Net Trading Book

There is a comment early on in Alpesh Patel's superb Net Trading which neatly undercuts every hyped misconception about online trading held by the public and perpetuated by the media: "There is no more a secret to[it] than there is to buying books from Amazon ... The mechanics are relatively easy, the skill [is] knowing what to buy and when and then when to sell." The same progression can be seen in Patel's classic-in-waiting series of books. Where Trading Online concentrated on mastering the mechanism, Net Trading focuses on the systems, strategies, products and psychology essential to profitable trading.Stocks, futures and options are Patel's products of choice--all accessible to the average investor and with similar risk profiles--and Section three's extensive Online Trader Strategies guide is one of the highlights of the book. Patel is a technical analysis man and his lucid account of Japanese Candlesticks and Bollinger Bands, to name but two, will win many new converts to the joys of charting in predicting price action. His work on trading systems is essential reading. Only the shorter section on psychology disappoints, lacking the depth of earlier chapters. Patel has already written extensively on the subject (see Mind of a Trader) which perhaps explains the somewhat glossed version we have here. Buy and hold investors beware; Net Trading is not for you. The author's passion is for rapid-fire dealing in the short to medium term, including day trading (see the excellent Section 4, complete with warning stamp). Stressful, yes, risky, yes, but as he states with characteristic exuberance, "Great! I can have a whale of a time in my Ferrari--when I've lost all my hair and incontinence and impotence are a nightly fear." It's enough to send Buffett disciples spluttering into their cherry coke.Net Trading has an easy charm and assured delivery which will benefit beginners and experienced online traders alike. It is embellished throughout with the kind of detail that made Trading Online such a great read. Patel cuts and pastes snippets from online chat rooms and mixes it up with expert advice from the likes of Jon Najarian and Bernard Oppetit. He is encyclopedic in his guide to the best online trading sites and brokers. If Net Trading is any indication of the quality we can expect from the nascent FT.com book imprint, the future is bright indeed. --Iain CampbellRead More