John Carter's Book

[cleon]

My Goodness Tubbs! Then what DOES work?
I don't mean to be sarcastic, but surely most TA books must have some good points.

It's a great book. When people disregard a trading book because setups don't work or it's not new material, then you have to look at the book and decide for yourself if you find it useful. I've read most of the core books that everyone reads...edwards, douglas, elder, dalton, steidlmeyer, murphy..yada..yada...most traders will read them all, and they will keep reading till they quit the business.

In my opinion, Carter did a nice job of putting all the facets of an intraday and swing futures trader business life in one place. Very few of the trading classics do this. He mentions his site a couple of times in the book, usually along with other good sites, and basically tells you the rules for his indicators and setups so you can build them yourself vs go to his site. If I had a site, where I had more detail on all my material, I would probably mention it too. Not sure what the rationale would be to NOT do that.

In terms of setups - 90+% of them are going to be either price/volatility breakouts, retracements, or reversal trades..does that make his invalid??..dunno, but I always enjoy seeing how someone else is doing his or hers. There is not a whole lot of 'new' ways of doing anything in the markets so you have to decide what's useful to you in building your own strategies.

I'll tell you also what I really enjoyed about the book. I get so tired of hearing cop out answers around position sizing, risk management, etc., it was refreshing to see real numbers and examples posted. Judge for yourself but most of the time as a newbie you're going to hear very soft answers that basically just tell you to find a % risk you are comfortable with, then apply it to these topics, but as a newer trader, you are not really going to have any idea what that number should be. It was nice to see someone give actual numbers for a change, by trading vehicle.

Anyway, like every other post in this thread, this is just opinion, but in mine...John did a great job putting together a book that covered everything you should be thinking about as an intraday futures trader, and showing you real examples, not just academic guidelines.

 

[paulm555]

Regarding the squeeze play I am having difficulty finding a source for Keltner Bands.Any suggestions welcome.Thank you

 

[bluetipex]

I've been subscribing to the free video since 30 Nov 2004 (4 years), and I think it's awesome. It's taught me so much. I use the 8/21 and the "squeeze", but have developed my own system around them. I've kept every single email video.

In my opinion John Carter is far, far better than Hubert Senters, with a far more diverse range of skills and market knowledge.

However, like you, I have no intention of subscribing to the "paid" video. After getting "stung" as a newbie (Vantagepoint) I vowed never to pay for any trading stuff again. Everything you need to know is available for free, if you can be bothered to do your research.

Having said that, I did buy the squeeze indicator for ESignal, and now that I no longer use ESIgnal, a friend has programmed the squeeze for me in Prorealtime. It's probably my second favourite set-up, or possibly equal first.

you must have read a different book to the one I read - what about market psychology, money management, trading plans etc.

what about 8/21 crossover - no special subscription needed for that !
even his squeeze play, which i use all the time, i simply use BB lines and a KC, no need to buy the indicator

you're the first person i ever came across with something begative to say about the book

have you ever watched his free daily video ? this guy knows what he is talking about ......

 

[Jyde]

well you guys. The book is good - all apart from the setups that are an absolute load of crap.

Does anyone have any more feedback/opinions regarding this? I am just reading his book and so far, all seems good, though if the setups themselves are really not that good, why put them in the book at all? It is simply no good saying that they are a starting poing, in which case, all books are equally good.

The thing that got me was I looked into the scalp play setup - and it just didn't make sense. I emailed him to see how it really works. I got an answer from his "secretary" of actually how the setup is completely different to the one in the book. Why? i don't know. Looked into that and as usual it doesn't really work.

Having just read that chapter too, I share your frustration, The stated text does not correspond to the charts shown alongside. The book has been excellent up until this point (bar the above?) so it feels just plain sloppy, or even somewhat dishonest.

I did find this clarification in his FAQs:

What are the fixes for the Scalper indicator mentioned in the day trading book "Mastering the Trade" that are not added in?

http://www.tradethemarkets.com/scalperfaq.GIF

The link above includes a screen shot that demonstrates how the Scalper Alert works. In the book John talked about how this typically happens after 3 higher highs or 3 higher lows but that is not completely accurate as the indicator has a filter. The paint bars are not related to consecutive higher or lower closes but rather pivot highs and pivot lows. The Trigger bar is the first bar that has a higher low than the previous bar. The next bar that closes above the high of this trigger bar paints this previous low bar which now becomes the swing low and the beginning of a new up swing. We hope this clarifies the workings of this indicator.

