tactical trader

As any experienced trader will readily tell you, getting started and continuing to make progress in our business is difficult to say the least. Most new traders start off with an initial burst of bravado, believing that they will spot something that the thousands who went before them could not. After a few reassuring wins there comes the inevitable crushing defeat suffered at the hands of a merciless market followed by a severe bout of astonishment at what could possibly have gone wrong. Eventually there is the inevitable realisation that it takes several years of extremely hard work to become consistently profitable.

As part of this realisation and the learning that must follow there are several resources at the trader’s disposal. Some struggling traders would argue that there are too many which only adds to the confusion as they try to get to grips with their new profession. I would be inclined to agree with them as the catalogue of seminar offerings and internet sites grows larger by the day.

Many of the seminar opportunities are just too expensive or geographically inconvenient and there are very few that are worthy of attending anyway. The internet is awash with conflicting advice usually offered by those with more interest in making money from their latest scam than making you a better trader.

As a result, one of the most popular and reliable learning vehicles is that survivor of the pre-internet age, a decent book. Surprisingly there are very few that are aimed at the new and inexperienced reader. Most of the ones I have come across assume a level of knowledge that makes any attempt to read them a most irritating experience.

This brings me to the review of one of the most popular books in this category, by Gary Smith. Unlike the two most direct competitors for your book spend (Elder and Van Tharp this one is presented as much more of a personal story than a text book so I looked forward to working through it with some interest and hoped it would be a far easier read than some of the others…