Simply the finest book on trading I have read to date. I credit this book with being a large part of why I went from consistently losing on trades, to consistently making profits. I think that traders in any market would benefit from this book, and if you don't learn valuable lessons from this book you simply aren't trying. The sections on triple screen trading are worth the price of admission alone. I've read a lot of lousy trading books, so I though it was worth posting my very first review for the best.

I think that it is very difficult to give the right information for such a matter, but dr. Elder has succeeded in saying the right thinks in the right way, even to a person like me that is almost a beginner in the trading affair. Really great.

Not only I enjoyed a lot reading the book, but also learned a lot. The most important thing I learned is that to make money in the markets it is much more important your mental approach to trading rather than your technical knoledge. Essencial reading.

Extremely well written even a beginning trader will understand. I highly recommend this book especially for traders who've been trading actively but seem to be getting nowhere. A book worth keeping.

Dr. Elder is probably a successful trader who makes a lot of money selling his books about trading. I have no real negative comments about any of Dr. Elder's book except for his comments when it comes to daytrading. He seems to think that no one makes a living daytrading and that simply is not true. Dr. Elder, did you read Market Wizards? Are were those profiles not real? Yes, most traders probably shouldn't be daytrading or haven't been trading long enough to just dive in, but traders like Marty Schwartz, Paul Tudor Jones, Mark Cook, etc., etc. daytrade and make lots of money. In fact, millions. I'm sure there are many daytraders out there that no one knows about that do quite well. I just wonder why you don't even acknowledge that it's even possible to succeed, especially when it's done everyday. I like Dr. Elder's way of trading and use it in some of my trading, but it's not the only way. All traders and all methods are not equal and they all can't be judged by Dr. Elder's methods alone. His way is just another way of trading. Having said all this, I strongly recommend Dr. Elder's books because they are very good for all traders no matter the experience.

These books are for beginners and, as such, should be read with caution. Meaning that the most important thing to understand about a financial market is that the price action is unpredictable and often random. No method, including those in this book, will make it not so. Unfortunately, these type of books don't emphasize this enough, and this one is no exception.

That said, this book is well written and does a good job of describing various methods that a lot of people use to trade. Whether these methods work or not is up to the reader to decide. I'm sure some people make them work. And I'm equally sure others don't.

For balance, this book should be read in conjunction with "Fooled by Randomness". After reading both, decide whether or not you are up to the challenge of trading.

I like this book a lot. Even though I'm not using precisely the systems described in it I think the book gives one a solid foundation to build upon. It advocates a discretionary approach which I happen to like. I think looking for a trading system in a book is a fundamentally wrong idea. trading is a lot like chess and what works for a player of one style may kill another. the best advice I personally found in the book is to learn to trade by putting lots of small trades. if you are disciplined you can put a lot of tiny trades in a very small timeframe like 5 to 20 min. if you analyze each one after closing it
you'll learn fast and get experience fast. and then you'll remember days you were looking for a system and smile at yourself :) once you get experience and get rid of wrong beliefs/habits you can trade in any timeframe.

I read this book several years ago, and took away some lasting items of value from it. The most valuable pieces of the book, surprisingly, are the sections on money management and record keeping. To this day I follow Dr. Elder's outstanding advice on how to limit risk and how to properly document trades and objectively track success. It is also worth the admittedly high price of the book to learn Dr. Elder's formula for setting "Safe-Zone" stops. I'm still not sure how or why this works, but the formula tends to come up with solid places to put in stops.

Unfortunately, I can't give the book higher than three stars because of some flaws. First, I find the tone of his writing to be somewhat condescending and insulting to both beginners and those who lose money. Dr. Elder says "successful traders are self-assured but never arrogant." But he also comes up with condescending quotes like, "Winners make money in different ways, while all losers fall into the same wastebasket of impulsivity." Wow.

After reading the great trading books like Reminiscences of A Stock Operator, and Stanley Kroll's two books, I also question some of his advice, such as when he says that to step up to being an intermediate trader "you need cut losses faster and grab profits sooner." The experts are all for cutting losses, but "grab profits sooner?" What happened to letting profits run?

