Shop Class as Soulcraft
Still, the best parts of the book are where Crawford talks about what working with the hands can do for a person’s mind and soul. When he describes the satisfaction of hearing the roar of a motorcycle leaving his shop, knowing that it arrived in the bed of a truck, it is clearly heartfelt. His desire to share that experience with others is palpable. Well, maybe that not exactly it. More the desire to say “there is another path” to the members of our society, in particular those about to shuffle off to college because that’s simple what one does after high school. To them I would say: read his book, and consider how your brain might be engaged by the thoughtful application of experience and labor in a trade. Decide if the potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars of college and years of debt really return enough value to your life to make college worthwhile. Read more
Fool’s Gold
Without a full understanding of all the factors contributing to the crisis we find ourselves in, it would be tempting to find solutions that seem to eliminate the excesses of the past years only to sow the seeds for future problems. So-called “always fighting the last war”. A simplistic solution to the credit derivatives abuse would be to ban it. A simplistic solution to the failed U.S. auto industry would be to subsidize it with taxpayer funds. A simplistic solution to the housing problem would be to mitigate mortgage foreclosures through taxpayer subsidies (as if everybody who bought a home deserves to live in that home or be a homeowners in the first place). Read more
The Myth of the Rational Market
The mathematics discussed in the book is not terribly complicated but the reader is given no formulas, no graphs, no applications of the quantitative theories. Yes, everyone knows what normal distribution looks like but the power laws discussed deserve a chart. Mandelbrot’s fractal theories need a diagram. Fox would also support his argument more strongly if he included the formulas which were eventually altered by the behavioralists. Without these, the reader is forced to blindly trust what Fox is telling him. Read more
Riches Among the Ruins
I was intrigued from the title considering the times we’re living in, and I zipped through this well-written, humorous, and interesting book. It reads like an international adventure and is great for someone who is curious about how the world used to work when developing countries teetered near bankruptcy in the 70’s and 80’s, Read more
Making Sense of the Dollar
In order to frame its message, the book uses a provocative format: it challenges a handful of forex myths, peeling back the layers of concepts frequently taken for granted as the common wisdom. For example, at the heart of the arguments, one particular chapter is bound to command attention. Is the demise of the dollar, Read more
Trading For Dummies
The book is well-written, with the not-too-serious yet informative style that hallmarks a good “Dummies” book. The organisation is top notch, and the authors re-iterate tactics they have previously covered when doing so provides a good learning example. Read more
The Daily Trading Coach
Here are some of the gems of wisdom you will find in this book:
“…your losing trade is never a total loss as long as you embrace it and learn from it.”
“When we’re most frustrated, but also most overconfident, we’re likely to make our worst decisions and violate our trading principles.” Read more
The Market Guys’ Five Points for Trading Success
The Market Guys come through on their promise to Keep It Super Simple. They demystify trading stocks. The biggest benefit I have taken away so far is to incorporate their advice on managing my risk by making sure I don’t expose more than 1% of my trading account on any one trade by using stop loss orders, managing my position size, and identifying support levels. Read more
Trend Trading for a Living
“Trend Trading for a Living”, is quite exceptional amongst the available titles in that it does a much better job of making the subject matter digestible to people who aren’t already experts. Read more
High Probability Trading Strategies
I appreciate that the author isn’t trying to hard sell his software and newsletter. You can apply the ideas in the book without buying anything more from the author! That is an honest touch that is appreciated. Read more
