Top Trading Books (and questions about others)

[pavilion103]

Started getting back into Al Brooks again this week. His "Reversals" book.

Really excited to get stuck into this. Will be great for my futures trading.

 

[Trading Tools]

Below are what I feel are some great titles/authors to consider (for varying reasons).

Nicolas Darvas – “How I Made $2,000,000 In The Stock Market”
Don’t let the title fool you... this is not a technical “how to” book, or detailed manual/plan (and is not even a detailed lesson on the Darvas Box System), and I’m not recommending it for the specific TA strategies or anything like that, however it offers some excellent “bigger picture” lessons.

Easy quick reading, entertaining and I believe it is a really insightful book PROVIDED you’re seeing the “bigger picture” lessons it has to offer, to become a consistently profitable trader over the long term such as:

• Must develop a personalised plan and find what works for YOU;
• This plan MUST have a proven positive expectancy (a positive edge), as no-one knows what will happen next after their trade is placed.... trading is an odds based endeavour and we are constantly forced to make decisions in the face of uncertainty, therefore a tested proven plan that has positive expectancy over a large number of trades is imperative (and a too often overlooked aspect by many traders I believe);
• Trading without a proven plan that has positive expectancy (a positive edge) will almost always lead, in the long term, to loss of capital;
• Execute your plan with discipline, consistency and patience;
• Listening to market noise, rather than following your tested system, generally will lead to poor or ad hoc decision making which invariably leads to inconsistent and/or poor/negative returns;
• The importance of recording/journal all your trades, then review and analyse the results.

Even though the book is certainly old now, there really are some valuable lessons to learn about the bigger picture of trading.
If reading this book helps to reinforce how important the above points are to become a consistently profitable trader over the long run, then you will have spent your time very well by reading it.

Other good titles I believe worth considering include:

• Richard L. Weissman – “Trade Like a Casino: Find Your Edge, Manage Risk, and Win Like the House” (reinforcing the utmost importance of finding, understanding & having confidence that you do have a tested positive edge system over a large number of trades along with managing risk)
• Mark Douglas – “Trading in the Zone”
• Denise Shull – “Market Mind Games: A Radical Psychology of Investing, Trading and Risk”
• Stan Weinstein – “Secrets For Profiting in Bull and Bear Markets” (mainly for his explanation of Market Structure and the 4 key market phases)
• Brett Steenbarger

Cheers
Stuart

 

[pavilion103]

The Darvas book is one of my top 3 for sure.

It got me so inspired when I was starting out. Although not a textbook provided great practical insights

 

[banco]

Started getting back into Al Brooks again this week. His "Reversals" book.

Really excited to get stuck into this. Will be great for my futures trading.

His video course (although expensive) is much clearer in my opinion.

 

[pavilion103]

His video course (although expensive) is much clearer in my opinion.

Is there a link?
On his website?
I think someone mentioned it to me. I'm so forgetful!

 

[banco]

Is there a link?
On his website?
I think someone mentioned it to me. I'm so forgetful!

http://brookstradingcourse.com/

Adam Grimes book is also very good.

 

[pavilion103]

Has anyone read

"One Good Trade"
OR
"The Playbook"

both by Mike Bellafiore


http://www.amazon.com/One-Good-Trade-Competitive-Proprietary/dp/0470529407/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t

http://www.amazon.com/The-PlayBook-Inside-Professional-Trader/dp/0132937646/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t

Would love to get any thoughts before I consider purchasing either.
Is one better than the other?

 

[CanOz]

I read "One Good Trade" a couple of years ago and was really impressed with it.

SMB were almost exclusively equity traders back then, intra-day. All of the stuff in the book though is totally relevant to any type of trading.

From what i've found so far, the Playbook is more relevant to how things have changed and how they adapted to all that change.

There would be no harm in reading "The Playbook" first IMO.

 

[CanOz]

Mike Bellafiore (Bella) is the Co-Founder of SMB Trading, one of Wall Street's most successful Prop Firms. He is the author of two books as Pav mentioned, One Good Trade and recently The Playbook.

This video is recent (Wednesday), and he talk about the book and the concepts in the book.

 

[pavilion103]

A good listen that video was.

I reckon I'll just order both books. Stuff it. I read a lot and it sounds like they are both worth it.

They will be a nice little pick me up waiting at home for me when I'm feeling disappointed that my India holiday is over.

I don't tend to buy too many books anymore. I read about 30 or so when starting out until I found the approach(es) that suited me.

I'll jump on and order them now!

 

[pavilion103]

For those interested, these are the books.

 

[pavilion103]

I've put aside some hours to take a large chunk out of the Al Brooks Reversals book.

I am really loving this. Definitely on the heavy side but worth persisting with.

Will be an enormous help with my futures trading given that most setups are reversals!

