在大時代中的定位

去年的【大城心事】销售量8000本，让峰哥觉得好意外。峰哥，您太谦虚了。“大城心事”这个节目解答了好多听众的疑难杂症。8000本个人都觉得少了。因为，你帮助的听众肯定不止这个数目。

今年，来了本所谓的“工能”书籍。在书局里，咋看之下，这本书挺厚的。结果，回到家，一翻再翻，半小时里竟然把整本书啃完了！！！

其实，这本书给我的启示不多。定位的道理我从来就没迷失过。我很幸运。打了一份工，做了一盘生意，我的人生就这样走过来了。一切的一切皆因为定位！所以，看到书的主题虽很吸引，但里头的概念却没什么新意。

别误会，我不是说这本书峰哥写的不好。但是，这个主题对于迈入不惑之年的我来说或许真的很难擦出火花。唯一我不太满意的地方是这本书真的太薄了。一眼望去，感觉挺厚的。但是，里头的插图太多了。不过，我还挺喜欢它的排序。整本书排序的很整齐。可能因为太整齐，再加上内容不厚，半小时看完还真的慢了，呵呵。。。

整体来说，这是本不错的书。不过，我觉得它的“定位”肯定不是我这一类人。10分满分，基于个人因数的考量下只能给予4分。还是很期待峰哥下一本书；加油，峰哥！

一个操盘手12个月的日记:400美金我翻了一万倍

好久没看中文书了。。。这回，来点另类的。。。这一类书籍很少出现在我的书架上。当初，购买的原因主要是为了得到邮购的优惠。况且，曹仁超的推荐一直不是我很相信的（呵呵）。无所谓，读书总有好处。读到一本不好的书，只要能体会到它的不好，总算也没浪费时间。况且，这本书太薄了，不难啃，呵呵。。。

结果是。。。这本书真的没什么看头。第一，里头的理论几乎是一般投资书籍都能找到。再来，作者挺矛盾的。一开始，作者挺强调长期持有的理论。但，作者的操作模式却有点偏向短期和日交易。也正因为如此，持有货币交易关于利息方面的问题完全不在作者的讨论范围里面。还有一点，作者堪称货币交易是个零手续费的交易。一般熟习货币交易的投资者都明白为什么没交易费。因此，里头所隐瞒的玄机很容易误导读者。

最后，作者对于杠杆的效应也描述的太简单了吧。杠杆对于作者只是放大某些效应的一个工具。在书里头，作者完全没提到杠杆背后所需要的资金备用。除非，作者纯粹把货币交易当成是日交易的一份投机形式。要不然，资金备用在杠杆效应下应该扮演着很重要的角色呗！作者一而再的强调长期持有的好处，但又一再的以日交易的概念去“翻”他所谓的“一万倍”。这还真的是矛盾重重。。。

这本书不是一本值得推荐的书籍。（曹仁超还鼎力推荐呢！）虽只花了我那一丁点的时间，但个人收益实在有限。市面上还有更多的好书籍值得去阅读。这一本，绝对不是首选。阅读这一本书就好像是上了一堂免费的交易课程。作者最后还是希望读者能够参与他的培训课。书里的最后主要都是在卖作者的课程。因此，如果读者想省时间，外面大把这样的课程可以聆听。满分10分，看在作者漂亮的包装份上，就给个1分吧。

Sol Campbell: Sol Searching

Here we are with the "judas" as according to Spuz fans... Judas? Nope... he's the warrior with winning mentality for us even though he left Arsenal in a bizarre situation. In fact, this is why this book attracts me so much as I am like all other gooners outside... still confused by what was going on after that West Ham game...

At the end, I got my answer. It was a difficult situation for a superstar to swallow and digest in that tough period. Not only that, I finally realized what happened with the Notts Couty shock and the resign of Sol by Le Boss. In short, this biography cleared all my questions and doubts overnight.

The only thing that I failed to find out is the Magpies adventure that supposed to reveal tons of nice stories. At the end, Sol decided to cut it short in this book and it is briefly illustrate inside the book.

Coincidentally... I had just finished Harry Rednapp's biography. As such, this book arrives at the right time and I am really enjoying the Pompey stories once more. Overall, this is a good read and it is as exciting as compares to Dennis Bergkamp's biography. For a full rating of 10, I am rating it at 9. Again... coincidentally, Sol Campbell is weighing his option to join Bergy at Ajax. As such, we might be able to see the two men working together soon. I expect Sol to be the top class coach sooner or later. All the best to the rock of our defense and all time heroes in Arsenal FC!!!

Systems Trading for Spread Betting: An End-To-End Guide for Developing Spread Betting Systems

The title of this book is misleading. I do not know why the author mentioned spread trading in the first place. He should name it as "pure" system trading or "System Trading via Ninja Trader". Hence, if a reader's expectation is on "spread trading", this book is definitely not the right book to explore.

Having said that.... this is actually a nice book. The author did so well in creating a comprehensive guide to create series of algorithmic trading systems. It basically covers all necessary steps in system trading. This is a good book for newbies although it may be too simple for intermediate or advance traders. Furthermore, the author did so well in introducing ninja trader software. For those who are keen to explore ninja trader, this is the right book which provide step by step guidance with details explanation and examples.

Overall, it is a worthwhile read. However, with the flaws as mentioned above, I am going to rate this book at 6/10. Since I am no more the newbie, this book at most serves as good refreshment. After all, there is nothing new under the sun regardless of software used in system trading...  

Always Managing: My Autobiography

Frankly, I am huge admirer of Harry Rednapp. After all, he is the best English manager in my humble opinion. In fact, I started to admire him since his West Ham era where tons of youngsters were discovered and moved on to becomes superstars eventually. I admire his achievement in Pompey as well as my beloved club's biggest rival in Tottenham. So, I am looking forward to this book ever since my nephew brought it back from UK. Thanks again to my dearest nephew on this...

Daily Mail said it is "stunning". Sunday Times mentioned it is "rollicking" and Talksport claimed it is simply "extraordinary'. I would say this biography is stunning, rollicking and extraordinary! I love it so much that this is a book I found it hard to put down once I started. In fact, I only spent 3 days to finish this book. It was a nice read with tons of wisdom and sincere revealing by the current QPR gaffer. In my humble opinion, this book is on par with Sir Alex's latest biography.

The small flaws perhaps lies with the fact that certain confusing (at least to me) issues were not explained by the man himself. The sudden departure and row (was it a row?) with Daniel Levy was briefly mentioned without further details. Then, the England post issue which eventually goes to Roy Hodgson was mentioned; but, again with limited details. Finally, I wish to know more on the current QPR squad after they gain promotion this season. However, since this book was published earlier; the story ended when they are relegated to League Championship.

Overall, this biography provides great insight into football and the world of Harry Rednapp who had been playing the role of gaffer for more than 30 years. I would recommend this book to any football fan, regardless of which team they support. As such, for a rating of 10, I am going to rate it at 9/10. Harry has had a great career and hopefully he will continue to "always managing"...

Stillness and Speed: My Story

What an amazing story by the dutch master, non flying Dutchman Dennis Bergkamp!  Frankly, I enjoyed every single story and every single word by the current Ajax Assistant Manager. Surprisingly, I thought I will enjoy most on Bergy's journey in North London. Yet, it is the earlier journey in Ajax and San Siro that really caught my attention. Perhaps I am too familiar with my beloved club, Arsenal FC. Hence, Johan Cruyff's special leadership in contrast with Louis Van Gaal's productive (yet tension relationship with Bergy) sounds more appealing to me.

