I like the authors style in this book so much I read his other "Trend following" title. This is a fun story and seems to try to take an objective look at the events that transpired.

Review by Chuck LeBeau:

Every trader should own and carefully study this amazing book. It is an entertaining and highly informative read and the amount of diligent research that went into the writing of this book is truly amazing. I can't think of anyone more qualified to write about the Turtle trading method than Michael Covel who truly understands trend following. We are told intimate facts and details about Richard Dennis and Bill Eckhardt and how the Turtles project came about. But perhaps most importantly Covel helps us to fully understand the logic of how and why the method works. I will be very surprised if someone doesn't make a fortune as a result of having read this book.

I have spent decades investing/trading the markets, and along the way have read many books. I must say 99% of them I did not finish, because they were garbage, or did not provide any original thoughts with detail and explanation that kept you learning and wishing they did not end. This is the lone exception. The Turtle Trader opened my eyes to something I had never even heard of before. IT IS A MUST READ! I have bought at least 5-6 copies and handed them out to friends as gifts. If you are serious about learning instead of being told what to think (i.e. CNBC, and that gameshow host Jim Cramer), start here first!

If you learned of an opportunity to trade a million dollars of a great trader's money, with the condition that you were going to be trained by that great trader, and you were instructed to follow his trading system, would you succeed? In "The Complete Turtle Trader," Michael Covel tells the complete story of a group of traders, who did just that - "The Turtles."
The experiment started as a bet regarding the age-old question of Nurture vs. Nature when it comes to trading. This book tells the story of the bet, the great traders who taught the system, the students and their lives, the system itself, and results of the experiment - both in terms of the amount of money gained, and how "The Turtles" made out after the experiment.

This book's premise grabs the reader immediately, and completely supports the idea that incredible money can be made with a system of simple rules, if followed exactly and consistently. Through interviews with the all actual players willing to be interviewed, Covel provides the good, the bad, the ugly, and the unbelievably successful aspects of this legend in the trading world.

In a world where non-stop noise about trading and investing is thrown at us minute-by-minute, Covel's case for a simple, disciplined approach. He writes, "All top traders today work like hell to develop a trading philosophy. They convert that philosophy to rules. After that, they stand back and see if their rules act as expected. If you build a system that gives you an entry and exit, tells you how much to bet along the way and adjusts to your current capital and current market volatility at all times, no more analysis is needed." Think about that for a minute. This has been done, and done well. Consider reading about it.

This book is unreal, never have I read a story that has open my eyes to different ways to create revenue for your self. This story is based on a true story in Chicago with one of the greatest money managers (trader) of all time. Richard Dennis put an ad in the Wall Street Journal, looking for people willing to learn how to trade money. There were no education requirements, so they were getting the average Joe blows off the streets and they were turning out over 100% return for this fund. This story shows that any man on this earth can learn any skill at any age and be profitable in the endeavor. Excellent read. At the age of 24 this story keeps my mind open to what I want to do in my life.

After reading all sorts of articles, books and essays on trading, and months of watching the financial news, this narrative of the famous turtle traders makes the most sense of anything I have seen written on trading. Once I began to study trading, I quickly realized I will never be able to have more information than the pros to have any edge on picking stocks. What I can do though, as well as anyone with an internet connection, is spot a trend. I realized that I don't need to watch the trading shows (useless financial entertainment) on cable, (especially the stock slinging clown) or even the WSJ.

Reading the story told by "The Complete Turtle Trader" and analyzing the rules of these traders gave me hope as a novice. The rules of trend following really are simple, and beautifully so. These principles are taught so well by Covel's narrative. It was an enjoyable, entertaining read. It is well worth what I spent, though I'll have to snag another because I forget to whom I most recently lent my copy! I highly recommend this book to any who value simplicity in a trading system, and are looking for quality advice for dealing with the turbulence and uncertainty in today's financial world.

Unfortunately, most universities teach investment techniques that may or may not work given enough time. But individual investors have a 70-80 year life expectancy and time is of the essence. Michael does a remarkable job pointing out there is a alternative to the buy, hold and hope mentality. It is worth your read if for no other reason than to open your mind to the possibility of another way of viewing the investment world.

