As a beginner in the field of short term trading, I found this text to be sort of a general overview of different trading strategies.It offers 20 trading strategies but does not offer a substantive elaboration on how to master and utilize those strategies. It's a broad introduction on trading strategies but I feel you not be able to master any one of them.

Overall, an OK outline but short on substance and techniques/timing.

Always looking for more information, I got this book since it is so popular. I already use the "Applied Reality Trading" software, so wasn't really needing Carter's set-ups, but found them informative. And, the rest of the book has much valuable information also, but is lacking in a key area of educating the reader about the importance of risk control and money management.

The areas that were my favorite were:

1) Ways that Carter takes the pulse of market emotions - a) Dive, Captain, Dive - he writes about how when "newbie" traders on a free trial in his trading room press the "submarine dive" noise - the more experienced traders know that it is time to cover their shorts and go long. b) What does your mother think? Another way he uses sentiment from "non-traders" to gauge when the market is topping or bottoming -- is by listening them interpret news headlines.

2) His drawdown rules and profit rules are useful for formulating your own personal rules. For example if Carter is down by 20% for the month he will stop trading for the rest of the month, and, if he hits a 30% total drawdown on his account, he takes a six week break from trading.

3) The profit rules are equally useful. Love his "euphoria" rule where if he has a day in which he makes $5,000 per $100,000 (or 5% return on his money in one day), he will "...take the next day off to escape those feelings of euphoria that cause traders to do stupid things...". And then, he says he will withdraw 50% of his trading profits at the end of each quarter.

The areas of the book that were weak were the following:

1) Risk control is weak, although he briefly mentions at the end of the book to not risk more than 2% of your account equity on any one trade, which is helpful. What has been profitable for me, is using the risk of ruin tables and the optimal f formula to be more precise with exactly how much to risk. You can get some easy formulas on this approach from McDowell's book "A Trader's Money Management System" A Trader's Money Management System: How to Ensure Profit and Avoid the Risk of Ruin (Wiley Trading) and you may find at times it is better to risk 1% or 2.5% or maybe even higher. The percent risked is based on what your pay off ratio and win ratio -- so it is not a shot in the dark with a flat 2% risk.

2) Paper trading has helped me refine my skills and, in my opinion, one weakness in Carter's book and philosophy is that he says "...paper trading it's more worthless than an iraqui dinar...". It will be hard for readers to dive right into the markets trying his set ups and be profitable if they don't test them in a safe environment (like paper trading), to at least see if they hold merit for their personal trading style and psychology. Maybe I'm more cautious than Carter, but I'd rather test the waters before jumping in.

Overall, this book will get you started, but you'll need a few other tools and books to round out your tool kit before entering the markets.

This is a MUST read. I have read a lot of books on trading and this book is really the only one that had helped me. That is an understatement. This book had changed my trading life forever!! Read all the other reviews and let me add this. Read the book cover to cover twice. Go to his website and sign up for his newsletter. Get the 4 day seminar on dvd. Buy the 5 indicator package. And finally start making some money. Yes all of this is expensive. It is worth every cent.. I paid for all of this in one day of trading using the indicators and his techniques!! Trading for me now is no stress, no yelling at the screen. And finally I have stopped buying the guy on the other side of the trade dinner or worse. No, I am not affiliated with TTM, this stuff just works and I wanted to share the news.

New to day trading? Read this first and read it often. Plain english with plenty of examples to make clear sense of the trading methods described. I have purchased no less than six books on the subjects of trading, options, investing etc. in the past year, all of them left me with a feeling of not getting what I paid for. Some were just a long winded infomercials for some product or service. Not this book. Worth every penny.

I read this book as a favor to a greeny (the term I use for newbie traders) who wanted my opinion of it. While there are some decent trade observations in this book it is far from containing any original material. Most of the ideas and indicators have been lifted for other peoples ideas, which can be found free and easy with a little research. For example the type of gap play he decribes in this book (and gap theory for that matter) have been around for a min of 40 years and derives from old school pit traders. At least that's how I first learned of the strategy. Playing the gap is trading 101 when you first study classic charting techniques, or akin to the old axiom "always fade the first move". Please do not try these techniques unless you know what your doing, you will lose. Trying to put a rigid formulae on a gap play, like this book does, will put you in the poor house. Markets change constantly. Strategies must be adabted with those changing conditions. While I'm not sure I want to go as far as saying he's a huckster, I'm fully confident in saying he has taken other people ideas and passed off them off as his own. Perhaps a good businessman but unlikely a good trader. At least if Mr. Carter us practicing some of the ideas in his book.

