Best books to learn trading?
Hi everyone,
So I am currently a rising sophomore at a target ivy. I just transferred here from a non target after a not so stellar high school track record.
I am an extremely motivated person who knows what its like to live in poverty. I believe being in that situation caused me to appreciate money as well as developed my business oriented mind.
From lemonade stands when i was younger, to selling candy and cd,s in h.s at double the price at which i bought it, i have always been obsessed with generating profits. I have also been working 55 hour weeks at my job in order to save up money to start trading.
I am aware that there is no book that can actually teach me trading, and that is why i have started paper trading. i also have a few friends that have given me $1000 each to invest. so i currently have $5000 worth of real money to start trading with.
So my question is,
are there any good books you know of that will teach me different strategies for trading; such as short selling, hedging and so on
Thanks in advance
thumb up for asking ur frd money !
Nice autobiography. By the time I finished reading it I almost forgot the purpose of your post. Congrats on getting into an Ivy, truly that is awesome. But for the sake of your question, you could probably cut out everything before "So my question is...." Anywho, here are some good trading books. Some will be more relevant to you than others.
Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas
Options, Futures and Other Derivatives by John Hull
Dynamic Hedging: Managing Vanilla and Exotic Options by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (derivatives)
Managing Financial Risk: A Guide to Derivative Products, Financial Engineering, and Value Maximization by Charles Smithson (derivatives)
The Handbook of Fixed Income Securities by Fabozzi & Fabozzi
Foreign Exchange: A Practical Guide to the FX Markets by Tim Weithers
The Handbook of Commodity Investing by Frank J. Fabozzi, Roland Fuss, and Dieter G. Kaiser
High Probability Trading by Marcel Link
Come Into My Trading Room: A Complete Guide to Trading by Dr. Alexander Elder
Hit and Run Trading: The Short-Term Stock Trader's Bible by Jeff Cooper
Modern Investment Management: An Equilibrium Approach by Bob Litterman and GSAM
Technical Analysis: The Complete Resource for Financial Market Technicians by Charles D. Kirkpatrick and Julie R. Dahlquist
Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets: A Comprehensive Guide to Trading Methods and Applications by John J. Murphy
Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques by Steve Nison
Bollinger on Bollinger Bands by John A. Bollinger
Fibonacci Analysis by Constance Brown
Elliott Wave Principle: Key to Market Behavior by A. J. Frost and Robert R. Prechter
The Wave Principle of Human Social Behavior and the New Science of Socionomics by Robert Prechter
Contrarian Investment Strategies - The Next Generation by David Dreman
How to Make Money in Stocks: A Winning System in Good Times and Bad by William O'Neil
The Four Pillars of Investing: Lessons for Building a Winning Portfolio by William J. Bernstein
im sorry. i only did that bc ive seen so many posters that criticize the op for being lazy and not looking for them selves or people telling them that its really hard to become a trader and some people dont have it,
I just wanted to give some back ground so i didnt get those types of responses.
But thank you for you insightful post!
.
Try using the search function in the upper right corner. There is a whole slew of threads about books to read.
Books on trading for beginners (engineers) (Originally Posted: 09/18/2011)
Can anyone recommend a book on trading? I have been searching and I've heard about the Hull book but I'm also looking for a book that will give me:
:)
.
Liars Poker for an entertaining introduction into S&T.
Market Wizards to learn about different types of traders and their personalities.
Search function for the rest, boy.
Every book you need :) http://www.traders-library.com/
[quote=Quarterlife]Every book you need :) http://www.traders-library.com/[/quote]
This is golden. Thanks for the wealth of information :)
[quote=Quarterlife]Every book you need :) http://www.traders-library.com/[/quote]
You're tip-top!
Wow, thank you. Wish I had known about this sooner.
wtf.... out of all the times I see people posting a period to subscribe to a thread, I get shit on?
.
This is golden. Thanks so much
If you want something that gives many different perspectives and strategies of the top traders of our era I would suggest reading the Market Wizards books.
The interview format of the book makes it an easy read but it still goes deep into the strategies and gives a view of the many fundamentals of price movements
Where do you start if you want to start learning about trading? (Originally Posted: 03/30/2016)
I would start reading marketwatch and other markets related journals and blogs first. It will give you a general overview and you'll pick up the context in which trading occurs. Then from there, you'll probably develop some intuition for trading and hopefully the research thereafter will come naturally.
Get a WSJ membership. Choose a market and follow it. Try to write down every word you don't understand and then look it up. When you start, you probably do not understand the most of the material in articles. First of all, you need to get knowledgeable. Read, read and read!
