From Tulips to Bitcoins: A History of Fortunes Made and Lost in Commodity Markets

 

Tulips story is no stranger to all financial guys like me. However, with bitcoins, the story tends to be different...

This book is interesting. It recorded all financial bubbles on commodities from earlier tulips till the latest bitcoins. So, reading this book is like reading a history book (except main focus is on financial cases). Readers tend to learn a lot from the cases presented and the author did so well to present it with clear and precise details. 

However, I found some of the cases presented seems not significant. For trader like me, some cases are just norms of the volatility and does not qualify to be "bubbles". Secondly, it will be good if this book includes all indexes bubbles apart from commodities. After all, commodities, indices, currencies, etc. are correlated in nature. Finally, I expected to see some comments or insight thoughts from the author at the end of every presented cases. However, it is more like a dull history book at the end. Unfortunately, the only wisdom I can found throughout this book is the quote as below:

The discovery of gold triggered a true story global gold rush. However, it was the merchants who generally became rich selling equipment and services.

For a full rating of 10, I am going to rate this book at 6/10. Well, I appreciate the hard-work from author in providing us such a detailed history on the so called "bubbles". However, the whole experience is like a drop in the ocean. I would not said it is a bad book... but simply not enough! As financial bubbles would not stop from now and then, this book will have a revise version sooner or later. Let us hope for a better version in the future... 

Unknown Market Wizards: The best traders you've never heard of

 

There is no way for any traders to miss out on Jack D. Schwager's book. This latest edition from my favorite author attracted me a lot since it is about "unknown" market wizards like me, LOL... so, the topic itself sounds really appealing to me!

As usual, Jack D. Schwager never disappointed us. This book is full of insights and numerous live trading experiences from the so called "unknown". As expected, the author with his usual excellent interviewing style did his best to dig out informative side from traders. We as readers and traders surely benefited by reading this book.

There are few that featured in this book really caught my attention. First, Jason Shapiro. I love his contrarian way... a way that I had been practicing for so long without realized that it is a contradict way of life! His contrarian ways are best explained in the book on the topic of bubble. When everyone is talking about a bubble and nobody actually owes it, the bubble is there to stay. When somehow everybody started to owe the bubble, the bubble will burst without a hint. (Splendid idea on contrarian!) So, it is not the price that makes the market bottom on bearish or vice versa. It is all about participation. Make sense!!!

Reading Jack D. Schwager's books is always a nice thing to do. However, we as traders tend to have problem reading it. The main thing is we are sort of bias in our own way. Everything that moves along with our existing strategy tends to stay favor while we reading this book. In opposite, we will find hard to those ideas that never sounds appealing since day one. As such, a reader for Market Wizard series must stay focus and read this book with neutral state of mind. Having said that, the author as usual did well in his interviews. At times, the question asked can be some good point to be taken by readers. A good example is this: I actually find trendline breakout to be one of the most unreliable signals. But that perception is a consequence of knowing where to draw the trendline with the benefit of hindsight. Another good point from this book (which the previous series of market wizards also pointed out same perspective) is there are some opposite techniques being used by two different traders. Yet, it proved to work since the trades presented in this book are all successful traders. A good example is the contradict approach on  trendline by Peter Brandt (use only horizontal breakout and never use trendline breakout) versus Jeffery Neumann (use only trendline breakout). End of the day, both methods work. That is the best part of trading. There is simply no single correct trading method!

Having read all market wizards by this author, I actually prefer all previous version compared to this. As usual, I will list out some good points below which are extracted from the book. However, this time around, I omitted few traders for the first time. This never happened when I read other market wizards. Well, there are two reasons. First, I simply do not agree with some of the idea presented. Secondly, I am in my 18 years into trading. So, perhaps I evolved along the way (I hope I am, haha) and there is nothing new under the sun. In view of that, I am going to rate this book at 6/10. Well, this book still served as one of the book that traders must read. However, one round of reading is adequate and there are not much surprises. Last but not least, listed below are some nice quotes from the book: 

Peter Brandt:

He took much smaller positions than he could. If your could protect your capital, you would always have another shot.

A popcorn trade is what I call a trade that you have profit on and then ride it all the way back down to where you got in. I try to avoid popcorn trades now. 

I used to trade patterns like symmetrical triangles and trendlines, which I no longer do. I only trade patterns where the breakout is through a horizontal boundary.

I don't want to know my open trade equity. So, I graph my equity based on closed trades only.

Optimizing your trading approach for the last series of trades is not a solution. I try to keep trading the same way. That's the only way I'll come out of a drawdown and get back on track. 

Strong opinions, weakly hold. Have a strong reason for taking a trade, but once you are in a trade, be quick to cut if it doesn't behave as expected.

Jason Shapiro:

To make a contrarian trading approach work, a method for timing entry into the markets:

1. Taking positions counter to the extremes of speculator market positioning.

2. Timing the entry into such positions based on market action.

Watching financial TV programs can be useful in your trading - as a contrarian indicator!

Have stop loss on every positions.

Managing increased risk of higher correlation markets by reducing overall positions size and by seeking inversely correlated trades to add to the portfolio.

You know you can identify traders or commentators who are reliably wrong - a task far easier than finding those who are reliably right - then their opinions could well be useful in a contrarian sense. 

Richard Bargh:

I used to have a habit that whenever I lost money in the market, I would spend less money. That type of attitude only causes your mindset and body to get tight, which stop you from trading well because you don't want to take any risk. A counterintuitive concept is to spend more when losing.

You don't have to exit a profitable trade all at once. Even if a trade reaches your target, it may make sense to keep a small portion of the positions, so you get some additional profit if the market keeps moving in the direction of original trade. 

Missed trades can be more painful and more expensive than trading losses.

The damage from a bad trade often extends well beyond the loss on the trade itself. By shaking up a trader's confidence, such trades can lead to missing winning trades the trader would otherwise taken. The resulting missed profits can often exceeded the loss on the original trade.

Amrit Sall:

I now know that 90% of the time, the market is not going to provide any opportunities, and 10% of the time, I will make 90% of my profits.

In the past, I have tended to implement trading ideas in a single market. I now try to execute trade ideas in multiple correlated markets.

Traders have to ask themselves whether they can handle being right only 30% of the time, or do they feel they have to be right day after day? 

Daljit Dhaliwal:

The reward/ risk ratio of a trade is dynamic and can change dramatically as the trade is held. Consider that you implement a trade, looking for a 300 point gain and risking in 100 point loss. If the market then moves 200 points in favor of the trade, the reward/ risk is now drastically different than when the positions was implemented. Dhaliwal manages the dynamic nature by taking partial profits. He argues that holding the entire position until it is exited is an attempt to be 100% right, at the risk of being 100% wrong. Taking partial profits as a trade moves in your favor not only responds to the fact that the reward/ risk of the trade is changing, but it is also another risk management tool. Another way of adjusting to the changing reward/ risk of a trade is to tighten the protective stop.

John Netto:

I want to be focus and still feel some anxiety when adding positions. In contrast, if I exhale in relief after a positions has gone my way and feel too relaxed, that is a warning sign of a possible impending market reversal. 