On his journey in North London, the author did so well to dig into Bergy's world by getting a lot of interviews from those who are related. In fact, it is so much of details that even the wonder goal against Magpies was reviewed intensively. Overall, the author did so well in this book. Contents are well organized and the author put a lot of efforts in getting different view in each particular issues.

The only flaw perhaps lies with the facts that my idols, Arsene Wenger and Marc Overmars are not involved much in this autobiography. I always thought Wenger made Bergkamp a better and class player. But, whenever the author discussed goals and tactical stuff, Wenger's view was not taken. Marc Overmars... another great flying Dutchman. I am very much looking forward to read his views on Bergkamp. Unfortunately, Marc Overmars was not featured at all in this book. By right, with his current positions at Ajax, Overmars should appear at least in the last chapter of "The Future of The Future". After all, the two Dutchman are building the futures there...

I think this is the right time for Bergy to release his biography. In fact, I do not understand why footballers choose to release their biography much earlier (during their playing period???). Robert Pires's biography is a good example. If he chooses to write now, I guess that biography would be more appealing to readers. Overall, I enjoy this book very much. For a full rating of 10, I am rating it at 9/10. For those gooners like me, this is a must read. Thumbs up to the author! 

Trading Day by Day: Winning the Zero Sum Game of Futures Trading

This is a book that emphasize simple KISS (keep it simple, stupid) system. Although it does not suit my character, but I acknowledge that the author does presents one of the fine method which is workable in long run. Apart from the facts that it does not suit my character, the contents with tons of predictive stuff also shy me away. To be frank, since I am more on the reactive side, some stuff being discussed in the book does not appealing to me at all.

In fact, I reject completely on the author's idea to take profit every now and then. The author obviously emphasize on the law of continuation (trends tend to continue rather than change). However, he suggests certain exit criteria, which for me is totally opposite and sort of counter attacking the law of continuation. My main confuse is... if the law of continuation is so strong, what is the point of taking profit for the sake of taking profit to go against such a strong and firm belief? Furthermore, the author although suggests profit taking, he does not provide immediate solution in case the origin trends returns and the exited positions was exited without reentering back. The said issue may get worse when the sizing of positions getting bigger. By exiting now and then, slippage and commission will become a concern in terms of costing in long run.

Now, on the pro side... The chapter on "Options" and "My Story (plus how Hillary Clinton "really" turned $1,000 into $100,000 in nine months)" is really fantastic. Opposite to the above flaws, I am 100% with the author on the said two chapters. I may be bias (since I am sharing same thoughts with the author). But, fact is fact. Options are never my option in trading world. In fact, the opportunity cost is so high that I think there are plenty of better choices around.

Finally, we got this very amazing record by the author on "trading day by day" stuff. It may sounds boring for others. But, I enjoyed reading it. Although I might not agree with the author's overall method, but I truly believe this is one of the very reliable method  (at least it would not easily fall into the trap of over fitting). Thumbs up to the author on revealing and sharing this....

This is a book that I love it in this second, but might hate it in the next second... As mentioned above, I found the pros and cons are almost equal. However, I must admit that I enjoy this book. In facts, the cons side is sort of bias that contradict with my own method. As such, out of 10, I am rating it at 7. Even with some of the flaws (at least from my personal view) as mentioned above, I can still find some nice quotes along the way. Hence, it is overall a good book to explore further. Here we are with some quotes that I found useful. Enjoy it...

As an individual, you simply cannot compete in the futures trading game on the basis of natural talent or information and knowledge of the asset being traded. Nor can you compete in computing power and technical expertise... Since we cannot climb up to the competition's level, we need to bring the competition down to ours. The way to do this is to break the trading down to its simplest, most fundamental level ~ a simple up or down numbers game. Approaching trading as a basic up / down numbers game instantly changes the game's emphasis from one of knowing information, knowledge and technology to one of observing price movement, and then acting on those observations. 

"Why" is concerned with knowledge; "what" is concerned with observation. You and I can never compete in knowing, but we can compete in observing. Therefore, the correct approach is to trade based on what you "see", not on what you "think".

The correct way to trade the futures is to waste no time and energy trying to see into the future. We should focus on the past and present!

Merely getting direction and timing right is difficult enough in trading. When you add in the need for a decent sized move (in order to cover the cost of the option), the probabilities of success shrink significantly. 

In every commodity market there are powerful producers and suppliers of that commodity desiring high prices as well as powerful consumers or users of that commodities seeking lower prices. However, in the stock market all the powerful forces are on the side  seeking for higher prices. 

The better I became at sales and the more expertly I could spout "inside" information, the worse my trading results became. I soon knew virtually everything there was to know about hogs, cattle, and bellies, except the part about where their prices were most likely going. 

Investor's Passport to Hedge Fund Profits: Unique Investment Strategies for Today's Global Capital Markets

The end of the year is approaching. Usually, I would not touch investment books during this period. However, I just passed my personal milestone (which I "benchmark-ed" personally, LOL). As such, I think time is right to do some reviewing and be ready for another 10 or 20 more years or even longer. Coincidentally, I have a lot of resources recently. Hence, other source of books need to to step aside at the moment, LOL...

Ok... enough of craps. Let's be serious. After two excellent read, I thought the trend will continues... At the end, the trend is no more my friend as it finally bends.... This is a lousy book to me. In the first place, the title itself is very misleading. At least, it is not typical hedge fund stuff as what I expected. To be honest, if I read through some of the contents before I bought this, I would not be reviewing this book at the moment. In short, this book is totally "off target" to me.

To be frank, info provided in the book is nothing new under the sun. In fact, certain parts are rather shallow that we can easily google on it. In another words, it is nothing specific to follow the big brothers investing worldwide. The whole thing getting worse when certain info provided are not accurate. Take the Hangseng Index as a good example. A "shallow" investor like me also realized that HangSeng Index does not represent China as their main index. So, when certain facts are being twisted (or not being studied precisely) with no solid reason, I know I am reading a wrong book.

Finally... I am not those who go against global investing. In fact, it was exactly my belief during my earlier stage of investment career. However; these days I appreciate more resting time in view that age is really catching up. As such, this book perhaps does not arrive on my shelf at the right time. In my humble opinion, unless you are so ignorant of what the world outside of US, this book should not be your choice even to kill off your boring time. Having said that... I am rating this book at 0/10. What a disappointment!  

The Four Biggest Mistakes in Futures Trading

After last excellent "failure" book, here I am with another "failure" stuff to explore further... This book was published long time ago... Yet, it really caught my surprise when I finished the whole book. It is although a thin book; but, full of valuable lessons and wisdom for future traders...

Before I continue, allow me to rate this book at 10/10. After last excellent read, this book is on par with the last book. The author although presented only 4 "mistakes"; the whole book covered all the necessity and basic traits for traders to be success in the world of trading. I myself spend a lot of time in digesting this book. The sub chapter on "capital requirement" really attracted my attention since it brought some new ideas and really opened up my mind on new possible stuff. As such, I really appreciate that mistake no 2 on "Using too much leverage".

Overall, although this book focus much on theoretical stuff with some repetition from other similar books, I personally like it so much that I really highly recommend this book to any traders throughout the world. The theory mentioned worth to reread once a while for refreshing purpose as well as a good reminder. Thumbs up to the author in producing such a simple, yet excellent write up! Since it is an excellent book.... of course there are some good quotes for future references... Here we are:

The test to tell you if you are truly prepared emotionally and financially to trade futures:
Step 1: Go to your bank on a windy day.
Step 2: Withdraw a minimum of $10,000 in cash.
Step 3: Walk outside and with both hands starting throwing your money up into the air. '
Step 4: Go home and sit down and calmly say, "Gosh that was foolish. I wish I hadn't done that." 
Step 5: Get on with your life.

