Australian (ASX) Stock Market Forum

Books for beginners

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saiter

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Hey guys,

I'd like to get into the stock market and need some books/web pages that teach me how to play the game. So far I've done half of the beginner's tutorial on investopedia.com which was pretty impressive, but I felt that it lacked a lot of information (surely the stock market can't be summed up into a few tutorials!).
So I went to the local library and borrowed the following:

  1. The Australian Stockmarket: a guide for players, planners and procrastinators (8th edition by Ron Bennett)
  2. Breakthrough trading: revolutionary thinking in relative analysis by Leon Wilson
  3. Top Stocks 2008
  4. Adaptive analysis for Australian Stocks by Nick Radge

Are there any other books that you can recommend?
 
Stan Weinstein - Secrets for Profiting in Bull and Bear Markets is a good newbie book. it introduced me to a lot of the basic concepts behind investing / trading and provided a good base for further learning.
 
Adaptive Analysis by Nick Radge is a great book... even though i have only managed to fit in reading the first 2 chapters so far.

For absolute beginners to investing in general i think 'Rich dad Poor dad' is a good book to get people to start thinking differently - tho that is about all its good for. 'Think and grow rich' is another similar book.

Margaret Lomas has some great books about investing in real estate which are well worth the read.
 
saiter said:
Hey guys,

I'd like to get into the stock market and need some books/web pages that teach me how to play the game. So far I've done half of the beginner's tutorial on investopedia.com which was pretty impressive, but I felt that it lacked a lot of information (surely the stock market can't be summed up into a few tutorials!).
So I went to the local library and borrowed the following:

  1. The Australian Stockmarket: a guide for players, planners and procrastinators (8th edition by Ron Bennett)
  2. Breakthrough trading: revolutionary thinking in relative analysis by Leon Wilson
  3. Top Stocks 2008
  4. Adaptive analysis for Australian Stocks by Nick Radge

Are there any other books that you can recommend?
Click to expand...


In combination with others books that you may decide to read, try to read at least one on Money Management techniques. Having a good understanding of the various concepts will serve you well, when you do finally begin to trade.

The one I would recommend is Trade your way to Financial Freedom by Dr Tharp. Radge's book (first few chapters) also covers these concepts although in less detail than the one by Dr Tharp.

I can also recommend an excellent subscription service ideal for beginners looking to trade PROPERLY. Not sure if I should be advertising this on here so PM if interested....

Good Luck,

Chorlton
 
Chorlton has it in 1

After 14 yrs in this Ive found out what you DONT need to know.
That covers 95% of books out there.

Mastering Risk by Lally is excellent and good for beginners.
 
The first Books on investing I ever read were,

1, How the stock market really works, by martin roth.

2, Top stocks 1997 ( it's an annual publication also by martin roth) it's good reading to give an insight on the range of different companies out there.

3, Rich dad poor dad, by robert kyosaki.

4, The golden rules to wealth,
 
One more for the list

Enhancing Trader Performance by Brett Steenbarger highly recommended
 
Books for a beginner?

Hello,

This is my first post here so I guess I should say hello, I'm a 21 yr old engineer from Melb. And have decided that this is something I want to get into.
I am completely new to this and not planning on investing until I get a good grip of the system, weather that takes me 1 month or 6 who knows.
But all I know is I want to read and learn as much of the theories and different strategies out there.
Are there any books which are considered a must for a beginner, I would like something which outlines all the basics, and I mean real basics as all I know is what ive read over the last couple of days.
Any help is appreciated,
thank you.
 
saiter said:
Hey guys,

I'd like to get into the stock market and need some books/web pages that teach me how to play the game. So far I've done half of the beginner's tutorial on investopedia.com which was pretty impressive, but I felt that it lacked a lot of information (surely the stock market can't be summed up into a few tutorials!).
So I went to the local library and borrowed the following:

  1. The Australian Stockmarket: a guide for players, planners and procrastinators (8th edition by Ron Bennett)
  2. Breakthrough trading: revolutionary thinking in relative analysis by Leon Wilson
  3. Top Stocks 2008
  4. Adaptive analysis for Australian Stocks by Nick Radge

Are there any other books that you can recommend?
Click to expand...

