Steidlmayer on Markets: Trading with Market Profile, 2nd Edition (ISBN 0471215562) Book Reviews 1-4 Sorted By Most Recent, at VeryWellSaid.com

great ideas with only fair explanations

The book is in two parts. In the first part, Steidlmayer gives some personal background and tells about how he developed the Market Profile(TM) method as well as gives some insights into why it works based on his experience. He describes points about using his methods before we really know much about what they even are. The concepts are not the usual technical analysis kinds of things. These are new (since about 1981) ways of looking at markets that are based the underlying process viewed with the help of some elementary statistical ideas. The primary concepts involve looking at the time the market spends at a price to determine value. Value is different from price. (Time seems to be a surrogate for volume but volume information was not available generally back when the methods were developed.)

In the second part of the book, Steve Hawkins attempts to explain more systematically the concepts of market profile. Some of the terminology is reasonably well explained, but the synthesis of the concepts seems to be lacking. I was not satisfied with the explanations. I felt I had to take his clues and figure out the ideas myself. I frequently found myself rereading passages two or three times to make sure I caught the ideas which were opaquely explained. I hope this is not the best explanation of Market Profile (it is the first book I have read on the topic, but I like it very well). Finally, the last chapter is pure unadulterated and unapologetic promotion of their products. I do not know anything about these, but I think I prefer CQG's graphics to their CapFlow graphics.

I would give this book five stars for originality, but only three, or maybe four stars, for clarity of explanation.

(Review Data Last Updated: 2008-08-20 03:37:36 EST)

06-02-06

3\4

A New Understanding to the Markets

This is an excellent read and well worth the investment. It will give any trader a better understanding of why markets do what they do. This book does not give a specific trading strategy (which was one of the things I was looking for) but rather insight into a tool that will support your trading and help you make decisions. This is the type of tool that the pros use. My biggest disappointment is the acknowledgement that Market Profile doesn't work like it used to, now you need new sophisticated tools and techniques that leverage Market Profile data as a starting point, which is convenient because the authors happen to have the software to do just that, Capflow32.

(Review Data Last Updated: 2008-03-14 11:57:16 EST)

06-01-06

4\5

A New Understanding to the Markets

(Review Data Last Updated: 2008-06-10 03:04:06 EST)

02-24-05

1\6

The great book to start day trading