Book Title : Pring On Price Patterns

Author : Martin Pring

Review Date : March 2011


Buy Now From The
Systems For Traders
BookShop


About the Author

Martin Pring (Sarasota, FL) is among today’s most respected and widely followed experts on technical analysis. President of the International Institute for Economic Research and editor of the popular newsletter The Intermarket Review, Pring is a sought-after speaker worldwide and the author of more than 10 books.

Inside Cover

Despite what many "experts" will have you believe, fundamentals - PE ratios, profit projections, and the like - don't directly impact market performance. Instead, what drive’s performance is investors' reactions to those fundamentals, reactions that are amazingly consistent from one market to the next and lead to patterns of price movement that can be equally as predictable.

And history has shown that traders who understand this distinction will consistently have the edge over those who do not.

Pring on Price Patterns provides today's most up-do-date exploration of price patterns, and how they can be used with amazing accuracy to forecast not only how long an up or down-trend will continue, but at what point the trend is destined to reverse its course. Covering the relationship between key technical analysis aspects and price patterns in language that is both clear and convincing, and based on a massive research program covering over 10,000 securities, this valuable and hands-on book includes:

• Classic formations including head-and-shoulders, triangles, double bottoms, and more, along with outside bars, key reversals, and other shorter-term tools that have become popular with swing traders
• Descriptions of the underlying psychology of a price pattern formation, essential in helping traders better judge the significance and potential of a specific pattern
• An hour-long DVD training session - featuring excerpts from Pring's popular "Live in London" video series - that covers the building blocks and select formations of price patterns

The key to success in trading, as in so many endeavours, is to ignore what you hope will happen and focus instead on what has already happened. Pring on Price Patterns reveals how and why price patterns have come to be regarded as today's single-best tool for traders looking to first determine what has happened in the markets, then use that knowledge to dramatically and profitably improve their ability to forecast which direction a price is likely to move and when.

Back Cover

Today's most comprehensive review of price patterns - what they are, how they work, and which will work best for you.

Technical analysis does not deal in certainties, only probabilities. Yet those probabilities improve dramatically when traders understand the psychology of price patterns and how that psychology influences traders' behaviour and the movement of prices themselves.

Pring on Price Patterns provides both new and experienced technical traders with today's most in-depth guide to the analysis and interpretation of price patterns. Pring, among the industry's most esteemed researchers and practitioners on the skilled use of charts and patterns, takes a detailed and implementation-based look at:

• Virtually every popular price pattern, from classics such as head-and-shoulders to shorter-term patterns for today's fast-action traders
• Market-proven techniques for using one and two-bar patterns - increasingly vital for day and swing traders
• Tips for placing stops designed to kick in only when the inevitable false breakouts occur

To determine how prices are most likely to move, and when, it is vital that you first develop a thorough knowledge of price patterns. Pring on Price Patterns introduces you to the patterns that are working, and working consistently, for traders in today's volatile markets, then helps you determine which will work best for you and your personal trading style.

"Stocks don't sell for what they are worth, but for what people think they are worth."
- Garfield Drew Legendary 1940s technician.

BookWorms View

There are too many books written about technical analysis to say than any one is better than any other, and I have read only a few of them. The technical analysis books I have read were sought out to meet specific objectives I had with my trading education. This book was selected by me to meet a very specific objective – which it did handsomely. I say this because my review must be read within the context of my objectives, and these may differ from your own.

Early in my Forex trading education I had become inundated with the infinite ways in which one can analyse and trade those markets. For the new trader this can be a very confusing experience. In wading through this information overload I came across a technique for trading the markets based upon “price action”. This methodology attempts to strip away many of the indicators and instead simply concentrates on the raw price action that is displayed on the charts. This price action is best (and most often) displayed using Hi-Lo bar charts or Japanese Candlestick charts. I must assume that the reader is familiar with these charting techniques.

One of the most reliable and consistently used indicators is what is known as the “Pin Bar” chart formation. I found that this was described wherever these price action techniques were discussed. Many of the discussions however were not aware of the origin of the term “Pin Bar”. In researching this I found that Pin Bar is the short name for a “Pinocchio Bar” and was first described as such by Mr. Martin Pring. Why it is called this I can only refer you to the text for the answer. As Pring was the originator of one of the terms most widely used in describing price action chart patterns I sought out his literature and this is the book that describes this very pattern.

I was interested in short term trading patterns and had come across many in the various internet forums I inhabited – but often these sources of information do not give you the full story. This book addressed all of my queries relating to price action chart patterns and filled most of the gaps in my education on this topic. For the trader who is interested in price action trading this book is a must.

The book is split into 4 main topic areas:-

Part 1 is Basic Building Blocks; Part 2 is Traditional Patterns; Part 3 Short Term Patterns and Part 4 Miscellaneous Issues.

Each topic is covered in a very detailed manner, however the text is very readable and flows well. A discussion of the psychology behind the price patterns is also included. The final section has an interesting discussion on how to detect valid and false breakouts and a further fascinating review of how price action patterns test in reality.

Also included with the book is an hour-long DVD training session which features excerpts from Pring's popular "Live in London" video series. This covers the building blocks and select formations of price patterns.

Technical analysis books can be dry at the best of times but if the reader has an interest in exploring “price action” trading then this is the book for them. If you want to find out more I think you will find that this is one of the foremost books on this subject that is well laid out and remarkably easy to read. Also look out for my review of the book Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques by Nison, coming soon. It is, in my opinion, an ideal companion to this title if you really want to become a price action guru.

BookWorms Rating - 5 Stars


Buy Now From The
Systems For Traders
BookShop

BookWorm - Thanks for this review, as keen believers in Price Action and being previously unaware of this we have just decided to buy it - Thanks again for all the reviews and we look forward to the next batch.

Thanks for the review Bookwarm, very interesting and useful.
I first heard about the Pinbar when reading a thread on another forum that lead to the founding of the James16 Group. I believe the name Pinochio bar stems from the long nose on the bar that is telling a lie. Often appears as a dragonfly doji, hammer hanging man etc.
It is good to read another traders opinion of books like these and as I have been moving tpwards "Trading Naked" myself, your view has prompted me to put this book on my shopping list.
Thanks