Reminiscenses is certainly essential reading and I agree that some do just "get it". But for those dealing with limited capital (or a lower risk tolerance) the bar by bar approach is far from nonsense. It can -- and does -- help a number of traders who need an intraday approach as a starting point even if they eventually look to ride major moves for months and even years as Livermore advises.
His methods are not very complicated. Its a dense subject and he isnt the best writer. So I had to read passages in his book several times before concepts started clicking, so what. I had to do the same with my organic chemistry textbook, now I realize how straightforward a lot of those concepts that once seemed so foreign are. Nothing in life worth a shit will ever be handed to you on a fancy platter, all the cool stuff takes hard work. And bar-by-bar isnt nonsense, its just a framework to put price activity in context. He didnt invent it, thats just what he called it for the sake of his book.
Tommy, The basic PA techniques open a door to profitability, but I encourage you to let the advanced nuanced trading come gradually with time, adding each tactic to your arsenal one at a time with fixed rules, otherwise you may start over-thinking the simple stuff and that is the bread and butter of trading. Thanks for your kind words and all the best to you as well! Mr. Brooks definitely took 10,000 hours of screen time and handed us the full buffet, but there's no need to use everything all at once, or maybe ever. I started out with the pure basics he covers such as how to enter a trend on pullbacks, and how to take advantage of price reactions to support and resistance. Later I came to recognize and understand many of the more arcane concepts such as traps, failed failures, trend consolidation vs trend reversal, and use of smaller time frames to enter a strong trend in progress or add to a winner. (The idea of entering a position in the direction of a move that is already well underway was totally counter-intuitive to me; now those trades are like a security blanket to me.) I came to understand Brooks' advanced concepts not by reading about them - I didn't get them at all and it really did seem like nonsense at the time - but after finding myself on the the wrong side of these setups a few times, or by getting frustrated by a couple whipsaws and taking a break instead of staying focused, thereby missing the most profitable move of the day, I suddenly had the moments of clarity. When I read his book this year, two years after I initially worked my way through part of it, I fully understood it, and I can assure anyone here that careful study of it combined with focused study at the hard right edge will give you everything you need to be consistently profitable in much less time and at much less cost than trying to do it on your own.
I could not agree more !!!! When I finally got his book it took me almost a full year of studying everyday to figure out what he is teaching ! (and I already had several years of trading experience) My personal results are fantastic ! As you said NoD GOLDEN just beyond belief what you can do with his "price action concepts"........but I am not surprised at all by all the negative posts here.....most of the clowns on this site think you should be able to pickup a book and read in a day or two and make millions...and if you don't it's a scam ! In his books Al Brooks says very clearly that he wrote the books for the "Professional Trader" people who already know how to trade . Someone who has never traded or who is new to trading.....these books are so far beyond them.....I honestly feel sorry for them....because MOST cannot or will not be able to devote the thousands of hours it will take to figure this stuff out ! Any methodology that could be learned in a few hours is obviously going to be limited....and give you limited results....it cannot be any other way period ! A strong and very profitable methodology with a high win % is going to have to be hard to learn...hard to master...if it wasn't everyone would be doing it and everyone would be rich ! Just common sense ! The negative posts here are most likely from losers who are looking for the easy way to big money...with little work......and are bitter now as reality settles in that there is no "easy money" in ANY profession !!!!
Just wondering if any of you have read the new books: Trading Price Action Trading Ranges, Trading Price Action Reversals, Trading Price Action Trends. I hear they're edited better. Sorry if you already discussed this. Just back on ET here after a break. I saw the other thread, but just wondering anyone's take from this thread.
Here's the other forum on the new book. http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=233868
Very nice and thanks for keeping my enthusiasm alive . I just have finished some parts of VSA and anticipating Brooks book to compliment VSA.