Street Smarts: High Probability Short Term Trading Strategies

by Laurence A. Connors and Linda Bradford Raschke

Top-selling manual on short term trading methods and strategies from two prominent authors and traders. Combines 25 years of combined trading experience to teach you 20 of their best strategies.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0965046109
• ISBN13: 9780965046107
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: M. Gordon Publishing Group
• Length: 238 Pages
• Weight: 1.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 8.7" x 11.3"

Customer Reviews

Excellent book on swing trading

I read the book and basically confirmed some of the patterns that I've been trading for years. Everyone has it's own name for the setups, but regardless of the name, the patterns describe in the book, do work! Everyone has their own twist to these patterns. I notice one reviewer had mentioned that he profited on the exact opposite strategy that the book had described. Selling new lows and buying new highs. Personally I think this is more dangerous than the strategy in the book(Buying new lows and Selling new highs). That is what swing trading is about. I do the same exact strategy as they mention in the book, and make money from it frequently. But I am also aware of the fact, that new lows/highs are set for strong fundamental reasons, so instead of using regular stops, I use Stop and Reversal(SAR)type orders. These order give me the best of both worlds. If my estimate is correct, I get an early fill as the market decelerates in one direction and accelerates in the opposite. If the trend continues, my SAR order gets me out, and fills me in the direction of the momentum. Price, Momentum, Time and Volatiliy and how you react to them, is the key to swing trading.It's not set in stone that these patterns work everytime, but as the title mentions, it's the probabilities of the markets reaction when these patterns form. Like any other method in trading, nothing works everytime, but as years go by, you find out what works best for your trading style and what doesn't. This book didn't teach me anything that I already have found out through experience, but for traders interested in swing trading, it's a fantastic starter book and worth the investment if purchased. It excerises the mind's of traders on how to anticipate the market, thereby always thinking one step ahead of it. And when your anticipation is wrong, get out!One other important factor. Rashke was a former successful floor trader and Connors was a hedge fund manager. These people know how to trade professionally. They know how other floor traders trade on the floor, and how institutional giants such as ADM,Refco and Rosenthal Collins play their cards and make money. In other words, their livelyhood depended on their attention to detail in the area of trading. They aren't like most us that trade, that have a job to fall back on. This is their job and main source of income! My point is, don't just learn their techniques,setups and strategies, but more importantly, learn their mindset, and what they do when the market moves in favor or against them. Determine how they react to such conditions and take notes! Through time and experience, you'll soon notice that you will be able to react with percision and timing as these professionals do, without doubt but with full confidence!

Among the Best 5 Trading Books out there...

In my daily work as a Stock Broker in Sweden I encounter questions about good trading books all the time. Customers feel that most trading books are quite expensive, and a good way to avoid overpriced, worthless items is by asking an experienced professional.While I truly do not feel that the mystery of the markets can be revealed in a book, I can honestly say that this book is well worth its price. Above all, it gives the open-minded reader insights in highly effective approaches, concepts of trading which I have used successfully for many years. In fact, strikingly similar methods to the methods in this book have been "discovered" and used by investors, brokers, and traders that I know, even before this book was published. In my mind, this is another good indication that many of the patterns presented are valid in real-life trading.While I do not use the patterns in this book in the exact same manner as they are presented, the concepts and the insights are the same. Time spent studying these concepts will be time well spent. I consider Street Smarts to be among the best trading books I've read, and I certainly feel that it is the best book out there concerning Swing Trading. It contains no hype, just precise and sound swing trading techniques. I recommend it highly to all market participants, novices and professionals alike.Some of the other books that I consider to be among the best are:Market Wizards 1 & 2, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, Trading Systems and Methods, How to make money in Stocks, Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets, Investment Secrets of a Hedge Fund Manager, Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques, Secrets of Profiting in Bull and Bear Markets, Technical Analysis of Stock Trends, Trading by the Book, Exceptional Trading.Of the hundreds of trading books I have in my personal library and the thousands which I have access to in my professional life, Street Smarts still remains a personal favourite. I rank it as one of the 5 best books on trading I have ever read...

Loved the book. Recommend it for serious traders

First of all let me state that you must already have a certain concept of trading and trading terminology to benefit from this book. You must also understand and believe the importance of chart reading as a trader to fully understand what the authors are saying. I believe some of the negativity written about this books is because the readers didnt understand trading concepts as applied to chart reading or disregard chart reading altogether as a valid tool to trading. With this said, I have to say that the book was beneficial for me as a short term trader. It helped me find patterns that I would've otherwise overlooked before reading this book. Let me also add that the turtle soup and turtle soup plus one does not really apply 100%, per say, to the fast momentum stocks I screen for. However, reading those strategies helped fine tune my entry and exit strategies when I enter a trade. It did so by helping me look for intraday swings and the probabilities of possible price action for next day trading based on what happened to the price at the close. If anything, the book helped me alot because it opened my mind to other trading possibilities and thus form ideas for myself. Like another reader said, the authors are not mechanical traders. Thus these patterns and strategies should not be taken mechanically. Instead one should trade cautiously using discretionary stops. The book will only teach you about patterns in the market that have a high probable outcome. It's up to the individual to trade the patterns and use protective stops in the case the anticipated move goes wrong.

Best of the best

Six years ago I decided that I wanted to get into the listed derivatives field and have since that time devoured a great many trading texts whilst at the same time being employed in the industry. One of the great difficulties faced by the trader looking to build on his/her knowledge base is the glut of books in recent years and therefore which to choose. However, having built up a quite considerable library, this is the book that I place above all others. Until reading Street Smarts I was a breakout follower, familiar with all the standard charting patterns but relatively unfamiliar with the concept of swing trading. The benefits are twofold in that stops become tighter and secondly profitable trades become more so than previously because they are entered into earlier. Linda is one of the most successful independent traders in the US and fortunately fothtcoming with practical trading strategies, something that is hard to glean from the other 'market wizards.' It's an excellent education for a comparatively small cost.

all meat, no potatoes

several great techniques for day trading and position trades. statistical study at end of book validates that money management seperates the winners from the losers