I was excited to receive this book because it is written by a seasoned professional and as such carries a lot more credibility than one from someone who never actually managed money. I am a money manager and systems developer myself and have managed huge positions and had many hundreds of clients. The first few chapters of the book cover some basics particularly those relating to psychology and setting up to trade. All of it is good. The section on computers is as would be expected for a book published in 2006. Then the book gets into some areas of trading. Chapter 5 is excellent and covers various breadth and/or market internal measurements. I found this chapter to be worth the price of the book as I have always traded with breadth and it was very nice to catch some differt viewpoints and ideas. John Carter is not a systems trader and I am. I code everything and test it extensively. Mr. Carter is a discretionary trader and as I started to code his methods (Part two) I found them to not hold up very well to the scrutiny of computer analysis. The concepts are still of value though, so I still recommend it as excellent reading and a wide array of excellent trading ideas that could be built on. Many times it is the process in the thinking that is of more value that the content itself. So, if you are inclined to purchase the book to find instantly useable trading ideas, you might come up short. But, if you want something that might inspire some of your own brilliance, of course, you may just find a jewel or two. Section three of the book covers more on planning, psychology and the game of trading. This is an excellent book for any level of trader.

This book is a must for day traders. Carter's set-ups for buys and sells are amazing. Since reading and studing his methods I have almost doubled my daily revenue and looking at 6 figures this year.

If you only read one book (and I have read many) this simple to understand and well documented text will serve you for the rest of your career in the market.

I read John Carter's book "Mastering the Trade" from cover to cover. There is a tremendous amount of detail in his book. And plenty of it is very useful or even necessary to know if you want to trade full time in my opinion. As a matter of fact, I think after reading a bunch of books on trading, that one book singled out some weaknesses I had in my trading I was finally able to identify. I believe the book gives you a good frame of mind with which to look at the markets. However, I tried to quickly find some of the trade setups described in his book and found at least from a rapid, superficial look, that his trade setups don`t seem to be that promising. But, the book gave me a good idea how some technical indicators work. His ideas combined with ideas from Oliver Velez, Alan Farley, Josh Lukeman and Dave Landry (to name a few) make a powerful combination.

i have been trading for 2yrs, so im a new trader, this books helps alot, and it convince me to switch from stoks to futers, its toold really help2. i loved the ttmsqueeze. i also found tradestation a grate trader platform, your going to love using the simulator.

It comes almost as a surprise that so crucial writing may still be added to the rich catalogue of trading literature. I guess it has something to do with the passion and openess with which the author conveys his view on trading. The book contains a wealth of interesting information from the real world of trading, but what seems most important - it is effective in helping a trader acquire a winning mindset. 6 stars Mr. Carter!

Excellent book. Chapters 2 needs to be studied by anyone who expects to trade profitably. Definitely top 10 must own trading book.

I found the pivot method works, gap play works sometimes, but the so called 3:52 method never works for me. I doubt some methods in the book still work in 2008.

For those new to the world of trading, or for those who are looking to expand beyond stocks, ETFs and options into futures trading - John Carter's "Mastering the Trade" provides a solid, well written "how to" guide - from the basics to the advanced trade set ups we are all looking for.

The "trader - know thyself" theme is clear. John offers many ways to find out what suites you (timeframe, trading products, etc) and gives you the mental, physical and technical tools you need to make $.

A must read.

I bought this book because of the testimonial by Mark Douglas on the back cover. As I've stated in reviews for other trading books, again, I thought I knew what I was doing with regard to my investment acumen. I did not. I incurred large losses. I was stubborn due to my advanced education with a Ph.D. in Psychology. After experiencing the pain of losing, I elicited the help from books by Mark Douglas, Alexander Elder, Paula Webb, John Hill, and now John Carter ~ all to hone my system.

