The author, a 20-year trader and market analyst, provides 28 concrete trading rules in this 192-page book that will aid the newbie or experienced futures and FX trader control their inner self when trading. It is also useful for traders of equities and other investment vehicles.

According to the author there are three keys to successful trading:
1. A trader understands their his own psychology
2. A trader masters the psychology of his personal trading rules, and
3. A trader understands and masters the market's psychology

The book is equally divided into four parts: getting in the game, cutting losses, letting profits run, and trader maxims. Jankovsky devotes one chapter to each of the 28 rules. A number of the rules are well known such as have a trading plan, cut losses and let profits run, don't overtrade, and never add to a loser. Others are not as well known such as keep good records and review them, don't second-guess your winners, and all markets are bearish.

In all cases, the author provides excellent insights, a thorough discussion, and good advice on how to implement each rule. Jankovsky notes that traders who consistently make money have a trading plan with specific rules, while losing traders typically have no plan. He believes that it is critical for the trader to keep accurate and comprehensive records of all trades, especially recording what you were feeling and thinking while making the trade.

The author suggests that those interested in trading read books by great traders and focus on how they think and leverage their experience into your own. Also provided is a list of recommended reading, which includes eighteen books focusing on psychology, contrary thinking, and crowd behavior. It is important how a trader creates the market in his/her head, since trading success will depend upon how you see and interpret the market's input.

The book has only a few tables and charts. Unfortunately, a few of the charts are only one-third of a page in size, and the small-boxed comments are hard to read. Half-page charts would have been clearer.

In summary, anyone considering trading for a living, whether using futures or equities, can glean very useful, practical and implemental trading rules that will provide a basis for trading success. This book is a welcome addition to the field. As the author of Day Trading on the Edge: A Look-Before-You-Leap-Guide to Investing published in November 2000, and a voracious reader of over 500 trading and investing books, I found Jankovsky's book easy-to-read and very worthwhile.
 

This book takes two classic techniques -Roger Babson's action/reaction theory and Alan Andrew's median line - aka pitchfork - and combines them in a very unique and effective way. Then the author inserts his own proprietary timing method to project future support and resistance and turning points. Being a technical trader myself, I found the book to be interesting and contained a few new twists I've never seen before. I have read some reviews that think this method is too simplistic. I disagree. From trading for over the past ten years, I have always thought a simple, but effective strategy is much better than a complicated trading approach. Complicated doesn't mean better, its just complicated. If I find a trading method to be too complicated I will usually abandon the approach and look for something else. And besides, this could be a compliment to the author for taking something that can be complicated and explaining it in a way that makes it seem simple.

I think where some readers may become disappointed, is if they are looking for this book to give them a trading system. If that is the case, this is not the book for them. Even the author states this in the beginning of the book. Advanced Swing Trading is more about understanding market behavior along same lines of Elliott wave or W.D. Gann. However, it is written in a matter that makes it seem much simpler than Elliott wave and not as subjective as W.D. Gann - to me that is a real plus, not a negative. The author explains that knowing how to identify where you are in , what he calls a Reaction cycle, a trader can easily see if the market is reacting correctly - if it is, you know what should follow. If not, you can react accordingly.

I have read many books on trading and I believe every author uses carefully selected examples to illustrate their ideas, and this author is no exception. But, on the other hand, he did a couple of things in this book that I have never seen before. First, in chapter three, he shows how to use his Reaction swing for short-term swing trading. After a few examples explaining the process, he takes six months of the S&P and goes step-by-step through every swing pattern. He describes the entry and exit of each trade - both winners and losers - showing the end results. I must say this was impressive! (This chapter alone was worth the cost of the book ten times over.) Secondly, he takes three unrelated commodity markets and goes through the entire Reaction cycle - from the beginning of a major trend all the way through to the end of the trend - showing how the previous swing pattern was used to project the future pattern.

To be realistic, the only way a trader can know for sure if the techniques described in this book will work for them, is to get out your own charts and test it. The methods described in Advanced Swing Trading can easily be tested just on any chart. I know this because I tested it myself. After stumbling around for a little while it all came together and - for me at least - it was impressive. Not exact every time, but the best I've seen.

To be fair to the author, this was not meant to be a trading system, but offers a valuable tools that can enhance your own trading style. I believe a trader cannot be successful without understanding market behavior and this book does a good job of explaining this. It is well written and very well illustrated with plenty of charts. I recommend it as an addition to any trading library.