Rating: 
- The Fundamentals of Successful Trading
I would say that this book deals with the basics of what it takes to be a successful trader. It gives the reader a realistic point of view regarding how hard it is to be successful and the most important aspects of surviving and eventually thriving as a trader. In summary:
1.Money management-Have a plan that allows you to have a string of losses and still be ok. MOST new traders destroy their account because they never thought this part through. If you are new to the game and can't afford to lose thousands of dollars within a few weeks, this should be your top priority before doing any real trades.
2. Greed and Fear-The mental part of the game must be mastered once you have a plan for not losing all your money. Losing and making money both make you crazy. Self control
3. Strategies-this book goes over mechanical system building and the importance of backtesting strategies, but does not go into any detail about specific strategies.
This book teaches you how to think about trading and gives you advice aimed at preventing you from failing, as 90% of new traders do, so says the author. Read this book to learn what concepts need to be prioritized and then get another book to learn specific strategies and charting skills, etc.
Rating: - Don't just read this book - study it
I have a small collection of books on stock trading. For the most part they tell me what other people did to be on the payday side of the market. Some are specific to a set of methods (How To Make Money In Stocks: A Winning System in Good Times or Bad, 3rd Edition), others are good read on what a trader should know, practice, do or not do (Invest Like a Shark: How a Deaf Guy with No Job and Limited Capital Made a Fortune Investing in the Stock Market).
Marcel Link takes a practical approach to high probability trades. The basic idea:
You are a good ping pong player who beats all the neighbors in your basement. Do you think you would do well at the US Open?
Last weekend you managed not to drown while crossing the 25 yards of your local pool. Do you think you can beat Michael Phelps?
What is the probability of a positive outcome of one of the above? Yet that's exactly what we do when we jump into the stock market and lay our hard earned cash on the line in a bid against professionals with Harvard degrees, years of experience and deep pockets. With such a lineup, what is the probability of us winning?
This book explains in a good level of detail that actually yes, there is a probability of winning. However, one needs to do a bit of learning, training and planning beforehand. It remains unlikely that you'll beat the seasoned table tennis pro (my opinion), but with knowledge, training, patience and discipline, you'll be able to pocket a few points instead of getting blown off the table.
The book goes to great lengths to explain that trading the market is a serious business decision that requires knowledge, preparation, planning and above all, discipline.
Marcel Link explains how several technical indicators work, how traders use them, when to use them and when to stay away from them. He tells you "look, here is a pattern that seems to have worked in the past" but he also points out that a single pattern alone doesn't make for a good trade and it is up to you to find, interpret and evaluate such pattern and get it confirmed (or not) by other indicators.
This book is an eye opener. One of the very first things I did after cracking it open was to look back and evaluate my past trades. It is horrifying to realize how easily I could have lost a lot of money due to my "buying strategies". I would have never made those trades if I knew then what I know today.
Summary:
- very well written book, concise style with a touch of humor, very well organized
- very readable, written in simple and effectively used plain English, no typos
- sticks to the point of making trades that have higher probability of payoff
- describes the toolbox needed to find, evaluate and execute great trades
- leans a bit towards short term trading and has commodity trading examples sprinkled through quite frequently. However, both the short term and commodity trading strategies are applicable to long term trades as well
- spends quite a few pages on trader psychology, establishing a trading plan, writing a money management plan and coming up with a game strategy
- emphasizes that a well designed and thought through entry point is just the beginning of a good trade and it needs an equally well designed and thought through exit point. Otherwise a good entry point may turn into a very expensive lesson
- discipline, discipline, discipline
Conclusion:
This is not one evening read. You need to study it, consult the market, study your past trades, play with charts, learn various analysis techniques.
Above all, you need to come up with your plan, test it and come up with your trading identity before you lay a single red cent on the line.
Other (my opinion) useful, complementary books:
How To Make Money In Stocks: A Winning System in Good Times or Bad, 3rd Edition
Invest Like a Shark: How a Deaf Guy with No Job and Limited Capital Made a Fortune Investing in the Stock Market
Classics:
Reminiscences of a Stock Operator (Wiley Investment Classics)
How I Made $2,000,000 In The Stock Market
How to Trade In Stocks
Technical analysis formulas:
Technical Analysis from A to Z, 2nd Edition
Rating: - The typical traders missing LINK to becoming a consistent winner ?
At the beginning I thougt I'd read all this before and that it was all the same.
But soon after reading some more I learned some new things, f.exmpl. to use the fibonacci retracement properly, this is mandatory because every serious trader watches these levels and trade thereafter.