As an expert in one specialized field ~ trust me when I tell you when you step into the game of trading ~ all your previous expertise goes out the window. Study these trading experts and you will succeed. And, do it before you lose a large amount of income like I did.

Great book. It does lean a little more toward investing in Stocks/Indices. Forex or commodities aren't covered nearly as much in this book.

Carter's book would have been better entitled "Mastering the E-Mini Trade". If you are looking for good ways to trade E-mini's and similar futures, this is a good book. However, if you want a book that offers examples of how to profit from day trades of individual stocks, this is not a great book.
This review is a little longer than most, but then again, this is your money we're talking about. You should take time to do it right. I try to take care in giving an honest and detailed assessment of this book. I have found other reviews helpful, and I want to return the favor.
What really works in the markets? This is what we all seek. I bought this book because Carter makes money trading - he has skin in the game. However, he has obviously found his niche, which is trading index futures. If you do not do this, like myself, you will still be wondering what the best set ups are for day trading.
There are about 11 chapters dedicated to "set ups" for actual trades. The lion's share are for E-mini's and other futures. Very few are applicable to day trading individual stocks, but specificity is often lacking where he says you could apply them to stocks. Some examples are downright strange, like in chapter 12, his so-called "Ping Pong Play". He says he uses it almost exclusively for one stock - yes, one stock - KLAC. He does point out you can use it for similar stocks, but examples of use with other such stocks would be nice, and examples he does not offer.
I have made a great deal of money buying stocks on break-outs utilizing Bill O'Niel's approach as laid out in "How to Make Money in Stocks", the principles of which are found in the Investor's Business Daily every day.
When the markets are not in strong uptrends, like right now, I had decided I should learn day-trading to keep making money since stocks are always moving intraday. I have made money day-trading using the same basic approach - buying on breakouts and selling on break downs using tried and true (albeit for longer term periods) charts on an intraday basis: cup with handle, double bottom, head and shoulders, etc. Since O'Niel doesn't deal with day-trades, I began my education reading about thsoe who do.
Toni Turner's books were very helpful in my so far humble day trading success, and I hoped Carter's book (he wrote one of Toni Turner's introductions) would help me take it to the next level - or at least offer me more tools and set ups to draw on. I was mostly disappointed. And it's a shame. In the chapters where Carter is not offering specific set ups, his insight and wisdom is terrific. He comes from the same mentality that I come from: let the chart tell you what's happening, cut your losses, trade without emotion (all the same stuff Livermore, Darvus, Loeb, O'Niel and others rightly tell us). He is practical in his mindset, but I think the rest of the book tries too hard to impress with technical knowledge and his own success, such as when you "inadvertently" see, presumably, one of his trading accounts (over $1million, in case you were wondering - page 280), and when he unecessarily brags about playing golf while his computer makes him money.
Carter never gets into break outs and break downs. From all the books I have read, and from my own actual experience making money from them, these set ups seem to be the best, surest ways of playing stocks. Another reviewer mentions this, and I agree with him. Stocks consolidate, then punch through resistance or support on volume. It would be nice to see him elaborate on this. Toni Turner certainly does, as do other authors.
I think Carter has it in him to write a better book for those seeking to profit from individual stocks. I gave the book 3 stars because it probably can make you money in E-Minis, but it should be a 2 or even 1 star book for day trading stocks. If he comes out with a book in the future that is more about day trading individual stocks, I'll read it. In the meantime, if you don't want 85% of a book dealing with E-minis, take a pass on this book and try some others.

When I first picked up the book, I flipped thru it and discovered that it was full of futures charts and discussions on futures related issues. I primarily trade stocks and options but there was a section on market psychology that looked pretty good so I started reading....

The more I got into the book, the more I liked it. The Market Psycholgy section was excellent so I kept going. The discussions of the 7 interday indicators was right on and very helpful. The setups that he used in his discussions made sense. I related to a lot of the examples and discussions that the writer used and liked his writing style. He primarily trades futures but gave some great trading analysis and ideas that could apply to both stocks and futures. He also walks you thru the "switchover" to futures from stock trading if you choose to. After reading hundreds of investment books, I was surprised at how many "fresh" ideas and specific setup ideas were in this book. It's like discovering a new tool to take you to the next higher level of understanding. I know that sounds "hokey" but I am quite impressed with the content of this book.

