How to Get Started in Active Trading and Investing

by David S. Nassar

Overview

"Online investing is 'back in vogue . . . '"
--The Wall Street Journal

Wall Street Journal bestselling author David Nassar changed the course of independent investing--and sold more than 100,000 books--with his landmark How to Get Started in Electronic Day Trading. Times and markets have changed, however, and a sense of caution has replaced that period's go-for-the-gusto ethos.

At the same time, millions of traders and investors can't help but see--and hunger for--the fast-turnaround trading profits that are still there for the taking. How to Get Started in Active Trading and Investing is once again the right book at the right time, distancing itself from the day-trading mania with profitable strategies and techniques for this all-new market. Essential reading for today's new breed of commonsense trader/investor, it explains how to:

• Understand--and profit from--the moves of market makers
• Discover and implement a personalized trading style
• Improve market-timing skills and instincts

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780071821223
Publisher:	McGraw Hill LLC
Publication date:	04/28/2004
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	18 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

David S. Nassar is president of MarketWise Investments, a pioneering firm in the training of short-term and swing traders. He is a Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, and New York Times bestselling author and coauthor of the bestselling How to Get Started in Electronic Day Trading, Rules of the Trade, and other investing titles.

Table of Contents

	Foreword	ix
	Acknowledgments	xi
	Introduction	xii
Part I	The Landscape	1
Chapter 1	Traditional Wall Street--Trumpery, Tyranny, and Tendency	3
	Investment Banking	7
	Why a Broker Can Make You Broke	7
	Analysts	8
	Corruption in the Food Chain	9
	Enter the Regulators	12
	The Mutual Funds Role	13
	Where is the Market Food?	15
Chapter 2	The Business Cycle	16
	The Business Cycle Components	18
	The Role of the Government (Fiscal Policy)	22
	Federal Reserve Economic Policy (Monetary Policy)	24
Chapter 3	The Broad Market and the Way the Engine Runs	26
	Broad Equity Markets	26
	Fixed Income Market: Bond Basics	31
	Commodities	39
Chapter 4	Sector Analysis	44
	The Dow Jones Utility Average	45
	AMEX Oil Index	46
	Currencies	47
	The Effects of Interest Rates on the Dollar and Gold	50
	Real Estate	52
	The Fear Index	53
	The "Edge" is Emerging	58
Part II	Pictures of Perception	59
Chapter 5	Opinion versus Analysis (Data)	61
	Raw Market Data	62
	The Basic Premise of Technical Analysis	63
	Charting	66
	Volume	73
	Time	75
	Elasticity--The Range of Emotion Equals the Range of Price	77
Chapter 6	Supply, Demand, and Emotions	86
	Supply/Demand--The Emotional Hedge	88
	Price	90
	Volatility	91
	The Volatility and Smoothing of Time	93
	Volume	94
	Velocity	98
Chapter 7	Market Cycles and Technical Analysis	103
	Market Stages	104
Chapter 8	Support and Resistance	119
	Consensus	125
	The Moving Average--Smoothed Consensus	128
Chapter 9	Trajectories and Paths	136
	Continuation and Reversal Patterns	137
Chapter 10	Candles and Oscillators	154
	The Momentum Candle	154
	Candlestick Patterns	155
	Oscillators and Indicators	161
Chapter 11	Fundamentals or Financial Fantasy	165
	Fundamentals Answer Why, Not When	165
	What is Fundamental Information	166
	Manipulation of Fundamental Information	167
	How to Filter Through Fundamental Data	174
Chapter 12	Becoming Your Own Analyst	180
	Reviewing the Top-Down Approach	181
	Top-Down and Trend Alignment	182
	Bottom-Up	194
	Directional Bias Versus No Bias	199
Chapter 13	Tactical Trading and Investing	202
	The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions	203
	Slippage Can Destroy Analysis	204
	Institutional Order Flow	209
	Single Source Liquidity Investment Vehicles	211
	Futures	211
	E-Mini S&P Contract	213
Chapter 14	Pay Raises Become Effective When You Do	215
	Applying What You Have Learned	215
Chapter 15	When to Sell	231
Chapter 16	Favorite Strategies	245
	The "Short Squeeze"	245
	The Stochastic Play	253
	The Earnings Play	265
	Buy Rumor, Sell Fact (News)	267
	Conclusion	275
	Index	280