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Sell and Sell Short
In Sell and Sell Short, Dr. Alexander Elder examines one of the most overlooked aspects of trading and reveals how you can protect and profit from your trades by exiting them the right way. Throughout the book, he explains how to set profit targets and stop-loss orders prior to entering any trade. He also shares real-world examples that show how to manage your position by adjusting your exit points as a trade unfolds. Along the way, Elder also addresses short selling.
249 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
52 people are currently reading
415 people want to read
About the author
Alexander Elder
64 books218 followersDr. Alexander Elder is a professional trader based in New York City. He is the author of a dozen books, including Come into My Trading Room (Barron's 2002 Book of the Year) and Trading for a Living, considered modern classics among traders.
Dr. Elder was born in Leningrad and grew up in Estonia, where he entered medical school at the age of 16. At 23, while working as a ship's doctor, he jumped a Soviet ship in Africa and received political asylum in the United States. He worked as a psychiatrist in New York City and taught at Columbia University. His experience as a psychiatrist provided him with unique insight into the psychology of trading. Dr. Elder's books, articles, and software reviews have established him as one of today's leading experts on trading
Dr. Elder is the originator of Traders' Camps week-long classes for traders, as well as the Spike group for traders. He continues to trade and is a sought-after speaker at conferences in the US and abroad.
Dr. Elder was born in Leningrad and grew up in Estonia, where he entered medical school at the age of 16. At 23, while working as a ship's doctor, he jumped a Soviet ship in Africa and received political asylum in the United States. He worked as a psychiatrist in New York City and taught at Columbia University. His experience as a psychiatrist provided him with unique insight into the psychology of trading. Dr. Elder's books, articles, and software reviews have established him as one of today's leading experts on trading
Dr. Elder is the originator of Traders' Camps week-long classes for traders, as well as the Spike group for traders. He continues to trade and is a sought-after speaker at conferences in the US and abroad.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 7, 2016
Best reading order:
1) To Trade or Not to Trade (Alexander Elder)
2) Two Roads Diverged (Alexander Elder)
3) Trading for a Living (Alexander Elder)
4) Entries and Exits (Alexander Elder)
5) Come Into My Trading Room (Alexander Elder)
6) Sell and Sell Short (Alexander Elder)
1) To Trade or Not to Trade (Alexander Elder)
2) Two Roads Diverged (Alexander Elder)
3) Trading for a Living (Alexander Elder)
4) Entries and Exits (Alexander Elder)
5) Come Into My Trading Room (Alexander Elder)
6) Sell and Sell Short (Alexander Elder)
August 20, 2018
This book isn’t really for me or any other more fundamental and long-term investor – but it is excellent. Short sellers come in many forms and just as there are short term contrarian traders on the long-only side there are those on the short side. Dr. Alexander Trader is one such swing trader with an investment time horizon that is probably between a few days up to a month. The strategy is to trade the short fluctuations around a trend. To profit from these price wiggles it is only natural to try to exploit movements both as prices go up and as they go down.
Apart from being an active trader the author is since long a teacher of other traders and has written a large number of books on trading and trading psychology. The last angle is important since Sell & Sell Short clearly excels when it comes to the description of the psychology of being invested in the financial markets. Interestingly, the experienced mental joys and pains of putting on short-term trading positions and holding a longer-term fundamentally based portfolio are remarkably similar.
Despite being a book on selling and short selling, those two subjects are complemented by one section on buying. They probably cover one third each of the books volume. In many cases this kind of branching out from the main subjects detracts from the worth of a book. This time it adds to the worth since the reader gets a feel for all the necessary angles of succeeding in markets, be it knowing ones edge, keeping records to learn from mistakes or handling money management, i.e. portfolio risk.
Paradoxically, Elder describes his trading strategy as a value strategy. He buys when the price is lower than the value and the price is looking as it is about to turn up. He sells when the price reaches the value zone, or he might ride it a little further into overvalued territory if the momentum of the share price is really strong. He sells short when the stock is in expensive territory and has started to decline and then covers his position when the stock is back down in the value zone. The thing is, what the author calls “value” is the zone between two rolling averages, i.e. the underlying medium term trend of the share price, rather than the intrinsic worth of the company.
While buying is fun and offers opportunities, selling is an unsmiling business. This is why books on selling are important but rare. If a stock goes in the wrong direction doubts start to swirl in the back of the trader’s mind. If it goes in the right direction he is torn between taking profits but then risk not taking part in potential further profits.
