Category: Books
Book Review: How to Make Money Trading by Lex Van Dam
Well known hedge fund manager, who appeared in the BBC trading documentary Million Dollar Traders and lead where with the help of fellow trader Anton Kreil led a group of trading newbies who would be running a hedge fund with operating capital of a million dollars. Around this time Lex Van Dam released a book called How to Make Money trading which claims that it can teach you ‘all you need to know to create your own ‘City-sized’ bonus.’ I believe that Lex Van Dam is currently one of the managers and capital partners of a hedge fund based in North London called Hampstead Capital.
Book Review: The New Market Wizards by Jack D.Schwager
Having already reviewed the original Market Wizards book and having thoroughly enjoyed the original, I have decided to review the 1994 follow up by Jack D.Schwager. The format is very similar to the 1988 original except this time Jack D.Schwager interviews a new set of traders. In this respect their is much new to the book, but again the value comes from the insight that you gain through each of the interviews that Schwager undertakes.
Book Review: The New Market Wizards: Conversations with America’s Top Traders
Having already taken a look at the original book written by Jack D. Schwager and written a review, I decided to read the follow up and also do a review. Again the book is particularly well known and follows the format of the first book which sees Jack D. Schwager interview a variety of different traders about there trading experiences and their overall approaches to trading.
Book Review: Binary Options Fixed Odds Financial Bets by Hamish Raw
Today we are going to look at Binary Options: Fixed Odds Financial Bets by Hamish Raw. As I’ve discussed before Binary Options has become a significant OTC market place and seems to be growing by the day. Hamish Raw’s book looks to tap into this growing market, it should be noted that Hamish Raw’s book can not been seen as an introduction being aimed towards a more sophisticated reader and my review will proceed with this in mind.
From the book it appears that Hamish Raw is an ex open outcry options trader, who has moved away the floor and moved his attention towards trading Binary Options. This expertise is clear to see when reading the book, with Hamish Raw delving into some quite complex subjects throughout the course of the book. I would recommend that the reader comes armed with at least some basic Options knowledge before attempting to read this book. While Hamish does explain how a Binary Option bet works he doesn’t do it in a particularly introductory way, which won’t be a problem for more advanced readers.
The real strength of Hamish Raw’s book lies in the technical information and charts relating to the pricing of Binary Options. The book contains some quite complicated formula and will be of real value to those with a mathematical bent. The book should also be praised for how comprehensive it is going through all the subjects covered in exquisite detail providing plenty of graphs it accompany the subject matter. I personally the found both the chapters on Hedging and Trading Binaries very beneficial.
All in all Binary Options: Fixed Odds Financial Bets by Hamish Raw, represents a tour de force in providing solid technical information about the workings and pricing of Binary Options. The book is not for those who want an introductory tour of the field, but rather either for those with significant trading experience or those who already have a grounding in options.
Book Review: More Money Than God: Hedge Funds and The Making of the New Elite
While this book isn’t directly related to individual trading derivative trading it is defiantly worth a review, as what is done by many individual derivative traders has similarities to the way that hedge funds trade. In recent times there has been a tirade of books examining the hedge fund industry. Today we are going to take a look at More Money Than God: Hedge Funds and The Making of the New Elite.
Book Review: The Diary of a CFD Trader: How to Make Serious Money from Contracts for Difference
Here at Made To Trade were back with another book review. This time a book about CFD Trading, it seems that there are many more books around for Spread Betting opposed to CFD Trading. This may be due to the very recent rise of CFD as a financial derivative product aimed at individuals rather than Hedge Funds. Today the book being reviewed is Catherine Davey’s The Diary of a CFD Trader: How to Make Serious Money from Contracts for Difference.
While Catherine does have considerable success during the four month trading experience outlined in the book (turning $13,000 into over $28,000). Her trading strategies aren’t the particularly useful to those who wish to trade CFD’s in the current economic climate, it is clear from the book and how she is trading that the book was written during the middle of bullish markets before the 2008 financial crash and Davey’s outlook on CFD trading is hugely influenced by this. One positive of the book is that is short in length and might appeal to those who aren’t interested in reading weighty technical tomes. Though if your not interested in technical information and are much more of an emotive person it is questionable whether CFD trading is really for you.
Book Review: Market Wizards: Interviews with Top Traders
We at made to trade are back with another book review. This book has be around for a long while now and has become an almost legendary book within trading circles. While not specifically written for those with an interest in CFD & Spread Betting (which is the main focus of this blog), it features interviews with extremely successful traders in a variety of different areas. This provides very useful insight for those who wish to enter the world of successful trading.
Book Review: Spread Betting the Forex Markets: An expert guide to spread betting the foreign exchange markets
For the first time here at Made to Trade, we are featuring a review of a book. From time to time we will either review a product or book here which is related to trading and spread betting. The world of trading is a washed with resources that promise you insight into how to make money from financial markets. Here we hope to cut the truth from the bullshit and help you pick the resources that will be beneficial to your trading efforts.
Today the featured book Spread Betting the Forex Markets: An expert guide to spread betting the foreign exchange markets by David Jones. The book is written by David Jones who is in fact not a trader but rather a technical analyst who rose to prominence in the world of Forex. While a few may be put off by the fact the book is not written by someone who traded but rather an analyst, I feel this represents no problem. In fact being analyst probably gives you a broader base and better written skills which are key in writing a book. Also not to forget that analysts are the ones providing traders with information in order to make informed decisions.
David Jones should be commended for his efforts in writing the book. The book represents a very good introduction into both Spread Betting and its use in trading Forex. The book is clearly and concisely written so that anyone could pick it up and garner significant knowledge of the subject matter. It is in this area where the book really excels and makes it an excellent buy for those looking to learn more about the subject matter.
The book includes great information on how intraday positions are rolled over and how the costs associated with this can affect the profitability of your position. Also Davids advise to use simple momentum indicators to indicate where a Forex position is headed, is invaluable.
Though I said the fact that David Jones is analyst rather than trader didn’t take away from the book. The one point where this fact is evident and that is in the sections which deal with trading strategies. It’s not that these sections are bad but rather that they only offer up basic strategies and don’t offer some more of the complex strategies. Though this book seems to be pitched at quite an introductory level so this doesn’t present too much of a problem.
I would highly advise the purchase of this book to people who wish to garner more information on Spread betting, in particular to how you can use it make money from the Forex markets. I would overall give the book a high 4 out of 5.