This book was originally published by a little outfit known as RefCo. My copy of this book is originally from the Refco Private Clients Group.

Refco was a pretty messed up company. They were the largest futures broker in Chicago in 2005. It went public in August 2005, had a crisis in October and filed for Chapter 11 a few months later.

Stock went from $28 to $0.80 when it was learned the CEO was playing Enron type tricks with the accounting. The CEO  Phillip R. Bennett  earned 16 years in jail for this stunt.

AND NOW FOR THE BOOK

Anyway, back to the book. It read a little like an advertisement for RefCo which makes sense because they wrote it for their clients. It is now published by Wiley press, since their downfall.

Some of the other chapters cover things such as what are 1256 contracts ( They are a tax break for US futures traders). What regulatory organizations exist and what are their roles, such as the CFTC. Other chapters cover things like the different types of orders and the different players in the market.

Take chapter 5, “Using an Auto-Executing Trading System” for example, gives an overview of what you need to look for in an auto execution system. Not how to build one. My guess is that they would try to sell you a system if they could.

BOTTOM LINE

Nice read for a beginner to intermediate trader if you can get it from the library or borrow it. Unlike some books, you won’t get anything out of it by reading it a second time. It is a complete , but slightly outdated reference. It tells you everything about futures trading except how to actually trade futures.

I give it a C+, not crappy, but not a book I would want to give up shelf space to have in my office. It is a cheap book, you can pick it up for about $10 bucks.

* REFCO Private Client Group, formerly known as Lind-Waldock, founded in 1965. Lind-Waldock was acquired by Refco Group Ltd. in 2000 and became a division of Refco, LLC, in 2001. In 2005, the firm changed its name to Refco Private Client Group. Then the whole thing went bellow up.

LONG REVIEW
I read a lot of books ( when I have the time ) and I came across this one and I was pleasantly surprised. I didn’t pick up THAT much from the book, but it is well worth the read. It codified a lot of thoughts I have had over time and that is always a good feeling.

GOOD POINTS

It is not as ‘formally’ written as a lot of trading books. It reads more like a conversation with someone who has been trading for a while. If you are a ‘advanced’ retail quant trader , then this is a book for you. Gives you insight how the home quant traders can beat hedge funds in investment performance. The author has worked at hedge funds and quant shops so he knows what he is talking about.

BAD POINTS

So now that I have given you the good parts,  the bad parts about the book  is that ‘lightweight’ if you are a heavy in quant type trading ( like a large fund ) and it is a bit short at 160 odd pages. Then again, if you are using NinjaTrader you are probably more in the ‘non-billion-dollar-hedge-fund’ area of trading like me.

CONCLUSION

If you plan on using Ninja Trader to auto execute a strategy, I would recommend this book. If you are just interested in learning about quant trading for the single investor, I would really, really recommend this book.

The author has a blog so you can check that out also.