Pattern Recognition and Trading Decisions shows active traders how to realize when a pattern is developing, distinguish between a genuine pattern and a misleading series of events, and apply this recognition for success in specific trading situations.
Introduction:
Participants in the markets of the late 1990s may have thought then that profitable investing was easy, only to learn later, to their cost, that it may be easy during a bull market but not necessarily at other times. There are books that claim to make investing easy and other books that typically claim that you too can be rich if you follow the guru who wrote it. With respect, the points I make to the guru are that when financial conditions change, exploitation strategies need to change with them, meaning that any single method will not work all the time. Furthermore, investors have such a wide range of preferences, individual circumstances, and needs that a guru’s method is likely to be appropriate for only a subset of their population.
With regard to those who claim to make investing easy, if they could, professionals would use their methods and perform much better than they do. I would add that there is also a crucial step that is often glossed over. Typically, potential investors are given the address of useful Web sites where they can obtain the information they need to make their decisions. When the new investors go to one of these Web sites, they are likely to be confronted by information in jargon they do not understand, for which they have no background knowledge but from which they are supposed to make a decision.
Pattern Recognition and Trading Decisions is about market decisions. It offers no empty promises for easy wealth. It aims to help people to understand the methods and terminology used by the investment industry and give background on decision techniques in general, so that they can select those that best suit their needs, or reject them if they feel they have something better. It offers a representative span of the decision processes between understanding financial instruments to managing portfolios. It does not cover other aspects, such as selecting a broker, at any length.
Contents:
- Behavior of Financial Instruments
- Investment Psychology
- Background to Investment Decisions: Practice and Theory
- Introduction to Fundamental Analysis
- Introductory Fundamental Analysis
- Fundamental Analysis in Practice
- Introduction to Technical Analysis
- Technical Analysis without Formulas
- Indicators: Technical Analysis with Formulas
- Trading Patterns
- Forecasting Technologies and Their Limitations
- Exits
- Trends
- Contrarian Strategies
- Trading Systems and Risk Assessments
- Portfolio Diversification
- Management of Portfolio Decisions
Pattern Recognition and Trading Decisions By Chris Satchwell pdf
Dexter McPherson (verified owner) –
I have read about fundamental analysis, I have read about technical analysis, and so on – but this is the first book to put it all together in a way that makes sense for the non-specialist investor. OK, it is quite mathematical, but with backing from people such as Martin Pring and Merrill Lynch’s Dan Kapetinakis, it is certainly worth the effort. The Author’s Notes on the web-site at […] give some indication of how the book is structured, which also helps.
Zavier Gilmore (verified owner) –
The instant we began classifying seemingly random events into recurring configurations we discovered patterns; that day our simian ancestors gained an incontestable advantage over other species. Later, the ability to detect patterns was so vital to our survival that it became an innate evolutionary skill. Using these skills in the markets can make you loose your shirt. And even with proper training-one of the objectives of Dr. Satchwell’s book-recognizing valid patterns is still a matter of understanding probabilities.
There are a few classic studies (Working’s and Slutzky’s in the 1930s, and Robert’s in 1959) that play havoc with our supposed chart-pattern recognition abilities. Essentially, these statisticians plotted randomly generated data on graph paper. They then showed the charts to technical analysts who quickly started seeing rounded bottoms, symmetrical triangles, head-and-shoulder tops, and similar designs.
Dr. Satchwell’s book helps us distinguish between a possible chart pattern and a probable configuration; between a fake and a potential trade.
Ace Bentley (verified owner) –
That it’s on “Irwin Trader’s Edge” is annoying indeed.
Okay, this book is for starting traders. And for beginners this book isn’t all that bad – I even say it’s quite okay, informative.
However if you’ve been trading for more than ump years already and still need advice on decision-making, stay away from this book. You’ll find books by Robert C Miner or Brett N Steenbarger helpful.
If you still want to spend that much money on a book with charts and patterns, buy the Encyclopedia of Chart Patterns by Thomas N Bulkowski instead. Lots of positive ratings and reviews.
Emmaline Spencer (verified owner) –
First, I rarely rate books since I don’t have that much time on my hand. But I must do so this time since this book is so bad that not only should I get a refund, I should get paid for the time I wasted to read it!
The Title of the book is and Trading Decisions. I brought this book based on the title when it first came out since there were no user ratings yet. It is the worst TA or Systems book out of the 10 or so that I have. The information provided is so vague that probably anyone who uses TAs to trade and has a college degree can write a more informed book. DO NOT BUY this book until you have actually seen it yourself in a book store. Once you do, try to really read it for at least 10 minutes and you will see for yourself how much jiberish there is in it. For example, he has a chapter in Exits and “explained” it in just 5-6 pages, with no technical ideas behind any of it. The whole book only has around 10 formulas or so.. for a book that is titled Pattern Recognition! (Oh, and in case you are still wondering, there’s is not a single “real” Pattern Recognition information in the book whatsoever.
For real Pattern Recognition & Trading Decisions, look for New Trading Sys and Methods – Perry Kaufman , and Professional Stock Trading: System Design – Conway. Even those books contain tradestation codes you may not find useful, the rest of the information provided is worth every penny of it.