Good Evening Dollardogs, The best psychology books are the one I write for myself day to day when I am trading. I never saw the need to read a trading book. I am my own best help with the psychology requirements of trading.
Well said. I don't have too much trouble following my rules, but when I'm in a discretionary situation, sometimes emotions are clouding my judgment, sometimes they're not. I need more practice and experience, but the good books on the subject I've read so far have definitely expedited the emotional learning curve.
I have a long list of books on trading psychology (as well as market psychology, eg. fear and greed). Since the market is a collection of individuals, I think it's worth knowing not just yourself but others as well. Some I've read, some I have only cursorily glanced over a few chapters, and some I've read more than once. Needless to say, books are just information. What you do with those information, just like trading, is what matters. 200 Short Trading Psychology Truths (2015) 36 Stratagems for Investors - Timeless Financial Wisdom from a Chinese Classic (2012) 7 Habits of a Highly Successful Trader (2009) A Crisis of Beliefs - Investor Psychology and Financial Fragility (2018) A Man for All Markets - From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat the Dealer and the Market (2017) A Short History of Financial Euphoria (1994) A.B.C.'s of Behavioral Forensics - Applying Psychology to Financial Fraud Prevention and Detection (2013) Adam Smith - Supermoney (Wiley Investment Classics) (2006) Alpha Trader - The Mindset, Methodology and Mathematics of Professional Trading (2021) Beat the Crowd - How You Can Out-Invest the Herd by Thinking Differently (2015) Behavioral Finance - Investors, Corporations, and Markets (2010) Being Warren Buffet - Life Lessons from a Cheerful Billionaire (2014) Bernard Baruch - The Adventures of a Wall Street Legend (2012) Best Loser Wins - Why Normal Thinking Never Wins the Trading Game—Written by a High-Stake Day Trader (2022) Beyond Greed and Fear - Understanding Behavioral Finance and the Psychology of Investing (2007) Big Money Energy - How to Rule at Work, Dominate at Life, and Make Millions (2021) Bogle On Mutual Funds - New Perspectives for the Intelligent Investor (2015) Bulls, Bears, and Millionaires - War Stories of the Trading Life (1997) Business's Most Wanted - The Top 10 Book of Corporate Greed, Eccentric Entrepreneurs, and Management Oddities (2005) Buy the Fear, Sell the Greed - 7 Behavioral Quant Strategies for Traders (2018) Calm Trader - Win in the Stock Market without Losing Your Mind (2015) Charles MacKay - Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (2003) Charles Mackay - Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (2021) Client Psychology (CFP Board Center for Financial Planning Series) (2018) Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits and Other Writings (2003) Countdown to the Global Financial Crisis - A Story of Power and Greed (2022) Daily Trading Coach - 101 Lessons for Becoming Your Own Trading Psychologist Damn Right! - Behind the Scenes With Berkshire Hathaway Billionaire Charlie Munger (2003) Day One Trader - A Liffe Story (2009) Devil Take the Hindmost - A History of Financial Speculation (1999) Enhancing Trader Performance - Proven Strategies From the Cutting Edge of Trading Psychology (2007) Exceptional Trading - The Mind Game (1999) Faithful Finances 101 - From the Poverty of Fear and Greed to the Riches of Spiritual Investing (2003) Fear and Greed - Investment Risks and Opportunities in a Turbulent World (2012) Fifty Years in Wall Street (Wiley Investment Classics) (2006) Financial Behavior - Players, Services, Products, and Markets (2017) Financial Markets and Martingales - Observations on Science and Speculation (1998) Financial Risk Taking - An Introduction to the Psychology of Trading and Behavioural Finance (2004) Finding the Zone Founding Finance - How Debt, Speculation, Foreclosures, Protests, and Crackdowns Made Us a Nation (2012) Greed (2009) Greed (The Seven Deadly Sins) (2004) Greed - A Dictionary for the Selfish (2011) Greed, Lust and Gender - A History of Economic Ideas (2010) Harmonic Trading High Performance Trading - 35 Practical Strategies and Techniques to Enhance Your Trading Psychology and Performance (2009) History of Greed - Financial Fraud from Tulip Mania to Bernie Madoff (2010) How Novelty and Narratives Drive the Stock Market - Black Swans, Animal Spirits and Scapegoats (Studies in New Economic Thinking) (2021) How Successful Traders Think, Trade and Invest (1994) How To Decide - Simple Tools for Making