tactical trader

I imagine most traders will feel depressed after reading this book. It’s not that it is dull (it’s not) or overly complex (except in a couple of places), it’s that in the end this book confirms what we all know deep down: it is impossible to make money from trading.

Well maybe that is a bit extreme but reading this book, which as the title suggests looks at the markets from a mathematical perspective, really did show me that it doesn’t matter how clever I am, how well I understand probability, or how level-headed I am, trading really all comes down to luck. It also demonstrates how crazy the markets are, with a particularly good example in the first chapter:

John Maynard Keynes, arguably the greatest economist of the twentieth century, likened the position of short-term investors in a stock market to that of readers in a newspaper beauty contest (popular in his day). The ostensible task of the readers is to pick the five prettiest out of, say, one hundred contestants, but their real job is more complicated. The reason is that the newspaper rewards them with small prizes only if they pick the five contestants who receive the most votes from readers. That is, they must pick the contestants that they think are most likely to be picked by the other readers, and the other readers must do the same. They’re not to become enamored of any of the contestants or otherwise give undue weight to their own taste. Rather they must, in Keynes’ words, anticipate “what average opinion expects the average opinion to be” (or, worse, anticipate what the average opinion expects the average opinion expects the average opinion to be).

Some of the mathematical examples in the book took me a couple of attempts before they made sense, but on the whole the light-hearted style of writing made this an enjoyable read. It won’t teach you how to make millions from the markets, but then it doesn’t promise to. Although, if recent market action has left you in a fragile state, you might be better avoiding this book for the time being as it might just push you over the edge!

Let me get the negative comment out of the way first: Street Smarts is simply not worth over £100. The cynic in me was amused to see that large print and excessive whitespace had been put to good use to make this book appear to contain more than it does!

That said Street Smarts is one of the easiest and most enjoyable trading books I've ever read. Each strategy is presented in a clear and concise way, with the authors providing some brief background information, the rules, a range of examples, and then some commentary.

Ok, I lied when I said I'd get the negative comment out of the way first - here is another: the chart examples are old with the majority being from the mid-90's. Surely the publisher could pay somebody to update the book with new examples and perhaps even a review of how the strategies perform today.

This brings me to my final comment: being over 10 years old I wonder how many of the strategies presented are still profitable today. The good news is that reading Street Smarts made me want to try out the strategies, play with them, modify and maybe “improve” them for inclusion in my own trading.

So a great book that suffers from being too expensive and featuring old examples. I’d recommend it to any trader but would also urge the publisher to consider a revised edition (like they’d listen to me!)

Thanks for your feedback. Unfortunately I only archive my slides for six months so you are too late. I hope you can make it to this year's show.

No they do not, the service is free though you should alwyas check that the commissions are competitive. Depending on your level of activity it can sometimes be cheaper to pay for a feed and pay lower commissions.

The show was very good. I attend your presentation as well. Very simple and very good. Is it possible to have the slides that you present.

Hello, Thanks for the information. Do you know if IG index charge a premium to use level 2