Book Review for "The Inner Voice of Trading"

A successful trader or investor in financial markets succeeds through a combination of factors. There is the "what they know" part; there is the trading format the trader or investors uses; and there is the less well explored element in the mix - the "other" of the trader besides technical/factual knowledge. Michael Martin's new book "The Inner Voice of Trading" (FT Press) is an exposition on this last element.

Michael Martin has been a market professional on the sell-side, a trader of his own account in stocks and commodities, and someone who has been a trader trainer for a living. He has also interviewed great traders seeking insights into the ways of working that made them great (see his website www.martinkronicle.com). This background makes him well equipped to explore what seems to be the hardest part of trading in which to excel.

Financial markets are full of smart people with MBAs, CFA qualifications, and, increasingly, PhD's.Quite sophisticated trading systems can be bought off the shelf for really very little outlay (hundreds of dollars rather than thousands). Logically there could be many more successful traders than there are. So there is an argument to be made that this last element of trading - the soft factors, and focusing on knowing yourself as an investor/trader - is one that is under explored and developed. This is the gap this book is seeking to fill.

Martin's progress through the psychology of successful trading is reinforced by evidence and quotations from prominent traders. This gives the thrust of the book credibility if not authority. In an era of the "me first" society his focus on development of the individual's own trading culture should find appeal, but though this is part self-help book, be aware that this not a step one-step two guide to to how to do it. The book has well-observed pointers but is not a manual for trading.

That written, Michael Martin's book will have resonance for those already operating in financial markets on the buy-side, and will be extremely helpful to the neophyte trader. This is a welcome addition to the oeuvre of investment books, and its' focus makes it a good companion text for those who like the "Market Wizards" series and their ilk.  




For other views of this title see the Amazon page for it.

Seth Klarman of the Baupost Group - his top investment books

When I put my top investment books on this webpage (see lh margin) the choices inevitably reflected the style of investment I use myself. The books which enhanced that style rise to the top of the list, as well as those that are well written or well structured.

Similarly, looking at Seth Klarman's recommended reading list (given at the CFA conference last year), the choices reflect his value based style of investment:

Benjamin Graham's "The Intelligent Investor"

Joel Greenblatt's "You Can Be A Stock Market Genius"

Martin Whitman's "The Aggressive Conservative Investor"

Michael Lewis' "Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game"

Andrew Ross Sorkin’s "Too Big to Fail"

Klarman also recommends the work of a couple of authors:  Jim Grant and Roger Lowenstein.

You will know Jim Grant from Grant’s Interest Rate Observer. So you probably know how well he writes. His book titles are: "Bernard M. Baruch: "The Adventures of a Wall Street Legend" (Simon & Schuster, 1983), "Money of the Mind" (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1992), "Minding Mr. Market" (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1993), "The Trouble with Prosperity" (Times Books, 1996) and "Mr. Market Miscalculates" (Axios Press, 2008).  

Roger Lowenstein I know best from his book on LTCM. These are some of his titles: "Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist" (Random House,1995),  "When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management" (Random House 2000), "Origins of the Crash: The Great Bubble and Its Undoing" (Penguin Press, 2004), "The End of Wall Street" (Penguin Press, 2010).

Podcast 2- A Discussion with UK Equity Portfolio Manager Nick Shenton at Polar Capital

Click on the links to download or play the sound files (embedded player available).

Part 1 (7 minutes 51 seconds)

0.30 Joining Phil Hardy at Polar Capital

1.50 Idea generation

4.40 What Phil Hardy brings to the process of stock selection

5.15 Harder to find shorts now

6.30 Shorts can work faster than longs

Part 2 (10 minutes 50 seconds)

0.25 Websites look at daily

1.35 Websites useful for company insight

2.58 Segro as an example

4.50 Recent investment book reading- Niall Ferguson, "The Greatest Trade Ever"

8.37 Risk/Reward for UK equity trades

9.05 Two other influential books - "Soros on Soros" and "Inside the House of Money"

With thanks to Nick Shenton CFA who works on UK equity hedge fund and absolute return products with Polar Capital Director Philip Hardy

The Greatest Trade Ever

By Gregory Zuckerman
Reviewed by Alexandra Scaggs from www.smartmoney.com

Ever wonder how a single trade can create a legend? Gregory Zuckerman outlines how just such a thing happened with John Paulson and the rest of the characters who profited wildly from the collapse of the real estate bubble."

In The Greatest Trade Ever," Zuckerman, who writes The Wall Street Journal’s "Heard on the Street" column, focuses as much on the personalities and characters of the investors as on the bubble and collapse that increased their wealth exponentially.

Players here include Paulson, whom Zuckerman characterizes as a reformed playboy and true skeptic; Paolo Pellegrini, a Wall Street outsider who went to Paulson for his last shot at a career; Jeffrey Greene, the Hollywood version of a big-shot investor; and Andrew Lahde, the young West-Coast investor who cashed out and left finance for good.

The book addresses how deals are made and how personality counts just as much as the financial mechanics behind the trade, which may be why Paulson has come out with a statement saying he is “disappointed” with the book. But Zuckerman shows that in finance, office politics can matter as much as smarts.