expensive at $170 has the wrong personality for trading. If you are like that, you have no business trading because you are too greedy and a coward.

Secondely, when you are making a comment about someone, it is really important to REALLY be sure that what you are saying is acccurate. The implication that Linda does not make money trading is just ridiculous. The woman is a bloody Market Wizard, for God's sake! She is also a pretty crap promoter of her services.

The book is excellent. The question is: does it contain methods that can make you money? Of course it does. You guys are clearly sleep walking because you are concentrating on believing that every method in the book will make you money all the time under any circumstances. Quit believing that and pick the ones that work under different market conditions.If you can't, it is your fault, not the book's.

If you watch Linda trading, you will see her using those setups under the right conditions. The fact is, if you cannot make money trading the setups in the book, you are either new and have to learn the basics first, or you are not cut out for this business.

Investments by William F. Sharpe

Product Description

KEY BENEFIT: This book provides a solid theoretical framework around which to build practical knowledge of securities and securities markets. KEY TOPICS: It offers a balanced presentation of theory and practice as it explains to readers the essentials of prominent investment concepts. Just as importantly, it illustrates how those concepts are applied by professional investors. Further, the book reviews a wide range of empirical studies that connects the academic to the practitioner. Numerous examples enhance readers' understanding of important ideas. The Sixth Edition distills the growing complexity of the investment environment, enumerating and describing today's various securities and markets in a clear, concise manner and integrating discussions of new investment management techniques.

Product Details

* Amazon Sales Rank: #521604 in Books
* Published on: 1994-12-09
* Number of items: 1
* Binding: Hardcover
* 900 pages

Editorial Reviews

Card catalog description
The subject matter for this edition of Investments has evolved considerably since 1978 when the first edition was published. For example, in the last several years international investing has expanded rapidly, securities such as swaps and mortgage derivatives have become increasingly popular, and investors have placed much more emphasis on investment styles. The task of the authors has been to keep Investments fresh and stimulating and to continue the tradition of this text to offer students and instructors the most thorough and most current survey of the investment environment.

The publisher, Prentice Hall Business Publishing
This book provides a solid theoretical framework around which to build practical knowledge of securities and securities markets. It offers a balanced presentation of theory and practice and it explains to students the essentials of prominent investment concepts. Just as importantly, it explains how those concepts are applied by professional investors. Further, the book reviews a wide range of empirical studies that connect the academic to the practitioner. Numerous examples enhance students' understanding of important ideas.

From the Back Cover
Key Benefit: This book provides a solid theoretical framework around which to build practical knowledge of securities and securities markets. Gives a comprehensive treatment of prominent financial instruments, securities markets, and investment management techniques. Key Topics: It offers a balanced presentation of theory and practice and it explains the essentials of prominent investment concepts. Just as importantly, it explains how those concepts are applied by professional investors. Further, the book reviews a wide range of empirical studies that connect the academic to the practitioner.
Customer Reviews

Learning from a Nobel Prize Laureate5
You do not pick up this book to get "tips" on making an easy million. It does not teach you how to chart nor pick a value/momentum stock based on fundamental analysis.

It does, however, teach you about the foundation of modern investment theory and concepts. William Sharpe is a professor at Stanford and a Nobel Prize winner in 1990, along with Markowitz, for portfolio theory. Sharpe later extended this and introduced Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and it is explained as part of a lesson in this book. Their work is THE fundamental investment Asset Pricing Model.

As others have mentioned, to get the most of this book, you need some understanding of investments and a solid understanding of statistics. With these in hand, you will gain knowledge from this book. It is not an easy read and it used in graduate schools (I used it while obtaining my MBA), but Sharpe does an excellent job at explaining and illustrating investment concepts.

If you want to create deeper understanding of investment knowledge and really want to know investments, this is your book. For example, instead of just knowing that diverification is important, know how diversification works.

Great book - thorogh coverage of fundamentals5
I had the opportunity to take a course at the University of Minnesota from Jeff Bailey while he was preparing this book. He provided an excellent mixture of pratical examples in addition to the theory involved.

In addition, he was very approachable.

Anyone seriously interested in investing should consider this book!

Think well, before buying this book.1
What will you learn from this book?

A lot of financial concepts, instruments and products.
If you do not know anything about financial markets, this is the book!!!!

Is it enough? NO, it is not enough even for a beginner. Why? Because it does not tell you how to think in financial terms, and mainly how to make up your portfolio.

Yes, lots of graphs, figures, nice words, you think you are learning finance, but suddenly you realize that actually you know nothing and that you read a lot of vain pages. Unfortunately, you will be in the end of the book.

If want to know how to implement the models presented in the book, or even if you want a book that says the same thing that Sharpe's but in less pages, consider:

- Modern Investment Theory by Robert A. Haugen; or
- Modern Portfolio Theory and Investment Analysis by Edwin J. Elton, Martin J. Gruber.

Pairs Trading: Quantitative Methods and Analysis (Wiley Finance) by Ganapathy Vidyamurthy

Product Description

The first in-depth analysis of pairs trading
Pairs trading is a market-neutral strategy in its most simple form. The strategy involves being long (or bullish) one asset and short (or bearish) another. If properly performed, the investor will gain if the market rises or falls. Pairs Trading reveals the secrets of this rigorous quantitative analysis program to provide individuals and investment houses with the tools they need to successfully implement and profit from this proven trading methodology. Pairs Trading contains specific and tested formulas for identifying and investing in pairs, and answers important questions such as what ratio should be used to construct the pairs properly.
Ganapathy Vidyamurthy (Stamford, CT) is currently a quantitative software analyst and developer at a major New York City hedge fund.
Product Details

* Amazon Sales Rank: #195957 in Books
* Published on: 2004-08-30
* Number of items: 1
* Binding: Hardcover
* 224 pages

Editorial Reviews

Download Description
The first in-depth analysis of pairs trading
Pairs trading is a market-neutral strategy in its most simple form. The strategy involves being long (or bullish) one asset and short (or bearish) another. If properly performed, the investor will gain if the market rises or falls. Pairs Trading reveals the secrets of this rigorous quantitative analysis program to provide individuals and investment houses with the tools they need to successfully implement and profit from this proven trading methodology. Pairs Trading contains specific and tested formulas for identifying and investing in pairs, and answers important questions such as what ratio should be used to construct the pairs properly.
Ganapathy Vidyamurthy (Stamford, CT) is currently a quantitative software analyst and developer at a major New York City hedge fund.

From the Inside Flap
Pairs trading is the simplest possible example of employing a market neutral strategy. It involves the trading of securities in pairs comprised of a long position in one security and a short position in the other. If performed properly, an investor will be in the ideal position of gaining in any situation-whether the market rises or falls.

Author Ganapathy Vidyamurthy examines two versions of pairs trading that arise in the context of statistical arbitrage and risk arbitrage. He offers a compelling point of view that integrates theory and practice-providing in-depth analysis and insight in both of these cases. Issues encountered when translating theory to practice are addressed in a direct manner, arming the investment professional with the quantitative tools needed to answer key questions relating to this type of trading.

Written in an easy, accessible style, the book is a seamless blend of ideas ranging from econometrics, control theory, and operations research to core financial theories like arbitrage pricing theory and the theory of contingent claims. It is organized in three information-packed parts. Part I sets the context for the rest of the book by introducing material on key topics including time series, factor models, and Kalman filtering.

Part II of the book details statistical arbitrage pairs, a relative value arbitrage based on the premise that there is a long-run equilibrium between the prices of the stocks comprising the pair. Part III moves on to illustrate the trading techniques and strategies associated with risk arbitrage. This widely practiced arbitrage technique involves pairs trading that arises in the context of corporate events, especially mergers and acquisitions. You'll also discover why-although they are called arbitrage strategies in the industry-they are by no means risk-free.

Pairs Trading contains specific and tested formulas for identifying and investing in pairs. To further facilitate an understanding of this method, a bulleted summary highlighting key points is provided at the end of every chapter. Peppered with humor and snippets of history, Pairs Trading provides a framework for and insights on applying rigorous analysis to trading pairs in the equity markets.

From the Back Cover
Comprised of three information-packed parts, Pairs Trading presents an in-depth look at the various aspects of these strategies and provides quantitative tools to assist in their analysis. The first part of this comprehensive resource sets the context for the rest of the book by introducing preliminary material on some key topics, including time series, factor models, and Kalman filtering.

After presenting the broad ideas and concepts of this trading method, Pairs Trading delves into two different versions of pairs trading in the equity markets-statistical arbitrage pairs trading and risk arbitrage. Part II of this book details statistical arbitrage pairs trading, which is a relative value arbitrage on two securities based on the premise that there is a long-run equilibrium between the prices of the stocks comprising the pair. Part III moves on to illustrate the trading techniques and strategies associated with risk arbitrage-the widely practiced arbitrage technique that involves pairs trading arising in the context of corporate events, especially mergers and acquisitions.

