Customer comments on this selection.
 Great book full of useful insights
In this book, Fari Hamzei has gotten a dream team of contributors to share some of their expertise with the end result being a well rounded and insightful set of views on markets. I would say that this book is better suited for market participants with some experience, as opposed to beginners, because even though the material is not highly technical, it does come from the point of view of skilled practitioners. A rarity for a book on trading, there are actionable ideas from all contributors, each of whom seemed to make genuine efforts to contribute something of value, starting with the superbly written introduction by Greg Collins who sets the table nicely.
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br /The primary focus is on equities, but the eye-opening technical insights offered by Kevin Tuttle could be applied to any market, as could the use of relative strength and sentiment by Frank Barbera and the interpretation of volume presented by Tim Ord. Dave Miller's chapter on biotech stocks was fascinating, and I feel like I gained a meaningful understanding of a market sector I had previously not comprehended at all. The chapters on options by Najarian, Leontyev and Jacobsen were easily worth the price of the book. While there was nothing in the book I felt I should skip, one of my favorite chapters was by Jeffrey Spotts who put forth a very compelling synthesis of technical and fundamental analysis, complete with several basic examples. Add to this the fact that market legends Jeff deGraaf and Steve Shobin contributed as well, and you have a book rich with insights.
 13 diverse essays with even more diverse value/quality
If you compare this book directly with Market Wizards I II, you will definitely be very disappointed. However, if the presence of one or two very bright ideas in one single book can already satisfy you well, you may still give it a try. IMHO, the chapter by David Miller (Keys to Biotech Investing) is outstanding, whilst the rest are just so so or even substandard. Sorry to say that there are many better alternatives in the market of the "various authors" genre, like the aforesaid ones and "Inside the House of Money" by Steven Drobny. In short, not recommended.
Good book
All in all I'm glad I read the book. There's a couple of chapters on options that I learned one thing that more than paid for the price of the book and my time to read it. I was a little disappointed with the book however. Most the technical analysis chapters are simply inpractical for the average home based investored to use. They would require a lot of manual number crunching, or a subscription to a website.
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br /But still, there were some gems in the book, and I've changed the way I would enter some options trades after reading it, so it still gets 5 stars.
Ground Truth
Before becoming a professional trader, I had success both on an academic, professional, and entrepreneurial level. The most important thing I learned was to find successful people who were doing what I wanted to do and then learn everything I possibly could from them. This may sound simple, but research shows successful ventures often fail right after some of their most successful years. The same thing occurs in financial trading. Someone has initial success, but then fails to adapt, grow, and change. Consequently, the market crushes them. This is usually due to being too rigid in their views or a lack of rigorous discipline that enables them to continually stay ahead of the curve. The best way to avoid these pitfalls is to study the "best" and learn how they achieved and maintain their success. In the military, there is a term called "ground truth." This information is considered the most valuable. It is distinguished from the theoretical and refers to what has actually happened on the field of battle. In his well researched book, Fari Hamzei has brought together some of most relevant voices today in investing and trading financial securities. It truly is packed with some of the most valuable "ground truth" in the field of trading. Whether it is Kevin Tuttle's insights into technical analysis, quantitative screening, and divergence theory or Tim Ord's methods in identifying buy and sell signals through evaluating volume and price, Fari Hamzei gives a rare behind the scenes look at some of the best financials professionals in the field. In addition, Hamzei's pioneering work on dollar weighted put/call ratios is an extremely valuable market sentiment indicator. I have not even mentioned Alex Jacobson, Phil Erlanger, etc... Simply put, this book is guaranteed to change the way you see the market and trade it. I whole-heartedly recommend you read and reread "Master Traders."
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Distinguished Market Masters of Today
I had time to read this very well compiled book over the holidays. The book is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in improving their own trading techniques as well as gaining insight to different methodologies used for successful trading. The Chapter written by well-known Investment Strategist, Jeff DeGraft was very good in pointing out the contrasting strategies used by Technicians versus Fundamentalists. Frank Barbera writes an excellent Chapter on Sector Analysis. I thought his explanation of how his methodology of using particular market tools has evolved over time was very insightful. Additionally, he explains the changes that have occured in measuring market sentiment over the years. The Traders interviewed are successful and each have a deep passion for their work. They each have their own unique methodology which has translated to trading successfully in the financial markets. The book was especially enjoyable because of the passion conveyed from each Trader regarding their work. I recommend this book if you are a student of the markets.
br /K. Hetzer CMT,CIMA,CFP
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