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Book reviews for "Schwager,_Jack_D." sorted by average review score:

Managed Trading: Myths & Truths
Published in Hardcover by John Wiley & Sons (23 August, 1996)
Author: Jack D. Schwager
Amazon base price: $55.00
Average review score:

A MUST READ SERIES FOR WHOEVER WANTS TO TRADE IN FUTURES
This Series "Schwager on Futures" is the biggest work has ever been written on futures trading. As a Futures Trader I advise everybody to read these books before to starts any real trading in Futures, that if not taken in the proper way can be very painfull. As a Member of IFTA(International federation Of Tecnical Analisys)I suggest you to read it joint with John Murphy's "Technical Analisys f Futures Markets" and "Intermarket Technical Analisys" this will give you a integral knowledge of Futures Environment that is what you need on your Trading philosophy. I always let these books on my desk because I need them so many times during my trading day. THEY ARE A REAL REFERENCE. The good thing of this series is that you can test your comprension by the various study guides. Reading the book about "Managed Trading" You can even get able to judge the returns of the various CTA and decide when it is better to invest in them and to whom give your money.Probably you are not be interested in the Fundamental analisys book but remember, especially in the commodities markets, EVEN IF YOU ARE GOING TO TRADE TECHNICALLY IS VERY IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND FUNDAMENTAL ANALISYS!!! Thank you very much to have spent all this time for read me. If you still have some doubts do not hesitate to contact me at my E-mail. Buon Trading!!!

Read this book if you are considering investing in any CTA
An excellent book, not for the amateur. Prospective readers should also be aware that CTA requirements are very high; running into millions of dollars. The next best choice are pools. However even these will require at least $25,000. This is a great book for would be hedge-fund investors as well. Schwager's ideas on monthly rebalancing and investing during drawdown periods are great examples of how counter intuitive ideas are very often the correct ones in the world of investing.

This book is a must for users of managed futures!
Jack Schwager is one of the best writers around on the subject of futures and trading. Let me begin by saying that this is one of my picks for the three best books of 1996. Why? First of all, it is one of the few books on futures trading that is statistically sound and sensible. There are three main themes:

1. Performance numbers are often not what they appear to be.

2. Past performance is far less predictive of future performance than generally believed.

3. There are investment strategies that can be used to enhance expected portfolio performance.

In my opinion, no one should include managed futures in a portfolio without this book. And the techniques of measurement and analysis described here set the standard for those who would be Commodity Trading Advisors. I recommend it highly!


Market Wizards : Interviews with Top Traders
Published in Paperback by HarperBusiness (1994)
Author: Jack D. Schwager
Amazon base price: $11.90
List price: $17.00 (that's 30% off!)
Average review score:

Fun to read
Schwager's classic is fun to read. Many useful and practical hints for traders. After reading some investment books written by college professors, I know why they are only teaching. They treat trading as other academic subjects like Physics or Astronomy. They just waste all the time to prove or disprove some theories like EMH. They don't know (or they know it but just don't mention it) there are lots of techniques traders need to know in order to make money. If you want to be a successful trader, reading the two MW is certainly much more useful than going college. And it is also much more enjoyable and timesaving. I like the interviews with Ed seykota, Larry Hite and O'Neil. But the section about floor traders confused me. Since I didn't know anything about this area, I found it was quite hard to understand the first time I read it! Personally, I like the New Market Wizards more. Anyway, this one still deserves 5 stars.

Fun Yet Intriguing Reading
I really enjoyed reading "Market Wizards". I think Jack Schwager poses most of the right questions. I will try to list a few of the subtle points which I find most educational and amusing; hopefully, without including all the cliche trading aphorisms out there in trading land: 1. It is very interesting to note that the vast majority of traders mentioned utilize discretionary techniques, hence they are not systems traders 2. Both Bruce Kovner and Michael Marcus more or less state that market selection can be just as important as technique 3. Commodities Corporation appears to be some kind of freaky breeding ground for brilliant traders! The "New Market Wizards" also provides food for thought: 1. Most institutional "traders" are not really traders, they are market makers; profiting from the "vig". 2. Ed Seykota of "Market Wizards" fame opines that trend following systems and other systems, despite their widespread use, will never cease to work altogether. William Eckhardt on the other hand, seems to vehemently believe that cybernetic trading technologies will eventually find and exploit all profitable nonlinear price to price relationships; thereby rendering technical analysis obsolete. If Jack Schwager ever decides to 3peat, I hope that he includes more technically oriented material; old systems, exotic money management ideas and so forth. Ok, I've said enough. Forgive my grammar though do get this book!