To conclude, this isn't a generic beginners guide to investing. It is focused and packed with varsity level information. I learned more from this book than the last 50 books I've read on day trading and assorted investment strategies. It is now one of my top 5 favorite investment books of all time.

UPDATE: I changed my mind, this is my all-time favorite trading book, It has so much good stuff in it, I am very happy and making good $$$.... no, I don't know the author...

When I first picked up the book, I flipped thru it and discovered that it was full of futures charts and discussions on futures related issues. I primarily trade stocks and options but there was a section on market psychology that looked pretty good so I started reading....

The more I got into the book, the more I liked it. The Market Psycholgy section was excellent so I kept going. The discussions of the 7 interday indicators was right on and very helpful. The setups that he used in his discussions made sense. I related to a lot of the examples and discussions that the writer used and liked his writing style. He primarily trades futures but gave some great trading analysis and ideas that could apply to both stocks and futures. He also walks you thru the "switchover" to futures from stock trading if you choose to. After reading hundreds of investment books, I was surprised at how many "fresh" ideas and specific setup ideas were in this book. It's like discovering a new tool to take you to the next higher level of understanding. I know that sounds "hokey" but I am quite impressed with the content of this book.

To conclude, this isn't a generic beginners guide to investing. It is focused and packed with varsity level information. I learned more from this book than the last 50 books I've read on day trading and assorted investment strategies. It is now one of my top 5 favorite investment books of all time.

I would be glad to review this but I have never receivedit. I was told it was sent after a few weeks told that although it was shown as shipped, it really wasn't.

Pros: I have finally found a book that helped me make money. I've read many books, attended numerous seminars, and signed up for courses but none of them have really helped md make money. Over the last 3 years of trading I've lost $30,000 but made it all back in one month by apply his strategies to my options trading. And the daily pivots really help me with my trading. He offers a lot of examples too. If you've traded for several years and have not made money, READ this book.

Cons: too much information about futures trading. That stuff went over my head.

I bought this book because of rave 5 star review. After reading through most of the major sections, I've decided to back test one of his idea. Chapter six is about Opening Gap trading and author claims to be a high percentage trade. First, I analyze S&P and realized profit factor and % of winning is not impressive at all. Maybe it does work on DJ. I tried DJ and it also fails what the author suggested. While there are some good theories, but I think the author has not backtested it - another cherry picking case studies. Also, I check the examples used in the book. The data/charts used by author seemed to be very different from what I am using (Pinnacle data). Don't just plug-and-play this one.

I purchased this book after a very careful review of the contents and reading several online reviews. While there was a little bit of information that I found useful, it wasn't enough to justify the price of this purchase. You can read most of what this book tries to teach for free in about 4-5 minutes if you know the right websites to visit.

I practically read through all the reviews (was a bit bored) and felt obliged to do justice and give answers to some of the reviewers who felt that this book was not their cup of tea, as well as give future readers what to expect.
First of all, if you've been trading like me, then you'll find this very useful for intra day and swing. Either way the author describes clearly as to how he approaches each trade and provides the charts to prove it. Sure not everything is a 100% guarantee but JC has a 6% failure rate and this is mostly through discipline as well. In order to make money, you have to first suffer and pay the tuition fee just like anything else, the same goes for trading. If you're not willing to take the risk, then you won't make any money. This book has helped improve my discipline and approach towards trading.
Secondly, he does make money and he is rich but you have to remember that diversifying is important and he's just making a new business from book writing and his online websites. I feel the prices charged are fair and he does provide free videos if you'd like to test them. For the videos, it will sometimes show him doing live trades but mostly how he goes analyzing the current market trends. Really informational and good.
Thirdly, the trading techniques and strategies provided are very detailed and helpful to the trader starting out, veterans, and maybe the pro's. Everyone has their own favourites and style so obviously there are a few I don't pick myself.
Overall, if you really trade or are interested in trading, I'd recommend this book and check his website too. You won't get anyone more bluntly honest about his trading and life.

