A trader who buys at the wrong moment pays more, and one who sells at the wrong moment receives less because of poor order handling. Consequently, the return that a participant can realize over
a far more extended holding period (perhaps a week, or a year, or more) depends critically on precisely when and how, in a very brief interval, his or her position is first established and
then, in another brief interval, is eventually unwound. With fading memories of the bull markets of the 1990s and lowered expectations for returns, these trading decisions account for an
increasing proportion of institutional and individual trader profits. This book is a course in equity trading for professional and serious individual traders. It is packaged with
Schwartz, Francioni's, and Weber’s computer driven simulation model, TraderEx, a hands-on trade simulator that offers traders experience in making tactical trading decisions in different market
structures. Each chapter (from the basics of liquidity, when and how to submit orders and the alternative of call auctions to explanations of market maker services and operations)
works in combination with the simulation software to teach traders how to be versatile and successful in their purchasing and selling techniques. After some initial introduction to the
basics, chapter three plays the role of a user’s manual for the software, and from that point on, the authors clarify many ideas by presenting tables and charts generated by the TraderEx
simulation. They employ terms defined in the context of the simulation, and suggest computer exercises that use the simulation. Where possible, real-world examples from actual
markets and ECNs complement the simulation illustrations and add motivation for the lessons provided by the simulations