When you lose money in the market, let it go. Be on guard against the urge to make money back by taking previously unplanned trades. 

Jeffrey Neumann

Neumann enters his trade at the very point of breakouts from long downtrend lines - the earliest possible technical signal of a trend transition. Of course, this type of entry point often results in buying multiple false breakouts before a valid breakout occurs. But, Neumann gets out immediately if the breakout doesn't follow through.

套利对冲投资实战宝典

 

哥儿们介绍的一本书。。。一本关于套利的书籍。。。交易了十七年，老实说，要找一本关于套利的书籍简直是难如登天！我这哥儿们的确很够意思。一直以来，他就好像我的百科全书，要什么有什么。说他是我的小叮当，还真的一点儿也不为过。。。

这是书有个小特点。主题虽然是套利，但是作者很用心的把一些交易上有关联的讯息和历史背景也一并分享给读者。再来，作者除了整理出理论，理论上还配搭了许多实战交易以供读者参考。这一点，作者是做得挺到位的。套利这玩意儿一直是交易者守口如瓶的绝世葵花宝典。除了自个儿掏腰包买经验，基本上这个游戏几乎是行内的一个玄机。因此，这本书至少起到了一定的作用。我相信，读者会从这本书找到一些一直以来很想解开的谜底。

想尝试鸡蛋里挑骨头，但是，还真的捡不到太多骨头。唯一的小骨髓是，这本书整体上都着重在内地的套利交易。如果有些美国的个案，我相信这本书我会给足满分。好吧，那十分满分，这本书怎么说都值个九分吧。对于很想了解套利交易的读者们，这本书个人是挺推荐的。毕竟，市面上关于套利的书籍的确是寥寥无几。再来，对于我这个小玩家，基本上这本书也满足了我对套利的好奇心。未来，很期待这类书籍陆续登场。毕竟，套利这个秘密也守太久了。。。

Super Trader: Make Consistent Profits in Good and Bad Markets

This is my 4th visit on this book. Amazing, till today, I still have the urge to reread this book. My last read was in year 2017. Three years back, I rated this book at 10/10. Let us see whether this book still attracts me after three long years... 

This time around, I felt quite bored especially the front part of this book. I may had improved over the years. I may had stop learning over the years. Basically, there are a lot of possibilities behind that. However, when I flip into Part 3 on developing the system, my mood immediately swung back. Yes, I got the answer. The part 1 and part 2 did not sounds appealing to me anymore as I had been doing the same routine task for almost 17 years!!! Unfortunately, Part 3 still sounds good to me as it seems I am still learning on the trading path. One of the main reason was on the changes of trend over the years. As we all know, trend following no more serves as a holy grain to traders for some time. The advance technology not only made the world faster. In fact, it was on rapid speed every year in the world of trading. As such, the theory in this book especially on playing around with R stuff (the initial risk) becomes more and more important these days. 

Overall... after finished this book, the fourth visit still seems to be a worth visit. This is a book that needs to revise and refresh every now and then. End of the day, the pace on the market obviously changed. However, the price is still the price. We traders are evolving each year as according to the market's evolvement. In view of that, for a full rating of 10; I am going to rate this book at 7/10. I hope that I have the chance to rate this book at 1/10 in the future. If I keep on coming back and rerated this book at high, it means I actually stop learning. Finger cross that the day of 1/10 will come soon... 

The Complete Guide to Spread Trading

I had been searching for books about spread trading since day one. Finally, I found this book. Unfortunately, this book was written many years ago. So, I am a bit skeptical to get it in the first place. Just wondering... how can I miss out this book after reading tons of trading books for the past 20 years? Perhaps... spread was not my favourite those days...

Ended up... to be frank... I am quite disappointed with this book. First of all, this book is quite dull. I would have no hesitation to term it as dry reading. Well, it is similar to a book where we hated so much during those days in university, haha. Perhaps, the spread trading itself is boring (relatively compares to outright trading). So, it might not be the problem with the author. Secondly, I would have anticipated series of technique or fundamentally stuff that can help in spread trading. Ended up, there is nothing new under the sun. The information in this book can easily obtained from google. Finally, I do not agree that this book can helps to "earn a consistent flow of positive returns with less risk", as claimed by the author. By using "info" provided in this book, at most readers understand the fundamentally and logic behind the spread stuff. Apart from that, nothing much can be gain from this book.

Rating wise, I am going to rate this book at 4/10. Well, this is a good book for reference purpose. However, it does not provide much needed "skill" for spread trading. Having said that, I think traders should have this book on the shelf. After all, every trader needs a reference book on spread trading. I wish I could find some other and better books on spread trading in the future. 

The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution

Wow... what a book! Jim Simons... an idol for every trader. So far, I think this is the only book in the market about the mighty Quant. I read a Chinese version book about Jim Simons before. However, I remain suspicious on the contents of the book. Hence, when this book was introduced by Michael Covel, I have no hesitation to buy it.

Finally, we have a book that tells the whole story about Jim Simons. Well, I believe this book presented the real Jim Simons compares to those rumors and articles being circulated on the internet. The author did well in presented the whole chronology on how Jim Simons and co started till the latest. Along the way, there are newcomers as well as those who gave up. Hence, we can see how this quant revolution being made. Amazingly, it was an exciting but real tough journey.

You do not have to equipped yourself with great mathematical skill to read this book. The author did so well by presenting simple ideas that every reader shall be able to understand. After all, even if those coding was revealed, we might not understand at all. Basically, finance experts may not understand coding. Same thing applies to coder who may never understand the games of finance. So, again, what Jim Simons achieved, by combining both is really a remarkable stuff.

I believe some readers may be disappointed with this book. After all, this book does not reveal the real secret behind the success of Renaissance. However, like I mentioned above, unless you are a coder, otherwise, there is no point to show you the code. To me, this book is good enough. In fact, I rate it as excellent, 10/10! First of all, it is so hard to get the information on the mighty Jim Simons. Secondly, I am eager to know the history on how Renaissance being established. So, this book revealed what I want. This book is definately well worth reading. It is well written and surely a must read for those who works in financial market like me.

Last but not least... as listed below, I pick out certain points from the book which I found interesting. Thumbs up to the author in writing this book.

Simon quoted: "God gave me a tail to keep off the flies. But I rather have no tail and no flies. That's kind of the way I feel about publicity."

"The lesson was: Do what you like in life, not what you feel you 'should' do," Simon says. "It's something I never forgot."

Lenny Baum developed a saying that became the group's credo: "Bad ideas is good, good idea is terrific, no ideas is terrible."

Markov chains, which are sequences of events in which the probability of what happens next depends only on the current state, not past events.

In a Markov chain, it is impossible to predict future steps with certainty, yet one can observe the chain to make educated guesses about possible outcomes. Baseball can be seen as a Markov game.

A hidden Markov process is one in which the chain of events is governed by unknown, underlying parameters or variables.

"I don't want to have to worry about the market every minute. I want models that will make money while I sleep," Simons said. "A pure system without human interfering."