Cheers!
CJ

 

[RubenE]

I'm also currently reading John Carter's book and think it's very useful. I have one question though that maybe someone here can answer about the squeeze play.

In the book John gives some examples of daily plays and says it also works in that timeframe. However, when I backtest it on the DJI and S&P500 on historical EOD data the results aren't looking very pretty. It looks like the main cause of this is the exit, so I'm wondering if John uses any smoothing on his momentum indicator. It looks like he does in the samples in the book, but he doesn't mention it. Does anybody know this?

And also are any other people using the squeeze play on the daily timeframe?

Thanks in advance.

Best regards,
Ruben.

 

[N Rothschild]

the squeeze its self can be pritty bad but when you learn to combine it with other things it can be very powerfull..most of the stuff in his book no longer works very well but its still an excellent read..check out his site for newer stuff

 

[N Rothschild]

well you guys. The book is good - all apart from the setups that are an absolute load of crap.

Look on ET and you will see what most people think of Carter.

Carter is mostly a salesman, his mate is the actual trader - in the videos - Hubert Senters I think. that guy obviously does know what he is talking about. They often argue about setups.

The thing that got me was I looked into the scalp play setup - and it just didn't make sense. I emailed him to see how it really works. I got an answer from his "secretary" of actually how the setup is completely different to the one in the book. Why? i don't know. Looked into that and as usual it doesn't really work.

Then again most technical analysis books don't work either. So I can't hold that against him.

what aload of tosh carter is an outstanding trader. johns books is simply out of date now thats all..all of his up to date setups work fine. i dont see how you can say he is just a salesman, what is he selling exactly? apart from his own skills and knowledge...indicators are only a small part of it his general outlook on the markets on a swing basis is 9/10 on the money.

i would also highly recommend the paid video to anyone who only watches the free video.

 

[RubenE]

the squeeze its self can be pritty bad but when you learn to combine it with other things it can be very powerfull..most of the stuff in his book no longer works very well but its still an excellent read..check out his site for newer stuff

Hi Genics,

I sort of expected that yeah, that's why I'm trying to see if there are any good confirmation signals to determine to take a squeeze trade or not. Any pointers on that would be appreciated.

Ruben.

 

[BennyHey]

If people seem to like his book that is fine. Buy it on Amazon for $3. As far as his "squeeze" indicator is concerned, it will not work on its own. All his indicators were others people's work he stole from TS-Support. (Its happened to me for eSignal)

I don't have any real confirmation on this but a friend who lives in Austin says Carter told him he dosen't really trade. It is also fact that his Hedge Fund went under in like 2 years. If he was such a good trader why did he lose 1/2 of his investors $$$ in such a short amount of time??

If you were getting $5000 a day from mentorships why would you trade? Its ok to have an education site but the prices he charges make me cringe. He is just preying on nubies who don't know any better.

 

[N Rothschild]

he doesnt trade? interesting seeing you can watch about a million live recordings of him trading

 

[BennyHey]

Yes, it has been posted in many other forums from people that use the same platform that it is a DEMO. I don't know the real truth so I am not pretending that I do. All I am saying are rumors I have heard from multiple sources. Take it for what its worth.

 

[N Rothschild]

again i doubt that as plenty of the vids you see him NOT being filled etc, that doesnt happen on a demo does it?

im not sure what your driving at are you claiming he is a fraud? the man knows what he is talking about end of..

 

[zupcon]

Yes, it has been posted in many other forums from people that use the same platform that it is a DEMO. I don't know the real truth so I am not pretending that I do. All I am saying are rumors I have heard from multiple sources. Take it for what its worth.

For gods sake, even if they where completely fraudulant publishing videos of the good trades, and ignoring the bad trades the worst that could possibly happen is they'd pretty much break even over the long haul !

Do the maths, John Carter & Hubert Sentners have enough punters subscribing to there service that they really dont need to risk their reputations by trading demo accounts !

 

[sdzh]

If you were getting $5000 a day from mentorships why would you trade? Its ok to have an education site but the prices he charges make me cringe. He is just preying on nubies who don't know any better.

