Trading Price Action Trading Ranges: Technical Analysis of Price Charts Bar by Bar for the Serious Trader (Wiley Trading)

Trading Price Action.....,"Trading Ranges" "Trends" "Reversals" "Reading Price Charts Bar by Bar" i.e. all of AL Brooks Price action books to me form a gold standard for Price action. First thing first. If you want to master the material in his books you "must" get the "Brooks Trading Course! It saves so much time and divulges high level information that is not found in the books or at least not emphasized. His style is not is not one strategy. It's a comprehensive methodology of reading Price action. He asks the question "What can markets do?" And pretty much tries to show exactly that over a long period of time in his materials. Some of the concepts that I find helpful.....the market cycle--the concept that a trend starts with a breakout then becomes a channel( a weaker 2 sided trend), and then evolves into a trading range......the break of a trend line--the concept that you need to see a break of a major trend line and then to see the trends high be tested before going countertrend. A basic tenet that many Price action teachers leave out. His use of gaps is powerful and his use of measured moves is something all traders should be familiar with. He's an breakout enthusiast and advocates "scaling in" or adding to losing positions if the context is right. I don't really like to "scale in" because of the added risk. And in general the style advocates probability over risk/reward and states that high probability comes with higher risk and low risk comes with lower probability but higher reward. It does admit that both approaches are valid. While the methodology is comprehensive I "personally" think it should not be a stopping point in one's trading education. Rather for me it has allowed me to go from totally new to having a strong foundation. I have to admit that I have not yet found consistent profitability. I am still on that journey. And I like other conceptualists like Adam Grimes and Michael Huddleston aka "The Inner Circle Trader". There are others for me! It's easier for me to approach other methods after studying AL Brooks because his method is so detailed and comprehensive. Yes for me it's a gold standard and forms a bulwark against the trading unknown......

Al Brooks’ Price Action Trading – Volume 2: Trading Ranges is not a casual read. In fact, it is one of the more challenging trading books I have encountered. The writing is dense, the charts are plentiful, and the concepts require careful thought and repeated study. However, beneath its complexity lies a wealth of knowledge that any serious trader can benefit from. This book digs deep into the mechanics of trading ranges, one of the most common and often misunderstood phases of the market. Brooks breaks down subtle price action patterns, bar-by-bar nuances, and the psychology behind trading range behavior. While it may feel overwhelming at times, the insights provided are invaluable for anyone determined to master the art of reading price action. I’ll be completing my review of the full trilogy after finishing the third volume on Reversals. For now, I can confidently say that this second book is a treasure trove of trading wisdom. If you are willing to put in the time and effort, it will sharpen your ability to interpret charts far beyond the surface level. That said, I want to offer a fair warning: this is not an easy book. It demands patience, focus, and repeated study. But if you approach it with discipline, you will discover many pearls of wisdom that can truly transform your trading. Thank you, Al Brooks, for such a detailed and in-depth contribution to the world of trading education.

Firstly, I find the view of the reviewer who thought this book could be summed as the author `simply venting' laughable to say the least. This book, as well as the other two, are not written for the weekend warrior trader. It is not written for the `I'll dabble a little with this technique or that'. It is not a book that you will be able to read leisurely and glean an arsenal full of easy money making strategies from, because that's not the trading world we live in....ask the slew of traders who are yet to produce a cent from their easy to make money, proprietary course material, the army of traders hopping from one room to the next hoping the next subscription will yield the holy grail of guru's, the one to take them to the land of above-water P&L's, with little work on their own. This and the other two books are however written for the trader who intends to work through this material, not simply read it. We have all heard that the markets spend most of their time in trading ranges, yet the bulk of the material out there, does little to dig deep into both the subtle nuances as well as gaping wide messages from the market when it comes to `trading in the trenches', which is what I call trading range price action. Trading in trading range price action is far different from the mono-directional trending market price action. It is as different in reaction time and size of signals, as cage-fighting is from archery. Quick recognition of entry opportunities, identifying high probability targets, and assessing in real-time, the market's ability to hit those targets define the define the required skill sets for elite scalping and shorter-term swing trades that are to be found in trading ranges. This book gets into the heart of those very skills, and delivers on teaching the trader these coveted skills. The book has a plethora of very insightful and implementable lists, helping the trader to assimilate the information into their trading plans. I'll mention but a few examples, of which, again there are literally dozens.... 1. Characteristics of strong trends 2. Characteristics of string breakouts 3. Signs of breakouts that will fail 4. etc, etc, etc Extremely insightful, you bet, but, equally important to knowing how to spot strong entry environments, is knowing how not to be squeezed out on a pullback which for example the author provides on pg 101, "Areas that are often tested by the pullback". This not only guides traders to avoid missing out of the bigger part of the move, but also helps in the intelligent placement of stops. Again, this prior example is just mentioned to illustrate the point I made above of the author getting into practical, highly implementable details. This is the most practical treatment of the concept of Measured Moves that I have encountered. The authors' approach avoids the pitfalls of over-extending the information provided by Fibonacci Extensions/Retracements, Elliott Waves etc, and presents it in a manner that works. One only has to watch the deadly precision with which the author draws trend lines and sets targets, to which moves accelerate and then reverse, which he does constantly during his live trading if you need more proof of the efficacy of the material in this section, as well as the section on Magnets. His clinical handling of the concept around Trading Math, and the advanced trading approach of entering `against the short-term market' on limit orders is worth this books' weight in gold alone. I could go on, but hopefully you get the point. This is a handbook of techniques, a syllabus of hand-to-hand combat of the elite scalpers, the Seal Team 6 of traders. You don't read this book any more than you would watch a workout video and expect to become an elite warrior. You bleed though the bootcamp, and come out hardened, and ready for anything the institutions, quants and HFT programs can throw at you. You don't read this book, you print the charts (Wiley makes the pdf's available, refer to pg Pg 54) get a pencil in your hand and you go to work, its trading boot camp boys and girls and its not for the `feint of effort' traders.

