The Day Traders: The Untold Story of the Extreme Investors and How They Changed Wall Street Forever

by Gregory J. Millman

Book Overview

The gold rush that is revolutionizing Wall Street and the markets--the story of day trading as it's never been told In The Day Traders, Gregory Millman goes behind the scenes to reveal the truth about... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812931866
• ISBN13: 9780812931860
• Release Date: November 1999
• Publisher: Crown Business
• Length: 253 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.4" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Informative, well-researched and entertaining

If you're thinking of becoming a day trader, this book is not a "how to" manual, but it's a good start, providing some invaluable insight into the personalities and forces at work in the world of electronic stock trading. Author Gregory Millman uses the term "extreme" to refer to day traders, much in the same way as we might categorize those athletes who master balance and gravity-defying acts to achieve a sporting "rush" beyond that achieved by professionals in the mainstream sports. Look upon the successful day trader in the same light as the skateboarder who had to fall thousands of times prior to succeeding in the X-Games. The only difference is that the skateboarder is more likely to make it big.Millman has talked to the true movers and shakers in the field, and relies on some great behind-the-scenes research and his experience in writing for numerous financial publications, to bring us a book that is at once a history lesson, an eye into a day trading "boot camp," and even a test kit for the reader to see if he or she is fit (financially, emotionally, etc.) for what may turn out to be the investing (gambling?) craze of the new millennium.This book is easy to read and quite captivating. Whether or not you're a broker, a "buy-and-hold" investor, a gambler, or just plain intrigued by what all those playing in the stock market seem to be talking (i.e., bragging) about at parties these days, you will enjoy this book. Even the Electronic Traders Association risk disclosure statement was interesting! Millman's style is smooth, and won't trip you up with dry details or obscure jargon. I read this in just a few hours; can't wait for his next one.

Informative and Entertaining

Nice job of providing an overview of the day trading industry in a highly readable presentation. As an important bonus, there is a lot of solid trading advice here. The monologue of one of the trading instructors is a particular gem. Millman has done his work and knows what he speaks of.

Finally A Book About This Activity That Has Balance

This is a great book, it does not tell you how to get rich, and it does not tell you that Day Trading is the work of Satan. It gives an excellent concise history about the people who got all individuals the right to trade on their own, and then with examples, and a helpful glossary of terms, gives more than enough information for an individual to decide whether this Extreme Financial Sport is for you. Before reading any other "How To Be A Day Trader" book please read this. Mr. Millman uses the word "Extreme" on the cover of his book and liberally throughout the volume. I trade on-line, have real time quotes, Level II NASDAQ, and many of the other trading tools courtesy of high technology, I do not meet the definition of a Day Trader as I have never had a 50 trade day much less 300 or 500 or even more trades in one session. If you think you are ready for this type of trading a quick calculation may help put Day Trading into perspective. If a person trades from 9:30am-4:00pm, that person has 390 minutes with which to trade. The word extreme starts to come into clear focus. One trade per minute, 390 trades, how about a slovenly pace of 3 minutes for making a decision about your financial status, only 130 decisions need to be made in 6 and one-half hours. Training course of 30 days with some Pros?, $5,000, if that gives you any pause don't attempt this sport. Minimum investment to play at some facilities $50,000 to $100,000, if that gives you any pause stay away. And if you are not prepared to lose consistently when you start, again stay away. You can still trade on-line, and be the master of your own universe, but there is a difference between playing an occasional round of golf and walking up to Tiger Woods throwing down $50,000 and say "You first Mr. Woods". You are going to be trying to make money at the expense of another's loss. You are up against people who have done this all their professional careers, young hotshots who made $1,000,000 last year because, "the video screens are like any video game except these pay". Part of the thirty-day course includes lectures from a psychologist. Now what message is the author not so subtlety suggesting? Do you have the correct form of mental wiring to deal with making a couple of hundred decisions a day, can you handle the constant losses that you will experience, do you have any propensity for gambling. If the answer to the last question is yes, don't go near this game. If you want to trade for yourself, don't confuse a trade or two a day, and staying in stocks for more than a few seconds. Successful Day-Traders are few, like exceptional athletes, or any other occupation that a small number of people have the talent for. On-line trading is fun; true Day-Trading is for the few, not the masses.

A book for my Mother-in-law, Boss, Bus. Prof or friend

This is a work that my mother-in-law can understand and enjoy, a business professor could quote from and a potential day trader should devour as part of his homework! A most compelling and concise account of current day trading via computers. The overnight training or lack thereof is fascinating to read. Then, the next morning you are a Day Trader..... The tragedies outnumber the successes - but Millman goes into a number of scenarios that reveal the human aspect of this risky business. As a prolific financial writer, Millman again did his homework as is evident with all of his books but the inclusion of a Day Trading Primer shows his genius at understanding his marketplace - it sure helped me! I now understand this a lot better after reading Millmans book because it went into the nuts and bolts of the subject without overwhelming me.

FINALLY!

I absolutely love this book. As one who is--at least, theoretically--interested in becoming a daytrader, I have been repelled by a lot of the self-promotion and sheer drivel passed off as daytrading "instruction," whether in books or in daytrading courses. Because this author is a journalist first and foremost, he's a rare trustworthy source of information about the practice. I'm still not certain if I will indeed plunge into this crazy subculture. But if I do, a few things are certain: I won't accept anyone's pitch without serious scrutiny, and I will read and reread this book. The book doesn't provide particularly detailed instruction on the nuts-and-bolts of the game. But what it does provide is at least as valuable: a source of real, agenda-free information. That alone makes it much more valuable than any dozen of the typical "printed advertisements masquerading as instruction" books.