Written in a straightforward and accessible style, Pairs Trading provides a framework that will allow you to boost the bottom line of any portfolio.
Customer Reviews

Very interesting material4
It's a good read even with the somewhat unorthodox mathematical notation. The overall concept of pairs trading is introduced well, with just enough detail to tempt the more adventurous gambler. The author appears well versed in the subject and writes well but assumes a relatively high level of mathematical maturity on the part of the reader.

the only good introduction to pairs trades 5
When people talk about "quant" stuff, they are generally talking about two fairly distinct kinds of quant. There are the derivatives guys (options sell side & risk hedgers), and the 'statistical arbitrage' guys. This is one of the best books for a larval 'statistical arbitrage' guy. 'Statistical arbitrage' is a term referring to the techniques used by sophisticated hedge funds and trading desks to provide 'risk free' returns. I stick in the scare quotes around these phrases, because they're not really arbitrage, though they can be pretty decoupled from market returns. The techniques go well beyond just trading pairs, so the phrase, 'stat arb' is probably with us for good, even though it is often neither stat nor arb. The mean reverting versions of these techniques were largely invented by Nunzio Tartaglia and company (primarily Gerry Bamberger according to Thorp) at Morgan Stanley in the 1980s. Many of his underlings went on to found their own hedge funds, and the secret eventually became relatively common knowledge. Boesky was one of the more famous practitioners of merger arbitrage, which is an older, related technique.

This book is a fun introduction to 'statistical arbitrage,' concentrating on the standard "mean reverting pairs" variety, and a decent explanation of merger arbitrage which he unifies with mean reverting stat arb in an interesting way. These two strategies still form the basis of a large number of high frequency techniques in one form or another. In fact, the book provides enough background material to be useful for all kinds of techniques for finding alpha; it has a very clear treatment of factor models, time series analysis (best low level one I have ever read, anywhere) and what market neutrality is and isn't. He provides a decent amount of discussion of the complexities surrounding tradeability and other practical issues that get swept under the rug in most books.

Sure, there are a lot of specific 'stat arb' techniques he doesn't mention explicitly. He doesn't talk about basket trading plays, index arbitrage, volatility arbitrage or any of the other myriad clever (and often over my head) techniques used by sophisticated fund managers to vacuum up loose change that dumb people leave on the street. So what? Vidyamurthy gives you enough material you can go out and learn the practical details of real strategies on your own. If you're gifted enough, you can go figure them out (and more) for yourself once you understand the material in the book: they're mostly variations on these themes. Why should Vidyamurthy give away the keys to the kingdom for $100? Be happy he wrote the book at all. Presumably, he makes a living actually doing 'stat arb' type things, and his motivation was to have a book to give to his underlings so he didn't have to explain GARCH and cointegration to someone who breathes out of his mouth for the 9,000th time.

Anyone who can't read this book simply doesn't have the intellectual horsepower or attention span to do this kind of trading. The book is almost excruciatingly clear, it is very short, and even does the MBA's the favor of tucking the scary mathematics involving matrices and standard deviations safely away in chapter appendices. I mean, it even has cartoons and funny anecdotes (which are actually very funny: I detect a Wodehouse fan in Vidyamurthy). You have to actually pay attention while you read, and some sections, you may have to read twice. The concepts will not leap off the page and embed themselves into your frontal lobes, but it really isn't that difficult for any intelligent person to understand. I can think of no better introduction to pairs trading, or general alpha quant type stuff than this book. It should probably be on every wannabe quant or trader's desk if it isn't already etched into the fiber of their being.

Covers the right stuff but poorly written2
I was looking for books on stat arb and risk arb and was surprised that not many titles showed up for my search on Amazon. I eventually bought this book (a used copy) and although the book covers exactly the kind of stuff you want to learn about pairs trading, the writing is very poor and there are way too many places where the sentences don't make any sense, regardless of your math/stat background. This book is not a how-to book. It's a general treatise and not a good one at that. I cannot recommend this book. You may want to check out Tsay's financial time series analysis book which, although not specifically for pairs trading, has all the essential materials.

Bringing Out the Best in Yourself at Work: How to Use the Enneagram System for Success by Ginger Lapid-Bogda

Product Description


A proven system for improving your own work and for working better in a team

Used by such organizations as the Walt Disney Company, Silicon Graphics, the Federal Reserve Bank, and the CIA, the Enneagram is a proven psychological system based on nine number types that helps people achieve self-awareness and develop strategic approaches to interpersonal interactions. In Bringing Out the Best in Yourself at Work, Enneagram teacher and business consultant Ginger Lapid-Bodga shows professionals how to apply this popular tool to their work as a way to improve their productivity and help them build positive relationships among coworkers. This practical guide explains how to use the Enneagram to:
Communicate more effectively
Provide constructive feedback
Prevent and resolve conflict
Bring out their strongest leadership skills
Discover methods for professional development
Work better in teams
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #160597 in Books
Published on: 2004-07-01
Number of items: 1
Binding: Paperback
288 pages
Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Acclaim for Bringing Out the Best in Yourself at Work

"This is the first Enneagram book that I have endorsed. The Enneagram is a powerful tool for self-understanding--the gist of emotional healing and a major factor in personal evolution. Here is a good book undertaking to bring the Enneagram to the business world at a time when it has become apparent that the business world controls the world and that our fate depends on the psychospiritual condition of those in it."
--Claudio Naranjo, M.D., Enneagram pioneer and author of Character and Neurosis: An Integrative View

"This solid, well-written book can be used by those new to the Enneagram and those who already know the system and want ways to apply it in the business world."
--Don Riso and Russ Hudson, founders of the Enneagram Institute and authors of the bestselling The Wisdom of the Enneagram

"User-friendly. . . . Ginger Lapid-Bogda's explanation and interpretation of the Enneagram way of learning more about one's self is unsurpassed."
--W. Warner Burke, Ph.D., author of Organization Change: Theory and Practice

"A must-have for your 'go-to' bookshelf."
--Beverly Kaye, Ph.D., co-author of the internationally bestselling Love 'Em or Lose 'Em: Getting Good People to Stay

The Enneagram is a popular, proven psychological system for determining personality types as a path for self-improvement. Now, Enneagram teacher and organizational consultant Ginger Lapid-Bogda gives clear, easy-to-follow instruction for using this powerful tool in the workplace, including techniques for bringing out your strongest leadership skills, improving your weaker areas, and preventing and resolving conflict. You'll work better, increase the effectiveness of your teams, and build relationships with your coworkers.

About the Author

Ginger Lapid-Bodga, Ph.D. (Santa Monica, CA), is the president-elect of the International Enneagram Association for 2004. As a business consultant, she frequently speaks to companies such as CBS, Disney, GE, P&G, McDonald's, and Time Warner as well as at professional conferences. She is also an internationally recognized Enneagram teacher.
Customer Reviews

A great complement to any management course!
I have managed teams for the past 15 years, and I recently read several books about the enneagram. This one is definitely a must read for all managers but also for anyone working! It gives great pointers on communicating effectively, tips on how to give feedback, how to resolve conflicts, how to create high-performing teams... Beyond the real-life examples, there is also a summary of what you can do that will work well with all types, since we don't always know what type our team members or coworkers are. I also liked the recommended daily activities.

Very easy to read, and yet exhaustive on the subject, it has become one of my favorite management books.

Finally...
The genuine nugget in this book is its use of the Enneagram to move forward the original Center for Creative Leaderhip research about what derails successful professionals. Lapid-Bogna's gift is to communicate the most profound and deeply thoughtful insights with deceptively casual language. I agree it needs to be read twice: Once to understand the techniques it describes, and a second time to appreciate how she builds on her hard-earned understanding of what works and doesn't work in OD and career development. Then, consider reading it a third time to appreciate the Enneagram for the doors it opens to truly deep personal growth. Not just another book written as a practice-building marketing piece for the author. It contains enough material for at least two books.

The most practical enneagram book out there for business applications
I love this book. I am an executive coach and I find this very useful for helping my Enneagram-aware clients apply the model directly and quickly to work situations -- to help debug relationships, communications, conflilct, etc.

I especially like Lapid-Bogda's distinctions and examples around "Pinch" and "Crunch" for each of the types.

I don't know of any other books except Michael Goldberg's "The Nine Ways of Working" that fill this business-application niche quite so well.

