The Layman's Guide To Trading Stocks

First off, I'd like to congratulate. Your book is a very nice piece of work even for traders who have been in the market in a while. …even for traders who are familiar with your methods…. You helped me a lot to simplify my approach to the market. I'm a pretty good IT guy…and.. I have spent years on developing indicators, trading systems etc. It took me a while to realize that I have to do what you do and that is to use my brain and spend my time looking at as many charts as possible each day--to not to think like an IT guy. An IT guy works to be able not to work later and make the PC work instead. This just does not work at trading. Another important thing is the daily routine you do. I just try to do the same now. So thank you for the help, you really helped me lot!

I found Dave Landry's book quite helpful as it focused my mind on the fundamental matter in all of trading: Price. Dave strips away all the derivatives of price: oscillators, indicators, stochastics, etc, and instead concentrates solely on price and price movement alone. This improved the signal-to-noise ratio in my own chart analysis significantly, and ultimately has saved me a lot of time, grief, and money.

The book is more than a one-dimensional analysis of trend and pullback setups, however. He includes his relatively safe trading system, complete with principals of money management, human and market psychology, and useful strategies for implementing his ideas. By weaving his theory together with the harsh realities of the market, he offers a balanced approach to growing and protecting one's profits, while minimizing losses. For those of us that are new to the world of trading, this information alone is illuminating and insightful.

Very deeply illustrated, his book offers many thorough and explicit explanations.
Of particular note was the step by step process of putting all the pieces together for us, right before our eyes. We can follow along as he applies his system to the actual analysis of the market, ultimately through stock selection, and then follow along with the trade as time unfolds.
From this very simple concept Dave has shared with us his very thorough understanding of trend and pullback trading, explaining the subtle nuances one can encounter along the way, the caveats, the pitfalls, and the potential rewards, all while writing in a very light and humorous way.

I found this to be a good read and a welcome addition to my trader's library.

Your new book is a piece of gold. You laid a good and strong foundation for anybody that wants to help himself or herself. I intend to read it several times. It is easy to forget the basics or take them for granted.

Hi Dave

Just finished reading the new book. I wanted to tough it out and wait to
read the real thing but couldn't resist the eBook.

There is something that has always told me your system is the one for me and
could never say exactly why. It dawned on me finally. It's common sense.
While everyone else is off looking for things like the upcoming full moon to
confirm their decisions, you have simplified it to momentum of human emotion - which IS the market. Everything you need to know is right there in front of you.

For mine, Chapter 10 deals with the most critical aspect of trading, that
is, let the trade play out. Well done mate, it's a winner.

Cheers
Glenn,
Australia

When you're finally fed up with trying to trade off of MACD cross overs, Stochastic over bought and over sold signals, PPO, Williams %R, Derivative Oscillators, AROON up and down, ADX and all the rest. When you're sick of your charts becoming so small you can't read them because your technical indicators have overrun your screen space. When the economists on CNBC sound like drunken godfathers making an offer you can't understand and you're finally sick and tired of seeing your statements showing more losses than a Taliban soccer team - then it's time to read Dave Landry's The Layman's Guide to Trading Stocks. Why? Because price is what matters, and risk management, and patience, and the fact that markets move in trends that go up and down and sideways. And if you want to learn how to make money and have the chance to compound profits over time while managing your risk, then you must learn to recognize when these trends present themselves. You must learn that stocks are influenced by their sectors and the general trend of the broad averages. You must learn that there is no such thing as prediction or a holy grail indicator combination and that all indicators are lagging and can only tell you what you could've and should've done on the left side of the chart! Dave Landry patiently walks you through the steps necessary to increase the odds in your favor of making a successful trade. He then provides numerous examples of how to recognize price action that consistently leads to actionable high probability entry signals and combines risk management to allow you to follow the sage advice of the greatest traders who ever lived: "cut your losses short and let your profits run". Hey, read Livermore, read Darvas, read Sperandeo, Weinstein and Schwager, but start with Landry. And while you're at it, pick up his other book 10 Best Swing Trading Patterns and Strategies. If you intend to trade seriously you really can't pass up the opportunity.

Respectfully from a trend trading moron apprentice,

Rick Marchetta

August, 2010

The Layman's Guide To Trading Stocks is a classic volume that any trader should have in his library. The methods are easy to understand and these methods offer ample opportunity for trading in any market environment. One of the best things about trading with Dave Landry's methods is that you will never lose a lot of money as long as you follow his suggestions for stops and money management. Dave also gives a great summary of the myths and truths about Wall Street. If you intend to trade by technical analysis, this book is for you.

Also, any fan of Dave Landry should know that the material in this book will only enhance all the previous knowledge learned from Dave. All the old concepts are still there. Dave has just fine tuned some of those concepts so that entries and exits are better aligned with today's market. Maybe more important than that, Dave provides a complete discussion of Trader Psychology to help the trader develop the kind of mental muscle required for trading. If you do not know the Three Ms of Trader Psychology, you really should not be putting your money at risk in the market. This book will help you plan the trade, trade the plan, and evaluate how well you did in the heat of the battle.

