The Day Trader's Manual: Theory, Art, and Science of Profitable Short-Term Investing

I'm an advanced trader and only bought this book because a very good friend who is a retiring physician suggested I do so. The book is written in three separate parts. The first part discusses the theory of day trading. The second goes into the details of applying current strategies. The third, and this is where the meat is, takes about 14 trading examples and applies the thinking process of how to trade to actual markets. This book goes far beyond what most other "how to" books on market trading is all about. The other books I've read goes and tells the intricate details of what techniques and how to use them. What Eng does in this book, and other books, is to tell how to use the techniques to make money. This is what I am, as a trader trying to make money, looking for. I don't want to know that a 7 day moving average is better than a 13 day moving average. I just want to know how to make money. Eng tells me how to do so without bogging me down with useless details. I hate to say it (and I wonder what readers of this will say) but most books on trading is really "masturbation of the mind." All play and no substance. Here, Eng gets down to the details: it's all in the management of the trade, once you have it on. This is what Eng writes about: manage, manage, manage. The last part, where the successful trades turn to profits, is where he guides me through the successful management of the trade. I think most beginning traders will find this book to be too advanced because it concentrates on how to make money and it doesn't concentrate on how to make the reader a proficient technical analyst. Take it from me, I've spent years learning about moving averages. It's only when I figured out that I had to do something to make the trade profitable that I started to really make a lot of money. Eng might be too far ahead of the curve for the rest of the readers to figure out. I've read some of Eng's works and he does go into tremendous details in his other books. In this one he does token explanation and focuses on the management of the trade. As far as I know there are no books out there by other writers that concentrate on the real money-making aspect of trading. I spent years learning the details, but in this one book Eng makes it very succinct: it doesn't matter what techniques you use, just use them, and then successfully manage that trade to money!! In my library this book is highly ranked.

The simple and straight to the point title, The Day Trader's Manual, says it all. This is a compact (at just over 300 pages, with pages of detailed graphs -- no frills, nonsense, or jargon junk -- although Eng deftly incorporates terms that all traders do or will know), but invaluable text. As Eng points out in his preface, the Manual guides the beginner through the science, art, and theory of day trading. Experienced traders can use it to refresh their memories of the basics of day trading while tackling the more difficult ideas. Being a beginner trader myself, I don't think there's any other book I found more helpful, insightful, and worth my while. This book is an education in itself. Trading is a complex arena and requires experience, thought, and hard work (besides preparation)...and Eng has provided a definitive Bible that sets one off on the right path. Modest throughout, Eng includes some of his own experiences [note: in almost every book about investing or markets the author includes personal experiences, whether good or bad, to convey either one, that he or she, too, has made mistakes but from then on never did and is thus a certified good trader and can write a book about it, or two, the experiences show that this trader did something correct, or incorrect, but either way, something was learned and that's the main point] and the bottom line is that there was something to be learned. He presents different methods and approaches to trading, and covers all the ground there is; no one can leave this book without an upper hand. Still, and perhaps just another subtlety of the author's that makes this book a must is the stress on you, the reader, and your personality. Trading is not just a numbers game, and becomes a part of who you are. And accordingly, who you are affects how you trade. Eng stresses the importance of your own preferences after you gain some first hand experience trading. He tells us what he looks at in analysing data, or researching a graph, but reminds us that if we are more comfortable with the other approach, or find a better way, then by all means go for it because the point is to be a better trader. A classic that explains the complex science of day trading. This manual is meant to teach the rudiments and rigors of the technical science and art of trading. The psychology of trading indeed is its own topic, and for that you should look at Alexander Elder's _Trading for a Living_, also published by Wiley Finance.