I think this is an excellent book. I especially liked the emphasis on employing a statistical approach to making market decisions. This book takes on topics as risk management, Heat( how much of a security to buy) discipline entry, exits and managing emotions. This book also tells you not to spend your time trying to know the unknowable(Where is the market going). I recommend it!

This exciting book is about the legendary turtle group of traders. It is very well researched and an easy page turner that totally engrosses the reader. If you wonder or doubt whether or not you can become a successful trader, this book is a must read. I wish I read this book before I got my MBA. The main value of this book is breaking down what it takes to win in the financial markets. In addition of explaining the original turtle trading system, the book also explains why some turtles were successful in the long run and why some weren't. This is the most valuable lesson of the book. The only question I have remaining is whether or not the turtle experiment was based on the movie "Trading Places" or not. We might never know the answer (or how Michael Covel uncovered all the information in this book). But this book is amazingly more interesting and entertaining than any Eddie Murphy movie!

This is another great book from Michael Covel. The book debates the power struggle of nature versus nurture related to trading. Covel illustrates an inspiring story for anyone who is looking to take control of their own financial future. The Turtle Traders were a diverse group of individuals, which allows the reader to see how certain human characteristics promote success and others don't. Many of the Turtle's are still successful traders.

I highly recommend this book to: everyone.

Michael Covel's well-researched book, The Complete TurtleTrader, details the true story that ends the argument of nature vs. nurture when it comes to investing. Can you teach a person with little investment experience to be a top trader? Here's the proof that you can, and the complete story behind how it was done. In the early 1980's, Richard Dennis and his partner William Eckhardt proved that you could train ordinary people and they would be successful traders. Their methods and the complete story is detailed in the book and is a very entertaining read. The book spotlights the beginnings of some of today's most successful traders and their trading and trend-following style of investing. A great resource after reading this book will be Mr. Covel's book, "Trend Following", which helps the reader further understand the methods used by the Turtles.

However, a note of caution to those gamblers that are looking for that "magic key" to being rich overnight from investing: The book details the stories of the Turtles, but one must not overlook the other lessons in the book. While it is possible to learn the way to mirror the Turtles, just reading this book will not make you millions. You must learn the lessons, yes, but you also must be extremely committed to apply these techniques in your own trading. That drive, that passion for trading is not something that you can entertain every once in a while. You have to internalize the lessons and put in a ton of work. Anyone can be trained, but not everyone has such a passion to learn and apply the lessons on their own.

Also, after reading this book, you will realize that you never need to watch the business news networks and their opinion-spouting entertainers again. They can offer their opinions to the masses, but remember, the Turtles were earning millions before these networks were popular. If the Turtles used a simple method to trade and earn millions without any economic commentary, how much weight should you give these performers and their opinions now?

For those of you looking for a get-rich-tomorrow book, you should look elswhere. However, for those of you looking for a great story and complete, textbook lessons in how to beat the Wall Street buy-and-hold advisors, and you are willing to put in the work, you will learn a great deal from this book. Your own trading will benefit from these lessons. I read almost every investing book out there, and I place The Complete TurtleTrader in my personal Top Three of all time, and it is definitely the most entertaining. Somewhere today, there is someone reading this book who will study these lessons and the Turtles, work hard on their own trading, and soon be one of the "Future-generation Turtles". Will it be you?

I have always been fascinated by the Turtles story since first becoming aware of it on [...] .Anyone who has traded or invested has been bombarded by the investment community with reams of information supporting the managed money industry.We're always told investment decisions should always be left to the pros,and that the average investor would have an impossible time trying to duplicate a manager's expertise.We've all come to believe over the years that learning to trade is a difficult and life long task.This book breaks thru those pre-conceived
assumptions very effectively.Here we have individuals with vastly different backgrounds and no investment experience to speak of earning hundreds of millions of dollars after being trained for only a couple of weeks!
So much for the 50 years of experience needed to be successful!It shows if you can follow rules in trading ,then anyone has a legitimate chance of doing well in the markets.It's also great to be able to see the psychological differences between the traders that caused some to succeed ,and others to fail(all in the same office!).A well written book with a very interesting story line and lots of learning material for would be or experienced traders.Well done!

