How can you get the list down to just five books? Most of the ones mentioned are really good, but each only gives another piece to the trading puzzle. Market wizards is a classic. From that I learned that many traders each have different methods and still make money. So learn from their mistakes and try to find your own system. Zen and the art of poker. Just read that one. Its worth the $6 just for the chapter on folding. The book is as much about poker as it is about trading. Folding/getting out of a losing trade needs to be done immediately and keep doing it until the cards flow to you. Another card book, Bringing down the house. The story of the MIT students that took the casinos for millions. Basically a trading book because it shows that you only need a small edge in your favor to make a killing. Random walk down wall street. Read that one so you know the mindset of the people you are taking money from when you properly apply your technical analysis. Fundementals may be fine for long term, but imho they dont work too well short term. But maybe thats just my opinion. Trading in the zone/Trading to win. Read one or both of these. You really need to understand the mental aspect of trading and how to deal with winning/losing. Each trade is not part of a previous trade. Once its closed out, you start fresh. The next trade is a coin toss, maybe you win, maybe you lose, but you have to know your edge and take the trade to find out.
Well, now you've gone and done it! Thank you very much, young lady. Your post has stirred my curiosity and I may one day have to go and buy a book written by Mr. Ross. It will not be any time soon, as I already have my summer reading list in hand which, thankfully, does not include any market related books. If and when the time comes, I do hope that his book lives up to your billing, otherwise you will have to answer for it.
Oh, that sounds very civilised. I wish I could say the same! I'll think up some sort of mitigating circumstances to avoid your wrath, if you don't like it, and point out that you can sell it on Ebay for only a little less than you paid for it, or something ...
Actually, I think you do yourself a disservice by reading trading books. I will never buy another one. Unless Jack writes one of course, which he periodically threatens to do. IMO your time is better spent watching market action for anomalies which indicate that something is amiss, or coding up and testing seemingly ridiculous ideas. Most books encourage you to focus on indicators and oscillators, rather than on pure price and volume action. In particular, I think that watching fast charts is very educational. When I trade I am primarily watching a one second chart, with occasional references to a one minute chart. At that speed IMO you see how the market really works. How the pros play the ams. And maybe how an am can play the pros.
And the one we've discussing in the last few posts must be the exception that proves the rule, I suppose? (By the way, oscillators _are_ indicators). It's about price and volume. But if you've already decided that _no_ trading books are worth reading, I won't waste your time ...
My favorites are: 1. Reminiscences of a Stock Operator 2. Market Wizards 3. How I Made $2 Million in the Stock Market 4. The New Market Wizards 5. Long-Term Secrets to Short-Term Trading
i agree. infact this one post alone is probably worth the cost of most trading books. trading is like riding a bike. you just gotta go out there and do it - and face up to it that you will probably fall off and graze your knee on the first few attempts. you cant teach a kid to ride a bike at a seminar - or by reading books - unless that kid is particularly dumb and wants to know how a peddle works before getting on. like thats gunna really help!! so did anyone ever discover the optimum parameters for macd? (like i give a hoot)
Your first four choices provide some interesting reading. As for your fifth selection, I think that anything written by Larry Williams should first be boiled and sterilized, and then discarded without delay. Just my opinion.
I don't agree. I think that, for someone starting out, a few good books can provide some basic grounding from which the person can then chart his own course. A few well-chosen books can help with the first few steps of a long journey. The problem arises when the person thinks that the journey ends there when, in fact, that is where it really begins. Of course, most of the crap out there will set the traveller a few (or more) paces back. However, I do agree with your comment that studying (and testing) market action is by far the most important learning activity. Like you, I am not an adherent of indicators. I rely on price, volume and breadth only.