Better Choices (2020) Hypnotrading - A Practical Guide to Using Hypnosis and NLP to Improve Your Trading Performance (2016) Hypnotrading - A Practical Guide to Using Hypnosis and NLP to Improve Your Trading Performance (2016) Inside the Investor's Brain - The Power of Mind Over Money (2007) Inside the Investor's Brain - The Power of Mind Over Money (2007) Introduction to Trading Psychology - A Practical Guide to Improve Your Trading Psychology (2021) Investing and the Irrational Mind - Rethink Risk, Outwit Optimism, and Seize Opportunities Others Miss (2011) Investment Blunders of the Rich and Famous and What You Can Learn from Them (2002) Investment Euphoria & Money Madness - The Inner Workings of the Psychology of Investing--for Financial Advisors and Their Clients (2000) Investment Psychology Explained - Classic Strategies to Beat the Markets Investor Behavior - The Psychology of Financial Planning and Investing (2014) Iron Mindset - A Guide to Building Your Trading Mindset (2021) Jesse Livermore's Two Books of Market Wisdom (2019) John Bogle on investing - The First 50 Years (Wiley Investment Classics) (2015) Julian Robertson - A Tiger in the Land of Bulls and Bears (2004) Keeping a Cool Head in a Hot Market (2005) King Larry - The Life and Ruins of a Billionaire Genius (2012) Lessons from the Greatest Stock Traders of All Time - Proven Strategies Active Traders Can Use Today to Beat the Markets (2004) Madness of Crowds - How to Get Rich in the Age of Crisis (1994) Maintain Your Mindset Making Monte Carlo - A History of Speculation and Spectacle (2016) Market Masters - Interviews with Canada’s Top Investors—Proven Investing Strategies You Can Apply (2016) Market Mind Games - A Radical Psychology of Investing, Trading and Risk (Professional Finance & Investment) (2012) Market Panic - Wild Gyrations, Risk and Opportunity in Stock Markets (2003) Markets and Market Logic - Trading and Investing with a Sound Understanding and Approach (1986) Mastering Trading Psychology - Improve Your Trading with Firsthand Reports by Real-Life Traders (2020) Mastering Trading Stress - Strategies for Maximizing Performance (2007) Mental Fitness for Traders (2019) Microscopic Simulation of Financial Markets - From Investor Behavior to Market Phenomena (2000) Mind Over Markets - Power Trading with Market Generated Information (2013) Mindful Trading - Mastering Your Emotions and the Inner Game Mindset Secrets for Winning - How to Bring Personal Power to Everything You Do (2019) Mindtraps - Mastering the Inner World of Investing No Bull - My Life In and Out of the Markets (2004) Patterns of Speculation - A Study in Observational Econophysics (2002) Pity the Billionaire - The Hard-Times Swindle and the Unlikely Comeback of the Right (2012) Playing the Market - Retail Investment and Speculation in Twentieth-Century Britain (2021) Psychological Analysis – How to Make Money, Outsmart the Market, & Join the Smart Money Circle (2022) Quit - The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away (2022) Richer, Wiser, Happier - How the World's Greatest Investors Win in Markets and Life (2021) Selfishness, Greed and Capitalism - Debunking Myths about the Free Market (2015) Sentiment in the Forex Market - Indicators and Strategies To Profit from Crowd Behavior and Market Extremes (2008) Sir John Templeton - From Wall Street to Humility Theology (1997) Spectacular Speculation - Thrills, the Economy, and Popular Discourse (2013) Speculation - A Cultural History from Aristotle to AI (2021) Speculation - A History of the Fine Line between Gambling and Investing (2017) Speculation, Trading, and Bubbles (2014) Spiritual Investments - Wall Street Wisdom from the Career of Sir John Templeton (1998) Street Smarts - Adventures on the Road and in the Markets (2013) The 21 Irrefutable Truths of Trading - A Trader's Guide to Developing a Mind to Win (2000) The 25 Habits of Highly Successful Investors - How to Invest for Profit in Today's Changing Markets (2012) The Anxious Investor - Mastering the Mental Game of Investing (2022) The Art of Contrarian Trading - How to Profit from Crowd Behavior in the Financial Markets (2009) The Art of Contrarian Trading - How to Profit from Crowd Behavior in the Financial Markets (2009) The Art of Contrary Thinking (1954) The Big Win - Learning from the Legends to Become a More Successful Investor (2012) The Billion Dollar Mistake - Learning the Art of Investing Through the Missteps of Legendary Investors (2010) The Billionaire Who Wasn't - How Chuck Feeney Secretly Made and Gave Away a Fortune (2008) The Biology of Investing (2020) The Complete Book of Greed - The Strange and Amazing History of Human Excess (1994) The Daily Trading Coach - 101 Lessons for Becoming Your Own Trading Psychologist (2009) The Delusions of Crowds - Why People Go Mad in Groups (2021) The Devil’s Riches - A Modern History of Greed (2016) The Disciplined Trader - Developing Winning Attitudes (1990) The End of Wall Street (2010) The Fear Factor - What Happens When Fear Grips Wall Street (2009) The Great Investors - Lessons on Investing from Master Traders (2011) The Intelligent Portfolio - Practical Wisdom on Personal Investing from Financial Engines (2008) The Intuitive Trader - Developing Your Inner Trading Wisdom (1996) The Invisible Hands - Hedge Funds Off the Record—Rethinking Real Money (2010) The Lottery Mindset - Investors, Gambling and the Stock Market The Masters of Private Equity and Venture Capital (2009) The Mental Game of Poker - Proven Strategies for Improving Tilt Control, Confidence, Motivation, Coping with Variance and More (2011) The Mental Game of Poker 2 - Proven Strategies for Improving Poker Skill, Increasing Mental Endurance, and Playing in the Zone Consistently (2013) The Mental Game of Trading - A System for Solving Problems with Greed, Fear, Anger, Confidence, and Discipline (2021) The Mental Strategies of Top Traders - The Psychological Determinants of Trading Success (2009) The Mentally Tough Online Trader - A Sanity Guide for the Totally Wired Investor (2000) The Psychology of Financial Consumer Behavior (2019) The Psychology of Investing (2017) The Psychology of Risk - Mastering Market Uncertainty (2002) The Psychology of Successful Trading - Behavioural Strategies for Profitability (2017) The Psychology of Trading (2002) The Psychology of Trading - Tools and Techniques for Minding the Markets (2007) The Quotable Billionaire - Advice and Reflections from and for the Real, Former, Almost, and Wanna-Be Super-Rich and Others -(2011) The Quotable Executive - Words of Wisdom from Warren Buffett, Jack Welch, Shelly Lazarus, Bill Gates, Lou Gerstner, and More (2000) The Reluctant Billionaire - How Dilip Shanghvi Became the Richest Self-Made Indian (2019) The Revolution That Wasn't - Gamestop, Reddit, and the Fleecing of Small Investors (2022) The Sages - Warren Buffett, George Soros, Paul Volcker, and the Maelstrom of Markets (2009) The Tao of Trading - Discovering a Simpler Path to Success (1998) The Trader's Pendulum - The 10 Habits of Highly Successful Traders (2015) The Trading Book - A Complete Solution to Mastering Technical Systems and Trading Psychology (2011) The Wall Street Professional's Survival Guide - Success Secrets of a Career Coach (2010) The Way of the Warrior-Trader - The Financial Risk-Taker's Guide to Samurai Courage, Confidence and Discipline (1997) The Way to Trade - Discover Your Successful Trading Personality (2006) The Winning Investment Habits of Warren Buffett & George Soros - Harness the Investment Genius of the World’s Richest Investors (2006) Think & Trade Like a Champion - The Secrets, Rules & Blunt Truths of a Stock Market Wizard (2017) Thinking in Bets - Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts (2018) This Time Is Different - Eight Centuries of Financial Folly (2009) Trade Like a Monk - Trading Psychology is the Key to Successful Trading (2021) Trade Mindfully - Achieve Your Optimum Trading Performance with Mindfulness and Cutting Edge Psychology (2014) Trading Against the Crowd - Profiting from Fear and Greed in Stock, Futures, and Options Markets (2004) Trading and Investing for Beginners - Stock Trading Basics, High level Technical Analysis, Risk Management and Trading Psychology (2022) Trading Habits - 39 of the World's Most Powerful Stock Market Rules (2015) Trading in the Zone - Master the Market with Confidence, Discipline, and a Winning Attitude (2001) Trading in the Zone - Maximizing Performance with Focus and Discipline (2001) Trading Psychology 2.0 - From Best Practices to Best Processes (2015) Trading Psychology for Dummies (2022) Trading to Win - The Psychology of Mastering the Markets (1998) Trading Wisdom - 50 Lessons Every Trader Should Know (2021) Trend Following Mindset - The Genius of Legendary Trader Tom Basso (2021) Triumph of Contrarian Investing - Crowds, Manias, and Beating the Market by Going Against the Grain (2004) Why You Win or Lose - The Psychology of Speculation (2012) Win By Not Losing - A Disciplined Approach to Building and Protecting Your Wealth in the Stock Market by Managing Your Risk (2013) Your New Money Story - The Beliefs, Behaviors, and Brain Science to Rewire for Wealth (2019)