I find the book very informative and easy to read. If you are looking for a step by step guide to trading and you are a very procedural kind of person, this is not a product for you, but if you understand that in trading, before all, is absolutly essential to build a solid philosophy, this book is a very good contribution to "observe" what is important for really successful traders. Also, there's details I didn't find elsewhere and the feeling is that Covel has made a careful and time spending research to collect a such volume of informations. I'd like to know that Michael is working at a new project, after this one and "Trend Following", maybe something related to some subjects I'm particular interested in and so hard to find (Commodities Corporation before Goldman Sachs is just an example): in the meantime, I find myself reading a chapter here and another there and discovering everytime something new.

I have not only read this book some 15 times, but bought the whole Australian stock from the distributor as gifts for clients. This book offers some focus to those that need some help during the rigors of market ups and downs. It lets you know that its okay and there is light at the end of the tunnel when its most darkest.

Devoured this book in one sitting. The story is compelling. The lessons are timeless. Goes very well with the Market Wizard books and a glass of wine.

As a professional trend-follower in the futures market, I am constantly looking for information with regards to such trading. Michael Covel's "Complete Turtle Trader" is by far one of the best books ever written on the subject. It profiles the story of the Turtles in a deep context, discussing the main elements of successful trading, and even divulging several aspects of the trading system that was used. It's an amazing story of how a group of individuals from different walks of life were all able to generate outstanding risk-adjusted returns without ever needing to read the newspapers, watch CNBC, or listen to Wall Street analysts. The trick, if there is one, is to cut losses quickly, ride winners, and be discipline with a keen eye on risk management. Although simple, this is extremely difficult to do because of the psychological biases inherent in human nature. For any serious investor or trader, this book is a must read.

I have to admit that one of my favorite movies has always been Trading Places with Eddie Murphy. Well this is like the real life version! I was not aware of the history and really enjoyed the story and I learned a lot about trading and money in the process.

When I first became aware of this book, I wasn't familiar at all with this story about Richard Dennis and William Eckerd and how they had a bet between themselves about whether successful trading was a talent or something that is teachable. Richard Dennis said yes that it was teachable and his partner William Eckerd was more in favor of the talent side. The author, Michael Covel, brings this awesome story alive! You learn all about how an add that these two commodities traders put in the Wall Street Journal for people to trade for them and on what basis they were hired. This book brings all the characters in this true story to life and you get a sense of each ones' personality. This is one well researched and written book and really is The Complete Turtle Trader Story.

Covel shines a light on the hardest part of trading...the psychological hurdles. All of these turtles got the same training with the same instructors and everybody had different results. The more I study the more I believe good trading is inherently simple; find an edge and use strict money management to control losses and build profit. However, we always try to tinker with systems or find better systems which is what happened to the turtles. They all interpreted black and white rules from their perspectives and tinkered. Most ended up being successful but several didn't. And they all should've been. Thanks for the insights!

Covel lays out the original story of the turtles in this well-writen and informative book. There are many facets to the story: the science of nature vs. nurture, the psychology of the individuals, the craft of systematically following the trend. This is a highly recommended read for anyone interested in trend trading and the complete story behind the original turtles. Check it out.

I finished this book in 1 day. It was a great read and brought great clarity to trading and the process involved in creating a successful trading career.

I received this book in Oct. 08, read it in a weekend. Very well written. A breeze to get through.
One of the themes of the book is that while all the Turtles were taught the same rules, not all succeeded.
Lesson: You can have all the rules in place, but if you don't have the discipline and desire, they're useless.

Todd Miller

The author spent 90% space to describe "turtles" personal life and trading experiment sheet, which was boring and had little relationship with "how" they became overnight millonaires. If adding some deep analysis about all the data sheets, that will be different.
The book title should be " introduction of 23 novice investors ...".

If you are familiar with the turtle trader experiment, this is the long awaited story that was untold until now. If you are not familiar with this experiment in Chicago back in the 1980's, this is great reading and a great story - even if you are not a trader.

I read the first edition of the book some time ago when it arrived in South Africa. I was drawn to it by the words 'position sizing', mentioned in a seminar. I quizzed the speaker afterwards and he sent me a copy of the now leaked Turtle Rules. After this I wanted to know more and bought both of Covel's books, this one and later Trend Following.