Stochastic equations, the broader family of equations to which Markov chains belong. Stochastic equations model dynamic processes that evolve over time and can involve a high level of uncertainty.

I strongly believe, for all babies and a significant number of grownups, curiosity is a bigger motivation than money. ~~~ Elwyn Berlekamp

Berlekamp argued that buying and selling infrequently magnifies the consequences of each move. Mess up a couple times, and your portfolio could be doomed. Make a lot of trades, and each individual move is less important, reducing portfolio's overall risk.

Berlekamp and others developed a thesis that locals, or floor traders who buy or sell, like to go home at the end of trading week holding few or no future contracts. Similarly, brokers on the floors of commodity exchanges seemed to trim future positions ahead of the economic reports. Medallion's system would buy when these brokers sold, and sell the investments back to them as they became more comfortable with the risk.

Certain trading bands from Friday morning's action had the uncanny ability to predict bands later that same afternoon, nearer to the close of trading. If market moved higher late in the day, it often paid to buy futures contracts just before the close of trading and dump them at the market's opening the next day.

"I don't know why planets orbit the sun," Simons told a colleague suggesting one needn't spend too much time figuring out why the market's patterns existed. "That doesn't mean I can't predict them."

Simons, too, became nervous when his fund went through rocky times. On the whole, though, Simons maintained faith in his trading models, recalling how difficult it had been for him to invest using his instincts. He made commitment to refrain from overriding the model, hoping to ensure that neither Medallion's returns, nor the emotions of his employees at Renaissance, influenced the fund's moves.

It continued to identify enough winning trades to make serious money, usually by wagering on reversions after stocks got out of whack. Over the years, Renaissance would add twists to this bedrock strategy, but, those would just be second order complements to the firm's core reversion to the mean predictive signals. 

Never place too much trust in trading models. Yes, the firm's system seemed to work, but all formulas are fallible. This conclusion reinforced the fund's approach to managing risk. If a strategy wasn't working, or when market volatility surged, Renaissance's system tended to automatically reduce positions and risk. 

Simons often emphasized the importance of not overriding their trading system. But, in market crisis, he tended to pull back on the reliance on certain signals, to the chagrin of researchers who didn't believe in ever adjusting their computer programs. 

Medallion made between 150,000 and 300,000 trades a day, but much of that activity entailed buying or selling in small chunks to avoid impacting the market prices, rather than profiting by stepping in front of other investors. What Simons and his team were doing wasn't quite investing, but they also weren't flash boys. 

Medallion still held thousands of lonf and short positions at any time, and its holding period ranged from one or two days to one or two weeks. The fund did even faster trades, described by some as high frequency, but many of those were for hedging purposes or to gradually build its positions. "I am not sure we're the best at all aspects of trading, but we're the best at estimating the cost of a trade, " Simons said. 

Medallion still did bond, commodity and currencies trades, and it made money from trending and reversion-predicting signals. The gain on each trade were never huge, and the fund only got it right a bit more than half the time, but that was more than enough. 

How the firm wagered was at least as important as what it wagered on. If they found a profitable signal, the wouldn't buy when the clock struck nine, potentially signalling to others that a move happened each day at that time. Instead, it spread its buying out throughout the hour in unpredictable ways, to preserve its trading signals. 

Instead of the hit-and-miss strategy of trying to find signals using creativity and thought, now you can just throw a class of formulas at machine learning engine and test our millions of different possibilities.

亚当理论

老友介绍的一本书。。。据老友形容，这本书神奇到能让所有的交易者呈现空杯心态，然后改过自新的一本书。哇！这么神，怎能错过呢？

这本书是著名技术分析学者（师傅）Welles Wilder的呕心力作。Wilder 利用这本书颠覆了他一生引以为傲的技术分析。金融市场就是有它残酷的一面。很多交易者终其一生才明白简单的原理远远胜过复杂却又未必有效的方法。这本书恰恰带出了这个残酷的讯息！

有一点我很佩服！作者贵为技术分析的老祖宗，却又能承认自己的不足，然后空杯心态的放弃毕生研究！单单这一点，这本书就已经值回票价了。作者很用心的把所谓的亚当理论解说的清清楚楚。除了理论，作者呈现更多真实例子来巩固亚当理论的可行性。有一点，我确实费解？为什么把这理论称为亚当理论呢？这一点作者倒是漏了解说。

这是一本翻译书。基于老友推荐的功力实在行，我这个急性子就用最快的方法买下了这本翻译版本。庆幸的是，这本书的翻译还真不赖。实际上，整本书完全没有翻译的缺陷。虽然文字不完美，但是胜在明明白白。

如果满分是10分，我会毫不犹疑给予10分。除了这本书写的有理，我觉得作者也很诚恳的把它呈现出来给读者。对于市面上一直不断在寻寻觅觅圣杯的交易者来说，这本书简直就是当头棒喝！姑且不谈亚当理论的可行度。。。但是我很肯定书里的理论足够敲醒一群庸庸碌碌的交易者。这本书我个人非常欣赏。以下是书里的一些精彩语录：

从事交易不需要了解太多，比你看到的还要少。

任何好的系统和方法，几乎都可以赚上一整子钱，但是迟早会产生恶果。

假设我们声称任何一笔交易不会亏损超过300美元，为什么是300美元呢？为什么不是200美元还是400美元？这可能是我们做出来最武断的事情了。

出场的目标又如何？最不武断的行为是让市场告诉我们何时获利了结。其中一种方法就是顺着交易的方向不断移动止损点，直到触发止损出场为止。

那一年有几种商品出现大幅波动，我们只要转而交易这些正在波动的产品就行了。

优秀的交易者会利用方向和持续期，而非转折点。

我们所犯的最大错误是每次都不肯认赔小钱。我们所犯的第二错误是不跟随趋势。我们所犯的第三错误是不去赚大钱。

任何时候加码，绝对绝对不要超过最初买进的头寸。

当回档买进，其实就是在强势中的弱势情况下买进。反而，我们要见强买强，见弱卖出。

杰西利佛莫一生中赚过很多钱，但是又全部赔光了。我们能称他为优秀的交易者吗？不能。我们赚了很多钱不重要，重要的是我们能留住多少钱。

进场交易：
1. 突破。
2. 趋势改变
3. 缺口或当日高低价差大。

亚当理论：
1. 进场交易三个条件。
2. 没有想在底部或高部进场。而是等到线索2和3都满足，中心对称图显示市场不会回档到目前的进场水平后，才进场。
3. 根据市场之前的低点初步设止损，因为中心对称图尚未指出该如何设止损。
4. 要么保持止损不动，要么只沿着交易的方向移动止损。
5. 跟原先进场交易时一样，我们在同样的考虑下增加头寸。

千万别逆势交易，除非又明显的证据表明反转已经发生。（请注意，是已经发生，而不是将要发生或应该发生）

亚当理论所说的是概率很高的事，而不是绝对的事。

准确捉住顶部和底部的几率比在拉斯维加斯吃角子老虎机还差。

Phantom of the Pits

Finally.... I found the English version of this book. Three years ago, I read the Chinese version. I was so impressed with it. Yet, I found it hard to find the original version be it at Amazon, Kindle and anywhere. Finally, a friend of mine sends this ebook to me. Thank you so much, mate. You are the man always.