Marcel also goes through exit strategies , something very few other authors do.
He uses his own hard earned wisdom to give great advices.
One of the most important things was the money management chapter, if a trader misses out on this one the it doesn't matter how good a technician he or she may be.
One of the best trading books I've read, just wish I'd read this one earlier.
Good Luck !
Rating: - Excellent Book
This is an excellent book about trading, especially for the beginner. However, the beginner is not likely to recognize why this book is excellent versus the many books written about trading by non-traders. I highly recommend this book to anyone trying to teach themselves about the markets. If you already are a successful trader, the book may not be that helpful. If I were to teach a course in trading, I would consider using this book as one of the textbooks for the class, in part because there are very few comprehensive good books about trading. I have read the negative reviews posted on Amazon, and I don't think they are, for the most part, informed or fair. I hope the author comes out with a second edition, in part because while I think the content is excellent, the writing could be improved upon. But I'd rather have a substantively excellent book, than one of the many trading books well-written by a non-trader that is unhelpful or even misleading on the substance. "High Probability Trading" is worth the read.
Rating: - Don't let it sit on your bookshelf
like I did for about 3 years. Now I that I finally picked it up I am almost a third of the way through and already has Marcel Link's clear, honest, to the point language and approach to day trading dotted my i's and crossed my t's several times over. Yes, I did read books about small cap value investing, how to read charts and how to make money using all kinds of fancy systems before this one and I recommend you do the same. But don't stop there - go ahead and finish your training with this excellent work. Marcel's straightforward message is so simple yet so deep that I hope it will, just like it is already doing for me, banish all your fears about making mistakes and still coming out a winner. I write this on purpose because if you are not making money in the market you probably have a fear of winning and/or are making too many mistakes. Right after I started reading this book I had my first winning streak in years only to face an age old stumbling block just a week later; this time, thanks to Marcel's warning, I could honestly say to myself "It's OK, keep going" and I actually was able to prevent a big loss because the market had turned against me. Thanks to Marcel's "handholding" I had the courage to read all the charts before rushing into a decision that could have cost me. This book is for everybody who is missing out on grasping the "whole" of trading. After this, I plan to read more technical books just to stay sharp in that area, but for the time being I am enjoying every page in this volume. Highy recommended.
- The Fundamentals of Successful TradingI would say that this book deals with the basics of what it takes to be a successful trader. It gives the reader a realistic point of view regarding how hard it is to be successful and the most important aspects of surviving and eventually thriving as a trader. In summary:
1.Money management-Have a plan that allows you to have a string of losses and still be ok. MOST new traders destroy their account because they never thought this part through. If you are new to the game and can't afford to lose thousands of dollars within a few weeks, this should be your top priority before doing any real trades.
2. Greed and Fear-The mental part of the game must be mastered once you have a plan for not losing all your money. Losing and making money both make you crazy. Self control
3. Strategies-this book goes over mechanical system building and the importance of backtesting strategies, but does not go into any detail about specific strategies.
This book teaches you how to think about trading and gives you advice aimed at preventing you from failing, as 90% of new traders do, so says the author. Read this book to learn what concepts need to be prioritized and then get another book to learn specific strategies and charting skills, etc.
Rating:
- Don't just read this book - study itI have a small collection of books on stock trading. For the most part they tell me what other people did to be on the payday side of the market. Some are specific to a set of methods (How To Make Money In Stocks: A Winning System in Good Times or Bad, 3rd Edition), others are good read on what a trader should know, practice, do or not do (Invest Like a Shark: How a Deaf Guy with No Job and Limited Capital Made a Fortune Investing in the Stock Market).
Marcel Link takes a practical approach to high probability trades. The basic idea:
You are a good ping pong player who beats all the neighbors in your basement. Do you think you would do well at the US Open?
Last weekend you managed not to drown while crossing the 25 yards of your local pool. Do you think you can beat Michael Phelps?
What is the probability of a positive outcome of one of the above? Yet that's exactly what we do when we jump into the stock market and lay our hard earned cash on the line in a bid against professionals with Harvard degrees, years of experience and deep pockets. With such a lineup, what is the probability of us winning?
This book explains in a good level of detail that actually yes, there is a probability of winning. However, one needs to do a bit of learning, training and planning beforehand. It remains unlikely that you'll beat the seasoned table tennis pro (my opinion), but with knowledge, training, patience and discipline, you'll be able to pocket a few points instead of getting blown off the table.
The book goes to great lengths to explain that trading the market is a serious business decision that requires knowledge, preparation, planning and above all, discipline.