The book is easy to read but is not filled with hocus pocus. All content seems well researched and it is clear that Covel has a fascination with the Turtle Experiment. The 'Rules' themselves teach you a lot. What I took away from these rules was:

- adding to winners
- position sizing
- having a positive expectancy (an edge)
- use of average true range (ATR) to study a stock's movements and set practical stops
- trend following works in any market, be it currencies or orange juice

Besides a well-documented account of the experiment itself, it also gives accounts of what the turtles have done since. This gave me a lot of leads that I could follow up on through the net.

On another note, I have contacted Covel on a few occasions and have been impressed with the speed of his responses and willingness to assist. He seems like a genuine and friendly person.

Is it possible that someone who has no background in markets can learn to trade consistently and profitably? Mr. Covel not only proves that it can be done, he shows you how. Granted, I don't know if there are people who have become millionaires by simply reading this book, but I do know that it has given me the confidence to keep trying.

The story of the Turtles is a fascinating bit of history. However, intertwined in this book are the trading systems they used and a discussion of how they were successfully applied by people who knew very little about markets, some of whom are still trading today. Next to Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, this is my second favorite book about trading.

Both Trend Following & The Complete Turtle Trader will change you view of trading. I've read hundreds of investing books & of those these enhanced my knowledge the most!! I HIGHLY recommend these books for anyone...experienced or not.

A great read that sheds so much light onto the obscure top of the traders. I personally was beginning to wonder if they were more legend than actual event. The best part is how it demonstrates that anyone with the right ingredients can learn to trade. Traders are not born.

I remember hearing about the Turtles years ago and searching the Internet for more information. There were bits and pieces and at that time a downloadable version of the purported rules. This presents it all in Technicolor.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and read it in one sitting. It is well written and will keep your attention as it moves from the bet to finding the traders to the system to the results. And the results are nothing less than amazing. It makes me wish I had been reading the classifieds back then to at least apply.

There are many lessons to learn from the Turtles and they are easy to pick out in the book. The reader must decide for himself whether he can apply them.

I have read it twice and find myself coming back to it to refer or recall some detail that escapes me. In fact, I was reviewing the rules again just yesterday. This is one of my top 10 trading books and I recommend you have it in your library.

I first read about the turtles in The New Market Wizards by jack Schwager. Ever since that day I have been intrigued by the story of the "turtles." Michael Covel goes above and beyond by digging as deep as he can to get the true story of the Turtles. There is so much information in this book about everything from the WSJ advertisement to the rules of the system themselves. Not only is this book a highly entertaining read, but it is also very educational from a prue trend following sense. It also proves that Trend Following trading can be taught as originally thought by Richard Dennis. This is a must read for any aspiring trend following trader and it will open your eyes to this type of trading if you are not already a believer. All is revealed in this book. the trading rules are simple, yet implementing them is not. This is an fantastic read about a topic that is still debated to this day.

I've read a couple of books about the Turtles and Covel does the absolute best putting the true story out there. It's a fascinating read and one I highly recommend. After finishing the book there is even more info on Covel's website that will keep you busy.

I have read this book twice now and have enjoyed it both times. I like how it doesn't tell the Turtle story from just one viewpoint, but has multiple interviews from people inside and outside the group. While the Turtles were and some still are very secretive I think Michael does a great job of showing a well rounded account of their story.

I got this book this past summer and sped right through it. It was written greatly, and it has a simple message, when it comes to trading, leave your emotions out of it. I especially liked the fact that it is a book on stock trading that you don't have to have a degree in stock trading to understand.

This book talks about real life stories of traders and not a bunch of fluff. The book is call Complete "Turtle" Trader and not Complete "Rabbit" Trader for a reason.

It has powerful lessons from successful traders and not the News media.

My favorite Chapter is "Seizing Opportunity"

Simply put, Covel wants to sell you (and everybody else) very expensive "Turtle trading secrets" on his websites. Unfortunately, that motivation seems to have colored the information he presented (or _didn't_ present, as the case may be).

Example: at the back of the book is a list of websites where the reader can presumably get more information about the Turtles. Eleven websites are listed; three are his own, and if you go to them you will see him hawking Turtle-like trading methodologies for $1300+. The problem (for me, at least) is that he failed to list the website of an actual former Turtle (Russell Sands) who is doing the exact same thing. The difference between Sands and Covel is that Sands was an actual Turtle; Covel is just an opportunist who heard about the story and has been trying to cash in on it ever since. Sands does get mentioned a couple of times in the book, but not nearly to the extent that one might think, given his history.

