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Summary: Excellent book for both novice and expert traders!
Review: Reading this book will make you appreciate the complexity of being one of the top traders in the world. It covers some of their individual trading techniques and how they were able to arrive where they are now. Also an excellent book for anyone who has recently taken a hit in the market because it covers some of their biggest mistakes. And it will also show you how they all came back and learned from every loss.
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Summary: Learn from other's mistakes
Review: This book is absolutely essential reading for traders just beginning and those experienced traders who "just can't get over the hump". Schwager asks the top traders all the questions that any other trader would want to ask, and pushes the pros to reveal their money and risk management tips and "rules", philosophies, discipline, psychological traits, and general characteristics of successful traders. In addition, there are plenty of good stories the successful traders relate to Schwager, which makes the reading more interesting. Most importantly, the reader will learn the mistakes that most traders make during their careers, and thus why most people never become successful traders. These characteristics of losing traders are compared to those characteristics of the successful traders, and the reader will learn what it takes to make it in the markets, straight from the pros.
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Summary: Many different points of view on trading strategies.
Review: I enjoyed the inquisitive nature of the interviewer (Schwager). He challenged the traders with various different questions. I feel the book is a must read for any one in the "Trading Game"
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Summary: An entertaining gold mine of investment strategy
Review: Jack Schwager interviews the top traders in futures, options, stocks, and commodities. The casual interview style is entertaining and easy to read but contains a wealth of strategy. Not only do you find out why these traders are so successful, you find out why the vast majority of traders are not. This book is highly recommended
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Summary: who better to learn from than proven performers?
Review: this is one of the books on my must have list for anyone even thinking about investing. although these are interviews with top traders, don't be fooled. many of the philosophies that become readily apparent as being shared amongst all interviewed in this title are just as valuable to medium and long term investors as well
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Summary: Must Read
Review: Being successful in life is simple. Find someone who is doing, or has what you want, and then model their behaviors. If you strive to be a sucessful trader then read this book.Market Wizards is a compliation of interviews with very successful traders. There are little gems of information throughout the book. Read the book and savor each bit of information.
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Summary: A Great Book to Learn about Important Trading Rules
Review: Getting into the mind of some of the best traders, they all have several things in common. When reading Market Wizards, you keep saying to yourself, "Yes, that makes sense." Just make sure you follow these rules in the real world. A little older, the same rules still apply today. It is even fun to read about how some of the trading was done over 10 years ago. Definitely an investment classic. This book should be read by everyone who is serious and committed to managing at least a portion of his or her own money.
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Summary: One Of The Best Books On Trading
Review: Along with its sequel, "The Market Wizards" is not just a book featuring top traders and their killer strategies that brought about their raging success. The two are no less self-help books giving the much needed pointers to anyone who wants to become a better trader as it repeatedly dissects what constitutes fatal emotional pitfalls and helps readers achieve an acute state of naked realization and, perhaps taken to the extreme, self-actualization. This observation is best captured in Jack Schwager's closing interview with Dr. Van K. Tharp in "Market Wizards": "When people approach the markets, they bring their personal problems with them".
For fundamentalists, "Market Wizards" is the more appropriate book to peruse. My favorite section in the book is "A Little Bit of Everything" where views of long-term investors are discussed at length. The longest write-ups in part one of the series, perhaps purposely so, are also the most useful as interviewees proffered their tricks of their trades with great candor - Michael Marcus (42 pages), James Rogers (38), Bruce Kovner (34), Michael Steinhardt (26). Other concise but equally useful comments were aired by David Ryan (20 - and check out the wealth of investment/trading books mentioned in the interview) and William O'Neill (18).
"The New Market Wizards" is in broad terms a general rehash of ideas propounded in the first book, except that it is more geared toward trading styles than investment techniques, plus the myriad traders highlighted were newer to the game at the penning of the book and in this sense their views less impressive/thought-provoking compared to its prequel where the most legendary / crème de la crème were handpicked to go into the definitive book. Consequently, I find myself picking up appreciably less useful ideas from the second book than I did from the first, albeit Jeff Yass's "The Mathematics Of Strategy" was a refreshing read.
