Mastering The Trade by John F. Carter

[Soultrader 12]

Another great book written by a true trader. I have checked out John and Hubert's trading class in the past and I found it to be one of the best places to learn. The insight and education you will receive in this book is priceless. Although John discusses trading setups that require the use of his custom indicators, the chapters on gaps, pivots, and market internals are well worth the price.

 

In my opinion, the best chapter in the book talks about the use of market internals to judge the "health" of the market. Just as a doctor needs to xray a patient, a trader needs to understand market internals to diagnose for strength or weakness. By gaining the bigger picture, you can then narrow it down to pinpointing your setups.

 

The last chapter focuses on market profile and is written by Alexander Benjamin, a market profile expert. If you are looking for a good day trading book, this is it. I highly recommend it to anyone in the trading field.

[aidaweb01 10]

As a relatively new trader, I have a library of trading books all focusing on specific aspects of trading. MTT is as comprehensive a trading book as I have read, covering not only specific trading strategies that I have begun using in my trading, but also an excellent section on developing a business plan - an area that I've not seen covered in any trading book.

 

Reminding ones self when you enter the trading game that it's a business that needs as much planning as any other business seems so obvious and yet is probably overlooked by the majority of aspiring traders. I refer to the book daily and would highly recommend this to both beginners and advanced traders alike.

[TinGull 10]

Absolutely an amazing book. This is one of the books that I credit with changing my style to something that suits me as an individual. It's an amazing wealth of knowledge and one that I, too, refer to on a daily basis.

[Reaver 10]

This book covers all the bases.

I really think one of the best parts is where he explains some of the setups that play against the psychology of weaker traders. This book even has a section on physical well-being. John Carter is an excellent trader and very good teacher. He also offers free lessons via his website as well. This book is definitely worth a read or two.

[Dr Who 10]

A very good book indeed. I most liked the last section that dealt with one's health and it even gives a list of foods not to eat. The summary of Market Profile is helpful and particularly the section on multiple timeframe analysis before taking on trades. The rest of the book gives some tools to use for trading various instruments with plenty of charts to explain the methods. The author writes in an entertaining style.

Good work Mr Carter.

[ezduzzit 10]

To put it simply, one of the very best trading books around, especially for the very short term futures trader. There is a great deal of sample trade detail, which if you truly wade through it is highly useful and seldom found much in other books on trading. You won't agree with all he says, but that is natural in any work this size. Overall, a great value that was a long time in the preparation I think.

 

Happy Trading

[wsam29 10]

I went and did the 1 week mentorship with his company, they are great people and a coupe of jokers and kids at heart.

 

JC's book, well, I read it before I went there, he touched the subject about psychology but did not go in depth into it. Its not hist forte.

 

I found that his book was more about his trading techniques and stuff about he went through and the stages a trader goes through which is very true.

 

Other than that, pivots, John Person has a book about pivots.

 

I do have a bias towards books about psychology and bits of wisdom and not just techniques.

[Reaver 10]

I agree, I found the book to be quite enlightening.

 

Lots of good info on Psychology.

[GCB 10]

I think he should put out a second edition, but I doubt he will. He doesn't seem to trade now quite the same way he describes in the book. Also, the book could have done with a little more proofreading as there are some gaps in the narrative.

 

And now he is trading grains and he doesn't really mention those in the book. I'll bet in a second edition he'd devote a whole chapter to them.

[Soultrader 12]

Thank for you for the resources cooter.

[GCB 10]

Yeah, he recently had an all-day grains seminar for members of his trading room.

 

You can view a recording of it here:

 

http://www.tradethemarkets.com/public/942.cfm

 

 

WOW! Thats awesome, James. Thanks!

[Guest cooter]

WOW! Thats awesome, James. Thanks!

 

Ummm, ok.

[GCB 10]

Ummm, ok.

 

Oops. Sorry, cooter.

 

That's awesome, cooter!

 

Actually, just reviewed it and though I appreciate their effort and information and I picked up a few interesting tidbits, there wasn't much there I haven't been able to gather from other Carter resources. In a sense that's reassuring because JC's approach to day trading the ags is so simple. But that's even better if it works. So thanks for the heads up. But I'm glad I didn't pay for it. I couldn't believe all the morons in the background chatting it up while Hubert was talking about tape reading.

[Jakew 10]

Essential. It is somehow surprising that in 2005 one can still write a book on trading that stands tall among all the earlier trading literature. It probably has something to do with J.Carter's passion in sharing his view on trading, that makes his lecture uniquely powerful.

[OAC 10]

The book is over-rated.

It may be a good book but definitely not great .

The book contains an assortment of different techniques which

may wet the appetite of an uninitiate. but each chapter lacks depth.

The book essentially becomes a "jack of all trade and master of none"

variety in my opinion.

[bronxterp 10]

Its definitely a good starter book for trading futures and Forex. When I picked up the book, I really didn't know what a futures contract was. I studied the strategies, but most of them were not for me as far as my main strategies go. I've used "box plays", but usually within another strategy of my own. The book also introduced me to Market Profile, which has been a huge addition to my trading career. That led me to Mind Over Markets and somehow I found this site when researching Market Profile.