Highly recommended for those who need a practical, hands-on way of using the Ennegram in day to day work interactions.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Personal Finance in your 20s and 30s, Third Edition by Sarah Young Fisher

Product Description

Start-today strategies for a better financial tomorrow.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide‚ to Personal Finance in Your 20s and 30s, Third Edition, clearly explains everything members of this age group need to know to get a handle on their pocketbook and their portfolio, from planning their personal finances to enhancing their current financial plan to getting better returns on their investments. This revised and updated third edition includes completely new material on:
• Internet banking
• Debit and prepaid credit cards
• Online car shopping
• The latest in effective job hunting
• Online college degrees and what they can get you
• Investment strategies for the next decade
• Home-based employment opportunities
• New financial impact of marriage and children
• Home ownership options from building your own to townhouses and condos
• Online mortgage brokers
• All-new websites and resources
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #20156 in Books
Published on: 2005-05-03
Released on: 2005-05-03
Number of items: 1
Binding: Paperback
400 pages
Editorial Reviews

Download Description
You're no idiot, of course. You're financially independent: You pay rent, utilities, and loans all out of your own paycheck. You realize that your parents had to cut the cord sooner or later, and you're proud of how well you've adjusted. But when it comes to saving money for the long haul, you feel like an astronaut whose oxygen cord has been cut. Don't drift into a financial black hole yet! The Complete Idiot's Guide to Personal Finance in Your 20s and 30s gives you an edge so you can get through financial hardships now, invest for the future, and even afford a luxury item once in a while.

Book Info
Gives you an edge so you can get through financial hardships now, invest for the future, and even afford a luxury item once in a while. Softcover.

About the Author
Sarah Young Fisher is the president of Kuntz Lesher Capital, LLP, an estate/financial planning consulting firm in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and the author of “Your Money,” a column in Consumer Digest magazine. She is a certified financial planner, a chartered financial consultant with the American College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and a certified financial services counselor, and has a Master’s degree in financial services. She is a co-author of Everything You Need to Know About Money and Investing and The Complete Idiot’s Guide‚ to Personal Finance in Your 40s and 50s. Susan Shelly is a freelance writer, researcher, and editorial consultant, and a former newspaper reporter and columnist. Her other works include The Complete Idiot’s Guide‚ to Personal Finance in Your 40s and 50s and The Complete Idiot’s Guide‚ to Money for Teens.
Customer Reviews

Lack of respect for both readers of the authors themselves.
This book truly stands to the series name "Idiot's guides" by being full of extremely basic advice. These authors inform the readers that there exits publics transportation services such as subways and buses as good options to save money. Actually, this advice is not for an idiot but for someone who's been isolated from the world forever. Besides, the advice is only applicable to big cities, and even in those cities there are limitations. USA is basically made for car owners.

Want to compare pros and cons of buying vs building a house? You'd need to get much advice on whom to approach, how to tell good house builders from bad ones, what to do in case of scams, builder's associations to approach, and several more facts. Yet, these authors will only tell you in a long whole page that building a house has the advantage of being made as you want it, while a used one was made according to the previous owner's tastes. They say that "hopefully" (in their own words) you'll get a good builder team. And so it's the rest of the book. "Hopefully" you'll find a good book on personal finance.

But as for this book, you won't learn almost anything about personal finance. All you'll get is a chit-chat talk that you can get from any neighbor, relative, friend, co-worker, etc. I well know that many people have serious communication problems and these simple talks are not so simple for them. If this is your case don't let these authors take advantage of you and seek a good book. The Dummie's series on personal finance is a good alternative. If you also want some charismatic and inspirational reading, my recommendation is Andrew Mathews' books.

There are many scammers out there, self-proclaimed financial advisers. This book's authors are some of them. I think the most famous of all is Suze Orman. They'll tell you ton of very interesting stories, but that's no way to learn about finances. You'd never finish hearing personal stories, yet you'd still need to learn much more. These writers normally focus too much in making their reading fun, actually using a rather juvenile language and these authors' style is particularly juvenile since they wanted to identify with rather young people; they did it too well. These kind of sloppy authors also spent too much time on encouraging readers to save. The topic on saving is quite simple and lets them fill their books. As important as saving is, it must only take a few pages in book. If you do have a problem with saving, you'd better get a full book on the topic.

The big problem with more effective books on finance is that you'll have to deal with more math and less entertaining readings, and judging from the many reviews giving 5 and 4 stars here, I realize that this is a big problem for many people who actually prefer to fool around (or areactually terribly ignorant).

The book has several annoying commentaries that I could put off with if it really were useful, but since it isn't the commentaries just add insult to injury. The authors say, for example, that only like 10% of people around 30 have reached the 5 qualities of adulthood: being financially independent, leaving off their parent's, being married, having children and a 5th one I don't remember. The world is full of people with severely unattended children. And the fact that you are wealthy and with a stable job doesn't imply that you are ready to have children either. I can even say that most middle class and rich parents spend most of their time shopping, watching TV and more personal fun than spending time with their children. And the same applies to being married if you don't work your relationships. Being realistic by being aware that marriage and children is not for you is more mature that making a conventional family, and being able to deal with the loneliness that come with that is definitively mature.

It's a shame that two people, supposedly certified in finance, couldn't make a barely comparable work that what the Dummie's writer did on personal finance.

Basic Guide a Good Start for the Young Adult
Like all "Idiot" books I have read, this one has excellent organization. Technical jargon is kept to a minimum, and the conversational writing style moves along at a good pace. The level of user-friendliness makes the information instantly accessible and useful to young people who are concerned about their financial futures. The strategies are indeed suited to the age group in the title - 20s and 30s - because the strategies outlined are quite conservative. These will have limited use for people in their 40s or 50s who have suffered a devastating financial loss (such as foreclosure and bankruptcy)and are having to start over building for retirement. This book is just what it says. It provides a wealth of simple but crucial information, all for about the price of a movie ticket, with extra large popcorn and soda. Thumbs up!

So-so book. Get Suze Orman's instead.
I bought this book and The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke. Skip this one and get Suze Orman's book instead. Both books are for people in their 20's or 30's, but Suze Orman's book covers much more material and many more options. The Idiot's Guide tells the same old story: budget, budget, budget, and is very light on details.

201 Great Ideas for Your Small Business: Revised & Updated Edition by Jane Appleg

Product Description

Answering the need presented by a much-changed commercial climate, entrepreneurial journalist Applegate has retooled this business classic. Along with timeless advice, this edition includes ten new ideas for managing, organizing, promoting, and improving a small business in today's environment.
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #443262 in Books
Published on: 2002-06-15
Number of items: 1
Binding: Paperback
432 pages
Editorial Reviews

Lillian Vernon, Chairman & CEO, Lillian Vernon Corporation
"From one entrepreneur to another, don't start your business before reading Jane Applegate's book!"

Wally Amos, Founder of Famous Amos Cookies and Uncle NoName Muffin Company
"The most comprehensive book I've ever read... get your personal copy. It could prove to be your biggest asset."

Martha Rogers, Co-author of The One to One Future and Enterprise One to One
"Just one of these smart ideas can help boost your business. Glean a dozen and you'll cream your competition."
Customer Reviews

Good Overall
Some of the ideas are a little off the wall, but for the most part, it is stuff you might be able to use...

Excellent ideas for small businesses!
I think every small business owner should read this book -- full of excellent, and often basic (but overlooked) ideas and tips for making the most of your business.

Good to great ideas for your small business
The new edition of Jane Applegate's "201 Great Ideas for Your Small Business" provided me with some great inspiration for my own small business. I particularly enjoyed reading the examples of real-life small business owners who took their great ideas and ran with them...to the bank! While not every tip would work for every entrepreneur, I've gotten enough ideas from this book that it easily pay for itself (and then some!). I recommend it to any business owner looking for some new and fresh ideas.

From Acorns: How to Build a Brilliant Business by Caspian Woods

Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #6640872 in Books
Published on: 2007-09-30
Binding: Paperback
210 pages

The New Reality of Wall Street : An Investor's Survival Guide to Triple Waterfalls and Other Stock Market Perils by Donald Coxe

Product Description

An investor's survival guide to avoiding costly dangers in today's uncertain markets

That the "bubble burst" in 2000 is really a misnomer. The fall of the markets actually marked a seldom-seen--but always dangerous--triple waterfall. In The New Reality of Wall Street, Donald Coxe--a huge name in institutional investment circles--provides shaky investors with the reassuring knowledge and guidance they need to recoup recent investment losses, and weather a financial storm that is still far from over.

While Coxe warns that the third leg of the triple waterfall is still alive, he shows there are profits to be made. The New Reality of Wall Street tells investors where to look--and what to look for--to invest profitably despite the prevailing doom and gloom as it discusses:
How to understand and profit from the triple waterfall phenomenon
What the fall of the dollar means to future investors
Which direction inflation should turn, and why
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #11152 in eBooks
Published on: 2003-05-19
Released on: 2003-05-19
Format: Kindle Book
Number of items: 1
Editorial Reviews

Download Description
That the "bubble burst" in 2000 is really a misnomer. The fall of the markets actually marked a seldom-seen--but always dangerous--triple waterfall. In The New Reality of Wall Street, Donald Coxe--a huge name in institutional investment circles--provides shaky investors with the reassuring knowledge and guidance they need to recoup recent investment losses, and weather a financial storm that is still far from over.