 

[pavilion103]

Has anyone read this one?
Looks like an interesting read. Will probably order it today.
Would love some feedback first though.






How top traders made huge profits during the most momentous market events of the past century Financial and commodity markets are characterized by periodic crashes and upside explosions. In retrospect, the reasons behind these abrupt movements often seem very clear, but generally few people understand what's happening at the time. Top traders and investors like George Soros or Jesse Livermore have stood apart from the crowd and capitalized on their unique insights to capture huge profits. Engaging and informative, The Greatest Trades of All Time chronicles how a select few traders anticipated market eruptions from the 1929 stock market crash to the 2008 subprime mortgage meltdown and positioned themselves to excel while a majority of others failed. Along the way, author Vincent Veneziani describes the economic and financial forces that led to each market cataclysm and how these individuals perceived what was happening beforehand and why they decided to place big bets, often at great risk and in opposition to consensus opinion at the time. Traders discussed include George Soros, Jesse Livermore, Paul Tudor Jones, John Templeton, and John Paulson Provide contemporary traders and investors with insights on how great traders make great trades Offers insights on market forecasting, mass psychology, and the importance of personal conviction in trading At a time when many investors are looking to the past for answers to the future, this book brings important historical moments in the financial markets to life.

 

[pavilion103]

A relaxing night at home. Time to give this one another read.

I'm sure this one is popular with many on here. For those who have never read it I highly recommend it.

 

[Newt]

I've put aside some hours to take a large chunk out of the Al Brooks Reversals book.

I am really loving this. Definitely on the heavy side but worth persisting with.

Will be an enormous help with my futures trading given that most setups are reversals!

I'd be interested to hear an overview of this one eventually Pav. Definitely agree having at least one good reversal strategy up your sleeve seems to be essential for survival in futures.

 

[pavilion103]

I'd be interested to hear an overview of this one eventually Pav. Definitely agree having at least one good reversal strategy up your sleeve seems to be essential for survival in futures.

This is a heavy read for me. I have only been reading it when I am really focused and without distraction.
I don't like how few charts there are in the book. It makes it so much more difficult to read. He could have easily put some more charts in so that I'm not trying to create an image in my head of what he is talking about. I'm only about 120 pages in and moving slowly. Highliting parts in yellow so that I remember the important points between readings.

Despite the above I have loved the content thus far. It is so applicable to the way that I trade/want to trade futures. I'd love to be able to take a day and put a few hours aside for this book. I'll get there eventually and move onto his books on "Trends" and "Ranges".

 

[5oclock]

Hey PAV-----go to page 543 and read that---you can download charts on the website!!!! Also good luck just trying to read through Als books. I found his books and approach really good, but it has required a huge effort on my part to STUDY his books, but is starting to pay off. Not saying he is the man or anything,,,but his approach and the way he sees the price action really makes sense to me and after reading his stuff MANY times i am starting to get it!! The price action training module course has been really great too(cost about 250 US) and is great to read the different parts of the books and watch the corresponding modules. I have spent a lot of time on Als stuff, but it has help a huge amount---more than anything else i have read, and that includes Elder, Bernstien,Guppy,Radge (not in any way running these guys down at all!!!! Just Brooks worked for me ---having said that its possible after reading all the GREAT work of these other guys i was ready to move on to what Al had to say!!).. Any how, Als books and approach take a lot more input from you than reading Darvas for example.Just my take on it all PAV ---good studying mate and keep us up-date on your take on it please.

 

[skc]

I recentl took up a free trial with these guys who promised to send me regular trading book summary for the next 12 months.

The first one I received was on the turtle trader. It's actually available freely on their website.

http://www.ltggoldrock.com/the-complete-turtle-trader-book-summary/

I thought the summary was pretty concise and would be useful to gain first exposure to books and concepts that you might want to prusue further.

I think the free trial offer came to me on an email so you will have a find where you could sign up otherwise.

P.S. They are a FX educating business first and foremost. I don't know how good their business or material is one way or another.

 

[Wysiwyg]

Bought the Kindle e-book Unholy Grails – A New Road to Wealth on Amazon for AUD20.99 tonight. First time reader of the Radge man and so far everything is recognisable. Hopefully somewhere in the next 80% read I will learn how to identify the end of trend (lower trend line break or averages cross??) and how much profit is given up once this has been identified.

 

[CanOz]

I am looking for some used copies of the following books:

• Technical analysis of stock trends - Edwards and Magee
• Technical analysis of the financial markets - Murphy
• Technical analysis explained - Pring
• Technical traders guide to computer analysis of the futures market - Le Beau
• Candlestick Charting techniques - Nison
• The definitive guide to point and figure - Du Plessis

Please PM me if you have copies for sale.

Thanks,


CanOz