The impact of failing to carefully consider capital requirements for trading a given portfolio can be disastrous. 

The only reason to venture into something as risky as futures trading is to earn above average rates of return. 

No matter how profitable a particular trading approach may be, if the day-to-day volatility of returns is too great there is a chance that you may stop trading due to either lack of trading capital or a lack of emotional wherewithal. 

The market you are trading just seems to know where your stop is and trades to or just beyond that price just long enough to stop you out, before merrily resuming the trend that you had anticipated in the first place. If you place stop loss orders in the market you had better just get used to this cruel twist of Murphy's Law because it is not an uncommon occurrence. 

The most cruel paradox in futures trading is that a trader's short term successes can plant the seeds of his long-term failure. 

Intelligence can be an obstacle to trading success. Well, one thing that intelligent people do is to analyze things more deeply than others. In future trading such a propensity can be a very dangerous thing since future markets do all kinds of unpredictable things. 

In future trading trying to understand exactly why something is happening can be a costly exercise in futility. 

In every other endeavor we are taught to think first, then react. In futures trading - with a caveat to follow - you are often far better off reacting first and then think later. 

To the undisciplined trader a quote machine can be the equivalent of a slot machine. You see the opportunities flashing before your eyes and you feel compelled to play. 

The danger is that if you are constantly tinkering with your existing system, then you may never truly develop the confidence in it that you need to have in order to stick with it when the going gets tough. 

"If you get signal to go short on the next day's open and the market gaps sharply lower the next day, the easiest thing to do is to not make the trade. The hard thing to do - and the right thing to do - is to make the trade anyway." ~~~ Richard Dennis. 

What I Learned Losing a Million Dollars

This is a book recommended by Michael Covel via his interview with Brendan Moynihan. Honestly, it is one of the greatest podcast did by Covel.  As such, I very much look forward to read this book after enjoying the interview.

This book was separated into two parts where Jim Paul describes his amazing life story in the first part and Brendan Moynihan focus on the psychology of trading via second part. The whole story attracted me once I started reading it. In fact, I found it amazing that the life story of Jim Paul was very much similar with my own story. The intention in writing this book is exactly my philosophy since I am a kid. I always believe that there are countless of ways to make money and only a few ways to lose it. As such, I am keener to study failed cases rather than focus on success stories. This book exactly pointed out my thoughts when there are few quotes that emphasize what we think alike:
"We could study a hypothetical series of successes to demonstrate how success becomes personalized and then how a loss follows, but you are more likely to remember and learn the lessons if they are presented in anecdotes about a real person and a really big loss." 
"So, why a book on losing? Because, there are as many ways to make money in the markets as there are participants but relatively few ways to lose, and despite all the books on how to make money in the markets, most of us aren't rich!"
"Those pros often did things opposite of each other. It finally occurred to me that maybe studying losses was more important than searching for some Holy Grail to make money."
"I had to find out how the pros made money in the markets. But, if the pros couldn't agree on how to make money, how was I going to learn their secret? And then it began to occur to me: there was no secret. They didn't all do the same thing to make money."

The next similarity that coincidentally happens to me is on the issue of skipping school during our education stages. As mentioned by the author: "The professor hated it because I rarely went to class and I always made As on his tests. It really ticked him off. I wasn't doing what I was supposed to be doing, but I still did well in school." In my case, it's not about "rarely went to class". In fact, I am more like a full-timer class skipper since in secondary school, LOL. The difference part perhaps lies with my result. I do not get that much of As. But, I do get a lot of Bs with a few As too, LOL. In terms of career path, I am slightly different as I am more on the survival level during initial stage. Again... coincidentally, there is still something similar ~ "He would trade the account, take no fees and split profits and losses fifty/fifty."  In my humble opinion, Jim Paul was lucky and unlucky in certain way. He was lucky with less competitive environment during his earlier trading life. He was unlucky perhaps due to the facts that he was surrounding with tons of negative components that slowed down a bit his career in trading... Overall, the life story of the late Jim Paul is like a mirror to me. I saw myself in many stages of life walking the same way with him... Sounds weird, but true...

In summary, this is a book finding who you are, and how to manage yourself in order to be success in trading via a real life story. This book is worth every dollar and I personally recommend every trader to reread it once a while. In fact, the earlier you read it, the better off you will be. My final words: Although Jim Paul passed away during 911, his extraordinary and amazing journey will live on with this book. Having said that... I have no hesitation to rate this book at 10/10. Thumbs up in producing such an excellent book...

With such an excellent stuff, of course there are tons of quotes that I believe I need to put on here for my own future references. Here we are...

Perhaps the most common fallacy to which market participants are susceptible is: Money Odds vs. Probability Odds. Many market participants express the probability of success in terms of a risk/reward ratio. All the ratio does is compare the dollar amount of what I think I might lose to the dollar amount of what I think I might make. But, it doesn't say anything about the probability of either event occurring.

When you are long and the market goes down you:
1. hope it will turn around but
2. fear it won't
If your fear is great enough, you'll get out and hope that it keeps going down.
When you are long in the market but want to be and the market goes up you:
1. hope it will temporarily turn around to let you in, but
2. fear it will keep going.
If your fear us great enough, you will buy and hope the market keeps going up.
The point is: focusing on individual emotions can be quite confusing and it is better to focus on emotionalism instead.

If you occasionally break the rules and still have an unbroken string of successes, you are likely to compound the problem because you assume that you are better than other people and above the rules. Your ego inflates and you refuse to recognize the reality of a loss when it comes.

Fundamental analysis in the stock market doesn't tell you when to enter the market. There isn't a magic formula combining the various fundamental data that tells you when to buy and when to sell. The different methods of technical analysis don't always offer specific instructions on when to make purchases or sales either. They are means of describing the conditions of the market. Analysis is simply that: analysis. It doesn't tell you what to do, or when to do it.

Don't worry about the ones you miss; they were someone else's. Your rules will only enable you to participate in some of the millions of possible opportunities, not all of them.

You must pick the loss side first. Why? Otherwise, after you enter the market everything you look at and hear will be skewed in favour of your position.

You can't calculate the probability a trade being profitable; you can only calculate your exposure. So, all you can do is manage your losses, not predict profits.

Remember, we are trying to manage possible scenarios and losses, not predict the future and profits. Scenario planning does not, of course tell us the future; only fortune tellers can do that. We already know trying to predict means you are betting which gets you all caught up in trying to be right.

Let me tell you some good news and bad news about "why" and the markets. The good news is, if you're long and the market is going up and you don't have a clue as to why, you get to keep all the money. They don't charge you if you were "only lucky". The bad news is, if the market is going up and you're short and you know exactly why it's up, you don't get any money back. Now, how important is it to know "why"? Knowing "why" doesn't get you any brownie points with the market.

In the market and in business, don't concern yourself with being right. Instead, follow your plan and watch the money.

Participating in the markets is about making money; it's about decision-making implemented by a plan. And if implemented properly, it's actually quite boring waiting for your buy/sell criteria to materialize. The minute it starts getting exciting, you are gambling. 

If you continue to do the wrong thing in the market and get rewarded, your profits won't be linked to any particular recurring set of circumstances or rule-following on your part. This will result in what psychologists call a random reward schedule; the strongest form of reinforcement for getting a person to repeat a behavior. 

Doing the "wrong thing" and still being rewarded means you will repeat behavior that may or may not have been responsible for the profitable trade or investment. If you don't know what is making the profitable trades profitable, you won't know what to repeat in order to repeat the profits (or avoid losses). 

