Van K Tharp - Trade your way to Financial Freedom.

Well I gotta say it .... this has to be the best share book I ever read.

If you are new to trading, or old to trading and just not making the returns you think you should (40% P.A. PLUS) then this IMHO is a must read.

Now - I have read widely and extensively, and never have all the important stuff come together in one book. It doesnt explain everything to the minutest detail - it doesnt have to. It gives you the knowledge on how to do it for yourself. And then references if you need to delve deeper.

Now ANYTIME that ANYONE discusses share strategies it is soooo easy to see wether they have a chance in the market.

EG ... everyone always focuses on their entry signals. MACD, Stochastics, Bollingers, etc etc. It all sounds so good and easy.

But after reading this book you now know that this is a MINOR part of a trading system. Often these things are less important than if you just used a RANDOM entry.

Why?

Cos now we know that a system is comprised of Setups, Entries, Stops, Exits, and most importantly Position Sizing.

You learn to evaluate your PSYCHOLOGICAL needs - allowing you to recognise wether you have the mental fortitude to actually follow through and trade a certain trading style/system - and what the expectancy of the system is. Which is WAY more important than entry signals.

You start evaluating systems themselves in terms like %winners, equity curves, max drawdowns, expectancy, opportunity etc etc.

Somehow I always knew intuitively that certain systems appealed to my psychological makeup. Now I finally understand WHY. And it is dead on.

T.