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Trading for a Living by Alexander Elder

5th March 2008, 04:05 pm

Trading for a Living is a first financial trading book of the prominent trading writer and teacher Alexander Elder. It shows the most common mistakes that traders fail to recognize and correct in their styles and that prevent them from become financially independent. Trading for a Living shows all the benefits of being a trader — the freedom, the excitement, the quality of life. Becoming a financial trader isn’t something hard to do, it’s just hard to hold down your emotions and begin to think of trading as a serious long-term activity. According to Alexander Elder the majority of the beginning traders fail to control their emotions, they go for the short-term success losing in the long-term period; that makes them lose money, time and a faith in a better financial future. No previous trading experience or knowledge is required to read and understand this book.

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Below you can read the reviews of the book and also submit your own review about Trading for a Living by Alexander Elder.

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (2 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
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Complete Guide

6 Reviews

  1. T-M:

    “Trading for a Living” is a brilliant and well-written book. The part that mentions understanding the market psychology and sentiment being the chief motivating factors leading to technical analysis was in my eyes, the most indispensable part of this book. It explains that the value of assets is all the market is about and different traders use different technical indicators to interpret the price and volume data. I prefer the more fundamental methods of analysis but I was provoked by a friend to read this book and I found the reasons behind the technicalities extremely valid. Interpreting and integrating these methods into your preferred trading system is another important idea the book gives. If you invest more into values then the market entry and exit strategies you employ and your risk reduction techniques could be something else rather than technical. I found thinking about the various trading strategies and analyzing the similarities between them extremely intriguing. Elder, being a psychiatrist by profession who prefers to trade for a living, presents many technical indicators like charts and candlesticks and finally gives the reader an insight into his own method of trading.

    17 November 2010, 8:35 am

  2. Terminator:

    This is a spellbinding piece of literature. Written wonderfully, it has got to be in your possession if you are involved in trade or even intend to do so in future. I bought this book a while back along with “Come Into My Trading Room” and “Entries and Exits” also written by Dr. Elder. I couldn’t get myself to put this book down and every minute I had free I would pick it up again. I finished it less than two days and just couldn’t stop myself from beginning the next book, “Come Into My Trading Room”. After reading about 100 pages I would say it is not very different from “Trading for a Living” but the experience of reading the first book was sheer pleasure. It was simple to read, analyze and interpret.
    Before reading this book I felt I knew more than I needed to know about TA but I couldn’t even have imagined the amount Dr. Elder would add to my knowledge. The section on traders’ psychology is wonderfully written and probably the best work in the field. He also mentioned the Triple Screen method which he also employs and I felt it will be a valuable addition to anybody’s trading philosophy.
    You must read this book!

    17 November 2010, 8:36 am

  3. Polis:

    Elder’s book is good only if you are a newcomer into the field of trading. It will provide you with a good way to undertake technical analysis.
    Once you read this, you should start exploring the market trends individually and draw your own conclusions.
    Elder talks about the trading system he has been using but testers have confirmed that it fails in the practical market. He has a very classic outlook towards trading.
    You should read this book just for pleasure as it has nothing more to offer. Give it away after reading.

    17 November 2010, 8:36 am

  4. Lemon:

    Most novice traders have no clue about what to expect but still they believe they will outrun the market. Elder says it in as few words possible that the market is filled with more experienced traders who have more evolved methods, a better shaped trading mentality and better techniques of money and risk management. A newbie trader is like a novice golfer playing his first tournament. You don’t really expect him to win. He might, but it’ll be against all odds. Similarly, if you are an amateur trader and pick up this book then you increase your chances of beating the market as quickly as possible. It does indeed cost a bit more than the other books but it is well worth your money. It gives you wonderful advice and extremely useful tips. You can easily say that Elder is a psychiatrist when he talks about the psychology of a trader and how most traders bring about their own doom.
    If you are just about to start trading, wait till you finish reading this book. If you have already started, take a break, read this book and get back!

    17 November 2010, 8:37 am

  5. Terry:

    This book will be the most in informative for the newer class of traders. The author gives the reader a very good introduction to the various methods of technical analysis, trends, charting patterns and some popular indicators like MACD, momentum, Stochastics, RSI etc. At the same time, he doesn’t give out more information than what the user can handle.
    Putting the newbie aside, Elder also includes a lot of information for the experienced trader. The traders who have been in the market for a long time and have realized that there is something missing in their trading methods may not benefit a lot (he says it is not advisable to change your strategy at this stage) but should read the book nonetheless. He has written a brilliant chapter on Risk Management. He also points out the differences in the methodology followed by a winning and a losing trader. He tells the importance of good quality trading. He repeatedly writes that the trader shouldn’t forget about the deal once the position is closed. There is a lot to learn from every profitable as well as loss-making trade. It is this analysis that will help you improve. The language used is also very concise.
    One thing I did not like was the price of the book. That is plainly why I gave this book four stars instead of five.

    17 November 2010, 8:37 am

  6. Mark:

    A great introduction for novices into the area. Elder covers the area of indicators well, and instills some confidence by including real trades from hes library. The psychology I found on my first reading to be frustrating, I felt it distracted from “real” trading knowledge, but in hindsight, now I wouldn’t read a trading book without a chapter on psychology.

    Written in a very no nonsense matter, which novices may find intimidating, its definitely set my mindset into getting focused, and accepting that trading is very serious, with real losses.

    I think its a great start for beginners, but I did find I had to look up websites for some explanations for the mechanics behind some indicators.

    4.5/5

    9 March 2011, 9:42 pm