My list of absolute must read books on Trading & Forex to help you become a Master Trader.
You have heard me say it before. You do not need to pay someone thousands and thousands of dollars to teach you how to trade. You have also heard me talk about the folly and stupidity of learning other people’s developed “trading systems” (and for the love of God don’t go with robots and lose all your money).
First, the #1 problem to overcome is psychology. You just do the wrong things. You buy when you should sell. You sell when you should buy. You have too much fear, uncertainty and doubt. You don’t know how to position size and you hold your losers and cut your winners short. Overcome the psychology aspect which is 90% of the game and you have the hardest part conquered. Trading is 90% psychology.
So this list is in order of preference:
#1 is an absolute must read 5 times over is Jessie Livermore: Reminiscences of a Stock Operator
Here you will learn of all the thoughts and emotions and see the progression of a trader. Watch him crash and burn a half dozen times and come back to millions every time. I would start with this book above all books (about $12 on Amazon).
#2 & #3 are both Market Wizard books by Jack D. Schwager
These are interviews with top traders. You get a chance to see inside the minds of dozens of traders as they explain not only their thoughts and emotions, their fears and greed while trading, but you learn countless dozens of tips and pointers that you will digest, absorb and make a part of you as you read these books over several times. Remember we are molding you into a top trader.
#4 are books by Tharp. Trade your Way to Financial Freedom (1998 edition) or possibly one of his newer books like the 2006 version (probably slightly expanded/updated edition) hardcover for $26.20. You want to see how great this book is? Go look it up on amazon and click the “look inside” and you can read a bunch of it for free and see the table of contents. But you are going to buy this book for $1 because this is the fourth best book on trading in existence as far as I am concerned and each of these books, read in order, will help to make/mold you into what you want to be.
#5 is Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas. An absolute masterpiece
Folks I am giving you the top ten in order of preference. They are building blocks. Just do this. Do it in order. Do it as I say. Read all ten of them and then start over again. Do this 5 times and you will really have it.
OK, so now your trading psychology part is over. On to the learning parts.
#6 is Tools and Tactics of the Master Day Trader. Battle Tested Techniques for Traders, by Oliver Velez and Greg Capra. It is worth its weight in gold; a screamer of a deal. Want to know 90% of everything Oliver Velez knows and can teach you? Why pay him $10K to teach you for 2 weeks (been there, done that. It’s a total waste of money and time!). After I was done with my 2 weeks and gave away my money to him he told me: 90% of everything I know is right in that book.
#7 & #8 are Forex Patterns and Probabilities Trading strategies for Trending and Range Bound Markets by Ed Ponsi and The Ed Ponsi Forex Playbook. Both of these are very good and will give you some forex knowledge and cut your learning curve. However, they are also crazy expensive. So buy them used and save half price. Why pay $56-$63 when you can pay $21-$36?
#9 is How the Market Makers Extract Millions of Dollars a Day and How to Grab your Share, by Martin Cole.
#10 After reading all these books over so many times that you can teach a course to your children… from memory without notes in front of you… then you know you have learned it!
So go look them up on YouTube and then you could also watch all their videos and see if you can glean some nuggets from that as well. But beware! Some folks like Oliver Velez for instance, are deeply involved in selling courses and they are master negotiators, speakers and psychological “button pushers”. While watching videos from some of these folks they will push your buttons and attempt to get you to part with $10K of your money to learn more “secrets” that you don’t know. Funny, sad, and true. So I am giving you a major warning, ok?
When you can gather 90% of what a man knows, I mean a lifetime of knowledge collected for just $10 to $30 in book form, you have a great deal on your hands. Anything that moves outside of that ring is a scam and an attempt to get your money. DVDs and courses go way up in price from there! Hundreds of dollars to many thousands of dollars and that is just a money making business. You have been fair warned.
Yes… I did not even give you 10 books. I gave you nine, of which a mix of used and new should cost you around $120 to $130. I just saved you a fortune. I cut out over 50 books I have read on trading that I consider to be pure garbage and that I have burned in my fireplace long ago!
Do this: do what I say in my pinned tweet and buy an 8 monitor array. Sit yourself down and watch the charts and learn to study the flow of the market and think about what is actually happening and you are on your path to millions of dollars, if you’re willing to put in the time, effort and hard work to get there. It’s not easy but the rewards are worth it.
I wish you well on your journey to trading mastery. Buy these books and get reading!