Stay with positions that make you feel good; get out of positions that make you feel bad. You'll know when you feel bad; if you can recognize anything, you will recognize "this-doesn't-feel-good." The minute it doesn't feel good, stop doing it. 

We tolerate losses, but not surprises. 

The formula for failure is not lack of knowledge, brains, skill or hard work, and it's not lack of luck; it's personalizing losses, especially if preceded by a string of wins or profits; it's refusing to acknowledge and accept the reality of a loss when it starts to occur, because to do so would reflect negatively on you. 

Diary of a Professional Commodity Trader: Lessons from 21 Weeks of Real Trading

I cannot remember why I buy this book in the first place. If I am not mistaken, it was some excellent interview that indirectly brought this book to my mind... Whatever it is... I reckon this should be a nice book.

The initial part attracted me a lot and I just could not let go this book once I started. Quotes below are good enough to attract my attention in the first place:

You have spent 90% of your effort on the least important of trading components: trade identification. In my opinion, learning the importance of managing losing trades is the single most important trading component.

Various indicators are just statistical manipulators and derivatives of price. My attitude is that I trade price, so why not study price directly?

I warn 3 types pf novice investor types to avoid the commodity markets:
1. Day traders
2. Balance checkers - people who want to know their trading account balances frequently during a trading day
3. The emotionally unfit - individuals whose emotional makeup has led to frequent life troubles

The second major part focuses a lot on discretionary stuff. Surprisingly, I find myself reading some trading diary with full of interest. Although I may not gain much through this section, but I really admire the author's integrity and sincerity in revealing his "lessons".

As a summary, although the methods used are totally opposite with mine; I have to admit that this is a book written humbly by someone who is sincere to share his stuff. Despite playing down his own method as something unique, the author openly accepts other stuff. Having said that, do allow me to rate this book at 7/10. I could have given a perfect 10 for this book. However, I just could not digest the discretionary part and I got no choice but to shy away....A must read for traders though... 

17 Proven Currency Trading Strategies (How to Profit in the Forex Market)

Forex Trading... something I had not touched for quite some time as I appreciate more rest and more sleeps these days, LOL. However, this book caught my attention when I found that Mario Singh is the founder of FX1 Academy, which is based in Singapore. Well, anything on investment that based in South East Asia will caught my attention. After all, if I found it so good, I can reach them easily...

Ended up, this is just one of those books about trading in the market. There is nothing special except some basic stuff about Forex trading. This is in fact a simple introduction book about Forex. As such, it may be a nice book for newbies. However... for those who need to brush up trading skills, this book does not serve its purpose at all. The so called 17 proven strategies are not supported by any back-test results. The best part is... certain charts displayed in the book only showed the profitable trade and ignoring completely the losing part. I wonder why the author was so careless in the first place, LOL. Furthermore, for all 17 proven strategies, I see more of over-fitting rather than solid strategies. Can we trust the so called proven strategies? Hmm, your guess is as good as mine...

Overall, this is not a lousy book to explore. However, ideas provided may sounds too easy to trade efficiently in a competitive market like Forex. Besides, those ideas and methods are not relevant at my side in view that my trading philosophy is totally different with the author. Although the author tried hard to categorize all type of traders... but, I could not recognize myself even when I found the relevant group, LOL. As a result... for a full rating of 10, I am giving it 3. As I mentioned above, there are something useful in the book (particularly for newbies). Hence, 3 point is adequate and nothing more than that... 

Footballeur: An Autobiography

After few serious reading... I guess it is time to relax and enjoying my hobby. Being an Arsenal and Bobby fan, this book is a must. I actually tried to get this book locally since few years back. However, since Manure is the name for local football fans, it is hard to even find a clue where to buy this book. At the end, special thanks to my nephew in Newcastle. He not only bought me this book. In fact, he bought me tons of football autobiography imported direct from UK. Thanks, man...

I spend only little of time to finish this whole book. This kind of book are enjoying for football fans like me. However, since I did not check on the date of publish; I did not realized that this book is originally a French version in an earlier date. As such, the whole stories ending half way throughout Bobby's career at Arsenal without mentioning the later part on his journey to Villarreal and a short spell in Aston Villa. This is the problem with autobiography that wrote prematurely during the player's career. Yes, it is the peak moment for the player and publisher would definitely have an easier task to sell off the book. However, the premature period will cause the book ending with premature stuff too... In fact, I am very much pissed off not to read about Champion's League's final subs by Wenger on Bobby and why he finally decided to quit his beloved Arsenal. In short, the whole story is simply not complete!!!

Compares to Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography and The Professor: Arsene Wenger, I think this book at most deserved a rating of 4/10. No doubt that I enjoyed this book. However, I prefer a complete story that covers at least the whole football career of Robert Pires. 

The Secret Code of Japanese Candlesticks

Gosh... never imagined that I will touch again this kind of books... In fact, I was asked by a junior to help review this book. As such, I need to read through before I can give her sort of feedback she wants... After all, I need to update my private library too... So, why not?

End up... Gosh, what a lousy book!!! In the first place, there are really nothing new under the sun. As such, the way that the author tends to perceived that he found something new and some top secrets in trading really pissed me off. In fact, there is zero secret revealed by the author in regards to candlesticks. Based on western or eastern sources, those stuff are nothing great and definitely not as "magic" as claimed by the author.

Then, the whole book is in a mess. It is not organized in terms of contents. It is supposed to be a book about candlestick. Yet, the author is so "creative" that candlestick becomes a sub topic in the whole book. Topics are mixed up here and there and the sequence is a real mess to me. I was like... trying hard to concentrate in certain topic, but get distracted by the next chapter when something irrelevant (at least to me) pop up suddenly. The author is too "creative", LOL.

Overall, this is a funny book. The more you dig, the more you found nothing. As such, for a full rating of 10, I am giving it an "excellent" 0! What a huge disappointment... 

Day Traders Bible

By right, this is a book that should not exist on my shelf. However, I am open to all sorts of ideas. Besides, I am also open to all sorts' of books. Like I said always, there is nothing wrong in reading a lousy book. After all, to be able to judge it is already an excellent learning process. So, although this book is not aligning with my trading method; I am ok to go with it...

In fact, after finished this book; surprisingly, I love certain part of this book so much. Although the overall ideas presented do not match my character, I truly believe that this is one of the productive method that can be apply in real trading world. In terms of the content, the author did so well in providing such a "manual" with details explanation and adequate examples. Any trader (even those with different methodology) will surely find something useful throughout this book (myself included!!!). The listed quotes as below did enough to suggest that this book do helps in certain way:

It is the WILL, the strength of discipline and character in a man or woman which makes them mediocre or successful, "a loser" or "a winner".

This is the objective point of the Tape Reader - to make an average profit.

There is calmness before, during and after the trade.

Money is made in Tape Reading by anticipating what is coming - not by waiting till it happens and going with the crowd.

It's better keep in mind that you are playing for points, not dollars.

Giving limited orders loses more good dollars than it saves.. Especially is this true in closing out a trade. Many foolish people are interminably hung up because they try to save by giving limit orders in a market that is running away from them.

We should introduce ourselves to the principal speculative mediums and their families, each of which, upon closer acquaintance, seems to have a sort of personality. If we stand in a room with fifty or a hundred people, all of whom we know, as regards their chief motives and characteristics, we can form definite ideas to their probable actions under a given set of circumstances.

The chief cause of fear is over-trading.

Any kind of charts will show some profits at times, but the test is: How much money will it make during a year's operations?