However if any of Carters trading systems where all that great I'm sure he would not be selling a book he would be making a living trading and him and Warren Buffet would be drinking buddies think about it. Take his Scalper Buys and Scalpers Sells technique maybe it worked in 2005 before the volitility jumped up but I'll bet it won't work now.

I have just bought this book. Went to Chapter 8 and study it deeply. I challenge anyone to understand the strategy explained as there are many incongruence between what explained and the example charts. How can a trading book be confusing?

Do not trust my opinion? I challenge anyone to find chapter eight congruent. I challenge anyone.

Suggestion: do not buy this book.

Well rounded book on trading for people to gain an overview of all markets. The best ones like this are by those who actually trade.
This is one of the first I read as a beginner, where some of the things were over my head but still held a lot of interest. Re-reading it now brings out the full benefit. Great book.

When I first heard the reviews of John Carter's Book ,I was a bit confused. Some people said the book was great, some said it sucks. Then I bought the book and read it. This book is a very good look at trading from top to bottom and in the middle. The people that are dogging this book must not trade at all period. These are very simple and easy strategies to follow with examples to support. PLEASE BACKTEST and USE TIGHTER STOPS, because the guy is either filthy rich or got balls of steel....I am sure Carter did not put a lot of his losers in the book but he did put some. I find it sad that people dog this guy so much. Yeah, he is greedy..very greedy, but his products are what they are, GOOD. My only complaint is his DVD's are 2400.00 and his open software indicators are copied from the Tradestation library and are 1600.00. ALL in all he has a great book and a good website with a free trial that is only 14 bucks. He has some excel downloads worth that alone. Buy this book if you want to day trade or get a better perspective of other succesful traders. You will learn a lot. Try to buy his other products 2nd hand they are too HIGH. If the guy's products wasn't so high he would be a lot more popular and respected. He has been called a snake oil salesman. He is not that,he is just a greedy salesman and a helluva trader... Great Book on trading!!!!!!!!!

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it!! It covers all aspects of trading not just strategies and setups e.g. trading tools, trading mindset etc....lots of great information on futures, equities, options and forex.

This book is a great trader's course. The author tells you everything you need to know, from selecting computer hardware (this info might be a bit dated), to risk management, financial psychology, discipline needed to trade all markets. There are about 10 chapters with setups where the author shows you the entry, exit points and stop loss points and gives about 4 or 5 examples of how he successfully traded each of the setups he is showing you. My only complaint is that the author only shows 3 or 4 failures in the whole book. This might lead a person to be overconfident and think that trading is so easy a caveman can do it. :)

If the author has a dozen setups that can work in any market, and he can trade 24/7 on the global markets, forex, etc. and he applies the risk and money management techniques in his book and he only has a 6% failure rate, he should be a multi-billionaire by now.

Overall, a very good book, but the author makes trading seem a lot easier than it really is. In real life trading, unlike the book, you won't have only 3 failures for every 50 successes.

The last reviewer covered it well.

It's the same kind of information that you can obtain easy out of other trading books. This book does not cover much on stocks more on intraday trading E-Mini SP,Mini-Sized Dow,Forex..etc.

The TTM Squeeze he mentioned in his book can easily be figured out if you played around with stock indicators in the past and know some programming. Its really nothing new and you don't need to spend several hundred dollars for stock indicators at his site. You can easy figure it out yourself and you will also know its a late entry since its derived from lagging stock indicators.
A stock indicator is essentially like a instrument gauge on the dashboard of your car, it does not move the price of a stock. PRICE is your best indicator in the world.
Trying to find a fail-safe stock indicator or "Holy Grail" is an endless dream for many traders who are not too sure what may work for them to make consistent profits. Trading experience is most important since you trade against other trader's that are more skillful than you to take your money.

The last reviewer covered it well.

It's the same kind of information that you can obtain easy out of other trading books. This book does not cover much on stocks more on intraday trading E-Mini SP,Mini-Sized Dow,Forex..etc.

