The book is basically a series of studies on reoccurring patterns in the stock and commodities markets. Crabel found that volatility is mean-reverting in the speculative markets. Just as night follows day, volatile markets follow quiet markets. There are more than a dozen robust volatility patterns evaluated and explained. The ideas were mostly unique then, or at least had not been published together yet in one volume, from what I know. The main ideas in the book have to do with expansion and contraction in volatility and moves off the open (Opening Range Breakouts).
Toby is a successful hedge fund manager, having worked for Victor Niederhoffer before starting his own company. Toby's returns are good, but his risk management is far better. Toby's funds have grown primarily due to his excellent risk management skills as opposed to his returns. In layman's terms this means that he hardly ever loses money but he doesn't make much for his clients. This is actually fairly unique and he should be commended for finding this niche in the business.
I should say that I do know both Toby and Victor, although they are just industry acquaintances, not friends, and I have not seen them in a many years.
For young struggling traders, the ideas in this book are available cheaper in other books or on the internet. They are also known as volatility breakout strategies. I suggest you pay not more than $200 for this book. If you can't buy it for less than that, look elsewhere.