Finally, I cannot understand why the examples at the end of the book feature countertrend trades that have nothing to do with the methodology presented in the majority of the book. All they do is confuse you after you've made a great effort to understand the trend-following methods he preaches throughout the book.

This book really digs deeper into the real truth of trading world than Elder's previous book. For anyone who read Trading for living by Elder and not turned off by the 'Dog Eat Dog World of Trading' depicted in his book and still around, this book is certainly recommended.

I have traded stocks since I was a teen. I have been familiar with Dr. Elder for years. Along the way, I have read many books on trading. This ranks among the best.

Dr. Elder breaks the art and science of trading into three pillars. He calls them his three M's:

Mind
Market
Management

The key to winning the trading game is to win the battle within your mind. Dr, Elder, himself a practicing psychiatrist, explains how to develop discipline and to avoid the traps caused by emotional trading.

Second, he shows how to identify good trades using charts and computerized indicators. In remarkably clear and concise language, he explains the indicators and how to combine them to develop your own trading system.

Finally, he discusses importance of money management. The successful trader manages risk. Dr. Elder lays down the rules to harness it.

After reading this book, there is no doubt in my mind why this book has achieved a "Classic" status. It is well deserved. Dr. Elder has distilled more than 25 years of trading experience into a readable and insightful tome. Every trader who is serious about his or her markets should read it. Its gems of knowledge will cause it to become dog-eared in no time.

This is the best trading book I ever read. The technique showed by Mr. Elder to act automatic while the market are open and run fast instead of thinking is one of the best advice I ever heard. To be a sucessful trader you really need a defensive money management approach and a system to follow, it is much more important than simply identifying trends and bet right.

I rated this book 5 stars because I can't rate 6 or more. And yes I did some money with it. In fact this book already paid for itself...

I also reccomend Entries & Exits : Visits to 16 Trading Rooms (Wiley Trading) and The Complete Trading for a Living: The Legendary Approach to Trading with the Companion Study Guide from the same author.

The book is realy very good.
He talked in detail about almost everything.
Talked about psychology better than a whole book in one chapter " I have read a whole book about this topic and never get more information than what he said"
explained beautifuly and nicely, HOW the trade must be executed: from A to Z. I have not find yet a better method than his.
Was great showing us how money could and must be managed.
Disclsing his own trading diary is the top of what he made in the book. It is realy like inviting someone to your bedroom!! But for no pupose but to our favorit, he made it. Don't hesitate buy it now!

I bought this book for my wife since she likes stock trading. She told me this is a great book which worthes 5 starts. Although I know nothing about trading, I did spent some days on this book just for curiosity. However, I felt lost most of the time since the book talks some terms with less detail (e.g., k tail). I assume that only people who knows TA will benefit from this book, not the ones who know nothing about trading or TA yet. I guess the people may benefit more if buy the author's another book "Trade for a living". So I will give a 4 stars.

Dr. Elder provides some simple tools and great strategies for a beginner to learn trading and protect capital. He lays out achievable goals, plans, and shows his own "secret weapons". Great book!

This book is a good start to acquire the knowledge necessary to be a successful trader.Its strength lies in two areas (1) Discipline and money management (2) Respect for the market, where the author emphasizes that even the most reliable patterns can fail and a trader should always be prepared for surprises in the market.
I found this book more useful when complemented by others . I would suggest " How to take money from wall street" by Oz where the book focuses on day trading techniques not touched on in this book. Also "generate thousands on your stocks........." By Elias
Second or third editions, which offers valuable practical ideas not discussed in the subject book for short and intermediate term trading as well as practical incorporation of option techniques to limit losses and enhance profits.
Dr. Elder did a good job putting the trader on the right track but you will have to enhance your knowledge by other books. I have suggested the two that worked best in my opinion.

