The New Day Trader Advantage: Sane, Smart, and Stable - Finding the Daily Trades That Will Make You Rich [Hardcover]

The title is a misnomer, it is more about short term position or swing trading rather than strict day trading. Though in the book, the author redefines "day trading" as such.

I liked the ideas in the book about examining various market indexes relative to others to find those sectors that are performing best or worst. Using this info you can focus on those sectors to look for stocks to research. One of the better and easily accessible ideas for getting a decent big picture impression. These ideas might be worth the discounted price of the book.

On the other hand, the book was FULL of sales pitches for this service, website, newsletter, etc. A whole chapter is given over to how to use a $149+ a month website subscription service. I suppose if you are well financed enough, this would be of interest to you, but as an non-full time trading retail investor, it was a total waste.

The book also has its own "sure fire way to riches with no risk" methodology in the MSN StockScouter 10 portfolio. Impressive returns are documented, but no consideration is given to risk or downsides of this method.

The graphics in the book are poor computer screen grabs with the mouse cursor often still visible. Graphs contain barely visible shading important to the point being made. Also, some trend lines on the graphs are drawn improperly (trend line crosses intermediate prices inappropriately) which results in a buy signal looking more perfectly anticipated than it actually would have been give a proper trend line.

There is some food for thought in this book, but like many investment books that have yet to stand the test of time, only about 10% of it is worth your time.

The other reviewers seem to believe that the information about paid services are all the book contains. I couldn't disagree more. If anyone has found the book that gave them their first million without any work please Email me so that I can buy it. I'll pay top dollar. This book is what it is. It's a good read with good concepts. I agree that the services mentioned are for those with sufficient funds to use them. However, the vast majority (in the neighborhood of 95%) of the book is useful information for everyone. If you're looking for a way to invest and get rich without working marry someone with lots of money. Otherwise gain knowledge from books similar to this one, figure out your own personal game plan, and take credit for both your good and bad decisions. There is no free ride on the millionaire highway. The same people bashing this book probably love Cramer. I'll tell you I liked this book more and I found more useful information in this book than in any of Cramer's.

I'm not a new investor. I've read many articles and books on investing and this is a must read, especially if you are a new investor. There are a few bad reviews on this book by more "advanced" investors, so I would not recommend this for more advanced investors, unless you have "lost your way" and need to get back to basics. This book is for the people who have been duped into the mainstream thinking of "buy and hold", which has burned many investors for years, but especially since the summer of 2007. If you want to manage your own portfolio of investments, as I realized I could do, and realize gains that are above the market, which I have, this book is for you. If you are like me and are skeptical about most everything and are saying, "hey thanks for the comments Sherlock, now just tell me what's in it?" Here's the meat of what is in it...

- This book is an easier read that explains all of the investing and trader jargon.

- Recognizing reoccuring patterns. The 270 to 280 day cycle of stocks (38-39 week cycle), with a pause after 130-140 days. This shows how the majority of stocks move in one direction during a time period, then move in the opposite direction. Just a short note...March 9th was the most recent low point for stocks. 130-140 days into the cycle, is July 17th. We are already seeing signs of the market going sideways before the first decline. If you go 270 days ahead, the next low will probably be AROUND 4 Dec 2009. It should start to deteriorate before this date, however. By Oct, I'm going to be "all cash" in my portfolio.

- Sifts through the truly good investment websites are out there. All throughout this book, it gives great investing websites. By the way, if you have not heard of "investools", you must check out this website. Stated simply, the tools I have used at investools and tdameritrade have made all the difference in my investing!...not a paid advertisement!

- Introduction to Robert Drach. This man has an amazing record of prediciting low points for stocks (91%). This alone is well worth the price of the book.

- step-by-step analysis for investors who are not used to talking investing jargon used by traders. This is probably why "advanced" traders who have rated this book probably do not like it. Again, if you have simply invested with mutual funds in your 401K or IRA and you have not done technical analysis on companies or think you "can't invest on my own because I don't know enough about it", then this book is for you.

- Thinking in terms of news that can affect a group of stocks in an industry. Again, not new information if you are "advanced", however, considering industries coming into favor is absolutely essential to good investing, since the majority of moves in the market are made by insitutional investors (the mutual funds and brokerage houses that mismanage most people's money and then take a fee for it).

The bottom line is this: If you have followed the advice of people who manage money for a living and have been burnt by it, you need this book. There are millions of people who simply make money off of "Other Peoples Money" (OPM). They all want to keep it that way to make money from small commissions they take whether your invstment portfolio goes up or goes down. By the way if you are one of the OPMers, don't post comments about my review. This is simply a book review and I'm not going to entertain a debate. I'm just trying to save you time from making comments, but mostly trying to save people from taking their hard earned money they can no longer afford to give to someone else to manage.

A book like this will give you the confidence to eventually shift your thinking into being a successful manager of your own money. Think about this...if you are a small time investor, you have a distinct advantage by being able to get into a stock and get out of a stock very quickly (holding for a day sometimes and holding for 250 days or more sometimes). When you manage millions and billions (as most mutual funds do), the ability to move faster in and out of a stock is more difficult. The majority of so called "advanced" and "professional" money managers have demonstrated poor performance over the past ten years. And you know what...they have taken a small commission each and every month for it and have made money off of my losing portfolio.

At the beginning of this year, I switched my family's money from letting someone else manage it to managing it myself and have done so much better. In short, I've done MUCH better than the market and much better than the mutual funds I was in and feel so much better by managing my own money. And...I'm no rocket scientist!

I hope this helps you who have lost a job, been burnt by your investments, or simply want to make sense out of the wacky world of investments and advice from the "experts." Become your own expert with your own money. Lots of other people like me are doing the same and you can too. Take charge before the market tanks again this year. Take your realized gains from your mutual funds over the past couple of good months, roll over the cash into a self directed account at tdameritrade, think or swim, scottrade, etrade, or other online brokerage of your choice and spend the next month or two sitting on that cash and educating yourself while the market goes sideways and pulls back.