And finally I have the new site design live after what seems like forever. The new site is broken into a few new sections which should make it easier to get around. The Trade Diary will have my views and opinions on current market news whilst the Trade History will document my trading patterns.

A new Spread Betting section will document my trials and tribulations as I try and become a successful trader. This section is more of a cathartic look at my failing and insights on how to remedy those. It should prove beneficial to beginner traders and those looking to learn from my mistakes. Finally the Book Reviews are self explanatory. I hope you like the new design and I’m looking forward to getting back into the markets after a long break. All feedback is more than welcome.

Welcome to the new Spread Betting category which seeks to explain why I have been away for an extended period. The purpose of this new section is to work through the mistakes I have made in order to learn from them in an attempt not to repeat them. Hopefully this will help me by exploring the though process of some of the catastrophic decisions I have made and hopefully it will help those reading to not make the same mistakes.

I want to try and explore the psychology of trading and the impact emotion has on fear and greed. I want to take a detailed look at how trading affects you emotionally and physically in order to understand how to control the emotional and irrational side of trading. I know these things have been explored in depth by qualified traders but considering 90% of spread bettors fail I think an ordinary punters view and experience may help others starting out. Over the next few weeks I will start a series of articles tracing my last trades and the progressively deteriorating decisions I made. I’m looking forward to the whole experience and hopefully it will help me regain my confidence and bring me closer to being a more focused and determined trader.

This book doesn’t quite fit the whole spread betting theme but it does provide a fascinating insight into the mind of a gifted and inspired visionary. Now I know Alan Greenspan is getting a bit of a hard time lately being branded the scapegoat for the subprime crisis. However this man presided over the financial system of the United States through some of the most problematic periods in economic history. His legacy may now be slightly blemished but his wisdom and insight are as valuable now as they were then.

The book leads you through his life from his earlier years in a nostalgic and eloquent manner as you might expect. It is a personal memoir that makes you feel a part of it, giving you the sense that he is speaking to you over a whiskey by the fire. This tone is carried through the first half of the book as he discusses his love of numbers and music. An endearing tale of a man who had strong personal values and a firm belief in himself which is what led him through his earlier years.

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I need to preface this review by stating that this book does contain many gems of information and is a good worthwhile addition to any spread bettors library. That said why the mountain? If I wanted a mountaineering book I surly would have bought one. The necessity to metaphor learning with climbing a mountain for anyone older than 5 years of age should never be used as a writer’s device, in any book (except for a mountaineering book).

Malcolm has successfully turned an exciting and adrenaline educing topic into a lecture on the physics of molecular diversity within singular cell organisms. The drab tone and lack lustre writing is a kin to reading a technical manual whilst your great new shiny tech toy sits on the floor.

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Having read the “Beginners Guide to Short Term Trading” I bought this and even though they have similar content they do complement each other. Toni Turners friendly style delivers a coherent dissection of the skills required and introduces you to each. The chapters are again logically driven and well defined.

This book goes into further detail on technical trading and charts are well discussed. The theme is obviously geared towards day trading but the principals are similar and the book does provide some valuable insights. For day traders the language is broken down and the differing types of day trader analysed. Instead of recommending a path or strategy Toni simply outlines the options to allow you to choose. The pros and cons to each of these are well discussed as are methods of trying each.

This is another good book from an authoritative figure which will have you scalping and shorting in no time.

This book is a must have in any traders arsenal. It is insightful and logically progresses step by step through each chapter. This approach builds on the knowledge you have gained and advances it incrementally thus never making the book feel like a heavy text book.

Toni Turner talks from the perspective of a winning trader who has had a long successful career. She shares her wins and losses and most importantly the knowledge she gained through each. From a basic history of the stock market to setting up, technical and fundamental analysis the book delivers a well rounded introduction to short term trading.

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Considering my enthusiasm for The Naked Trader I pre ordered The Naked Trader 2 with the eager anticipation of more light hearted stories and friendly fun. Whilst the book gives you a little of this it seems to try too hard to be a serious trading book and looses the personality of the first. In his attempt to make a proper book (because as he insists it’s not for the money) he gives you a little of everything and not much of anything.

The information within the book is more detailed that the first book but not detailed enough and whilst he tries to show various trading strategies there is the element of vagueness that comes with trading strategies. His strange views on technical’s and charts seems to be born of ignorance and he washes over this whole topic which makes the book quite biased towards fundamentals.

Whilst it is not a bad read it is a little disjointed and didn’t endear me to him as much as the first. If you haven’t read either book the second does give you more trading tips but at the loss of a good read. In the end it comes down to a good fun read vs. more information and no personality. I will stay with the first.

The Naked Trader was one of the first books I read. It offers a great starting point into the world of trading and although it doesn’t go into spread betting it is a very useful read. The tone of the book isn’t preachy and Robbie Burns uses day to day language to explain trading terms. It starts off with a warm introduction to how he started out trading and gives you the kind of self belief you need when beginning.

Robbie clearly prefers fundamentals and does not delve too deep into technical charting or trading technicals. He walks you through his trading day and which offers a great insight into his personal trading strategies. He explains what websites he uses how he sources his information and gives you little shortcuts to gaining the information you need. All this combined with his compulsion for toast and little side stories about Mrs. Trader means that the read never gets too heavy and keeps to the light side.

If you haven’t read this it’s worth a read even for the aspirational goal of leaving the rat race and working from home. Whilst his style will not suit everyone he does not pretend to have all the answers and is simply documenting his trading methodologies. The Naked Trader is a warm and pleasant read that left me wanting more.