Here are 100 books that Trading in the Zone fans have personally recommended if you like
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I first fell in love with the markets when in 1995, I made more on 1 stock investment than I did working all winter in the freezing cold as a ski instructor. I see it as the world’s greatest game and it has given me a life of unparalleled freedom that I am eternally grateful for. Trading has allowed me to pursue my interests and go deep into behavioral psychology, economics, neurobiology, and would never have had the breakthroughs I have had like the Bottega method for AI or the Myalolipsis technique for developing effortless, unshakable self-discipline if I hadn’t been an active trader.
This is my second favorite book on the mental game of trading.
It’s written in an easy-to-read manner and the connections McCall makes to the ancient samurai code of “Bushido” are still very relevant to today’s active trader.
If you start with building an unshakeable mindset, all your work of system development or edge optimization will be fully rewarded… Because you won’t be cutting trades or making emotionally impulsive choices that are the “unforced errors” that leak your profits back into the market.
Fail in this mental quest and the markets are nothing more than a gambling vehicle.
Trading is war, an ongoing battle against other traders to get to profitable positions first, seize profits and move on to the next battle. "The Way of the Warrior Trader" applies time-honored precepts of the samurai discipline to modern trading, showing the reader ways to use centuries-old methods for victory in today's trading markets. "The Way of the Warrior Trader": provides a six step action plan for trading; explains how to recover psychologically from a loss; and describes how to overcome the deep-seated psychological barriers to effective trading.
I first fell in love with the markets when in 1995, I made more on 1 stock investment than I did working all winter in the freezing cold as a ski instructor. I see it as the world’s greatest game and it has given me a life of unparalleled freedom that I am eternally grateful for. Trading has allowed me to pursue my interests and go deep into behavioral psychology, economics, neurobiology, and would never have had the breakthroughs I have had like the Bottega method for AI or the Myalolipsis technique for developing effortless, unshakable self-discipline if I hadn’t been an active trader.
The markets are always changing. My ability to maintain performance for over 25+ years I believe comes from my deep foundation in the universal principles that drive market prices.
This book was pivotal in my understanding that some things never change. It is a bit difficult to get through, since it was written in the early 1900s. I think the strangeness of the language forced me to really think through and understand the lessons the book teaches.
In my experience, mental strengthening is step #1.
Then you need to learn the art of behavioral analysis and economic psychology if you want to be able to consistently understand why markets move so you can begin to forecast those movements…
This book is a great place to get that process started.
Rollo Tape is the colorful pen name of Richard D. Wyckoff. This 1910 classic on tape reading and stock market tactics is by one of its most astute students. Wyckoff for many years was a publisher of the Ticker Magazine which was later changed to The Magazine of Wall Street. He contributed more to the study of price movements than anyone else in America.
I first fell in love with the markets when in 1995, I made more on 1 stock investment than I did working all winter in the freezing cold as a ski instructor. I see it as the world’s greatest game and it has given me a life of unparalleled freedom that I am eternally grateful for. Trading has allowed me to pursue my interests and go deep into behavioral psychology, economics, neurobiology, and would never have had the breakthroughs I have had like the Bottega method for AI or the Myalolipsis technique for developing effortless, unshakable self-discipline if I hadn’t been an active trader.
Most traders think of the book Technical Analysis Of Stock Trends as the bible of chart reading. I think Alan Farley has surpassed them in this book.
Alan is a great trader, and you can tell he has executed thousands of trades by how he wrote this book.
Thick and richly dense with tons of easy-to-understand patterns and styles of analysis, this book will give you all the visual tools and patterns you need to analyze any market. It contains what you need to turn a chart from an incomprehensible bunch of squiggles into a story about the wants, needs, wishes, fears, and hopes of the other market participants. It belongs easily within reach on any serious trader’s bookshelf.
This book offers powerful strategies to slip between day traders and long-term investors - and grab hidden trading profits! Located in the gray area between the lightning-fast day trader and the endlessly patient buy-and-hold investor, the modern swing trader executes intermediate positions that offer highly lucrative results with less volatility. "The Master Swing Trader" contains a wealth of practical insights and information for using this powerful trading method to profit from short-term price moves often missed by other market participants.After beginning with a detailed background on Pattern Cycle applications and the trend-range axis, "The Master Swing Trader" presents: dozens of…
I first fell in love with the markets when in 1995, I made more on 1 stock investment than I did working all winter in the freezing cold as a ski instructor. I see it as the world’s greatest game and it has given me a life of unparalleled freedom that I am eternally grateful for. Trading has allowed me to pursue my interests and go deep into behavioral psychology, economics, neurobiology, and would never have had the breakthroughs I have had like the Bottega method for AI or the Myalolipsis technique for developing effortless, unshakable self-discipline if I hadn’t been an active trader.
