Good case for trend following, nothing actionable

Makes a good case for trend following, but no actionable trading lessons. Misleading Length.

I am a millennial, an entrepreneur, a creative person. I am not a trader, but I'm interested in trading and have made some mistakes in the past trying to buy and sell stocks or mutual funds. This book seemed like it would explain a simple type of trading, one where you do not need to be a computer programmer or dedicate your life to day trading.

I previously have read "The Complete Turtle Trader" and really enjoyed it. It told the story of Richard Dennis in an informative and entertaining way - and then it laid out a set of rules that Richard Dennis used to train his Turtles how to trend follow. It actually had steps you could take to create your own system of trend following, and I was able to implement the rules to earn some real money in the cryptocurrency markets.

I then started listening to Michael Covel's podcast, Trend Following Radio. After 5-6 episodes, I decided to buy "Trend Following" on Audible after everyone kept referring to it as a great book.

When I saw the length of this audiobook, 24 hours, I was impressed. I started listening to the book on walks, enjoying the stories about the trend followers, hearing about how much money they made in up and down markets.

After about 11 hours in, I was excited for the next half of the book where I was certain the author was going to start walking the listener through the different strategies required to become a trend follower. Processes, models, risk & volatility best practices, and position sizing. These are the nuggets I was expecting from the book.

Instead, the book ended shortly after and I was extremely disappointed that the next half of the audiobook was 2 hours of side bar quotes that lose their meaning when read one after another for 2 hours straight. Then the next ~10 hours or so was free podcast episodes.

The narrator did a really good job, and the stories were great. The book was very well written. I'm not saying it was a bad book, I was just disappointed because I expected the same type of actionable information from Trend Following that I got from The Complete Turtle Trader.

I see Michael Covel has another book called "Trend Commandments: Trading For Exceptional Returns" - maybe what I was looking for is in this book, because it wasn't in Trend Following.

27 people found this helpful

Another wall street history book, but no "how to"

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Half of the book is just filled with Wall Street stories about successful traders, not how they achieved their success or what methods they use. The other half is some podcast of interviews. First 7 chapters on audible is just talking about the author and his books.

6 people found this helpful

Great book

Great book for anyone who wants to up their trading skills and understanding. One thing audible should start doing for books like this though is provide a PDF file of all the figures/charts for the listener to view as they are being mentioned. Too many charts and graphs that they go over in this book it would be nice for them to be included. Maybe that could be a good update for some books on here in audible. Great read nonetheless.

3 people found this helpful

Great book on a different view of trading

Interesting book of another view of investment and trading. Apply these principles in life and in business.

Too little content

Some interesting facts, a bit of philosophy, psychology....but this book will not teach you how.

A Ton of Great Information

The updated version of Trend Following is an excellent addition to your trading library. The interviews at the end of the book alone are well worth the purchase. The concepts are becoming more clear to me, however this book is still more of a philosophy of trend following than a how-to book. I highly recommend it.

Much More than Trend Following

I'm very glad that I bought it in the audio format. The book is exceptionally long, when you include all the additional content added in by the author. This extra content is both very unique and helpful to a trader's mindset. If I was to ding the book a little, it would be that a clear understanding of exactly what trend traders do is left to me a bit abstract, and doesn't really guide you into what you can do to implement as change into your trading plan to develop a better trading course of action. It seems a bit like being strong minded with a constant contrarian viewpoint or buying out of favor and hanging in there. This could be cleared up and greater insight given into trade choices and exactly what trend traders do when it comes time to unwind large positions and change course. But alot of good info is provided thru speaking about individual famous traders and important history of the markets. This will cause me to refer to and review the book over and over.

Must read for medium to longterm traders

Full of usefull information, and the extra interviews are very good. Make sure you download the PDF appendix.

No PDF's available to review charts

Would you listen to Trend Following (Updated Edition) again? Why?

yes

Any additional comments?

No access to charts and illustrations. Narrator kept referring to attached PDF File and there was not one available. Very frustrating.

1 person found this helpful

A true insight into being successful

The book not only gives a clear understanding of the concept of trend following from those who have made a living of it, but it also gives you an insight into the mental make up necessary for such success.