Final conclusion... I am going to rate this book at 6/10. I intend to give higher rating as I thought the author did so well in writing this "manual". However, since the ideology is not aligning with my cogitation, I have to deduct certain point to "comfort" myself, LOL. Overall, this is a good book for traders to explore... A must read for traders around the world...even from the opposition party like me, LOL...

Israel and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and the Plan to Remake the Middle East

After two serious stuff (supposed to be very serious stuff, but ended up boring like hell, LOL)... here I am with another serious stuff except changing it to something that really interest me all the while. First of all, I must admit that I am not familiar with Middle East historical stuff. This is why any books related to Middle East stuff will be my cup of tea. Secondly, I am back to history books. Any sources of historical books usually have special place in my heart. So, this book although published long time ago; I am pretty confidence that it will still be a book that helps to further enhance my knowledge...

Ended up... frankly, I spent quite a lot of time in digesting this book. Reason is... I thought the author did do well that it brought out a lot of questions in my mind. First of all, regardless whether you are pro-Israel or anti-Israel, nobody can deny the facts that occupation of Palestine land is similar to the colonial settler occupations. As such, the morale issue and perhaps a straight right or wrong, did enough to raise many questions in my head (which I thought the author did answered some while ignored some). Secondly, the author seems align with Hamas and Iranian government. Hence, I think readers worldwide may not agree with some of his points. Furthermore, Iranian government is no more the previous government (the time when the author wrote this book). As a result, certain things seem irrelevant to view from current situation.

Lastly, there will be a lot of debates when occupations by outsiders (which will usually end up as wars) are not justify and legalized in the first place. Pre-revolutionary China had proved in history that the final results will not favor mankind development in long run. Besides, there is a hidden element (oil) behind all this. Hence, the debate on this topic will goes on forever. Sad to say this... but it is a true facts.

Overall, I may not agree 100% with all the opinions from the author. However, the shrewd analysis of the Zionist state's schemes is really fantastic. As such, from a full rating of 10, I am going to give 7. This book certainly deserved some attention for those who love to read about Middle East.

The Futures: The Rise of the Speculator and the Origins of the World's Biggest Markets

This is another offering book bought during book fair. Well, the previous one failed partially in my humble opinion. Let us see how this one goes...

This is a book that traces the beginnings of future trading to the present days. The author did enough homework and this book recorded precisely the whole process on the origins and growth of the future markets. Overall, the story telling is clear and I think readers will find it easier to digest along the way.

However... I must admit that this is another boring book. In fact, it is the usual typical historical book and it is actually barely entertaining. In my humble opinion, the author focuses too much on the academical side of the story. At the end, there is no fun in reading this book.

Entertaining aside, I thought the author missed out some serious stuff too. This is a book about future markets. Yet, I found no charts or tables in the whole book. Well, statistics are the best tool to tell stories at times. As such, I found it weird to read a serious story without serious stuffs.

For a full rating of 10, I am going to rate this book at 4. It is again another book that failed to inspire me in any way. The fact is... it is always very hard to get excellent books during a fair. What a disappointment... 

Crisis Economics: A Crash Course in the Future of Finance

As I mentioned before, I am short of investment books at the moment. Hence, any book will be my choices right now. In fact, I do not mind reading lousy books. Reading itself is already an amazing journey. To be able to judge at the end of the journey means we did catch up something along the road. So, whether it is a good or bad journey, a journey is still a journey to appreciate...

This book was actually grabbed during a book fair. In fact, it was grouped in those offering books where I can buy the next one with RM1. Well, I admit I was in the rush that day and this book was simply bought to make up the number. At the end, I did not even realize that this is another book on 2008 financial crisis... Gosh, so boring, LOL!

Well, please do not get me wrong. This is not a lousy book. But, ever since 2008 sub-prime crisis, this kind of books are all over in the markets. With year 2015 is around the corner plus markets everywhere were making new highs recently, this book does not seems appealing at all. The author did an excellent analysis with tons of ideas as future solutions to face another possible "white swan" (as according to author) in long run. However, I do find that ideas presented although sounds logic with sense... the solutions will be costly. In fact, I do not think authority will react such a way. After all, we are passing 6th year since 2008 and those solutions may not sounds applicable and relevant anymore.

As a summary, this may be a good read right after the 2008 crisis. However, to read it in year 2014 does not seem right in the first place. Rating wise, out of 10, I am giving it 4. Overall, not much of refreshing thoughts throughout the whole reading process... 

Liar's Poker

This is a weird situation... I read tons of investment stuff... but, I actually missed out this very popular book, LOL. In fact, it was on my shelf long time ago. However, it never came across my mind to grab it...Now; I think time is just right as I got very limited books on investment to choose from...

At the end; well, not a bad choice of book to know what a trader's life is like inside a major Wall Street firm! In fact, this is a book full with humors and hilarious. The author did so well that I think majority readers would find it easy to digest the whole book.

However, I started to get bored with things happened in 1980's. In fact, after reading so many books on investment, this topic does not attract me anymore. Besides, the author tends to drag and repeat in certain chapters. Things get worse when the author tried to explain history of various peoples in Salomon Brothers. Gosh... honestly, I am not keen to explore so much of details, LOL.

Overall, I think I did pick up some great stuff here and there throughout the whole book. However, it is definitely not my cup of tea. In fact, I felt bored at times with the dull explanation which I do not think is needed in the first place. As such, for a full rating of 10, I am going to rate it at 4. Frankly, I think I prefer "Moneyball" & "Flash Boys"...

这个历史挺靠谱：袁腾飞讲世界史

看了上一本那么枯燥的历史书籍后，忽然想起了袁腾飞。还记得这本书是袁腾飞三系列中的最后一本。前两本专注于中国史，这一本只谈世界史。一年前，阅读了前两本，就一直把这本搁着。趁现在被毛主席书籍逼得闷死了，是时候找回袁腾飞了。。。

老袁的历史书籍就是有趣！枯燥？不可能。老袁不让我们一边阅读一边狂欢大笑就不叫袁腾飞了。跟前两本（袁腾飞讲中国史上+袁腾飞讲中国史下）比起来，这一本世界史还真的有过之而无不及。如果说前两本都值得满分（中国史下集给予9分），这一本肯定也值10分！

诚如媒体介绍般，袁腾飞嬉笑怒骂的讲述风格只是普及历史知识，并且让这种普及变得有趣。因此，读者读的完全不沉闷。袁腾飞的确是把“死去”的历史“活生生”的带到大众面前。该正经时，读者看到了作者很细腻的揭破苏联其实是二战希特勒的得力助手。该幽默时，我们也看到了作者分析意大利屡战屡败的“浪漫”。如果读者的心态和我一样（想一目十行，又想观其大略）的话，这个历史书籍肯定是越读越靠谱！以我的角度来说，世界史我也看上了好几百本。因此，好读书，不求甚解肯定是我读世界史的宗旨。。。而，这本书恰恰起到了它的作用！

最后结论：赞还是赞！！！这是一本个人很推荐的上等之作！！！既想充实知识，又不想把自己搞闷，那袁腾飞这本书籍肯定是首选！！！

毛泽东军事思想教程

这是一本很有含义，但非常枯燥的书籍。个人认为，除非您是毛泽东迷（如我）；不然，想好好的啃完这本书的确不容易。。。

先说一说排序问题。个人认为这本书本身的排序就不生动。都说是教科书了，因此每一章几乎都以教科材料为出发点。再来，作者是提供了很多真实列子来衬托毛主席的军事智慧。但是，有些列子就是有重复性和乱七八糟的排序。

