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.