Rating: 
Summary: Simply Outstanding
Review: The trading systems are fine with "a historical edge and a decent profit factor." At this price I wouldn't expect the ultimate trading system. Richly rewarding for me have been the generous number of indicator and paintbar studies. The standalone indicators for Geometric Trading are better than anything I have seen before. If you are willing to study the code and have a sound knowledge of Easy Language, you can add some of your concepts into the systems and some of the system concepts into your strategies as the authors point out. To make life easier, much of the code has now been posted on the Tradestation forum, with permission.
Rating: 
Summary: Comments from the Authors
Review: This book is an attempt to apply the discipline (the science) of software engineering to the art of trading. Further, it is an integration of a trading platform (e.g., TradeStation) with the essence of the most influential technical analysis and trading books. So, we presume that the reader is familiar with the patterns described by Gartley, Dunnigan, and Edwards & Magee; the position sizing models described by Tharp; the trading styles espoused by Crabel, Cooper, and Raschke; and the performance analysis techniques introduced by Stridsman.The first chapter defines the trading model and the various components: the portfolio, trading systems, position sizing, filters, and trade management. Although the book focuses on automating technical analysis techniques, these systems all work within the same framework introduced in the first chapter. Chapters 2 through 7 cover a variety of trading systems: pair trading, pattern recognition, float analysis, momentum / range, and volatility. In Chapter 8, we create a "system" system by combining all of the systems into one strategy (a bottoms-up approach) and then compare this approach with a top-down system (a variation of the pattern recognition system) derived from market breadth and sentiment indices such as the put/call ratio, VIX, advancers/decliners, etc. In Chapter 9, we recount one of our trading days. This was a fun chapter for us because we had no idea how the trades would pan out later in the week. After reading this chapter and our assessment of each chart, judge whether or not you are a better chart reader or system trader (N.B. we are the latter). Chapter 10 is the day trading chapter (recall Ben Hur on a Roman galley chained to his rowing bench). Yeah, we poke fun at day traders but apply some common-sense technical analysis techniques for intraday trading. Hint: Use the rectangle for intraday trading, especially afternoon breakouts. Finally, Chapter 11 contains the source code implemented in TradeStation's EasyLanguage: 64 pages of trading systems, indicators, and functions. Regarding the book itself, many people have asked why we would publish these trading systems. The answer is that the systems are diverse and have an almost infinite number of variations, across time frame and sector. Find your niche and exploit it. As to the rating, we probably could have included more intraday examples and code in Chapter 10. Yes, the book will draw the ire of those who believe that one cannot trade the markets mechanically; however, with the proper software platform, we feel that any market knowledge can be encoded and implemented within a system.
Rating:
Summary: A Classic Review
Review: This is the real deal, and I truly believe that this book has some revolutionary concepts. They developed a pattern recognition system that recognizes combinations of bar patterns, candlestick formations, and breadth indicators. They also automate some of the recent interesting work from Steve Woods and his float analysis stuff, not to mention a complete pair trading system. The book emphasizes the automation aspect more than trading system design, and I would have liked to see them step through the design of one of their systems from conception to implementation, but certainly I had a lot of ideas just from reading the book. I sense the authors have a lot more to give and look forward to future editions of the book. I would like to see them eventually include code for other trading platforms such as MetaStock or WealthLab.
Rating:
Summary: Controversial but well worth it
Review: Where do I begin? The book is a survey of trading systems wrapped in technical analysis within a software framework. And that is the genius of the book: it ties everything together for the mechanical trader. While the text seemed familiar, it covered bits and pieces that I haven't seen before in other books. So, one can learn about pairs trading and float analysis but even better have a free code framework for multiple trading systems. For example, the programmer is able to select among several position sizing models taken from Tharp's book. Moreover, modules for trade management are provided to implement stop losses and profit targets. Yes, the systems run out of the box, but I can see why some will be disappointed. These guys aren't handing over the Holy Grail, but then who does? That is not to discount a few of the systems in the book -- they were clearly designed by inventive programmer(s) with sound principles. In fact, two of the systems test very well historically. Given the proliferation of pattern-based trading, I believe this book advances the ball by providing more (yet not complete) accountability by authors of trading books. So is this book for professional stock traders? Yes, in the sense that it presents a disciplined approach to trading multiple systems and unifying these systems through a common trade management model. The code is modular and could (may) have been written by a very good software engineer. The only deficiencies are the lack of system settings for each chart and comprehensive performance results for all of the systems. I recommend this book and am a satisfied customer.
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