Profiles of people you normally don't get to read about.
This book was interesting to me, not necessarily as a way to learn how to trade, but as a really cool way to just study these guys and girls. The successful traders profiled in Market Wizards had a wide variety of personalities and focuses. Their unifying bond is that they each love their work. Thus, the lesson I learned is that it reaffirms the principle that you have to like what you do. In trading, the topic at hand is money itself, so more people get drawn to it than other things. But the successful ones are the ones suited to the work, as with any other field. Also, it is very annecdotal which I like, because you can just flip through the book and read fascinating "war" stories if you don't have time to read the whole thing.


The New Market Wizards : Conversations with America's Top Traders
Published in Paperback by HarperBusiness (1994)
Author: Jack D. Schwager
Amazon base price: $11.90
List price: $17.00 (that's 30% off!)
Average review score:

Competent sequel which doesn't quite match the original
This book effectively takes the same format as the original Market Wizards. I do not rate it as highly, firstly because I don't think the quality of the traders is quite as high (although they are still very good), and secondly I found the book did not add enough original concepts above and beyond those covered in the first volume. However, this book still contains some excellent interviews; William Eckhardt's discussion of trend-trading systems, and Stanley Druckenmiller's recollections on running the Quantum fund are particularly interesting. Interestingly, Schwager does cover some new ground by interviewing some arbitrageurs and options traders - although these sections are informative, they provide only limited information of use to the position trader/speculator. One grouch I have with this book, and the previous "Market Wizards", is its bias towards trend-following trading. Whilst this has proven an extremely profitable concept for many traders, i would have liked to hear more from contrarian speculators, as well as short-term traders in markets like US T-Bonds, where trend-following techniques are often not as effective as counter-trend trading. Also I would have liked to have seen interviews with some foreign traders - the thoughts of big traders at the Japanese banks on their stock/bond market turmoil in the 80s/90s, or the experiences of traders on the relatively new London Futures Exchange (LIFFE) would have added an interesting international perspective. Despite this I think Schwager has produced another good book, one well worth reading. Don't be put off if you are a novice - this was the first trading book I ever read, and although it didn't all sink in at once, I found it extremely interesting and informative.

Why reinvent the wheel?
Many novice traders spend small fortunes buying books discussing how to predict stock or commodity prices. Unfortunately, once they begin real-time trading, they find themselves losing large sums of money. Schwager's New Market Wizards condenses the experiences of many of America's best traders into one very readable volume. Learn how traders such as Bill Lipschutz approach the markets, and how they deal with adversity. Why "reinvent the wheel" when you can read New Market Wizards and learn from the experiences of the best traders in the world?

Turtles & Trends Galore
This is the BEST of the 3 volume series. This book was absolutely outstanding and worth not only buying but keeping. I did not like volume #1 at all; there was really nothing in that & I doubted whether the traders interviewed had anything of value to give the reader. This book though is of a much higher quality as it delves more into Trading Systems & their psychology than previously.

A key thing you will learn from these interviews is best exemplified by Mike Carr a Turtle: Don't care what the market will do, Care what you will do when the market does it.

The gem in this series is Warren Eckhardt. In the first book the Ritchie Dennis & Will O'Neil interviews were the real gems. The others in vol#1 were totally without value including the GREAT Ed Seykota who is just a wise-acre with flippant answers and a juvenile sense of humour. Here in volume 2 even minor traders have more to say, perhaps Jack got better in getting information out of them?

Anyhow, remember more than HALF of these people have since gone the way of Livermore and blown up and those that haven't are RETIRED and teach at high costs.


