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(From The Jacket) – How you trade or invest in the stock markets depends on market conditions. Buying and holding on to a stock during a bear market can mean a substantial decline in net worth. Day trading when the markets are soaring can add to stress unnecessarily. Thomas Bulkowski discusses the evolution of a trader from buy-and-hold to position trading, swing trading, and day trading in his hotly anticipated series of how-to guides, “Evolution of a Trader”.

The first book in the series, “Trading Basics”, is a practical introduction to the art and science of stock trading. The book discusses money management, a topic so often overlooked in financial works. How do you size a position properly? How many stocks should a portfolio hold for proper diversification? Should you scale into or out of a position? Do dollar-cost-averaging and averaging down work? He answers these questions and more.

Choosing the correct type of stop can mean the difference between success and failure, profit and loss. Learn why stop-loss orders cut profit more than they reduce risk. Sometimes, stops are best left unused because they cash you out of potentially winning trades prematurely.

Bulkowski discusses a half-dozen types of support and resistance, then he measures and compares their effectiveness. If you can determine where a stock is going to reverse because of overhead resistance or underlying support, then the riches on Wall Street can be yours. His research is a gold mine of information waiting to be unearthed.

He discusses forty-five tips that every trader should know. Have you heard of the 28 rule? Or how about trading busted chart patterns? Does divergence in the RSI indicator really work or have today’s markets made it obsolete? Bulkowski offers tips on finding the market direction, determining when the market has bottomed, and over a dozen tips on when to sell.

He wraps it all up by helping you diagnose trading problems. Are you entering or exiting your trades too early or too late? Did you average up? Are you buying out of season?

Bulkowski’s work sets an example of how financial books should be written. He doesn’t just repeat what others have said. Rather, he investigates and researches his facts before teaching the reader in an entertaining and informative style that is accessible to the beginner and the professional. Anyone investing or trading the markets can benefit from this series.