This time around, I found it better. First of all, it is due to the original language and no flaws on the translation. Those technical items are surely easier to understand compares to the Chinese version. Secondly, I felt it smooth while reading this version. Having said that, the Chinese version actually did remarkably well in terms of translation. However, readers will definitely prefer the original version. This is the power being a Malaysian since we are trilingual in nature.

As times goes by... trading world had changed dramatically thanks to the introduction of algorithm and robotic trading over the years. As such, certain point are not so relevant today. For example, we are no more in the situation where slippage easily occurred unless a trader is still a "manual" trader. Secondly, due to the fast moving speed in internet, market trending seems get crowded and as a result, we see shorter trend these days. Hence, what the author mentioned on the day trader's edge over the position traders may not be relevant giving current market situation. Come to think about that... it will be nice if "Phantom of the Pits" can come out with the revised version of this book. Well... provided the so called "Phantom of the Pits" really exist in the first place, LOL!

This time around, I spend quite a lot of time in digesting this book. First of all... since there is no revise version to counter current market's situation, I need to brainstorm the idea of this book in response to the current trend less market. As we all know, market trending is not as great as last time. David Herding mentioned umpteen times that the market is simply overcrowded with trend following method. Hence, this book actually provided some limelight and alternative to the old school trend following style. For a full rating of 10, I am going to rate this book at 9. On the Chinese version, I rated it at 10/10. This time around, I reduced 1 point due to two reasons. Firstly, I found it quite annoying when the book ended with tons of articles by the author (not "Phantom of the Pits") which is not related to trading. Secondly, as I moved into old and bold trader (compares to 3 years ago), this book is not so inspiring. The quotes below tell the whole story. In the Chinese version, I managed to list out tons of quotes. This time around, the quotes selected not so much. Having said that, this book is still one of the best trading books I read. Thumbs up!!!

You must be larger when correct on a position than when your position is wrong. Each add onto the original position should be done in smaller and smaller steps. 

It all depends on your trading plan. One correct way for a day-trader is to see that the position is proven correct and then add at a proper retracement. This will not be the case for trend trader. Trend trader would most likely have at least one add at a breakout or breakaway gap. Your method of adding must be validated by your trade plan. 

Day traders will have problem with Rule 2 unless they position properly and understand that their adds must only be made correctly. Day traders are in for quick profit so it is hard to have a good add plan. Their best trader is to put all positions on at once and use Rule 1 to take them off unless or until proven correct. This is the proper probability in a loser's game like trading.

Trend traders will get larger when they are correct, but day traders will start larger and get smaller when they are wrong. Day traders can be large when they are wrong, but trend traders will never be large when they they are wrong. This is due to the nature of a loser's game for day traders. By reducing your positions when wrong, your exposure is not extreme for a day trader. 

Rule 2 must be used if you expect to make money in long run. Your validation of how you add is according to your trading plan. 

Day trading plan is certainly going to be geared for the quick profit, so why shouldn't you have your biggest position to work with from the start? Right or wrong, you are going to use Rule 1 to protect all cost. 

This is your enemy... to love to be right. You will become the best trader you can be by being wrong small, not right small. 

Most of your trades that don't confirm within a logical time frame are usually going to look bad sooner or later. Why not take the sooner? 

Most traders look to remove their positions just as soon as they prove them right. They forget what their true purpose in trading really is. It is not only to make as much money as possible, but to make it in the least amount of time. 

You could use day traders to your advantage in trading by knowing that they would have to get out by close. 

You expect to be wrong if you are thinking and trading correctly.

Our thinking must become adult in trading. As a child, we often don't need a reason but just the rule. As an adult, to be effective in trading, it is important to know why and not just the rule. 

The most critical time of a trade is immediately after you have just entered the position. This is the time you must be most sensitive to news and events. 

If you using point and figure charts, you can see the 45-degree line of support and resistance. 

Look for a system that back-tests data currently. What I mean by this is that it must be current in the last six month or so. What good is the system if it takes the last 50 years into consideration but not the current six months that reflects current market conditions best. 

Compare both the long term and six month sets of data. If they conflict, you must refine the system somewhat to a better signal generator. If your can't refine it better, then use both set of signals and throw them out when conflict. 

西方金融如何改写中国现代史

好久没阅读台湾的繁体书。这本书的主题本身就很吸引我。西方金融加上中国现代史，很有趣的组合。况且，历史加金融，两个都是我的最爱。怎能错过呢？

这本书没得弹。整体上，虽然花了很多时间和绞尽脑汁来理解，但是时间与精神上的付出非常值得。至少，这本书启发了我很多新的概念。很多概念其实一直在金融界里不断重复。只不过，当局者迷。很多时候，我们在里头很难客观的去看待一切。更多的时候，我们甚至忘了这些所谓的概念在千年金融历史中根本都没停止过。

再来，作者很用心的收集各个资料。最棒的是，作者自己的结论堪称一绝。整本书我几乎找不到任何我不认可的地方。还是那一句，作者无论针对历史，还是自己的论点，到最后都启发了我。谢谢作者的用心。

如果想要鸡蛋里挑骨头，那这本书唯一的缺点是作者让读者太用脑了。里头有些东西，我们这班金融奴隶都未必能马上明白；更何况，那些没有金融知识的读者。简单来说，这本书不容易阅读，需要足够的耐力和恒心去慢慢体会作者的用心。

10分满分，基于能够在鸡蛋里挑到骨头，那就给个9分吧！这本书我十分推荐。看一看以下的经典语录就能够证明这本书真的超棒的！

一定有那么一个从前，如果想发横财，就可以把家搬到海边去住。因为那时作为交易手段的货币都是用小贝壳穿成的。中华民族的发源地远离海洋，贝壳非常稀罕，自然价值不菲。贝这个字在当今的金融字典里还是满天飞。化了贝就是货币，代了贝就是借用他人的钱，分了贝就是贫穷，乏了贝就是贬值。

任何一个时代，任何一个国家，都可能上演量化宽松的故事。皮特首相和咸丰皇帝的故事告诉了我们一个事实：政府操纵货币发行，结果不一定都是噩梦，有些人恐怕就是比他人有更好的运气。

人们防泡沫也在与时俱进。经济学家发展了总体，个体经济分析，金融学家完成了中央银行和商业银行理论，心理学家提供了对人的精神与行为的解释，社会学，政治学，管理学都提出相应概念，帮助建构健康的市场程序。历史学家说了一句实话：告诉我们没有任何东西可以像证券市场上的泡沫，反复发作那样展示出人类的劣根性，要想从历史中学到点什么，是多么的困难。

中国历史上曾有十几次法家思想主导的改革，都将完善经济放入改革中。然而到了清末，除了朝廷六部，政府没有调理货币经济的总管，没有负责国家债务的机构。更糟的是清官们对货币的特权一直不开窍，浪费了政府的信誉。。。以至于西方现代金融的大潮，和中国分流的越来越远。

