The Master Swing Trader: Tools and Techniques to Profit from Outstanding Short-Term Trading Opportunities

by Alan S. Farley

Swing trading is gaining popularity as a powerful method to increase returns―and potentially lower risks―by profiting from short-term price moves. The Master Swing Trader explains how traders can use technical analysis, charting, and market sentiment to make trades that hold through price fluctuations and noise with wider stops. This complete, practical guide to making profitable short-term trades―based on the author’s popular “Mastering the Trade” online course―uses dozens of charts and graphs to illustrate proven swing trading concepts and strategies. Experienced day, position, and online traders will benefit immediately from: - The 7 Bells – unique tools to uncover promising short-term prospects - Techniques to profit from low-risk short sales - The 4 repeating cycles for perfectly timed trades

Genres: Finance

443 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2000

About the author

Alan S. Farley is publisher and editor of the Hard Right Edge web portal (www.hardrightedge.com), a well-respected resource for short-term trading that provides thousands of traders and investors with free educational materials covering technical analysis, short-term trading tactics, and more. An accomplished private trader and nationally recognized educator on technical analysis and short-term trading tactics, Farley has been featured in Barron's, SmartMoney, Tech Week, Active Trader, MoneyCentral, Los Angeles Times, Online Investor, and TheStreet.com.

Reviews

[May Ling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: Quite a nice book for those that are pure technical swing traders. Also a good reminder for those that have slightly longer periods they are looking at.

Above and beyond all else, I really liked the dictionary in the back. So much jargon in finance! That said, none of it is meaningless. Instead, it's quite a precise language. I had no idea, for example, that swing trading implies you are primarily using charts and trends. Other books fail to mention this and the whole way you'd think is totally different.

These notes are likely self-evident to traders, they just can't get reiterated and reminded enough.

P. 72 - Showing a willingness to forgo marginal positions and wait for good opportunities to appear. Prepare to experience long periods of boredom between frantic surges of concentration. Expect to stand aside, wait, and watch when the markets offer nothing to do. Accept this unwelcome state as all successful participants do. The need for excitement makes a very dangerous trading partner.

P. 123 - Swing traders must pay special attention to these overlooked neutral conditions. Quiet balance points trigger the most powerful and profitable opportunities throughout the markets. Empty zones have little sponsorship or interest. They draw their initial power in a state of low volatility and resolve it through directional movement and high volatility. They signal high-reward, low-risk entry levels that allow swing traders to step in front of the crowd.

P. 133 - Swing traders must sell short as easily as they go long. This challenges the investor bias that most neophytes carry into modern markets. Many participants still don'tunderstand many aspects of this classic trading practice.

P. 134 - Stay aware of news or fundamental conditions that will impact the markets, but stay focused on patterns and numbers. Except for shock events, markets will follow the technicals because insiders already trade most hidden news in advance of the public. The interplay among debt, currency, and commodities can dramatically affect the US equity markets. These broad forces trigger arbitrage between index futures and debt that move stock prices and rob profits.
p. 230 - Momentum strategies fail through most market conditions. Stocks trend only fifteen to twenty percent of the time. Constricted ranges bind price during the rest of its existence. Trading longevity requires diverse skills through both trending and congested markets.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of my "trading bibles" when I was day-trading the 401K back in the early 2000s. It is generally useful, but is designed for the professional trader, the person who is up before the market opens and then is focused on the screen throughout the trading session. You can't dabble in Farley's techniques, you have to be all in. I still return to it whenever I'm actively trading. It's stuffed with bookmarks at sections that I can immediately put to use for various types of trades. Highly recommended if you are going to do more that "passively invest."

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reread 2018.....few things that need to reenforce were gained....still not a big fan of book.

Read this July of 2016 for the second or third time, well really, just skimmed it to see if my 2 rating was good. I would say yes, it is, perhaps a 2 plus. I learned little that I did not know, so perhaps my 40 years of trading and investing is unfair to the author. I'm not a big fan of candlesticks that he uses mainly because I'm not a big fan of one day analysis, and yes, I realize that trends may change on a one day event, but more is better in my view. Until I started seeing the entire trend, daily, weekly, and monthly, I did not make money. Until I started using the bits and pieces of many books, much experience, the use of charts, fundamentals, and value did I begin to make better money.

However, one much read and study to develop one's own style. I often reread books that I have found to be of little use because I might have missed the one little thing that might make a difference. For instance in this book, (or at least I think it was in this book) was the thought that one should spend more time to prevent a loss than time spend searching for gains. In other words, to make up for a 50% loss one needs to have a 100% gain, best to prevent the loss.

Good trading to all................

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay.
It does a good job of explaining the function of various charts, buy/sell signals, etc. However, like many books of this nature, it makes it appear a bit too easy.

[Courtney Stockstill · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too many big obvious general rules to follow, but no specifics on how to do it.

[Lionkhan-sama · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be quite frank, I was expecting a lot more from this book, but ultimately, I didn't like it.
I was excited to learn about swing trading, so as to become a more efficient trader overall.
However, this book sticks to the classic stocks model, whereas my method of investing is within the digital currency world. So although there is some overlap, most of this book is not directly relatable to cryptocurrency swing trading.
For any classic traders looking to learn about swing trading, then this may be a great book for you to read.

[Ziggy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet another example of a book that gets a bad rap due to reviews from people who are very clearly not traders, or at least not very knowledgeable ones. Those of us who trade for a living or who know much about the markets are not the ones to leave lengthy reviews or even to rate books regularly online…but it frustrated me enough seeing this book’s rating be in the 3’s that I wanted to say how helpful it has been to me, even as an already experienced trader. I recommend

[Leroy Bheki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very insightful look into how the stock markets work and the various tools at your disposal to increase profitability. Really recommended for new traders that want to brush up on their knowledge. I do recommend learning some of the jargon prior to reading this book as the author assumes that you understand some concepts already.

[Masood Akhtar · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lengthy and thorough guide to all types of stock market traders.

[Gurmukh Sandhu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very Generic

[Iami Menotu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Generic

[Ares · Rating 2 out of 5]

As stated before me by some readers, this book is a good way to learn some technical analysis, I would have given it more stars if it didn't have such misleading title and please don't make it easy sounding because some people will really fall into a quagmire.

[Cher 'N Books · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dry, boring, fundamental information only.

[Jose Mari · Rating 2 out of 5]

Do your homework and respect the market.

[Vasco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very very advanced. To read and re-read after other books;

[James Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative book but a difficult read if you are new to trading stocks.

[Jordan Rey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very detailed and clear. Easy to understand for advanced/intermediate traders. Entertaining.