Product Description

Trading for a Living Successful trading is based on three M′s: Mind, Method, and Money. Trading for a Living helps you master all of those three areas:
∗ How to become a cool, calm, and collected trader
∗ How to profit from reading the behavior of the market crowd
∗ How to use a computer to find good trades
∗ How to develop a powerful trading system
∗ How to find the trades with the best odds of success
∗ How to find entry and exit points, set stops, and take profits
Trading for a Living helps you discipline your Mind, shows you the Methods for trading the markets, and shows you how to manage Money in your trading accounts so that no string of losses can kick you out of the game. To help you profit even more from the ideas in Trading for a Living, look for the companion volume––Study Guide for Trading for a Living. It asks over 200 multiple–choice questions, with answers and 11 rating scales for sharpening your trading skills. For example: Question Markets rise when
∗ there are more buyers than sellers
∗ buyers are more aggressive than sellers
∗ sellers are afraid and demand a premium
∗ more shares or contracts are bought than sold

∗ I and II
∗ II and III
∗ II and IV
∗ III and IV
Answer B. II and III. Every change in price reflects what happens in the battle between bulls and bears. Markets rise when bulls feel more strongly than bears. They rally when buyers are confident and sellers demand a premium for participating in the game that is going against them. There is a buyer and a seller behind every transaction. The number of stocks or futures bought and sold is equal by definition.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #26410 in Books
• Published on: 1993-04-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 289 pages

Sunday Business 12/09/99
".... should be compulsory reading. He debunks the myths and brutally focuses on the nitty-gritty of how to survive and prosper in an extremely tough environment."

From the Author
Best Wishes for Successful Trading
Dear Trader,

Thank you for reading my book and leaving your wonderful comments here. I am happy to see that so many people in different countries are benefiting from my work. I had put my heart, soul and more than three years of my life into writing this book, but never imagined that my baby will become so popular. Thank you!

Traders sometimes ask what has changed in my approach since TRADING FOR A LIVING was published. My key ideas on trading psychology remain valid - the human nature changes slowly, for better or worse. My ideas on technical analysis have stood the test of time, and I still trade the Triple Screen system. Of course, I continue to tweak its parameters, striving to improve my performance. The one thing I'd do differently if I were writing this book today, I'd cover a bit less of technical analysis and write a lot more about risk control and money management.

Readers of TRADING FOR A LIVING often ask what else I can do to help them become better traders. Several times a year I run a Traders' Camp, taking a small group of traders to a resort where we spend a week learning to analyze markets, find good trades, and develop better trading techniques. If you'd like to receive a video clip of our Camp, please email me.

Best wishes for successful trading!

Dr. Alexander Elder New York, 1999

From the Inside Flap
You have just taken a big step away from the crowd of amateurs. By opening Trading for a Living, you’ve resolved to become a successful trader. Dr. Alexander Elder is a professional trader, a world–class expert in technical analysis, and a practicing psychiatrist. He believes that successful trading is based on three M’s: Mind, Method, and Money. First, you will see that the key to winning is inside your Mind. You will find out how to develop discipline and how to avoid the traps of emotional trading. Second, you will learn how to find good trades by using charts, computerized indicators, and other tools. You will discover how to combine several analytic Methods into a powerful trading system. Finally, you will learn how to manage Money in your trading account. The rules for limiting risks are as vital to a trader as a safety net is to a high–wire walker. With this book, you are on your way to mastering a new way of trading stocks, futures, currencies, and options. Dr. Alexander Elder helps you embark on an intense pursuit—trading for a living.

Customer Reviews

Excellent
This is the book that got me started in trading (I actually read the UK version, 'Financial trading') and it should be compulsory for beginning traders.

You will progress as a trader far quicker if you read this book, simply by avoiding the pitfalls that most of us go through and which are described in detail by Dr Elder.

While a fellow reviewer complained that 60% of the book is on technical indicators and that the author appears repetitive, I believe this helped me greatly (and probably helped that reviewer too). The reason I say this is because at the end of a comprehensive read of this book you have the fundamentals of trading (technical and psychological) absolutely drilled into your mind. Given Dr Elder's background as a psychiatrist it does not suprise me that he reinforces these concepts so often.

Unlike many average trading books that receive five stars this (and the author's other book, 'Come into my trading room') genuinely deserve maximum praise and both should be read before and during your trading career; independent or company supported.

Required reading for serious investors
Dr. Elder's first book is a gem, and is suitable for traders at any level of experience. The reader learns the importance of having and adhering to firm trading rules. Successful money management is a required skill in order to become a successful trader, and Elder offers good advice on this topic.
Elder's education (psychiatrist) gives him the perfect background to explain to the reader how to benefit from understanding crowd psychology.

Covering such topics as risk management and how to use a trading system, he emphasizes technucal analysis and shares his own personal methods with the reader.

You will refer to this book again and again over the years. This book may be 10 years old, but it is still very appropriate today.

The good, the bad, and the ugly
Elder's writing style (especially his profuse use of creative analogies) is attention-grabbing. The book is a great read in all aspects except the 60%+ of the book dealing with technical indicators. Rather than highlighting the top 3-4 indicators in each category (trend-following, leading, coincident) which have worked well for Elder, he gives his version of a comprehensive synopsis of every modern and not-so-modern indicator known to man... providing little value-added commentary in terms of the usefulness of each. (Then again, he admits that he uses 12-13 indicators at any given time.) He also repeats the characteristics of each broad category of indicators when describing each individual indicator - which is great if you do not learn unless you read the same thing 50 times, but otherwise it's extremely tedious.

Let's face it - the book is designed for position traders but as a primer for those interested in short-term trading of futures and equities, it's a potentially useful resource. Elder's book's major shortcoming is that it tries to be everything to everyone, therefore it does not deserve rave reviews from anyone but the absolute beginner who's starting from scratch.

One useful concept, proprietary to the author, is called the Triple Screen trading system. But for the intermediate and advanced trader looking for a new strategy or a twist on an existing one, I suggest you look elsewhere.