Trading books for serious or wannabe pro equity traders (Originally Posted: 11/07/2016)
Hi all, I would like to know what books on trading, e.g. technical analysis books or other references, are a must read for any young and budding wannabe serious-pro equities trader. I'm aware that books can only get you so far - and that experience is key in the trading business. Having said that, I'd like to be armed with knowledge that I can then apply so I can then gain experience. All book recommendations are welcome, however, I'm interested in intermediate to advanced trading books. I'm a terrible timer to say the least, both on entries and exits, and I don't feel i'm particularly adept at choosing low risk trade setups. Books which you think may help me improve in this area would be particularly interesting to me. Many thanks for helping me out with this!
thank you guys. i will look into all of these!. and it was 9th grade when i sold cd's lol so they were going out of style but ppl bought them so they could put the songs on their ipod
Python Machine Learning - S. Raschka
good books (Originally Posted: 01/07/2007)
any good EDUCATIONAL books related to S&T, not so much about cool anecdotes and stories but something that will teach me stuff I can use in S&T? thanks
im working through the Hull book right now and heard on the street. also working more on understanding the principles i learned in my math classes so i can use them for what i want. the stuff is kicking my ass. i think if i get all this down and still cant perform in an interview, then i just would have to admit im not cut out for this.
good luck to you
thanks man, the Hull book looks intersting, and complicated, I might get it.
Books to break into trading/finance and developing private portfolio (Originally Posted: 09/04/2008)
Hi, I'm a rising freshman at an ivy and am interested in a career in investment banking, and was wondering if there were any books to help me learn the basics of investing in equity, so that I could start learning to invest myself and better prepare for interviews. I remember reading that they ask you for stock picks and WSJ articles. I think the book should at least cover discounted cash flow thoroughly and with a good explanation about the logic that justifies the equations, As I've been reading investopedia and I've found its explanations pretty bad. Thanks in advance - OAB
best books to start with are 'intelligent investor' (graham), 'random walk down wall street' (malkiel), and imo, 'stocks for the long run' (siegel). discounted cash flow is a broad concept, but it's actually pretty intuitive - any of fabozzi's fixed income math books would be a good source, and then some.
I don't necessarily agree with or endorse everything these books mention, but they form a good base.
I like any of the investing books by Peter Lynch and B. Graham. For IB preparation I always recommend Scoop Books Guide to Investment Banking, M&A and Corp. Fin. Other than that I would recommend getting a subscription (student discount) to WSJ or Financial Times. I would next set up an online brokerage account and choose 4-5 stocks (based on companies that you like and understand the business model). You can start a portfolio with as little $1K although its best to start out with a larger sum due to fees and the like. Good luck.
For IB the scoop book is great. It might be too detailed for a rising freshman. The vault guide has a good overview of those technical questions too.
www.sharpeinvesting.com
For the scoop book, do you recommend purchasing the ebook or is whatever is on Google books enough?
Here is the link (most of it is there): http://books.google.com/books?id=GZ6RqWIG04wC&printsec=frontcover&sig=6…
I couldn't find a link to the other ebook (Practitioners Guide)
How to learn about trading (Originally Posted: 06/16/2012)
(Not 100% sure if this is the right forum for this)
I'm a college student, econ major math/physics minor. I am interested in learning about trading (stocks, bonds, commodities), but haven't taken any classes that even go into the basics. All of them just cover economic theories and the like. I have been reading sites like ZeroHedge, Seeking Alpha, etc. but I find that I don't understand half of what is on there because I don't have a lot of knowledge on the core concepts of market volatility, pricing, etc.
Do you guys have any recommendations as to websites/books/other sources that provide a good "foundation" of knowledge on this sort of thing?
I'm interested as well.
If you're interested at all in currency trading, www.BabyPips.com has a great schooling program that goes into boundless detail.
Necessity is the mother of learning.
study how exchanges work...
and you'll never find a book that teaches you markets... they change all the time...
thanks connor!
couchy- could you elaborate a little on your first response? i'm a total novice here, don't quite understand what you mean.
Why are you always able to look up the price of a stock? If I wanted to sell my used lamp, it's not like I can look up a used price for my exact lamp online...
Stocks always have prices because of the stock exchange. There are many different structures and that is the first step to becoming a trader because you trade on an exchange!
http://www.getcollc.com/index.php/getco/tertiary/market_making_explaine…
cool i will check that out. thanks!
traderfeed.blogspot.com
thanks spoonfork! i really appreciate the help, lots of good info on there.
Where can I learn about trading? (Originally Posted: 01/12/2015)
I will graduate from high school in 2016, and should finish my undergrad by 2020 so I have plenty of time to learn. My question is, where did you guys learn how to trade? For academic subjects like math or economics you can just read a textbook, but I don't think it's that straight forward when it comes to trading. I'm trying to read stuff online and watch videos, and I'm still learning about the very basics about the stock market (IPOs, P/E ratio, etc). But obviously l'm not any where close to actually trading the markets. If I want to get into things like stocks, futures, derivatives, options, etc. where can I get started? Are there specific books, websites, online courses you guys recommend? I apologize for my naivety, anything would help. Thanks
A good start would be The Intelligent Investor. It provides a general foundation of stock investing. Take a look at the books on the most recent WSO poll. Other than that the more you hang around this site the more you will learn.