In my opinion as a beginner you would get very little out of Leon Wilson's book.
The first two I haven't heard of.

Nick Radges book the first 55 pages is a must read in my opinion.

Then a read of either Van Tharp's Trade your way to Financial Freedom OR Alexander Elder's Trading for a Living. I have both and if I had to pick the former is better, but both discuss the same topics.
 
I have brought nicks book (its in the mail) and im about to purchase trade your way to financial freedom by van k Tharp. That should keep me going for a while.
 
Paul24 said:
I have brought nicks book (its in the mail) and im about to purchase trade your way to financial freedom by van k Tharp. That should keep me going for a while.
Click to expand...

Both are excellent books for beginners because they focus on the STUFF that you only need to learn. If you started off with other hyped "how did I earn $1 million in the market" type of books, you would have a hard time readjusting your mindset to what Nick and Van are trying to teach you.

So go ahead and read those two first and you will have a much MUCH easier time figuring out what to do next. (and know which books to avoid in the future)
 
nizar said:
In my opinion as a beginner you would get very little out of Leon Wilson's book.
The first two I haven't heard of.

Nick Radges book the first 55 pages is a must read in my opinion.

Then a read of either Van Tharp's Trade your way to Financial Freedom OR Alexander Elder's Trading for a Living. I have both and if I had to pick the former is better, but both discuss the same topics.
Click to expand...

Yes, you're right. I opened the book and it went straight into stuff that I have never seen before. I think it's aimed at the intermediate-advanced trader and it goes through indicators, system setups, and lots of trends. As soon as I got to Monte Carlo analysis I dropped the book because I had no idea what he was talking about :p

I've finished reading two books so far "The Australian Stockmarket " by ron bennet and "The Artful Stockpicker" by Peter Hegarty. I'm currently reading Radge's "Adaptive Analysis".
IMO as a complete newbie (i.e. someone who has no idea about stocks or the economy) you should read, no scrap that, YOU HAVE TO READ, "The Australian Stockmarket" first. It goes over the history of the stockmarket (really short but interesting), the different types of securities available, the different types of services available to you and their pros + cons, the different methods of trading, the difference between trader and investor, the market phases, the difference between fundamental and technical analysis and the impact of the macroeconomy on the stockmarket. It's a great book that touches on many aspects. It doesn't go into too much depth but it leaves you hungry for more knowledge.

The second book, "The Artful Stockpicker" by Hegarty is one that I found to be pretty awesome! The book begins with an introduction to the company balance sheet, the company's function and management. In fact, the book continually emphasises the importance of selecting a good company one that has trustable management. After this, you are exposed to a few ratios from Fundamental Analysis before Technical analysis and its associated charting patterns. Hegarty likes to "Use F/A to tell him which company to buy and T/A to tell him when to buy". More importantly, he also goes through how to build a portfolio and he dedicates the other half of the book to an analysis of a few stocks from his portfolio. I found this to be pretty good because you could apply what you learnt in the first half of the book and figure out why some of his stocks ran well or went sour. 10/10

As I mentioned earlier, I'm also reading Nick Radge's "Adaptive Analysis", who takes an entirely different approach to Hegarty. My understanding is that Hegarty is more of a long-term investor whilst Radge is more of a short-term trader, so if you're going to read both of these, then expect to be slightly confused at the beginning because both approach the stockmarket differently. Hegarty aims to pick a good to excellent company and stick with it for some time whilst Radge is more concerned with trading more frequently with minimal risk, without focusing too much on accuracy (I've only read 4-5 chapters so far of Radge). Radge's book is shaping out to be pretty good as well, especially the sections on market maping.

