My Favorite Trading Books

Blog Post
What books have I found have influenced me most
 
Firstly, apologies to you, my readers, for how long it's taken to post this. I've been busy with life, and the blog has had to take a back seat for a week or so.
 
I've meant to write this post for a while, but I keep getting sidetracked
By current events or the like. So finally, I'm going to get down to it and write about some of the books that have most influenced my trading style.
 
Whilst I list a few in my trading resources section. I wanted to go into more detail about what books have really influenced me and why.
 
I'm going to start off with some of the most recent books I've read. The most recent books I have read which are the which are the Laws of Wealth and The Behavioural Investor by Daniel Crosby.
I'm going to talk about them together as:

1. I read them consequently
2. They cover a lot of the same ground.

Both books really study why the traditional investment model is flawed and why humans generally suck at making investment decisions. Hint, it's because we let our emotions get involved.
 
I've found both books fascinating, and there are many references to other greats of behavioural finance, something I've had experience in my professional (non-trading) career. One of the takeaways for me in both books is that trading is hard because we try and overcomplicate it. So for me, it has caused me to reduce the number of indicators and factors I use to analyse the market. So far, this has been yielding results, but we'll see what happens over time.
 
The next book I'm going to mention is Mike Covel's Trend Following. To me, this is really the bible for a systematic trader. It really changed my approach to the markets and broadened my horizons. Before reading this, I was a haphazard trader who tried to trade off daily momentum. My downfall was I had no idea about risk management and position sizing. I just took big positions and hoped for the best.
 
The most significant influence from this book was that systematic trading works, and that whole Efficient Market Hypothesis is complete bollocks. After reading this book, I stopped holding losers. I started setting stops and diversified into different markets (futures, FX etc.). The other key change for me was that I stopped listening to financial news and media for making my decisions. Ultimately I decided that fundamentals were irrelevant for my trading style. One of the things I like about Covel's book is that he provided real case example of people who have succeeded using trend following. I particularly would like to emulate John W Henry and Bill Dunn in my trading career. I'm a real convert to the model, as you can tell!
 
All in all, I'd credit Mike Covel's book with starting me on the journey to profitability, I still had a lot to learn following this, but it was really the thing that changed my approach.
 
The third major book for me was Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas. This book was probably one of the best trading books I've ever read. It really walked me through the process of how to become a consistently profitable trader. I read this one after quite a few other ones, which allowed me to really appreciate the book and its message. This book was my primer to understanding the psychology that was driving my trading behaviour. It allowed me some introspective into my personality also. The real big thing that came from this book for me was how I manage my psychology and really outlined the importance of developing an approach that took me and my emotions outside of the decision-making loop. I still regularly do the quiz at the front of the book to track how I'm going.
 
A further great pair of books that have influenced me are Steve Burn's New Trader, Rich Trader (both one and two). To me these books are really good at explaining the journey that traders take on their way to success. I found myself thinking throughout the books, hmm that's precisely what I did or felt. To me these books reinforced some of the painful lessons the markets taught me and allowed me to improve on my trading style and technique. I'd highly recommend these books for a new trader. The biggest message from this book for me is that if you trade 1% risk each trade is only one of the next 100, it makes the psychology so my easier to manage!
 
The final big one for my is Alexander Elder's trading for a living. Dr Elder work is a really interesting perspective, he's a psychiatrist by background and provides some really valuable insights into trading. The thing that I really took away from the book is to use different time frames to analyse the market behaviours. This has improved my trading a lot as it helps filter out the noise and refine entry and exits.
 
Other books which have I've found useful are:
Jack Schwager's market wizards series. To me these highlights that being a successful trader can come from any number of methodologies and there is no magic formula for being successful (at least in terms of trading style). The magic formula is really how you approach the market and how you manage yourself.
 
Some more excellent books are any of Steve Burn's trading explanation books. These are usually nice short books that explain specific ideas and concepts such as Moving Averages, Psychology, Risk Management etc. I've found these books excellent for re-enforcing messages I've read elsewhere.
 
There are a lot of other books I have read, but these really are the summary. If you have any questions or want to know more, hit me up on insta or via email (or leave a comment below).
 
Once again, thanks for reading.
 
Happy trading.
 