That’s a really good sign that you’re at stage when you’re realizing that psychology is holding you more back than TA, not many people get to thit stage. Here is how psychology books (generally) fits into trading (there are always exceptions). Beginning traders and those with small accounts (generally) can only appreciate the conscious execution of skills, and usually poopoo psychology. It’s because they’re blind to their own blindness, and because if they blow their tiny account, it is easy to replenish. Recommending psych book for them hardly ever works because most of them don’t believe in psychology, they just want to make a tonne of money. The next category is “becoming traders”, they already have some personalized trading strategy, their skill is becoming more subconscious through repetition/practice and are developing the awareness of the importance of psychology. If you’re in this category, then most of the psych books should provide at least some benefit. It really depends on what specific weaknesses you need to work on. (One warning though, don’t judge the books by Amazon ratings . . . not just psych books, but trading books in general)) Recommendations to consider: Brett Steenbarger is very good, but I find his material bit all over the place, lacking flow, it kind of never stuck with me. But hey, it’s just my opinion, and it might work for you. Either way, you can’t go wrong with him. Rande Howell is also very good, but very different from Steenbarger. I guess it really depends on what you need to work on. https://tradersstateofmind.com/ (There are many others good psych books, and there are amny that suck) The next level are the more advanced traders who have the ability trade, they don’t mind changing market environment, they have unconscious competence, they trade larger accounts and need to be humble and drop their egos, their focus is not on P&L but rather on execution and self-mastery, and therefore they fully understand the importance of psychology. For this category I’d recommend psych books which are usually more focussed on peak performance trading: Steve Ward’s books such as “Bulletproof Trader” https://performanceedgeconsulting.co.uk/about-steve/ Jared Tendler is very good with helping to overcome tilt (I haven’t read the book, but I went through his course) https://jaredtendler.com/about-jared/ If you’re committed to becoming a professional trader (i.e. your only source of income through trading), then I’d highly recommend buying and studing “Peak Performance Home Study for Traders and Investors” by Van K. Tharp. https://www.vantharp.com/peak-performance-homestudy I have both the old and the updated versions of this course, and it was probably the best money I’ve spent on trading. It takes many months to work through it, it turned my trading around. Warning: Do not judge Van Tharp by his free youtube videos, A) they’re free B) it can take you down the rabbit hole C) his free youtube stuff has nothing to do with his paid course. I was aware of Van Tharp for years but I was avoiding his material because people were poo pooing his stuff, and then I decided to give it and try, and his Peak Performance Course turned my trading around. I then took few of his expensive programs which actually turned my whole life. If you have no issues with discipline, then you can sample Steve Ward for free if he resonates with you, then you can buy his books. Steve Ward also has very good “Trader’s Mind Journal” which I’d highly recommend to everyone to buy and start using.
To learn how to master emotions (if thats the only problem) the book doesnt necessarily have to be about trading. John Coates "The hour between dog and wolf"
Of the 20 or so I read, this one stands out. Winning the Mental Game on Wall Street. The Psychology and Philosophy of Successful Investing Considered a book about General Semantics. It captures or puts a context on ALL other writings. Think of it as the first book you should read, then read all the others, if you want. Then work on behavior modification methods, or like Sprout says, move more away from the discretionary trading.
%% NEVER Judge a book by its cover, even if its 20% important. TRADE Your Way to Financial Freedom by Dr Van Tharp. Is that as helpful, say 80%helpful ,as Dave Ramsey or Stock Traders Almanac ,IBD[Investors Business daily/weekly] books ?? Not likely , but possible . [ETFs ,not single stocks for me] Partial disclosure ,Dr Kiev+ Dr Van Tharp noted how to improve Olympic gold contests + win the shooting match, few do. Kim Rhodes, she is a good read anyway, even if one doesn't want to win female shooter Double Olympic Gold............................Good question