Financial Freedom Through Electronic Day Trading

by Van K. Tharp and Brian June

Book Overview

An increasing number of investors are entering the high-risk world of electronic day trading--often before they've learned the basic principles and safeguards. Financial Freedom Through Electronic Day Trading combines Van Tharp's mastery of trading psychology with Brian June's nuts-and-bolts expertise to give day traders the proven strategies and information they need to survive and succeed.

From little-known day trading entries and exits to techniques...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0071362959
• ISBN13: 9780071362955
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies
• Length: 388 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Highly recommended

Yea yea I thought, as this book sat on my shelf for a couple of months. Another one of those "daytrading books" I thought. Boy was I wrong! For those of you who don't know, Dr. Tharp was included in the original Market Wizards classic. He has modeled many top traders and figured out the common denominators they all shared. He says that you can't duplicate their success unless you can duplicate their thinking. In this book he and Brian June go into these concepts, step by step, to help you develop a solid game plan for success in the markets. There are methods to develop discipline, self control, money management and risk control, to name a few. These are the concepts most daytraders overlook, which probably contributes to the high failure rate(90%). Definitely technical and fundamental analysis, sentiment, etc. are important, but this stuff is equally if not more important. He also gets into helping you think of daytrading as a business, not a hobby, as well as guiding you through creating your own trading plan. Daytrading is certainly not easy, and you need all the help you can get. This is one of those books, that you should not only read, but use. Bring the concepts to life and you will undoubtly be rewarded. Hopefully this book will be just an introduction for you into Dr. Tharp's world.

Chew me up and spit me out !!

Now I have to profess I haven't read any of Dr Tharp's / Mr June's previous books so while other reviewers expressed some disappointment with this book compared to the other books, I was absolutely stunned by this one. It just kept hitting me between the eyes with its discussions on just how bad things can go for someone who doesn't have a system (70% of daytraders lose everything), how to identify and play alongside the Market Makers and how to set up the "Multiple R / position sizing" system. I used to never use stops. I always preferring to ride out the lows, and even use put options to profit from it, so that i would never, ever, take a loss. However this books puts what other authors put in terms of cutting losses and letting profits run, in different terms which have managed to convince me that has convinced me to do otherwise. This book is worth its weight in gold. I've read about 9 other books on trading / day trading but none have convinced me as much as this one. If Dr Tharp's / June's other books are better, then they must be worth their weight in "multiple R" returns.

Most people do not know what they do not know

Please do not let the people who do not understand the message of this book cloud your perception of it. This book along with his previous volume are revolutionary. Tharp's entire career is working with top traders and creating a model of success from the characteristics they share. It is more than a rehash of his previous material and in fact goes into even greater detail. One of June's main contributions to this book is how to create a mission statement and how to link that with your live trading. I had a little trouble wrapping my mind around this but he insisted it was so very critical so I reread the chapter until it made sense. Well, when the "light" went on a feeling washed over me that was both palpable and visceral. If you faithfully undertake to complete all of the material outlined in this book, then you will actually have a shot at becoming more than antother statistic. Something I noticed several years ago is the similarity between the failure rates of business startups and private traders. This is most likely due to a lack of adequate planning and discipline (in this I include research, sufficient capital, etc.) For this reason, I must make the strongest recommendation possible for this book as well as its predecessor, "Trade Your Way To Financial Freedom." They compliment each other very well and are both essential reading. Dr. Tharp is a psychologist and an NLP practitioner who originally assisted top-level athletes achieve peak performance. He has moved over to helping traders do the same. You will learn how to define your goals and objectives as clearly as possible and create a comprehensive business plan that will leave you no question as to what one can expect from his or her trading. Other tools that are extremely helpful include a chapter on the most commonly made mistakes and how to identify and correct them and a chapter on how to properly keep a journal. The journal will help to more quickly figure out if, when and where a trading plan has gone wrong and spot any detrimental events or patterns that may occur. It breaks down the elements of successful trading so effectively that it truly gives people a chance of succeeding who otherwise would have suffered the same fate as most day traders. This book has more to offer than the previous in terms of methodology but those methods are for equities traders only. Futures trading methods are not addressed in this book. However, if a system is all you are really looking for, then you are still missing the bigger picture and your time would be better spent on a resume. An unprepared trader has almost no chance of succeeding and would be ill advised to try. Sure you could get lucky but the chances staying lucky and surviving for any amount of time are infinitesimally small. Avail yourself all of the best tools possible. These two books are two of them. Another book to consider is "The Trading Game" by Ryan Jones. It is a book on money managem

A Must Read for Serious Traders

This book contains a wealth of information - I strongly recommend it! The content is excellent, and the writing style is understandable and candid. Brian June not only discusses the nuts-and-bolts of day-trading (Level II screens, time-and-sales data, "ax" market makers, direct-access systems, trading strategies) but covers in detail how one should prepare prior to the market opening and how one needs to debrief trading after the close. Dr. Van Tharp covers two of the most important concepts of trading: risk management (i.e., capital preservation) and money management (i.e., position sizing). If you have not internalized these concepts into your belief system already read these chapters, memorize them. They are key disciplines as they will keep you in the game. Four days ago I recommended the book to another full-time trader, and he just wrote back saying, "I wanted to thank you for recommending the Tharp/June book. It is full of mandatory knowledge one needs, but also they make it clear what the requirements are to be successful. I am finding the book extremely enlightening - thanks again." I have been a student of the markets for over ten years having proceeded through the study of fundamental analysis, technical analysis, and trading psychology (in that order). I wish I had this information at the start of my journey.

Indispensible

The most important chapter in the book that I found was chapter 3, that of developing a business plan. Of course every chapter had great information, however, without a plan you can't expect to get anywhere, or make any money for that matter. His first book was excellent, his second book is equal. Start with the first and only after you fully understand it read, I mean, DO this book. Only if you do the exercises with a notebook will you gain anything!