历史书籍本来就不好读。关于毛泽东的书籍，更是很难找上一本令人非常满意的书籍。或许，毛主席的地位始终是那么的显赫。因此，提笔人很难收放自如的发挥手笔。。。抛开枯燥的因数，内容的呈现有时真的能够起到一定的效果。这本书籍就是一个很好的例子。内容虽丰富，但阅读时，专注力很容易被打散掉。这真的让我想起袁腾飞。如果说这本伟大的军事教学落到袁腾飞的手笔下，效果肯定会好很多。

评分方面，连毛泽东迷如我都觉得沉闷。。。我觉得这本书如果落在其它读者手中，应该会惨不忍睹，呵呵。。。10分满分，本人给予4分。如果不是那么的枯燥，分数应该可以高一些。毕竟，如我以上所说，这本书的确很好的记载了毛主席的军事智慧。

李嘉诚：成功没有偶然

李超人的书籍二十年前我还真的看了不少。当年阅读所获得的激励真的不是一般书籍所能提供的。后期，读得越多，越觉得被好多作者误导。作者很多时候东一抄，西一抄的。李超人的故事很多时候反而被神话了。最糟糕的是，这些神话故事只要稍微求证或多阅读，谜底就会不攻自破。影响中，【走出和黄】是李嘉诚相关书籍最好看的一本。至少，里头不会一味的抄袭。很多资料在我过后研究中也真有其事。好吧，就看一看这一本有多神吧，呵呵。。。

结果。。。还是老样子。虽不至于很糟糕，但就是典型的李嘉诚书籍。先打住，说一说优点先吧。。。作者很巧妙的在每一个主题开端前载入李嘉诚先生的谏言。这些谏言还是李先生真实的对话。主题编排方面也做得很好。配合开头的谏言，作者又写入自己的感想。最后，在每一章的尾端，作者也巧妙的插入李先生一些访谈或演讲于作为延伸阅读。一切的一切表面上都铺排的井井有条。这方面，出版社是成功的。。。

但是，作者在置入自己的感想时，却很喜欢天马行空的把一些我个人认为无关痛痒的小故事加插进去。这里头的小故事可以从东方文化延伸至西方世界。最糟糕的是，里头好多不知名的人物还以张三，李四来命名。感觉上，李先生的谏言好像很无辜的被糟蹋了似的。。。再来，后面的附录更沉闷。原以为总结该有些精髓要交代，结果，只是一些重复再重复的句子。

这本书籍，对于从没读过李嘉诚书籍的书虫们，或许是个不错的选择。但，对于我们这些上了年纪的老书虫，还真的没什么吸引力。原以为这本书会凸显李先生近年的思维，结果，还是一本没什么新意的李嘉诚书籍。尽管李先生的谏言值得一读再读（这也是为什么我还是列出了许多经典语录），但是无可否认的事实是：多数的谏言其实在其它书籍或杂志都出现过。。。

以我个人角度，我没办法给予这本书很高的评价。毕竟，这类书已经无法唤起二十年前的那种激情。10分满分，本人给予4分。再次强调，如果读者很少接触关于李先生的书籍，这本书其实是不错的。。。。最后，忠言虽逆耳，还是值得细细回味的。以下的经典语录特别赠与一班当年和我一起闯天下的兄弟们共勉之。加油吧，大家！

在言语，许诺及设定目标等方面，我都慎思和严守纪律，一定不能给人消极脆弱和依赖的印象。这个思维模式不但是对成就的投资，更可建立诚信；你的魅力，表现在你的自律，克已和谦逊中。

我不看小说，也不看娱乐新闻，这是因为我要从小争分夺秒地“抢”学问。

事在人为，不能有志无才。你可以夸口说你的志向是摘下天上的月亮，但你知道怎么摘下吗？所以我说事在人为，靠自己，靠意念，还要有最新的知识及经验累积才能办到。

中国人有句做生意的话：“未买先想卖。” 你应该先想失败会怎么样。因为成功的效果是100%或50%之差别根本不是太重要。

士人第一要有志，第二要有识，第三要有恒。

成功没有绝对方程式。但失败都有定律，减低一切失败的因素就是成功的基石。

以下4点可以增强客服困难和承担风险的能力：
1. 谨守法律和企业守则。2. 严守足够的流动资金。 3. 维持溢利。 4.重视人才。

知足是非常重要的。全世界很多企业之所以失败，最少一半都是因为贪婪。

即使本来有100的力量足以成事，但我要200的力量才去攻。

“杠杆定律”始祖Archimedes曾说：“给我一个支点，我可以举起整个地球。”支点是效率和节省资源策略智慧的出发点。不知从什么时候开始，把这概念简单扭曲为叫人迷思四两拨千斤，以小博大。今天我们看到很多公司只看见千斤和四两的直接可能而忽视了支点的可能性，因为过度扩张而陷入困境。

亲人并不一定就是亲信。一个人，你要跟他相处，日子久了，你觉得他的思路跟你一样是正面的，那你就应该可以信任他；你交给他的每一项重要工作他都会做，这个人就可以做你的亲信。

做人可以做到“仁慈的狮子”，你就成功了。做人应该是这样，很善良，非常好的一个人，但如果人家欺负到你头上，你不能畏缩，要有能力反抗。

世人都想有一本成功的秘笈，有些人穷尽一生精力去寻找这本无字天书，但成功的人一生都在不断编制自己的无字天书。

商业合作必须有三大前提：一是双方必须有可以合作的利益，二是必须有可以合作的意愿，三是双方必须有共享共融的打算。

人们经常花很多的时间去发掘对手的不足，其实看对手的长处更重要。

我觉得范蠡一生可算无憾，有文种这样知心相重的朋友；有共度难关，共度晨光的西施为伴侣；最重要的是，有智慧守候他的终生。我相信他是快乐的，因为他清楚地知道在不同的时候自己要担当什么角色，而且都这样出色，这么诚恳有节。

儒家精神最简单地来讲就是“过犹不及”，这是孔子讲的。还有老子讲的“知止不败”，这两个哲学是非常有用的。

如果你不过分显示自己，就不会招惹敌人的敌意，别人也就无法补捉到你的虚实。我表面谦虚，其实很骄傲，别人天天保持现状，而我自己就想着一直爬上去。

“穷人易过，穷生意难过。”你再穷，你可以买最便宜的米，还是可以过，人家吃肉，你可以吃菜；但是穷生意很难，非常难。

好谋而成，分段治事，不疾而速，无为而治。

期货英雄3：蓝海密剑期货实盘大赛优秀选手访谈录

这一系列的书籍我看了好多本。兴奋度明显减少着。。。好多金玉良言也随着岁月慢慢的淡化着。。。人生本该如此：不同时期，就是要以不同的心境，做不同的事情。。。但，凡是有这一类书籍，我还是坚持看一下。投机界本身就是个学海无涯的领域。因此，浪费一点时间总好过错过一些讯息。。。好吧，看一看这一本能够提供我什么新的领悟吧。。。

老实说，一开头我就觉得挺纳闷的。这一类的书籍真的开始让我觉得沉闷了。来来去去的道理一直重复着。而我最不能够接受的预测性硬道理好像越来越受推崇。基本上，外国的这一类书籍比较能够凸显内涵及深入的解剖。毕竟，外国受访者都是经历很多年经验才被受访的。而，这一本书却恰恰相反。书里主要是专注于比赛里的参赛者。因此，一刻的荣耀往往很容易被当成是铁一般的事实。我觉的投机界老手阅读还行。新手反而可能被误导。

再来，这一系列书籍和比赛也进行了很多年。以中国快速发展的经济来作比较，怎么读这一本和之前的前几本都有种似曾相似的感觉？简单来说，它就像香港近期的连续剧~~~老掉牙的桥段就是一直在重复着。因此，读完整本书，感觉上没什么新领悟。老实说，倒是有种走火入魔的感觉，呵呵。。。