The TTM Squeeze he mentioned in his book can easily be figured out if you played around with stock indicators in the past and know some programming. Its really nothing new and you don't need to spend several hundred dollars for stock indicators at his site. You can easy figure it out yourself.
A stock indicator is essentially like a instrument gauge on the dashboard of your car, it does not move the price of a stock. PRICE is your best indicator in the world.
Trying to find a fail-safe stock indicator or "Holy Grail" is an endless dream for many traders who are not too sure what may work for them to make consistent profits. Trading experience is most important since you trade against other trader's that are more skillful than you to take your money.

The last reviewer covered it well.

It's the same kind of information that you can obtain easy out of other trading books. This book does not cover much on stocks more on intraday trading E-Mini SP,Mini-Sized Dow,Forex..etc.

The TTM Squeeze he mentioned in his book can easily be figured out if you played around with stock indicators in the past and know some programming. Its really nothing new and you don't need to spend several hundred dollars for stock indicators at his site.
A stock indicator is essentially like a instrument gauge on the dashboard of your car, it does not move the price of a stock. PRICE is your best indicator in the world.
Trying to find a fail-safe stock indicator or "Holy Grail" is an endless dream for many traders who are not too sure what may work for them to make consistent profits. Trading experience is most important since you trade against other trader's that are more skillful than you to take your money.

The last reviewer covered it well.

It's the same kind of information that you can obtain easy out of other trading books.

The TTM Squeeze he mentioned in his book can easily be figured out if you played around with stock indicators in the past and know some programming. Its really nothing new and you don't need to spend several hundred dollars for stock indicators at his site.
A stock indicator is essentially like a instrument gauge on the dashboard of your car, it does not move the price of a stock.
Trying to find a fail-safe stock indicator or "Holy Grail" is an endless dream for many traders who are not too sure what may work for them to make consistent profits. Trading experience is most important since you trade against other trader's that are always better than you.

The last reviewer covered it well.

It's the same kind of information that you can obtain easy out of other trading books.

Ok, i came back to this page after another glowing review by someone who included it in their "list" and Ive decided to write my first review on a trading book.
I bought this book a while ago on the back of all these glowing 5 star reviews, but when I finished reading it I can say that the ideas presented in this book are ok but FAR from being anything great and it certainly doesn't warrant a 5 star review. I have read dozens of trading books over the years and I can honestly say that there are maybe half a dozen that I have gotten anything out of and that I go back to regularly, and this book certainly wasn't one of them.

There are numerous chart examples in the book where he will show just how good these trading strategies work, but then you see (in some cases in the very same chart) that the strategy did not work and you would have had a losing trade, yet he completely ignores this.(have a good look at the charts in chapter 15)

The "Hope And Lope" trading strategy outlined in this book is perhaps the single worst trading strategy I have ever seen in print. Going long just because there was a close above the high of the lowest day of the last 20 or more trading days?? (and the opposite for going short). Anyone who has traded the markets for any amount of time would know that in a trending market, more often than not its just a brief retracement before the trend continues on its merry way. If you use this strategy you will have losing trade after losing trade. He could have at least made it that a divergence of either (or both) the MACD Histogram or RSI must be present to give it more weight, but in the book he shows example after example just how wonderful this strategy works. Using this strategy in a strong downtrend or uptrend, you can sit and watch your trading capital dwindle away. Dont believe me?? test It!

I do think his "gap trading" and "squeeze" play strategies are ok though, but thats about it.

You would have better short term trading results by just using a few Candlestick patterns (morning star/ eving star with gap, Doji star followed by a gap) than most of the strategies in this book.

I have created a library of trading material over the last ten years and this is without a doubt the best book for my trading personality. A lot of meat is included with the philosophical content that is necessary in shaping a trader. Carter's no "fluff" style and direct approach kept me into the book all the way to the end "40 Tips for Maintaining a Professional state of mind". If, and I've been working at this for ten years off and on, I am ever going to make it to the pros...I will have to give Carter a large measure of my gratitude.
You have to supply the effort but the keys to a successful beginning in a trading career are in this book.

I've read overy thirty books on trading including a lot of the classics. This book is jam packed of very useful information for serious part time or full time traders. Mr. Carter tells it like it is.

