Monday, May 13, 2013

Markets in Profile: Profiting from the Auction Process 1st edition, James F. Dalton



First: if you are looking for a book to give you some magical system to trade this isn't your answer (that doesn't exist by the way). If anyone is left reading this then I highly recommend this book as well as his other book, mind over markets. It's going to give you a pair of glasses with which to look at the market in a completely different and objective way. It's also very easy and interesting to read. Your success as a trader will ultimately depend on what goes on in your head but this book will give you the structure to help take care of the other stuff.

I read the first book "MIND OVER MARKETS" about 10 times till I finally got it. But after reading this book once I can honestly say it was the missing link. Now I understand completely about market profile. These authors are absolute geniuses in their own right. By far these books are the best to understand markets and prosper from them. This is an absolute MUST READ for anyone who wants to be an Expert Trader.

It's been noted in other reviews of this book that you should read Mind Over Markets first. This book is a bit more theory than Dalton's original, but very valuable. The concepts of knowing your timeframe have helped my trading tremendously. A worthy addition to any MP practitioners library.

People giving feedback on amazon are sometimes very stupid. This review gets negative feedback and the other book by the same authors that I liked gets positive feedback. In my mind it is useful information to know which books not to buy. I guess it could be the two authors amusing themselves by trashing negative reviews. Having said this, I think readers should be sceptical about the other book as well. I probably was too kind in my review of that book (see here Mind over Markets: Power Trading With Market Generated Information)

This is a very tedious book. The key problem is that I don't see much new information compared to the authors' decade-old "Mind over Markets". I have given that book four stars. I would strongly advice you to buy that earlier book and give this book a pass. The style of writing in the book is also very meandering compared to the earlier book. And nowhere does the authors explain how this book relates to their earlier book. Why publish two books on the same theme without telling the reader what can be expected from each book?

I have written several short reviews on trading books. The best way is to compare the score on the books I've read. Many reviews on amazon.com are just glorious 5 star reviews. I use all five categories; sorry but everything isn't "great". Books rated 1 or 2 I would not recommend buying. Books rated 4 are good solid books. Books rated 5 are very good. Naturally all in my humble opinion.

I have a big libray and Dalton books are the best for daytrader and swingtrader but to get all the edge from the books you must have experience in the market.
The best book in my libary was "The master swing trader" by Alan S. Farley.and befor that when I started my way in trading the best was "High probababilty trading" by Marcel Link.

I`m a scalper, and I used to trade with no previous day homework and just relying on my intuition. But since I hit a pretty huge drawdawn, I started to study and learn about, what's actually driving the market and why. This book gave me tons of useful ideas and strategies, improving my skills substantiously in actual trading. It might not be a book that teaches u how to make trillons of dollars, but I think it is essential for a trader who whants a constant result and equity curve. Strongly reccommended.

This book is a waste of money but more importantly it is a waste of life. There is very little in this book that is of any consequence in a trader's quest to better his/her performance.

The book describes different time frames that buyers are in and basically adds an element of volume to common technical indicators to reach very vague and basic conclusions.

The other reviewers must be affiliated or friends of the author because this book does not deserve any stars at all.

I bought this book based on the 5 star ratings in amazon. After reading to about halfway through, I was already questioning why it was rated so high.

If you do not have market profile charting, then this book will NOT help you very much in finding a platform that does have it. The author does make 2 references in the acknowledgements section to CQG and WINdoTRADEr. Most of the chart examples throughout the book are from these references. It would have been nice if he included at least a reference to the CBOT site to at least get an overview and different vendors that have market profile charting - [...]
Not having market profile charting in your current trading platform does make it a little difficult to relate the author's case to your trading, especially when most of the book is based on them.

IF you have market profile charting, are highly analytical and wish to learn how to use market profiling to your advantage then you can benefit from this book.

I personally do not like the fact that quite a few of the charts he does reference have no time frames (including the bar charts). It makes it more difficult to verify the material the author is presenting.

Overall the content is good, but I would have difficult integrating it into my trading style as it may conflict with the trade decision process I already use.

I am a fan of the Dalton (and Jones) Gang. See my review of their other superb work, Mind Over Markets.

I am not an author, like some of the reviewers here. I am a trader. We are all aware of the favorable reviews that authors often provide one another, however, these 5 star ratings are legitimate. Rest assured.

