Trading for a Living

Trading for a Living Successful trading is based on three M’s: Mind, Method, and Money. Trading for a Living helps you master all of those three areas:

• How to become a cool, calm, and collected trader
• How to profit from reading the behavior of the market crowd
• How to use a computer to find good trades
• How to develop a powerful trading system
• How to find the trades with the best odds of success
• How to find entry and exit points, set stops, and take profits

Trading for a Living helps you discipline your Mind, shows you the Methods for trading the markets, and shows you how to manage Money in your trading accounts so that no string of losses can kick you out of the game. To help you profit even more from the ideas in Trading for a Living, look for the companion volume—Study Guide for Trading for a Living. It asks over 200 multiple-choice questions, with answers and 11 rating scales for sharpening your trading skills. For example: Question Markets rise when

1. there are more buyers than sellers
2. buyers are more aggressive than sellers
3. sellers are afraid and demand a premium
4. more shares or contracts are bought than sold

1. I and II
2. II and III
3. II and IV
4. III and IV

Answer B. II and III. Every change in price reflects what happens in the battle between bulls and bears. Markets rise when bulls feel more strongly than bears. They rally when buyers are confident and sellers demand a premium for participating in the game that is going against them. There is a buyer and a seller behind every transaction. The number of stocks or futures bought and sold is equal by definition.

You have just taken a big step away from the crowd of amateurs. By opening Trading for a Living, you've resolved to become a successful trader. Dr. Alexander Elder is a professional trader, a world-class expert in technical analysis, and a practicing psychiatrist. He believes that successful trading is based on three M's: Mind, Method, and Money. First, you will see that the key to winning is inside your Mind. You will find out how to develop discipline and how to avoid the traps of emotional trading. Second, you will learn how to find good trades by using charts, computerized indicators, and other tools. You will discover how to combine several analytic Methods into a powerful trading system. Finally, you will learn how to manage Money in your trading account. The rules for limiting risks are as vital to a trader as a safety net is to a high-wire walker. With this book, you are on your way to mastering a new way of trading stocks, futures, currencies, and options. Dr. Alexander Elder helps you embark on an intense pursuit-trading for a living.

You have just taken a big step away from the crowd of amateurs. By opening Trading for a Living, you’ve resolved to become a successful trader. Dr. Alexander Elder is a professional trader, a world-class expert in technical analysis, and a practicing psychiatrist. He believes that successful trading is based on three M’s: Mind, Method, and Money. First, you will see that the key to winning is inside your Mind. You will find out how to develop discipline and how to avoid the traps of emotional trading. Second, you will learn how to find good trades by using charts, computerized indicators, and other tools. You will discover how to combine several analytic Methods into a powerful trading system. Finally, you will learn how to manage Money in your trading account. The rules for limiting risks are as vital to a trader as a safety net is to a high-wire walker. With this book, you are on your way to mastering a new way of trading stocks, futures, currencies, and options. Dr. Alexander Elder helps you embark on an intense pursuit—trading for a living.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 275-277) and index.

ALEXANDER ELDER, MD, was born in Leningrad and grew up in Estonia where he entered medical school at the age of 16. At 23, while working as a ship's doctor, he escaped from a Soviet ship in Africa and received political asylum in the U.S.A. He continued to work as a psychiatrist in New York City, served as book editor of The Psychiatric Times, and taught at Columbia University. After becoming involved in financial trading, Dr. Elder published over 50 articles, software, and book reviews, and spoke at many conferences. In 1988 he founded Financial Trading Seminars, Inc., an educational firm for traders.

Partial table of contents:

Trading--The Last Frontier.

The Odds Against You.

INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY.

Fantasy Versus Reality.

Self-Destructiveness.

Trading Lessons from AA.

Winners and Losers.

MASS PSYCHOLOGY.

What Is the Market?.

The Market Crowd and You.

Managing Versus Forecasting.

CLASSICAL CHART ANALYSIS.

Support and Resistance.

Trendlines.

Chart Patterns.

COMPUTERIZED TECHNICAL ANALYSIS.

Moving Averages.

The Directional System.

Williams %R.

Relative Strength Index.

THE NEGLECTED ESSENTIALS.

Volume-Based Indicators.

Herrick Payoff Index.

STOCK MARKET INDICATORS.

New High-New Low Index.

PSYCHOLOGICAL INDICATORS.

Consensus Indicators.

NEW INDICATORS.

Elder-Ray.

TRADING SYSTEMS.

Triple Screen Trading System.

Channel Trading Systems.

RISK MANAGEMENT.

Money Management.

Afterword.

Sources.

Index.