Nick the Trader Guy
May 21 (just…).
Blog Post
What books have I found have influenced me most
 
Firstly, apologies to you, my readers, for how long it's taken to post this. I've been busy with life, and the blog has had to take a back seat for a week or so.
 
I've meant to write this post for a while, but I keep getting sidetracked
By current events or the like. So finally, I'm going to get down to it and write about some of the books that have most influenced my trading style.
 
Whilst I list a few in my trading resources section. I wanted to go into more detail about what books have really influenced me and why.
 
I'm going to start off with some of the most recent books I've read. The most recent books I have read which are the which are the Laws of Wealth and The Behavioural Investor by Daniel Crosby.

I'm going to talk about them together as:

1. I read them consequently
2. They cover a lot of the same ground.

Both books really study why the traditional investment model is flawed and why humans generally suck at making investment decisions. Hint, it's because we let our emotions get involved.
 
I've found both books fascinating, and there are many references to other greats of behavioural finance, something I've had experience in my professional (non-trading) career. One of the takeaways for me in both books is that trading is hard because we try and overcomplicate it. So for me, it has caused me to reduce the number of indicators and factors I use to analyse the market. So far, this has been yielding results, but we'll see what happens over time.
 
The next book I'm going to mention is Mike Covel's Trend Following. To me, this is really the bible for a systematic trader. It really changed my approach to the markets and broadened my horizons. Before reading this, I was a haphazard trader who tried to trade off daily momentum. My downfall was I had no idea about risk management and position sizing. I just took big positions and hoped for the best.
 
The most significant influence from this book was that systematic trading works, and that whole Efficient Market Hypothesis is complete bollocks. After reading this book, I stopped holding losers. I started setting stops and diversified into different markets (futures, FX etc.). The other key change for me was that I stopped listening to financial news and media for making my decisions. Ultimately I decided that fundamentals were irrelevant for my trading style. One of the things I like about Covel's book is that he provided real case example of people who have succeeded using trend following. I particularly would like to emulate John W Henry and Bill Dunn in my trading career. I'm a real convert to the model, as you can tell!
 
All in all, I'd credit Mike Covel's book with starting me on the journey to profitability, I still had a lot to learn following this, but it was really the thing that changed my approach.
 
The third major book for me was Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas. This book was probably one of the best trading books I've ever read. It really walked me through the process of how to become a consistently profitable trader. I read this one after quite a few other ones, which allowed me to really appreciate the book and its message. This book was my primer to understanding the psychology that was driving my trading behaviour. It allowed me some introspective into my personality also. The real big thing that came from this book for me was how I manage my psychology and really outlined the importance of developing an approach that took me and my emotions outside of the decision-making loop. I still regularly do the quiz at the front of the book to track how I'm going.
 
A further great pair of books that have influenced me are Steve Burn's New Trader, Rich Trader (both one and two). To me these books are really good at explaining the journey that traders take on their way to success. I found myself thinking throughout the books, hmm that's precisely what I did or felt. To me these books reinforced some of the painful lessons the markets taught me and allowed me to improve on my trading style and technique. I'd highly recommend these books for a new trader. The biggest message from this book for me is that if you trade 1% risk each trade is only one of the next 100, it makes the psychology so my easier to manage!
 
The final big one for my is Alexander Elder's trading for a living. Dr Elder work is a really interesting perspective, he's a psychiatrist by background and provides some really valuable insights into trading. The thing that I really took away from the book is to use different time frames to analyse the market behaviours. This has improved my trading a lot as it helps filter out the noise and refine entry and exits.
 
Other books which have I've found useful are:
Jack Schwager's market wizards series. To me these highlights that being a successful trader can come from any number of methodologies and there is no magic formula for being successful (at least in terms of trading style). The magic formula is really how you approach the market and how you manage yourself.
 
Some more excellent books are any of Steve Burn's trading explanation books. These are usually nice short books that explain specific ideas and concepts such as Moving Averages, Psychology, Risk Management etc. I've found these books excellent for re-enforcing messages I've read elsewhere.
 
There are a lot of other books I have read, but these really are the summary. If you have any questions or want to know more, hit me up on insta or via email (or leave a comment below).
 
Once again, thanks for reading.
 
Happy trading.
 
Nick the Trader Guy
May 21 (just…).