From Booklist
Coxe describes the spectacular rise and fall of technology and telecom stocks as a "Triple Waterfall," a technical analyst's term for a classic boom-and-bust event. In events like these, vast amounts of wealth change hands from investors to those who profit from the bubble, in this case the upper management of dot-coms and the like who cashed in big at the top by selling stock and exercising stock options. According to Coxe, "Triple Waterfalls aren't mere bubbles, they are financial pandemics that take not months, not years, but decades to run their course." His analyses place investors in the 10- to 12-year "final long-term collapse phase," a treacherous climate most today have never experienced, so few have a clue as how to survive, much less profit in these times. After a reasonable discussion of economic theory, Coxe lays out an investment survival strategy for this environment that includes a consistent approach of diversification and maintenance of an acceptable, if not spectacular, rate of return. David Siegfried
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Download Description
That the "bubble burst" in 2000 is really a misnomer. The fall of the markets actually marked a seldom-seen--but always dangerous--triple waterfall. In The New Reality of Wall Street, Donald Coxe--a huge name in institutional investment circles--provides shaky investors with the reassuring knowledge and guidance they need to recoup recent investment losses, and weather a financial storm that is still far from over.
Customer Reviews

A Welcome Contrarian View, But Supported Only By Hot Air
"New Reality of Wall Street" is an oddly assembled book with some flashes of insight. Although Mr. Coxe has a lively writing style, the substance and weight of his assertions often leans towards what is colloquially referred to as "bull". The novice will find much to be confused about. The keen skeptic will have much to be skeptical about. And the expert will find nothing new.

The book starts out in the style of a wilderness survival guide. This would suggest the book is meant for novice investors. And this is supported by his diversions to explain concepts such as risk premium and bond duration. But he also delves into detailed discussion regarding foreign currencies without explanation of currency mechanisms. For example, he explains that Japan, as an enormous creditor to the USA, must print large amounts of Yen to "absorb" the inflow of Dollars. A novice who does not understand central banking mechanisms is left without so much as a trail of popcorn to figure out why or how this is. So while Mr. Coxe spends too many pages on basic principles for this to be an expert investor's book, he entirely skips vital concepts for this to be a novice's book.

Even if one does understand everything that is said in these pages, there are other thematic problems. He makes numerous creative assertions regarding the causality of certain economic events, but does not offer any supporting logical arguments or empirical evidence. (Contrast this with writers such as Robert Shiller or Marc Faber who do not require you to take their statements at faith, but instead support their assertions with data.) Most often, his arguments are based on political opinions and platitudes. If you do not accept his political opinions, you may find it difficult to accept many of his explanations or conclusions. It's not that his political opinions are unusual as much as his opinions display a disconcerting tendency to confuse fact with opinion or logic with data. For example, in one instance he simply states without further elaboration that democracy is superior to communism as a matter of logical fact. While most readers would agree that historical evidence supports the superiority of democratic style governments, to state that this is a result of deductive reasoning is be ignorant or confused. Faith is required in reading this book. Ironically, he spends considerable effort explaining why you should never accept Wall Street recommendations on faith.

Finally, although some of his assertions may seem bold for those who do not regularly read beyond mainstream financial magazines, his investing recommendations betray any uniqueness. His recommendation is simply to diversify broadly among stocks, bonds, and cash.

Although I happen to agree with much that he writes about, I am left feeling that this is nothing more than a very long elaboration of a poolside conversation over beer. It may be enjoyable and you may be nodding your head in agreement often, but unlike what the title suggests, there is nothing substantial, concrete, or convincing. Marc Faber's "Tomorrow's Gold", although slightly dated, is a far superior treatment with similar conclusions and more daring recommendations.

I think its about India and China mostly
I didn't find this book particularly helpful in terms of investing. I think most people know that India and China have become more capatilistic, in a purely relative sense, and that they will be needing to build roads, indoor plumbing, etc. Coxe seems to be a genius in his other writings and has a weekly conference available on line. This book just struck out for me.

The long (long) view
Don Coxe says it took him over a quarter century to develop his triple waterfall theory. In his words, he started out trying to imagine what economic historians would be writing about a hundred years on. Realizing they would focus on the grand sweeping movements (to the exclusion of minor fluctuations), Coxe felt motivated to do the same.

Triple waterfall theory is a variation on a popular asset allocation theme, namely that the ultimate investment strategy only requires one or two major decisions per era. As research house Gavekal puts it, imagine being fully vested in gold and oil through the 1970s, going on vacation, coming back to buy Japan and zero coupon bonds for the 1980s, hitting the beach for ten years more, then scooping up tech stocks and JGBs for the 1990's. (For this decade the smart play has been Asia and commodities, though of course we are only half through.)

It is unsurprising to Coxe, and to students of market history in general, that Wall Street is still fighting the last war. As of this writing, crude is rapidly reapproaching $60 a barrel, copper is pushing multi-decade highs, and gold has aggressively decoupled from the dollar as fiat currency worries deepen. Yet the investment houses continue their conceptual love affair with bedraggled and besotted tech stocks, dismissing inflation as benign and the natural resource resurgence as a flash in the pan.

Coxe's triple waterfall theory is meant to help you avoid making this type of classic mistake. He tours historical events and makes a powerful argument for a disconcerting conclusion: When an asset class goes through a triple waterfall, it doesn't just fall out of favor temporarily. (And if you think the term 'waterfall' is overly dramatic, just pull up a monthly chart of the Philly semiconductor index.) The exile can last for decades, as gold bugs who spent twenty years out in the cold well know.

In addition to warning investors against the danger of hapless old flames, Coxe offers up a "taxonomy of bears," dissecting the rhyme and reason of past bear markets. While his terms are overly cute--teddy bear, baby bear, papa bear etc--the reasoning is sharp and well thought out. He also brushes the dust off a reliable but obscure indicator, the TED spread, and explains why it still has great value during times of international crisis.

One [Amazon] review is pretty harsh on Coxe for his poor mutual fund performance, also nitpicking some demographic predictions and a lack of options coverage. This sounds a lot like sour grapes to me. The purpose of the book is to present ideas and insight based on market history, so what do I care about an offhand view on Latin assimilation... and why would anyone expect an options primer? To me, the book rests squarely on the value of the insights--the big takeaways--and by that measure it's a good read. (A fast one too... I finished it on a coast-to-coast plane trip.)

As I peruse more reviews, I'm realizing that my viewpoint is often at odds with other readers. I truly enjoy market history, original thought, and well written 'big picture' perspectives. Sometimes I get the feeling this is uncommon, and that many are looking for some kind of concrete instructional payoff along the lines of 'do exactly this and this.' If that's what you want, you're barking up the wrong tree (with Coxe's book). In contrast, if you like doing your own thinking and enjoy seasoned perspectives, you'll be pleased.

Wall Street: How It Works and for Whom by Doug Henwood

Product Description

A scathing dissection of the wheeling and dealing in the world's greatest financial center. Spot rates, zero coupons, blue chips, futures, options on futures, indexes, options on indexes. The vocabulary of a financial market can seem arcane, even impenetrable. Yet despite its opacity, financial news and comment is ubiquitous. Major national newspapers devote pages of newsprint to the financial sector and television news invariably features a visit to the market for the latest prices. Does this prodigious flow of information have significance for anyone except the tiny percentage of people who have significant holdings of stocks or bonds? And if it does, can non-specialists ever hope to understand what the markets are up to? To these questions Wall Street answers an emphatic yes. Its author Doug Henwood is a notorious scourge of the stock exchange in the pages of his acerbic publication Left Business Observer. The Newsletter has received wide acclamation from J.K. Galbraith, among others, and occasional less favorable comment. Norman Pearlstine, then executive editor of the Wall Street Journal, lamented, `You are scum ... it's tragic that you exist.' With compelling clarity, Henwood dissects the world's greatest financial center, laying open the intricacies of how, and for whom, the market works. The Wall Street which emerges is not a pretty sight. Hidden from public view, the markets are poorly regulated, badly managed, chronically myopic and often corrupt. And though, as Henwood reveals, their activity contributes almost nothing to the real economy where goods are made and jobs created, they nevertheless wield enormous power. With over a trillion dollars a day crossing the wires between the world's banks, Wall Street and its sister financial centers don't just influence government, effectively they are the government.
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #436245 in Books
Published on: 1998-05
Number of items: 1
Binding: Paperback
372 pages
Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
In this "down and dirty" diatribe about American finance, journalist and New York radio personality Henwood makes no attempt at a balanced portrayal of Wall Street. He aims to "embarrass official wisdom" and expose the financial world's weaknesses, perhaps too gloatingly. Intemperate phrasing abounds, e.g., "real estate is based on milking wealth from land and tenants." Admittedly, Henwood flails at both the Left and the Right, and he doesn't hide his biases, but he lovingly quotes Keynes and Marx a little too often. Henwood doesn't claim to be offering any practical investment advice; nor does he present any solutions to the problems against which he fulminates. The result is a difficult, divisive, unpleasant, querulous, and uninstructive book that larger business collections might tolerate.?Alexander Wenner, Indiana Univ. Lib., Bloomington
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

James Grant, author of The Trouble with Prosperity
If Karl Marx wrote as well as Doug Henwood, who knows what course history might have taken?