Futures, Textbook and Study Guide : Fundamental Analysis
Published in Hardcover by John Wiley & Sons (1997)
Authors: Jack D. Schwager and Steven C. Turner
Amazon base price: $79.95
Average review score:

caveat emptor
There is no question that when it comes to informational books on trading, Schwager is the best around. This book meets his high caliber of quality and informativeness. I can recommend this book to anyone looking to broaden their knowledge of fundamental analysis and the guts of what affects supply and demand. But I can't recommend the book wholeheartedly because basing trading decisions on fundamental analysis in itself is such a flawed approach in my opinion.

I used to pay a lot of attention to fundamentals. I would spend hours each day looking at news and research to get a feel for the reasoning behind the movement. After doing this for a while, I realized the inherent futility in the approach- if a trade sets up technically I will take it, unless there is some compelling reason not to, and if there is no technical confirmation, I won't take it, period- and so fundamental analysis just doesn't play much of a role in either case. Nowadays, I still keep tabs on fundamentals somewhat, but mainly only to avoid getting hit by a train- not taking action in front of a significant report or going short coffee in the freeze season, stuff like that. Below are a few reasons why my trading has become solidly technical:

1) Most daily news is worthless, and here is why: at any given time, there are half a dozen arguments for being bearish on a market, and half a dozen reasons to be bullish. When a market has a big move up and the reason isn't clear, the news services pick a couple of the bullish reasons and talk about those. If the market has a move down, they highlight some of the bearish reasons. It's total retrofitting, and thus usally a waste of time to read because there's usually not really a way to turn that knowledge into profit. The "traders" that the newsies interview are often just run of the mill clerks or brokers who don't really know anything special- or if they do, they don't tell. The classic filler explanations on the aftermarket newswires are "profit taking," "fund buying" and "fund selling." When you read about one of those three, the general translation is that the reporter dragged out one of the old standards because "who the heck knows" just doesn't make good copy.

2) Many of the best trades are the ones where the move starts before anyone knows why. Bruce Kovner talked about this concept in the first Market Wizards. (Incidentally, Kovner was making 300 million a year in profits at one point, so he might be worth listening to). If a breakout occurs when everyone is expecting it, then everyone is in already, and the odds are not as good because a lot of the buying (or selling) is already done. But if a breakout occurs and no one knows why, then there are (1) potentially powerful hidden reasons for the move, and (2) a whole group of traders who are not in the market yet and may want or need to get in (or out if the move is against them) once the reason comes to light. So, by deduction, if some of the best trades are the ones where the fundamentals reasons are not yet clear, then by paying attention to fundamentals too much, you run the risk of keeping yourself out of the best trades. You have to be willing to say, "I don't know why this setup is occurring, but the technicals are tellling me something that the news might confirm later." Because the news often comes after the window of opportunity has already closed, you often have to be willing to act before the fundamental reasons are clear.

3) Analysts are often biased and have a hesitancy to change views. When an analyst writes down his opinion on a piece of paper and then sends it out for everyone to see, part of his pride and reputation is staked on that opinion. It is a psychological fact that writing something down, and confirming something to other people, makes a person more committed to that belief because humans have a very strong desire to be consistent. That makes him very hesitant to change his mind, even when the facts change. If an analyst is bullish one week and then the facts turn bearish the next week, the analyst should change his mind- but the odds are that he will not, because he will be thinking "well, if i was bullish last week and do a 180 to bearish this week, then I will look stupid." But often that is the right thing to do! Especially for fundamental analysis, being flexible is very important. But most analysts are too worried about their reputations to have that flexibility. This is one reason trends occur, because the masses are hesitant to change their minds even when it is rapidly becoming clear that they should.

4) Much of fundamental analysis is either incomplete or just plain wrong. Even if you have 90% of the puzzle pieces, the 10% that you are missing could be important enough to turn the whole picture upside down. Or if you somehow miraculously have all the pieces, you still have to figure out how to weight them properly and determine what the market is going to pay the most attention to. It is almost impossible to get all the facts correctly uncovered and assembled without overlooking anything. And then there is always the possibility that something could come up by surprise that you were not prepared for. Different analysts with access to the same information will often have directly contradicting opinions on a market. What does that tell you? Generally the only time that the analysts are all on the same page is when the writing on the wall is obvious- and by that time, the move is usually almost done if not over. There is simply no free lunch.