Another trader who writes about the reality of trading for a living, Dr. Elder has really laid out many of the critical fundamentals of a successful trading operation in this book.
Engaging and easy to read, this book will likely shock you with its simplicity, focus on planning, and conservative “grinding” for cash-flowing the markets.
Trading has this sexy image of well-dressed men screaming into phones, before they head out to their yachts. In reality it is supremely boring and the best traders I know live lives of complete freedom… Often totally unrecognized by their neighbors.
This book gives you a real insight into the day-to-day operations of a career trader and it’s an important perspective shift for anybody wanting to make trading a significant aspect of their life.
In Come Into My Trading Room, noted trader and author Dr. Alexander Elder returns to expand far beyond the three M's (Mind, Method, and Money) of his bestselling Trading for a Living. Shifting focus from technical analysis to the overall management of a trader's money, time, and strategy, Dr. Elder takes readers from the fundamentals to the secrets of being a successful trader--identifying new, little known indicators that can lead to huge profits.
Come Into My Trading Room educates the novice and fortifies the professional through expert advice and proven trading methodologies. This…
I have been trading for over 30 years now, and I was lucky to be one of the part-time “hobby” traders to be successful enough to trade full time. Along the way, I was a 3-time trophy winner in the world’s premier real time, real money futures trading contest. My passion is trading, both for my personal accounts and in assisting my students with their trading. While I always say “trading is the hardest way to make easy money” this field is my lifelong passion.
It is a shame the author of this book died in the 9/11 World Trade Center terrorist attack because I always wanted to hear more from him. As with most of the books on this list, for me the details of what he did (did he enter with moving averages? How did he apply stochastics to his entry signals? Etc.) are not nearly as important as his mental state of mind. What did he feel like losing $1 million? How did he recover mentally? For me, being a good trader involves dealing with losses, and this book does a superb job of detailing how one trader did just that.
Jim Paul's meteoric rise took him from a small town in Northern Kentucky to governor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, yet he lost it all-his fortune, his reputation, and his job-in one fatal attack of excessive economic hubris. In this honest, frank analysis, Paul and Brendan Moynihan revisit the events that led to Paul's disastrous decision and examine the psychological factors behind bad financial practices in several economic sectors. This book-winner of a 2014 Axiom Business Book award gold medal-begins with the unbroken string of successes that helped Paul achieve a jet-setting lifestyle and land a key spot with the…
I am Rubén Villahermosa, independent trader and author. My logical and rational mind led me to question the why of market movements, which allowed me to learn the principles of the Wyckoff method. I have deepened in the study of the interaction between supply and demand through high-level Technical Analysis tools such as Wyckoff, VSA, Price Action, Volume Profile, and Order Flow; knowledge that I share through my books from principles of honesty, transparency, and responsibility.
Professor Hank Pruden's book covers a more holistic perspective as he develops elements of system building, pattern recognition, and mental state discipline.
In the technical section he teaches us key concepts of the Wyckoff Method such as the protocolization of the development of accumulation and distribution structures through phases, a fundamental contribution to the Wyckoffian community.
Praise for The Three Skills of Top Trading "Professor Pruden's new book, The Three Skills of Top Trading, is unquestionably the best book on a specific trading method and the necessary attributes for trading that I have read. His logic, understanding of human foibles, and use of the Wyckoff method of trading are broadly referenced, readable, understandable, and entertaining." - Charles D. Kirkpatrick, II, CMT, coauthor of Technical Analysis: The Complete Resource for Financial Market Technicians, Editor of the Journal of Technical Analysis, and board member of the Market Technicians Association "At long last, someone has taken the time and…
Economics isn't really a good starting point for financial market analysis for the simple reason that its models are wildly inaccurate. As behaviorial economists like Daniel Kahneman have been showing, irrationality and the inability to measure risk properly are a very big component of the investment and trading decisions. But statistical risk management is also sloppy when applied to human behavior because people are not objects that reliably behave the same way under similar circumstances. So when you read an economist about markets or an engineer about risk management, you're missing a lot of the story. In the end, technical analysis is fascinating because how and why humans behave is an enduring mystery.
This book is a classic and the best of the many books written by traders describing trading situations and what they did to conquer the market. Sperandeo delivers concise, specific definitions of how he defines and uses trends with some of the clearest charts you will ever see. I find myself going back to some of the same pages over the years in which he discusses how to tell if a trend is undergoing a correction or is an authentic reversal.
