Trading Price Action Trends: Technical Analysis of Price Charts Bar by Bar for the Serious Trader

I read Al's first book, "Reading Price Charts Bar by Bar", and found it different from any other trading book I have ever read. It gave me a different view point in how to approach day trading futures. Indeed, it was wordy and hard to follow. In fact, a trader who has limited experience at day trading will give up after the first few chapters. Al is not a great writer but I appreciate the effort he has made to impart his knowledge that he has gained over the past 20+ years. Most successful traders whouldn't take the time to write a book about how they trade, let alone, willing to rewrite the book two years later to clear up reader critiques. Al didn't write this book to stroke his ego. I believe his motivation is strickly to give back.What's so special about this book and the other two of this series? To me, it is the final summarization of my day trading education, I have concentrated my time (around 10,000 hours) over the past four years to be a successful day trader. All of us know how hard day trading is. As a retired successful entrepreneur, with a BS in EE and an MBA from one of the top five schools, I find this to be the hardest undertaking I've ever gone through. Al gives you the critical insights to predict what may happen on the right side of your screen as the day unfolds. Ive been a member of four ES futures trading rooms and learned alot from each one of them. I no longer use a trading room. I am able to successfully identify and execute my setups without the confusion that often occurs in trading rooms. One minute their scalping short and then long a few minutes later. His teachings are very repeative and detailed, but that is what it takes to understand and retain the knowledge he imparts. If you have limited experience in day trading, you will be lost, but if you have a few years under your belt you will recognize that what Al is explaining makes a lot of sense. For me confidence has been the most difficult characteristic for me to master. Without confidence you will miss your setups or enter too late. Remember you must enter without fear everytime your setup appears. You can't cherry pick your entries. If your setup has proven successful overtime when you backtested or traded it on the simulator, you must enter all the setups in live trading. Al gives you detailed knowledge on defining your setups, techniques to enter trades and trade exits. Probably the best guideline I've received is that most moves have two legs. I knew that before, but Al saying it made me focus on it while I'm in a trade.I've read two of his new books, "Trends" and "Reversals", both are fabulous. Yes they are easier to read than the first, better organized but still wordy which is okay, helps the learning process. Definitions of his terms are in the front of each book, a big help. At the end of "Reversals", Chapter 25, he gives 78 suggested guidelines, excellent.There is no shortcut to being a successsful day trader. Years of experience is the key, but Al Brooks has provided a guidebook to potentially get you there in the shortest time and at the least cost. Thank you Al, you are my hero!

I tried reading the original "Trading bar by bar" book but quit after the first chapter. I then learned that he was going to publish a second book and waited a year for this second edition. The wait has paid off.The book is much easier to read. The big difference between the first and the second edition: in the original book the sentences were paragraph long and very difficult to understand. In the second edition the sentences are much shorter and to the point. I have already read half of the book but it is still a very slow read.I have also been following Al's commentary on his website and find that this new book will speed up my learning process a lot.What I like about this book:1. the introduction explains how the books are to be read and gives a quick outline of the books2. the font is big and paper is white and of good quality3. list of terms is at the beginning of the book4. the book is split into 4 parts and 26 chapters. That means that each chapter can be read in 1-3 days rather than a week.5. charts are bigger and clearer. Lots of empty space after each chart so that you can make your own comments.6. There is "deeper discussion of the chart" that follows simple analysis for those who want deeper analysis of the charts.7. it is much easier to follow Al's reasoning now and what he is trying to say8. the content is priceless!What I don't like:1. I wish there was a summary at the end of each book2. Would be a good idea is there were exercises or questions at the end of each chapter so that readers could test their knowledge3. It would be nice if the beginning of each chapter he put the goal, i.e. what he will be writing about in this chapter and why (i.e. the purpose of this chapter is to explain what reversal bars are and how one can spot them")4. Sometimes I find myself wondering "what have i just read", meaning it is still difficult to grasp the meaning/essence of what Al is trying to say5. Al introduces terms at the beginning of the book that are to be explained later. I understand that sometimes it is necessary but it slows down my reading tremendouslyTo summarize, it is one of the best books on trading I have read. It is still difficult to read but if you can invest the time required to study the books, I am sure it will pay off.I have been trading using different strategy but have already found myself been able to correctly interpret price action and "predict" what will happen. This alone is worth a lot!!!12 January: just finished reading the first book. I know I am a slow reader when it comes to technical material. The last part of the book is especially useful. Al Brooks describes in detail different types of trends. He gives quick summary (characteristics of a particular trend) at the beginning of each chapter. These summaries are extremely useful and well analyzed. He explains entries and exits, looks at trades from a perspective of a bull and then a bear and really makes you think about the mechanics of each trade in the trend.Love the book. Will be re-reading it again and again.