What books do you need to read, to become a succesful trader?

Gleb Pastushkov
Aug 23, 2017 · 4 min read

This question was bothering me a lot, when i was more green in trading, than i am now. Although the answer occured to me not so long ago, subconsciously, i had the same views. And even though it’s not a big deal for many people, maybe some will be interested.

Techical analysis

Essentially, the material that i had grown my knowledge over the years from — are articles and practice. Never the less, there are 3 books, that i would recomend to people, who are just willing to start their trading journey:

  1. Techical analysis. Beginners guide — Reuters.
  2. Techical analysis — Jack D. Schwager
  3. Japanese candlestick charting techniques— Steve Nison

“Techical analysis. Beginners guide” is pretty easy and short. You should read that one before you do anything, actually. It contains main theses about technical analysis and will drive you in a bit into the world of trading without blowing up your brain.

Jack Schwager’s “Tecnhical analysis” is something you could read, to see, for the minimum, how price moves, how do you use certain trading methods and etc. Frankly, the book is somewhat heavy and personally i recommend people, to read those things from the book, that they are interested in. This book covers a lot of topics and it’s pointless to read all of them, due to the low possibility of using all of that information. So it would spare some of your time.

“Japanese candlestick charting techniques” is great, yeah. I’ve read half of it myself. But! I would recomend reading only the basics. The only reason this book is appreciated by me, because of my love to candlesticks. I’m not saying the book is bad. On the contrary — it’s considered to be one of the best in it’s kind. What i’m saying is, that you don’t need that much candlestick patterns, that this book has to offer. Although, it won’t hurt you, if you learn about those patterns. Just don’t focus on all of them!

Psychology

Psychology is the most important part in being a succesful trader. You could be great at techical analysis, money-management and so on, but if you are unstable, greedy and unfocused — failure is imminent. And although you can get to being a pro trader without even one book for trading psychology, it would be a very, very hard task.

One, most important book, of those few i have read, is “Trading in the zone” by Mark Douglas (may he rest in peace). The author gathered almost everything a newbie or even a pro should know about trading psychology, and wrote about it in his book. This one, i would say, is even more important, than every technical analysis book there is, because it helps to master yourself. It’s much harder to master yourself, than to master 2–3 price patterns, wich you will use to trade.

Practice

And finally, it takes practice to sharpen every skill you need with knowledge you have gained, during your studies. It’s not easy, it takes time, sometimes lot more time than we expect. Found something interesting in a book or article? Go open a chart and try to do the same on your own chart. Try to find the same pattern, model and etc. Don’t just read and forget! Besides, this is the only way, you will learn, that one method is good for you, and the other does not fit your personality at all.

Conclusion

In general, it’s not so important if you read almost every book on tecnhical analysis or psychology, but it’s important to gain knowledge and be dedicated to trading. If you are not interested in trading, then very likely — you will fail. Because only when you dedicate yourself, love what you do and work as hard as you can, to achieve one’s goals, only then you become a master at it.

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