对于这本书，本人真的感触不多。废书而叹或废书长叹的情形几乎没有。或许这一类书籍有时就象电影里的续集。每一个续集无论怎么努力就是没有第一集来的精彩。很不幸，这本书恰恰在我手里也是落的这样一个尴尬的局面。因此，满分10分，恐怕只能打个3分。这一类书籍也真的读够了。是时候回归于其他书籍了。

做个快乐的读书人

这一类书籍我很少会买。理由是，我真的很怕这类书籍。这类书籍有鸦片的成分。读了一些，就需要不停的找另一些更高层的书籍。不然，脑袋就是得不到应有的营养（呵呵）。但是，这回，还真的破戒了。或许，年龄的增长再加上宝贝女儿的到来真的改变了我不少。。。

结果，感觉还是怪怪的。刘墉的小故事其实很贴心。但，心灵上，我就是感觉不到那一股温馨。或许，年龄层还未到，或许家里的宝贝还没增添太多问题；因此，我还真的体会不到作者写这一本书的用心。

评分方面，基于个人感触不是太多，10分满分，我给个5分。无论如何，这本书我会好好珍藏。我相信，总有一天，我会把这本书重读，而这一天我的体会一定会更深刻，跟透彻。。。

Trading Systems: A New Approach to System Development and Portfolio Optimisation

Another investment stuff... well, World cup month... in order to force myself to be more productive, I purposely choose only topic that I am really keen. As such, I ended up reading only investment stuff during this "hectic" month, LOL.

Wow, this is a simple yet full of details book on system development. Before I continue, allow me to rate this book at 10/10. I think all traders need to have this book. Despite its simplicity, all necessary ingredients are presented. As such, it is a must read for beginners and it will be a good reference and refreshment for others too.

This is not a book showing exciting buy and sells signals. The whole concepts discussed are not direct. However, it provides proper guidelines and details explanation in a systematic manner. Having said that, please do not expect direct formulas and systems to make you rich in a quick manner. After all, system development is more than just buying and selling rules. This book at least helps traders to build up basic concept for further assessment into better stuff in long run. In short, grab a copy of this book and it certainly deserved a place in our book shelf.

Last but not least, listed below are some of the quotes that really "refreshed" me after more than 15 years in this industry. Great job by the authors!!!

If you make a bad trade, you have money management, you have a whole bunch of things that will come to your aid, and you're really not in so much trouble if you make a bad trade. But, if you miss a good trade there's really nowhere to turn. If you miss good trades with any regularity you're finished, you're doomed in this game. ~~~ Bill Eckhardt

The wider the sample size and the lower the number of variables, the better the estimation ~~~ Calculation of the degrees of freedom= whole date sample - rules and regulations - data consumed by rules and conditions.

The dangerous point for Monte Carlos analysis ~~~ you take a trades from the trading logic as you get them from your back-tests. But, what if this trading logic is only curved fitted and over optimized? The Monte Carlos cannot see this...

My concern is that people are using Monte Carlos as a certainty test. It isn't. It's a probability test.

Given enough complexity, it is always possible to fashion a rule that buys at every market low point and and sells at every market high point. This is a bad idea. Perfect timing on past data can only be the result of a rule that is contaminated with noise. In other words, perfect signals or anything approaching them almost certainly means the rule is, to a disturbing degree, a description of past random behavior (i.e. over-fitted). 

If your trading system is simple enough but has a sound logic with valid rules, it is able to capture some parts of the recurrent predictable patterns but does not adjust itself to the market noise. 

It is often better to use just one or two indicators, or only the price itself... Adding more and more rules will just increase the adaption of your trading system to past market data, but it will not increase its predictive power for real trading. 

Be careful with short data samples regardless of timeframe or trading frequency. If your optimisation windows is short, it is more likely you will miss important data outside of the window. 

If you think that systematic trading is a job for life, please do not overrate the importance of programming skill.  

The more complex the system the more easily it will be over-optimised with too many variables or inputs. If you are not a sophisticated programmer this could be good luck because you will never run the risk of writing codes that are too lengthy. 

Trade Like a Pro: 15 High-Profit Trading Strategies

Another hedge fund stuff....

If "More Money Than God" enlighten me in various different ways, the previous book on "Trading Like a Hedge-fund" really disappointed me! Two extreme cases... so, "How to Trade like a Pro" may be another extreme case too, LOL.

At the end… hmm, not extreme at all, LOL…  The author started the book by giving details explanation on how exchange, market and products were built from day one. It is then followed by theories on risk management and mentality preparation on how to be a professional trader. Until then, I was actually quite impressed even though those things sound familiar to me.

Eventually, he moved into technical stuff by presenting several chapters (in fact until the final chapter) on how to trade efficiently.  I started to get very annoyed when the whole stories turned out to be a story purely about options. The worst part is… the author seems to be a very good politician. Although options are presented as main topic, but he did pointed out every weaknesses along each method. At the end, the method which was initially labeled as effective turns out to be something with flaws… Sounds weird but true….

At the end of this book, I really felt like this seems like a book either from brokerage firm or exchanges that are very much looking forward to promote various financial products to the public. No offence to the author. But, I really think KISS (Keep it simple, stupid) is the main key in every industries. Besides, this book is not applicable in certain local markets (Ex. Local derivatives markets). After all, our options sides in FKLI & CPO are still not active. In fact, even it is active; flaws as mentioned in the book surely did enough to scare off traders. End of the day, pricing is still pricing. Each added method will just add more complication

Having said that… I have no choice but to rate this book at 4/10. I would not say this is a bad book. However, the topic presented just does not suit my character. Besides, methods being discussed are not relevant in my situations. This book qualified as a good reference book. However, to trade like a pro, I still think there are better choices to refer to… Ding, ding, ding, time to move on… 

Trade Like a Hedge Fund: 20 Successful Uncorrelated Strategies and Techniques to Winning Profits

Another hedge fund stuff...

After last book on "More Money Than God", another hedge fund stuff is more than welcome at the moment. So, this book arrived at the right time...

End up... what a disappointing book! The first chapter on gap filling by chosen a short period of time to justify it, did enough to piss me off in the first place. Conditions (or filters) are then added to fine tune the whole stuff. However, in my humble opinion, it is more like an over-fitting rather than fine tuning. Would hedge fund behave this way? I do not think so...

Then, the author continues with spread trading. It reminds me of LTCM along the whole chapter. Again, fine tuning (over-fitting?) are involved. In surface, it does looks an improvements on LTCM model. However, it is too simple to apply in the sophisticated trading world. Well, hedge fund did tons of spread stuff. Hence, at least the author is not entirely wrong in this case. 

But, I am really not impressed with the following ideas on buy bankruptcy, tick stuff, the magic of 4 (this is the worst, I think), etc. The so called 20 successful uncorrelated strategies are not really my cup of tea. In fact, the whole idea of peeping into hedge fund does not serve its purpose at all.

This book only ate up little bit of my time. After all, there is nothing new under the sun. All discussed methods are not something unique. A novice like me could have done millions of back test on the said ideas. Well, it may help some traders (but, certainly not on my side). But, all the presented ideas do not suit my characters at all. (Hmm... this is why I am still a proprietor trader and not a hedge fund manager, LOL.) In fact, combinations of all techniques presented will need a team where team members must have different characters to execute well in order to achieve the final goal. So, is it possible? Hmm... Your guess is as good as mine... 

As a conclusion, I am going to rate this book at 0/10. Well, I do not discount the hard work done by the author. However, this book simply does not provide any single help to further improves me as a trader as well as better human beings. The title although attractive; but, I am really disappointed with this book...