Change your trading forever. Add the video course too.

Good summary, it's the real trader's experience. Describe the patterns and setup very clearly, useful for real trading, thanks Al!

Price action technical analysis should be explained with charts so you can visualize the price charts accurately and not leave it for interpretation of what the author meant, it should not be explained by words alone. The book would've been shorter with more price charts and visual aid. For a technical, it's like reading an engineering book, but without the visual aid to help the reader understand what the author is talking about. It's like learning engineering through a radio (just use your imagination). If its just a novel or story book, its fine to just have text, for technical book, it should have better explanation and visual aid. For a very expensive book, I'm very dissatisfied with this book. As the author said, some may feel the book is incomprehensible, and have to read the book the second time. Some people have other books to read that are better written.

It explains various technical aspects in simple manner with many examples

This incredible trilogy (Trends, Ranges, Reversals) is a must for any price action S&P trader!! It’s in the podium along with Bob Volmans’ book (more FX oriented). These 3 books are a price action masterpiece. Very specialized in the E-mini 5 m chart, which is ideal for a day trader or scalper. Once you have read the classic basic books which are for free on the internet (candlestick patterns, support, resistance, trendlines, supply-demand zones, etc..), then these 3 books are highly recommended. Even though there are some little mistakes in these 3 books they still deserve 5 stars. If you understand the concepts, nothing bothering. Perhaps traders who reviewed them before publishing were a bit distracted. If you are a beginner, it might be difficult to get all the contents at once. In my opinion, it shouldn’t be the first book you read in this field. For me the 3 books are perfect. Just one thing is missing from my point of view: more graphical analysis (where to place the entries, SL and exits), as trading is more graphical than literary. The most important aspect of the books is that Al teaches you to understand what’s happening in the market, and then, you decide where you place your stops, exits or entries. As in trading nobody has “The Truth”, the book’s written in a way that it’ll make you understand that every trader is unique, but the market’s the same for all. He teaches you; how two different traders can be winners at the same time, in opposite directions whether you are a bull or a bear. Both understand the market, both see clearly its structure and even taking opposite trades, they can be both winners, depending on their risk management, chart speed, etc. The most important thing to keep in mind is that: HE TEACHES YOU TO UNDERSTAND HOW MARKET MOVES. Besides Volman’s book (FX), I’ve never read something similar. I’m giving 5 stars, even if I was expecting at least 200 charts graphically analyzed rather than explained. If you have persistence and time, these 3 books ARE A MUST!!

The Trading Price Action series comprises of three books, which is the way the publisher decided to divide the author's work, and the three books must be read in sequence as they build upon each other. The author suggests, and I agree, that multiple readings are necessary to fully digest the material. The three books together are easily the most comprehensive guide to how markets actually work and how to trade them.

Al Brooks is different. He will teach you like dad pointing to the birds in the yard. I ended up getting his online academy service to augment the book. Now I don't read because there are 100s of videos of his. I am trying to go back to reading (better processing for the brain). Aside from Trading Trends in Stocks by Magee (classic that Brooks recommends), his work is the only stuff you need to succeed in trading. It's a second language, basically. Get your processing speed up.