Trading Book Reading List

The Trading Classics

Trading in the Zone: Master the Market with Confidence, Discipline and a Winning Attitude

Is Trading in the Zone the best trading book out there? At least for beginners this probably holds true. But even if you are not new to trading and haven’t read this book yet, go and read it! At some point every trader acknowledges that trading successfully isn’t only about a trading method, but about a trader’s mindset and psychology. This is the point when you’ll want to have this book.

Hedge Fund Market Wizards: How Winning Traders Win

I haven’t met a single trader who doesn’t like the Market Wizard Series. Some of the best and most popular traders and hedge fund managers share their stories and explain what it takes to become a profitable trader, and what helped them. Since the books are available as an audio version and written in an interview style, they are ideal to listen to wherever you go.

• By Jack D. Schwager: Market Wizards: Interviews with Top Traders
• The New Market Wizards: Conversations with America’s Top Traders
• Hedge Fund Market Wizards: How Winning Traders Win

A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing (Tenth Edition)
[personal favorite]

Burton Malkiel talks about bubbles, behavioral finance, herd mentality and everything that happens in the head of traders and investors. This book points out what drives prices and how traders see and think about the markets. The concepts and ideas in this book are often in complete contrast to what you usually hear on TV or read in financial books. At the same time, you will have a lot of aha-moments when Malkiel shares his thoughts on financial topics and trading.

Pit Bull: Lessons from Wall Street’s Champion Day Trader
[personal favorite]

Marty Schwartz is a legend and his results speak for themselves. This book isn’t just a very entertaining read, but Marty Schwartz’ personal story is also a very inspiring one from the average Joe to a multi-million dollar trader.

Come Into My Trading Room: A Complete Guide to Trading

Come Into My Trading Room: A Complete Guide to Trading

Alexander Elder, another legendary name in the world of trading, explains what it takes to become a professional trader. He focuses on a trader’s mindset, money and risk management and developing your own trading strategy. He points out how important discipline as a trader is and what separates the average from the successful trader. Although the points about technical analysis won’t be particularly helpful to all traders, his view on psychology and the trader’s mindset will help everyone to understand the impacts of psychology better.

The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing. A Book of Practical Counsel

The Intelligent Investor is the bible of value investing. It’s a massive book by Benjamin Graham, the mentor of Warren Buffett, and it has everything, and then some, of what you always wanted to ask about investing and the financial world. Even if you aren’t a typical value trader, this book will have a lot of important lessons ready for you and will help you understand the financial world a little better. It can be dry sometimes but this book may be missed in a must read trading book list.

More About Trading

The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine

The Big short shows how greedy bankers and financial institutions created the massive credit bubble that eventually burst and how a few traders and investors made fortunes by betting against them. While this book won’t make you a better trader, it’ll show you how the participants in the financial markets think and that it is always necessary to question what you see. This book will show you that it pays not to swim with the swarm and to think for yourself.

Liar’s Poker (Norton Paperback)

Michael Lewis describes his short, but interesting career at the Wall Street company Salomon Brothers. Similar to The Big Short, Liars Pokers gives you a completely different view on investment banking and on the people who control the financial markets. It’s very likely that you’ll see your financial adviser differently and question the credibility of your bank after reading these two books.

The PlayBook: An Inside Look at How to Think Like a Professional Trader

Mike Bellafiore, the founder of SMB Capital, is well-known among traders and his blog is also very popular and informative. In his book Bellafiore explains what it takes to become a professional trader and he doesn’t leave out the fact that becoming a top trader requires a tonne of hard work, dedication and sacrifices. If you’ve read all the typical trading books but you feel like you are missing something, Mike’s book will definitely open a new world for you as day trader.

Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk

This book is walks you through the history of probabilities, math and risk management. From the first time people started engaging in games of chance such as rolling dice, to the modern world of risk management and modeling. If you are looking to learn something new and are a bit of a math and statistics geek, this book is a must.

Gambling Wizards: Conversations with the World’s Greatest Gamblers

Professional gambling and trading have many similarities, especially when it comes to mindset, psychology and discipline. This book is the gambling equivalent to the Market Wizards series in trading. From the best poker players,  blackjack and backgammon player, to sports bettors and multi-millionaire horse racing legends, this book offers some fascinating insights into the world of professional gambling.

The Black Swan: Second Edition: The Impact of the Highly Improbable: With a new section: “On Robustness and Fragility” (Incerto)The Black Swan: Second Edition: The Impact of the Highly Improbable: With a new section: “On Robustness and Fragility” (Incerto)

Nicholas Taleb’s book talks about the very rare, but highly impactful events that shock financial markets and the whole world in general. He talks about the impossibility to prepare for such events and the implication that arises from it. This is a thought-provoking book which offers unique insights and provides a different view on the world and highly recommended for traders since we deal with the unknown every day.