Reading Price Charts Bar by Bar: The Technical Analysis of Price Action for the Serious Trader

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.

Very difficult and technical but essential to the serious day trader. It took me months and months to read this book in full. I will probably have to read it again sometime in the future however I do recommend it to the trader seeking knowledgeable on Price Action.