This is probably a more complex question than meets the eye initially. I've traded for over a decade and read probably 75 books on the subject, and looking back, I think many books were innapropriate reading for the particular stage I was in. For example, someone suggested Market Wizards. While I consider it a "must read" for traders, I don't think it's appropriate for a newbie because it may conjure up unrealistic expectations of profit. It's difficult enough to control the tendency to look at trading as a get-rich-quick scheme without reading of traders who have become fabulously successful at it. Mark Douglas books are awesome, but pretty heavy reading for a newbie. Part of the benefit of reading his books are identifying our own tendencies in trading as he describes them. You can read them and it's like he has been spying on you. However, if you have no experience, the text loses its impact. All this said, I think a newbie should read plenty on technical analysis, fundamental analysis if interested in equities, and a book that discusses the realities of trading. Probably the best TA books I read were written by John Murphy (Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets) and Jack Schwager (not sure of the exact title, but a thick, red TA book). The latter gives you page after page of exercises in chart reading. Schwager also has a fundamental analysis book, but even more simple books like "Atlas of Economic Indicators" go a long way in solving the mysteries of what drives price movement in the markets. Finally, a book like "Trading Is a Business" by Joe Ross does a good job of giving you a more realistic view of trading. Just my 2 cents.
There are a lot of good books about trading. Here's a few: Reminiscences of a stock operator by Edwin Lefèvre Market Wizards New Market Wizards Stock Market Wizards Bulls Bears and Millionaires by Robert Koppel The Best by Kevin N. Marder & Marc Dupée Pit Bull by Martin Schwartz The Daytader's Course by Lewis Borsellino The Professional Commodity Trader by Stanley Kroll The magic of moving average by Scot Lowry Profitable candlestick trading by Stephen W. Bigalow
I read this book this weekend and really was not impressed. About 1/2 the book was spent on Graifer. If you have plenty of money to spend on books, buy it...but if you can buy a few books I wouldn't buy it. just my .02
Good point, I guess I didnt fully read the title of this post. The Douglas book would not be good for beginners because, like you said, you need to reflect upon your own trading to fully benefit from it. Although, once you have had some experience trading, "Trading in the Zone" is a very helpful read.
============ Mac-trader Those are amoung the best, especially 3 Schwager books, also visit; turtletradingsoftware.com investors.com, which is William O Neil /IBD website. And your own custom chart books become valuable over the years. In a multitude of counselors there is safety-Solomon,trader king.
SMI-Wyckoff course, Units 1 & 2. Relatively expensive, but everything is in there and you can study it for years and chances are you won't need anything else. And best of all you can eventually adapt it to any trading style. The course is exhaustive, covering the gamut: Basic principles that drive an auction market, pv interpretation, TA to the nth degree (built on the solid fundamentals of supply & demand), charts charts charts, proper use of "indicators", psychology, money management, risk/reward, timeframes, finding the best markets to trade, stalking a market, profit targets, entry points ("setups"), stop-loss, protective/trailing stops, monitoring and assessing open positions, pyramiding, exiting/reversing positions... And the bulk of the material was written circa 1920. Auction markets never really change, fundamentally. Wyckoff was a friggin' genius. I wish I'd found it when I first started out, I would have saved a lot of time and cash spent on other materials and poor trading techniques. Not many people know about it, nor would most folks spend the effort required to master it, but it's there for the few, the willing. I've been studying it for several years now and continue to broaden and deepen my trading skills. It's the gift you give yourself that keeps on giving! Yahoo Wyckoff group, w/scads of free info in the files section: http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Wyckoff-SMI/ SMI #, they'll send you an info package: 602-942-5581 Other than that, if you're going to trade on charts, start w/the basic TA books already mentioned like Murphy or E&M. Good luck, Harold
Precisely 86pp out of 247 are about Vadym, in which he shows himself to be Everyman. The rest is very clear setups. Obviously not a popuar book because it doesn't receive much press here. Right down there with Alan Farley's magnum opus, perhaps the least popular good book out there.
Kevin, just out of curiosity... do you honestly think that first part of the book carries no useful lessons for a beginner?
I actually didn't say that. I said "I read this book this weekend and really was not impressed. About 1/2 the book was spent on Graifer. If you have plenty of money to spend on books, buy it...but if you can buy a few books I wouldn't buy it." Meaning, although it can be useful for the beginner I believe others can be more helpful.