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FAQ Which Books should a Beginner Read?

timsk said:
Hi Marcus,
If you want a book that covers the general principles, then John Murphy's book linked in post #1 of this thread is as good a place to start as any. If you want a sceptics view of TA, then Alistair Blair's book listed in post #2 is very good. If you're wanting a detailed examination of how to use TA with specific types of charts, then you'll need to focus on the experts for each genre, e.g. Nison on Candlesticks and du Plessis on point and figure etc. listed under 'Trading & Technical Analysis' - also in post #2.
Tim.
Click to expand...

First, thank you so much for your answer Tim.

I just read John Murphy's book. I will check the post #2.

Best regards
 
INVESTools Investor Education 5-Step Formula
An introduction everyone should read about investing. Many of it applies to trading. The first section covers basic things to investing. From taxes, to picking a brokerage, to risk tolerance, etc. The next two sections over stock screening. How to set up screeners to find "in play" stocks, using heat maps, sector sorters, etc. The next section covers fundamental analysis. Price patterns, volatility, trading the news, etc. Then it's a technical analysis section. Mostly goes over buy signals and money management like how to use stops, how many shares to buy, etc. But it does explain technical indicators like moving averages, MACD, stochastics, volume, and support & resistance. Then it has extra sections about ETFs and Options.

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B6PqBxwzEHSUWEFjQlRDdkVBUnM&usp=sharing

Marc Boucher Short-Term Trading Course
Goes over a ton of amazing information.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6PqBxwzEHSUQk9uT1gtYmo5bXV5eTc1TFhUX2RmanZIWWxB/view?usp=sharing

The Daily Trading Coach by Brett Steenbarger
"101" lessons to become your own trading coach. It goes over how your personal lifestyle affects your trading habits and how to change them. It teaches you how to coup with stress, anxiety, and other emotions. Teaches you how to keep a psychological journal. It goes over a ton of things. I haven't finished it yet.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6PqBxwzEHSUSTZVeGNOWU1CaE1XNkRXeTdEeWJqOF93MDNj/view?usp=sharing

Trading Success by Charles Faulkner
Explains common emotional reactions to trading. Then compares trading to riding a motorcycle (people love trading is like ____ comparisons). Then it goes over how to optimize trader emotions into your trading strategy.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6PqBxwzEHSUVUZGaVF2SzFMbUtDck1sZ0pUaW8wM0MzcmMw/view?usp=sharing

Markets Trade With Geometric Symmetry by Raven Capital Management LTD
Explains how the market moves to the extremes in a "herd" or crowd mentality due to psychology then how volatility reverts it back to the mean forming geometric symmetry. The article goes over the relationship of square roots in the market. It covers fibonacci ratios, retracements, extensions, and other number series. And it explains how Pi (3.14) works in the market. It's very informative for people who understand math. To most, it may look like rocket science.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6PqBxwzEHSUOHBMSFIyanFqQ215b1o0TlIwZk8yaWVLVEgw/view?usp=sharing
 
From my experience it's really hard to find a good book. When I started, I really struggled to find good and reliable information.

I found a great ebook recently, free, easy and quick to read - I really recommend it:
http://www.codawin.com/ebook/

Hope that helps!
 
everyone have favorite book read trading, but nobody say this book only book or even help most. not think book can help. quiet help, brain help, commonsense help. waste time read book about quiet, brain, commonsense. you got it or you not,

maybe better than book is trade market fish. you learn what sell what buy or you starve. you learn quick, learn good. lucky me girl got something fall back on when time hard,

think maybe why soft western boy not so good trader. not had to learn hard way, life too easy from start,
 
Dong Mu said:
everyone have favorite book read trading, but nobody say this book only book or even help most. not think book can help. quiet help, brain help, commonsense help. waste time read book about quiet, brain, commonsense. you got it or you not,

maybe better than book is trade market fish. you learn what sell what buy or you starve. you learn quick, learn good. lucky me girl got something fall back on when time hard,
Click to expand...

You may have a point Ding Dong. I think soft western boys could learn a lot from everybody's favourite ex-market trader Alan, sorry Sir Alan, sorry Lord Alan Sugar.

Even go on The Apprentice. As well as learning some tricks from The Master, they'd get the chance to look up fundamentals with Karren Brady, sorry Lady Brady. Not a chance many red blooded western boys would want to turn down:


karren-brady--z.jpg


think maybe why soft western boy not so good trader. not had to learn hard way, life too easy from start,
Click to expand...

