This is one of the best overall trading books that I have read.
In New Trading Systems and Methods, Perry J. Kaufman gives you unlimited access to everything you need to know--which trading systems work best in specific markets, techniques for controlling losses, internal strategies for overcoming the danger of emotions--to make an exceptional living on the frontlines of professional trading.

Certainly not a How-To book but a compendium of trading methods, strategies, etc. This book covers everything from trading using standard methods such as moving averages to exotic methods such as planetary alignment. I use this as a reference book rather than a book to read cover to cover. The beginner may be overwhelmed with the quantity of material but well rewarded with such topics as Unexpected Price Shocks, which I have rarely seen covered. This book is extremely valuable for Tradestation users like me who aren't the best programmers. Trying something from the book couldn't be easier. The techniques import directly from the DVD into Tradestation. As a warning to readers not using Tradestation you are on your own. Some of the techniques use complex code so they would be difficult for many of us to implement on our own.

Certainly not a How-To book but a compendium of trading methods, strategies, etc. This book covers everything from trading using standard methods such as moving averages to exotic methods such as planetary alignment. I use this as a reference book rather than a book to read cover to cover. The beginner may be overwhelmed with the quantity of material but well rewarded with such topics as Unexpected Price Shocks, which I have rarely seen covered. This book is extremely valuable for Tradestation users like me who aren't the best programmers. Trying something from the book couldn't be easier. The techniques import directly from the DVD into Tradestation. As a warning to readers not using Tradestation you are on your own. Some of the techniques use complex code so they would be difficult for many of us to implement on our own.

I've read this book thoroughly, and have found it invaluable in my own approach to trading, and in understanding the many approaches to trading and the markets in general.

BTW I have no connection with the author whatsoever, but I do have a deep appreciation for the amount of time and effort required to write a book of this magnitude. It is, perhaps, the most comprehensive book available on trading methods.

My copy is stuffed with pieces of paper that mark particularly valuable information. From market basics and charting, to fractal analysis and portfolio allocation with a genetic algorithm, the book covers practically every aspect of trading methodology. The breadth of coverage is just incredible.

There are sets of rules for William Dunnigan's Thrust Method, trading rules for gaps, Eugene Nofri's Congestion-Phase System, Tom Demark's Sequential, Raschke's First Cross, to name just a few. The list goes on and on, and is far too extensive to mention here. Many gems are hidden between the very clear and concise explanations which prepare the reader for the more complex trading methods.

If you're not familiar with trading systems and are just looking for a set of simple, step-by-step rules that will make you a lot of money in the market, then you don't need this book - you need sympathy. No book will deliver that, but many will promise to. The traders that you will be up against could be the ones that will find this book invaluable. Good luck, anyway! (You'll need it!)

If you have some experience studying the markets and are interested in an excellent overview of the most popular trading methods, and a few esoteric methods that are not easy to locate elsewhere, then this is an excellent book for that purpose, in fact, the best I've found. Even one of the methods is well worth the price, and the code on the CD-rom is a bonus.

I've often asked myself why someone would put in the vast amount of work required to write a comprehensive work on trading methods. The amount of time and effort required to compile a book of this magnitude must be truly mind boggling. His pay must come out to something like a penny an hour, if that! LOL

Obviously, it's the author's passion to find, understand and explain trading methods! And he is an expert at it. My hat's off to you, Perry! Job well done!

Similar to many traders who own Perry Kaufman's 3rd edition of New Trading Systems and Methods, I ignored the publication of the 4th edition. Well, such oversight was my loss. Even a quick perusal of the work reveals a wealth of new ideas, techniques, and concepts. Kaufman offers ample inspiration for exploring trading problems in a new light.



Kaufman's encyclopedic coverage is unique. The 3rd edition contains 700 plus dense, fast paced material. The current edition adds another 500 pages of new and revised material. Each topic is examined with care; Kaufman has an ability to focus on the key concepts and omit the fluff. His presentation assumes a sophisticated, intelligent reader with solid software development, testing, and trading skills. Sloppy readers, clumsy testers, undisciplined `traders' will complain that this is not a `trading war stories book'--such complaints are correct; this is a trading SYSTEMS and METHODS handbook.



The book binding has a problem. At 1,200 pages, the adhesive binding is falling apart. This book requires either sewn through or over-sewn type binding. Shame on John Wiley for such embarrassing production quality!

Similar to many traders who own Perry Kaufman's 3rd edition of New Trading Systems and Methods, I ignored the publication of the 4th edition. Well, such oversight was my loss. Even a quick perusal of the work reveals a wealth of new ideas, techniques, and concepts. Kaufman offers ample inspiration for exploring trading problems in a new light.

Kaufman's encyclopedic coverage is unique. The 3rd edition contains 700 plus dense, fast paced material. The current edition adds another 500 pages of new and revised material. Each topic is examined with care; Kaufman has an ability to focus on the key concepts and omit the fluff. His presentation assumes a sophisticated, intelligent reader with solid software development, testing, and trading skills. Sloppy readers, clumsy testers, undisciplined `traders' will complain that this is not a `trading war stories book'--such complaints are correct; this is a trading SYSTEMS and METHODS handbook.

The book binding has a problem. At 1,200 pages, the adhesive binding is falling apart. This book requires either sewn through or over-sewn type binding. Shame on John Wiley for such embarrassing production quality!

