Review Zero to £1 Million. book James Smith.

[sigmund1]

Maybe it’s me but when I buy a tin of beans I expect to find beans in the tin...when I buy a packet of peas I expect to find peas in the packet.

Take for instance the book by James Smith titled...Zero to £1 Million.

Silly old me, I thought it would be a story in some detail about a trader who made and kept £1million quid from the markets.

Not so.

Does Jim Lad tell the reader how long it took him to reach that magic £1 million number...not a word.

What was Jim's biggest losing trade...not a word.

What was Jim's biggest winning trade...not a word.

What was Jim's average win to average loss ratio, not a word.

What was Jim's position sizing method, not a word.

How many trades did it take Jim to get to £1 million quid, not a word.

What was Jim's Sharp ratio, not a word.

What was Jim's longest drawdown period, not a word.

If ever there was a misleading title for a book, this is it.

 

[seekingTruth16]

What is it about then?

 

[sminicooper]

Contents appear to cover some basics - all available free elsewhere. Free download if you're on Amazon Prime, or sample view otherwise https://www.amazon.co.uk/Zero-1-Mil...swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1483820653&sr=1-1 - also some reviews.

No signs of the million quid though

 

[counter_violent]

The riddle is obvious.

Nothing to do with trading, but perhaps book sales.

 

[tipper73]

James Smiths book Zero to £1 Million, My stock Market Lessons and Technqiues

Personally I enjoyed Smith's book and thought it was very interesting. It wasn't a book that was focused on sharp ratios, draw downs etc, those just aren't his methods... that's why there is no mention.

He trades big trends using the boom bust cycle. If you think back the big money has been made by traders / investors who caught the dot.com boom, the housing boom and the commodities boom, buying shares that have high relative strength that have broken out from large trading ranges and then staying with the trend as the boom develops, often for many years, is his style.

His book focuses on the mistakes that he made and is critical of many of aspects of technical analysis and pattern analysis, and focuses on only a buying stocks that have a high relative strength and have broken out from a narrow trading range and have rapid earning per share growth since these offer the best risk reward ratios (which have to be at least 3:1)

He doesn't mention Sharpe ratios, draw downs etc simply because he doesn't trade that way. Instead he devotes a short chapter to the importance on focusing only a few proven indicators and states clearly that too many indicators is a serious mistake, 4 or less is optimal, they are volume, relative strength, breakout and gaps from a narrow trading range.

The narrative of the story tells the time frame that he succeeded. Starting before the dot com boom in internet stocks and showing how he lost money betting against the trend. He's learning! then the housing boom, and finally the commodity boom... he's seen the boom bust cycle and the trends and big money and goes on the explain the boom bust cycle and how to trade it. He states that he had made over £1 Million pounds clearly but states honestly that then when the European crisis hit he has a bad time as the market whipsaws around, he looses about 200k, and talks about the limits of technical analysis and the need to understand markets, politics and economics. He then looks forward and provides some ideas about how the where future booms may occur.

I enjoyed the book, but it certainty ins't filled with sharpe ratios or carefully monitoring draw downs etc, that just isn't how he did it. He believes that market
experiences are more instructive than ratios and 99% of technical indicators and states this in his book. He is focused on the big trends that arise out of the boom bust cycle.

Its not a brilliant book, but it is a story about learning and growing as a trader with the lessons that he learned and he has a lot of experience and talks a great deal about the losses he experienced, since he believes these are insightful.... I agree, well worth a read...but If your mindset is routed in technical analysis then its not for you. This is a book about seeing the big picture and where big trends come from, and how too catch them.

 

[sigmund1]

Personally I enjoyed Smith's book and thought it was very interesting. It wasn't a book that was focused on sharp ratios, draw downs etc, those just aren't his methods... that's why there is no mention.

He trades big trends using the boom bust cycle. If you think back the big money has been made by traders / investors who caught the dot.com boom, the housing boom and the commodities boom, buying shares that have high relative strength that have broken out from large trading ranges and then staying with the trend as the boom develops, often for many years, is his style.

His book focuses on the mistakes that he made and is critical of many of aspects of technical analysis and pattern analysis, and focuses on only a buying stocks that have a high relative strength and have broken out from a narrow trading range and have rapid earning per share growth since these offer the best risk reward ratios (which have to be at least 3:1)

He doesn't mention Sharpe ratios, draw downs etc simply because he doesn't trade that way. Instead he devotes a short chapter to the importance on focusing only a few proven indicators and states clearly that too many indicators is a serious mistake, 4 or less is optimal, they are volume, relative strength, breakout and gaps from a narrow trading range.

The narrative of the story tells the time frame that he succeeded. Starting before the dot com boom in internet stocks and showing how he lost money betting against the trend. He's learning! then the housing boom, and finally the commodity boom... he's seen the boom bust cycle and the trends and big money and goes on the explain the boom bust cycle and how to trade it. He states that he had made over £1 Million pounds clearly but states honestly that then when the European crisis hit he has a bad time as the market whipsaws around, he looses about 200k, and talks about the limits of technical analysis and the need to understand markets, politics and economics. He then looks forward and provides some ideas about how the where future booms may occur.

I enjoyed the book, but it certainty ins't filled with sharpe ratios or carefully monitoring draw downs etc, that just isn't how he did it. He believes that market
experiences are more instructive than ratios and 99% of technical indicators and states this in his book. He is focused on the big trends that arise out of the boom bust cycle.

Its not a brilliant book, but it is a story about learning and growing as a trader with the lessons that he learned and he has a lot of experience and talks a great deal about the losses he experienced, since he believes these are insightful.... I agree, well worth a read...but If your mindset is routed in technical analysis then its not for you. This is a book about seeing the big picture and where big trends come from, and how too catch them.

The contents of the book are not reflective of the title.

 

[Kladproraba]

This is exactly all a hoax, the whole world lives in deception. Who will tell you how to make a million? Well, even if you say - how you gonna earn it? Without the knowledge? We need knowledge and experience is what's important.

 

[tipper73]

You are right in that you need experience to learn about the market. That is why this book is not a simple mechanical formula for making money, although it does detail some of the best technical methods I have read about. Instead the author writes about his experiences and his understanding of markets.

I agree that it is only through understanding markets and trading psychology that success can be achieved.

 

[tipper73]

Having just re-read James Smith's book, 'Zero to £1 Million', I have to say I thought it was even better second time around. With more experience I know see many of the lessons that he was conveying, and how important they are.
I have read several other books and they don't compare to Smith's. I haven't found the pure technical analysis books very useful at all, such as Alexander Elder's book's. Smith's book and Reminiscences of a stock operator are my favorites.