This book is a good start to acquire the knowledge necessary to be a successful trader.Its strength lies in two areas (1) Discipline and money management (2) Respect for the market, where the author emphasizes that even the most reliable patterns can fail and a trader should always be prepared for surprises in the market.
I found this book more useful when complemented by others . I would suggest " How to take money from wall street" by Oz where the book focuses on day trading techniques not touched on in this book. Also "generate thousands on your stocks........." By Elias
Second or third editions, which offers valuable practical ideas not discussed in the subject book for short and intermediate term trading as well as practical incorporation of option techniques to limit losses and enhance profits.
Dr. Elder did a good job putting the trader on the right track but you will have to enhance your knowledge by other books. I have suggested the two that worked best in my opinion.

Lots of good things about this book- good info on swing trading with envelopes, moving averages, MACD, etc..

I have started to make money more consistantly just by following the written plan suggestions before I trade. That way, when market is open, I just read my plan and follow the directions like a cookbook (i.e. buy price, stop price, target price.) It really helps takes emotion and bad decisions out of your trading. This alone is helping me to stop making impulsive and usually losing trades.

Also, his thoughts on grading each entry, exit and trade overall also makes me more money. Lastly, his ABC method of writing out and ranking your best trades on the weekend has lead me to better trades and fewer loser trades. If the trade is not on my sheet, I do not do it.

Lots of good things about this book- good info on swing trading with envelopes, moving averages, MACD, etc..

I have started to make money more consistantly just by following the written plan suggestions before I trade. That way, when market is open, I just read my plan and follow the directions like a cookbook (i.e. buy price, stop price, target price.) It really helps takes emotion and bad decisions out of your trading. This alone is helping me to stop making impulsive and usually losing trades.

Also, his thoughts on grading each entry, exit and trade overall also makes me more money. Lastly, his ABC method of writing out and ranking your best trades on the weekend has lead me to better trades and fewer loser trades. If the trade is not on my sheet, I do not do it.

One of the best books I have seen for someone starting out trading. There is still a lot to learn beyond this book but it contains a lot of information to build upon.

Outstanding book. So much so that I am now on my third read. It is always near my hand. Dr. Elder introduced me to the powerful concepts of Envelopes and MACD-Histogram and, most importantly, how to interpret and apply them. I love his Impulse system. I can now say I have a trading method that I like and trust.

I read Trading For a Living back in the day and I had high hopes. But when I actually applied the concepts in the book, the results were less than spectacular. I didn't lose money, but in a year of trading I didn't really make money either. I was trading full-time during this period and had about 5 years experience at that point.

I had a simple question for Dr Elder and read that he offered a telephone consultation service. I called and was told the fee was $300 per hour. Smaller increments of 15-minutes were permitted at $75. I said that my question would take him all of 2 minutes to answer. It was that simple and direct. I couldn't see paying $75 for that.

Sorry, too bad.

$75 minimum to talk to the great man.

Shrinks.

This book? More of the same. He could have better titled it "I'm Back for More Cash".

What does Elder really do for a living?

He sells books and practices psychiatry.

Save your money. Buy a book from somebody who really trades for a living.

On page 75 Elder, discussing trends, writes, "When they rise or fall at 60 degrees or more, their breaks tend to major reversals." Apparently Doctors and Stock Traders don't have to take Algebra. The slope in degrees on any chart is totally a function of the scale used on the time and price axis. Nothing to do with the rate of change of price with time directly.

I earnestly am studing this book and hoped it would help defeat my catastrophic risk averse propensity. But that 60 degree deal really makes me wonder. Maybe this is the Achilles heal of the professional trader and us novices can profit from it.

I read about 50 of the reviews, looking for someone to say, "Hey I really am making money off of these ideas." But nothing.

Maybe we should quit reading these books, writing reviews, put our money into Treasuries and go fishing.

If you are serious about becoming a trader, to either supplement your income or transition into full time, you must read this book. It should be kept in a prominent place on your book shelf for quick referral. This book is for traders not investors. It is important that you understand the basics of the market before reading this book to get its full value. Here are some of the key learnings:

Investing is putting money in a good stock you will hold over a long period. Gambling is putting money in a stock based on a tip, or guess with little or no understanding of the technical or fundamental value of the stock. Trading is speculating that a stock will go up in a short amount of time based on its technicals and price movement. Stock prices for the most part move based on resistance and support for its price in a range until a catalyst moves it up or down to new levels.

