19 out of 21 people found the following review helpful:
Great BookFriday, January 21, 2005
I have read both of Dr Elder's books. Come Into My Trading Room is an excellent book. I have developed a system based on MACD-Hist, ADX, Impulse Buy/Sell, and a 6 month exponential moving average. I have back-tested the system from 1975-2004. Based on 30 years of back-testing I had only one losing year -12%. The winning years had profits greater than 100% of a few occasions. However, most of the time the profits ranged from 30-40%. I will take those kind of numbers any day. The trades were executed on the following commidity markets... C, S, SM, BO, CL, HO, HU, NG, SP, TY, and US.
I also used the money management system that he talked about in the book... 2% stop loss per trade and a max loss of 6% for the month. The system that I developed didn't trigger a bunch of trades. For all 30 years I never executed more than 75 trades in a single year.
The trading style that Dr. Elder recommends in his book is not going to make you rich overnight; however, it will provide you with consistent steady returns year after year. By bankrolling profits from year to year one can become a millionaire in due time.
I am currently going to paper trade my system for the entire year of 2005 to verify that it is as profitable in real time as in back testing. I will send out another review in 2006 detailing my results.
4 out of 6 people found the following review helpful:
OutstandingThursday, November 25, 2004
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.
10 out of 11 people found the following review helpful:
Simply yet powerfulThursday, November 11, 2004
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.
4 out of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Enhanced my knowledge...Wednesday, August 04, 2004
In enjoyed how Dr. Elder draws on his experience in trading psychology. There are a lot of mental barriers one must overcome to become a successful trader, and he covers many. Technical analysis is covered in depth also. I am not as eloquent as the other writers of these reviews, but all I can say is that I am a serious student of trading and I had trouble putting this book down.
9 out of 10 people found the following review helpful:
Great book. This should be the first one you buy.Wednesday, June 02, 2004
The book is very well written and drives home the three Ms over and over. You can't hear it enough because when your finger is on the trigger, this training will help you execute with confidence. You will not be a loser if you follow the plan. The problem is, very few have the discipline.
I have long been and investor, but I wanted to improve my exit strategies. I knew successful traders had to have great exit strategies or they could not survive very long. Consequently, I actually bought a book on trading. The book helped me with exit strategies, but also completely opened up the world of trading. While I still invest for the long term, I have set up an account for short term trading. I read the book and worked through the workbook in about three days. I already had much of the preliminary work established from my investing experience.
Within about a month, I had a trading plan that I liked and a sound money management and trade evaluation system. While I still primary invest in longer term trends, I have had a blast making numerous small short-term trend trades.
This book will help any trader who reads it with an open mind and strictly adheres to the Three Ms - Mind, Method, and Money (Management). If you are and investor, then this book will expose you to what else is going on with your markets.