Customer Reviews

Trading for a Living: Psychology, Trading Tactics, Money Management

5 star:		(102)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Elder runs trading camps and has a real cult of personality so allot reviews are based on him and not necessarily this book. The book is really a re-hashing of simple trend trading and really shows it's age. If you must persist with Elder I'd get Come Into My Trading Room which has some interesting ideas, the stop loss worksheet etc. but really Elder is someone you probably won't get much out of unless you are a long term trader (> 13 weeks) or do options as too much of his stuff just doesn't make it for day trading or swing trading...for daytrading get the Bernstein books, he's got some good ideas but he's rather sloppy in execution still his systems are variations on some solid stuff.
For swing trading, the old standby, with allot caveat, is Edwards & Magee. Elder really doesn't have enough in him to warrant more than glimpsing at hjs stuff.

Dr. Elder is a practicing psychiatrist. He is Russian origin and today he is well-known in Russia after his Moscow course of lectures on short-term investment in 1996. This book is translated into Russian and was published twice in Moscow ...

The first half of the book is pure psychology. The stock market in fact is a reflection of the human psychology. As the author points out, so many people who are educated think that because they are "school smart" that they must be able to master the financial markets just as well. It's the psychology and the mentality that goes into it. The author likens a typical losing trader (in other words, most traders!) to an alcoholic in denial. Traders are addicted to losing money. They get such a thrill from trading that they don't care if they win or lose.

The second half (Trading for a Living) is the core of the book. It is various trading strategies and technical information. If you're an experienced trader, you'll recognize most of it. The rule is simple: "buy low, sell high" or "short high, cover low". I think the author did an excellent job of covering a wide variety of strategies and trading tools. If you are new to trading, it may confuse the daylights out of you.

This book is a must have for anyone venturing into online trading. Dr. Elder lays out the three essentials of becoming a successful trader: Mind, Method and Money Management.

1. Mind: The psychological aspect of trading. Tells you to observe your own emotions as you trade.

2. Method: Technical analysis. Almost every major indicator is discussed here.

3. Money Management: Gives you some tips on how much to risk.

I have found a lot more detail in this book than in any other I've read so far. It is very enlightning. I give the book five stars. It is really good. If you don't mind the high price, buy it. It pays. You won't be disappointed. I highly recommend it to those traders who wants to improve the quality of their lives.

Alexander Petrochenkov

Anyone who has a serious interest in trading or any professional trader would not be without this book. It should be your trading "Bible" and within your reach for reference at all times. If you are looking for a dependable trading system (as dependable as systems can be) then the Triple Screen is for you. It will help you to identify solid trades and avoid the straight gambles. I think that Dr. Elder has given us a book that will prove itself invaluable to you over your trading career. His technical analysis discussions are clear and concise, and his examples provide a good framework for understanding. However he is not guaranteeing you success or giving you a "magic formula". Just the relevant information that you will need to make good trading decisions. With his insight into trading psychology, he is trying to help you avoid many of the common mistakes that traders make. If by purchasing this book, and taking to heart what the says, you are able to avoid one bad trading decision, then it will have been worth it to you!

Alexander Elder is first and foremost a psychiatrist, and it shows when he explains his insights into individual and mass psychology in the first two chapters of the book.

These two chapters are the real gold in the book; i have not read a more succinct and hard-hitting explanation of the behavior of individuals and crowds, and these two chapters are the ones you want to read.

The rest of the book is devoted to the basics of technical analysis. There is a lot of stuff out there on technical analysis so the stuff in Elder's book is likely to be somewhat outdated.

Nevertheless, read this book for the part on the psychology. This is fundamental and basic for any investor or trader, and is crucial to your success in the markets.

The dichotomy of trading is that it appears deceptively easy when in fact it is painstakingly difficult to get off to a successful start. Many trading books take advantage of this misperception and neglect to mention the difficulties and oversimplify or even misrepresent the necessary basics, much like the shop keepers, the saloon owners, and other merchants did to prospective gold seekers during the California gold rush.

Dr. Elder is one of the few honest merchants in this field who explores the dark side of trading up front. In fact the first impression this book will make on a new trader is how difficult it is going to be to consistently make money in the market through short term trading. But alas, most good things in life come with a bit of difficulty and those who are willing to pay the price by studying, even mastering the basics, will in the end be rewarded with a career that offers many perks.