It is better to stalk one stock or a few that you know very well than many that you do not.

The Big Three-Mind, Method, and Money

Mind-You must have iron discipline to stay on your system and work your preconceived plan, do not let fear or greed take you astray.
Method-You must develop a good system that gives you an edge over the market. You must trade consistently based on your system.
Money-Limit your risk to no more than 2% of your money per trade, and no more than 6% exposed to risk at any one time. After you lose 6% in a month you are done for that month.

You will receive a lot of information on technical trading along with excerpts from his trading diary. All good traders keep very detailed records of their trades.

It is great that Dr. Elder adds in a few pages on the importance of managing your personal finances and freeing yourself from consumer debt and over spending. I agree that you must master your personal finances first before you attempt to become a successful trader.

I have returned over a 20% average over the past 4 years in my investments
and for me Dr. Alexander Elder is to trading what Warren Buffet is to investing.

this is the book for the beginner trader, the one that has no plane or little knowledge.
it focus on swing trading, but gives you solid ground where to start and
what to use.
covers the most importent aspects of trading: psycology, methode, money managmet and money.
i highly recommended this book for every one.

When I first started out in trading stocks 9 years ago, I set out by researching virtually every trading strategy and method available. It wasn't until I began discounting many of the strategies that I learned, forming a philosiphy on how I think the markets worked, and applying a single method in trading based on how I think the stock market works that I began to stop losing money. Only until I learned how to overcome emotional barriers did I begin to actually start making money.

There are way too many books out there that limit themselves on how to draw trendlines, how to calculate Stochastics, etc. We don't need anymore books that spend pages on head and shoulders and limit the entire book on technical patterns and oscillators, information that can be found on many other books out there. Come into My Trading Room is not another of those books. It is by no means a definitive guide to chart patterns or oscillators. We don't need anymore of those, we need more books like this, that go beyond that, on application, mindset, trading size, recordkeeping, keeping yourself in check, and other important parts that make a well rounded trader.

Trading is hard, I think harder than investing, due to the substantial psychological barriers that you must overcome. To that point, I was expecting more from the "Mind" part of the book, considering he was a trader as well as psychologist.

I already have my "bullets" as the author talks about, and won't be using the Elder Ray, or his other proprietary indicators. I'm sure they may be good indicators but they don't fit in with my strategy, they may very well work wonders for some of the people that read this book and use them. I did pick up a few things from this book I found useful, and this is coming from one of those guys that's read literally 100+ books on the matter. I think this is ia good book and recommend it to everyone, especially for the new trader or the trader not using a predefined system that tells him exactly what to do. This is a good book even if you don't use the tecnical analisys methods he talks about. He is basically saying, "this is what I do, use them or something else, but understand thoroughly whatever it is you use."

I do disagree with Elder that mechanical systems traders are doomed to fail and are lazy, and want some computer to do their thinking for them. Some may be, but some market students have done well using mechanical systems. Sheldon Knight made a fortune using his system, Ed Seykota makes money only when he uses his system. I doubt that Elder would not consider Ed Seykota is not a lazy person wanting a system to do his work for him, had he met him or read any of his writings. There are some more out there, but you can't be lazy and limit your knowledge to some little computerized system, and it's very hard to stick with a computer program when it's going through a large drawdown.

Trading is hard. For some, it's harder than others. It was very difficult for me starting out because I made every mistake possible, for one thing, I realized looking back, my commissions caused a majority of my losses, and I definitely went about it the wrong way. If I read and APPLIED the teachings in this book, I would have been a lot better off long ago. You don't even have to use his "bullets" as he talks about in this book.

This is a good book for any trader to read.