As a summary of Schwager's two extraodinary books on top traders, here's my take on the most important elements that contribute to trading success:
(1) Stringent Risk Control
(2) Hard Work & Tenacity
(3) Know Thyself: Identifying Areas Of Competence & Weakness
(4) Know Thy Investment As Crap Begets Crap
(5) Open-mindedness To New Ideas & Unexplored Angles
(6) Willingness To Acknowledge Defeat & Change Tack When Proven Wrong
(7) Resilience, Courage & Conviction When Markets Go Against You In The Short-Term
(8) Humility To Accept That 'The Market Is Always Right'
(9) Patience To Let Profit Run But Resolution To Run When Proven Wrong
(10) Discipline: Setting Exit & Entry Points/Targets
(11) Defensive/Offensive Behavior: 'Preserving Equity First, Making Money Second'
(12) Fire To Succeed: Total Involvement, Not Haphazard Approach
As a humble contribution, I would like to add two cents as to what defines sound trading mindset:
(a) Investment Is Counter-Intuitive: Obvious Bets Rarely Make Good Investments and vice versa.
(b) On-Going Process Of Analysis & Lateral Thinking: Importance of Leaving No Stones Unturned.
(c) Generosity of Spirit: The More That Is Given To You, The More Is Expected Of You. The common thread that reverberated throughout the books was the interviewees' generiosity in sharing their secrets of success and their philantropic works, along the lines of what George Soros is striving to achieve through his many charitable foundations and for Eastern Europe. While we are very far away from the ideal world where markets are efficient and economic allocations optimal, it is my belief that the more the public is being educated about the proper workings of the markets, the more stable they will be, and this will work for the good of the capital markets and benefit the financial/corporate world in time to come.
All said, these books are a must-read for anyone wishing to hone their skills as traders/investors and derive the positive spill-over of conquering the emotional skeletons in their closets which barred many from leading a more fulfilling life, trading/investing or otherwise. The market is a very sobering place to be where sentimentalism is shunned and those resting on their laurels will be quickly eliminated. Taking the quote from investment maestro, Michael Steinhardt, "...there is no real pattern: anyone who thinks he can formulate success in this racket is deluding himself because it changes too quickly". The resounding cardinal rules and techniques repeated by the top traders ad nauseam in these books are bound to take shape in your investment psyche and stand your future trading and investment processes in good stead.
I only wish I had read the books earlier.
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Summary: The human side: true stories of successful traders
Review: You have studied chart patterns as well as technical and fundamental analysis. You have built and tested hundreds of trading systems. You have read and re-read every issue of your favorite trading magazine. You actively trade. However, you still feel that you are missing something important that will help you improve your game. Then perhaps it is time to round out your trading education by reading Market Wizards and learning from some of the world's greatest traders.
This book examines a side of trading rarely addressed: the human side. In it some of the world's greatest traders and investors respond candidly to questions regarding their experiences growing up, how they became involved in trading, how they honed their skills and developed as traders, their trading experiences, philosophies and styles, and even some of the considerations that go into their daily selection of trades. A wide variety of personalities and trading methods are represented; whether you scalp the e-minis on Globex or leisurely trade stocks on the NYSE, you will find something of value. This book should be especially valuable to anyone who aspires to trading success but lacks a trading mentor.
Break away from your TradeStation or C-Trader, put on a pot of coffee, and read this book. It will expand your mind regarding the markets and improve your trading immeasureably. I have read it several times, and continue to learn from it. Highly recommended.
Jeffrey Owen Katz, Ph.D.
Author: "The Encyclopedia of Trading Strategies" (McGraw Hill, 2000)
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Summary: Everybody gets what they want out of the market
Review: All losers want to lose and all winners who fall short of their goals are fulfilling some inner need for a constrained threshold of success...
This book is the Bible of trading, speculating and investing. After all, if you strongly wish to become a better market professional or dramatically improve your trading results, who'd better teach you about the market than the best of the best?
There are many pearls of wisdom in this book, like risk management, money management, losing being part of the game, the driving desire to become a successful trader, having confidence, taking trading very seriously, etc, etc. The part I liked the most was the one about finding a methodology that works for the individual and remaining true to that approach. One of the traders who offered trading courses failed a student simply because to the question "If you are convinced about taking a position in the market, do you still take it if you find out that I (I being the trader offering the trading courses) have already taken a completely contrarian position?", he answered "No"!
If you want to become a successful trader and you think that reading a dozen books about the market is the way to start, than this book HAS to be one of them.
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