Marcel Link explains how several technical indicators work, how traders use them, when to use them and when to stay away from them. He tells you "look, here is a pattern that seems to have worked in the past" but he also points out that a single pattern alone doesn't make for a good trade and it is up to you to find, interpret and evaluate such pattern and get it confirmed (or not) by other indicators.
This book is an eye opener. One of the very first things I did after cracking it open was to look back and evaluate my past trades. It is horrifying to realize how easily I could have lost a lot of money due to my "buying strategies". I would have never made those trades if I knew then what I know today.
Summary:
- very well written book, concise style with a touch of humor, very well organized
- very readable, written in simple and effectively used plain English, no typos
- sticks to the point of making trades that have higher probability of payoff
- describes the toolbox needed to find, evaluate and execute great trades
- leans a bit towards short term trading and has commodity trading examples sprinkled through quite frequently. However, both the short term and commodity trading strategies are applicable to long term trades as well
- spends quite a few pages on trader psychology, establishing a trading plan, writing a money management plan and coming up with a game strategy
- emphasizes that a well designed and thought through entry point is just the beginning of a good trade and it needs an equally well designed and thought through exit point. Otherwise a good entry point may turn into a very expensive lesson
- discipline, discipline, discipline
Conclusion:
This is not one evening read. You need to study it, consult the market, study your past trades, play with charts, learn various analysis techniques.
Above all, you need to come up with your plan, test it and come up with your trading identity before you lay a single red cent on the line.
Other (my opinion) useful, complementary books:
How To Make Money In Stocks: A Winning System in Good Times or Bad, 3rd Edition
Invest Like a Shark: How a Deaf Guy with No Job and Limited Capital Made a Fortune Investing in the Stock Market
Classics:
Reminiscences of a Stock Operator (Wiley Investment Classics)
How I Made $2,000,000 In The Stock Market
How to Trade In Stocks
Technical analysis formulas:
Technical Analysis from A to Z, 2nd Edition
Rating:
- The typical traders missing LINK to becoming a consistent winner ?At the beginning I thougt I'd read all this before and that it was all the same.
But soon after reading some more I learned some new things, f.exmpl. to use the fibonacci retracement properly, this is mandatory because every serious trader watches these levels and trade thereafter.
Marcel also goes through exit strategies , something very few other authors do.
He uses his own hard earned wisdom to give great advices.
One of the most important things was the money management chapter, if a trader misses out on this one the it doesn't matter how good a technician he or she may be.
One of the best trading books I've read, just wish I'd read this one earlier.
Good Luck !
Rating:
- Excellent BookThis is an excellent book about trading, especially for the beginner. However, the beginner is not likely to recognize why this book is excellent versus the many books written about trading by non-traders. I highly recommend this book to anyone trying to teach themselves about the markets. If you already are a successful trader, the book may not be that helpful. If I were to teach a course in trading, I would consider using this book as one of the textbooks for the class, in part because there are very few comprehensive good books about trading. I have read the negative reviews posted on Amazon, and I don't think they are, for the most part, informed or fair. I hope the author comes out with a second edition, in part because while I think the content is excellent, the writing could be improved upon. But I'd rather have a substantively excellent book, than one of the many trading books well-written by a non-trader that is unhelpful or even misleading on the substance. "High Probability Trading" is worth the read.
Rating:
- Don't let it sit on your bookshelflike I did for about 3 years. Now I that I finally picked it up I am almost a third of the way through and already has Marcel Link's clear, honest, to the point language and approach to day trading dotted my i's and crossed my t's several times over. Yes, I did read books about small cap value investing, how to read charts and how to make money using all kinds of fancy systems before this one and I recommend you do the same. But don't stop there - go ahead and finish your training with this excellent work. Marcel's straightforward message is so simple yet so deep that I hope it will, just like it is already doing for me, banish all your fears about making mistakes and still coming out a winner. I write this on purpose because if you are not making money in the market you probably have a fear of winning and/or are making too many mistakes. Right after I started reading this book I had my first winning streak in years only to face an age old stumbling block just a week later; this time, thanks to Marcel's warning, I could honestly say to myself "It's OK, keep going" and I actually was able to prevent a big loss because the market had turned against me. Thanks to Marcel's "handholding" I had the courage to read all the charts before rushing into a decision that could have cost me. This book is for everybody who is missing out on grasping the "whole" of trading. After this, I plan to read more technical books just to stay sharp in that area, but for the time being I am enjoying every page in this volume. Highy recommended.