Futures for Small Speculators

Rating:
Summary: I'm a beginner and I liked it
Review: Futures, options, derivatives have all been subjects I was afraid of learning about. I thought they were complex and impossible to get a handle on. When I decided that this might be an investment for me- I researched and stumbled across this book.

It was clear and concise. The author emphasized in the intro that this book was supposed to be a supplement to any system I may already be trading and that it was his practical wisdom from being in the business for 10 years, both as a traded and broker.

I took his statements at face value and was not disappointed! I was delighted at the simplicity of the ideas he presented and the concept of trading with a plan really changed my thinking. I liked the book and will be checking out his other books.

Rating:
Summary: I'm a beginner and I liked it
Review: One of the thinnest publications I've ever seen. Completely useless. You could get more information from a brief web search or from the CME and CBOT. Pathetic.

Rating:
Summary: Not Worth The Paper It's Printed On
Review: One of the thinnest publications I've ever seen. Completely useless. You could get more information from a brief web search or from the CME and CBOT. Pathetic.

Rating:
Summary: Great book...went very well with the companion books.
Review: Someone here called this book a joke, and I couldn't agree more. If you find this book useful, do not even think of trading futures, as you would be too naive to do so.
This should not be even called a book, it's rather a booklet. The information presented on a level of a seventh grader. I bought this, browsed it for 30 minutes, and returned it the same day. Then (for $0.75!) I bought a used book by Todd Lofton "Getting started in Futures" here on Amazon.
It has 50 times more information, and would be really useful for beginners in futures.

Rating:
Summary: A very informative and insightful book.
Review: Up until now many of the books I have read about futures and options investing have glossed over what it takes to succeed at futures.

So many of them waste your time talking about the history of futures. They also get bogged down with the mechanics. For someone who has traded before it can be frustrating to go through 100 pages of fluff just to get to the author's point.

Not so with this book. From the introduction on he keeps it brief and to the point. He also spells out his mission of wanting to see the small speculator succeed by giving you concrete tools. He talks of three a "Futures Trading Plan" a "Futures Trading Worksheet" and finally a "Futures Trading Journal".

He gives you ideas on how to modify these three tools to fit your trading style. He also points out that not every futures broker should be a futures broker. I can attest to that.

Even though it's a small book I found it big on information. So I bought "Futures For Small Speculators: Workbook" and I was even further impressed. This book is based on a 8.5" x 11" format and has the three tools mentioned above layed out bare. There is a Futures Trading Plan questionnaire to photocopy and fill out, there is an actual Trading Worksheet to use, and built into the guide is a Futures Trading Journal.

Great stuff here. It will definitely add to how you discipline yourself to trade the markets.