After reading (and enjoying the book), that's pretty much the same conclusion that I came to, although maybe a little harsh.
Why charge $500 for the squeeze indicator
I am always confused why a successful trader would publish their setups, knowing that letting others know what they are doing will take away their edge and potentially render their system less successful.

 

[montmorencyt2w]

Mastering The Trade, John F Carter
ISBN# 0-07-145958-8

I've read Murphy, Hull, Nison, Crabel, "livermore", Bulkowski, Bernstein, Elder, Van Tharp, Raschke, Douglas etc etc
but Carter's book is the only one I will ever recommend to anyone, it's the best I have come across

Rathcoole,

Have you ever read Marcel Link, and if so, what did you think?
("High Probability Trading" is his older and more famous book).

 

[rathcoole_exile]

hi Mike,
i must admit that I haven't.
I've stopped reading trading books in general, but if there is something particular someone recommends I'll take a look.
what are your thoughts on Link ? worth a read ?

 

[Shakone]

Link is worth a read if you are newish to trading. Some good material on the indicators like stochastics and RSI, using different time frames to pick a trade, trend lines, support etc. I'd say it is not the best trading book for a beginner, but is a very good one for someone who is past the beginner stage, knows all the candlestick patterns and indicators, but still needs to find a way to make better trades.

I read Carter's book when I was first learning, and I found it an easy read and quite useful. I went to test out his Squeeze system (by the way, you can program this yourself for free, no need to buy it), but backtesting it doesn't do very well. The problem is that by the time the squeeze fires off, you've typically missed a large part of the move, and it is a mistake to get in then, and also his exit strategy on that is not very good. You can use other things though, and make it better. Also even on his videos he will keep changing his view. One day it works well on the 512 tick chart, next day he will be saying it worked well on the 5 min chart. Next day the 1 hr chart or the 4 hour chart and on and on. Does he trade all of those timeframes or is he just fitting the best one for the video? A bit worrying. He also has some other setups which aren't good. But as Rathcoole said, I did find it quite useful for trading psychology and a few other things. His trading videos are ok otherwise, as are Hubert's. You very occasionally learn something useful. And I find that John Carter's overall knowledge about the market and what it might do is really impressive. There is a new guy, Michael something, who talks a load of nonsense (yes it is so bad even I can tell it is crap). So ignore him.

If you trade the setups as written in the book, I don't think you'll make any money. Tweak them a bit, and add a few things, and you might.

 

[rathcoole_exile]

The problem is that by the time the squeeze fires off, you've typically missed a large part of the move, and it is a mistake to get in then,

you're right of course, but even Carter has recently come to admit that the best way to trade the squeeze is by bracketing the consolidation period with Buy and Sell Stop Entries so you may get triggered as and when the squeeze fires off.

Seeing as 99% of my trades are Buy and Sell Stop entries, it's nice to see Carter finally catching up with me

 

[montmorencyt2w]

hi Mike,
i must admit that I haven't.
I've stopped reading trading books in general, but if there is something particular someone recommends I'll take a look.
what are your thoughts on Link ? worth a read ?

Shakone has probably already said it all really. I was like the potential reader he mentions, past the beginner stage, but still looking for an edge.

Since I am trying to get away from indicators, I have ignored that part of the book for now, but he is good on psychology, trading plans, etc, as well as TA (which some here may find pretty basic, but it seems a good summary). I also like it because he gives you the impression he is giving away secrets from the pit trading floor....this is something of an illusion I'm sure, but for me, it adds to the book. Some good anecdotes too.
(I haven't ruled out indicators for ever, but I have a feeling they are actually of more use (used correctly) to an experienced trader than to a neophyte.

He's also quite into computer-assisted systems trading and gives some tradestation coding examples. Again, I think this is actually more useful for the experienced trader than the relative newcomer, and for the beginner, would be a distraction. (Although the really experienced trader might not learn anything).

 

[Shakone]

I didn't know bracketing worked so well with the squeeze. I will give it a little back test now that you mentioned that How often do your orders get triggered before the squeeze fires off?

I was using it in a different way. I was looking at trend and support lines, and deciding where I think it would go, and then entering before the squeeze had fired off. It is a bit riskier than your method, and sometimes you can be waiting a long time. I was also using it as a don't trade signal, so that I was not fighting the squeeze.