Eric Foner, author of The Story of American Freedom
Indispensable to anyone who wants to know where our economy is, where it is going, and why."
Customer Reviews

Ten Years Later
Ten years have passed since the publication of Henwood's paperback edition. In economic terms, that's an eon, so why bother in 2008 with a 10-year old book, given all that's happened financially in the meantime. Mainly, I wanted insight into how Wall St. really works. For a layperson such as myself, the lexicon and mechanics of the stock market are as untranslateable and arcane as the Runic alphabet. However, I didn't want one of those texts that uncritically repeats the official version every time a probing question appears-- you know, about how the market sends investment signals while directing funds into the most promising sectors of production. Sounds good, but I've been around long enough to separate theory from reality and recognize a self-serving statement when I see one.

So I picked up Henwood's tome for two reasons: the first three chapters define the basic lexicon and mechanics of the market, while the remainder presents contrasting points of view on how the markets really function. Sure, in the latter context, Henwood has positive things to say about capital's arch-enemy Marx, but considering how wealth is actually distributed-- or more accurately, not distributed-- Marx deserves a hearing, along with other critics, notably Keynes. How ironic that we as a culture are so quick to blame Marxist theory for its practical failings, but refuse to blame official capitalist theory for its 300 years of gross inequality and trickle-down. But then, I guess that's the function of apologetics, which among other benefits does offer the "exogenous" ready employment.

The first three chapters worked pretty well for me. I'm somewhat more conversant about "derivatives", "calls", "puts" and the rest. But I would advise other interested neophytes to pay attention in those boring highschool or college classes that really teach at the elementary level because Henwood does assume a certain level of sophistication in those explanatory opening chapters. Then too, the text is interlarded with refinements of one sort or another, e.g. "q-ratio", that may illuminate at a more advanced level, but nonetheless, cloud the explanatory level. But what there is of a disparity probably lies more with my hopes rather than with Henwood's exposition.

The discussion section, particularly the chapter on "renegades", is itself worth the purchase price. Both there and in the succeeding chapter, Henwood presents data and theory showing why and how Wall St. diverges from the official version of the securities markets. There's plenty here to mull over, and I agree with the reviewer who said the book should be required reading at business schools (fat chance!). The value of these heterodox perspectives remains as important now as 10 years ago, given the current crisis in the derivitives markets and its capacity to bleed through the entire financial system. In that key sense-- i.e. as deeper background to recent developments-- the book, I'm happy to say, hasn't dated at all.

Needs an Editor
Journalist Doug Henwood has produced an interesting book on U.S. financial markets. Written from a left-wing point of view, Henwood contends that these markets do not raise capital for new investments or improve corporate governance. Instead, he argues that their primary function is to enable manic corporate restructurings that accomplish little besides shifting additional wealth to rentiers who already have plenty of it. Henwood relies mainly on the research of others.

The good news about "Wall Street" is that Henwood is witty and iconoclastic. The bad news is that having these traits doesn't mean that he can put together a good book. His bloated and repetitive text mixes statistics, polemics, anecdotes, biz school research, and potted discussions of Keynes, Marx and Minsky (and Freud!). The mish-mash of data definitely informs and entertains the reader (hence my rating of 4 stars) but never systematically establishes Henwood's core thesis about the parasitism of Wall Street. The book is worth reading but mainly for readers with a background in finance or economics who can separate the wheat from the chaff.

The Truth
First a word about the publishing house: Verso Publishing is probably the finest publishing house in the world. When in a bind simply pick up any one of their titles and one cannot go wrong. It's imperative to read at least a few of their books at least once.

Henwood's "Wall Street" blows the lid off high finance like few other works. It's the definitive critical analysis (along with some of William Greider's books) of the high circles of wealthy investors.

Throughout "Wall Street" it rips apart the Federal Reserve Board and exposes its gritty innards. Henwood demonstrates that the Fed is an undemocratic institution that's obsessed with any hints of labor militancy, its biggest fear being wage inflation.

The Monetary School is also dissected by Henwood, being exposed as the fraudulent theory it truly is (or clever ruling class idealogy). He points out that the Monetarist's ostensibly blamed the federal government for the Great Depression. Of course this has the fascinating effect of letting capitalism completely off the hook. The concepts of over productivity and income polarization, which were the defining characteristics of the 1920s, are rarely to be found in their school of thought.

Constant pressure by Wall Street for ever higher stock prices is what spurred most of the downsizing during the last decade according to Henwood. He smartly points out that this pressure for quick profit growth can often squelch research and development and investment projects which would benefit society. Because shareholders may very well deem these projects irrelevant to short-term profit growth.

Underlying "Wall Street" throughout Henwood continually pays homage to Karl Marx and some of his incredibly accurate predictions. He also demolishes old shibboleths such as the well worn canard that higher wages automatically translate into reduced employment opportunities, or that rising stock prices always mean a rosy economic picture for the general population. "Wall Street" proves that rising stock prices can often coincide with a poor economy for the masses.

Henwood documents the fraudulent work done by professional money managers who'd be better off throwing darts at a dart board than using their investment "skills" when making investment decisions for clients.

Some of the most important and informative sections deal with the rising consumer debt of the average American citizen. Being leveraged to the hilt, the family unit has basically been turned into a player in a giant Ponzi scheme. Capitalism in the United States desperately relies on credit-financed consumption to stay afloat.

Most books dealing with such an overarching topic give a paltry and dissatisfying "What is to be Done" final chapter. This isn't the case for "Wall Street." Henwood offers up many concrete and plausible solutions. Finally at one point asserting that an authentic financial transformation must be made along with an attack on capitalist social power in general.

Time Series Analysis by James Douglas Hamilton

Product Description


The last decade has brought dramatic changes in the way that researchers analyze economic and financial time series. This book synthesizes these recent advances and makes them accessible to first-year graduate students. James Hamilton provides the first adequate text-book treatments of important innovations such as vector autoregressions, generalized method of moments, the economic and statistical consequences of unit roots, time-varying variances, and nonlinear time series models. In addition, he presents basic tools for analyzing dynamic systems (including linear representations, autocovariance generating functions, spectral analysis, and the Kalman filter) in a way that integrates economic theory with the practical difficulties of analyzing and interpreting real-world data. Time Series Analysis fills an important need for a textbook that integrates economic theory, econometrics, and new results.

The book is intended to provide students and researchers with a self-contained survey of time series analysis. It starts from first principles and should be readily accessible to any beginning graduate student, while it is also intended to serve as a reference book for researchers.
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #29505 in Books
Published on: 1994-01-11
Number of items: 1
Binding: Hardcover
820 pages
Editorial Reviews

Review
Journal of Economics : A carefully prepared and well written book. . . . Without doubt, it can be recommended as a very valuable encyclopedia and textbook for a reader who is looking for a mainly theoretical textbook which combines traditional time series analysis with a review of recent research areas.

Review
John H. Cochrane, University of Chicago : I am extremely enthusiastic about this book. I think it will quickly become a classic. Like Sargent's and Varian's texts, it will be a centerpiece of the core cirriculum for graduate students.

Review
A carefully prepared and well written book. . . . Without doubt, it can be recommended as a very valuable encyclopedia and textbook for a reader who is looking for a mainly theoretical textbook which combines traditional time series analysis with a review of recent research areas.
Customer Reviews

time series for econometricians especially
This is a large text in time series analysis that is designed for graduate students as the author acknowledges in his preface. It deals primarily with the theory and the tools rather than providing practical applications. It does not require a Ph.D. but does require a fair amount of mathematical sophistication that comes from advanced courses in probability and statistics. There are many good books at this level. This one has some unique features. It covers the traditional ARIMA models that can be found in most texts and uses the operator notation that Box and Jenkins introduced. It adds vector autoregressions which is fairly recent material. Spectral analysis (the frequency domain approach)is also covered and asymptotic theory is presented. Linear systems (more common to econometric time series than in the standard statistical books) is covered. Topics not commonly covered in competitor texts include nonstationary cases (both univariate and multivariate)with unit roots to the characteristic equation, Bayesian approaches, heteroscedastic models including the ARCH models and the topic of cointegration originally developed by Clive Granger. The book is loaded with references to the literature and is slanted towards methods useful in econometrics. Other good books at this level include Brockwell and Davis (1987), Fuller (1976), Anderson (1971), Harvey (1981) and Shumway and Stoffer (2000). Good texts solely in the frequency domain include Bloomfeld (1976), Priestley (1981), Koopmans (1974) and Brillinger (1981). Box, Jenkins and Reinsel (1994) provides practical applications using the Box-Jenkins time domain approach.