5) Price- the ultimate value judgment of all underlying fundamentals- reveals itself in the technicals. The technicals don't lie and the technicals don't have an emotional bias. They represent the opinions of the entire market, with a heavier weighting towards the bigger and smarter players, and are thus more reliable than individual opinions subject to bias and error. For a fast mover such as myself, this is what needs to be known. I'm interested in the next three days, not the next three months or years.

For the above reasons, fundamental traders caveat emptor.

Schwager is very indepth...sometimes too indepth.
This is the most comprehensive books on Fundamental Analysis that I have ever seen. This book along with Schwager's Technical Analysis book are required reading for new futures brokers that I hire to my firm.

Mr.Schwager and Mr.Turner have put a very strong mathematical spin on how fundamental analysis can be accomplished. They dissect government trade reports and analyst reports and put an empirical face on the nebulus act of fundamental analysis.

In the preface of the book Mr.Schwager admits that fundamental analysis is not quite accurate. Which begs the question, "why write such a complex book?"

This book is not for the faint of heart, nor is it light reading. It is quite indepth and for the most part above the heads of many beginning futures investors. In order to understand any of the examples you have to have solid trading reference points in your personal trading life.

I recommended it for intermediate traders primarily.

After being involved with futures for 11 years and authoring three books on the subject, I am always impressed at Mr.Schwager thoroughness in researching.

A MUST FOR WHOEVER WANTS TO START IN FUTURES TRADING
This Series "Schwager on Futures" is the biggest work has ever been written on futures trading. As a Futures Trader I advise everybody to read these books before to starts any real trading in Futures, that if not taken in the proper way can be very painfull. As a Member of IFTA(International federation Of Tecnical Analisys)I suggest you to read it joint with John Murphy's "Technical Analisys f Futures Markets" and "Intermarket Technical Analisys" this will give you a integral knowledge of Futures Environment that is what you need on your Trading philosophy. I always let these books on my desk because I need them so many times during my trading day. THEY ARE A REAL REFERENCE. The good thing of this series is that you can test your comprension by the various study guides. Reading the book about "Managed Trading" You can even get able to judge the returns of the various CTA and decide when it is better to invest in them and to whom give your money.Probably you are not be interested in the Fundamental analisys book but remember, especially in the commodities markets, EVEN IF YOU ARE GOING TO TRADE TECHNICALLY IS VERY IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND FUNDAMENTAL ANALISYS!!! Thank you very much to have spent all this time for read me.


Smarter Trading: Improving Performance in Changing Markets
Published in Hardcover by McGraw-Hill Trade (01 January, 1995)
Authors: Perry J. Kaufman and Jack D. Schwager
Amazon base price: $23.07
List price: $32.95 (that's 30% off!)
Average review score:

Kaufman dislikes stop loss?
Kaufman is one of my favorite author. But in this book he seems to have an idea that stop loss is not a good thing! I really cannot agree with him. Except this point the book is quite good. But the other book by the same author contains similar contents. I would perfer the later.

Computerized System Development
This was a good read on trading methodology and system development. The best concept is that of the "unable" trade, which is where your system gives a buy signal but you can not get your order filled. This is a double edged sword in that you would get filled on trades where a buy was signaled, but the trade results in a loss and not on trades that would have been highly profitable. The end result is hypothetical returns that are higher than they should be. Probably why so many successful paper systems fail when applied.

Now, aside from the trading methodology which is well written, there is a lot and I mean a lot of Programming Language in the text. I don't want to take away from the concepts which were great, but if you are not planning on writing a computerized trading program you may want to search elsewhere. On the other hand, if you are working on a "Black Box" trading system, I would highly recommend this text.

Excellent
A really good book about TA. Many tools inside are useful for real-world trading. And it is also easy to read. Highly recommended !


Getting Started in Technical Analysis
Published in Paperback by John Wiley & Sons (1998)
Author: Jack D. Schwager
Amazon base price: $13.97
List price: $19.95 (that's 30% off!)
Average review score:

Much Too Advanced for Beginners! Good for Intermediates
Experts can make the mistake of forgetting how little people know when they first get started. That is clearly the case with this book by Mr. Schwager. If you really want to get started with technical analysis for trading, you will need to find something simpler! Then you can graduate to this overview.

