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Trading Sardines: Lessons in the Markets From a Lifelong Trader
455 pages, Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 2018
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593 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 17, 2019
Linda Bradford Raschke was one of the top traders featured in Jack Schwager’s book ‘The New Market Wizards’ her trading results were outstanding both as a floor trader and when she moved to trading at home from her own office. She had consistent success in her own personal trading and even made seven figure profits on a single trade which was a highlight of her early career. She went on to run one of the most successful performing funds later in her career with serious size.
This book tells her story and the highlights of her trading career are both educational, entertaining, and insightful on the realities of being a full time trader and money manager. She does not hold back with all the good and bad details of her life. This book is part autobiography and part trading book which does a great job of story telling giving the reader an insight into what can go wrong as a trader that can be both a drama and a comedy at the same time. I found myself laughing out loud at many of her stories and I had to share many of them with my wife. Her story of the cat walking on her hot keys and her explaining the results of the cat’s trades were one of the funnier trading stories I have ever heard and there are many more.
There are also many key trading lessons for the reader.
It is important to use modeling and backtesting of data to identify repeatable trading patterns.
Her biggest edge was the discretion she used to trade around here price models.
She was able to experience a big drawdown in capital and then trade her way back to even in a short amount of time.
Creating successful trading systems are not difficult the skill is in the discipline to execute them consistently. Two French interns showed this was possible in her book.
The primary key to surviving as a trader is not blowing up your account. You have to manage risk to stay in the game.
You must put in the work if you want to be a profitable trader, it has to be a passion.
There are different market environments and sometimes you follow the trend and sometimes you trade the range.
Take trades that put the probability of success on your side.
Software and backtesting are crucial for finding edges in price action to trade.
Blowing up your account does not end your career, as long as you have mental capital left you can do it, you can make a comeback.
Trading can be a very stressful undertaking and managing that stress is crucial for long term success.
Support from your spouse and family are crucial to be able to put in the time and energy it takes to trade for a living.
This was a very enjoyable book and Linda Raschke did a great job as an author creating a great reader experience. She is one of the greatest traders of her generation and we would all be wise to listen to what she has to say. We are fortunate that she took the time to write this book for us.
Linda Raschke’s new book is not available on Amazon, it is only available from the LBR Group on her website.
This book tells her story and the highlights of her trading career are both educational, entertaining, and insightful on the realities of being a full time trader and money manager. She does not hold back with all the good and bad details of her life. This book is part autobiography and part trading book which does a great job of story telling giving the reader an insight into what can go wrong as a trader that can be both a drama and a comedy at the same time. I found myself laughing out loud at many of her stories and I had to share many of them with my wife. Her story of the cat walking on her hot keys and her explaining the results of the cat’s trades were one of the funnier trading stories I have ever heard and there are many more.
There are also many key trading lessons for the reader.
It is important to use modeling and backtesting of data to identify repeatable trading patterns.
Her biggest edge was the discretion she used to trade around here price models.
She was able to experience a big drawdown in capital and then trade her way back to even in a short amount of time.
Creating successful trading systems are not difficult the skill is in the discipline to execute them consistently. Two French interns showed this was possible in her book.
The primary key to surviving as a trader is not blowing up your account. You have to manage risk to stay in the game.
You must put in the work if you want to be a profitable trader, it has to be a passion.
There are different market environments and sometimes you follow the trend and sometimes you trade the range.
Take trades that put the probability of success on your side.
Software and backtesting are crucial for finding edges in price action to trade.
Blowing up your account does not end your career, as long as you have mental capital left you can do it, you can make a comeback.
Trading can be a very stressful undertaking and managing that stress is crucial for long term success.
Support from your spouse and family are crucial to be able to put in the time and energy it takes to trade for a living.
This was a very enjoyable book and Linda Raschke did a great job as an author creating a great reader experience. She is one of the greatest traders of her generation and we would all be wise to listen to what she has to say. We are fortunate that she took the time to write this book for us.
Linda Raschke’s new book is not available on Amazon, it is only available from the LBR Group on her website.
August 6, 2021
This is a very easy to read memoir about one of the industry's most prominent female fund manager. Linda is such a down-to-earth and aspirational trader who also has a great sense of humor.
Her story is really intriguing as detailed in the book, her passion for trading is particularly interesting since this has always been a male dominated field.
There are numerous short and sweet nuggets at the end of each chapters. Those words of wisdom truly resonates the hardships and struggles a real trader has had to go through. Therefore that makes this book a valuable reads for all market participants.
A few short and succinct quotes that struck me:
"At the end of the day, it all comes down to staying in the game.
Gratitude leads to optimism, and a positive attitude is 90% of the game.
Don't trade when tired. Period." Sleep well, trade well. Health over everything else.
"This is the story of a trader's life. Keep putting one foot in front of the other." Overall, this is a superb case study about a successful investor/trader. The book will be on my personal favourite shelf and to be referred back to for many years to come. Highly recommended even for non-investors and speculators.
Her story is really intriguing as detailed in the book, her passion for trading is particularly interesting since this has always been a male dominated field.
There are numerous short and sweet nuggets at the end of each chapters. Those words of wisdom truly resonates the hardships and struggles a real trader has had to go through. Therefore that makes this book a valuable reads for all market participants.
A few short and succinct quotes that struck me:
"At the end of the day, it all comes down to staying in the game.
Gratitude leads to optimism, and a positive attitude is 90% of the game.
Don't trade when tired. Period." Sleep well, trade well. Health over everything else.
"This is the story of a trader's life. Keep putting one foot in front of the other." Overall, this is a superb case study about a successful investor/trader. The book will be on my personal favourite shelf and to be referred back to for many years to come. Highly recommended even for non-investors and speculators.
March 28, 2021
Linda Raschke seems like a very likable person and this was just loads of fun to read. With a nice breezy tone Trading Sardines provides many simple (through learning the hard way that required her to break things down to their essence for survival and thriving), but vital lessons for any trader. The trading stories and experiences are interspersed with some of her personal journey. She's a great trader with incredible and impressive perseverance, an amazing work ethic all while seemingly not taking herself too seriously. This book strikes me as "There's more here than meets the eye." Good stuff.
October 29, 2025
This is a great book but don't read it if you want to learn strategy. Read it if you want to know how hard trading actually is. The author shares her experience from her trading career & also her personal life. One line she regularly uses in the book is 'It is easy to get in a trade but very hard to exit it at the price you want'. Another principle she has is 'Focus on the process & not on individual trade result'. In conclusion this was an unexpected book for me.
June 3, 2022
This book surprised me a lot. It seems like an easy read, autobiography kind of book but it has a lot of gold nuggets that one can take and spin them off in different directions. Appreciate the honesty, the great ideas and the mentioning of the originators of such ideas without holding back. This only makes such individual even more worthy of emulating
April 7, 2023
One of the best memoirs of a fund manager and a wall Street veteran. A person who has been there and done all. It is an inspiring work, but especially for someone who is close to the trading game, its a must read.
April 26, 2024
Don't anticipate specific trading strategies or setup instructions from this book. Instead, the author, Linda, shares experiences and lessons learned from her trading career. She also discusses her trading mindset, process, and various psychology topics.
June 15, 2019
Great read! Suggest it to anyone regardless of their level of market knowledge
August 23, 2019
An enjoyable read. My respect for LBR went up after reading this.
April 25, 2023
An inspiring and nicely written book by a derivatives trader. Surprisingly it was entertaining too.
June 11, 2024
Linda's autobiography offers a genuine glimpse into her life, complemented by valuable nuggets of trading knowledge.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews