Rating: 
Summary: Misleading title, lacking actual mechanics of MM trading
Review: Although this book contains useful techniques to increase the novice trader's knowledge about trading, no market maker techniques and strategies are actually even mentioned in the book. In markets such as the NYSE, AMEX, etc. specialists (market makers) are privileged with the knowledge of every single order that comes across for the securities that they are trading. These specialists are then able to use this "information" to trade profitably. A recent WSJ article (March 2001) reports that specialists on the floor of the NYSE are making more money than EVER. On the NASDAQ, market makers use Level II and Level III "information" to make profitable trades. It is widely believed that 95% of market makers NEVER lose money and that 95% of individual investors (wannabe traders) ALWAYS lose money. So what does that mean? Trading is a zero sum game, somebody has to lose (YOU), and somebody has to win (MMs). This book should have talked more about how to trade (and win!) like a market maker, and not about old moving averages, macd, and what nonsense that individual investors (wannabe traders) use to lose money day in and day out. Market makers actually use ma's macd's and other technical signals to find out what the ignorant public is likely to do and use that information to trap and make money off of them. They know where the public puts stop orders, so they'll find an opportunity to dump/short stock, temporarily triggering sell pressure, then accumulate shares as the price drops to cover their shorts. Of course MMs use many other strategies to make money (that I don't know of), but this is an example of the mechanics of trading as an MM and this is their "edge". As none of this crucial information is even mentioned in the book, I feel three stars is actually quite generous.
Rating: 
Summary: The edge you've been looking for!
Review: How can you trade in these vicious markets without knowing who your true opponent is? You can't!Yet so many retail traders have been flying blind and wondering why they can't figure the markets out. My hat is off to Mr.Lukeman. I don't believe he is very popular among his peers right now. He is ripped the curtain from in front of the wizard and those retail traders that are savvy will find the chinks in the marke maker's armor. This is a revival in the thrill of trading that you rarely see. Grab this book and put it with you favorite systems book and your favorite money management book and tell your account to hang on to it's hat. You will feel energized and invigorated at this new perspective.
Rating: 
Summary: Reading level 2 is a pretty tough task
Review: I have to say that as far as day trading is concerned, reading the time & sales is easier and works better, at least for me. I bought this book just because I wanted to master better the level 2 reading, and it helped, although I admit that this book is somewhat incomplete. Reasonably you can't expect market makers to divulge all about their methods and tactics, like how they work big trend-setting institutional orders not letting other market's participants notice it, how to spot a headfake and the like. I get the feeling that the authors, like other market makers, haven't really spilled the beans. But that's okay, cause I didn't expect them to. The book that covers all about trading is still to appear, so buying a bunch of books that almost cover it all is fine by me. I have resigned myself to this idea now. Anyway I'd like to learn some more on level 2 especially, as I wasn't much interested in other chapters, whether it was technicals or fundamentals. Let's hope that the Lukemans or someone else will provide us with more information in future books about market makers and their tricks of the trade.
Rating:
Summary: Learn the mind of a market maker
Review: I really liked this book, but I had to ignore significant portions of it to do so. If you parse the new age inspired psychological section and the tepid discussion of technical indicators that are anecdotal in nature and unsupported by research (I have been spoiled by "trading classic chart patterns" and "practical speculation"), then you might like it too. While it may be unfair to compare this book to the others since this book predates them, I will be forever testing what I read by those standards. I really value his anecdotal explanation of what he did as a market maker and how he traded. I think there is real value to know the mind of the market makers that have to make a living in the market everyday by accepting risk. If you can rework your trading to trade WITH the order flow that market makers have on their desk, it will be a much easier ride. Obviously, there is no way for a third party to exactly know what is on a market makers desk, it may be interpolated from their actions. This book provides a perspective that I have not found in other trading books.
Rating:
Summary: Informative book
Review: I thought this was an excellent read to for someone like myself who admittedly is just getting started in daytrading. It covers a lot of ground and educated me to among other things, Japanese candlestick charts, how market makers work a big institutional order, how to use oscillators against a price chart, scaled entry and exit techniques. It also continually harps on the need to listen and follow the market rather than try to outguess it. Perhaps to battle hardened trading veterans this is old news, but for someone in my shoes you can learn a lot from this book. I also like his "keep it simple" attitude and the idea the best traders don't get lost in all the data overload, they just execute well on some fairly simple basics. The book is actually not so much about market makers as it is on developing the skills & knowledge base needed to be a sucessful daytrader, so I would have to say it is somewhat mistitled.
Rating: 
Summary: A Bad Investment
Review: I was hoping to get the inside scoop on how the robber barons, I mean market makers, colluded in nefarious activities to rip off the public. I expected chapters on payment for order flow, trading ahead of large customer orders, surreptitious ECN 100 share orders that refill to infinity, price fixing, holding market orders for 30 minutes then turning the stock price the other way (this actually happened to me once), etc. What I got was a primer for people who don't know what a dead cat bounce or double top is but, nevertheless, think they are smarter than the consensus and want to throw their money at the market. The section devoted to psychology was excellent. The rest I could have done without. I wonder how market makers can make money nowadays with the spread basically nonexistent in most stocks and the NASD more vigilent on enforcement. Maybe in his next book we will find out.
Rating:
Summary: M arket Makers Edge ; Helps swing/position traders
Review: Interesting read;
the charts could be more readable however , like Alan Farley Master Swing trader has clearer readable charts.
Dont know if this book would help day traders or not.
Those who enjoy blaming mm & specialists for business failure;
may want to skip this book.
Joshua Lukeman for sure has written some precise battle tested trend measurements ;
worth it for any swing/position trader.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent breadth, but lacking in depth
Review: Lukeman, a market maker at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, offers up a work that covers a very large spectrum of trading info that is crucial to any investor. The title specifies its utility for day traders, but I found that it would actually be better suited to a momentum or swing trader (active traders, but not as active as day traders). If you are a savvy investor who has already read a number of books on investing techniques, this may not be the book for you. It is a bit basic, but not to the point of "stocks are..." or "bonds are..." Covered topics include risk control, trend spotting, fundamentals, timing and execution, technical analysis such as candlestick patterns, advanced trading tactics, and market psychology. The only complaint that I have about this book is that it lacks nitty gritty details, but it does have some depth. Also, it was a bit disappointing that there was little on actual market maker techniques, with the "dead cat bounce" being as advanced as the book got. But overall, this is an excellent book. If you are a novice and interested in active trading, then this book will give you so much knowledge that can almost guarantee your success. And if you are a very savvy trader, it may pay to pick this up anyway, because it may have one or two jewels that you are unaware of. Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Not too bad..
Review: Positive aspects of this book: - provides great common sense / simple ideas regarding some market basics (don't get me wrong, common sense / simplicity is probably one of the keys to becoming a top trader);
- quite well written / organised; and
- covers basically all the key areas a trader would need to know Problems: - charts are really badly referenced.. eg some are on other pages, some are incorrectly dated in the text, some are just plain ambiguous when referred to; and
- as an experienced trader, i didn't really learn much especially the commentary from the market maker's point of view, since it is usually quite obvious and common sense based. Gotta say though, this is a good value book and would be OK to read as one of the beginner texts..
Rating:
Summary: Where is the market maker?
Review: The strategies talked about in this book have made me a tremendous amount of money in the market. The book is invaluable if you are already an active day trader and can understand what the author is talking about. I'm not sure the other reviews really understood the material.
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