金融是增长的追随者，而非领导者。现代金融追随着四大需求：政府，国际贸易商，工业资本家和千千万万的资本市场投资人。

西方人有这样的习惯和本事，到别人家里做客时间不长，就能长篇大论，不但谈自己家事，还能对你家里提出许多意见与建议。今天到海外的书店，摆在架子上议论中国长长短短的书籍，肯定比在中国书店里看到的书籍还要多。中国人也很早就养成了习惯，喜欢听外人怎么说，然后可以批评他们多么的不了解自己。

西方人给予未来的财政担保，使的袁世凯有了与革命的讨价还价的底气。两年后等钱到账之时，袁世凯已不满足于大总统。钱袋子不但除了政权，而且使政权的人堕落。

银行家必须具备的能力是创造性思考，谈判能力和广泛的人脉；而交易业务越来越依靠资讯技术，更快的获取与执行才是制胜的利器。传统银行家的人品在这里变得无足轻重。

企业上市学

曾经阅读无数台湾香港企业上市指南。。。一直很纳闷马来西亚怎么就没有自己的指南呢？终于，皇天不负苦心人，该来的始终会来。

这本书真的很珍贵。或许，对于从事金融业务的专家们，这本书显得太简单。但是，对于寻求上市的企业们，这本书真的起到一定的作用。至少，它简单的介绍了企业上市学。基本上，很多企业家对于上市这一块还是懵懵懂懂的。很多时候，很多企业甚至不知道上市的可行性，而一味的寻找银行的庇护。善于运用资本运作才是企业的王道。

这本书除了写的好，内容确实很丰富。作者在书里还独家专访五种证券交易所上市案例。这五个个案有它各自独特的一面。读者肯定能从五种不同的上市个案中了解到整个上市学的精髓。

整体来说，这本书根本找不到任何瑕疵。唯一美中不足的是，这本书的字体也太小了吧。对于老花越来越严重的我来说，阅读时其实挺吃力的。基于这个小瑕疵，10分满分，个人给与9分。这本书开拓了我许多视野。这类指南在市面上是少之又少。因此，很期待作者继续出版更多这类型的书籍。

我在投资银行的黑色闹剧：关于那些华尔街混蛋与几亿美元的交易

我很少购买翻译书。但是，这本书的褒贬不一。因此，最后选择购买价格较低的翻译版。而且，好久没有阅读繁体字书籍了。因此，这本书来的正是时候。

这本翻译书买对了。第一，这本书整体上不会有太多金融术语。因此，翻译的难度不高；读者也不需要谷歌来解答里头的术语。 第二，最近挺闷的。因此，这类“闹剧”书籍来的真是时候。这本书基本上和【华尔街之狼】有异曲同工的效果。作者的胡闹和【华尔街之狼】简直就是一体的。毒品，嘲弄，欺诈等等，的确造就了这本书所谓的闹剧。第三，这本书如果是以原版英文版价钱购买（比较贵）其实并不划算。都说是闹剧了，当然只值得闹剧的价钱，呵呵。

老实说，这本书娱乐性非常高。这是一本名副其实看看就算的书籍。里头没有太多的启发性。作者和我们分享的仅仅是投资银行不择手段的一面。除此以外，整本书基本上都是闹剧。因此，这本书其实是毫无教育性的。充其量。。。只是一本有趣的轻松读物罢了。

本人其实挺享受这本书籍的。但是，看完了之后，这本书的确没给我留下什么影响。而且，我很肯定未来我也绝对不会再翻阅此书。因此，10分满分，只能给个两分。这两分也纯粹只是娱乐效果罢了。。。

Street Smarts: Adventures on the Road and in the Markets

While arranging my old books, i found this book. Damn, I forgot that I bought this book and I never read it before, hahaha...

This book is interesting. First of all, Jim Rogers's books are always interesting due to his very indifferent life and exciting way of leading his life. Secondly, this book is interesting as the author pointed out a lot of future progress in the world. As I am reading it late (after few years, oh my god!), some predictions by Jim Rogers either becomes reality or becomes irrelevant at the moment. Thirdly, this book is interesting to me as the whole book is not bored at all. After all, every human beings dream to have life like Jim Rogers. Hence, since we cannot make it, why not envy him? Haha... Finally, we got a book that travels all around the world. There is a Chinese idiom that says: A book holds a house of gold (书中自有黄金屋). Well, this book certainly meets that.

I read every book by Jim Rogers. Surprisingly, this book rates as one of my favorites. Perhaps, I am in the age of getting old. As such, I am no more the guy who is searching high and low for investment holy grain. I appreciate more on Jim Rogers's life journey. From there, I found the wisdom I want and I hope it will help to shape my entire life.

The small flaw in this book perhaps lies with the facts that there are some repetitions from his past book. Hence, a new reader may find this book perfect. But, old timers who had follows Jim Rogers for the past few years might get bored with the repetitions.

This book offered a lot of wisdom and interesting insights. To me, this is a book of Jim Rogers's life journey. The title itself tells the whole story. It is not only about how to be street smarts in the market. It is also about how to be street smarts as human beings. I highly recommend this book despite the small flaw as mentioned above. For a full rating of 10, I am going to rate this book at 8.

Last but not least... we just could not ignore the street smarts quotes from the book. Here we are:

Do not worry about failure. Do not worry about making mistakes in life. It is good to lose money, to go broke at least once, and preferably twice. But if you are going to do it, do it early in your career.

You can diversify, and you will be safe, but you are not going to be rich. Stay with what you know, do not jump around.

There are plenty of ways to make money on Wall Street, and just as in any endeavor, whether it is a music, art, or finance, you have to find your own way. 

The fact is that these politicians and bureaucrats, including the secretary of the Treasury, know little about currencies. They speak out of both sides of their mouths, often at the same time, and will say whatever is most politically expedient at the moment.

Plato, in The Republic, says that the way societies evolve is by going from dictatorship to oligarchy to democracy to chaos and back to dictatorship. The Asian way seems to suggest that Plato knew whereof he spoke.

The Chinese are among the best capitalists in the world. California is more communist than China. Massachusetts is more socialist than China. People would rather do business in China than just about anywhere else in the world, including South Korea, including Europe and certainly including United States.

All the growth rate figures are unreliable. It is stupefying to me that India could claim to have a clue what is going on even in India, much less in China or in the United States. America is always revising its numbers, and most of them are made up. I have learned over the years not to pay attention to them. They are mainly exercises in public relations.

Hedge Fund Market Wizards

I read this book in year 2013. It was an excellent book that I promised myself I will read it every year. However, time flies and five years later, I am finally free to reread this book.

Well, five years passed... and amazingly, this book still one of the best!!!

One thing I notice... five years ago, I recorded tons of nice quotes extracted from this book. This time around, the quotes being picked are obviously less. So, it might be a good sign. It is either I improved for the past five years or simply because I gain more knowledge and wisdom via the cruelty of the trading market.

At the same time, when I flip back the previous post, I notice that my level of appreciation towards this book never reduces. I still think this is one of the best books that traders all over the world need to reread frequently. After all, the variety of traders featured in this book are all elite in their profession. So, this book helps us by revealing tons of different methods towards trading. In another words, we are effectively lectured by the world's most successful traders. However, remember this: pick up something that suits your character!

