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.
As I mentioned before Jack D.Schwager is a very successful trader in his own right and for a time managed a group of funds for the Fortune group in London. Though it appears that a recent takeover of Fortune Group has ended that. Schwager has also written a number of other well regarded books on financial markets, which means he is never really out his depth when interviewing the traders in his book. In fact the book begins with Schwager providing the reader with a frank discussion of his trading experience and what he learned in the process of writting the first book.
The book is divided up into five sections, with the first section being solely written by Schwager whose prose is exceptional. The further four parts of the book each take a different focus and how much you take away from each section will be somewhat dependent on what your trading interests are. Each section also has summary written by Schwager where he sums up the various approaches featured and what the reader can take away from that particular section to benefit their own trading. The section on futures particularly sparked my interest and in fact I would have to say it helped my deeper understanding of future markets and how they operate quite significantly. The follow up book has more emphasis placed on algorithmic and computer based trading than the 1988 edition, but even then the talk of such trading seems dated with the technology that is now available.
But it is easy to get over the dated feel of the book and as with the original the real power of the book lies in the insights it gives you both to trading and the various approaches taken to trading. Their are a couple of things that trouble me slightly about the book though, but neither of these concerns is a major issue. The first concern is that the book feels somewhat derivative of the original with basically more of the same being offered up by Schwager. Though it has to be said the book gives the reader numerous new insights into financial markets and their workings. My other slight concern about the book is that some chapter feel a bit like fillers, one example is the the Chapter ‘The Silence of the Turtles’ which consists of a group of traders refusing to answer every question Schwager directs their way. Other than this I have nothing bad to say about the book.
Overall, as a stand alone book I have to give the New Market Wizards: Interviews with Americas Top Traders a 5 out of 5. Though those who have read the original may wish to purchase some over literature over this or at least leave themselves a significant gap between reading the two works.
