Mastering The Trade: Proven Techniques for Profiting from Intraday and Swing Trading Setups

It took me almost three weeks of persistent nightly (extended hours) and weekend intense reading to complete this book. Why? Because I read it three times, it was that instructive and thorough. Mr Carter's writing style is absolutely fantastic, balancing wit and humor with big, important teachable moments. This book is full of real-time actual trading set ups and examples of simple (but not easy) methodologies for technical analysis entries and exits in the e-minis, futures and simple stock options.What separates "Mastering the Trade" from the rest of the trading books in the vast literary ocean (and I have recently read at least 30 different books on everything trading), is Mr. Carter's ability to encourage the reader to think so far beyond the specific setups. There are many books on setups that are boring and provoke no further thought than the technical execution of the trade. "Mastering the Trade" is the PERFECT title for this book, and this is why I read it three times, I did not want to miss critical information, and spent valuable time recreating many of the tracking and maintenance systems presented.Mr. Carter makes clear that, although his setups are excellent and time-tested, any trader can still blow-out his/her account without understanding and utilizing all of the other pillars supporting a complete trading business plan (excellent examples also included). This book is by far a book that I will return to continuously to keep focused and on the path to successful trading. If you follow the strict guidelines in this book, you will greatly increase your chances of becoming more successful in your trading.I am a real trader (amateur, but improving rapidly) that recognized many of the bad traits of the unsuccessful trader in myself (being brutally honest), and discovered actual measurable means to track and overcome these bad traits. Before stating some actual winning trades as a result of this book, I want to state that the BIGGEST win was not a winning trade at all. It was the recognition of my over trading and other faults, and the realization that sometimes the best trade is the trade not taken! Read this book carefully and I promise you will find fault in your trading, if you are honest with yourself. From this realization your trading will improve.Regarding my trading, I have cut my trade frequency to about half of the velocity traded prior to reading this book, yet my ROI is now higher. I take my losing trades with a better attitude and feel much less stress during any trade. On one specific trade that benefited from the knowledge gained from this book, I tweaked my option strategy based on the simple call or put buying based on the "internals" and other indicators fully explained in the book. I recently purchased 20 ITM, -70 delta put contracts at $2.20 based on a specific setup from the book. As of today, the puts are marked at $6.20 and are at a -88 delta, and have about 50 days of extrinsic value remaining. You do the math...prior to this book I likely would have purchased the OTM puts and would be lamenting my poor return or loss.This book is highly recommended...

There are "2" editions of this book, the second one is basically a revision of the original version and John has added more content as well as updated previous trading concepts as they apply to current day market conditions.Every trader should budget for their own personal trading library. I tell you this so you better understand why we continue buying books on the subject. My own library can be separated in "3" categories, Market behavior which includes internals; Setups to trade which outline market conditions and RULES for entry and exit; the third and also my favorite is actual Trader stories where individuals share the events of their journey whether it be successful or not. John's first and second editions cover all three of these categories."Mastering the Trade" has a lot of focus on FUTURES trading and when I bought the first edition I didn't even know what futures trading was. At the time, I had been trading stocks for the better part of ten years. Within 90 days of reading the first edition, I opened a futures account and that was one of the best decisions I every made.The question you are probably asking yourself is "Will this book make me a SUCCESSFUL trader ?" Unfortunately, that's not a fair question to ask if you're considering the purchase of any book on trading. You have NO Downside to reading the book if you buy it from Amazon, after all you can return it within their guidelines for a full refund if you're not satisfied.Here's the #1 reason John Carter and his first book made a significant impact with me, John takes the time to explain the value of disversification with futures, stocks and options. While you may not have the account size to really take advantage of John's methods, that doesn't mean you can't mirror his actions on a scale that is comfortable for you.I LOVE humor and John has a great writing style that often makes me laugh. Think of this book as a way to listen to John's personal trading story and his evolvement. You can also go to youtube and watch many of John Carter's live trades in action.This book has something for every trader, regardless of experience or knowledge. Reading this book will not necessarily make you an instant success, but reading a book on how to hit a golf ball from Tiger Woods doesn't mean you'll be on tour with a winning streak next year either.Every TRADER eventually learns one thing about TRADING, success or failure starts and ends with their own actions, not the lessons taught or material presented in a trading manual.In closing I want to say, "Thanks John" and to those of you taking the time to read my review, I wish you a GREAT Trading Journey!TimP.S. - STOP lugging books around, I'm now a Kindle fan and I can read my collection from a pc, iPad, Kindle or Android device. THANKS a MILLION to Amazon !