Stock Trader's Almanac

It goes into depth about statistical data from the stock markets over history. Many trends are significant and some are not. To get the most out of the book, one needs to compare some of the conclusions drawn. At times, there are trends that can conflict with one another in any one year. One needs to really think about it before acting on the suggestions.

I have been buying the Stock Trader's Almanac annually since 2004. I am continually intrigued by the tips, trends, and strategies it provides. There is also handy and well-formatted section for maintaining your trading and investment records. It is geared for the mid-term to long-term trader; a.k.a. swing traders. Highly recommended.

This book is a great resource for investor's and trader's alike. Lot's of information without the fluff or nonsense you see in a lot of so-called investment books. Should be on everybody's desk that trades equities.

This book is set up like a journal for taking notes through out the year. It is a quick read if you go straight through. It is meant to be read through out the year giving you an overview of how each month has done in the stock market over the years. It has great inserts of information after each month that explains past patterns like the pre-election years and how they out perform other years (The stock market has been up 68 years straight in a presendential pre-election years 2003,1999,1995,1991 etc.). The best 6 months strategy shows how investing from November 1st-April 30th out performs May 1st-October 31st over the last 55 years. If you invested $10,000 in only Nov-April in this time period you would have had an average return of 7.9% and $544,323, with May-Oct you would have had .3% and only $9,728. It has a great section about seasonal trading which explains what sectors go up and down traditional each year based on their business cycles.The almanac is all about increasing your odds of winning by making you aware of the times of the day, week, month and year do the best. It is truly shocking when you look at the historical data and how traders respond at different times due to psychology. Buy this journal and use it if you are a serious trader of stocks. It will make you more money by increases your odds of success.

My Stock Trader's Almanac 2008 arrived today. Some features of the 2008 Almanac that I am digging right now are *2008 year at a glance This shows you days the market is closed, option expiration dates and major holidays. Also includes the 2009 year at a glance towards the back of the Almanac. *One page for each trading week, broken down by day. What a great feature! You can incorporate your appointment calendar into the Almanac, making it more likely that you are looking at it on a daily basis. This part of the almanac also includes holidays, market profitability numbers, option expiration days, and icons that show days that have been 60% bearish or bullish on average during the past 21 years. Interspersed between all of this are Monthly statistics, and references to check other parts of the almanac such as Investor Seasonalities. *Directory of trading patterns This is the main reason I bought this book, was for the directory of trading patterns. Some of the patterns go back as far as 1900. Others not quite as far based upon data available, or a noticeable shift in patterns has occurred due to changes in the investment community (for example 401K availability increases). *Strategy Planning and Record Section Some really good spread sheets and checklists in this section. I am sure that I will be incorporating some of these into my tracking. Whether you are new to investing, or a seasoned investor, Stock Trader's Almanac 2008 combines in one place the tools you need to track and improve your game.