There are quite a few contradictions as you progress through the book. Unfortunately, a good portion of the trading setups rely on hybrid oscillator/indicator setups, subjective at best. Not impressed with this one at all.

I would recommend reading books published by the CFA Institute, and/or books about legendary traders,(Dennis, Tudor Jones, Borsellino, etc) and the MTA

There are quite a few contradictions as you read through the book. Unfortunately, a good portion of the trading setups rely on hybrid oscillator/indicator setups, subjective at best. There are much better books available on the markets and trading than this one.

I would recommend reading books published by the CFA Institute, and/or books about legendary traders,(Dennis, Tudor Jones, Borsellino, etc) and the MTA

Just another wanna be trader selling books, trading services, seminars, trading software, and trading chat room memberships, need I write more?

This book is extremely inaccurate, it's not "real world" trading.

Read about accomplished traders first (Dennis, Tudor Jones, Borsellino, etc) , then develop your own approach to the markets.

If you're interested in Technical Analysis, then join the MTA, its well worth the time and money.

Peace!

The majority of books and other materials on day trading and/or swing trading can safely be classified as snake oil, not deserving of even one star. This book is not snake oil, but it is not a classic, either. The strengths of this book are the fact that it is written by someone who obviously is a trader. The chapter on TICK, Trin, and other tools for determining the underlying strength or weakness of the stock market is very good. The section on psychology offers good advice, though little that has not been done better in THE DISCIPLINED TRADER. Nevertheless, some of the strategies presented in other chapters are written rather ambiguously (esp the chapter on "bricks"). The gaps chapter offers little that I haven't seen elsewhere. And, perhaps most disappointing of all, there is no evidence presented whatsoever (backtesting) that the strategies actually work.

The review by Ctrader is correct. The scapler method begins on p.167. The pictures shown disagree with Carter's stated rules. You'll lose your account trading John's methods. I have coded several of them and backtesting proves that. He wants you to subscribe to his service.

First of all, please do not underestimate this review..even though it is my first one and even though it comes out from Saudi Arabia!
I didn't want to write a review at all because I thought others would probably figure out what I found in this book and write it. however, I was irritated by the last review and want just to name an example of how far from the truth, the word "honest" is.
When we read about an indicator established and "proven" by a writer and a trader you and I expect it to work... of course not 100%, we all know that, but certainly not less than 50% so:
The "Scalper" explained here has less than this ratio..
I have tested the indicator using excel workbook "very easy by the way" using historical data of 2000 bar--5 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour and 24 hours and here are the interesting results "for 24 hours":
***73 losing trades for 35 working ones using exactly his setup!!!!! ***
With other timeframes, results were very similiar..
For those of you who already bought the book, test what I am saying before starting realy depending on this book. For others who still think, A word of advice: don't buy it! I doupt all his indicators after that.
Furthermore, the author very uncommonly states he never use stops with this indicator "and sometimes with others" when trading intradaily -less than 60 minutes- , never trail stop "which he also makes with other indicators", and never takes a partial profit until the reversal "close" signal is finally there!! Just go ahead and test how many winning trades with his system turned into a big loss, when you follow these rules...I have learned a very beautiful rule written by a much better author
"A. Elder": "a profissional trader will never let a winning trade turns into a losing one!"
Nevertheless, the chapters about seting up the hardware and the software, in addition to others about trading plan were good!
P.S.
When I enter a trade at 1.2054 and exit at 1.2153, I get a gain of 99 pips and not 119 as mentioned in page 219 in his book!! my stop at 1.2134 has nothing to do with my exit! When writing a book and illustrating one of our trades as an example, do we calculate or we are just supposed to COPY what is already there in our trading records ?!! Has the author been calculating the result, while he was writing the book?!! Honest ? I doupt.

This is a great boook by an honest author. Unlike most trading books on trading systems,the examples in it show the losses and profits for every system the author uses. No attempts were made to hide the losses.

I especially like the pivot point system described in the book.

Nice book. Well written and valuable info.
The techniques are mostly for daytraders. There is little good info for swing traders and about nothing for long term traders. The book deals mostly with futures and a little with forex and stocks.

