Typically when I buy a book if I pick up just one great idea or strategy I consider it a win. Or, if I gain some clarification or perspective on a previous idea from another book I consider that a win. In this case I think I may have picked up and clarified more than one. I have to admit that I have read the book more than once and it isn't perfect but it certainly clarifies many trading idea's and concepts that you must have a firm grasp of to trade successfully. I would characterize the theme of the book as "Objectivity" and how to be objective when trading.
I too am frustrated by the use of greyscale for the book and not color but the concepts and strategies outlined within the book are well done and don't necessarily require all the charts to be color. But yes, I certainly would have preferred it. For the record, Steve Nison is considered the foremost authority on Candlestick charting techniques in the US and NONE of his charting books are in color.
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Chapter 1: Subjectivity Doesn't Work in the Market: This chapter has what I believe to be THE most important concept in trading. "The Four Stages of the Markets"! You might already see the market this way but haven't know exactly what to call it or maybe you have never looked at the market this way before but I use the four stages as the basis and is THE first question I ask myself, regardless of time frame, before I take a trade. "What stage is the market in on this time frame"? Once you know what stage the market is in you immediately know what entry strategy I need to pull out of my bag of entry tricks to determine my entry; position size, stop loss and potential exit points. If you don't know the answer to these four questions before you take a trade you should consider NOT taking that trade. The author covers these stages quickly because truthfully they just aren't that hard to see or understand. Recognizing the stages and trading them accurately is a whole different ballgame. When you learn the stages and how they transition you can literally find the specific bar that changes the stage allowing you to be on the right side of the market, with the trend, before anyone else.
Chapter 2: Candlestick Analysis: If you use Japanese Candlestick's to trade you probably have the Nison books on your shelf already.
Chapter 3: Support & Resistance - Price is King. Differentiating between Major and Minor support and realizing that minor support is more important than major support along will both save and make you more money than you can imagine. Support and Resistance traders trying to understand why getting long at Major Support fails most of the time when your larger time frame is in a uptrend your answer may finally be here. Why is minor support stronger than major support and why is it actually minor support that makes the markets work may be that light bulb moment for your trading. I highly recommend you understand this concept. How about understanding when support is supposed to fail so that you aren't long when it does or when resistance is actually going to stop your trade from going higher and when you can actually continue to let your trade run? This is just one of those chapters the author literally could have written a separate book for.
Chapter 4: Moving Averaged the Right Way: Visual Aids to Price Action. So if I told you a moving average is NOT a support or resistance area would you believe me? "But it works" you say. Have you considered that perhaps when it does work it's because of something else on the chart your aren't seeing on either your entry time frame OR a larger time frame? This chapter may give you some insight it how to better use those moving averages as a timing mechanism (focal area) verse using them as support and resistance. There's also a great strategy for trading with the trend using both the 20MA and 40MA that if you are patient enough to both find and wait for the proper entry on any time frame is a extremely high probability trade.
Chapter 5: Volume is Money: Commitment to Prices. I am primarily a currency trader so accurate and consistent volume is not a luxury I have but for trading instruments where volume is reliable then this chapter be more of a clarification win for you.
Chapter 6: Retracement Analysis: Using Retracement Analysis to Continue Your Move: Understanding how and when a stock 'rests' after a strong move and when that pullback after that move is a normal reaction that you should not worry about is another one of the clarification points that you is critical to understanding when not to panic. This chapter dovetails very nicely with the support and resistance concepts from chapter 3. It's difficult to separate these two chapters in terms of importance and how together they can be used to manage your expectations for any of your trades regardless of the time frame you have entered on. This chapter is also one of the first chapters where we start to see multiple time frame analysis and gain some understanding of exactly how important that concept is.
Chapter 7: Bar-by-Bar Analysis: For some reason the first thing I thought of when I saw the chapter of this book was "Pub Crawl" but apparently that's not what this chapter is about. This is a short chapter but it does introduce to you the fundamental pattern that you are looking for when trading. Your ability to understand how to take this pattern and 'see' it across multiple time frames is actually one of the most important concepts you can learn as a trader. It may be one of the shortest but the concept is critical.
Chapter 8: Market Internals: I am embarrassed to say I have yet to read this chapter. Why? Being a currency trader I use the correlation between the 6 major pairs and the crosses as my market internals. With that said, if you trade some of the SP 500 Mini you may find these market internals very helpful.
Chapter 9: Relative Strength. Granted this isn't just a equity trading concept but I have not read this chapter given that in currency trading we look for correlation, which is a form a relative strength, but within the confines of this book it is primarily a equity concept correlated with the market, defined as the Q's or the SPY, so I have yet to read this chapter.