Covel also doesn't pass on the opportunity to take a couple of cheap shots at people with whom he disagreed (or didn't appreciate his agenda); he went so far as to compare one person to a bantam rooster, clucking about in the yard. He also comments on an online flame-war he got in with another former Turtle. It came across as very juvenile.

In the end, I gave it two stars because it did provide some interesting history on the project. The issue (and it's a big one) is that I finished the book and wondered what else he left out because it didn't further his agenda. It's unfortunate that "the definitive source" on this story (that's how he describes his book) isn't really a piece of journalism, but a well-crafted sales pitch for products/knowledge that he had absolutely nothing to do with developing.

Thankfully, I bought the book used, so Covel didn't get any of my money.

EDIT TO ADD:
If you want to see the kind of person the author is, take a look at the comments of just about any negative reviews that he gets (including this one).

Covel does a great job bringing this story to light. This book is a detailed account of Richard Dennis's strategy to teach newbs the art of trend trading. While not a get-rich-quick book, it will definitely enlighten you to get out of the buy-and-hope nonsense that today's financial-services community is constantly peddling. The sections detailing Dennis's trading rules and philosophy are alone worth the meager price of the book. Truly a fascinating story.

I was in Chicago on Tuesday June 23, 2009 to listen to a panel discussion at the Managed Funds Association conference. The panel included famed trader Richard Dennis along with four of his original Turtle students (Jerry Parker, Liz Cheval, Tom Shanks and Paul Rabar) and a packed room of easily several hundred people. It was the first time they all had appeared in public to talk about the 'Turtles'.

As the author of the only book to spell out the complete Turtle trading story (The Complete TurtleTrader: How 23 Novice Investors Became Overnight Millionaires) including all of the players and all of the rules - objectively - I was not sure what to expect as I sat in the third row in clear eye shot of the panel. Unfortunately, the panel did not add much new to the story. It was great to see them talk of turtle trend following and their experiences, but they did not go into any great detail. It was sadly a limited 'Cliff Notes' version of the painstaking detail in my book. It left me realizing how 'complete' my book on the subject of Dennis and the Turtles really was.

"The Complete TurtleTrader" was a journey. I am very happy with the end result, but the path to get there was not easy. It was released in October 2007 and quickly gained readers. However, I was always miffed about my publisher's decision to leave out the afterword I had written for the hard cover edition. The publisher felt no one would want to know the backstory of writing the book. What does that mean exactly? For example, at one time or another four Turtles (so far) have threatened lawsuits over some aspect of my writing about them. That is part of the backstory (covered in the 2009 paperback edition)!

That reaction should immediately put in context how much of a wild ride it was to put together 'The Complete TurtleTrader'. It's always satisfying for an author when reviewers like their work, which has been, to my pleasure, the result over the last few years, but for me the experience of getting this book to print might be my favorite story covering the Turtles. Wall Street loves to create moneymaking gods for public worship. Sometimes those gods deserve adulation, and sometimes they don't. Discovering who (among Turtles) is deserving and who is not is what made my job fun. By the time my Turtle research was over a story had been assembled that some Turtles would want deciphered and disseminated while others would work hard to bury with all of the secrecy of a Cold War-era CIA operation.

So with the release of the 2009 paperback edition (The Complete TurtleTrader: How 23 Novice Investors Became Overnight Millionaires) I did include a new 17 page afterword (my publisher finally realized the wisdom in adding it). Hopefully, for all of those new and would be Turtles out there these additional insights will make your journey along a possible Turtle trend following path even easier. Learn from the successes and learn from the failures. That is the name of the game.

This book changed how I thought about trading. The only thing I didn't like about it was that Michael Covel used the word turtle so much that by the time I finished the book, I never wanted to hear the word again. But this was an excelent buy.

Would recommend this book to any investor. Anyone who buy's and hold's already and will remain in trouble.
Dan, Asset Manager, CFP

This book has excellent advice for investors interested in trend following; however, that's not its greatest value. It provides fascinating insights into an experiment to determine if investors are born or can be trained in two weeks or less. Richard Dennis and the Turtle Traders are interesting for the insights into human behavior in the world of high dollar investing. If you could care less about investing, but are interested in human behavior, you may find this book as fascinating as I did. Fundamental investors should probably skip this book as it will just depress them (LOL).

