As a long-time Commodities trader, I have attended many symposiums and events on the topic of “making money in the market.” Usually within a half hour of listening to a presentation, I get bored with the speaker and just get up and leave because the information tends to be all theory without actual trading experience behind the information. David Nassar is one of the few who keeps me thoroughly intrigued.
My firm, MBF Clearing Corp, is the largest clearing firm on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). I have been trading since I was eighteen and teaching others for almost that long. In 2002, I authored the book, The Logical Trader, Applying a Method to the Madness. After the book was published, I began conducting a series of trading seminars and live trading demonstrations in which I invite a select few to join me at the NYMEX. David Nassar is one of the rare and few worthy of speaking at our highly sought-after events on Wall Street. Great traders are hard to find and those who can transfer their knowledge to others are even harder—David is one of those people.
I have a large team of proprietary traders who trade my money, as well as customers who rely on me for quality information. My role is to continually help them to be successful, therefore, quality information is at a premium. The problem is, finding quality information is rare. The first time I listened to David, I was immediately impressed with his views of the market and his methods of trading them. I knew he was focused on the same basic principles of the market that I have been trading and teaching about in the futures markets for the past 20 years. Working with seasoned pros and other market icons, I can tell you that timeless strategies that have worked on the floor of the exchange are also transferable to virtual screen-based markets. These are methods that few people truly understand because of the jaded views that form due to media influences but that will open the reader’s mind to an unobstructed view of how to make money in all markets.
When trading on the floor of the NYMEX, learning to trade is “baptism by fire.” You are taught by hanging on to the wing of active traders all around you who are moving large amounts of money in real time. There is little time for theory—only action! Today, the markets are virtual and open to all participants. This creates the opportunity for a structured learning environment that the exchanges did not readily provide. The way I and many others learned to trade on the floor was through harsh reality and experience, which created many casualties among traders. Today that has changed because of traders like David, who can teach how they trade.
Reading How to Get Started in Active Trading and Investing was like reading an echo of myself. His obsession with risk management and his approach of combining discrete market trading patterns with market psychology are the same views I have expressed in The Logical Trader. If you only read one book this year, read David Nassar’s comprehensive guide to the markets. It will teach you how to become your own analyst while acquiring a tremendous fundamental, technical, and psychological background into the markets. This book will be an invaluable trading tool for the day trader, swing trader, and long-term investor regardless if you trade stocks, bonds, or futures contracts. It should be required reading for all traders and investors. It is a rare opportunity to get into the mind of a highly successful trader.
Finally I will state that trading has been the greatest living I could have ever imagined. It has given my family and me tremendous opportunities, while allowing me to follow my passion. My 15-year-old son paid me a father’s greatest compliment recently when he stated that he too wants to learn how to trade the markets. I hope David Nassar will be one of his mentors.
Mark Fisher
President, MBF Clearing Corp