Chapter 10: The Trend is Your Friend - There are only three directions: The cliche only makes sense if you can accurately identify the trend and then coordinate that identification of that trend across time frames. Until you can do that you are gonna struggle as a trader. The basic building block of a identifying a trend is a pivot but pivots come in all shapes and sizes and your ability to determine which ones to pay attention to is critical. Here again we see great references back to support and resistance and of course those pesky moving averages.
Chapter 11: Shoot the Gap. This chapter is really just a overview of how to trade gaps. Gaps are something you need to understand on a level that this chapter really doesn't do justice. In terms of equity trading he probably needed to mention them because they happen every day to almost every stock but for beginners or as a introduction its fine.
Chapter 12: Frame-by-Frame: The Concept of Multiple Time Frames. Remember those 'stages' I mentioned as being so VERY important from Chapter 2? Well this is where that concept really shines. Once you understand the stages and how to identify them you then need to apply that understanding to multiple time frames. The author refers to the larger time frame as a 'Macro' time frame and the smaller time frame as the 'Micro'. Your goal is simple really. Match the stages across time frames. If the daily (Macro) is in a (Stage 2) uptrend then you need to wait for the 15M (Micro) time frame to also be in a (Stage 2) uptrend. Earlier chapters have already given you the 'pattern' you need to match and/or be looking for to enter the trade. In this chapter he points out "Three Incredible Rules for Trading". The third one, using failure of a smaller time frame, is my favorite.
Chapter 13: Making Failure Work for You - Recognizing When Patterns Fail. So here you are, you understand the stages, you understand pivots and trends and you can see those pivots and trends across multiple time frames. Now you want to get into a trade because it as all become so clear and then ... the smaller time frame entry fails! Funny, because that's exactly what I am looking for. This is a great chapter both technically and conceptually. This is a very advanced topic but the concept is pretty basic and very well laid out here for you to build a trading strategy around. This might be my favorite chapter for what that's worth. I personally think you could write a book on how to use the failure of a micro time frame to enter a macro time frame but this author wrote a chapter. There are references throughout the book using this concept to keep a eye out for them. It is a fantastic strategy for entering a trade.
Chapter 14: Manage the Trade and the Money - The missing link. I realize it's hyperbole to call each chapter the most important. Invariably it becomes a cliche that when used we don't even really hear anymore. We dismiss it as perhaps some habitual phrase like 'um' that so many people use as a way to think or gather thoughts before they begin speaking again, usually in cliche, about something they feel is important. But this chapter sheds some light on some concepts that if you don't understand and apply you will blow up your account. Your trading or investing career, whether you realize it or not, is predicated on understanding how to treat each trade equally. If you think one trade is better than another then you need to seriously look at that 'other' trade and consider never taking it again. Here again we see a reference to those three pesky questions you better know the answer to before you put your hard earned money on the line; the exact price to enter, the exact price upon which to know when we were wrong, and the approximate area to exit the trade for profit. Yes, I realize and the author realizes that different time frames imply different position sizes for trades ... but do you? How much to risk on a trade is a critical concept that the author does a very nice job of addressing.
Chapter 15: Getting Through a Typical Day. This chapter is basically self explanatory and is a summary of how to get your thoughts organized both before and after the trading day. But he touches on a having a 'trading plan' and how to compare your daily trades to your plan so that you can change/improve/modify either your trading plan or your execution.
Chapter 16: There is only One Truth in the Markets: Price is King. I think that just about covers it really!.
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Is the book perfect? Of course not. It frustrates me that the charts are not in color. I will forever not understand why the charts aren't in color given that when you trade using Japanese Candlesticks the color of the bars are critical. Particularly when daily charts are used as examples, which invariably contain gaps, that without color you can barely determine whether the daily bar is bullish or bearish. Sometimes, but not often, the wording is awkward or difficult to understand. I have a feeling this book was a long time in the making but it probably needed to be better proof read. (I realize you could probably say that about my review as well so here's to the kettle calling the pot black). I realize the Author has a trading school, which is mentioned in the book, so they use some terms that are specific to there way of teaching but in those instances they are usually pretty clear about the concept given that the names really don't matter anyway. I have attended some of the free workshops of the author and been able to ask questions directly about the book.
I have both the iPad Kindle version of the book and the Hard copy. The iPad kindle version has all the quirks of a ebook in that sometimes pages that were once on the left are now on the right or charts have 'moved' so I purchased the hard copy as well for whatever that's worth.
I am a prop trader but NOT a prop trader for the Author or Pristine.
I can't speak to the Wiley site and whether or not that works.