Well, it's the same thickness as a Bible.
I purchased "Time Series Analysis" after reading that this was the time series "Bible". This book is certainly as long as a Bible, yet, paradoxically, it doesn't seem to contain very much useful information. Every time I look something up in it, its not there.

This book is almost 800 pages long and contains chapters on all of the main areas of time series analysis, including stationary ARMA models, VAR models, ARCH models, cointegration, etc. Hamilton gives all of the relevant proofs and algebra relating to these areas. However, he provides no worked examples to illustrate these concepts, which makes them very difficult to absorb. Hamilton provides some exercises at the end of each chapter (with solutions at the end of the book), but not enough to develop a working knowledge of this material.

I purchased this book because I needed to fit time series models as part of my PhD thesis and because I teach a unit on time series analysis to final-year undergraduate students. I have found this book completely useless for both of these purposes. At the same time I purchased this book, I also purchased Time Series Analysis and Its Applications: With R Examples (Springer Texts in Statistics) and Econometric Analysis (5th Edition) and I have found both of these books to be infinitely more helpful.

Excellent book in time series
I don't think there is another book out ther that would outperform this book in time series econometrics. A must have if you are a graduate student in economics.

Trading for Tigers: High Probability Trading Tactics for Stocks, Futures & Options by Walter T. Downs

Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #2184573 in Books
Published on: 1999-12
Binding: Hardcover
Customer Reviews

good
Presents a number of monthly, weekly and a few daily chart setups. These are essentially just breakouts based on bar patterns with the occasional indicator for confirmation. In addition, there are backtested results for each of them that are eye boggling if true (75-90% win, 3 to 1 minimum). I figured there's considerable curve fitting and many hours of computer scanning to find profitable patterns. This isn't necessarily bad, and given as these patterns are all fairly long term.. few people would actually care to stomach the stops necessary to trade it. Interesting, nonetheless .. and again if these backtests are even 75% accurate, you are looking at some amazing setups.

Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques, Second Edition by Steve Nison

Product Description

Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques, 2nd Edition, provides an in-depth explanation of candlestick plotting and analysis, conveying to the reader, in easy-to-understand language, the author's years of practical experience in this increasingly popular and dynamic approach to market analysis. It includes hundreds of examples that span the equity, futures, fixed-income, and foreign exchange markets and shows how candlestick charting techniques can be used in almost any market. It has been thoroughly updated to include:

* New techniques and strategies
* The author's concept of the Convergence (when a series of signals converge at one zone, thus increasing the chances for a market turn from that area)

This new edition broadens the book's focus and all new updated charts, and information on several new areas such as day trading and how candlestick charting can be used to improve returns and help decrease market risk.

It includes everything from the basics, such as constructing the candlesticks and learning the patterns, to advanced topics, such as the rules of multiple technical techniques.

Whether you are new to candlestick charts or a seasoned pro-the reward will be immediate and long lasting.
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #4725 in Books
Published on: 2001-10-01
Released on: 2001-10-30
Number of items: 1
Binding: Hardcover
320 pages
Editorial Reviews

Book Info
Provides an in-depth explanation of candlestick plotting and analysis, conveying to the reader, in easy to understand language.

From the Publisher
“An exciting and valuable addition to the literature of technical analysis… this ancient Japanese technique is available to American traders in a comprehensive, well-written, and understandable format.”

John Murphy, President

JJM Technical Advisors, Inc. and

Author of Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets

It's hard not to be too effusive about the quality of Nison's work… reading [his book] was a pleasure. This is clearly one of the best investment books ever written…. We strongly recommend this book, which has already become an investment classic.

Bruce Babcock, Jr. Editor-in-Chief, Commodity Trades Consumer Report

From the Inside Flap
Charting techniques used by the Japanese for over 100 years are explained for today's traders and investors in:

JAPANESE CANDLESTICK CHARTING TECHNIQUES, SECOND EDITION: A Contemporary Guide to the Ancient Investment Techniques of the Far East

Steve Nison

Completely informative and global in its outlook, Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques, Second Edition provides an in-depth explanation of candlestick plotting and analysis. This exciting book exposes the reader to the practical applications Steve Nison gained from years of study and research in this now popular and dynamic area. Today, almost all charting packages include candle charts.

This book contains hundreds of examples that show how candlestick techniques can be used in all of today's markets. Through such patterns as the “dark-cloud cover” and “hanging-man lines,” traders will discover how candlestick techniques provide unique market insights. They will discover see how candles will provide early reversal signals, improve timing entering and exiting markets and can be merged with classic Western charting techniques.

This totally updated revision focuses on the needs of today's traders and investors with:

* All new charts including more intra-day markets
* New candlestick charting techniques
* More focus on active trading for swing, on-line and day traders
* New Western techniques in combination with candles
* A greater spotlight on capital preservation.

Candle charts are older than bar charts, older than point-and-figure charts, but were completely unknown in the West - until Steve Nison introduced them through his articles, seminars, and his books.
Customer Reviews

Coming Together
I went to a Steve Nison seminar first. Once Home I bought his book to review. The book is very informative. Well worth a Few reads and study.

An indispensable tool
The book by Steve Nison is certainly an indispensable tool for anyone who wish to invest their hard-earned cash in the stock market. It prepares you before you decide either to purchase, or sell, to stay or leave.

a good fundamental book
A very good book covers lots of details of candlestick chart, I would say.
However, all this book full of Japanese sayings,Japanese proverbs like"one seeing is better than a hundred hearings","the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.",etc. As a Chinese,I have to say all of these sayings original came from China thousands of years ago. Japanese don't even have their language in written way, before Chinese Tang dynasty. Japan and Korea were adherent countries of China at Tang dynasty, thousands of years ago. They learned from China since that time, and they are still using Chinese characters in their written language somehow. All your showing-off of your Japanese idioms only show the author's ignorance of oritental culture, hey, Nison, don't even say you lived in Japan before any more.
Today, the whole oriental countries share China's history and culture, you may need to correct them as oriental people's proverbs rather than Japanese sayings, BECAUSE it's not true and it's showing the author's ignorance.

How I Made $2,000,000 In The Stock Market by Nicolas Darvas

Product Description

How did a world-famous dancer with no knowledge of the stock market, or of finance in general, make 2 million dollars in the stock market in 18 months starting with only $10,000? Darvas is legendary, and with good reason. Find out why.
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #1671 in Books
Published on: 2007-05-28
Number of items: 1
Binding: Paperback
124 pages
Customer Reviews

Fun & Quick Read
In review of How I Made 2,000,000 In the Stock Market, I found the book to be overall worth the read. The story is about a young professional dancer who happens to begin trading in the stock market during the early part of the twentieth century. The book goes over a lot of the lessons he learns, some of which are applicable today and some of which are not.

A few key items to keep in mind are:

1. Learn to take a profit
2. Minimize your losses
3. Think about utilizing Stop Loss Orders when you purchase a stock.
4. Buy only appreciating stocks, never depreciating.

The author develops what I call "box theory" throughout the book. This translates to the author following a stock for a given period of time and drawing a high and a low point in which he expects the stock to trade inside. Once the stock breaks the top of a box (into the low of a new box) he will buy the stock.

If anything, I would recommend this book for the very begining person who is interested in making trades inside of the market. It's a fun read and very short. It might be a little dated where as the Internet has GREATLY changed the way we trade and the extension of how many people can obtain information quickly compared to the author, but most of his thinking still holds true today.

More like a pamphlet than a book, but still good...
Kind of antiquated now, but still a good story. The author tells the story of how he made a fortune in the markets - $2 million in his time is probably more like $10-$15 million now. He started by investing based on tips, then on fundamentals, and finally by combining technicals and fundamentals. It's educational and very readable. The amazing thing is how little Wall Street and the investing world have changed since Darvas made his fortune in the 50s.

A Must-Read Trading Book
This is one of the absolute "must-read" books for people who want to start trading. Do not expect to get a guideline how to get rich quickly when buying this book! The value of this book is the openness in which Darvas describes his way from a bloody beginner to a successfull trader, covering not only the sunny side but also in the faults he made when buying stocks and the mental aspects which impact traders when the market is against them.

