I traded with Al 20 years ago so I wouldn't consider him a "new" anything. There is nothing particularly esoteric or obscure about his material but a thorough understanding of price behavior requires a significant volume of subject matter and study of such. What makes Al a dense study is A: He is not a gifted writer and B: He has not received much in the way of editorial support by Wiley and Sons. I can recommend without reservation the study of his work but it won't be an easy or fast study but learning to trade is not easy is it?
I meant my comment not in the sense that Hershey's approach to the market was anything like Brooks, but in the sense that new traders often get hooked by those posing as market gurus. And Jack was a model guru. The problem was that Jack's description of the market moves were based on an idealized model of the market that he dreamed up. He was a good writer, unlike Brooks, and what he wrote actually seemed to make sense as long as you knew very little about the stock market. The Market in reality, however, did not follow his model closely enough for anyone to make money over the long haul following his method, which was continually being re-invented and added to. He was obviously a very bright and creative guy, and I personally found him entertaining. But so far as I am aware, he was not able to make any money in the market. He had a few guys thoroughly hooked though. With regard to Brooks, I can confirm your remarks re his writing ability. I read, or tried to, his first book. I have thrown it out in the trash. When you say , "He has not received much in the way of editorial support by Wiley and Sons" , I would say that is a great understatement. The first book looked and read like it was a poor zerox copy on low quality paper of the authors submission to the publisher with out any publisher intervention whatsoever. Wiley used to be a respected publisher of technical books. Nowadays, when I see "Wiley" on a book , unless I know it to have received glowing reviews, I pass it up. Wiley is now a junk publisher. I don't know anything about Brooks' own trading record. I suspect he did reasonably well in bull markets, just like everyone, and lousy in bear and sideways markets, just like most. I have never seen anything related to his long term performance record, and I doubt such exists in the public record. Please correct me if I am wrong.
Looking for more Real Time Live Trading youtube sessions. Here's one done by Al Brooks - Al Brooks: Full Trading Room Recording for June 12, 2020 https://www.elitetrader.com/et/thre...-a-buck-thats-understood.365269/#post-5550929 If anybody has real time live trading youtube sessions, post em to the thread above. The pace and rhythm of the traders as they go through their day is informative. I've never looked at a Brooks book. I searched his acronym list once and saw page after page of initials for market situations. But watching the vid is fine for learning something about what the real Al Brooks is doing on a real chart in real time. Not a bunch of acronyms used. Worth a look by all means. Again, any sincere attempt you find by a trader who posts real time live trading youtube sessions is wanted. Post it up here: https://www.elitetrader.com/et/thre...-a-buck-thats-understood.365269/#post-5550929 If its got teachable content, whether the guy looses his ass or wins a bundle and all points in between, with sales pitch or no sales pitch, no problem either way as long as the vid is real time. Thanks.
I have no idea what Al's P&L might look like but I suspect it's healthy enough. The danger of following a "guru" is the belief that you will be given the "special sauce", strict rules to follow. Al does not teach a methodology but how to understand and recognize price behavior so one can formulate a trade plan of one's own. We are all different and each have their own unique way of trading. Most will fail regardless who their influences might be as they will not do the work necessary...either technically or behaviorally. Studying Al's work has upped my game materially. What it may do or not do for anyone else is up to them.....BTW, the video course is a lot easier to negotiate than the books.
His video series is much easier to digest than his books. @volpri's threads discuss his principals and applies them much to the chagrin of the perma-shade casters.
lol, JH was a hold and reverse trader, pulled money from the market in spades. If you couldn't decipher his methods or read annotated charts with the published logs of this trades that's more a reflection of the reader than Jack's capacity of a teacher or his desire to pay it forward. The only persistent mystery is why he would continue to post on ET when given so much salt & shade was thrown his way.
I know that there are some who claim they made money using Jack's "method". His preaching was sometimes as entertaining as a gospel tent on a Saturday night. Odd that Jack was apparently never able to cash in on his own "brilliance." I had him pegged as a smart, sincere lunatic who was a danger to new traders.