This is a very good introduction to the risks and possible rewards of trading. It served as a real eye opener since I have thought about diving into trading but this book helped me understand what exactly I would be getting into. I recommend it for anyone who is curious about the markets and is seriously considering becoming a more active investor and trader.

Below is an excerpt from an email I wrote to Dr Elder after reading this book. I'm new to trading (<6months) but have been investing for some years. The first book was like opening up the jigsaw puzzle box, looking at the picture and the pieces. This one helps to start putting the pieces together in a methodical, successful way:

Dr. Elder,

Thanks for writing "Trading for a Living" and "Come
Into My Trading Room". I was about to re-read
"Trading for a Living" when "Come Into My Trading
Room" arrived, so I started it instead. It helped
solidify the ideas of the first book for me, and go
into specific detail on some items such as record
keeping. I've been keeping records since I started
trading this summer, but I didn't have what I'd call a
good system. Now I'm implementing the one you
recommended in the book. I found I was doing a lot of
what you recommend, but keeping it in random xls files
and looseleaf binders.

Professionally I manage projects, so I understand
having a good plan that is written down and approved,
a budget, a risk management plan, a communication plan
for how to deal with ups and downs with people, and a
change management plan i.e. don't change your plan
with money in the market. You cover each of those
areas (especially dealing with people i.e. myself and
the crowds). I will be re-writing my trading plan to
include one more indicator (force index) and to
implement Safety Zone stops, but I will also include
better money management. I like the 2% and 6% rules -
though I think I'll take your advice and try for
slightly lower percents.

Before writing down my plans I was about even on my
trades - gains equalling losses and commissions. Once
I wrote it down I found it easier to pull the trigger
(if it fits the criteria, then I go for it) and to
think more about the exit - what my profit target is
and how to grade my trade. Reminds me I need to add
grading to my plan! I'm now up about 8% in my account
over the last six weeks. I hope it's not a fluke.
Now I look at those daily ups and downs in the market
not as numbers, but as people - bulls and bears -
fighting for control.

Anyway, I wanted to thank you for taking the time and
sharing your thoughts in "Come Into My Trading Room".
It was an exciting book to read - especially as you
brought out topics and ideas I had thought about but
didn't know how to implement before. I appreciate
your effort in writing it.

When I came across this book I knew more about Technical Analysis than I did about Trading, and my trading record, after initial up and down volatility had stabilised at about flat.

Getting to grips with the ideas in this book has brought my trading skills to a much higher level. I don't think anything in the book is revolutionary, but it certainly speeded up my profitable trading evolution, exponentially.

There are so many new (to me) trading skills explained that I can't highlight them all, and since they're all integral parts of one coherent whole I can't sensibly prioritise them in this review either. But I certainly endorse that this book complies tenfold with what is claimed in the Book Description above and especially the second and third paragraphs [starting "Come Into My Trading Room educates the novice and fortifies the professional through expert advice and proven trading methodologies. This comprehensive trading guide ...].

It gives very clear, logical, and developed comments on position sizing, trade entries, stops, trade exits and record keeping, as well as the issues, psychological, strategic and otherwise that surround them . Something that I could not say about any of the many other books on Technical Analysis or Trading that I have read, and for those reasons this book is unquestionably in my top 3.

I did not finish yet reading this book (as I don't just read it, but try to learn it), but I find it very good for a beginner (which I am).
I like the author's style, that keeps you interested while reading the book; I don't find it at all boring.
It is very usefull together with the Study Guide.

I should probably begin by stating that I've read Elder's first book, Trading for a Living, and found it interesting but not groundbreaking. While it had some interesting concepts and had some great technical advice, the book did not revolutionize me as a trader. This book is more of the same with a little more added toward the end. In it Elder essentially restates what he taught in his first book, tweaks it a little (but not enough to justify buying another book), and then shows a few handpicked trades of his and attempts to demonstrate his theory in action.

