Reading Price Charts Bar by Bar: The Technical Analysis of Price Action for the Serious Trader (Wiley Trading, Book 416)

I am a full-time trader, and have been for well over 10 years. I will not write in great detail about this book, but just want to share some general impressions and reactions to a few of the other reviews.First of all, this is a difficult book to read. One reason is simply that there is so much information in the book, and all of it is important. It really is necessary to read the book 2-3 times, taking notes, and taking notes on the charts. Consider this book to be an advanced course in trading (more than chart reading).On that same thought, I think this would be an enormously difficult book for someone new to trading. If you do not have a good understanding of the basics of traditional technical analysis (Wyckoff, Edwards and McGee or Murphy, maybe the Schwager book on Technical Analysis) then I cannot imagine that this book will be productive for you. You would be better spent putting in the serious (probably more than a year) time needed to get a good background, and then come here. I think this book will also be of limited utility for someone who has not traded and maybe even who has not traded actively. If you make a few decisions a year in your Ameritrade account, there is still value in this book for you, but you are not the target audience.There is no magic method or guru to be followed in this book. This is a profound book that deals with applying sound fundamentals to market action. Some (much) of the analysis is subjective and flexible, but that is the nature of real time trading -- it often is possible to read any given moment in 4-5 different ways. Because this book makes an effort to show you the thought process of trading, it appears needlessly thick to some reviewers who have suggested that more simple examples are needed. I disagree. If you go through the examples in this book 4-5 times each you will only have the entry level understanding necessary to start learning from the live market. This is not the fault of the author by any means -- he has actually done an exceptional job of presenting the information you need to trade profitably.There are two legitimate production issues with the book. The first is that the charts are tiny, but Wiley makes the chart graphics available from their website for free. You would be well advised to download all the graphics files there and print them out or study on your screen. For my own learning, I found annotating printed versions of the chart by hand to be very useful.The second is the issue that the book introduces concepts in the wrong order. Frankly, I agreed on my first read through and was fairly lost because I didn't understand the author's labeling system or some of his unique terminology. I would recommend skimming the entire book, then starting over and referring to the glossary frequently on your second read through. A second edition would benefit from a brief first chapter "primer" to introduce concepts like H1, H2, etc. (Another aside, don't get too caught up in labeling H1 and H2 bars!)Lastly, some reviewers have been critical of the writing style. I completely disagree. It is obvious that the writer has a technical writing background and the actual quality of writing is head and shoulders above most trading books.In short, this is a fantastic book. Certainly one of the best trading books I have read in a long time, but this is a book that demands you study it and study it again. Not a book for new traders and not a book to be read casually.

....and I've read a lot of them. The criticisms I read on the reviews indicated that this was a poorly written book. It is not a poorly written book but it is a difficult book. This is not a breezy non-fiction book. Rather it is a detailed complex tome on a complicated subject. If I were to equate it to anything it would be akin to an advanced degree level treatise in engineering or pyschology. It is definitely not a beginner's book. Part of the difficulty some may have is that Mr. Brooks is writing on a subject that is not widely covered thus those having difficulty may be treading new territory with old expectations in terms of form and concept. Don't get me wrong, I am one of those folks having difficulty, I just appreciate that, like the old Prego commercials: it's in there. I am on my third reading. I can say that there is a 75% chance I could randomly turn to any page and it would be covered with highlighting - not just a little but covered. I think I have absorbed maybe 10-15%. But this book is different, maybe because the subject is approached differently. I am thoroughly studying this book to know it, as an architect wants to know forces. There are many paragraphs I have read 4-5 times and not understood, some I've even given up on knowing the pieces will fit when I understand other principles. Numerous times I have reread and the light has gone on...(for example the concept of trapping traders as a critical trend mechanism). It is in these moments that had I not intuitively felt this book was "it" I would have abandoned the book myself as poorly written. But after the light has gone off and I have re-read what was difficult, that difficulty was not in the writing but in the subject matter itself.My only criticism is that I wish Mr. Brooks had listed some of the writers that helped him get to this point. Having seriously studied technical analysis for 4-5 years I am bitten by price action analysis and would like to have more on the subject. I think this book will take me there but when most folks curl up and read a murder mystery or sci-fi, history or romance - I grab pring, murphy, carter, covell, ponsi, o'brien, etc. My entertaining reading is now going to be difficult because Mr. Brooks has crushed my favorite genre and the writing seems to be thin in this fascinating genre. It feels like having read Tolkien or heard Joe Pass play guitar the first time waaaay back there. It's fantastic...and I want more and I fear nothing will come close.

Indeed one of the Best Books for day trading and not only ... with comprehensive knowledge.Very good and detailed explanations with examples of charts that help to understad How to Read Charts and do Technical Analysis like a pro.The language is well written to understand, not easy due to the topic (sometimes will make you sleepy after reading 3 - 4 pages) but at the same time everyone with some basic knowledge about trading can read it.A must have book for every trader.

In terms of technical analysis the content is really good, but it terms of reading is too bad. This book is not for beginners, is for traders with some experience in trading. But when you buy a book to read is to learn a concept or concepts, the problem of this book is that is very bad structurated, i mean, since the beginning there are lot of concepts without a visual explanation, so if you are trying to learn something new is difficult and you have to read twice, three, four times.... and also is words after words, no underline, bullet point etc... so is very difficult to interiorize the concepts. But hey, he is a trader, no a writter, in terms of trading is a really good book, but you need to read more than one or twice.

This is the top book on reading price action and understanding Technical Analysis of today's institutions.But the quality of the print is bad, as it seems for every new Wiley book sold.The print is advertised as a hardcover, where actually it is not, its a paperback (gluebonded) inside a fake carton cover.In the first page it says "Printed in the United States of America" and "Printed on Acid free paper" where in the last page it is written "Print and bound by CPI Group (UK)".The paper used for this print is cheap copy machine paper.First picture is the book for sale new, second picture is the actual book by Al Brooks printed in the United States of America.

People complain that Al Brooks is a "bad" writer. Al Brooks is a precise writer. He is a former eye surgeon who approaches chart price action with the same attention to detail. As I "live" his writing in my trading, I can reread his book and discover every piece of information he's giving is exact in detail to specific and recurring chart scenarios. The point is 99% of successful traders WOULD NOT write a book because it is more profitable to spend that time trading instead of composing a book. Al Brooks is different. He has written the book. This work is different because nothing is dumbed down or simplified to the point of a sale pitch. It's raw teaching that gets richer with time as a book.

O livro(conteúdo) e o autor dispensam qualquer tipo de comentário. Não foi por acaso que ambos e sua filosofia de leitura gráfica são talvez a maior referência atual de Price Action. Se você quer ter aprender a alma da leitura de preço esse é o primeiro livro que deveria ler. Não há qualquer tipo de “porém” quanto a esse aspecto, exceto por ser um conhecimento extremamente metódico e minucioso, para não dizer cirúrgico, a se aprender. É um livro para quem tem gosto na área.No entanto, infelizmente todo esse sabedoria não teve devido reconhecimento se comparado com a qualidade do papel das páginas . Por ser um livro de conhecimento para vida toda, as folhas deveriam ser pelo menos semelhantes às outras dos 3 livros referência do autor. O que não acontece. São folhas fracas, como se fossem oriundas de reciclagem de papel. O que acaba dificultando a marcação para estudo e maior durabilidade do material para consultas do dia a dia.A editora e a Amazon poderiam rever esse problema porque quem compra esse tipo de livro, não está atrás de apenas uma leitura casual ou uma leitura de curiosidade.

Very happy with this book! Recommend