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Review of Way of the Turtle: The Secret Methods That Turned Ordinary People into Extraordinary Traders by Curtis Faith
When Market Wizard Van Tharp says a book is “one of the top five trading books ever written,” it is well worth taking note. When I read the just-released Way of the Turtle, I definitely wasn’t disappointed; it lived up to its billing.
For readers who are new to the trading world, or traders who may have resided in a cave for the past 20 years and don’t know about the “Turtles”, an explanation is in order.
Some 23 years ago, two legendary megatraders, Richard Dennis and Bill Eckhardt, had an ongoing discussion about whether successful traders were born with that skill or if it could be taught. They decided that, in order to determine the answer, they would create a training program to train traders to trade their own specific trading methods, and, thus, see for themselves if individuals who had never been familiar with trading before could be taught.
This experiment came to be known as the “Turtle Program”, and the participants were the “Turtles”. Out of more than 1,000 applicants, only 12 were chosen. These 12 were sworn to secrecy and agreed not to reveal what they were taught for a period of many years. Many of the Turtles went on to become some of the most successful traders and money managers in the industry. The “secret” of what they learned and the methods they were taught have intrigued other traders for many years. This is one of the first books to deal extensively with that subject, and it is certainly the best.
The author, Curtis Faith, was one of the most successful of the Turtles. From an account of 2 million dollars, he generated more than 31 million in trading profits. He shares with the reader the details of some of the specific trades he made and a number of stories of his experiences as a Turtle. Interestingly, even though each of the Turtles was taught to trade exactly the same way, the results among them varied widely, and some were even unprofitable. Learn what made the difference…you’ll be surprised!
Suffice it to say, this book is outstanding, and every serious trader should make it an indispensable addition to his or her trading library. It reveals, in specific detail, all that the Turtles were taught, which itself is of exceptional interest and value. The details will be omitted here -- you’ll have to get the book to find out their “secrets” and to find out how the name “Turtles” originated.
Readers interested and involved in system testing, design, development and trading will find a gold mine of useful and revealing ideas here. Likewise, some of the best material available on the psychology of successful trading is also included. Other excellent topics covered include problems involved with system development, why most systems fail to perform as expected from historical back testing and how to design systems that are robust and will stand the test of time.
After reading this superb book, you’ll be able to make up your own mind about the answer to the question of whether anyone can be taught to trade.
Edward Dobson, President
Traders Press, Inc.
Greenville, SC