Commodity Trading Advisors: Risk, Performance Analysis, and Selection (Wiley Finance)

Product Description

Authoritative, up-to-date research and analysis that provides a dramatic new understanding of the rewards-and risks-of investing in CTAs
Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) are an increasingly popular and potentially profitable investment alternative for institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals. Commodity Trading Advisors is one of the first books to study their performance in detail and analyze the "survivorship bias" present in CTA performance data. This book investigates the many benefits and risks associated with CTAs, examining the risk/return characteristics of a number of different strategies deployed by CTAs from a sophisticated investor's perspective. A contributed work, its editors and contributing authors are among today's leading voices on the topic of commodity trading advisors and a veritable "Who's Who" in hedge fund and CTA research.
Greg N. Gregoriou (Plattsburgh, NY) is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Finance and Research Coordinator in the School of Business and Economics at the State University of New York. Vassilios N. Karavas (Amherst, MA) is Director of Research at Schneeweis Partners. Francois-Serge Lhabitant (Coppet, Switzerland) is a FAME Research Fellow, and a Professor of Finance at EDHEC (France) and at HEC University of Lausanne (Switzerland). Fabrice Rouah (Montreal, Quebec) is Institut de Finance Mathématique de Montréal Scholar in the finance program at McGill University.
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #359151 in Books
Published on: 2004-09-24
Number of items: 1
Binding: Hardcover
424 pages
Editorial Reviews

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Authoritative, up-to-date research and analysis that provides a dramatic new understanding of the rewards-and risks-of investing in CTAs Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) are an increasingly popular and potentially profitable investment alternative for institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals. Commodity Trading Advisors is one of the first books to study their performance in detail and analyze the "survivorship bias" present in CTA performance data. This book investigates the many benefits and risks associated with CTAs, examining the risk/return characteristics of a number of different strategies deployed by CTAs from a sophisticated investor's perspective. A contributed work, its editors and contributing authors are among today's leading voices on the topic of commodity trading advisors and a veritable "Who's Who" in hedge fund and CTA research.

Download Description
Authoritative, up-to-date research and analysis that provides a dramatic new understanding of the rewards-and risks-of investing in CTAs Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) are an increasingly popular and potentially profitable investment alternative for institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals. Commodity Trading Advisors is one of the first books to study their performance in detail and analyze the "survivorship bias" present in CTA performance data. This book investigates the many benefits and risks associated with CTAs, examining the risk/return characteristics of a number of different strategies deployed by CTAs from a sophisticated investor's perspective. A contributed work, its editors and contributing authors are among today's leading voices on the topic of commodity trading advisors and a veritable "Who's Who" in hedge fund and CTA research.

From the Inside Flap
Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) use proprietary trading programs that buy and sell commodities and financial futures around the globe. Different than hedge fund and long-only portfolio managers, they don't follow any stock or bond market trends, but rather, attempt to seize opportunities in a variety of commodity and financial futures markets. The investment potential of CTAs is undeniable, yet little has been done to study their performance in detail-until now.

In Commodity Trading Advisors: Risk, Performance Analysis, and Selection editors Greg Gregoriou, Vassilios Karavas, François-Serge Lhabitant, and Fabrice Rouah bring together the best minds in the business to analyze CTAs from both a quantitative and qualitative perspective. Divided into four comprehensive sections-Performance; Risk and Managed Futures Investing; Managed Futures Investing, Fees, and Regulation; and Program Evaluation, Selection, Diversification, and Returns-this unique resource contains articles that cover a wide range of CTA issues, including:
The performance of CTAs in changing market conditions
Simple and cross efficiency of CTAs using data envelopment analysis
The effect of large hedge fund and CTA trading on futures market volatility
Measuring the long volatility strategies of managed futures
Managed futures funds and other fiduciary products
Choosing the right CTA
How to design a commodity trading futures program

Although much of the information related to CTAs can be technical in nature, Commodity Trading Advisors distills the knowledge of experts within this field in the most straightforward and accessible way possible. You'll become familiar with many of the benefits and risks associated with CTAs as well as the risk/return characteristics of a number of different strategies implemented by them. You'll also learn about important CTA selection and monitoring issues, such as evaluation, returns, and tracking.

Filled with in-depth insights and practical advice, Commodity Trading Advisors can help you-whether you're an institutional investor, pension fund manager, endowment fund, or high-net-worth individual-understand the complexities of this alternative investment opportunity, and show you how to use CTAs as a portfolio diversification tool that can mitigate downside risk in any market.

The Master Swing Trader: Tools and Techniques to Profit from Outstanding Short-Term Trading Opportunities by Alan S. Farley

Product Description

Swing trading is gaining popularity as a powerful method to increase returns—and potentially lower risks—by profiting from short-term price moves. The Master Swing Trader explains how traders can use technical analysis, charting, and market sentiment to make trades that hold through price fluctuations and noise with wider stops. This complete, practical guide to making profitable short-term trades—based on the author’s popular “Mastering the Trade” online course—uses dozens of charts and graphs to illustrate proven swing trading concepts and strategies. Experienced day, position, and online traders will benefit immediately from: - The 7 Bells – unique tools to uncover promising short-term prospects - Techniques to profit from low-risk short sales - The 4 repeating cycles for perfectly timed trades
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #55683 in Books
Published on: 2000-12-13
Number of items: 1
Binding: Hardcover
443 pages
Editorial Reviews

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The Master Swing Trader explains how traders can use technical analysis, charting, and market sentiment to make trades that hold through price fluctuations and noise with wider stops.

Book Info
A proven course for short-term traders for making investments that produce a profit, every time. Offers dozens of trading strategies and setups that include precise reward, risk and stop-less considerations, with more than 200 charts and dozens of proprietary setups that make it easy to see where the money is. DLC: Speculation.

From the Back Cover
Powerful Strategies to Slip Between Day Traders and Long-Term Investors—and Grab Hidden Trading Profits!

Located in the gray area between the lightning-fast day trader and the endlessly patient buy-and-hold investor, the modern swing trader executes intermediate positions that offer highly lucrative results with less volatility. The Master Swing Trader contains a wealth of practical insights and information for using this powerful trading method to profit from short-term price moves often missed by other market participants. After beginning with a detailed background on Pattern Cycle applications and the trend-range axis, The Master Swing Trader presents:
* Dozens of specific trading strategies and setups that include precise reward, risk, and stop-loss considerations
* Concrete tips, tactics, and workflows to make informed choices at each stage of short-term trade evolution
* The 7 Bells – unique tools to uncover high-probability short-term trading prospects

With more than 200 charts and dozens of proprietary setups that illustrate both classic and highly original short-term tactics, The Master Swing Trader doesn’t leave your trading profits to chance. Coldly analytical and backed by real-time trading results, this proven course for short-term traders will help you improve your bottom line, lessen your risks—and increase your confidence in building solid profits in today’s volatile markets!

Biased news stories spun by insiders to manipulate options prices…Questionable stocks pushed by analysts so their trading departments can unload bloated inventories … Quick-trigger day traders chasing the latest chat room buzz …

Today’s top market players understand that our "efficient" markets are actually highly inefficient, driven by insiders with hidden agendas and an irrational pack mentality that has little to do with underlying value. Fortunately, this constant imbalance generates repeated, high-probability trade setups—and Alan Farley’s The Master Swing Trader reveals how you can find and profit from these difficult-to-spot opportunities before they disappear.

Farley’s innovative system is based on Pattern Cycles—shifting market stages that repeat in an orderly, predictable process through all price charts and time frames. These classic Pattern Cycles:
* Describe the machine language within market opportunity
* Reveal the origin of the trade setup
* Explain how to capitalize on inefficiency through every bull and bear phase
* Show exactly where to uncover consistent profit opportunities
* Offer natural methods to shift tactics quickly as conditions change
* Predict the impact of the emotional crowd on trend, range, and price development

The Master Swing Trader will help you apply Pattern Cycles to your advantage, over and over again. By encompassing virtually all market action, and revealing how price moves in a highly predictable manner, its powerful tools will give you the edge you need to take other people’s money before they take yours.

In today’s lightning-fast markets, open information makes profit opportunities decidedly more difficult to spot and capitalize upon—with the investing herd becoming far more skilled at spotting inefficiencies and closing them up quickly. The Master Swing Trader will teach you to recognize these trade setups one step ahead of the crowd, dive in for solid profits, and close out your position before the majority has even caught on.

Pattern Cycles are not easy or automatic; they require concentration, discipline, and skilled execution. But the payoff of these classic strategies is virtually unlimited. Turn to page 1 of The Master Swing Trader now, and open a new world of trading possibilities and profits—the world of the master swing trader!
Customer Reviews

A truly outstanding book for the advanced trader
A lot of people seem to love or hate this book, and I am without question in the love this book category. I have been in the market for many years, and I can say without hesitation that this book is the most advanced and thorough study of trading psychology and tactics ever written. If there's a better one out there, I've never seen it (and I've read hundreds of them).

