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Show Notes
A Complete Guide to the Futures Market (Jack D. Schwager)
- Amazon USA Store: https://www.amazon.com/dp/111885375X?tag=9natree-20
- Amazon Worldwide Store: https://global.buys.trade/A-Complete-Guide-to-the-Futures-Market-Jack-D-Schwager.html
- Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/mastering-the-comptia-a-complete-audio-guide/id295699292?itsct=books_box_link&itscg=30200&ls=1&at=1001l3bAw&ct=9natree
- eBay: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=A+Complete+Guide+to+the+Futures+Market+Jack+D+Schwager+&mkcid=1&mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&siteid=0&campid=5339060787&customid=9natree&toolid=10001&mkevt=1
- Read more: https://mybook.top/read/111885375X/
#futurestrading #technicalanalysis #tradingsystems #fundamentalanalysis #optionsonfutures #spreads #riskmanagement #ACompleteGuidetotheFuturesMarket
These are takeaways from this book.
Firstly, Understanding Futures Markets and Contract Mechanics, A core theme is learning the structure of futures markets well enough to avoid hidden risks. The book covers the purpose of futures in hedging and speculation, the role of exchanges and clearing, and how standardization enables liquidity. It also explains practical mechanics that directly affect results: contract specifications, tick size, margin and leverage, daily mark-to-market, delivery terms, and the difference between cash-settled and physically delivered contracts. Readers are guided to think beyond price direction by recognizing how roll schedules and expiration can influence position management. The discussion naturally connects market microstructure elements, such as liquidity, slippage, and transaction costs, to strategy viability, because a profitable idea can fail once realistic costs are included. Schwager also highlights the diversity of futures sectors, such as financials, energies, metals, grains, and softs, and why each tends to behave differently. By clarifying these building blocks, the book sets expectations about volatility, gap risk, and how leverage magnifies both skill and mistakes. This foundation helps traders choose appropriate markets and position sizes before they ever debate indicators or entry signals.
Secondly, Technical Analysis as a Decision Framework, The book treats technical analysis as a toolkit for organizing price information into actionable trade plans. It surveys widely used concepts such as trend identification, support and resistance, chart patterns, breakouts, and the interpretation of market swings. It also addresses indicator-based approaches, commonly involving moving averages, oscillators, and measures of momentum or volatility, with attention to what these tools are actually measuring. A notable emphasis is placed on turning chart observations into rules that can be executed consistently, reducing hindsight bias and impulsive trading. Another important element is context: the same technical signal can behave differently in trending versus range-bound regimes, and traders need filters or confirmation tools to improve selectivity. The book also acknowledges the limits of technical methods, including false breakouts and whipsaws, and discusses ways traders attempt to manage those realities through stops, position sizing, and time-based exits. By framing technical analysis as part of a complete process rather than a set of magic indicators, Schwager encourages readers to evaluate signals in terms of risk, reward, and repeatability, not just visual appeal.
Thirdly, Building and Evaluating Trading Systems, A major topic is how to convert ideas into trading systems that can be tested, monitored, and improved. The book discusses the components of a system, including market selection, entries, exits, stop logic, and position sizing, while stressing that rules must be unambiguous to be evaluated honestly. It highlights the importance of sound testing practices, including using sufficient data, accounting for transaction costs, and avoiding curve fitting that produces attractive backtests but fragile real-world performance. The reader is encouraged to think in terms of distributions, not single outcomes, focusing on metrics like drawdown, win rate versus payoff ratio, and the stability of results across markets and time periods. The book also addresses system types, such as trend-following, mean reversion, and breakout methods, and why their performance often depends on volatility and regime shifts. Practical issues like execution, slippage, and scaling are treated as integral rather than optional details. Overall, Schwager frames system development as an engineering discipline: define assumptions, test objectively, control risk, and accept that even good systems have losing streaks that must be survived through robust sizing and disciplined adherence.
