Volatility-Based Technical Analysis, Companion Web site: Strategies for Trading the Invisible (Wiley Trading)

After reading this book and previous reviews, I felt compelled to write my very first review on Amazon. I have read over 20+ technical analysis books (from Wilder to Mcmillan to Elder to Van Tharp etc). This book is very much different than your typical traditional indicators (in fact there is a great chapter on why traditional indicators do not work in today's environment). The basis for the "new" indicators defined in this book are based on volatility algorithms which the author has developed over time. The book absolutely provides the formulas for these new indicators AND provides a web page to download them (password in book). Obviouusly the indicators need to be applied to either Metastock or TradeStation, so an additional investment is required (if you currently don't own any of the above). The book is an easy read and the author gives plenty of analogies to help the novice reader along.

this is a pretentious product that purports to "predict" price movement on the basis of volatility. No formulas are provided for the graphic lines and alerts that populate confusing graphs. Even more interesting still is the LACK of use of implied option volatility for front and back months to graph these lines. No references about or discussion of probability of profit using the indicators is made. This book tries to support a BLACK BOX trading method that is an expensive add on for Metastock. There are several problems with this add on. The most important being Metastock CANNOT graph Ichimoku Kinko Hyo(IKH) indicators which would make it highly unlikely that it could graph "forward looking bands" that are even more complex than IKH. A bigger red flag is the lack of discussion of historical volatility and the many ways it can be calculated. Historical volatility is apparently the only thing this program can calculate, since Metastock does not query option chains. IN SHORT: THE BOOK IS AN EXPENSIVE ADVERTISEMENT FOR A BLACK BOX 'VOLATILITY' INDICATOR SYSTEM OF TRADING WHICH IS EVEN MORE EXPENSIVE, THAT WILL REQUIRE CLASSES WHICH ARE EVEN MORE EXPENSIVE. MY ADVISE IS TO EXAMINE THE AUDITED TRADING ACCOUNTS OF THE AUTHOR OVER THE LAST 3 YEARS TO SEE HOW MUCH HE MADE USING THE SYSTEM. ALSO HAS HE PUBLISHED ANY ARTICLES IN WILMOTT'S OR PEER REVIEWED ARTICLES IN THE JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY

I liked the book. I learned quite a lot. I give it 3 stars only because near the second half of the book, it didn't really apply to what I was looking for. Was it worth the money I paid? More than most books you can find on trading. What I really liked about the book, is the honesty, and the fact that it was written by a trader and a quant. In a world of snake oil salesman, Northington is a breathe of fresh air. I was pleased, you will be too.

Be ready to be disappointed if you are not wealthy enough to buy their add in...(surprise surprise! they don't give you free codes for the indicators that might just work!!) If you still want to try it out in spite of not ready to buy their software, Please borrow from the library & download the codes from website (1st word from chapter 6) Borrowed from library - disappointing: there are some decent pages (<30?) explaining why you need volatility based indicators, but generally it was a waste of an hour and a half trying to play around the free indicators from metastock --- In fact,the proprietary indicators that are not free are not really explained well, whilst the free ones are simply disappointing -- i wish they would work but they are worse than simple RSI when you quickly "test" them out-- kept thinking there must be some merits but eventually gave up) Perhaps the book is simply advertising their expensive add-ins...

Even apart from the meticulously-prepared technical content, this book has a very enjoyable style and use of language and an interesting theme regarding how non-quant readers can still plausibly gain an advantage using Metastock or Tradestation or a similar package if they are prepared to roll up their sleeves and develop some code. With so many financial trading books these days being little more than reprints of computer programs and charts, it is enjoyable to read one that propounds a novel general thesis - that you need to develop an orthogonal view of the markets that is based on your own indicators that are different from those used by everyone else. This book looks for volatility-based indicators but other types could be used too. I suspect that anyone who really learns and heeds that lesson has excellent prospects for success. Kirk's discipline, precision, and sense of purpose also shine through and are worth emulating. For those themes alone, this book is valuable. Whether or not the detailed models that are provided by the book, with code, would work well, I myself cannot tell, but they do at least serve as an interesting example of the overall kind of framework you would need for your own system. (Disclosure: I received a review copy in connection with a user group)

Disappointed. I do not use TradeStation or MetaStock. The book needs a Big notice on the front cover advising you need to be a user of those software packages. I purchased the book thinking it would further my knowledge of adding volatility to my TA. I trade straight volatility or trade options on ETFs of indexes using Volatility as a leading indicator for swings. My expectation was to gain something I didn't know already that I could use. What was generic I already knew and what I didn't know was of no use because I don't use the required software packages.

There are a lot of books on technical analysis but this book is different. The author does not waste the readers time repeating Technical Analysis 101 but explains some interesting concepts on how to build indicators based on volatility that I haven't read elsewhere. There are enough interesting ideas in here for technical traders. -- "Momentum hides in the movement of implied volatility" (page 284)

Wow, just wow. I looked at the preview on amazon, and wow. I can't believe it. The sad thing is, there are a lot of knowledgeless people out there who won't be the wiser, and they will get fooled, and then be confused when they can learn to be as perfect as this book. SCAM SCAM SCAM!!! Trading is about adjusting, low risk, and small initial size, and if you start winning, bet more without increasing initial risk... that's it, period.

This book is a hot recommendation for trading with technical analysis. It does not repeat the "old stuff" of fibonacci and systems which do not work anymore in mordern markets. It explains a system which can be successfull in real life trading. The book is hard to read and you should have a sound knowledge to be able to fully understand. Some of the Tradestation programming is very hard to understand because it reference some functions with generic names and can not be understood without futher investigation. Not all indicators mentioned in the book come with open code and it is not possible to easy re-program or find the missing code. Northington helps you to develop your own indicators and gives some interesting up to date insights. The book will help you if you are an analytical trader and if you design systems. I increased my knowledge with this book. Northington promotes his commercial "MetaSwing" system in this book. The commercial system is not included in the book and you will not be able to develop something compareable usefull yourself. If you just look for commercial indicators I recommend to directly lease his indicators (130 US $ a month for Tradestation) because the manual has enough knowledge to fully understand his systems. If you like to learn in general I recommend this book.

a

Genau wie der Titel verspricht geht der Author mit Hilfe von EL auf Volumenbasiertes Handeln ein . Persönlich fasziniert mich der Einsatz des Volumens und die Indi's von Whiley . Schöne Codebeispiele .