For a full rating of 10, I have no hesitation to rate this book at 10/10. Five years ago, this book helped to shape into who I am today. This time around, I hope this book will make my trading journey smoother and longer for the next five years. I am convinced that this book will help me achieve this. Loved the book!

Last but not least, some excellent quotes from the book:

Colm O'Shea:

One of the biggest mistakes people made was to join in the bubble, but to do it in positions for which there was no exit. All markets look liquid during the bubble, but it's the liquidity after the bubble ends that matters.

This is what strikes me about really good money managers - they don't get attached to their ideas.

You learn from everyone around you, but you have to do what makes sense for you, even if it's the opposite of what makes sense for other people.

I think the natural way to trade a market that is in the bubble is from the long side, not the short side. You want to be long the exponential upmove without taking on the gap risk of a collapse. Therefore options provide a good way of doing this type of trade.

Perseverance and emotional resilience to keep coming back are critical because as a trader you get beaten up horribly. Frankly, if you don't love it, there are much better things to do with your life. If successful traders were only motivated by the money, you would stop after five years and enjoy the material things.

I use risk guidelines, but I don't believe in rules that way. Traders who are successful over the long run adapt.

Ray Dalio:

By holding uncorrelated assets, I can improve my return/risk ratio by a factor of five through diversification.

For any trading strategy, we can look back at when it won, when it lost and under what circumstances. Each strategy develops a track record that we deeply understand and then combine in a portfolio of diversified strategies. If a strategy is not performing in real time as expected, we can reevaluate it, and if we agree it is desirable, we might modify our systems.

Timeless means that we look at strategy during different times and universal means that we look at how a strategy worked in different countries. There is no reason why a strategy's effectiveness should change in different time periods or when you go from country to country.

There are limits in terms of position size, but not in terms of price.

It is something like the World Trade Center getting knocked down, then yes, we may exercise a discretionary override. In most cases, such discretion would be a matter of reducing risk exposure. I would say probably less than 1% of trades might be affected by discretion.

Larry Benedict:

You always have to manage money for yourself, not your clients. Once you started adjusting your trading to fit what your investors want, you are in trouble.

Scott Ramsey:

Just a simple exercise of measuring which markets were the strongest during a crisis can tell you which markets are likely to be the leaders when the pressure is off.

Ramsey will buy the strongest market in a sector for long positions and sell the weakest market in sector for short positions. Many novice traders make the error of doing the exact opposite. They will buy the laggards in a sector on the typical mistaken assumption that those markets haven't yet made their move and therefore provide more potential and less risk.

Jaffray Woodriff:

The transition to greater diversification also helped improve performance. By 1994, I was trading about 20 markets and I was no longer using market-specific models. These changes made a big difference.

Systems that work well across many markets are more likely to continue to work in actual trading than systems that do well in specific markets.

Edward Thorp:

Suppose you have a bankroll of $1 million and your maximum tolerable drawdown is $200,000; then from the Kelly criterion perspective, you don't have $1 million in capital, you have $200,000. So, you apply the Kelly criterion, but apply to $200,000.

If you bet half the Kelly amount, you get about three-quarters of the return with half of the volatility. So it is much more comfortable to trade. I believe that betting half Kelly is psychological much better.

There is an important distinction between trading and playing blackjack. In blackjack, you can know the precise probabilities. But, in trading, the probability of winning is always an estimate. Moreover, the amount of extra gain forgone by betting less than the Kelly criterion is much smaller than the amount that would be lost by betting more than the Kelly criterion by the same percentage. Given the uncertainty of the probability of winning in trading combined with the inherent asymmetry in returns around the Kelly fraction, it would seem that the rational choice is to always bet less than Kelly criterion, even if you can handle the volatility. In addition, there is the argument that for virtually any investor, the marginal utility of and extra gain is smaller than the marginal utility of an equal percentage loss.

Overbetting is really punishing - you get lower growth rate and much higher variability. Therefore, something like half Kelly is probably a prudent starting point. Then you might increase from there if you are more certain about the probabilities and decrease if you are less sure about the probabilities.

We tracked a correlation matrix that was used to reduce exposures in correlated markets. If two markets were highly correlated, and the technical systems went long one and short the other, that was great. But if it wanted to go long both or short both, we would take a smaller position in each.

My view on trend following was that I could never be sure that I had an edge. So, I wanted to have a safety mechanism. Whereas for a strategy like convertible arbitrage, I had a high degree of confidence as to the payoff probabilities. So reducing exposure on drawdown was unnecessary.

Michael Platt

Systematic trend following strategy is built on market trends and diversification. It doesn't have any economic information.

We want people to scale down if they are getting it wrong and scale up if they are getting it right.

I don't interfere with traders. A trader is either a stand-alone producer or gone. If I start micromanaging a trader's position, it then becomes my position. Why then am I paying him such a large percentage of the incentive fee?

Platt will express a trading theme, say an expectation that interest rate will decrease, by implementing the trade in a way that minimizes risk relative to the same return potential. Thus, Platt will rarely implement directional trade ideas as outright long or short positions. He will be much more likely to use long options or complex spread structures that will provide equivalent return potential, but with theoretically constrained risk.

Steve Clark

I was so inexperienced that  didn't have the fear - the fear that cripples people who have been in the business too long. Very few people maintain their ability to take risk throughout their career Most don't. Most can't. They have had too many bad things happen to them, too many fat tails, and it damaged people.

I decided to look at what I did as a trader. Where did I make money? That was the point at which I started to move to event-driving trading.

Price is irrelevant. It is size that kills you. If you are too big in an illiquid stock, there is no way out.

Nearly all the successful traders I have known are on trick ponies. They do one thing, and they do it very well. When they stray from that single focus, it often ends in disaster.

I think deep down inside they know they are one trick ponies, and that one thing could end. But successful traders who are on trick ponies, when that trick stops, they learn another trick. But, some traders will change while their one trick is still working and destroy it.

Martin Taylor

If someone comes to you and says they only invest in risky assets, but guarantee you limited downside volatility, they are either extraordinary geniuses - and there are probably only two of them n the planet - or they are liars.

RSI doesn't work as an overbought indicator because stocks can remain overbought for a very long time. But, a stock being extremely oversold is usually an acute phenomenon that lasts for only a few weeks.

Tom Claugus

If you have a 10 year time horizon, you can make good decisions and make a lot of money. If you have 3 year time horizon, you could probably still do well. But if you have only 3 month time, anything can happen.

Just because you make money doesn't mean you were right, and just because you lost money doesn't mean you were wrong. It is a matter of probabilities. If you take a bet that has an 80% probability of winning, and you lose, it doesn't mean it was a wrong choice.

A good trade follows a good process that will be profitable (at an acceptable risk) if repeated multiple times, although it can lose money on any individual trade. A bad trade follows a process that will lose money if repeated multiple times, but may make money on any individual trade. As an analogous example, a winning slot machine is still a bad bet because if repeated multiple times, it has a high probability of losing money.