Some strategies are given. Not really new for most of them. Some are variant of existing things. Any way they all work sometimes and not the rest of the time. Lots of examples of trades (that makes the book big!).

Some techniques are not described in detail and I had to use my brain to find out what some of the indicators were doing. But they are for sell, so do not worry!
The book is obviously an advert for the author's services (newsletters, coaching, etc.). Most indicators are also for sell.

Actually, this is interesting. He says that all the indicators are given and described in the book. This is true (though one needs to work a little in some cases) except for the squeeze indicator, which calculation is not given. But do not worry, "For those of you who are programmers, you shouldn't have a problem recreating the squeeze indicator from the information I've provided in this chapter". The others can purchase it at the author's website. Well, I am programmer, I have designed lots of indicators and systems, and I did not succeed in finding the exact rules leading the squeeze indicator as given in the book (I could get something close but not the exact indicator). The indicator itself is not decribed and has more parameters than those given in the text. So, is it blured so that we feel obliged to buy?

Big book, yes. Some good ideas, yes (not necessarily new)
Skillful advertisement to the "indicators" yes. Confusion? Of course. So how can we solve this problem? How can we make money using this five star book (as the crowd suggests) I guess he (the writer) expect either subscription to his service or buying the indicators; or both; to increase the odds in your favor. I really disrespect the principle of writing something vague with clear contradiction to what he is preaching in his 8 minutes video about the "scalper indicator". In the book he stress the point of dealing with three consecutive higher closes or three consecutive lower closes "because this where the action settles or closes, because that is where the rubber meets the road". Now I have a small problem with the incomplete formula (higher than what) but the problem got bigger when I watched his video while talking about three higher highs or three lower lows regarding the same indicator "the scalper" with additional filter not mentioned in the book. For me, I do not need more to understand what he is trying to do for the buyers of his book and indicators. He is selling short. This scalper is nothing more than going opposite to the pivot point with whatever filter you like to add. The rest of the book is somewhat good reading about trading with very low value regarding new ideas of successful trading. Yes Lots of examples saying the same thing over and over to print more number of pages without adding any new ideas to the first example. I am not sure if the five star reviewers read the book and liked it as is and used it profitably. I am not sure what they think about the contradictions (between the book and the website) of the writer. Be aware of visual and mental confusion before you buy. if it is complex and hard good trading book, then there is no problem to spend more time to get it; but if it is base on confusion. the best you can do is to use it as a tool to stemulat your thinking to fix and complet the confused thoughts and come up with your won methods and strategies. I am glad that I getting positve at the end. good luck to you all.

If you want to daytrade for a living, I believe this is by far the best book out there. The best way to learn a craft is to watch an experienced, successful person do it. In this book John explains the setups he uses every day, then steps you through his actual trades.

When reading it you get the feeling he really wants you to learn how to trade successfully, without holding anything back or letting ego get in the way.

I have been trading for a few years but couldn't understand many of the author's concepts and some rules seem to be contradictory. For example: ... most REVERSALS take place after three consecutive higher or lower closes... and a few paragraphs later under Trading Rules: ... after three consecutive higher closes I go long ... To make things additionaly confusing on the following graph you can clearly see higher closes but the author takes short position??
Also, author uses Keltner Channel as if it is widely spread BUT that indicator is not available with the latest Metastock, Quicken Share Analyser...
I've found some new ideas in the book but often unclear, confucing and contradicting.

If you trade primarily on 5 min charts and are willing to try and subscribe new proprietory TA tools, this book is for you. Otherwise, I strongly recommend you to give it a pass. Those sections on trading psychology are okay. However, I doubt how many readers can truly understand the complexities of the many setups (trading tactics on different market situations), identify them correctly and apply them profitably. For a common investor/trader/reader, a combined shot of "High Probability Trading by Marcel Link" plus "Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas" would be more effective and efficient.

I backtested the swing setups in this book as written and they simply don't give you an edge. I've finally realized that no one is going to publish setups that consistently make money in the markets. On the other hand, what they do is sell these setups in books or seminars once they no longer work. Aahhhh....I'm seeing the light!