More Money Than God: Hedge Funds and the Making of a New Elite

More money than God? Wow, what a quote!!!

This book took me almost a month to finish up. Since I moved to Malacca and having spent a lot of time to settle down; my productivity levels in book reading was the worst throughout my entire life, LOL… These days, book reading is not my main activity. I was stuck with plenty of gardening stuff and jungle tracking. Well, I enjoyed it, in fact…The situation get worse with World Cup kicked off at the wrong time, LOL. The results so far suggested that this could be one of the most exciting tournament (Dead tiki-taka finally? LOL). As such, I guess I need to reorganize my time to sleep less, reduce the Tarik session and reduce nonsense talk session in order to get back to my optimum level of productivity at least, LOL.

Frankly, the time taken on this book was very much worth it. In the first glance, I thought this is a book about how to earn more money than hedge fund. End up; it was a details chronology of hedge fund stories from day one it worked until the famous subprime crisis.  Well, I guess many are familiar with this sort of stories. However, to have a book that recorded full details on the ups and downs of hedge fund journeys is amazing. Furthermore, the author views the whole thing subjectively even though he is obviously against the whole hedge fund industries (I guess so). This is by far the clearest discussions that I ever read based on incredible research and interviews. At the end of reading, readers might find that they had indirectly travelled along with those legends in the book. Thumbs up for the author in providing such an excellent write up.

Seriously, I like this book so much that I am going to rate it at 10/10. This book is an essential book and a “must” read for traders and anyone who are keen to explore further in the field of investments. Last but not least, listed below are some of the excellent quotes exerted from the book. Some food for thought today…

Market forecasters could not sustain their performance. The very act of forecasting a trend was likely to destroy it… forecasters would speed up the workings of the market while working themselves out of a job.

Kovner once argues that the most profitable opportunities arise when you have no fundamental information.

Soros saw no point in knowing everything about a few stocks in the hope of anticipating small moves; the game was to know a little about a lot of things, so that you could spot the places where the big wave might be coming.

The larger the fund grew, the harder it became to jump in and out of markets without disrupting prices and damaging themselves in the process.

The equity investors came from a culture dominated by fundamental analysis. The commodity traders came from a culture dominated by charts and trend following.

There is no skill in coin flipping – and investment is no different.

The real lesson of LTCM’s failure was not that its approach to risk was too simple. It was that all attempts to be precise about risk are unavoidable brittle.

Even though LTCM shrouded itself in secrecy, routing its trades through multiple brokers so that none of them could understand its bets, an army of imitators had pieced together much of its strategy.

“The market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent,” Keynes famously declared. Being early and right is the same as being wrong, as investors have repeatedly discovered.

Widespread knowledge of the hedge fund’s holdings contributed to their troubles. Commentators who insist that hedge-fund transparency would stabilize markets might usefully ponder this lesson. 

期货实战英雄录

这本英雄录挺好笑的。。。在网络上游览时，怎么看都觉得这本书应该是一本很厚的书籍吧。结果，从衡河网直接寄到我家时，约220页的这本书籍怎么就没想像中的“厚”？六届获奖者的启示录200多页就能够交代清楚了吗？老实说，拿到这本书的那一刻，还真的挺失望的。。。

读完后，果真很失望！这本书的编辑一开始就有点凌乱。感觉上，每则故事都是曾经在哪里刊登过，而出版社就连修改也懒的修改就直接印刷出来了。所以，整本书的连贯性遭透了！再来，获奖启示录是有启示录的感觉；但，精髓就不太明显。每一则有血有泪的故事，一读完就没什么印象。而启发性来说，更是少之有少！总之，感觉就是在看着一本无关痛痒的杂志似的。

或许，这一类书籍毕竟不是关于大师级的启示录。里头的英雄顶多也只是比赛里的英雄。别误会，我没有小看英雄们的伟绩。但是，整本书的启发性不只不行，里头的所谓技术还很容易让新手走火入魔。当然，老手懂得分辨是与非。但，有多少老手还在阅读这类书籍呢？

还好，最后一章“期市名人”至少帮作者挽回了一些些。。。这一章是我读的最有印象，也最令我感触的一章。可能，受访的“名人”开始有大师级的风范。因此，感觉上没前面比赛中访问的那么肤浅。

很可惜。。。这本书本来应该是一本蛮值得探讨的书籍。结果，出版社好像没那么用心的去编辑。比起【期货英雄】和【期货英雄2】，这本启示录真的很逊色。因此，满分10分，我最多打个2分。这2分纯粹赠于最后“期市名人”的那一章。好失望的一本书籍。。。

杨受成 争气

昔日战友很喜欢这么提醒我：千万别浪费时间阅读有人头照的书籍。哈哈，偏偏我特爱自传；而自传就是都把主人翁的人头照直接摆上去。因此，在整个阅读历程中，破了戒还是一再破戒。。。好吧，看一看这本人头照书籍是行还是不行吧。。。

结果是。。。这本“人头照”书籍棒极了！从第一页的前言～“争气”论就已经很吸引人了。每一个自传该有的精彩部分都有，每一则小故事都能让读者慢慢咀嚼，细细回味故事主人翁各种精彩的人生经历。。。以我个人而言，启发性是非常高的。

再来，香港自传和香港人的个性很相像～～～很多词句就不需要华丽的修饰，而“直接”就是它美的一面。这本自传当然也不例外。作者很详细的记载了杨受成口头亲述。而且，附上的还有一些额外的注解。因此，读者很容易融入故事中。当然，杨受成的故事本身也够精彩。所以，整本书完全不郁闷，不干燥。最后，有一点真的很值得赞许：里头的故事不会一味的赞颂主人翁（如一般自传般）。可贵的是，主人翁本身很客观的去看待和交代自己的过去，现在和未来。

好久没读过那么过瘾的自传。因此，人头照自传的贬义这回倒是彻底的被瓦解了。满分十分，个人给足满分。这本书美在言语不花巧，但实实在在的把一个精彩绝伦的故事呈现给读者。作者做到了，读者被启发了，而杨受成希望呈现出的好与坏肯定会感动到每一个读者。本人在此借由这本书与一个正在面临人生拐弯处的同志共勉之～～～加油吧，朋友！

毛泽东：峥嵘岁月

李锐曾经是毛主席临时指定的“通讯秘书”。而且，李锐写过不少中共和毛泽东的著作。因此，这本书的出现还真的令我挺兴奋的。毕竟，关于毛泽东的书籍虽多，好的作品却不多。。。

结果？嗯，还好。。。作者非常详细的记载了毛主席1893年至1923年的“峥嵘岁月”。作者还很深入的去探讨毛泽东的成长背景，思想进化以及如何最终形成共产党的建设。在本书中，作者不只一次提交和修正了许多不同学者错误的引述。在这方面，作者的用心是不容置疑的。。。

但是，毕竟1923年之前有关中共和毛泽东的故事确实是不那么精彩。（至少以我的角度来看）。本人还是比较喜欢二战后毛泽东如何以乡村包围城市等等的军事思想事迹。因此，这本书虽详细，但我个人读的挺沉闷的。可能对于毛泽东，我确实是有一定的认识。（读了好多关于毛泽东的书籍）因此，五百多页的书籍（花了我好久的时间噢！），以毛泽东如何成长直到工人运动的形成确实已经不能吸引我了。。。

评分方面，基于个人因数中的“闷”，10分满分，只能给予5分。这本书籍写的好；但，个人得益方面真的不多。不是作者的错，主要还是因为我买错书了。。。是时候放下毛泽东自传的书籍了。。。