I have had the benefit of reading many books on technical analysis and having discussed it with many technicians. From that perspective, I found the book to be a delightful, down-to-earth, nondoctrinaire explanation. But I wouldn't have made it past the first five chapters when I was just getting started with technical analysis.

I graded the book as a one star for beginners and as a five star for intermediates, and that averaged to three stars. Judge accordingly!

Most investors argue strongly in favor of or against price-based analysis. Those who trade a lot usually swear by charts, and those who are long-term investors usually ignore charts. The classic debate is between the "random walkers" who say there ae no patterns in the markets and the chartists. No one has ever proven definitively that charting does or doesn't work for investing. The key problem is nicely stated by the author, " . . . [C]hart analysis is based on general principles, its application depends on individual interpretation."

The book operates on the principle that "[c]hart analysis provides a means of acquiring common sense in trading." The book articulates a variety of reasons why charting can be helpful. I think the best reasons are for helping you explicitly manage the risk you want to take on. This book has a very helpful discussion on that subject.

Before you are done, you will know about different types of charts, trends, trading ranges and their support and resistance levels, chart patterns, oscillators, and how people apply these analytical tools now. The book goes on to show how to apply these tools to trading issues, including what software to use.

My favorite part of the book contained a set of problems to work through using the book. In that section, you can get a feel for charting and your comfort level with it.

The author also explains how trend-following systems can be developed (a fairly conservative use of charting), and provides some useful trading guidelines. These last could have saved many on-line traders a fortune.

So who should learn this material? I would argue that almost no one should. Long-term investors would rarely use it, and can probably rely on fundamental analysis adequately for making entry point decisions. Those who have limited skill in investing should probably be in stock index funds, and do not need this knowledge. Perhaps the best reason to be interested is simply to have a better understanding of the thinking processes that traders use. But that's a human interest application, rather than a financial one.

Some people have compared technical analysis to astrology. After reading the book, you might want to think about that comparison to come to your own conclusions. Certainly, there is no proof offered in this book that these patterns do foretell the future. At least in that element, technical analysis and astrology are similar.

May you always buy low and sell high!

Highly Recommended
I found this book to be very useful in my investments. You need to learn what moves the markets to be successful. Company fundamentals are only a part of investing, things like the price of oil, interest rates, inflation, dollar vs. yen or other currencies and TECHNICAL ANALYSIS are very significant. I found the book to be easy to read and very informative. The backcover description nails it on the head:

"demystifies technical analysis for beginning investors, clearly explaining such basics as trends, trading ranges, chart patterns, stops, entry, and exit and pyramiding approaches."

A Complete Insight Into Getting Started in Tech. Analysis
Getting Started in Technical Analysis provides a fantastic overview to the world of technical analysis, with topics ranging from the age-old fundamental vs. technical debate to outlining of trading guidelines. Written in an easy-to-understand style, the book is also easy on the eyes (which cannot be said of many financial books).

Schwager uses the first seven chapters to define many of the technical factors that novice traders should know before they can trade in today's active market. Part One illustrates a wide range of basic technical-analysis tools and how they are (or should be) used. Chart patterns, oscillators, trends and the like are explained concisely with easy-to-follow sample charts. The reader can quickly absorb these basic ideas before moving on to Part Two.

In Part Two, the reader gets his/her first taste of the "how" of technical analysis. The author delves into topics like pyramiding, stop-loss points and exit signs. This is also the part where the author's "Most Important Rule in Chart Analysis" is laid out. Part Two can easily make a reader anxious to start (or get back to) trading.

The third section of Getting Started in Technical Analysis approaches trading systems and software. The author describes the most pertinent options that a trading software package should contain, leaving the legwork to the reader. In the discussion of trading systems, there is no magic formula here, simply guidance to develop and test a trading system of one's own.

Part Four is vital to the trader...novice or otherwise. The author (who is CEO of Wizard Trading) offers practical trading rules and market wisdom.

Getting Started in Technical Analysis is an excellent source of information for the soon-to-be, novice, or expert trader. This book should have a reserved shelf space in every trader's library.