Trader Vic -- Methods of a Wall Street Master Investment strategies from the man Barron's calls "The Ultimate Wall Street Pro" "Victor Sperandeo is gifted with one of the finest minds I know. No wonder he's compiled such an amazing record of success as a money manager. Every investor can benefit from the wisdom he offers in his new book. Don't miss it!" --Paul Tudor Jones Tudor Investment Corporation "Here's a simple review in three steps: 1. Buy this book! 2. Read this book! 3. See step 2. For those who can't take a hint, Victor Sperandeo with T. Sullivan…
I’ve been an independent investor for nearly 25 years. In my previous life as an employee, I was a research actuary for a firm of pension consultants, and then a university lecturer. I left my last academic job at the age of 35 because I had made enough money to survive, and freedom was worth more to me than a salary. FIRE (Financial Independence – Retire Early) is what it’s called these days, but with two differences. First, I’m not retired: I spend most of my time on investing, but entirely on my own terms. Second, and relatedly, I’m an active investor, albeit a cheap one, nearly as cheap as an index fund.
This book comprises an edited compendium of investment reports from Marathon Investment Management, with three broad themes.
First, stock markets are about capitalism, not macroeconomics.
Second, successful investment requires an understanding of the relative size and composition of supply, demand, production, and consumption. You need to compare heterogeneity, fragmentation, and growth (positive or negative) on both sides of a company’s market.
Third, pay attention to the capital cycle. Seek out sectors from which investors’ capital and attention are being withdrawn, and be wary of sectors which are attracting increasing capital and attention.
We live in an age of serial asset bubbles and spectacular busts. Economists, policymakers, central bankers and most people in the financial world have been blindsided by these busts, while investors have lost trillions. Economists argue that bubbles can only be spotted after they burst and that market moves are unpredictable. Yet Marathon Asset Management, a London-based investment firm managing over $50 billion of assets has developed a relatively simple method for identifying and potentially avoiding them: follow the money, or rather the trail of investment. Bubbles whether they affect a whole economy or merely a single industry, tend to…
I came from a left-brained family, with my father a bank Forex manager and my mother in the tax office before motherhood. I've always been mathematically minded and went into mechanical engineering before my second career in trading and finance. But saying this sustains the fallacy that you have to have a head for numbers to trade. That is nothing like the truth, and I hope my last book pick shows that I have learnt and come a long way from my initial beliefs. Trading is anything but mathematical, mechanistic, or even natural, you have to study and learn new ways of thinking and doing, and you can only succeed if you are open to this.
Subtitled How to Use Right Brain Instinct & Left Brain Smarts to Become a Master Trader, this book is written by one of the original Turtle Traders and draws on Curtis' experience in developing a whole-brain approach to trading. As such, it is a quantum leap from the run-of-the-mill trading book, and very worthy of some study.
I was privileged to get a review copy which so impressed me that I provided inside and back cover endorsements. I've only done so with a couple of other books, which should show you how greatly I believe in what he is presenting.
"For all those who wonder if the powers of right brain thinking could apply to the trends-and-charts universe of stock and options trading, Curtis Faith has their answer. In Trading from Your Gut, Faith taps brain research, neurological models, and the wisdom of experience to provide a roadmap for decision making in a new era of volatility."
-Daniel H. Pink, author of A Whole New Mind and Drive
"I consider a book to be worth reading if it helps me develop a major paradigm shift. The section in this book about how to train your brain to help you become…
I’m Darius Foroux (pronounced Dare-eus For-oe), and thanks for exploring my recommendations. As a former mutual funds advisor, I understand the complexity of finance, a lesson driven home when I lost two-thirds of my investment in 2007. Not wanting to repeat my costly mistakes, I earned degrees in business and finance, launched a business, and continuously educated myself on investing. The biggest thing I learned? Investing and wealth-building aren’t logical but emotional. I'm passionate about helping others achieve financial independence and live on their terms. My book empowers you to manage your emotions, build wealth, and enjoy life, regardless of the stock market's ups and downs.
I find the 20th-century legendary trader Jesse Livermore to be very relatable. Livermore made and lost great fortunes during his time as a Wall Street trader in the 1920s. And after reading about the ups and downs of his life, I am inspired by his resilience and ingenuity.
This book drew me in with its great writing style and Livermore’s trading advice. While Livermore was a short-term stock market trader, his insight into managing emotions is important for a good long-term investor.
Jesse Livermore was a loner, an individualist-and the most successful stock trader who ever lived. Written shortly before his death in 1940, How to Trade Stocks offered traders their first account of that famously tight-lipped operator's trading system. Written in Livermore's inimitable, no-nonsense style, it interweaves fascinating autobiographical and historical details with step-by-step guidance on:
Reading market and stock behaviors
Analyzing leading sectors
Market timing
Money management
Emotional control
In this new edition of that classic, trader and top Livermore expert Richard Smitten sheds new light on Jesse Livermore's philosophy and methods.…
