Stock-market

While not a complete waste of money (like Mark Douglas' books), the author has little credibility writing a book when his one year performance in his Harris Insight Equity fund (4/1/02-3/31/03) was MINUS 29.6%. Notable flaws are the author's assumption that the exploding latin population will assimilate into the general population as the Italians and Irish did over a century ago and help the economy (Hey Donald Coxe, check out current crisis condition of California). Another flaw is his stubborn refusal to see the current bear market as largely UNfinished and more like the Great Depression than the milder 73-74 bear. And, since he only knows how to push mutual funds (he manages one), forget about any info on options. Options and the leverage they empower the average investor with is the ONLY realistic way to make up for past market losses. Try Sy Harding's book (for overall market knowledge), Charles Caes' "Tools of the Bear" (for options education), and John Murphy's "Charting Made Easy" (to learn technical analysis).

This book is explains the Big Picture of global markets and how an individual investor can use a broader understanding of markets to manage a personal investment portfolio. The survival analogy really works for me. It is his ability to explain the patterns underlying the day to day activities of the stock markets which sets Mr. Coxe apart from other investment writers I have read. The first chapters are about crashes and Triple Waterfalls, and he provides the historical context for the Nasdaq's crash. It was eerie and sobering to see how precisely we mimicked the behavior of investors in other eras. However the chapters I found most interesting were dealing with the US Dollar, Gold and the Eurodollar. I can't wait for his next book!

While the author from NV makes a point about the Harris Insight yearly underperformance, Mr. Coxe's performance has beaten the SP over the last three years by 680 basis points annualized.

This is a superior book, because of the style of thinking. Typical investors, like the individual from NV, or the herd, think in a conformed fashion and Mr. Coxe takes us out of the conformity and allows us independent thought.

He also does a great job explaining what external influences on the market are, the important roles they play( things like eurodollars, central banks, world economies, etc.), and what happens when markets go down or sideways for an extended period of time.

I would recommend this book if you are looking for a good macro overview of markets and the major players. It is not nor meant to be a technical indicator or timing book, and indeed while there will be major trading rallies of 50%, the chances are very strong that we continue to remain in a "generational" bear market. One that could last a decade or more if history is correct. And one that will ultimately decimate Mr NV and the herd again at the proper time and place. For as we all know the market exists to make the majority of the people wrong the majority of the time.

If you are looking to think like everyone else, then there are other books you should be reading.

I found this book very useful in bringing people back to reality as to the speculative nature of option trading. It even includes very good advice as to how to avoid (or mitigate if you will) losses. I only gave 3 stars to this book as it does not provide strategies as to how to pick correct stocks, and as they say, winning in options is 90% stock selection and 10% option trading.

It is a good purchase for anyone starting in this business. Wish you all luck.

The strengths of this book are the clarity with which it has been written, the numerous practical examples provided, and most importantly, the opinions which the author, an experienced options trader, freely provides. Ansbacher has avoided dealing with the complexities of options such as the Black-Scholes pricing model, the greek sensitivities, etc., instead focussing on the basics: common strategies and analyzing what to do when things don't work as planned (in contrast to Fontanills' whose examples always make money!), but it is his experience which really shines. Reading this book is straightforward, owing to its conversational tone and is really like having an experienced options trader at your disposal -- Ansbacher is no flake, he's traded SPX options for years and runs a successful hedge fund....This one belongs on the bookshelf with McMillan and Natenberg...

If you are serious about trading options, BUY and study this book! Ansbacher explains the concepts needed to understand options in clear and nontechnical terms. Often he is brutally honest in ways the force you to think. The most valuable parts of the book are the strategies that he provides for each type of trade to inform you of what action to be prepared to take if (and when!) the market turns against you. Ansbacher repeatedly tells you that it is not easy to make money with options, but the thesis of the book is that if you approach options trading with some of the strategies he shares, you will be able to keep the premiums you collect and not get an ulcer. His ideas about trading two-strike prices out and about how to easily figure the margin requirements on options are well worth the price of the book. The purpose of this book is not to tell you how to find good stocks for writing options; the book's purpose is to provide you with sound strategies to be successful once you identify stocks in which you are interested. If you want to identify the good stocks, spend a few dollars and sign up for a program like VectorVest. Then you will have both the process and the content for success...

This book written by one of the top expert on speculation is no doubt just about the best book in its subject. However, the powerful element fo time may have eroded some of the usefulness which had been enjouyed earlier. Readers can still find it as a source of valuable historical data. For the best in stock market operations you should read Mr. gann more updated book "45 Years In Wall Street" published in 1954

This book is one of the most concise and clear writing by Mr WD Gann. He was still in his early years, and wrote a very clear layout of his strategy. I think you should read this book as the beginning of Gann studies. I don't recommend you go too far to research such topic as: astrol finance of Gann, some magic formulae, some magic chart and so on. I don't mean that they are useless. But you would get lost if you start running before you know how to stand. Thus, buy this book and read it at least twice, bofore you dwelve into a deeper field. The content? I think that it could be summarized as follows: 1) Observe the time element (e.g. time span, period, seasonal trend, etc.), 2) Classify the chart pattern (this is just the material contained in standard Technical Analysis books), 3)Money Management Philosophy - Cut loss, never let your loss be beyond 10% of your capital.

In my opinion, this is probably the most important book written
by W.D. Gann. I usually listen many comments from other Gann
student who consider '45 years in Wall Street' as the best book
of this author, but this is better. I think that if you read many times 'New stock trend detector' you will find hidden some very important trading techniques that will help you to keep a good track record in your future operations. Naturally, the work for 'decode' this techniques among the examples made by Gann,is hard but if you 'love' the stock market and you need a real help in your trading, this is the book for you.