There are plenty of very thorough reviews that get into the details of the book and I don't want to repeat all that here, but to reiterate a few points, the book was incredibly well researched and gives tremendous insight into one of the most fascinating experiments conducted in trading. I typically read at night and it's been a while since I read something that kept me from sleeping. This was that kind of book.

The book wasn't overly deep on the trading techniques used, but gave enough detail to satisfy that part of my curiosity (I wasn't expecting, or wanting, chapters and chapters of trading techniques anyway). I was more interested in the story of how the experiment came together, who the people were that put it together, their motivation, selection process, etc. I was also curious as to why the experiment ended and what happened to the turtles afterwards. I wasn't at all disappointed.

For me the book has also served as motivation to pay more attention to my trading. If you enjoy the markets, trading, and stories of how average people were given an unbelievable opportunity you will enjoy this book. Highly recommend.

Great read. Worth the time. In depth review, author goes beyond the surface of the details. recommend this to any one interested in the turtles.

This book gives a complete view of Turtle trading rules, with detail examples. It is the best trading method that i am currently employing now. Thanks for the Author who did an excellent job of putting the Dennis story out.

I'm giving it 1 star, largely because I intensely dislike the tone of Mr. Covel's writing, which is tedious to read, repetitive, hard-selling, and unenlightening.

Stylistically, Mr. Covel writes like a Communist propagandist: there is a lot of repetition of ideas with an evangelical dogmatism but without the flair or charm of Joel Osteen. Like a propagandist, a lot of the ideas are really not his ideas, but those of others. That in itself is not a bad thing: Nassim Taleb is one of those who repackages the ideas of others in his own words. But whereas Mr. Taleb writes with flair, elan and erudition, Mr. Covel writes with dogmatism and repetition. The difference in their writing is the difference between Michelangelo and a carpenter reproducing Ikea furniture. Arguably "Fooled by Randomness" is a better and more useful book for a budding trader: borrow "The Complete Turtle Trader" from the library, and read the chapter covering the technical details of their trading system, but buy "Fooled by Randomness" to read at home.

Mr. Covel's main idea, that of the Turtle Trading system, is not really complicated, and can really fit into a single chapter of the whole book (as is actually the case: the meat of the book lies in a single chapter detailing the Turtle Trader system). Quite a fair bit of the book goes into detailing the background of the program, which is of historical interest, but has a gossipy tone not unlike that of a tabloid. If you like that sort of thing, good for you, but for someone learning how to trade it is not very useful: you're better off reading "Market Wizards" by Jack Schwager.

But the singularly most annoying thing is his epistemological arrogance: he seems to think that he has it "proven" that trend following works, and backs it up with reams of data. And based on his data, he "proves" that trend following is superior, which strikes me as a stupid thing to say, even if there is an element of truth. The thing is, a thousand days can prove you right but all you need is a single day to prove you wrong: Mr. Covel doesn't seem to realize that his system works for now, and he is seeking to "prove" an unproveable hypothesis. Trending systems work in trending markets, but when volatility dies down, a trending system will kill you.

He also gets very defensive and partisan about trend following, and seems to imply that what he says about trend following is the last word. As an example, in his other book, Trend Following, he wrote this about Jesse Livermore: "Livermore was by no means a perfect trader. He was not a role model. His trading style was bold and often extremely volatile. He went broke several times. He made and lost millions... Was Livermore the first trend follower? We doubt it." This, despite the fact that Livermore himself said that he made his money by riding on the big trends, and the fact that Livermore made millions by short-selling in 1929 when the market crashed. Mr. Covel seems to imply that, just because Livermore lost his millions (through unknown means), he doesn't qualify as a "trend follower", which seems arbitrary and unjust. The fact is, you can lose money by trend following just as easily as by other means if you don't do your homework. It is important to understand that there is no single panacea in trading: you need to apply your mind, and not rely on tips.

There is also very little about trading psychology, which I thought was ridiculous. As Ed Seykota (whom Mr. Covel ironically admires, possibly because of Mr. Seykota's success) said, a trading system is ultimately discretionary, in which case a trader's psychology is especially important.


The sole redeeming feature of the book is the detail that he goes into, with regards to the Turtle Trading system. In contrast to most people, what I found most interesting was not the trading system itself (which is really quite straightforward, but the use of ATR (average true range) to determine risk/reward.