Selling situations can according to Elder be split into three categories: a) selling with a profit at a pre-determined profit target, b) selling with a loss using a protective stop and c) selling between the profit target and the stop level since conditions have changed and you no longer want to hold the position – “when in doubt, get out”. Covering short positions very much follows the same logic only with the price trend turned on its head.
A long teaching career, trying to explain something to others, makes wonders when it comes to how illuminating and clear this text is in explaining Elder’s very hands-on method to trading. I also appreciate the author’s wide knowledge of other investment styles as he can readily discuss similarities, differences, advantages and disadvantages of what he is doing himself compared to quants, fundamental investors, momentum traders, short sellers, long-onlies and so on. The key message is that to succeed any investor must do what suits his own disposition.
This book is highly recommended for the swing trader looking to profit from all types of short-term price movements – but also for those interested in understanding equity markets and investment psychology at large.
Apart from being an active trader the author is since long a teacher of other traders and has written a large number of books on trading and trading psychology. The last angle is important since Sell & Sell Short clearly excels when it comes to the description of the psychology of being invested in the financial markets. Interestingly, the experienced mental joys and pains of putting on short-term trading positions and holding a longer-term fundamentally based portfolio are remarkably similar.
Despite being a book on selling and short selling, those two subjects are complemented by one section on buying. They probably cover one third each of the books volume. In many cases this kind of branching out from the main subjects detracts from the worth of a book. This time it adds to the worth since the reader gets a feel for all the necessary angles of succeeding in markets, be it knowing ones edge, keeping records to learn from mistakes or handling money management, i.e. portfolio risk.
Paradoxically, Elder describes his trading strategy as a value strategy. He buys when the price is lower than the value and the price is looking as it is about to turn up. He sells when the price reaches the value zone, or he might ride it a little further into overvalued territory if the momentum of the share price is really strong. He sells short when the stock is in expensive territory and has started to decline and then covers his position when the stock is back down in the value zone. The thing is, what the author calls “value” is the zone between two rolling averages, i.e. the underlying medium term trend of the share price, rather than the intrinsic worth of the company.
While buying is fun and offers opportunities, selling is an unsmiling business. This is why books on selling are important but rare. If a stock goes in the wrong direction doubts start to swirl in the back of the trader’s mind. If it goes in the right direction he is torn between taking profits but then risk not taking part in potential further profits.
Selling situations can according to Elder be split into three categories: a) selling with a profit at a pre-determined profit target, b) selling with a loss using a protective stop and c) selling between the profit target and the stop level since conditions have changed and you no longer want to hold the position – “when in doubt, get out”. Covering short positions very much follows the same logic only with the price trend turned on its head.
A long teaching career, trying to explain something to others, makes wonders when it comes to how illuminating and clear this text is in explaining Elder’s very hands-on method to trading. I also appreciate the author’s wide knowledge of other investment styles as he can readily discuss similarities, differences, advantages and disadvantages of what he is doing himself compared to quants, fundamental investors, momentum traders, short sellers, long-onlies and so on. The key message is that to succeed any investor must do what suits his own disposition.
This book is highly recommended for the swing trader looking to profit from all types of short-term price movements – but also for those interested in understanding equity markets and investment psychology at large.
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July 8, 2009Good book - should have read the other two first
February 1, 2017
Dr. Alexander Elder has created a valuable guide to using certain reliable economic chart indicators to predict when price will change direction and revert to its moving average. He includes plenty of charts and includes demonstrations with stocks and other securities; he includes a trade on the price of gold, showing that his system works there.
He also includes valuable anecdotes about how people sometimes give him unintentional "signals" that a market has peaked and it is time to sell. He cautions us that "the market does not exist to put money in the hands of amateurs," but his goal in writing this book is to show people that they too can trade for a living with a consistent success rate and eventually quit their day jobs, so that is enough reason to check it out.
He also includes valuable anecdotes about how people sometimes give him unintentional "signals" that a market has peaked and it is time to sell. He cautions us that "the market does not exist to put money in the hands of amateurs," but his goal in writing this book is to show people that they too can trade for a living with a consistent success rate and eventually quit their day jobs, so that is enough reason to check it out.
July 19, 2016
excellent like the previous one!
October 24, 2024
Mocne gówno
August 28, 2025
Another valuable book by Elder. Lots of charts with explanations. If you want to be a trader, you need to know how to short. A must-read.
January 26, 2010
Excellent book, but a lot of material was previously covered in Dr. Elder's 2 previous books.
December 28, 2015
Elder relies on relatively complex technical analysis. Not for me but if you are a full time trader, you may find value in his systems.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews