Rating: 
Summary: Must Read for Beginners. . .Couldn't hurt advanced traders..
Review: Best comprehensive book I've ever read. Especially liked the simplicity with which he describes the technical indicators. I'm and engineer, and never found a simple explanation for the indicators... Until this book.I finally bought it after 3 unrelated persons recommeded it. I'd already plodded through Murphy's "Technical Analysis of the Futures Markets." Wish I had saved the time ($.. and 400+ pages too...) and just read this instead. Must more concise and a faster read. I just implemented his suggestion of printing out a chart on the left side of your trading journal before you place a trade, then printing out the chart after the trade and pasting it on the right of side of your journal... It's already making a big difference in my trading. Thank You Dr. Elder....
Rating:
Summary: Really A Must
Review: Dr. Elder is a practicing psychiatrist. He is Russian origin and today he is well-known in Russia after his Moscow course of lectures on short-term investment in 1996. This book is translated into Russian and was published twice in Moscow ... The first half of the book is pure psychology. The stock market in fact is a reflection of the human psychology. As the author points out, so many people who are educated think that because they are "school smart" that they must be able to master the financial markets just as well. It's the psychology and the mentality that goes into it. The author likens a typical losing trader (in other words, most traders!) to an alcoholic in denial. Traders are addicted to losing money. They get such a thrill from trading that they don't care if they win or lose. The second half (Trading for a Living) is the core of the book. It is various trading strategies and technical information. If you're an experienced trader, you'll recognize most of it. The rule is simple: "buy low, sell high" or "short high, cover low". I think the author did an excellent job of covering a wide variety of strategies and trading tools. If you are new to trading, it may confuse the daylights out of you. This book is a must have for anyone venturing into online trading. Dr. Elder lays out the three essentials of becoming a successful trader: Mind, Method and Money Management. 1. Mind: The psychological aspect of trading. Tells you to observe your own emotions as you trade.
2. Method: Technical analysis. Almost every major indicator is discussed here.
3. Money Management: Gives you some tips on how much to risk. I have found a lot more detail in this book than in any other I've read so far. It is very enlightning. I give the book five stars. It is really good. If you don't mind the high price, buy it. It pays. You won't be disappointed. I highly recommend it to those traders who wants to improve the quality of their lives. Alexander Petrochenkov
Rating:
Summary: An excellent addition to your trading library!
Review: Elder does an excellent job of addressing the three pillars of trading: method, mind, and money management. Most other authors just focus on the trading methodology, but neglect the other equally important areas. This is a great book to open your eyes to all the key areas that you need to master to become a successful trader.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Elder's "Trading for a Living" is a much-acclaimed tome on, well, trading. He covers the three pillars of the trading profession- psychology (attitude), technical analysis, and money management- adequately, but without any new insights into any of the three.
The segment of the proper attitude and demeanor one needs to be a successful trader is probably the weakest part of the book. It is also overly patronizing, the overriding theme being 'don't think like all those other losers out there.' His recommendation that the fledging trader attend some AA meetings to gain perspective on a "loser's mentality" is likely to strike a lot of readers as bizarre.
The technical analysis discussion is clear and instructive. His summary of each technical indicator, however, concludes with the trite note that each day's market activity is a titanic struggle between 'bulls and bears.' A little literary creativity and originality would have helped here. Schwager's 1995 book on technical analysis and John Murphy's 2000 update of his classic technical analysis treatise are far superior to Elder's discussion of this topic.
I'd skip this book; if you are going to spend fifty bucks on a trading volume, Elder's more current book, "Come into my Trading Room" is much better than "Trading for a Living."
Rating: 
Summary: technically worthless
Review: I am a professional trader. This book has a good section on psychology but thats it. Totally worthless when it comes to the technical part. In fact I always wondered what made this book so popular with the public. I guess most people read the books but don't use the knowledge in them.
Rating:
Summary: A healthy dose of realism and experience
Review: I enjoyed this book. I do not trade but have studied it somewhat. I can't vouch for the accuracy of the technical stuff. The writer is an educated man with a sense of humour, and he can write! Others have described the contents, so I won't. If you are thinking of trading, read this book first. Here's a sample: "A good trader watches his capital as carefully as a professional scuba diver watches his air supply". "Markets need a fresh supply of losers just as builders of the ancient pyramids... needed a fresh supply of slaves." "The lion's share [is] pocketed by floor traders and brokers who took a much bigger cut than any casino or racetrack would dare!" "The major economic role of a trader is to support his broker - to help him pay his mortgage and keep his children in private schools." "Odysseus heard the Sirens' song but survived because he could not jump. You ensure your survival as a trader when on a clear day you tie yourself to the mast of a trading plan and money management rules." A healthy dose of realism from an experienced trader to those about to leap into the fray.
Rating:
Summary: The Standard for Technical Analysis
Review: I just wanted to thank Dr. Elder for everything I've learned through reading his book, twice :-) ! I'm 18 years old and currently in one of the best Undergraduate Business School in the world - but they don't teach Technical Analysis here. I came into the markets when I was about 15. I began as the "fundamental analyst" taking into account all I read but Technical Analysis (TA) appealed more to me. Everyone uses Fundamental Analysis and the one who survives is the one who gets the info fastest and reads through everything that is released. That just is impractical unless you have the time. TA is so much more in sync with my strengths. Asking around for the best "TA Book" on AOL message boards, I was referred to your "Trading for A Living." The first time I read through it was such an amazing experience. Here in writing was everything that I was doing wrong and how to correct it. I studied very closely all of Dr. Elder's models and examples. I applied the 3 Ms (Mind, Method, and Money Management) and forced myself to remember Dr. Elder's examples anytime an urge came to buy a stock that I heard or "looked good." I bought my first stock using strictly Dr. Elder's principles last month. I set up the notebook as he outlined in the last pages detailing why I bought the stock and when I was expecting to sell. My results?? Well I havent sold the stock yet, but I'm up 20% in 2 weeks!! I bought COMS for the following reasons: *The break of a 2 year old Downtrend Line *A break of the OBV downtrend Line *A weekly MACD Histogram Divergnece (you know how rare these are) *A weekly stochastic bullish divergence *A momentum weekly divergence *A weekly RSI bullish divergence That's 6 different reasons to buy COMS. So I took the plunge when I saw all of them coming together, I pulled the trigger and bought at 26 15/16. The most recent quote is 32.50. All in all, I just really wanted to thank Dr. Elder. Your book has been the most positive impact on my trading experience and I hope others can benefit as I have. Omar Bassal
Rating:
Summary: If You Read and Implement this book, You Will Make Money
Review: I'm new to Trading, and have now read over a dozen books.
This is by far the best book I've read on trading.
Dr. Elder outlines early in the book the attributes of a looser, and by evaluating my own character, I could identify some of these attributes, and choose to change.
Thanks to this book I am no longer a looser but a winner.
If you only buy one book on trading, or never read any other book on trading, this is the one to read.
If you read, and implement what Dr Elder reveals, (That does mean analyzing yourself honestly) Then You Will Make Money.
Rating: 
Summary: More Losers than Winners
Review: There is much useful information in this book. While Investor's Business Daily suggests you be careful of your entry point, this book has you making trades that could turn out to be risky. For example, buying on an MACD crossover, even though the stock is well below is 50 day moving average. You really need to be careful. If you place tight stop loss orders, maybe 2 percent below your entry, you could rack up a lot of small losses before you hit a really profitable trade. 50 trades (about one per week) losing $200 each amounts to a $10,000 loss. As Dr. Elder points out, there are lots of engineers trying to become traders. Most of them end up broke.
Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommended
Review: This is a very clearly written book (unlike some others) written on the basics of trading the markets, with sage advice on the biggest challenge of all - managing yourself! Elder is a Russian born psychiatrist and understandably has a lot to say about trading psycholgy and the self-destructive traps people get into when they dive into the financial markets without a good plan and without an awareness of their own foibles. The market will exploit their weaknesses and leave them penniless. Yet, the market can offer great opportunities, if the trader engages in some self discipline and avoids reacting emotionally to the markets vicissitudes. This is what the book is about and why it is the all time best seller (I am told) in the field on this subject. Highly recommended!
| 
