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Thought provoking and revealing book. Not how to trade shares but how to prepare your mind and how to set up a system to manage risk. I have read it three times and each new read reveals hidden treasures. One can pick it up and read a chapter just to renew your thought processes.
this is a well written book that covers all the major areas to which any new trader needs to be exposed. It should be required reading for any new trader
Check out this book : Behavioral Finance and Wealth Management: How to Build Optimal Portfolios That Account for Investor Biases by Michael M. Pompian. Van Tharps book has too much Basic trading filler for my taste, if its a basic book you want, get Swing Trading for Dummies which I think is the best beginner trading book I have ever seen.
The fundamentals are covered in a way that is intended I believe not to introduce any certain preferences for this or that system. I'm commenting on the first edition, though I have read them both and own the first. Tharpe is a great teacher. I was reminded of when I was in college and the professor made us really dig and stretch ourselves, because that is how learning occurs best. But when you know the basics really well you can adapt, improvise, learn and improve. These are fundamentals that are sound.
In the markets there are many different ways to "skin a cat". For me Dr. Learn the fundamentals and make them your own. Many of the negative reviews reflect the individuals biases, as mentioned by another reviewer. The best part of the book, you have decide for yourself. What makes profits today might not tomorrow.
And survive the battle to win the war.
Van Tharp has a strong psychological and coaching background. The book is an easy read with lots of examples. If you actually do not like trading and only want to manage your retirement money with a minimal amount of time, you do still get some hints, but most of the contents are just too much to fit your needs. You want to learn how to trade and you are willing to take classes, learn for many thousand hours, look at yourself, test your personal trading scheme, do position sizing and think in terms of expectancy, than you are a prime candidate for "Trade your Way". His references are extensive and do contain a lot of my favorites.If you want to get an idea of Van Tharp's thinking, he has an excellent free newsletter. This might also not fit your mindset.Within the above limitations Van Tharp is extremely tolerant in values, methods and schemes with endless advice.
Also the strong believe of Van Tharp is: cut your losses short and let your profits run.
He is in a lot of respects quite an unusual person.
The mathematics is just plus, minus, multiply and divide.
This book is solid and valuable and just the start of a lot of work.
His most important points get ample repetition.
Also he asks you to really look at yourself and your objectives in order to develop a trading system that fits your needs.
Here you might expect to get some strong feelings positive or negative but most likely both.People who consider themselves as investors might frown on trading as speculation.
The glossary also has a square root.
Anyhow reading the book you will learn a lot even if you do trading/investing only as a hobby.
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