The trades aren't terribly demonstrative, and since they were picked in hindsight (none of them are losing trades, by the way) they don't really add anything to the examples found throughout the book. Elder's strong point in this book are his discussions on money management, using stops, and the psychology of trading. If you haven't read his first book this one is probably worth a look, and if you were a huge fan of the first you might enjoy this one as well. Personally I find Dr. Elder quite close minded and condescending, and his "expert traders do it this way [his way], while beginners do it this way" comments rather tasteless. I enjoyed reading and learning his particular method of trading but the idea that his is the only right way to trade doesn't appeal to me.

That having been said, I found parts of this book to be enjoyable and some of it profitable. I say parts because some of the book was downright tedious and difficult to get through, and Elder's odd writing style (complete with analogies at every turn) makes wading through sections of the book a chore. Still, borrowed the book and skimmed over it I don't consider my time wasted, and have found some things in the book that merit a closer look.

Having been through many authors/gurus this is very simply the
best trading book I have read. I actually wanted to complete the workbook. On which I scored poorly. So, I re-read the book.
I do not know whether this is a great book for a highly successful advanced trader. Because I am not one. However, as an intermediate level trader I would strongly recommend it to any beginners to intermediates. I can't stress enough the value of Triple Screen as a starting point, diary/spreadsheet going forward. In short, there is more specific method guidance than in anything I've seen previously. If you are lost, get this book. It will help.

This book is a rehash of Elder's older works...it is amazing how this con artist who is supposed to be a doctor, tries to teach the details of trading here. Fortunately there are the Toby Crabels, Ed Seykota and Linda Rascke to keep us informed on the reality of the subject.

Russian medical practitioners are teaching us about trading?
I think this is the biggest mistake you will read.
Then run to his seminars for$500 to learn how to loose more money...
I thought maybe I knew better after reading his book.
The only consistently profitable trading I have learned, was written by Toby Crabel, Linda Raschke and Ed Seykota.If you are lucky their out of print articles might be on Ebay or used on Amazon...

I am glad that Elder recognizes that applying his concepts to short-term trading, such as daytrading, is much harder than applying them to a longer time horizon.

His basic premise is that stocks tend to travel within channels. This is a volatility mean reversion argument, which when taken to its limit essentially argues that volatility does not exist - that stocks do not gap up or down and that when a stock breaks out of or down through its channel, it's automatically a long or a short (in the opposite direction of the respective move).

I couldn't disagree more.

If you apply Elder's concepts to daytrading, for example, you will lose all of your money. I did.

But, if you have a longer time horizon - such as a multi-day holding period, you could very well apply his concepts with some success - just be sure to apply his premise of stocks travelling within channels to stocks that recently FINISHED breaking out of or down through thier channels as opposed to stocks that are in a relatively tight range (primed for breakout). I'm very surprised that Elder doesn't address how volatility mean reversion can easily kill his style of trading if not applied properly to stocks that are consolidating.

In any case, take this book with a grain of salt as it is likely the first important trading book you'll read, but certainly (hopefully) not the last.

As a beginner, i.e. someone who just recently began the foray into stocks and is fighting the steep learning curve to become proficient enough to even know what the right questions to ask are, this book is excellent.

It is exactly what I thought it would be, a step by step explanation of one particular traders methodology.

But, it is just that, one traders methodology. As a beginner that has no clue, of any methodology what so ever, it is the most insightfull book into how technical analysis ties into a trading system.

I am very gratefull for this book.

Too well written for a 1-star, and you just have to respect the author of Trading for a Living. But I was quite disappointed.

Essentially it's a trend following methodology of entering on pullbacks to the 20 MA and exiting when they extend to the outer band (envelope, band, channel, it doesn't matter). Classic indicators are tweaked slightly and pitched as "Elder Indicators" which of course you can buy the disks for. Really this whole book could have been condensed to a 3 or 4 page .pdf file and not left any of the concepts out.

He advises against day-trading and questions whether it can actually be done profitably. That is pretty short-sighted of him in light of all the known profitable daytraders out there. His reasoning is that with his method it would be too difficult. That came across as egotistical and closed-minded to me.