Fourthly, Fundamental Analysis and Intermarket Drivers, Beyond charts, the book explores how supply, demand, and macro forces influence futures prices. For commodity markets, this includes production cycles, inventory levels, seasonal patterns, weather impacts, and policy decisions that can alter trade flows. For financial futures, it looks at interest rates, inflation expectations, central bank policy, and broader economic conditions that affect currencies, bonds, and equity index futures. A key idea is that fundamental inputs often operate on different time horizons than technical signals, so traders must align analysis with their holding period. The book also introduces intermarket thinking, where related markets transmit information or create constraints, such as energy costs affecting agricultural inputs, or currency moves influencing export competitiveness. It addresses why fundamental narratives can be correct but mistimed, and why risk management is still mandatory even when the story seems compelling. By presenting fundamentals as a structured way to form hypotheses and scenarios, the book helps readers avoid simplistic cause-and-effect claims. The result is a more complete decision process: use fundamentals to understand what could move a market and technicals or system rules to decide when and how to participate.
Lastly, Options, Spreads, and Risk-Centered Trading Principles, The book expands the futures toolkit with options and spreads, showing how traders can shape payoff profiles and manage uncertainty. Options on futures are presented as instruments for defined-risk speculation, hedging, and volatility views, with attention to how time decay and changing volatility affect outcomes. Spreads are explored as relative-value positions, such as calendar spreads or inter-commodity spreads, where the trader focuses on price relationships rather than outright direction. These structures can reduce exposure to broad market swings but introduce their own risks, including liquidity differences and relationship breakdowns. Underneath these instruments sits the book’s central message about trading principles: survival first. Schwager emphasizes controlling downside through position sizing, stop placement, and the acceptance of losses as a business expense. He also addresses the psychological and procedural aspects of discipline, such as avoiding overtrading, respecting leverage, and maintaining consistency in execution. Another key principle is aligning strategy with personal tolerance for drawdowns and uncertainty, because mismatched risk leads to abandoning good plans at the worst moment. By integrating instruments, strategy, and mindset, the book encourages a holistic approach where method and risk control are inseparable.
- Amazon USA Store: https://www.amazon.com/dp/111885375X?tag=9natree-20
- Amazon Worldwide Store: https://global.buys.trade/A-Complete-Guide-to-the-Futures-Market-Jack-D-Schwager.html
- Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/mastering-the-comptia-a-complete-audio-guide/id295699292?itsct=books_box_link&itscg=30200&ls=1&at=1001l3bAw&ct=9natree
- eBay: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=A+Complete+Guide+to+the+Futures+Market+Jack+D+Schwager+&mkcid=1&mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&siteid=0&campid=5339060787&customid=9natree&toolid=10001&mkevt=1
- Read more: https://mybook.top/read/111885375X/
#futurestrading #technicalanalysis #tradingsystems #fundamentalanalysis #optionsonfutures #spreads #riskmanagement #ACompleteGuidetotheFuturesMarket
These are takeaways from this book.
Firstly, Understanding Futures Markets and Contract Mechanics, A core theme is learning the structure of futures markets well enough to avoid hidden risks. The book covers the purpose of futures in hedging and speculation, the role of exchanges and clearing, and how standardization enables liquidity. It also explains practical mechanics that directly affect results: contract specifications, tick size, margin and leverage, daily mark-to-market, delivery terms, and the difference between cash-settled and physically delivered contracts. Readers are guided to think beyond price direction by recognizing how roll schedules and expiration can influence position management. The discussion naturally connects market microstructure elements, such as liquidity, slippage, and transaction costs, to strategy viability, because a profitable idea can fail once realistic costs are included. Schwager also highlights the diversity of futures sectors, such as financials, energies, metals, grains, and softs, and why each tends to behave differently. By clarifying these building blocks, the book sets expectations about volatility, gap risk, and how leverage magnifies both skill and mistakes. This foundation helps traders choose appropriate markets and position sizes before they ever debate indicators or entry signals.