The trend following websites that he has are interesting, with reproduced articles from all over, but I was particularly perturbed by the hard-sell paragraph at the bottom: "NOTE: If you want to learn about trend following trading in general there is one definitive text: the bestselling classic "Trend Following: How Great Traders Make Millions in Up or Down Markets" by Michael Covel. If you want to learn about the most famous group of trained trend following traders, the Turtles and their teacher Richard Dennis, "The Complete TurtleTrader" by Michael Covel is the only complete biography (with all of the Turtle rules) available. If you want to learn trend following techniques and systems through advanced home study and or seminars click here."

In summary, while this book isn't a complete throwaway, you're probably better off borrowing this from the library than buying it for repeat readings.

Based on the title "The complete Turtle Trader" I was expecting more than a story describing the different participants, results and trading personalities. The book did not discuss the trading methodology in any details that can allow an average trader to duplicate. Most of the Rules were general in nature, for example "buying new breakouts" "being comfortable in shorting the market" "stop watching TV and base your trading on price action, i.e., open high low close". A more detailed description on risk control and money management is given but not much different than you find in other books.
The last 40 or so pages are a compilation of trading results with the appendix.
One interesting point is that Turtle Traders in most cases were not using their own money which takes out the emotion from trading and this could be the reason for their success. A feature that cannot be duplicated by someone trading their own money since emotions always tend to get in the way.
Nevertheless it is an interesting read and for that reason the 4 star rating

Good book. A lot of traders get caught up in the fundamental garbage, especially when they start out. Focusing on the noise just takes your attention off of what really matters - making money. I can't cant the number of times when a crop report comes out that supports my bias on the market, only to see the market move the opposite direction. The author did a great job of showing a simple system that performs over time. Too often we trade to feed our ego, not to make money. I don't know about you, but I just want to make money. The easiest way to do it is to follow the method that others are using to make cash. This book outlined the strategy and showed how others are doing it right now. It almost gives you the edge because you don't have to do the research on what everyone else is doing. This book straightens out the learning curve.

A interesting book to read, the author obviously did a nice job of collecting all the info.
In term of the trading methology, I am not too impress with it. It is laughable that someone will trade the market without paying attention to current market condition and fundamental at all. May be that's why Dennis would often loss 30% or more in one month and he often lost 9 trades out of 10. Sounds to me he got into the sucker rally all the time because he did not know and did not care what's underneath. I bet if he spend more time studying the general market fundamental, he will do better than that.
On the upside, there's indeed one thing that interested me in this book, and that's the profolio risk management. Although Dennis is a lazy dude that would not spend time studying the fundamental, but due to his skillful risk management, he managed to make money eventhough he's wrong 90% of the time, and that's what I try to learn from this book.
Actaully, try read "How I Made $2,000,000 In The Stock Market" its much more inspiring to me, the author prove at the end that you have to combine fundamental and technical analysis to make big money in the stock market.

A interesting book to read, the author obviously did a nice job of collecting all the info.
In term of the trading methology, I am not too impress with it. It is laughable that someone will trade the market without paying attention to current market condition and fundamental at all. May be that's why Dennis would often loss 30% or more in one month and he often lost 9 trades out of 10. Sounds to me he got into the sucker rally all the time because he did not know and did not care what's underneath. I bet if he spend more time studying the general market fundamental, he will do better than that.
On the upside, there's indeed one thing that interested me in this book, and that's the profolio risk management. Although Dennis is a lazy dude that would not spend time studying the fundamental, but due to his skillful risk management, he managed to make money eventhough he's wrong 90% of the time, and that's what I try to learn from this book.

Congrats - All the basics are right in front of the reader... The info in this books gives the serious reader a basic structure, and allows them to then build their own personalized methods around a time proven concept.

Eastern Research & Trading
Bill G. / Singapore

It looks like ideas from this book still works. One of the interesting example of similar approach - Alexander Rezviakov in Russia, whose approach very similar to approach in this book. Even ideas like "...looking at the news for decision-making cues was the wrong thing to do.". Very interesting, that Alexander start his public lectures about a year before this book was published.

Maybe Donchinan's channels are old-fashioned nowadays, but main idea - turn off TV, focus at the price, catch the trend, use stops and some other - is still is up to date.