Author: Michael N. Kahn

Publisher: Pearson Education (Upper Saddle River, NJ)

ISBN: 0-13-134597-4

Technical Analysis: Plain and Simple is the second edition of this 309 page, hardbound book.  It contains 37 chapters, organized into 6 parts or sections.  It includes an acknowledgments section, a brief author biography, preface, and 2 sections about the book and how to benefit from it.

            The author has extensive financial expertise and background on the topic of Technical Analysis (TA).  His credentials include, but are not limited to, authorship of regular columns for Barron’s Online and newsletters for MidnightTrader.com.

            The preface educates the reader on controversies characterizing TA, as a discipline.  From the academic’s perspective, TA, with its foundation in historical stock volume and price measures, falls within the framework of what is referred to as weak form market efficiency.  Still, one need only watch the business news on cable television or read financial periodicals to learn that many on Wall Street rely on TA, perhaps combining their expertise in TA with fundamental analysis (FA) to make more informed investment decisions.  (FA is addressed in Chapter 17).

            As both the title and author suggests, this book is written at the introductory level, for those interested in beginning to learn more about TA (e.g., “(t)reatment of each subject is kept deliberately light” – p. xxxv).  As the baby boomers continue to age with a relatively larger amount of wealth, compared to previous generations, this book would be helpful to the investor interested or already capable of personally managing a portion of his or her wealth and seeking greater depth to their understanding of the TA commentary so frequently seen on the pages of financial publications and cable business news programs (e.g., Bloomberg and CNBC).  This is not to say that a younger investor would not also find this book of interest, as it is written for the relatively unsophisticated or would be investor, in, as the title suggests, plain and simple language.

The chapters are relatively brief, as the book is well-designed, with these small or bite-sized pieces, for wanna be technicians.  This is exactly what someone should expect from an introductory reference work on a technical topic.  And it is no surprise given this very palatable chapter structure and overall design that this second edition has been produced, is in print and is available for purchase.

This book is designed to be read and understood by the non-college graduate and/or the liberal arts or non-business graduate.  Those with extensive trading experience, based on decisions evolving from non-technical analysis-based methodologies, are also likely to benefit, and may keep the book as a guide or reference book to complement their alternative trading style.

At less than $25 (US), this book is likely to prove to be an excellent value and choice as a primer or first book to be selected for study, examination and reference on the topic of technical analysis.  For those who purchase this book, read it, practice or incorporate some of the techniques in their own trading strategies – successfully – an intermediate and, eventually, an advanced book on technical analysis will, later, become desirable.  However, intermediate and advanced books should be avoided by those only beginning to learn about TA.  I enjoyed reading this book and would not hesitate to recommend it for its intended target audience – it represents an excellent choice for the neophyte technician.

 The above review was contributed by: Anthony (A.J.) Cataldo II.    Dr. Cataldo holds a PhD from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University , MAc ( University of Arizona)  unofficial minor in Marketing , BSBA  (University of Arizona). He is a Certified Management Accountant and a Certified Public Accountant:  Click Here to view Anthony's Reviews