^Thanks for the advice! However I'm looking for technical knowledge that can be applied practically. Books like The Intelligent Investor are great but they don't have technical content. I've already read a book like that
What kind of trading? Prop trading? Algo? Day? Swing? Forex? There are so many things out there, so I'd just start with a basic primer like this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Neatest-Little-Guide-Market-Investing/dp/04522986…
From there, you can find other specialty books that focus on the particular areas you want to trade in. Intelligent Investor is a great theory book but I find it a little dry and not very "how-to".
youtube has a lot of decent stuff optionsalpha keeps his stuff simple
Wallstreetsurvivor. com got a nice bunch of courses for beginners
What are you looking for...industry info or actually learning how to trade/invest?
trading isnt really something that you "learn". Its not a skill per se, its more a collection of knowledge and experiences.
Read Warren Buffet's biography and see how he learnt his stuff... and focus on your high school... and above all have FUN!
best place to learn trading (Originally Posted: 11/06/2016)
what was the best website, book, course, etc. that taught you how to trade? I'm trying to learn more about trading and some good primers
Website: babypips and a couple forums if you like. Best way to learn is to actually trade your own hard earned money and lose it. Pain is what motivates 99% of traders to improve.
How to TRADE (Originally Posted: 08/25/2011)
Hello WSO members. This is my 1st post but I've been lurking for awhile. I love the advice everyone's been giving and hopefully when it's my time you guys can help me too. Well I'm still a HS student(yeah I know, the annoying nerd who should be spending this time to get girls haha). I was wondering how do I trade online? I'm sure some of you guys do it and was looking for some advice on how to start. I have about $600 now and instead of spending it, I'm looking to put it to work and get some money from that. Any of you guys know what I should do? Any good reads to help me learn more about this? What website should I use to do this? E*Trade, AmeriTrade, Scottrade? I've just started reading the WSJ and just started watching Bloomberg but still need to learn some terms/lingo. I just want some tips on what to do with my money and how I should go about this. Thanks.
I would recommend playing with a mock trading account before using your own money. It will give you a chance to play with some stocks and see how it turns out. Give Questrade a try - they have a good trial account platform. Also, with $600, you will have to come up with good consistent returns just to break even on trading fees/commissions.
Judging from your experience, make sure you are ok with never seeing the $600 again. Not saying you aren't smart or that you won't be good at it but losing a few is part of learning. Also, as mentioned above it is very hard to actually make anything with such small amount.
You are better off spending it somewhere else or use as a learning experience with high chance of losing. Take care.
Spend that 600 bucks on other outlets for learning to trade. Buying 1.7 shares of apple isnt going to teach you anything
I do agree with al865149 advice. You may first have a practice account before giving up your money, since forex market is really volatile compared to the other financial securities.
Thanks. Well how much do you think I should have upfront to be in a good position? $600 does seem a little low but how much should I put it? I'm not trying to put in $10k and risk losing it all, especially since I'm new to this. Well I got the $600 as a gift and It would take some time for me to get 3x's that. Is there another way you guys know of that can help me make some money from the $600? I really don't want to just waste it or spend it on anything and I don't want to just leave it doing nothing. I'm not scared to risk it if there's a possibility to double it.
I think the best investment you can make is to use the 600 dollars to self-educate. You will not see a direct monetary return; however, when you do it will pay dividends for life. Please, do not look past this advice. Run a fake-account like some people have suggested; take it seriously and see how you do.
It will seem a bit dated; however, go ahead and look for One Up on Wall Street by Peter Lynch. It will give you a good non-mathematical look at trading. In your free time read around in http://www.investopedia.com/university/stocks/#axzz1W6zhQqJH It will give you a pretty good idea about what stocks are and how markets work. Coming from high school you might not be all too familiar with it all. Reach out to friends of your family and see if anyone can act as a mentor...this greatly helps. The key at this stage should be to learn about the fundamentals of risk, return and valuation. Go ahead and look for the Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk (I think that's the title)
If you have specific questions, send me a pm.
Here's a good trade- invest that $600 in SAT prep classes and college admissions counseling services.
Seriously though- you're not going to be trading large amounts of money, you're not going to be able to trade much else than equities (since most fixed income contracts are in denominations of $1,000+), and you're not going to be trading with high-frequency.
So you should pick the online broker that is the absolute cheapest.
I agree with most everyone else that you should use the money to educate yourself more. $600 is incredibly tough to trade b/c your transactions fees would rip you apart. A simple open and close would eat up 2-3% of that amount. You would really need large swings to make any actual profit. Do a fake account or paper trade for awhile just to get an idea of what you P&L would be.
You don't need a certain amount to trade, but at 5k for example, the same transaction costs would be ~40bp instead of 200-300, and you would keep more profit.
Thanks guys and gals. Can someone give me some good mock trading sites I can use to start today? I'd prefer if it doesn't require me to put bank account info/SS#
Sign up for a free trial on Questrade.
Updown.com is completely free and doesn't require any any personal info. I'd recommend that
go to a strip club with that 600
paper trade and learn till you get more capital
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