If you know anything about Dave Landry, you know that he is a trend follower. This book will help you identify the trend, scan for stocks within the trend, and even help you determine how you can get in on the early stages of a new trend during its transitional period. To trade with the trend will help you sleep a lot better at night. Dave can help you with that aspect of trading. And, if you have a problem with micro-managing, Dave can help you with that part also. The lessons in this book are geared toward cutting your losses short and letting your winners run.

Another feature to consider is that this is not just a book filled with text and theory. The Layman's Guide To Trading Stocks is filled with many examples of the patterns and applications based upon visual charts which clearly illustrate each concept that is taught in this masterpiece. If that is not enough, Dave offers plenty of live follow-up with his free daily newsletter - Market in a Minute - and his weekly chart show which can be viewed live or one can view the recording of the show afterwards.

Dave Landry who writes with consistent clarity has written a new book , The Layman's Guide to Trading that I bought (E-book with hard copy to follow) and read last night (it's not War and Peace). Landry, a self-described "Trend Following Moron" reviews his methodology, universal selection process, risk management process including position sizing, trading psychology, and shows some good examples. I think it's well worth the price, although the first half of the book heavily favors the trading novice. It's as useful as his Dave Landry on Swing Trading which I believe to be a primer on trend trading.

It is rare that I put aside the time and finish a book so quickly. This is the second book I purchased from you . The first was the 10 best Trading Patterns. The book was so right on and helpful. While I have traded for many years, in recent years I only trade two of your patterns and have been very pleased.
Nice job!
Nancy C.

When Dave Landry began writing his third book, he set out to write what he thought was going to be a beginner’s guide to trading, one for ‘the layman’. But that plan changed over time. Landry explains in the preface of the book: “As I watched more and more people lose money in one of the greatest bear markets in history, I felt compelled to add more and more information. The basic book that I had envisioned soon ballooned into much more.” Indeed, Landry’s finished product is a complete guide to not only his trading methodology, but to his attitude and philosophy on trading as well, suitable for the beginner and experienced trader alike.

The book is divided into two sections, labeled ‘First Steps’ and ‘Taking The Next Step’. The first section is, as the name implies, geared toward the beginning or novice trader. But right from the start, the book goes beyond the initial steps of helping one to recognize good trading opportunities in Landry’s trend-following/pullback style, and helps the reader to ‘think’ like a trader, first by trying to dispel some of the well-entrenched Wall Street myths, and then later by delving into trading psychology. That psychology is, in my opinion, one of Landry’s strong suits, and one that many technical traders tend to either gloss over or ignore completely.

Often, traders of all types emphasize the methods, but overlook the importance of psychology in trading. If you follow Dave Landry’s work at all, you know that psychology is always part of the discussion, and that a big part of becoming a successful trader is learning how to keep your head on straight and your emotions in check — and dealing with the fact that the market is going to smack you around now and then. You can count on Landry to help you out a great deal in that area.

In the chapters where he uses charts to demonstrate his trading methods, he keeps the number of examples to a minimum, rather than filling the pages of the book with chart after chart showing the same setup over and over again. He also wastes little time in getting to important topics like money management and position sizing, and stresses the use of protective stops, all of which should be a fundamental part of any trading method. When it comes to placing stops (“as much art as science”, according to Landry), many trading books are more than willing to talk about which stocks to buy and what chart patterns to look for, but the idea of setting stops and planning an eventual exit from the position is often saved for a quick mention near the end of the book, or is neglected entirely. Landry makes it an integral part of the trading process.

In the second section of the book, called “Taking The Next Step”, Landry details the ‘bottom up’ process he uses to select the best trading opportunities for his methodology, in addition to describing a few more chart patterns, adding to the pullbacks described in the first section. The psychological aspects of trading are not ignored in this section of the book either, as he explains how one needs to avoid ‘micromanaging’ their positions, and trust the methodology rather than sweating over every tick in the market. This section also contains a chapter on ‘discretionary’ techniques to be applied in certain situations, e.g., trading ‘opening gap reversals’, doing ‘damage control’ when required, and ’surviving a nick’ on stops.

Landry wraps up the book in fine fashion, with a wire-to-wire example of a real-life trade. This follows a single trade from entry to exit, complete with the determination of the appropriate position size prior to entry. The trade is then followed step-by-step, showing how stops were adjusted as the stock moved, when partial profits were taken, and when it was time to finally exit the position completely. If the reader has any questions about how the method is supposed to work by the time he/she gets to this point in the book, this complete example should help clear things up!

Faithful followers of Landry’s teachings (commentary, webinars, etc.) may, at first, be a tad bit disappointed that there isn’t a lot of ‘new’ material in this book, but I was quite impressed to see so much good information contained in a single volume. Having this book on your bookshelf might be the next best thing to having Dave sitting right next to you, ready to help you out with that question on trend qualifiers — or maybe tapping you on the shoulder and telling you that you’re ‘micromanaging’ that position…

“The Layman’s Guide To Trading Stocks” contains a wealth of information which should be helpful to traders of any discipline or experience level. If you told me today that I could only take one trading book with me to that desert island, this would be the one.