Self Adaptive Options & Currency Trading: For The Volatile markets of the 21st Century is a comprehensive and extremely detailed look at some of the author's most successful approaches and strategies to profitable trading on the foreign exchange currency markets. It contains very specific details and examples, plus the information readers need to adapt the example spreadsheets for their own individual uses.
The underlying purpose of the book
The author, Jon Schiller, presents the underlying purpose of the book as helping individual traders, both novice and experienced, learn how to take a small amount of capital and generate significant growth. The best part of his approach is that the tools he recommends are both inexpensive and easy to use.
Self Adaptive Options & Currency Trading: For The Volatile markets of the 21st Century bases its examples and strategies on the software tools created by the author. They are appropriate for use with Microsoft Excel, and Schiller makes it clear the reader is welcome to create their own spreadsheets and tools based on the examples given.
Key topics covered
A number of key topics are covered in this book, including how to use the Wells-Wilder Indicator to find profit making opportunities with futures options, index options, and stock options. Even better, the book also provides excellent detail on how to use the same Wells-Wilder Indicator for finding profit making opportunities specifically in the currency exchange markets.
Self Adaptive Options & Currency Trading: For The Volatile markets of the 21st Century relies heavily on use of the Wells-Wilder Indicator throughout, so it is very helpful that the book includes all of the necessary equations and models for calculating this indicator yourself. While many authors hold back this kind of valuable information, Schiller chooses to share it openly and teach the reader exactly how to use it. This is refreshing and one of the reasons why this book is so useful.
The strategy topics discussed in great details include Credit Spread and Debit Spread approaches to making money in the currency exchange trading markets. There are some excellent graphs and charts included in the book, but the author makes a point of keeping these concise and easy to understand. This creates a strong sense of good explanation without overwhelming the reader unnecessarily.
Specific sections and chapter discussions
The specific sections and discussions in the chapters are impressive and comprehensive. Self Adaptive Options & Currency Trading: For The Volatile markets of the 21st Century is unique in this respect, as there are few, if any, other resources that provide this same level of detail.
Let's look at a partial list of the sections and chapter discussions as a way of better understanding the scope and value of this book.
Chapter 1 – This is an introductory chapter, but unlike most other introductory chapters you may have seen elsewhere. It is a very thorough description and discussion of the basic topics and subjects the reader will learn about as they move through the book. Examples include an overview of critical trading strategies, how those strategies can be applied to index options and stock options as well as currency options, vocabulary terms and definitions, and explanation of the Wells-Wilder Indicator and how it can trigger identification of potentially profitable opportunities. There are also some excellent examples of currency computations as well as solid models of capital growth.
Chapter 2 – This chapter takes an overall look at the recommended strategies for trading in currency options as well as index and stock options. There is a good discussion of how to decide when to open or close such positions, as well as clear descriptions of the recommended strategies. The naked spread, covered spread, and debit spread (otherwise known as the long strategy) are the three strategies discussed.
Chapter 3 – This is where the book begins to offer some very specific information about the algorithms and calculations used to determine essential parameters of trading. Some of the calculations discussed include the Welles-Wilder Indicator, algorithms for finding exponential moving averages, Welles-Wilder Indicator calculations for OEX, and a whole array of other critical indicators of currency market signals. After defining these computations, this section also provides a solid discussion of how to compare different indicators and what those comparisons can tell you about potential opportunities in the foreign currency exchange market.
Chapter 4 – This chapter focuses on OEX index options, including information about how to calculate several different standard deviation tools and models for spread opportunities. While this is not directly about the foreign currency exchange market, it is well worth taking the time to read and understand it as a way of gaining additional insight into currency trading applications.
Chapter 5 – This chapter focuses on stock options, including a comprehensive collection of real world examples from well known stocks such as Amgen, IBM, Microsoft, and more. Again, while this is not directly about the foreign currency exchange market the reader can gain some good insights from this section.
Chapter 6 – This chapter focuses on commodity future options, including extensive examples and discussions of how to use the strategies presented for typical commodities such as gold, corn, soybeans, coffee, and crude oil. Again, while this is not directly about the foreign currency exchange market the reader can gain some good insights from this section.
Chapter 7 – This chapter is the heart of the discussions about using the Wells-Wilder Indicator to spot potentially profitable opportunities in the foreign currency exchange market. The amount of detailed explanation is excellent, especially compared to other books that cover some of this same information. There are many clear and easy to understand examples of how to apply this approach to specific major currencies such as the Euro, the Swiss franc, the Japanese yen, and more. Additionally, this section offers detailed examples of spreadsheet formats, market data sheets, and how to calculate various standard deviation tools.
The complete chapter list goes on from here, but for the purposes of this book commentary these examples are enough to clearly show the tremendous value of the information contained in Self Adaptive Options & Currency Trading: For The Volatile markets of the 21st Century.
Other helpful chapters in the book
The final chapter in the book covers very specific details about the self adaptive software tools the author recommends for maximizing your ability to find profit making opportunities. The discussion is excellent, covering everything from how to construct the spreadsheets and software tools to using these tools for a range of comparisons and strategy evaluation.
At the very end there are six appendices, where you will find some additional resource information to help you learn and apply the concepts discussed in the book. There are lists of web sites and web brokers to consider, a sample schedule of monthly as well as daily tasks for your currency trading strategies, and a helpful comparison to show the various market indicators and how they serve as triggers for taking trading action.
Final thoughts
There are very few books containing the sheer breadth and depth of information that is contained in Self Adaptive Options & Currency Trading: For The Volatile markets of the 21st Century, and even better, this information is presented in a very reader friendly way. The discussions are
clear, understandable, and take the reader through each subject in a step by step process. While the book is not solely devoted to the foreign currency exchange market, the information presented on index, stock, and futures still offers some good insight for the reader.
As a result, this is an excellent book to have in your resource library. The strategies and approaches it teaches are well constructed and quite thorough, and the material is presented with enough detail for traders to apply it in real world trading situations. All things considered, Self Adaptive Options & Currency Trading: For The Volatile markets of the 21st Century is a valuable addition to your trading library.
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