The thing that really threw me off is that after a book teaching a trend-following system (and warning against other methods), the last section of chart examples are all counter-trend trades! Every single one of them is completely the opposite of what is taught in the book. You would think he could have thrown in at least one actual example that actually was trading the method in the book?

I joined his mailing list after reading the book and after almost two years of being on it, not one example of a trade set-up that comforms to the method in this book has been given. Instead, periodic "opinions" of market direction have been given for copper, oil, bonds, and the S&P 500. This from a guy who says don't have opinions on market direction. Too boot, all of them have been wrong! Got to wonder about this guy now, was Trading for a Living just a lucky fluke?

[...]

Too well written for a 1-star, and you just have to respect the author of Trading for a Living. But I was quite disappointed.

Essentially it's a trend following methodology of entering on pullbacks to the 20 MA and exiting when they extend to the outer band (envelope, band, channel, it doesn't matter). Classic indicators are tweaked slightly and pitched as "Elder Indicators" which of course you can buy the disks for. Really this whole book could have been condensed to a 3 or 4 page .pdf file and not left any of the concepts out.

He advises against day-trading and questions whether it can actually be done profitably. That is pretty short-sighted of him in light of all the known profitable daytraders out there. His reasoning is that with his method it would be too difficult. That came across as egotistical and closed-minded to me.

The thing that really threw me off is that after a book teaching a trend-following system (and warning against other methods), the last section of chart examples are all counter-trend trades! Every single one of them is completely the opposite of what is taught in the book. You would think he could have thrown in at least one actual example that actually was trading the method in the book?

I joined his mailing list after reading the book and after almost two years of being on it, not one example of a trade set-up that comforms to the method in this book has been given. Instead, periodic "opinions" of market direction have been given for copper, oil, bonds, and the S&P 500. This from a guy who says don't have opinions on market direction. Too boot, all of them have been wrong! Got to wonder about this guy now, was Trading for a Living just a lucky fluke?

For me, books are either a 1-star, 3-star, or 5-star. The 5-stars are the classics that are too good to ever get rid of, like many of those I recommend on winningfinancialstrategies.com. The 3-stars get sold when the shelves overflow. The 1-stars go to Salvation Army.

This book is good, and it is motivating, but the author tries to sound too smart with his Wall Street [...] his care-free effort of trying to sound extra confident, yet he has quite a few contradictory statements. I think that a little more info and less hype would make for an even better book. One of the reasons I gave it 4 stars is because of the bottom fishing style he advertises. It's "not bottom fishing" according to him as he does not promote that but you would just have to assume that when you catch a stock at the brink of a reversal without waiting for much price action then you're 'safely' bottom fishing, so I gave it four stars for teaching something different.

Thanks,
Mikey

This book was awesome. So good in fact I am halfway through it a second time. LOTS of great useful information to help one succeed in trading.

Dr. Elder lays out a plan to enter, pick a target, and exit a trade successfully.

With every single trade he teaches in detail how to stay disciplined and organized.

I highly recommend it.

Excellent book - I have been studying and trading the stock market for 25 years. This book is a guide on how to trade - the basis for making a profit. I highly recommend the book.

This book is merely a simplistic overview strictly for newcomers. It attempts to address all angles and ends up being a 'Jack of all trades' gloss over important subjects.

If you are new to the game I would consider it as an introduction but, if you are already trading...don't waste your time.

I have had the fortune of reading this book.
I think it is a very serious book about trading. It does not sell some magic illusions, but a method.
A serious method which you can fit to your trading style and your favourite indicators.
If you have an open mind and love the research this book is like gold.

The system described in this excellent work is not something magic you can get and apply. It's ten times better. It is a great work plan. It is a macro scheme in which you can import the technical indicators that better fits to you. A macro scheme you can implement and improve while learning.
I highly recommend to read and read this book. And to study with attention every passage.
Like the author says, the ones who took the scheme and adapted it to their style are winners.
Like most of beginners I was testing so many indicators, but I had not a plan. I had not a clear idea of how to implement a serious working plan. This book, if you STUDY it will take your hand and force you to start with method, with clearness, with a well defined approach.
It contains lots of ideas and inspired me a lot more.
It covers psychological attitude, some classical technical analysis and some indicators very well. All explanations are clear, I have programmed easily everything in this book with a simple excel sheet and with simple VBA.
Then there is a well defined approach to trading and a useful chapter on money management.

