Maverick Trading

by three guys from that company

When I first heard the title of this book, I thought what I was getting into was another “Here’s a scary and crazy way to make money in stocks that you've never heard of before” books. I mean, I hear “Maverick” and I’m thinking cowboys, whiskey, and poker games that end in gunfights. So I figured Maverick trading would be just that: some bold new take on investing in stocks where you keep the whiskey close by in case things don’t go well. (If that were the case, what you do with the gun is another story, too.) Turns out that Maverick is the name of the company (and the trading philosophy) of the three authors of this book, and Maverick Trading’s only thread to the other Maverick is, you try to make money.

The book starts with basic explanations of what moves markets: buyers and sellers. It also discusses why buyers buy and why sellers sell, and what happens when they don’t. They cover the basics of stock charts so that even a raw beginner can obtain and understand useful information on market movement. From there, the nuts and bolts of how markets move, along with the intricacies of analyzing stock positions and behind the scenes movements in prices, sectors, and industries are covered in some detail. I suppose more sophisticated traders than myself might find some of what Maverick is about to be too basic, but I have been investing in stocks for 26 years and never really considered looking at the market the way Maverick does. And of course, I also never thought it might be possible to see when large movements take place and what the real opportunity to buy or sell an equity might be based on what other people are doing. To some extent that makes this a trend book, but Maverick teaches you how to get information, how to analyze it, what to do with it, and when to act on it, regardless of trends. That makes it a complete package for successful trading. The “tools” they put in your “toolbox” are understandable, logical, rational, and eminently useable. And because they advocate infrequent trading only after the big picture is understood, I’m thinking that Maverick trading is a good risk limiting tool, too.

I like this book not only because of the information it contains, but because of its earthy, friendly, approachable tone. Some of the authors’ analogies can at times be ridiculous but the points they are trying to make get illustrated and illustrated well. It makes learning the Maverick way a breeze and reading the book is a pleasure. I didn’t have to buy this book, but it’s one that had I purchased it for myself, I still would have been very satisfied. I give it five dollar signs for that reason.