A Complete Guide to the Futures Markets : Fundamental Analysis, Technical Analysis, Trading, Spreads, and Options
Published in Hardcover by John Wiley & Sons (1984)
Author: Jack D. Schwager
Amazon base price: $80.50
List price: $115.00 (that's 30% off!)
Average review score:

Schwager is intense!
Mr.Schwager is intensely passionate about the markets. This comes through in his thorough analysis of the markets. He has no problem dissecting the fundamental and technical aspects of the market as easily as Michelangelo would paint the Sistine Chapel. His style is heavily influenced by statistics and high level mathematics. His entire voice is centered around the belief that the market can be predicted through analysis of the numbers. Unfortunately, for most people that is not the case. It also seems not to be the case for Mr.Schwager as well, since he admits in his book that he is not a good trader.

That being said, his book is a great reference tool that gets the average trader to stretch himself mentally and look at the markets in a different way. This book ... can be invaluable for the trader that is simply looking for a new perspective besides simply "flags", "candlesticks", and "elliot waves".

Futures Textbook
Schwager's textbooks while not specifically about spreads are comprehensive and complete about futures. This book has a small section about trading commodity futures spreads.

A good reference for traders who like Math/Stat
This book could be renamed as "The Mathematics of Trading". The traget readers are traders who use lots of Mathematics and Statistics.

The experience of Schwager helped me a lot. He said he was good in analysis but not trading. Many people, including me, thought Mathematics, Statistics and Economics were essential for good trading. So they went to college, studied hard, got a degree and hope they could make money in the market. This simply never happen! Otherwise everyone should got a PhD before trading. You still need to develop a method or system. But what is vital is to control your ego. Admit mistakes quickly. This was the most interesting and useful conclusion that I got from Schwager.


Stock Market Wizards : Interviews with America's Top Stock Traders
Published in Paperback by HarperBusiness (15 April, 2003)
Author: Jack D. Schwager
Amazon base price: $11.17
List price: $15.95 (that's 30% off!)
Average review score:

Not as good as the previous two wizards
I really enjoy the two Market Wizards by Schwager and learned a lot from them. And I was waiting the third one in the series for a long time. Unfortunately, this one is not as good as the previous two. The price is higher and the contents are less useful. There are quite a lot of irrelevant questions. And some of the interviews do not give any insight about the methods used by the traders. One of them denied disclosing anything about his system! Another guy said he would hold a position as long as he thought it was ok and he didn't use stop loss. But he also said there were two trades nearly killed him and he lost 30% of his capital!!! Is this a wizards?

When I was reading the previous Wizards, I needed to highlight the critical points and there were plenty of them. I also read them over and over. But I did not need to do that this time. You can skip quite a lot of the questions and only read the few that are related to trading. My conclusion is if you can borrow this book from the library then it is still worth reading. If you need to pay for it, buy the previous two books instead.

Rare Access to Valuable Information
First of all, as I write this, the cost of the book is $22.40 plus S&H. Many of the other reviews suggest that it fails to provide sufficient value. Apparently I don't understand something. How much is it worth to gain direct access to the intelligence and experience of some of the most successful stock traders?

In any event, this is one of three books by Schwager which have been highly praised by others. (I plan to review the other two, Market Wizards and The New Market Wizards, in the near future.) In it, he provides introductory comments on and then interviews of 15 stock market "wizards." For each, he offers clever as well as relevant phrases which differentiate them. For example, for Stuart Walton ("Back from the Abyss"), Mark D. Cook ("Harvesting S&P Profits"), Mark Minervini ("Stock Around the Clock"), and Claudio Guazzoni ("Eliminating the Downside"). Revealingly, although the 15 stock traders have significantly different perspectives on investment and (sometimes reluctantly) divulge different strategies, they seem to share certain common beliefs which Schwager characterizes as "Wizard Lessons." They include:

1. There is no single "truth."

2. Her or his trading style must be appropriate to each trader's personality.

3. Perseverance usually separates "winners" from "losers."

4. Great traders are flexible and resilient.

5. It takes time (probably many years) for a trader to succeed.

6. It is imperative to formulate a trading philosophy which integrates market concepts and trading methods.

7. Every great trader has a specific "edge." (What are your answers to the questions listed on page 301?)

8. Great traders develop and then sustain a high level of self-confidence.

9. Successful trading requires a FULL-TIME commitment.

10. Market "wizards" are bold and innovative but not reckless and impulsive.

11. They are willing to accept a loss while rigorously controlling risk.

12. They may view undervaluation as a necessary condition for purchasing a stock but never as a sufficient condition.

13. Their transactions are guided and informed by a trading model based on catalysts.

14. Market "wizards" pay at least as much attention to "when to get out" as they do to "when to get in"

15. Market "wizards" know themselves (warts and all), work very hard, trust their own judgment, constantly review/evaluate decisions, and are patient.

