preface ix
acknowledgments xv
Chapter 1 how to retire at 36 1
Chapter Checklist 4
Chapter 2 Money Management 7
Trading: How Much Money, Honey? 8
Order Types: Read the Fine Print! 10
Position Sizing: My Story 12
Position Sizing by Market Condition: Bull or Bear? 13
How Many Stocks to Hold? 15
A Better Way? Portfolio Composition 16
Hold Time: How Long Is Long Enough? 18
Hold Time: My Trades 19
The Money Management Matrix 19
Should You Scale into Positions? 21
Averaging Down: Throwing Away
Money or Smart Choice? 28
Scaling Out of Positions: A Profitable Mistake? 31
Dollar ]Cost ]Averaging: Good or Bad? 34
Using Leverage: An Expensive Lesson! 35
Leverage Guidelines Checklist 36
Chapter Checklist 37
Chapter 3 Do Stops Work? 41
What Is Hold Time Loss? 42
Mental Stop: For Professionals Only! 44
Minor High or Low Stop: A Good Choice 45
Squaring Off Round Numbers 46
Chart Pattern Stop: Too Costly? 47
Stopped by a Moving Average 47
The Truth about Trendlines 48
Trendline Stop 49
Fibonacci Retrace Stop: Deal or Dud? 50
Fixed Percentage Trailing Stop 53
Volatility Stop 53
Chandelier Stop Leaves You Hanging 55
Testing Six Stop Types 55
What I Use 59
Chapter Checklist 61
Chapter 4 Support and Resistance 63
Types of Support and Resistance 64
Measured Move Support and Resistance 65
Minor High Resistance 66
Volume at Minor High Resistance 67
Minor Low Support 67
Volume at Minor Low Support 68
Minor High Support 68
Minor Low Resistance 69
Gaps Showing Support and Resistance 70
Myth: Tall Candle Support and Resistance 70
Horizontal Consolidation Regions 71
Another Look at Round Numbers 72
Support in Straight ]Line Runs 72
Resistance in Straight ]Line Runs 74
SAR Summary 75
Chapter Checklist 76
Chapter 5 45 Tips Every Trader Should Know 79
Determining Stock or Market Direction 97
Finding the Market Bottom 102
Visual Tips 122
Chapter Checklist 130
Chapter 6 Finding and Fixing What Is Wrong 135
What Was the Market Behavior? 136
Was the Industry Trending? 137
How Is the Timing? 139
Are All Entry Conditions Met? 142
Was the Position Size Proper? 144
Was an Initial Stop Used? 144
Did You Exit Before the Stop? 145
What Was the Risk/Reward Ratio? 146
Did You Average Up? 147
Did You Average Down? 147
Are You Buying Out of Season? 148
Trading Checklist 149
Chapter Checklist 151
Chapter 7 What We Learned 153
Chapter 1: How to Retire at 36 153
Chapter 2: Money Management 153
Chapter 3: Do Stops Work? 155
Chapter 4: Support and Resistance 156
Chapter 5: 45 Tips Every Trader Should Know 157
Chapter 6: Finding and Fixing| What Is Wrong 161
Visual Appendix of Chart Patterns 163
Bibliography 169
Other Sites of Interest 171
About the Author 173
Index 175

THOMAS N. BULKOWSKI is a successful investor with thirty years of experience in the stock market. He is also the author of the Wiley titles Encyclopedia of Candlestick Charts, Encyclopedia of Chart Patterns, Getting Started in Chart Patterns, Trading Classic Chart Patterns, and Visual Guide to Chart Patterns. Bulkowski is also a contributor to Active Trader, Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities, and other publications worldwide. Before earning enough from his investments to retire from his day job at age 36, Bulkowski was a hardware design engineer with Raytheon and a senior software engineer for Tandy Corporation.

Comprehensive coverage of the four major trading styles
Evolution of a Trader explores the four trading styles that people use when learning to trade or invest in the stock market. Often, beginners enter the stock market by:
* Buying and holding onto a stock (value investing). That works well until the trend ends or a bear market begins. Then they try
* Position trading. This is the same as buy-and-hold, except the technique sells positions before a significant trend change occurs.
* Swing trading follows when traders increase their frequency of trading, trying to catch the short-term up and down swings. Finally, people try
* Day trading by completing their trades in a single day.
This series provides comprehensive coverage of the four trading styles by offering numerous tips, sharing discoveries, and discussing specific trading setups to help you become a successful trader or investor as you journey through each style.
Trading Basics takes an in-depth look at money management, stops, support and resistance, and offers dozens of tips every trader should know.
Fundamental Analysis and Position Trading discusses when to sell a buy-and-hold position, uncovers which fundamentals work best, and uses them to find stocks that become 10-baggers--stocks that climb by 10 times their original value.
Swing and Day Trading reveals methods to time the market swings, including specific trading setups, but it covers the basics as well, such as setting up a home trading office and how much money you can make day trading.