This book should be considered the text for Trading 101 as it explains in a simple way the basics necessary to succeed. As another reviewer has mentioned it is unnecessary to strain yourself by learning charting techniques reading 400+ pages of Murphy's "Technical Analysis of the Futures Markets." If you are willing to master the material in Elder's book, it is arguable that, along with a good candlestick-charting book, you will have sufficiently mastered the charting techniques necessary to find a good degree of success in finding a good trade to enter. It is doubtful that if you are new to charting that you will ever look at a stock chart the same after reading this book. The difference in how you view a chart when you are finished with this book is akin to the comparison of how a non Russian speaking person views the Cyrillic alphabet and how Vladimir Putin sees the words on a Tolstoy novel.

As founder of a web site dedicated to the success and education of our subscribers, we continually recommend this book to those who are serious about making a career as a trader.

2 Years ago I became a full-time trader after taking several courses and reading more than 40 books on trading. Dr. Elder's book is the ONLY one that has made me money, a lot of money (603% last year).

The first half of the book deals with the psychology of both the market and the trader. I didn't fully appreciate this portion of Dr. Elder's book until I began trading. This is the biggest obsticle of the trader. His insight has really helped me to understand the movements of the market and myself as a trader.

The second half of 'Trading for a Living' deals with technical analysis and money management. This has proved invaluable to me. There is so much accurate information I've read the book eight times, that's how jam packed it is with useable information. Also, every word matters--no fluff at all--unlike most of the books on trading I've read. And, don't overlook his money management chapter. This is where amatuers fail. His simple money management system will help to elivate you to a professional trader. If you want to make money, this is the book.

This is definitely a book for the novice, the intermediate and the professional trader.

The psychological section of the book is useful more towards the intermediate and the professional trader, whilst the trading tactics section is more designed for the novice and the intermediate trader, and the money management section for all three types of traders.

I found this book very helpful throughout my trading career and I would highly recommend that once you have read it not to discard it. You will find it greatly more beneficial to your trading career if you were to read it at least once every 1-2 years of your trading life, because certain areas in the book become highlighted and more readily understood as you mature.

The only reason why I gave it the 4 stars was Elder's fairly lack-lustre Money Management section (accounts for about 6% of the book). However if you find you would like to know more about Money Management (which is an integral part of trading) I would highly recommed K. van Tharp's "Trade Your Way To Financial Freedom."

This is one of the better books out there on the subject of technical analysis. The pyschology section has some interesting remarks about the so-called "gurus" of the futures industry. Elder discusses sentiment and other specific stock-market timing indicators as well. Overall I think he has done an admirable job, however there is just one problem. He really negelects to tell the reader that most indicators (including to a large extent, those covered in the book) are just plain old garbage! If you don't agree with me then I can merely refer you to the William Eckhardt and Monroe Trout interviews in the "New Market Wizards". Schwager has a much better TA book. Spend your hard earned money on that instead.

Elder's writing style (especially his profuse use of creative analogies) is attention-grabbing. The book is a great read in all aspects except the 60%+ of the book dealing with technical indicators. Rather than highlighting the top 3-4 indicators in each category (trend-following, leading, coincident) which have worked well for Elder, he gives his version of a comprehensive synopsis of every modern and not-so-modern indicator known to man... providing little value-added commentary in terms of the usefulness of each. (Then again, he admits that he uses 12-13 indicators at any given time.) He also repeats the characteristics of each broad category of indicators when describing each individual indicator - which is great if you do not learn unless you read the same thing 50 times, but otherwise it's extremely tedious.

Let's face it - the book is designed for position traders but as a primer for those interested in short-term trading of futures and equities, it's a potentially useful resource. Elder's book's major shortcoming is that it tries to be everything to everyone, therefore it does not deserve rave reviews from anyone but the absolute beginner who's starting from scratch.

One useful concept, proprietary to the author, is called the Triple Screen trading system. But for the intermediate and advanced trader looking for a new strategy or a twist on an existing one, I suggest you look elsewhere.

Easily the best trading book I've read. Elder eleoquently articulates on 3 essential "pillars" of trading: Psychology & Market Dynamics, Technical Analysis and defensive money management. Basically, this book teaches you think and trade like a professional trader.

Three (minor) drawbacks:
1- Inadequate coverage of basic stock fundamentals: Then again, this may not be the preferred trading style of many but I do believe that some basic understanding of market fundamentals is essential.
2- Price: At $55-60 bucks on Amazon, it is fairly pricey considering that similar topics are covered in a plethora of trading books.
3- No coverage of back testing: Although this book was released in early 90s, I do wish that Elder incorporated some basic back testing methods and technical trading system design in the book or an updated version. It would have truly complimented his other topic.

Overall, stellar book.