The Visual Investor: How to Spot Market Trends
Posted by admin in Finance Sunday, 24 October 2010 09:06 5 Comments
- ISBN13: 9780470382059
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
Product Description
The Visual Investor, Second Edition breaks down technical analysis into terms that are accessible to even individual investors. Aimed at the typical investor–such as the average CNBC viewer–this book shows investors how to follow the ups and downs of stock prices by visually comparing the charts, without using formulas or having a necessarily advanced understanding of technical analysis math and jargon. Murphy covers all the fundamentals, from chart types and market indicators to sector analysis and global investing, providing examples and easy-to-read charts so that any reader can become a skilled visual investor.
The Visual Investor: How to Spot Market Trends
This is the best work I’ve seen so far on technical analysis. I tried a couple of on-line tutorials, as well as a couple of books, and only ended up confused. This author assumes you know nothing and starts you out from scratch. I understand every sentence; it’s also well-written enough that it’s interesting. I’m now inspired to go on from here, perhaps with Nisan’s Candlestick Charting and Beyond Candlesticks. I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 5 / 5
As a day trader I’ve found the techniques discussed in this book give me a significant edge in my trades. The only time I’ve lost money in the market since buying this book is when I fell back on my old methods of trading. I’ve learned my lesson. Now I keep it next to my bed and review it every evening and when I’m screening for my next stock. It’s an easy and concise read.
Rating: 5 / 5
John Murphy is able to explain technical analysis with illustrations. Technical analysis should be part of the decision-making process when investing for any fund, stock and/or options. This book is able to take you step by step on how to start and continue into the more complex versions of technical analysis.
Mr. Murphy starts in his first section with the basics: Trends, peaks, through, Fibonacci ratio, etc. These explanations are done with illustrations from actual stocks, not from made-up graphs.
His second section explains indicators: Chapters cover lagging and oscillating moving averages, trading envelopes and bands, measuring overbought and oversold conditions, momentum rate of change (ROC), Relative Strength Index (RSI), stochastic indicators and finally but not least the moving average convergence divergence (MACD) indicator. All the indicators mentioned are explained and demonstrated with real stock graphs.
Mr. Murphy in his final section explains “Linkage”: He starts with the Market Linkages chapter where he sums up his previous book on intermarket technical analysis by explaining how the three major asset classes – commodities, bonds and stocks relate to each other. He explains how as commodity prices rise, which result in higher interest rates and lower bond prices, and vice-versa. He also talks about oil and gold prices and how they can affect the stock market, since they are related to companies directly. The interesting couple of pages I found were the indexes to watch while following the linkages of the market trends.
I most appreciated the summaries at the end of every chapter.
Overall the book is very educational and filled with helpful information to make proper decisions when selecting your next investment(s). One disappointment was the supplied CD. Mr. Murphy kept referring to the supplied software within the CD, although the CD only linked to his site. On his site you can find many (not free) software tools to help in your technical analysis.
Good stepping-stone and reference book for traders and investors.
Have fun.
Rating: 4 / 5
This is a good starter book for the beginner, although it will be much too basic for the intermediate or advanced trader. But if you’re just starting out, the first 133 pages will give you a basic introduction to the different technical indicators and chart reading. The next half of the book deals with the application of the indicators to mutual funds and other topics. I would just read the first 133 pages, and then go on to one of the more advanced texts now that you have some background, as this book by itself isn’t enough to give you a good understanding of the subject. Murphy himself has a more advanced book, and Martin Pring also, and many others. Just be advised this is really just the beginning. The book is also a bit overpriced but I will say it’s probably the easiest book I’ve seen recently for getting your feet wet on the subject.
Perhaps the most important part of the book is Murphy’s mentioning that the head and shoulders pattern was investigated by the Federal Reserve and found to be statistically significant, and supposedly now is using the indicator to time its currency interventions. However, the real use of technical analysis is not that the patterns mean anything in and of themselves, its having the experience and judgment to know which pattern applies in a given situation that makes them truly useful, and the fact the traders themselves believe in them, so to some extent they become a self-fulfilling prophecy. So the field of technical analysis is itself a combination of art and science.
And actually, the most important aspect of trading is loss control and sell discipline, and understanding position sizing relative to risk and reward, since understanding the technical indicators is actually fairly straightforward, and many charting packages will do that for you anyway, so you don’t even know how to understand how they’re derived. And the charting packages will generate buys and sells by whatever indicator you want, but remember, it’s knowing when to apply a given indicator that’s the hard part. Finally, if you’re planning on starting in on trading yourself, make sure you read up on and understand what’s known as “money management” thoroughly before you set out–such as proper position sizing (not risking too much money on a given trade) and not selling your losers promply–an almost universal mistake among novice traders–and even pros who should (and do) know better. Good luck and happy trading!
Rating: 3 / 5
Packed with much information in an easy to read format. Contains a wealth of information on trends, charts, indicators and intermarket relationships. This is the book to get you on the road to learning visual analysis. Covers the basics in an easy to comprehend approach. It has a non-intimidating style unlike any other I have seen. This is the one to get you started on the road to successful T.A., or at least peak your interest in the subject. I highly recommend this to anyone with limited, or like me, no experience in tech. analysis, but wants to learn.
Rating: 5 / 5