Can anyone tell me where to start in terms of the best Technical Analysis books? I started reading one of the options books by Lawrence McMillan and realized I need to know what stock to buy/sell in order to figure out what kind of option I want to buy/sell. Thanks in advance!
Technical Analysis of Stock Trends by Edwards & Magee It's an old classic. Every other TA book out there is just a re-write of this original.
>dereck7 I agree with this choice. I was lucky in that it was the first TA book I read over 35 years ago. It got me off on the right foot. If you should choose to read this book, I strongly recommend that you find the 6th edition. The reason being is that the guy who got the rights to the book after the authors died started adding this and that to the book from the 7th edition on, and, not having grasped what the original book was all about, just plain ruined a good book. Additionaly, the book is more of a text book than a get rich quick book. And it has been my casual observation over the years that those who are good at board games and puzzles will have much less difficulty absorbing the book's contents. Just as some people find it hard to learn foreign languages, I think the same can be said for TA. Many never finish the book, and those that do limit it to one reading before starting to trade. Even with my Mensa IQ (not bragging) I had to read it 3 or 4 times before I really started to get the hang of it. I just finished helping a college student who is one third my age and 3 times as smart get through the book. Took him 5 readings. I advised him to paper trade first but he jumped right in trading futures. Not by luck but through sound trades he made 60% in his first 6 weeks!! So while not for everybody, the book can be of great value to some. Good luck.
I can only find the 9th edition. A question though, does the book at least have all the original text from previous editions in ADDITION to the new stuff??
I know a number of people who have found the 6th edition on various old book sites. Or have found a copy in a library and copied it. As I remember the 7th edition had most or all of the original text with additions to chapters marked by decimals, such as 13.1 being the additoin to chapter 13. I only glimpsed at the 8th, but as I recall there were a lot of changes. Exactly how much has been rewritten I can't say exactly. But it was disappointing. There are a few 6th editions here: http://www.alibris.com/search/books/qwork/6579165/used/Technical analysis of stock trends
I should add that I also like Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets by John Murphy. It's a watered down, slightly easier read of the Edwards/Magee book. It covers all the basics.
Okay so I found a copy floating around which has 577 pages. The last few pages are all charts. This seems like one of the earlier versions of the book as I don't see any fluff material. Can anyone confirm this is not the newer editions?
http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Candlestick-Charting-Techniques-Second/dp/0735201811 Japanese Candlesticks - Steve Nison http://www.amazon.com/Evidence-Based-Technical-Analysis-Scientific-Statistical/dp/0470008741 Evidence Based Technical Analysis - David Aronson PM me for 8th Edition of Magee's book