Quick Book Looks: Resources for Traders

Brett Steenbarger’s quick reviews in TraderFeed:

* TRAINING THE BRAIN – For a while now I’ve enjoyed the Sharp Brains blog, which focuses on the science and practice of brain fitness. Their book The Sharp Brains Guide to Brain Fitness: 18 Interviews with Scientists, Practical Advice, and Product Reviews, to Keep Your Brain Sharp (Amazon link) consists of 18 interviews with practitioners and researchers in the field. It debunks a number of myths about optimizing brain function, with practical chapters on nutrition, stress management, exercise, and mental exercise/stimulation. My own chapter focuses on “Achieving Peak Performance in High-Pressure Professions”; other interesting topics include training the brain for attention span and lifelong learning.

* FINDING AN EDGE – High Probability ETF Trading: 7 Professional Strategies To Improve Your ETF Trading (Amazon link) by Larry Connors and Cesar Alvarez is a nice follow up to the earlier volume How Markets Really Work. Subtitled “7 Professional Strategies to Improve Your ETF Trading,” this manual covers a number of tested historical patterns and trading rules. A worthy feature is that a range of ETFs are covered in the tests, including SPY, QQQQ, IWM, GLD, FXI, EEM, and quite a few sector ETFs. Many of the patterns involve buying weakness in a rising market and selling strength in a falling market. I suspect that at least some of the patterns might make useful starting points for the development of trading systems. A nice feature is that the strategies can be automated via TradeStation.

* MAKING FRIENDS OF TRENDS – Michael Covel’s Trend Following (Updated Edition): Learn to Make Millions in Up or Down Markets takes an updated look at trend following strategies and the firms that trade them. It includes a chapter on market crashes and quite a bit of performance data relevant to trend following strategies. A new chapter on trend following in the stock market is also a worthwhile addition. It’s interesting to see Covel’s book juxtaposed with Connors’ strategies (above); the takeaway surely has to be that there are many ways of making money in markets. The key is to find what best fits your own views and style.
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