 

Carter's book is a great book for a novice, but its only a starting point.

[torero 10]

I agree that this book is for beginners to daytrading and a few other unfamiliar markets (forex, ags, etc). I think the setups and strategies are for those who haven't found a system and looking for ideas to form one. But the intangibale which other books have not really go in depth is the trading plan. It's a good template to start. I admit I added more content into my already existent trading plan from this book. In the end, it's worth the money on content other than strategies and setups.

[Dogpile 10]

if you get 1 good idea from a book, then it is easily worth a read. this book was not my favorite but there are some good nuggets in there and I did like the Bollinger Band Squeeze Play (Chapter 10) did stimulate some new ideas for me that has turned into a very successful set-up for me.

[jim2000 10]

if you get 1 good idea from a book, then it is easily worth a read. this book was not my favorite but there are some good nuggets in there and I did like the Bollinger Band Squeeze Play (Chapter 10) did stimulate some new ideas for me that has turned into a very successful set-up for me.

 

Would you care to elaborate.

 

I'm just curious as a newbie to this and trying to decide whether or not to begin futures trading.

[dalby 10]

i find that the bollinger band squeeze (not invented by hubert, but popularized for him ) is VERY useful not just as a way to get a good trade, but to AVOID a bad trade. iow, i have setups that i will not take (short) when a long squeeze is setting up

 

this has saved me a lot of money. because when the squeeze sets up and then my fade situation sets up, it's the WRONG time to fade (usually)

 

carter (haven't read the book but watched the videos) started me on my path to profitability. i have him (among others) to thank for that

[dowe66 10]

On 11-28-07 I felt:

 

As a new trader I am reading it now....I'll have to report on it later...but so far it has been one of the best books I have read as well as enlightening.

 

On 3-8-08 I felt:

 

As a day trader...I liked what the author had to say. I did learn a couple of new things, which made the book worth the price. I have several books about trading, this book is one that I no longer referred to, to check on something I may have read (it stays on the book shelf). If you are new, study something lighter and then take a look at this book-its a little advanced at times. Over all, I would give this book a 8 out of 10 because I did learn something, and that's what counts.

Edited March 8, 2008 by dowe66
Updating

[sergey22 10]

I have to admit, this is the book that got me into trading. From a begginer stand point this book is priceless, it touches on many important concepts and setups of trading and leaves the rest for you to discover. I've been a long term subsriber to John's videos and I've learned a great deal from him. I don't think just by reading this book (If you are a begginer) you are going to be able to trade profitably, but it would definately get you on the right path.

 

Just like John said to become professional it takes at least 10 years, so the sooner you start the faster you will be there

[OAC 10]

I can't agree with you more there.

my next question is why does John Carter charge close to $500 for each of his TTM Squeeze, TTM Scalp, and TTM Brick Indicators like they are some Holy Grail Indicators ? Why doesn't he just give them away ? It sure create the wrong impressionj for a newbie in my opinion.

Or is it that he needs the money because he can't make enough from trading ?

[sergey22 10]

Its just another way for him to make money, even though I think its not ethical because those indicators are available for free and they are not that complicated. I really hope he does make money trading (he constantly claims that he does and this teaching business is just a side project from trading). ... There is no way of verifing it. I haven't read anything bad about them, eveyone says they are a real deal.

 

P.S. I remember him saying that he hired a programmer to develop those indicators, I'm a little sceptical of that because from my research I found that squeeze was not developed by him and he only changed colors on the indicator and claimed it as his.

[james_gsx 16]

Its just another way for him to make money, even though I think its not ethical because those indicators are available for free and they are not that complicated. I really hope he does make money trading (he constantly claims that he does and this teaching business is just a side project from trading). ... There is no way of verifing it. I haven't read anything bad about them, eveyone says they are a real deal.

 

P.S. I remember him saying that he hired a programmer to develop those indicators, I'm a little sceptical of that because from my research I found that squeeze was not developed by him and he only changed colors on the indicator and claimed it as his.

 

He makes plenty of money trading. Sure he's wrong sometimes and loses money but so does every trader.

 

1 - Don't buy his book to learn how to trade and just like anything else, don't use someone else's indicators unless they work for YOU. He even talks about that in his book.

2 - His book is GREAT from the psychology aspect of trading. If you are new to trading then his book is great for that since it will open your eyes and realize just how harsh it really is.

3 - The section on market internals is awesome. He teaches you how to read internals and apply them to your trading.

 

I have read his book and I don't use any of his setups. I'm glad I read it and I recommend it to anyone who is new to futures. I think his book is very real and that's probably the biggest reason why I actually read the book.

 

You can download most of his indicators on TS forums and even some of them are around here. In his book he basically tells you what the squeeze is so it shouldn't be that hard to make the indicator yourself.

 

If you're looking for setups or anything like that then don't buy his book. Buy his book for a great introduction to trading futures then design a system on your own that works for you (with the least amount of indicators as possible).