Introduction
The Stock Trader's Almanac 2009 is the latest edition of the 42 year long Stock Trader's Almanac series. The Stock Trader's Almanac is different from most trading books in that it is, well, an almanac rather than a learn to trade book. The almanac contains various information about the markets (historical patterns, yearly trends, etc.), organized according to the monthly and yearly calendars.
The Stock Trader's Almanac is focused upon the US markets, specifically the Dow Jones, S&P 500, Nasdaq, Russell 1000, and Russell 2000, stock indicies. The almanac is therefore most useful to traders who trade the US markets, or traders who use the US markets in their trading.
The Stock Trader's Almanac 2009 was written by Jeffrey Hirsch and Yale Hirsch, and is published by Wiley Trading. The Stock Trader's Almanac is one of the two almanacs (the other being the Commodity Trader's Almanac) that Wiley Trading publishes on the subject of financial trading.
About The Authors
Jeffrey Hirsch is the editor of the Stock Trader's Almanac series, and the founder of the Hirsch Organization (founded in 1990). Yale Hirsch is Jeffrey Hirsch's father, and started the Stock Trader's Almanac series in 1966 (it was first published in 1967). Further information about Jeffrey Hirsch and Yale Hirsch is available at the Stock Trader's Almanac web site (run by Wiley Trading).
Part One - Yearly Almanac For 2009
The first section of the Stock Trader's Almanac is the yearly almanac, and includes twelve sections covering one calendar month each.
The first section starts with a trading calendar for the entire year, showing the trading holidays, and the standard expiration dates for futures and options markets (standard being the third Friday of the expiration month). Following the calendar, each month is presented in detail, along with various historical information. Some of the information applies to the entire month, and some of the information applies to a specific day of the month. As an example of the monthly information, the almanac for January includes the January Barometer, which suggests that whatever happens in January will continue throughout the year (i.e. a bearish market in January means a bearish market by the end of the year). As an example of the daily information, the almanac for July 13th (a Monday) suggests that the Dow Jones stock index has been bullish on the Monday before the July Expiration for five years in a row. At the end of the first section, the almanac provides a trading calendar for 2010, also showing the trading holidays, and the standard expiration dates.
Part Two - Directory of Historical Patterns and Information
The second section of the Stock Trader's Almanac is the directory of historical patterns and information, organized primarily by the market being presented.
Various historical patterns are presented for each of the covered markets (the US stock indicies). For example, there is a calendar that gives the probability (as a percentage) that the Dow Jones stock index will increase on any given day of the year. There is also a calendar showing the monthly closing prices of the Nasdaq for every month since 1971. The second section contains a large amount of data that can either be used as it is presented, or be used as input for further probability and statistical calculations.
