Trading Day by Day

Take a trip down to your specialist bookseller or search through an online bookstore and you will find countless titles, all with the stated aim of making you a better trader. Many of these claim to help by giving you an insight into the work of someone who has made a real success of their trading. I know from my own experience that these are often empty vessels, devoid of any content of real value, or simply serve to rehash much of which is already available for free in the public domain. Working through such books is rarely a satisfying experience, much less a profitable one.

Not so with this, the second work from US trader “Chick” Goslin. At first glance the book seems to rely pretty heavily on page after page of chart examples and I was worried that, like so many other books, these were more geared towards padding than relevance. This is not the case here. Admittedly, the charts and their commentary do take up the lion’s share of the book but this is because the author contends that trading is essentially simple (but not easy) and based on three ‘laws’. He describes these laws very clearly, and then uses the charts to provide clear evidence of how they work in practice, hence the number of pages devoted to them.

I liked the style of writing a great deal: the book is written in very clear language, by someone with considerable experience of the game, and who believes passionately in his chosen methodologies. The use of analogy throughout is a powerful way of explaining the only thing that really matters to our author – price movement.

Working through the book is a bit like having a very patient teacher talking you through the essential steps to understanding. Curiously, it is in this last point that we also discover what will be the weakness of the book for many people. It is not an easy bedtime read, nor is it something to easily move in and out of. It takes concentration and hard work, something which many people find quite difficult in this ‘soundbite’ society we now find ourselves in.

My opinion is that this comprehensive work should be considered more as an educational package to be dealt with in specific chunks, ensuring each one is understood before moving on. There is certainly a wealth of supporting material in the shape of the chart examples already mentioned.

There is also much here to disagree with, based on what we might call ‘traditional’ thinking about trading. Goslin makes his views about experts and journalists very clear and challenges many of the conventional trading wisdoms. His opinion on Options is a good example of this (Options traders should not read this bit!): “Options are one of the greatest and most costly frauds ever perpetrated on the trading public”, he says.

Strong stuff indeed, and there will be much in the rest of the book that you will find to disagree with. I actually think that the author would be pleased by this; it seems to me he does not do it to be contentious or to garner support for his own methods. In fact, if anything he is rather humble about these. No, this is a refreshingly honest blow by blow account of what has worked for him and what has not. If we disagree that is fine, as long as we are making our own decisions and, above all, we are making money.

One potential downside is that a subscription to the charting service used by Goslin will be needed in order to use the same indicators. Despite this they are very clearly explained and could no doubt be programmed into your own software to give a similar result. Full marks here to the author for not falling into the trap of promoting the charting service to any great extent and for, instead, encouraging the reader to find ways of making the indicators work within their current framework.

Much of the book is written in a ‘by the way’ style, rather than grouping specific subjects into chapters. As a result the author includes some excellent references to important subjects (Trading Psychology for example) throughout the whole book. I quite liked this approach as it is the way someone would act in real life, telling you things you need as they come to mind. It will, however, make it a harder read for someone who likes structure in their chosen book. I found myself scribbling notes as I worked through it and found these really helped my grasp of the subjects under review when I studied them afterwards.

I have always held the view that trading is a business and should be treated like any other form of enterprise. I was therefore very pleased to find some excellent advice in this book as to how this should be set up and managed. I particularly liked the fact that the author consistently tells us the ‘how’ as well as the ‘what’. All traders should, in my opinion, adopt the portfolio approach presented here and ensure that they think and act in a businesslike manner; it is an almost certain route to consistent trading profits.

The final chapters of the book are somewhat of a miscellany; it is almost as if the author got the main things down and then thought, ‘now what else might go in here?’ Nevertheless, with the exception of a considerable tome about Hillary Clinton and some of her dubious trades (probably of more interest to the US reader) most of it is valuable and should not simply be disregarded as a ‘pot-pourri’ of odds and ends.

In fact, the whole book is probably one of the best I have read for some considerable time. It is frankly written, loaded with experiential learning and packed with methods that, with dedication and commitment, will undoubtedly make you a better trader.


Steve Anderton
3rd January 2005


Buy Trading Day by Day from the GI Bookshop