For about the cost of a breakfast at a restaurant in the Wall Street area, Schwager introduces his reader to 15 immensely successful stock traders and then allows the reader to "eavesdrop" on in-depth interviews of them. Schwager also helps his reader to compare and contrast their mindsets, strategies, and convictions. A value-added benefit is the provision an Appendix in which Schwager discusses "Options: Understanding the Basics." For novice investors, this book is an invaluable source of wisdom on HOW NOT TO THINK and WHAT NOT TO DO.

I presume to suggest that there is another audience for this book which Schwager may not have had in mind when writing it. I refer to those who are now involved in start-up preparations or who have already launched a new company. Whether or not an IPO is one of their objectives, they can learn a great deal of value from the "Stock Market Wizards" in terms of allocation of resources (especially human capital), "early-warning signs", and crisis management. To them I also highly recommend Rob Ryan's Entrepreneur America.

One for your collection - of three
Of all the trading, technical and fundamental analyses books I have on my shelves, none are so precious as my dog-eared and worn Market Wizards books. Jack Schwager has now once again provided a legion of fans with captivating glimpses into the environments of world-class traders. Quite honestly, I've learned more about trading from Schwager's interviews than from any of the pricey investment seminars I've attended.

In this latest publication, Schwager's wizards are essentially all managers of exclusive funds. Thumbing through the book initially, that frustrated and annoyed me. How is the small, private trader going to be able to identify with these mega successful businessmen and women? Much to my relief, Schwager bridged that gap in masterful ways by 1) enlightening the reader to bits (never flagrant) of their personal lives and characters, 2) the essence of their systems, if he could get that out of them, if not - their discipline, or other successful tactics and "edge" and 3) zeroing in on each wizard's strengths and transposing them to the basic skills or knowledge that any trader could incorporate or should possess. We see through Schwager's eyes that these wizards are real people, with the same vulnerabilities and weaknesses that we all battle. Yet, obviously, these are special traders who have mastered their craft through common sense, dedication, self-confidence and self -discipline.

As a female trader, I'm always looking for "The Great One" in the form of another female trader to look to as a role model. Unfortunately, Schwager is apparently unable to find a woman, with the exception of Linda Raschke in the previous Wizard book, who emulates the qualities / skills of a wizard. One woman, Dana Galante, was included but seemingly more so for the uniqueness of a sole short selling method of trading. There is no doubt that she is great at her job but for her, it appears that she sees trading as just a job, not an identity. That's fine and great but I would have liked to have seen a woman with the same drive and passion for trading, say as Mark Minervini.

Additionally, I found it a delightful surprise that Schwager included an MD who serves as a trading psychologist. The psychology of trading is every bit as important to one's success as is their knowledge and financial abilities to participate in the markets. With the stock market serving as the number one spectator sport these days, it is only appropriate that proper psychological help and counseling/support be available to and embraced by a nation of traders/investors.

Finally, as in every Schwager book I've ever read, he summarizes key concepts at the conclusion of the book. These are invaluable pearls of wisdom all gleaned from what are undoubtedly huge volumes of notes and memoirs of so many correspondences with highly successful traders.

Get the book. Get all three - they're a great testament to the evolution of trading wisdom achieved in these modern times.

Thank-you, once again Jack Schwager.


Market Wizards
Published in Paperback by HarperCollins (paper) (1993)
Author: Jack D. Schwager
Amazon base price: $10.95
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A Study Guide for Fundamental Analysis (Schwager on Futures)
Published in Paperback by John Wiley & Sons (26 April, 1996)
Authors: Jack D. Schwager and Steven C. Turner
Amazon base price: $35.00
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