West of Wall Street: Understanding the Futures Market, Trading Strategies, Winning the Game

COVER PAGE
......Page 1
Table of Contents
......Page 6
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
......Page 14
FOREWORD
......Page 15
HOW TO READ THIS BOOK
......Page 19
Understanding the Futures Markets
......Page 23
Look for Size and Volatility
......Page 29
Never Buy Those Sharp Breaks
......Page 30
A Change in the Market?
......Page 31
Two Good Lessons
......Page 28
A $100,000 Day
......Page 27
Thursday, September 11 1986
......Page 24
The Major Players
......Page 33
How Prices Ar
e Established......Page 35
The Illusion of the Tape
......Page 38
How Your Order Is Filled
......Page 39
Outtrades
......Page 40
Market and Limit Orders
......Page 41
Day Tradlng-One Proven Approach
......Page 43
Know the Trend
......Page 47
Don't Try To Pick a Top or a Bottom
......Page 48
Make Trading Decisions Early
......Page 49
Don't Trade on Opinions
......Page 51
Size Up the Market 
......Page 52
Doubling Up and Taking Risks
......Page 53
Wait for the Right Trade
......Page 54
Never Think About the Money
......Page 55
Is Futures Trading For You?
......Page 56
Basic Trading Orders
......Page 57
Good and Bad Orders
......Page 59
New Highs, New Lows and Fast Markets
......Page 61
Changing the Rules
......Page 63
Acquiring Perspective
......Page 66
"Fifteen Thousand Dollars, Please"
......Page 69
An Expensive Introduction
......Page 70
A Probability Business
......Page 71
How To Tell Where Traders Are Positioned for Tomorrow
......Page 73
150 Points in Five Minutes
......Page 74
Evening Up
......Page 75
Don't Try To Change Your Orders After 3:00 P.M. Central Time
......Page 76
PART 2 - Becoming a Trader
......Page 77
How I Got Started
......Page 78
The Making of a Cynic
......Page 80
Raising Capital
......Page 81
A $60,000 Gift
......Page 82
How Do You Get Good?
......Page 83
How Much Money Do You Need?
......Page 84
The Advantages of Having Your Own Membership
......Page 85
It Doesn't Take Brains
......Page 87
What Are the Odds You Are Going To Make Money?
......Page 88
Don't Get Emotionally Tied to a Particular Market Or Trade
......Page 89
The Story of Hal
......Page 90
How To Cope with the Psychological Pressure
......Page 92
Money Management Psychology
......Page 93
Trading System Psychology
......Page 94
What's a System?
......Page 96
My System and Yours
......Page 97
The "Pain Principle" 
......Page 99
Beware the Curve-Fitted
 System......Page 101
The Pitfalls of Optimization
......Page 102
Identify Your Markets
......Page 103
Test Your System
......Page 104
Ask Someone Who's Done It-Not a So-called "Expert" 
......Page 105
Nothing Better in the World
......Page 107
The Only Thing that Counts: How Good Are You?
......Page 108
The Hobbyist Versus the Professional
......Page 109
From Theory to Practice
......Page 111
Don't Paper Trade
......Page 112
Staying Power
......Page 114
$20,000 in Margin for Every One-lot 
......Page 115
The Story of Magic-A Lesson in Confidence
......Page 116
The Sure-thing Trade
......Page 118
Should You Speculate?
......Page 120
Stock Index Futures Trading Is a Specialty
......Page 122
Dealing with Fear and Greed
......Page 123
PART 3 - Strategies for Success
......Page 125
The Doubling Up Strategy
......Page 126
Doubling Up and Reversing......Page 129
Follow The Players
......Page 130
Assess The Volitility
......Page 131
The Tripling Up Strategy
......Page 132
Reversing
......Page 135
Making Judgments
......Page 136
The Lumber Story
......Page 138
My Bluff Works
......Page 139
You Never Really Know What Anyone Is Doing
......Page 140
A Local's Reputation
......Page 141
Using Size To Intimidate
......Page 142
Market Indicators
......Page 144
Which Is the Best Indicator?
......Page 146
Watch The Commercials
......Page 147
The Implecation of High Volume
......Page 148
Spooking the Pit
......Page 150
Watch for the Explosive Burst
......Page 151
The Surest Signal
......Page 152
My Big Opportunity
......Page 153
The Pros and Cons of Doing Size
......Page 155
The Disadvantage of Doing Size
......Page 156
Your Own Worst Enemy
......Page 157
When You Are Hot
......Page 158
SmaIler Numbers After a Hit
......Page 159
When You Are Cold
......Page 160
How It Works in Practice
......Page 161
Making Careful Predictions
......Page 163
Don't Be an Edge Trader
......Page 164
20-lot Trades on $10,000 Margin
......Page 167
Rule #3: The Move at the Top and Bottom Will Be Fast
......Page 168
Fast Markets
......Page 169
A Contrarian Coffee Coup
......Page 171
Human Psychology
......Page 172
Markets Are Irrational
......Page 173
No Reasoned Answer
......Page 174
Don't Use Charts As a Crutch
......Page 176
The Perfect Scenario
......Page 177
Trading Fast Markets 
......Page 179
The Floor Caught Unaware
......Page 181
The Old Rules
......Page 183
The Aftermath
......Page 184
When To Be Careful
......Page 185
PART 4 - What's Ahead
......Page 186
Program Trading
......Page 187
Performance-minded Managers Ensure Increased Volatility
......Page 189
Rewriting the Rule Book
......Page 192
An Ex-member Tries To Muscle the S&P Market
......Page 193
What's Ahead-Get Prepared for the Boom and Bust
......Page 197
The Warning Signals
......Page 198
What About the Regulatory Agencies?
......Page 199
The "Prudent" Approach 
......Page 200
The Impact of the 1986 Tax Reform Act
......Page 201
Small Investors Will Be Hurt
......Page 202
The Tail Wags the Dog
......Page 203
Mutual Funds and Commodity Pools......Page 205
Are the "Professionals" Worthy of Your Money?
......Page 206
How To Evaluate a Trading Record
......Page 207
The Aftermath of a Nightmare
......Page 208
Emotion in the Pit
......Page 210
The Telltale Clues
......Page 211
7,000 Contracts To Sell at the Top!
......Page 212
The Free-Fall Begins
......Page 213
Total Chaos
......Page 214
Heed This Advice
......Page 216
INDEX
......Page 218