If any other newbies are reading this thread, then I recommend you go down to your local library and get the books in this thread, or similar ones. I don't think it'd be worthwhile to buy any of them just yet (although I'm considering buying Hegarty's and Radge's).
If you can't get down to a local library then the best place to start is at www.investopedia.com . I read their tutorial before getting any books and it did help me a little bit, however, as soon as it went into analysis and ratios, I was entirely lost. Unfortunately, it doesn't have the same flow as a good book :(

Also, make sure that you sign up for the ASX stock market game. Registrations close on August 6!!!

Happy reading! I'll post more books as I get them! :D
 
Temjin said:
Both are excellent books for beginners because they focus on the STUFF that you only need to learn. If you started off with other hyped "how did I earn $1 million in the market" type of books, you would have a hard time readjusting your mindset to what Nick and Van are trying to teach you.

So go ahead and read those two first and you will have a much MUCH easier time figuring out what to do next. (and know which books to avoid in the future)
Click to expand...

I would have to disagree with this totally, I found the Nicholas Darvas book " How I made 2 million dollars on the stock market" to be one of the best " beginners " books that I have read on the subject, He points out just about every mistake that you can make, so if you go through his book and write down each mistake you as he makes them you are half way to formulating your own trading plan AND you have a strategy for trend trading, not to mention the fact that it is free if you google it and then cut and paste it from one website, or just download it from the other.

Nicks book cannot be described as an easy read but he does make a lot of sense on money management, as someone else said first fifty or so pages. Also I agree that Stan Weinstein is a good read with a lot of good points, Alex Elder, Van Tharp and Mike Douglas and Steve Nisan are good authors, but are pricing themselves out of the market make you start diving for the "torrent" as any American trading book is available "free" on the p to p networks
 
As a beginner I found Bengamin Graham's "The Intelligent Investor" an excellent historical account of the US stock market movements and his expansive investment philosophy. Others I found helpful are "Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits" by Philip Fisher and Robert Hagstrom's "The Warren Buffet Way"-both instructive studies of their respective investment strategies. On the aspect of risk "Against the Gods" is an expansive and easy to read story of risk/probability theories through time. The road then forks and depends on whether one follows the fundamental of tech. analysis path(s). Something like "Financial Statements Demystified" by David Cunningham" for the fundamentalist in you and "Trading with a Plan" IMO is an oldy but a goody by Tony Compton & Eric Kendall" is a good starting point for the tech. side of the brain. LOL.:D
 
Saiter and Paul24........

There are so many different books, all reflecting opinions. Van Tharp's (trade your way to financial freedom) is my most recent and is excellent for the psychological side - though I'd prefer it to be less flowery and get straight to the point. I will now buy this one I have get Adaptive Analysis. I have a couple by Kinsky, which helps to fill some gaps in knowledge (c.f. understanding) and am glad I have bought the Kinsky books. And one by Alan Hull.

It depends on what your aim is - style, capital, timeframe - as to which books give you the most. The ASX site also has great information.

I can now see there are many ways to approach the market. You have to figure out what you want before you can devise your systems.

And ASF itself has some good stuff, along with some not-so-good stuff. Search, and you shall (probably)find.

As someone on ASF said, you can buy them through this site and it helps to keep it going.
 
One of the best books that I have come across is Daryl Guppy's "Share Trading.
He has also written a few others as well that are also worth a look at.

Don't forget to keep your receipt as you can claim them on your tax return.:)
 
Hi All,

Some books i have found of interest apart from the technical how to books have been Rogue Trader-Leeson, Fear Greed Panic-Cohan , and the classic Reminiscences of a stock operator - Lefevre.
Sometimes the best lessons come from mistakes of the past.

Happy reading.

Cutz.
 
Recommended Readings

Hi All,

I am new to the site and am pretty much a blank slate with regards to investing and trading. What are the must read books to get me up to speed?

So far I have added these to my Amazon cart:

Trade Your Way To Financial Freedom - Van K. Tharp

Technical Analysis of Stock Trends - Robert D. Edwards

Way of the Turtle: The Secret Methods that Turned Ordinary People into Legendary Traders- Curtis Faith
 
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