Joe Vidich

As the head portfolio manager, I am also the risk manager and have to follow all the positions. He was hired to help me save time, but I was spending more time following his positions, which interfered with following my own positions. Training someone to think like I do about the market, which is more like a stream of consciousness, is very difficult. It is totally different from the way they learn to think in business school.

I try not to sell on the way up; I try to sell on the way down.

When you are undecided between liquidating a losing position and gritting your teeth and riding it out, remember that there is third alternative: partial liquidation.

If you are going to control your losses, there will be time when you will get out just before the market turns around. Get used to it.

Kevin Daly

For managers, the discipline to turn down additional investor assets when they believe it would impede their performance is an important element in longer term success. 

The Financial Spread Betting Handbook: The definitive guide to making money trading spread bets

Accidentally found this book in the offer section... Out of curiosity, I grab this book at the offered price. After spending two days reading it, now I know why it ends up in the offer section, LOL.

Before I complaint further, let me introduce this book. This is a book about spread betting. Spread betting is actually something very common in Europe. In Malaysia context, it is not something relevant. To cut it short, spread betting is purely to speculate in the market (regardless of products) by taking advantage on the spread differences without commission being charged. So, it is more or less an over the counter products. The facts that it does not involve exchange showed the irrelevance part in Malaysia context.

Well... let me continue on the complaints, LOL... This is a beginner book for those who want to know about spread betting. Nothing much can be gain from this book. The author did his part to introduce the spread betting. However, that is the only thing in this book. In my humble opinion, any readers can easily get this sort of info by googling. So, to me, this book offers nothing.

For a full rating of 10, I am going to rate this book at 0/10. With due respect to the author; unfortunately, I really gain nothing by reading this book. 

A Complete Guide to the Futures Market: Technical Analysis, Trading Systems, Fundamental Analysis, Options, Spreads, and Trading Principles

This is actually a long time book. As usual, when I got not enough stocks on books to read, I tend to reread some of the books that helped me in the past. Well, this book acts as a beginner guide when I started my career. The fact is, every trader starts somewhere somehow with books from Jack D. Schwager. We all love the series of "Market Wizards" by the said author. So, here I am with one of his "classic" book with the hope that it can helps to refresh my memory and help me further in the future.

First of all, this is a revised version. It was released last year with some changes. Overall, the book is revised and updated. However, the materials are weirdly updated too, LOL. Frankly, this is a lousy book to flip through. The paper is so thin and it sticks with pages. To make things worse, my blurry vision (well, I am getting old, no doubts) did not helps as the wording are obviously too small. As a result, I tried to read it under the light. Yet, the reflection was there all the time making my reading worse. I do not understand the intention of using such materials. This is supposed to be one of the greatest books in the past. Now, the materials are causing all sorts of problems.

Back to the book... well, unfortunately this book failed to inspire me this time around. After more than 15 years in this industry, this book sounds too simple to me. This is a beginner book for those who want to explore in the futures market. I lost the wow effect that I had when I first touched the first edition of this book. Having said that, I am going to rate this book at 4/10. Well, this is an excellent book overall. But, I think I improved over the years (which is not a bad thing, LOL) and this book no more serving its purpose on me. Last but not least, for those who are keen, please avoid the printing version. Go ahead with the digital version, so that you can enjoy this classic book. 

Stop Orders: A practical guide to using stop orders for traders and investors

This title of this book is very attractive. After all, "stop" is the most important part in trading. Besides, with the font size and total number of pages, I think I can easily finish this book within a couple of days. So, here I am with the most basic stuff in trading.

Ended up, I spend less than two days to finish the whole book. Why? Is it too good or is it too bad? Well, the answer is no for both. This book is an introduction for the "stop". For beginners, it is a very good book to start with. For intermediate or advance players, this book really too simple and does not offer anything. Hence, although I am not the expert; but, being in this industry for more than 15 years, this book does not meet my requirement to have further thoughts on it.

Having said that, I can only rate this book at 0/10. Perhaps this is a book towards someone who intend to use brokers who might guarantee their stop! (guaranteed?) Well, this sums up the whole thing about this book. Not my cup of tea for sure. 

Super Trader, Expanded Edition: Make Consistent Profits in Good and Bad Markets

This is my 3rd visit on this book. First of all, I never read the expanded edition before. Secondly, I think time is just right to revise some of the great ideas generated from this book. Thirdly, my last two read on this book inspired me a lot. Hence, it is time to see whether there is any improvement in my trading.

This time around, it inspired me again. Not only this book inspired me into further thoughts, it also helps to revisit tons of wisdom that I almost forget these days. The best part about this book is... it applies to any market condition regardless of time and products. End of the day, the author want us to believe that we are trading our belief rather than trading the market... which is very true!

On the expanded part, honestly, nothing much and nothing special. End of the day, it is still back to the theory as presented by the author. Well, it is adequate to become a super trader even without the expanded part, ha...

After so many years, this "old" book remains one of the best trading books in the market. After all there is really nothing new under the sun. As such, I have no hesitation to rate this book at 10/10. If I am not mistaken, my last rating was not that high. But, this time around, I think I appreciate more after went through all the ups and downs. As usual, with a rating of 10, this book certainly has a lot of nice quotes as below. Last but not least, this is a must read book for beginners, amateurs and even experts. I highly recommend this book. Thumbs up!

Entry into the market is one of the least important aspects of good trading. The keys to a moneymaking system are elements such as determining your objectives and the way you exit your positions.

Many traders have what I call the perfectionism complexity complex. In other words, what you have is never quite enough. There is always another exit or another entry that will make it better. What this means is that you always will be struggling with new ideas. Consequently, you never will get to the real issue of trading and just being a trader, doing trading.

To a committed person, the most important thing  is the destination. When you are committed to becoming a good trader, you do whatever it takes and little things don't throw you off track. When distractions arise, you go around them and focus on your goal. That's the power of commitment and commitment is essential to trading success. 

It's fairly difficult dealing with the markets if you are not willing to lose. It's like walking but wanting to use only your left foot, avoiding your right foot.

Instead of giving up on the market after a string of losses just in time to miss the really big move, they avoid their system until it is doing really well. When it is showing tremendous profits, they jump on board, only to be blown away by the market.

Everything you think about and everything you worry about are in the past. When u release them and concentrate on the now, you'll find that everything is beautiful. It's only our thoughts, based on our interpretations of what happened in the past, that cause upset and struggle. 

Occasionally, I might have a thought about the problem, but then I realize, "You just gave this to god. Are u now taking it back?" The answer is usually no, and I automatically drop it.

Instead of looking for issues, I spent the same amount of time writing down the blessings in my life and give thanks for those blessings. Quite often the blessings are the same ones, but that's ok. It is a wonderful vitamin.

If you find yourself worrying about anything, write it down on a piece of paper and give it to God. Put it in your own God box but remember that you have to be totally willing to turn it over to God and release it. If you don't give it willingly, you'll find that God is quite willing to let you keep it.

If my body reflects feelings of tension, anger and irritation, I am acting out of fear. If my body reflects feeling of relaxation, well-being or harmony, I am acting out of love. I am trying to increase my attention to this before the decision is implemented.

