My Top Trading Books

I have just ordered a new copy of  'Market Wizards', I lent my old copy out to someone, only to forget who I lent it to, and then not had it returned. - However this has prompted me to decide to compile a list of my Favourite 'Trading/Financial Market' related books. The list includes books which I consider related to trading in any number of ways, some obvious, some less so. As well as my favourite (Top 10) books, I also have written a list of books I consider influential in some way, though for one reason or another they did not make my Top 10. -  By the way you may notice a bias towards market psychology and individual trader psychology. - Here goes:


My Top 10 List - In no particular order :

- Market Wizards (And the New Market Wizards) - Interviews with Top Traders. By Jack D. Schwager. This is the Daddy of all trader related books.  - If you have never read this, read it. If you have read it, well read it again. 

- Reminiscences of a Stock Operator. By Edwin Lefèvre. This 1923 book is a biographical account of legendary trader Jesse Livermore. I consider it a must read for anyone interested in trading. Not an easy read, partly due to its age, but with patience the reader will see why it is a classic of Trading Literature.

- The Wisdom of Crowds. - Why the many are smarter than the few. By James Surowiecki. Though not directly related to the markets, this book touches superbly on mass crowd psychology, which is so essential to understanding the way Markets and Technical Analysis works.

- Liar's Poker. By Michael Lewis. This excellent book is a tell-all of Lewis's experience as a Bond salesman at Salomon Brothers in the late 80s. It helps to understand the culture of the big banks and brokering houses in the late 1980s. This culture never died out, and was in my opinion a major factor in the great financial crash of recent years. 

- The Inner Game of Tennis. By W.Timothy Gallwey. Though pertaining to tennis and written almost forty years ago, the psychological lessons learnt from this book are so relevant and applicable to the art of trading. - Forget all those other self-improvement 'How to be a billionaire in a week' type books, take my word from it, this is a brilliant book. - It may improve your tennis too.

- Any book by Malcolm Gladwell: This is cheating really, as it covers four different books, plus none of the books are actually Market or Trading related. However, every time I read a Malcolm Gladwell book I seem to be able to take away something which I can then apply to further my understanding of market psychology,  trader psychology, or some other facet which I can then apply to better understanding myself or my own trading. For the record Gladwell's four books are; 'The Tipping Point', 'Blink', 'Outliers', 'What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures'. - These are an enjoyable, easy to read, but nonetheless thought provoking, insightful, and extremely well written series of books.

- Who Moved My Cheese By Dr Spencer Johnson : This is one of those small self-improvement business books, which makes use of metaphor. Not everyone's cup of tea, and not related to trading but far more general. I found it incredibly useful at a time when I needed it.

- Forecasting Financial Markets, The Psychological Dynamics of Successful Investing. By Tony Plummer. A book from the late 1980s which delves into trying to understand Markets and Market analysis in relation to crowd psychology. Some chapters are a touch meandering and waffling, but overall a book which I thought was a brilliant piece of work.

- Way of the Turtle: The Secret Methods that Turned Ordinary People into Legendary Traders. By Curtis Faith. Really enjoyed this book, written by the most successful of Richard Dennis's Turtles. What I really took away from this book, was less what he revealed about the systems, or the Turtles techniques, but far more what he wrote regarding the mindset of the successful trader.

- Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions. By Ben Mezrich. Once again a book with no direct links to trading, however as all traders know, gambling and trading are two different sides of the same coin. This book is an enjoyable read, and I found much there one can take away from and apply to trading.  

List of Market/Trading Related Book's I have read, which I consider influential or which I enjoyed one way or another, but did not not make my favourites list:

-  Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets: A Comprehensive Guide to Trading Methods and Application. by John J Murphy.
-  Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques. by Steve Nison
-  The Black Swan. By Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
-  The (Mis)behaviour of Markets. By Benoit B. Mandelbrot.
-  Risk - The Science and Politics of Fear. By Dan Gardner.
-  Against the Gods - The remarkable story of Risk. By Peter L.Bernstein.
-  Breakthroughs in Technical Analysis. Edited by David Keller.
-  Just One Thing. By John Mauldin.
-  The Mind of a Trader. Alpesh B.Patel
-  Bubbles and how to Survive them. By John P.Calverley.
-  Bailout Nation. By Barry Ritholtz.

Other Books of note which I have not yet read, but plan to:

- The Crowd, a study of the popular mind. Gustave Le Bon.
- Trading in the Zone: Master the Market with Confidence, Discipline and a Winning Attitude. By Mark Douglas.
- Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques, Second Edition by Steve Nison.
- The Way to Trade, by John Piper.

If anyone has any further suggestions, these would be greatly received.





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