Secondly, Technical Analysis as a Decision Framework, The book treats technical analysis as a toolkit for organizing price information into actionable trade plans. It surveys widely used concepts such as trend identification, support and resistance, chart patterns, breakouts, and the interpretation of market swings. It also addresses indicator-based approaches, commonly involving moving averages, oscillators, and measures of momentum or volatility, with attention to what these tools are actually measuring. A notable emphasis is placed on turning chart observations into rules that can be executed consistently, reducing hindsight bias and impulsive trading. Another important element is context: the same technical signal can behave differently in trending versus range-bound regimes, and traders need filters or confirmation tools to improve selectivity. The book also acknowledges the limits of technical methods, including false breakouts and whipsaws, and discusses ways traders attempt to manage those realities through stops, position sizing, and time-based exits. By framing technical analysis as part of a complete process rather than a set of magic indicators, Schwager encourages readers to evaluate signals in terms of risk, reward, and repeatability, not just visual appeal.
Thirdly, Building and Evaluating Trading Systems, A major topic is how to convert ideas into trading systems that can be tested, monitored, and improved. The book discusses the components of a system, including market selection, entries, exits, stop logic, and position sizing, while stressing that rules must be unambiguous to be evaluated honestly. It highlights the importance of sound testing practices, including using sufficient data, accounting for transaction costs, and avoiding curve fitting that produces attractive backtests but fragile real-world performance. The reader is encouraged to think in terms of distributions, not single outcomes, focusing on metrics like drawdown, win rate versus payoff ratio, and the stability of results across markets and time periods. The book also addresses system types, such as trend-following, mean reversion, and breakout methods, and why their performance often depends on volatility and regime shifts. Practical issues like execution, slippage, and scaling are treated as integral rather than optional details. Overall, Schwager frames system development as an engineering discipline: define assumptions, test objectively, control risk, and accept that even good systems have losing streaks that must be survived through robust sizing and disciplined adherence.
Fourthly, Fundamental Analysis and Intermarket Drivers, Beyond charts, the book explores how supply, demand, and macro forces influence futures prices. For commodity markets, this includes production cycles, inventory levels, seasonal patterns, weather impacts, and policy decisions that can alter trade flows. For financial futures, it looks at interest rates, inflation expectations, central bank policy, and broader economic conditions that affect currencies, bonds, and equity index futures. A key idea is that fundamental inputs often operate on different time horizons than technical signals, so traders must align analysis with their holding period. The book also introduces intermarket thinking, where related markets transmit information or create constraints, such as energy costs affecting agricultural inputs, or currency moves influencing export competitiveness. It addresses why fundamental narratives can be correct but mistimed, and why risk management is still mandatory even when the story seems compelling. By presenting fundamentals as a structured way to form hypotheses and scenarios, the book helps readers avoid simplistic cause-and-effect claims. The result is a more complete decision process: use fundamentals to understand what could move a market and technicals or system rules to decide when and how to participate.
Lastly, Options, Spreads, and Risk-Centered Trading Principles, The book expands the futures toolkit with options and spreads, showing how traders can shape payoff profiles and manage uncertainty. Options on futures are presented as instruments for defined-risk speculation, hedging, and volatility views, with attention to how time decay and changing volatility affect outcomes. Spreads are explored as relative-value positions, such as calendar spreads or inter-commodity spreads, where the trader focuses on price relationships rather than outright direction. These structures can reduce exposure to broad market swings but introduce their own risks, including liquidity differences and relationship breakdowns. Underneath these instruments sits the book’s central message about trading principles: survival first. Schwager emphasizes controlling downside through position sizing, stop placement, and the acceptance of losses as a business expense. He also addresses the psychological and procedural aspects of discipline, such as avoiding overtrading, respecting leverage, and maintaining consistency in execution. Another key principle is aligning strategy with personal tolerance for drawdowns and uncertainty, because mismatched risk leads to abandoning good plans at the worst moment. By integrating instruments, strategy, and mindset, the book encourages a holistic approach where method and risk control are inseparable.