This book forces you to pay attention to money management and stops. Not only initial stops, but trailing stops.
This book forces you to chose a few indicators and learn to use them well.
This book helps you to have the right mental attitude.

It will take lot of time to put all the information of the book into your trading plan, including set up, filters, entry strategy, exit strategy, stoploss and trailing stops and money management...but eventually you'll have something that really works.
Every field touched in this work is obviously too large to be exhaustively described, but Dr. Elder made a real good work. I think you can take Dr. Elder's work as a powerful basis and then start to work on every single aspect of trading to improve it and your understanding of it.

The only disappointing thing about this book is the last section on trading examples. They are clear but chosen well to impress a superficial reader. The charts used show there were similar days where take action, but the action described are always taken at the right time, not considering the cases in the same charts where action could be taken and result in a loss.
But this doesn't influence my opinion cause all books I read have some beautiful chart to show some winning trade.

I've to say that the subtitle of this book is completely true.
This book is a complete guide.
I'm glad to Dr. Elder for sharing his work with the public in such serious and nice reading way.

As a day trader of currencies, I found this book somewhat helpful. This book has a great section on the pyschology of trading but its trading techniques and thougths are geared more towards a postion trader, especially with stocks and futures. Also, its day trading sections relies heavily on technical indicators but most day trading decisions rely on price patterns which Elder admits himself. Excellent book on psychology of both position trading and day trading, but techniques and trading plans are geared more towards position trading.

Got the book from the library - the reserved list, and no wonder why after reading. I am thinking of spending the money to buy one and keep, that tells you the book is worth it. I started changing my trading habits half way reading the book, to the least, I think I am in better control of my trades now.

I got this book for my dad for his birthday and he loves it. He's been investing and playing the stock market for over a year, and he says that this is one of the best books he's read on this topic. Highly recommended!

This is a very useful book to introduce the concept in planning and strategy level. A common mistake in margin trading from the beginners is too much orders on hand. Dr. Alexander Elder demonstrates a good way to show the rules. The plan of how to allocate the capital and limit the potential risk when the market trend goes to opposite direction is very important. I would highly recommend this book to the beginners in margin trading.

I found this book along with Marcel Link's 'High probability trading' the best of dozens of books I've bought on the topic recently. Although it's not only a technical analysis book the part on technical analysis is more clearly written than most books dedicated to TA. The behavour of market is explained through trader's psychology and backed up with real life comparisions.

Improves on Trading for a Living in that two complete trading systems are detailed, and is much more informative on trading stocks. There are many examples throughout, and Dr. Elder's writing is clear and lively, with many humorous anecdotes and maxims. I read it twice, and now feel better prepared to trade than before. A must.

This is a great book in itself, and an excellent sequel to Trading for a living by Alexander Elder. The author is a psychologist turned professional trader and his writing shows his education/prior experience as a psychologist. This book deals mostly with the mentality one should have in order to successfully trade and financial/risk management...both go hand in hand. The book also touches upon technical analysis and serves as a good intro to it. You won't be dissapointed by this book.

It's a testament to the strength of this book that, having never purchased a share in my life, I was able to start trading with an edge only two days after finishing this book. Elder provides a complete trading manual, covering topics such as entry/exit points, trading psychology, money management, capital requirements and so forth. The methods he uses are not overly complicated yet still very powerful when properly implemented. He's well aware that the efficient market hypothesis invalidates technical trading, yet he provides a convincing argument as to why the academics have in this case got it wrong. Elder's style is easy to read and he combines his trading insights with a wry sense of humour. Most importantly, it is abundantly clear that Elder is a trader himself and many of his assertions are backed by years of experience. Overall I would highly recommend this text for those involved in technical trading.