I've only gotten about a third to halfway thru the book as I can't see what the author's purpose is, whether laboring thru the rest would benefit me or not. It reads like a college level textbook of the mathematics behind technical analysis. Boring. In what I read, the author worked thru proof formulas to get to more elaborate indicators. In so doing, sometimes he explained what his formula's symbols meant and sometimes not. I sure don't want to go back thru the book to see if I can find an earlier description of what the symbols mean should I ever want to use one of the new formulas. Then he compared some of the new trend followers like standard deviation against olders ones like moving average and point and figure and behold none are really better than the others. When I get stranded on a tropical isle and am bored to tears, I will page thru the rest of it.

After buying a large number of highly recommended trading books (including the books referred to in these reviews), this is the only book that I can depend on to clearly explain in technical detail almost any aspect of system trading that I need information on. This book is well written, comprehensive, and approaches subjects in an objective manner. It doesn't tell you how to trade, but clearly describes the different system trading strategies and indicators, their advantages and disadvantages, and practical considerations. This is a must for those developing rule based and automated trading systems.

After buying a large number of highly recommended trading books (including the books referred to in these reviews), this is the only book that I can depend on to clearly explain in technical detail almost any aspect of system trading that I need information on. This book is well written, comprehensive, and approaches subjects in an objective manner. It doesn't tell you how to trade, but clearly describes the different system trading strategies and indicators, their advantages and disadvantages, and practical considerations. This is a must for those developing rule based and automated trading systems.

Trading is serious business, although you wouldn't think so, considering the way many people approach it.

The fundamental truth about all types of markets is that the minority gets the money, and keeps it. Of course, there will be times where the market trends strongly in one direction (usually up), and the masses confuse a bull market for brains. But those who are serious about earning profits, and keeping them, need to develop a method or philosophy to separate their thoughts and actions to act independently from the crowd.

If there were college level courses in financial speculation, Kauffman's book would be the required text. All sorts of twists on trend following, counter trend strategies, technical indicators, statistical methods, as well as various charting techniques, are all described. I should also add, the book comes with a CD that enables you to test various methods described in the book using Excel spreadsheets. The spreadsheets are already set up, you just need to input the data.

Some reviewers say that all of the methods are "bad." I'd disagree. This book is a valuable reference, and when you understand the logic of what has come before, you can adapt it to current market conditions. There are a surprisingly large, but finite, number of ways to slice and dice market data. But there are an infinite number of ways to combine a few them into a robust trading system.

This book is worth the money. The author presents solid explanations on the use of technical indicators and statistical calculations of the market. He guides you step by step in order to understand the specific applications and use of technical analysis and use of mathematical calculations applied to the financial markets. The depth of research and examples is very broad and extensive, plus the examples of the actual programming code in order to create your own trading systems is very helpful. Recommended by MTA to complete the CMT course.

Many people refer to the Achelis book for simple, straight-forward descriptions of technical analysis tools. I too have it on my primary bookshelf. However, lately, more often than not, I find myself reaching for Kaufman's book to get good background on the various ways of technically analysing trading options. He has chapters devoted to practically every indicator type you may encounter: chart reading, events, regressions, trending, momentum, oscillators, seasonality, cycles, patterns, multiple time frames, and advanced techniques. He then goes into some details regarding system testing, practical considerations, risk control, and diversification. As a wrap up, he provides some end-notes for the mathematically inclined.

There appear to be traders who will sit at their screen all day and watch patterns. I think many who wrote many of the recent reviews may fall into this category, and didnt' rank the book very highly. On the other hand, there are other traders who may wish to design Automated Trading Scenarios and need some math to flesh out their trading strategies. It is for these types of traders to whom this book is devoted. I think you'll find a wealth of ideas you can mix and match to make a trading strategy uniquely your own.

However, technical anlysis and automated trading strategy design takes much work and energy. A good chunk of statistics is practically mandatory (which the book doesn't delve into). This book fulfills only a portion of the overall knowledge someone will need build a winning trading strategy.

I'll give it two thumbs up as it provides excellent details on the spectrum of technical analysis and provides references for the times you wish to flesh out the details.

Another book by someone not trading, but having a name as books writer. Good research work. If you are interested in research, not trading, probably this huge book will help you.
One star as practical value for trading.

If you are a beginer trader or a trader looking to improve your results, it would probably make sense to look for books written by good traders or former traders - real and practical value, incorporating some of their profitable trading experience. And not over a thousand pages!
Example: JOHN CARTER - Mastering the Trade, JOHN PERSON - A Compleate Guide to Technical Trading Tactics, STEPHEN BIGALOW - High Profit Candlestick Patterns.

This book explains price, volume, trend, mean reversion and time based trading strategies. It explains different volatility methods

Most of these systems are very good predicting the PAST.

I agree with Robert L. Bacon when he says that is better to have a bad strategy than not to have one. In this book you'll find a collection of bad strategies.

One or two pages on everything, better write a book on each chapter with tradestation implementation code. Foot notes with outdated book refernce used, I didn't suggest buying these books or buying this book to get foot notes.

Actually a 4.5 star. Not the same remixed crap that bloats a traders library. Useful strats that actually work not just in theory but where it counts....in your portfolio.