Investor's
Library 
Review of
Investment Secrets of a Hedge Fund Manager
By Larry Connors and Blake Hayward
Imagine being invited to the trading room of a successful hedge fund as you "look over the shoulders" of the fund managers while they make their day-to-day, hour-to-hour trading decisions. Fu rther, imagine having them explain to you, in great detail, the exact methods and techniques they use in real-time trading.
That, in essence, is what the reader is treated to in this book from Larry Connors and Blake Hayward. Unlike most hedge funds, which typically take a "macro", long-term approach, the fund they manage concentrates on short-term trading, with methods that seek to capitalize on price moves lasting from a few hours to a few weeks.
Most traders want to hit home runs and are disdainful of small, consistent profits. The majority of successful traders, however, hit lots of singles, a few doubles and triples and an occasional home run. The trading strategies taught in this book are designed to do the same. Some of the methods are strictly applicable to futures, individual stocks or indices; however, most may be applied to any of these, thus making them applicable to virtually every short-term trader.
A big advantage of these methods is that the great majority may be used immediately without need for a computer, technical analysis software and the like, requiring only information readily available from your broker and from financial publications such as Barron's and Investor's Business Daily. In historical back testing, as well as in real-time trading, they have proven consistently profitable, with a high percentage of winning trades.
The methods are market neutral, which, simply put, means that they should work in all types of market conditions: Bullish, bearish, and, most importantly, sideways, where most markets spend the majority of the time. The authors state that their goal is to avoid producing a book full of financial theory and to give their readers practical knowledge of their trading strategies, shown as simply as possible and with as many examples as possible. In this reader's estimation, they have succeeded admirably.
In addition to teaching a variety of trading methods, which appear to have considerable merit, this book gives the reader insight into both market ("herd") and individual psychology and the mind frame necessary in order to be a survivor and a success as a trader. Lastly, they wrap it all up with specific guidance on how to implement the strategies in daily trading.
This book is outstanding in its exceptional clarity of expression, copious, well-illustrated examples, (which span long time periods -- not the insulated short periods typical of the "well-chosen example"), and presentation of long-term historical testing records (trade by trade) of the methods. Also impressive is the fact that the authors, as they say, "put their money where their mouth is".
While it is not my habit to quote other reviewers in my own evaluation of a book, I take note in this case that this book received glowing pre-publication endorsements from such luminaries as "Market Wizard" Linda Bradford Raschke ("...proof that a trader need 'specialize' in only a few patterns to make a good living...highly recommended."), Joe Ross ("...destined to become a classic."), and David Caplan ("Extremely well-written and usable by all levels of traders, from beginning to professional.").
Review by
Edward Dobson, President
Traders Press, Inc.
Greenville, SC
Additional details are available on www.traderspress.com.
