Book Review - The Complete TurtleTrader by Michael W. Covel
Category Book Review
Back in the '80s, I wasn't following the stock market all too much. As such, I didn't know about the Turtle Trading story. But after reading The Complete TurtleTrader: The Legend, the Lessons, the Results by Michael W. Covel, I see why it created such a stir back then. It also opens the door to the mentality that it takes to be a successful commodities trader. It's not a world that I think I'd want to deal with day in and day out...
Contents:
Nurture versus Nature; Prince of the Pit; The Turtles; The Philosophy; The Rules; In The Womb; Who Got What to Trade; Game Over; Out on Their Own; Dennis Comes Back to the Game; Seizing Opportunity; Failure Is a Choice; Second-Generation Turtles; Model Greatness; Appendix 1 - Where Are They Now?; Appendix 2 - Related Websites; Appendix 3 - Turtle Performance Data; Appendix 4 - Turtle Performance While Trading For Richard Dennis; EndNotes; Index
The Turtle Trader experiment was launched back in 1983 when Richard Dennis and William Eckhardt had a disagreement as to whether star traders could be trained or whether it was an inherent talent. Dennis, the "nurture" advocate, selected a wide variety of people through a simple job ad in the papers. Some were already familiar with trading and financial markets, while others didn't have a clue. The partners spent some time training the newly hired traders in the Turtle philosophy and system, and then set them loose to trade for Dennis' firm. The initiates were judged on how well they followed the system and pulled the trigger when necessary, as opposed to how much money they made or lost. The book follows their ups and downs, the rivalries and conflicts, and the odd decision to shut down the program after Dennis suffered his own major trading losses. The author also follows up with how the Turtle experiment affected the careers of the traders going forward, along with an analysis as to how trend trading is viewed in today's market.
The book reads like a documentary rather than a dramatic retelling of the story. For this type of book, it works well as there's not any manufactured hype on minor decisions that were just that at the time.... minor. On the flip side, the book would be best appreciated by someone who already knows the basic story of the Turtle experiment or who is active in the trading scene. Even though I enjoyed the read, I felt that I was missing a bit since I had no previous knowledge on the subject. I *do* know that after reading this, I don't think I'd like to be responsible for trading millions of dollars based on trends, knowing (and hoping) that your down months will be offset by the up months.
In any case, anyone who is interested in financial markets and commodities trading will be interested in this book...
Back in the '80s, I wasn't following the stock market all too much. As such, I didn't know about the Turtle Trading story. But after reading The Complete TurtleTrader: The Legend, the Lessons, the Results by Michael W. Covel, I see why it created such a stir back then. It also opens the door to the mentality that it takes to be a successful commodities trader. It's not a world that I think I'd want to deal with day in and day out...
Contents:
Nurture versus Nature; Prince of the Pit; The Turtles; The Philosophy; The Rules; In The Womb; Who Got What to Trade; Game Over; Out on Their Own; Dennis Comes Back to the Game; Seizing Opportunity; Failure Is a Choice; Second-Generation Turtles; Model Greatness; Appendix 1 - Where Are They Now?; Appendix 2 - Related Websites; Appendix 3 - Turtle Performance Data; Appendix 4 - Turtle Performance While Trading For Richard Dennis; EndNotes; Index
The Turtle Trader experiment was launched back in 1983 when Richard Dennis and William Eckhardt had a disagreement as to whether star traders could be trained or whether it was an inherent talent. Dennis, the "nurture" advocate, selected a wide variety of people through a simple job ad in the papers. Some were already familiar with trading and financial markets, while others didn't have a clue. The partners spent some time training the newly hired traders in the Turtle philosophy and system, and then set them loose to trade for Dennis' firm. The initiates were judged on how well they followed the system and pulled the trigger when necessary, as opposed to how much money they made or lost. The book follows their ups and downs, the rivalries and conflicts, and the odd decision to shut down the program after Dennis suffered his own major trading losses. The author also follows up with how the Turtle experiment affected the careers of the traders going forward, along with an analysis as to how trend trading is viewed in today's market.
The book reads like a documentary rather than a dramatic retelling of the story. For this type of book, it works well as there's not any manufactured hype on minor decisions that were just that at the time.... minor. On the flip side, the book would be best appreciated by someone who already knows the basic story of the Turtle experiment or who is active in the trading scene. Even though I enjoyed the read, I felt that I was missing a bit since I had no previous knowledge on the subject. I *do* know that after reading this, I don't think I'd like to be responsible for trading millions of dollars based on trends, knowing (and hoping) that your down months will be offset by the up months.
In any case, anyone who is interested in financial markets and commodities trading will be interested in this book...
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