Hi Tampa, You wont be a good trader from just reading books, in the same way as you cannot be a good NASCAR driver from reading books. Some books touch highly relevant issues tho, so I would still say - read these two classic books: 1. Reminiscences of a Stock Operator (pdf for u) 2. The Education of a Speculator (Niederhoffer) Books like "How i made a gazillion bucks in the market" etc. are seldom any good. Depending on time I will maybe give you some very basic inputs later if you want. Br.
Thanks to all....for those who have stated sound advice (albeit relatively speaking) - I thank you! I have already started the process of shortening my learning curve. Brutal crowd though.....but so is the "game" I've come to understand. Once I feel I have risen to a level of higher understand beyond a firm grasp of the basics, I plan to "blog" my endeavors and periodically post some of my trading strategies as well as the results. I've found that learning in the proverbial "frying pan" is the best method in any case....and I also find it beneficial when those who post the same type of information to share. Again, thanks for the comments and looking forward to bustin' balls with the best of 'em!
Focus on how to limit your losses rather than how much you will make. Personally I limit losses by always staying diversified among positions, sectors and always being hedged in one way or the other. Start out with a small account until you are confident and focus on consistency rather than return, much more important. As I am writing this it gets my juices going and now that I think about it the 'education' I have received from the markets over the past 20 years have been very long and expensive. If I was going to do it all over knowing what I know now, I think I would have been a doctor instead...alot easier and cheaper. That said, the freedom of being a full time trader can't be beat.
I'm not a full-time trader yet...I'm on the brink of entering my first prop job...but I can offer some advice as far as books are concerned... Read: Market Wizards - J. Schwager The New Market Wizards - J. Schwager Stock Market Wizards - J. Schwager Jesse Livermore: World's Greatest Stock Trader - forgot author How To Make Money Selling Stocks Short - W. O'Neil The Alchemy of Finance - Soros Think and Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill (For Your Psyche) Definitely read Market Wizards though. Those 3 books let me know what I believed was actually possible if you're willing to put the work in. Stay away from: Security Analysis (intelligent book, but won't help your trading) - I read this before I even knew what trading was, the only person I knew about was Warren Buffett at that time) My advice is do not listen to people that tell you to stay away from particular strategies (i.e. Elliot Wave). Different things work for different people. You may find that charts do nothing for you and tape reading is what works for you or vice versa. Or you may do well just trading news. Again, two very successful people may argue with one another about what works and what doesn't, because trading is a very personal endeavor. If you do nothing else, work on strengthening your psychological makeup to ensure that when your first losing streak occurs, that you will be able to come back and trade. The best advice that I've heard is trade your strategy and don't look at your profit and loss. If you execute well, the profits will take care of themselves. Good luck.