True, but while spending time around Lady Karren, don't think they'd remain soft for very long.
 
Karen, Sugar's aide is hardly the looker though is she. She's the headmistress type or at least getting there.

People could learn from Sugar himself. He actually needs to stricten up a bit like in those earlier seasons of Apprentice. I got to hand it them the most shoddiest and poor contestants on the show ever. What is no one bothered any more??
 
My suggestion is to read A Random Walk Down Wall Street before you read any other books, as this book will give you a more objective look at how the stock market actually works from a stochastic standpoint. Other books try to rationalize the markets, which will hurt you at the beginning. Statistical fact is the only reliable unit for developing a solid trading strategy.
 
Hi, Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas is an excellent read, but if you are more a visual type person there are many free forex training tutorials on YouTube or any of the other video-sharing websites.
 
I assume most who will read this thread are looking for educational trading books!

If you are a knew or struggling trader I would start with something basic so that you properly understand how the markets work, what drives them and how to trade. There is plenty of information out there so to be honest a book is not necessary but for sake of this thread something like Abe Confas forex book is good which I have read.

Because trading is so practical you are better off spending your time actually trading and making as much notes as possible. Review your notes and you will soon understand what you need to focus on eg. Strategy, psychology, money management.

If you can follow your trade plan with discipline and can manage your emotions but still not getting results, it is likely you will need to refine your strategy so look for a specific book on strategies.

If you struggle to follow your plan because of ill discipline or not being able to control your emotions get a book on trading psychology.

If you think all that is missing is being able to mange a trade effectively then look at buying a book on money management.

What I am trying to get across is that most traders believe that the more they read the more chance they think they have in becoming profitable. Reading a book will not make you successful. Knowing your flaws which 95% of people have, understanding how to correct them, then applying a new approach is what can make a trader consistently profitable! A book can help with this process but application is key!
 
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There are only two books that I would highly recommend to anyone:

How To Trade Stocks - Jesse Livermore
Market Wizards - Interview with Top Traders - Jack Schwager

Read the above and take good notes.

Anything regarding Price Action Theory should be looked at - you can get it all free online is also good.
 
wasp said:
Never read a trading book in my life.

Spent more hours watching price action than anything else in life though... Nothing beats experience IMO.
Click to expand...

Yes experience is more important. But i m sure u need to know basics before
 
I recommend these:

Trading Systems by Emilio Tomasini
Forex Chartist Companion: A Visual Approach to Technical Analysis by Archer Bickford
An Introduction to Forex Trading - A Guide for Beginners by Matthew Driver
Market Risk Analysis: Pricing, Hedging and Trading Financial Instruments: v. 3 by Carol Alexander
Forex Price Action Scalping: an in-depth look into the field of professional scalping by Bob Volman
Attacking Currency Trends: How to Anticipate and Trade Big Moves in the Forex Market by Greg Michalowski
The Market Maker's Edge: A Wall Street Insider Reveals How to: Time Entry and Exit Points for Minimum Risk, Maximum Profit; Combine Fundamental and ... Trading Tactics from a Wall Street Insider by Josh Lukeman
Stop Orders by Tony Loton
Spread Betting the Forex Markets: An Expert Guide to Spread Betting the Foreign Exchange Markets by David Jones
apanese Candlestick Charting Techniques: a Contemporary Guide to the Ancient Investment Techniques of the Far East Hardcover by Nison
The Financial Times Guide to Investing: The Definitive Companion to Investment and the Financial Markets by Glen Arnold
Come into My Trading Room: A Complete Guide to Trading by Alexander Elde
 
Most books reflect personal experiences and also make many unsupported claims. The best book is the time you spend watching real price action. There are just a few things you should know:

A. Experience comes from trading, not from reading books
B. Risk management means trying to gain most with the least risk.

Most books will confuse you about both A and B. Many authors talk about Kelly percent, show curve-fitted systems, spend 100 pages talking about simple statistics and other irrelevant things.

If you want to go one step further join a prop firm and enroll in their training program.
 
I started a couple of years ago with, "An Encylcopedia of Chart Patterns."

Looking back, it was terrible as a first choice. Still, I got up to speed pretty quickly.
 
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