Simply, Markets in Profile is an essential addition to a trader's library. Read it, and read it often. I will likely consume the entire text every year. It is that valuable. This will become, if it is not already, a classic, not only in the field of Market Profile, but for trading in general.

I use concepts from Market Profile in my trading every day. With these concepts I am able to determine mundane things like, support/resistance areas, something I call price level magnets, i.e., areas of price that will be revisited during the trading day, and overnight trading strategies for the futures contracts that I trade. But more importantly, given the current day's profile, and profiles from the past several days, it is when price does NOT perform as expected that can lead to some of the largest profits.

No other author has produced the quality of work that is presented here, as it relates to MP. The discussion of the three time frame participants and their styles is required reading for understanding the financial markets. Each time frame player has an agenda. The authors do an excellent job describing how to identify their activity, and more.

I could write more in praise of this fine work, but others have provided a volume of commentary that may be unsurpassed for review of a book about trading.

My advice is to read this book, and read reviews written by traders who trade every day (and Brett Steenbarger, he is a wonderful author too).

At only 200 pages, Markets in Profile isn't exactly a hefty tome. Don't let its length deceive you, though. This is an intellectual book which incorporates a fairly wide array of topics, including some common academic theories, in to the mix. While there are loads of graphics included to provide visual examples in support of the text, which serves to cut down the actual amount of textual content, do not expect to breeze through this book in an afternoon sitting. It delves in to the heart of trading in a way that will force you to examine how you approach the markets.

One of the things that most, if not all of us forget when we're analyzing and trading the markets is exactly what's going on. We see the movement of prices and fail to remember what is really happening to create that price movement. That's the auction process. To quote the authors, "... price and volume move over time to facilitate trade in the pursuit of value."

A great deal of effort is expended by market participants to determine value. Fundamental stock market analysts spend hour upon hour trying to come up with a figure that represents the worth of a company based on earnings, book value, and other factors. That is all fine and good, but it is the market, in the end, which defines value. And it does so on a running basis.

The problem we market participants have is that we focus too much on price, which the authors indicate is merely the advertising side of the auction process. They demonstrate how price is just a way for the market to seek value. There's an important distinction here. Price is not value. It is just a way for the market to find value, which is defined as the price area where volume is generated because buyers and sellers meet in agreement.

To help us understand that process, the authors use some easily understood examples to define the basic mechanisms of the financial markets. They are the same as in other markets, after all. The process might operate faster and on a broader scale, but otherwise it is the same. Sellers are trying to recieve the highest possible value in the sales price, while buyers are trying to minimize the price they pay in relation to the value the expect to recieve. When there is disagreement between the two, little trading takes place. When they agree, lots of trading happens. It doesn't matter if the product is automobiles, banannas, or stocks.

About the first half of Markets in Profile is laying the kind of mental groundwork needed for really getting in to the analytic method known as Market Profile. Market Profile is the technique the authors use to identify the levels where the market has found value and when the market is in search of value. It is an approach first developed by Peter Steidlmayer (see Steidlmayer on Markets) at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) for the futures market, and which they spent considerable time defining and outlining in their previous book, Mind Over Markets.

On the surface, Market Profile appears to be just another way to present price history in graphic form. The authors, however, demonstrate how the Market Profile distribution patterns put "market-generated information" to excellent use in identifying value and the market's pursuit of it.

Using numerous examples, the authors explain in detail the ways Market Profile can be used to identify what they refer to as "asymmetric opportunities". These are market set-ups where not only do the odds more favor a move in one particular direction, but the situation is such that a move in that direction is likely to be substantially larger than were the market to go the other way. Think of it as you would a trading system that has a win rate incess of 50% and a high average winner to average loser ratio. That's a pretty good combination!

This is a book that can make a huge difference in the way you look at the markets, and by extention, the way you trade, but only if you let it. The authors challenge quite a few elements of trading. Some readers may put up walls where that happens. The open-minded reader, though, will find themself thinking along completely new paths and gaining massive insights in to the way they see price action.

(For the record, years ago, when I was a professional analyst focusing on the futures market, I used Market Profile extensively and with considerable success. In the intervening years I fell away from it when I shifted market focus, but I'm now making a move back.)

Product Details :
Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (February 16, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0470039094
ISBN-13: 978-0470039090
Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 0.8 x 9.4 inches

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