/ Best trading books for beginners and professionals

Traders often ask where to start learning trading and what books are suitable for beginners. This guide compiles ten of the best books to help beginner traders. These books cover key topics from effective trading techniques and technical analysis to chart patterns, trading psychology, risk management, simple strategies and useful tips for getting started.

1. Encyclopedia of chart patterns

As the name suggests, the Encyclopedia of chart patterns is a book that contains all the chart patterns of technical analysis and should be read by every trader. It contains statistics about bull and bear markets and describes 33 chart patterns and patterns. You will learn what Dead-Cat Bounce, Three Rising Valleys, Pipe Bottoms, Diamond Bottoms and much more. This is a complete book of chart patterns. In addition to tried and proven chart pattern strategies, Thomas N. Barkowski provides important tips on how to use charts to improve trading results.

2. Trading in the zone

This is one of the best books on trading. It took Mark Douglas seven years to write this book. The book ‘Trading in the zone’ is a must read for beginners as well as successful and profitable traders. The book is full of useful tips on how to improve your trading skills, but the main goal is to change the behaviour and mindset necessary for successful trading. For example: How successful traders treat risk and how to develop a probabilistic mindset. The focus of this book is on the psychology of trading and its importance in shaping the mindset of a good trader. No wonder it has been called the ‘Bible of trading psychology’.

3. Reminiscences of a stock operator

First published in 1923, this is one of the most widely read and recommended books for beginning traders. The lessons and ideas in the book perfectly illustrate the psychological side of trading. Readers feel that this book has taught them more about markets and people than they have learnt in years. This is a timeless book about trading that will enrich your life and make you a better trader.

4. Trade your way to financial freedom

This book introduces a new 17-step trading model by Tharp who authored the book, which focuses on risk management. It also includes risk-reward multipliers, new in-depth interviews with successful traders, updated examples and charts. In addition, the book has an excellent discussion on position sizing and risk management. According to trading psychology, position sizing and risk management is the ‘Holy Grail’ of trading.

5. Psycho-Cybernetics

As a trader, you need to set goals and visualise them. Having clear goals in our head helps us to achieve the best results. This is because our subconscious mind is very favourable to achieving these goals. This is not a book about trading, but it is one of the most useful books for your trading. Just as important as setting trading goals is to visualise achieving them every day. If you can't visualise yourself as a successful trader, you have no chance of success.

6. Market wizards: Interviews with top traders

Author Jack D. Schwager interviewed dozens of top traders from most financial markets. Although their answers differ in detail, they all boil down to the same basic formula. Namely: sound methodology + the right mindset = successful trading. The common theme for all of these traders is to avoid trading mistakes. Jack D. Schwager has compiled the answers of the best traders into a set of trading tips and rules that you can use to become your own star in investing and trading.

7. Way of the turtle

This book describes the success of a simple trading system used by a group known as ‘Turtles’. The Turtle strategy is not too attractive on the face of it, but it is one of the simplest strategies that can be profitable. Author Curtis ‘Turtle’ Feith details how Dennis and Eckert recruited 23 rookies from all walks of life and turned them into successful traders in just two weeks. If you are a beginner and don't know how to start trading, this book will help you understand the importance of discipline and following a trading plan.

8. The new trading for a living

This book will help beginner traders understand the basics of trading psychology, discipline, risk management and trade management. The book also contains some interesting strategy ideas that can help in trading. It also helps traders avoid the most common trading mistakes.

9. Mastering the trade

In this book on trading, you will learn and learn trading techniques that will help you make profits in most markets. The book also covers tools and techniques that you can use to profit from day trading and swing trading. This book is not as good for beginners as some of the other books on this list, but it is still worth reading.

10. Trading Price Action trends

The trading ideas, strategies, and techniques in the book ‘Trading Price Action trends’ will help you take your chart reading skills to the next level as Al Brooks explains his system of trading on price charts. This is a great trading book that will allow you to follow his system step by step and learn how he applies it. You will learn about institutional exits, trend trading, range trading and reversals. He breaks it all down into processes that are easy for a beginner to understand. The book explains how individual candles and their combinations can tell you what other traders are doing.

Conclusion

So, if you are new to trading, these books will be an invaluable guide for you to increase your knowledge and confidence in your decision making. Each of them reveals different aspects of trading: from psychology and mindset, to specific techniques of analysis and risk management. By mastering the strategies and approaches outlined in them, you will be able to significantly improve your trading skills and develop confidence in your actions in the market. Remember that successful trading is a process that requires constant self-development, discipline and the ability to learn from your own mistakes.