You cannot trade the market. You can only trade your beliefs about the market. 

When under stress, you revert to primitive behavior, but with more energy. This is fine if you must run away from a predator, but it is disastrous if you have to think quickly about a market situation. The trick to dealing with such a situation is to rehearse it in your mind before it happens. When you've done that, your unconscious mind will know exactly what to do and stress won't be a factor. 

Remember that employee traders work for systems; they don't necessarily understand the systems. I believe this is the key to why they are not necessarily good traders. 

Stockbrokers are really employees (to the extend that they receive a salary) who are paid to sell stocks. They are self-employed to the extend that they depend on commissions. When employee traders approach trading, they usually bring the employee mentality into play. They want to be told what stocks to buy or what the market is going to do. They are used to being told what to do, and they abhor making mistakes. That's the employee mentality, and it doesn't fit into good trading.

They treat their trading business as a group of systems. They make those systems as automatic as possible and then train other people to run them. You cannot be a perfectionist and develop automatic systems. However, you can develop such systems and free yourself.

Traders become investors when they invest in systems that give them a good return on their capital without requiring additional work.

 Remember that your real goal in designing a trading system is to develop one that works well in one or two market types. The mistake most people make is to try to fit one system to multiple market types.

Key ways to grow your business:
1. Develop new, improved trading systems- Some of your systems may stop working in certain market conditions, and so it's always good to have more systems in pipeline.
2. Find more markets in which to apply each system.
3. Add Traders.
4. Make your traders more effective at what they are doing - measure the effectiveness by the number of mistakes that trader makes.
5. Optimize your position sizing.

Barometer of Fear: An Insider’s Account of Rogue Trading and the Greatest Banking Scandal in History

"One of the world's most infamous rogue traders"... This is how Sky News describes this book. But... I honestly think it is oversold. Well, it is a nice story that exposed the darker side on a trading floor. However, for those in the similar industry, there is really nothing new under the sun.

Having said that... I would not claim that this is a bad book. After all, the readers of this book may not belong to the same industries as mine. As such, it could be an interesting book to them.

The author did his best to expose all the darker side on his personal journey.  In this book, we have the author's biography on his trading life. At the same time, the author tried to point out the roots of the manipulation scandal. In short, we have the best summary on the on the shameless collisions to manipulate the financial market.

For a full rating of 10, I am going to rate it at 6. Overall, this is a good read as the author covered the details of the whole scandals from the perspective of a trader. Unfortunately, this book may not be so attractive to those who know the dark side rules inside the financial world. I would recommend this book for those who want to venture into derivatives and forex stuff. It is a must read before you step into the cruel part of the game... 

The Mental Edge in Trading : Adapt Your Personality Traits and Control Your Emotions to Make Smarter Investments

Larry Williams... a well-known name in the world of trading. This book is written by his son, Jason Williams. Even the father, Larry Williams was shocked by the research done on this book. So, how can I miss it?

At the end... what a well-written book. This book focuses on the human personality and the natural born traits that take every trader to another level. The author tried to find out certain trait that helps to make a successful trader. At the same time, there are certain characters which serve as the major obstacles for traders around the world. In this book, we have insights and deep studies into each character that helps us to become a better trader.

In addition, the author included real life examples by providing tons of studies cases via the dialogue with some well-known traders. I love this part a lot. It tells us how each character trait plays its role. I personally benefited a lot from reading this book. At the end, I found where my strengths and weaknesses are and it helps to improve my mentality as a trader.

On the cons... Unfortunately, the author did not provide further info on how to work on with the traits that we already have. According to him, traits cannot be changed. Hence, we have no choice but to live with it. However, I personally saw the changing of my personality throughout my trading years. In the initial state, perhaps it is so hard to change. However, the cruel side of trading will changed our personalities along the way. I wish the author could elaborate more on this book. Unfortunately, what we have is merely a book with details studies on the subject without much solution.

Rating wise, I am going to rate this book at 6/10. As I mentioned above, this book could be better if the author are more proactive in providing solutions. Overall, it is still a good book to read on. At least, we understand ourselves more and we understand how great traders perform with their naturally born characters.

Some nice quotes from the book:

Every move you make while you trade is surely being watched by the harshest and most critical judge of all: yourself. In trading, generally you are the only one who is putting the immense pressure on yourself to succeed. As the saying goes, you turn into your own worst enemy.

The only way to overcome the anxiety associated with performance is to keep performing the act or behaviour over and over until, it is no longer anxiety-provoking.

The psychological term is "habituation." It means that the more you expose yourself to an anxiety (instead of trying to avoid it), the sooner your body will learn to deal with the anxiety, and the sooner the anxiety will dissipate. 

It can be very uncomfortable process to force yourself to remain in an anxiety-provoking situation when your mind is telling you to get out of it. But it is the only way to overcome this problem.

Many traders have difficulty admitting to their spouses or others if they are in bad trade They may either deny it or minimize it. Not just because of the financial setback, but because it may reflect poorly on them as a person.

The best traders have low anxiety levels; this is true. But you need to understand your own strengths and weaknesses and then adapt to them. 

Avoid trading systems that are very active in terms of frequency of trades, because you will need time to reset your emotions, and if your trading style is too active, this will not happen.

You feel you are a loser? Use the four S- Stop sign, Shout it out, Substitute, Sustain.

Amateur traders tend to use trading as a distraction from their day jobs, with the hope of changing their current life condition into something more desirable. 

"I have no expectation about the results of a trade." In fact, this was a consistent theme we heard over and over while interviewing top market traders. They also frequently make reference to "not doing it for money."

Making a living from the markets is the business objective, and ultimately, if I couldn't earn a living from the markets, I will certainly do something else. But the design process is what I am most passionate about in this work.

As long as I keep my trading style as boring as watching a vegetable garden grow, my anxiety and my anger and my impulsivity are kept under wraps. To me it means having my timing and selection work in a very systematic module.

Confessions of a Wall Street Insider: A Cautionary Tale of Rats, Feds, and Banksters

The title of this book is so serious. In fact, after finished the whole book, it was a real serious issue to ponder about...

First of all, traders around the world realized that rules and regulation are ready to serve any traders when things gone wrong. However, the facts that many "good" traders ended up facing charges are happen now and then. So, what is the real justice especially when we see that money games are all over the world with better and easier route to escape...hmm...

Secondly... as a trader, the more you read on this book, the worst fears as a trader will haunt you throughout your career. One mistake not only damages your career. You could lose your freedom, family and your entire life too. Sounds scary, but true...

I am very much sympathized with the author of this book. The justice system did not provide adequate justice to him. To make things worse, the family support particularly from wife changed overnight eventually. End of the day, a simple justice system damaged a life of an ordinary human beings. Sigh...

For a full rating of 10, I am going to rate this book at 8/10. This is a book with full of excitement, emotional and tons of humor too. I appreciate the author for sharing his stories. The only flaw perhaps lies with the fact that the justice system and execution may differ in our country. As such, certain aspects may not be applied here. However, I highly recommend this book to all traders. It is a story that needs to be heard...