This is not a beginners book. This is a book for people who have at least a couple of years experience trading and investing actively in the market. I don't mean someone who has a few mutual funds or a stock or two they just hold; I mean someone who follows the market closely day in and day out and has felt the fear, panic, and greed that comes from buying and selling in real time on a regular basis. If you're one of those people then this book is for you. If not, then you should look into something a little less advanced and come back to it in the future.

It was clear to me even after a couple of chapters that the author really knew what he was talking about and had advanced experience. I think many people have been frustrated by this book because they were either too inexperienced to understand it fully or because they were confused by the author's deeply intuitive writing style. Myers-Briggs intuitive types (N's) will feel instantly at home with this, but sensory types (S's) will have a hard time with it because he writes about the deeper meaning behind patterns and movements rather than the obvious visual aspects that are the focus of most books on trading. If you are someone who thinks deeply and looks for the deeper meaning of things then you'll probably like the style of this book. If you are not, then it might not be for you. I am an intuitive N, and I recommend it to others like me without hesitation. It's the equivalent of a capstone course in a master's degree program in trading.

he uses many words to say very little
The book feels like Farley is trying too hard too impress, instead of to truly educate. A few good insights, but buried beneath the weight of all those self-important words.

Very disappointing
The book is badly written and difficult to understand and to follow even for graduated people. All thinks are put inside without any logical framework. The reader get lost after some pages.
The book is too long and worth of nothing interesting.
Avoid to waste money for this book. I bought one copy kidded by the high rating and looking for some good insight in swing trading.

The MBA Career Bible, 2007 Edition (Vault MBA Career Bible) by Vault Editors

Product Description

Now in one affordable guide, Vault provides an annual up-to-date overview of major MBA career paths and hiring trends for major industries for MBAs in 2006. Industries covered include biotech/pharmaceuticals, investment management, real estate, tech consulting, hedge funds, sales & trading, venture capital, and more.
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #879407 in Books
Published on: 2007-01-25
Number of items: 1
Binding: Paperback
304 pages
Customer Reviews

Not a very good book
Very shallow in covering each topic. The best way to describe it is to say that it is really like a collection of pamphlets. Skip this one and try reading the more in-depth career specific editions of vault's career books.

Trading Chaos: Maximize Profits with Proven Technical Techniques (A Marketplace Book) by Justine Gregory-Williams

Product Description

How to trade the markets by integrating Chaos Theory with market sentiment
In the first edition of Trading Chaos, seasoned trader and psychologist Bill Williams detailed the potential of Chaos Theory-which seeks to make the unpredictable understandable-in trading and it revolutionized financial decision-making. The Second Edition of Trading Chaos is a cutting edge book that combines trading psychology and Chaos Theory and its particular effect on the markets. By examining both of these facets in relation to the current market, readers will have the best of all possible worlds when trading.
Bill Williams, PhD, CTA (Solana Beach, CA), is President of Profitunity.com, a leader in the field of education for traders and investors. Justine Gregory-Williams (Solana Beach, CA) is President of the Profitunity Trading Group and a full-time trader.
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #75451 in Books
Published on: 2004-02
Number of items: 1
Binding: Hardcover
228 pages
Editorial Reviews

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How to trade the markets by integrating Chaos Theory with market sentiment
In the first edition of Trading Chaos, seasoned trader and psychologist Bill Williams detailed the potential of Chaos Theory-which seeks to make the unpredictable understandable-in trading and it revolutionized financial decision-making. The Second Edition of Trading Chaos is a cutting edge book that combines trading psychology and Chaos Theory and its particular effect on the markets. By examining both of these facets in relation to the current market, readers will have the best of all possible worlds when trading.
Bill Williams, PhD, CTA (Solana Beach, CA), is President of Profitunity.com, a leader in the field of education for traders and investors. Justine Gregory-Williams (Solana Beach, CA) is President of the Profitunity Trading Group and a full-time trader.

From the Inside Flap
Published in 1995, the bestselling first edition of Trading Chaos provided readers with the most practical and comprehensive guide for applying chaos theory to the real world of trading and investing. But today, the markets are different than they were even a few years ago. So with fresh research in hand, coauthors Bill Williams and Justine Gregory-Williams have updated their profitable methods and provide new techniques to help you take profits from the markets.

Trading Chaos, Second Edition will not only show you how to anticipate, recognize, and react to impending bull and bear market conditions, it will also introduce you to the latest findings in physics and psychology as applied to various markets-stock, bond, futures, indexes, and many others.

The first portion of this book is devoted to understanding how the rewards you'll acquire in trading and investing are determined by what is happening inside of you. By digging through some very interesting and deep psychological principles, you can become a profitable "trade/vestor"-using technical techniques for good short-term entries and exits, but also holding on to long-term investments when the opportunity presents itself. Trading Chaos, Second Edition will help you build a solid psychological foundation before you enter the markets.

After you've learned how to gain an inner analytic edge, the authors will show you how the application of self-knowledge will improve your bottom line. Through numerous charts, checklists, and examples, you'll be introduced to proven techniques that can make the unpredictable understandable and make your journey into the markets more profitable. You'll learn how to:
Sharpen entries and exits, and reduce whiplashes with the powerful "Alligator" indicator
Get into a new trend very early with proper use of the "First Wise Man"
Add on aggressively after your first entry using the "Second Wise Man" with the help of the Awesome Oscillator (AO)
Make fractal breakout trades with the "Third Wise Man"-these almost guarantee profitable follow-through on a trade

In this early part of the twenty-first century, you have a choice to either be a part of the last generation of traders and investors using linear (ineffective) techniques or the first generation using effective nonlinear (chaotic) techniques. By reading the Second Edition of Trading Chaos, you'll learn how you can take your trading skills to the next level and make steady profits in any market.

From the Back Cover
Praise for
TRADING CHAOS
SECOND EDITION

"As a trader and an author for over fourteen years in stocks, futures, and options, it still amazes me when I read a book that teaches me new approaches to the market. This book is one of these amazing books that can teach the novice or the professional something important to take them to the next level of their trading. It is a must read for everyone interested in looking at the markets in a new way."
-George Fontanills, President Emeritus, Optionetics

"Bill and Justine Williams, two of the truly great teachers of market action, have written an outstanding book. It not only covers the psychology of personal trading but provides one with a well defined, coherent trading plan. This book is must reading for any serious trader, whether a beginner or experienced veteran."
-John R. Hill, President, Futures Truth Company

"What Bill Williams does best is raise questions and doubts in the minds of his readers. But, even better, he then provides wonderful new choices for thinking and acting. He has a deft lightness in his writing and a seriousness of purpose that drew me in like a magnet."
-Rodney Napier, PhD, head of The Napier Group
coauthor, The Courage to Act and Groups: Theory & Experience (now in its seventh edition)
Customer Reviews

Bill and Justine did a great job
Bill and Justine are made me aware of what is driving the markets. Before I met them I was caught in a circle of winning and losing money in trading. The first edition opened my eyes, new trading dimensions got me out of the dream. The home study course showed me that It is possible to trade consistently, The personal workshop with Bill taught me more than enough of the inside of the markets to grasp the why and how. Eventually workshops by Justine in the middle of Chicago made me implement it all.

This new edition of Trading Chaos is refreshing. It's not about "the magic system", it's not about how to design the perfect system. No it's about real life and how the markets fit in. The perfection in the chaos, the perfect repetition of the small in to the bigger picture.

Don't buy this book if you want to know which market to trade and make money. Don't buy this book if you are looking for the magical tip.
Do buy the book if you want to learn what the market is driving and how you can profit.

Do buy this book if you are clueless (like I was) about your trading mistakes.
If you are serious go for the book, think of the implications and contact Bill and Justine to do a follow up. I did it 10 years ago and never had a moment of regret.

Solid trading book
For large traders and institutional traders who need to move large volume and order flow, this book offers multiple entry and exit strategies and tactics. Out of necessity, these traders have to scale in and out of their positions to dampen the immediate effect of their trading on the markets. Even for private retail traders, this book conveys choice of logical set-ups to incorporate into their trading operations. Overall, I feel that this book deserves your attention.

Great book - very intense
I've been looking for a book like this for a while. I first came across Bill Williams through the Metastock indicators and the Expert System. After loading an expert called "PS Fractal Trading System 2" I was amazed at the signals.
Having read through the book - I have the following quibble. There is a huge difference in the parameters of the alligator in what comes with Metastock (v9 and v10) and what the book gives. The book says the green line is 13 bar smoothed average offset 8 bars into future. Likewise the red is 8 bar offset 5, and the green is 5 bar offset 3. However this does not correspond to the Metastock indicator he provides. For the curious, the Metastock ones referred to in page 206 of book have the following values: Green: 9 period EMA of Median offset 3. Red: 15 period offset 5, and Blue 25 period offset 8