Trading:
Chart Guys – I’ll start with my favorite. I cant recommend these guys enough. Whether you are a seasoned vet or a total newbie, these guys have you covered. They do it all, crypto, options, bluechip, gold, etc. Something for everyone here. Their chatroom is amazingly positive and helpful. You can check them out for free on good ol’ youtube, they have tons of daily videos that they post morning (premarket) and evening (after close). Which I’ve personally made it a happen over the last two years or so to just watch one of their daily videos a day, I always seem to walk away with something from it. Trading man Dan is my personal hero, an incredible trader and always the epitome of balance and poise regardless of outside noise. Overall, I learned probably the most from these guys.
Boilerroom – Connor is great. This was the second guru/educator that I fell in with. Found him on youtube, yet again. I still have many of my technical setups modeled after his standard deviations and his volume profiles too. If you are a beginner, he’s really really good at explaining things. I learned a lot of 101 tidbits from him (how to use Finviz, basic technical analysis, basic strategies and setups, etc), so I’d recommend if you are new(ish) and on a budget.
Tim Sykes – This is where everything started for me. In 2016, I nabbed his “How to make millions” video. Loved it. All the videos that I’ve seen from him have been super helpful. Even though this was several years ago now and geared towards penny stocks…I still apply many of the lessons I learned from him (and Tim Gritanni!). Incredibly helpful source of knowledge here. I recommend this route if A) you don’t mind the cost and B) don’t mind someone screaming at ya that you are a degenerate trader. I mostly didn’t mind the later, because honestly I had (and still have) degenerate trading habits. He’s brash, he’s salesy and honestly after a year+, I just got a bit annoyed with the noise. But if you want a trader boot camp sort of a vibe, this is it. Sykes has had many millionaire students, so there’s that.
Trading Books:
The Daily Trading Coach by Brett Steenbarger – Put this book by the john (or loo, or toilet, or crapper or whatever you want to call it) and just read an excerpt everyday. I almost guarantee your trading will improve if you soak up some of these lessons. Some practical lessons and neat observations on how to become a more self reliable trader. As traders we often go at it alone, this book is a nice road map for lone wolf.
Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas – Amazing book on the mental/emotional side of trading. Many of psychology books and courses that I’ve taken echoes a lot of what the author points out here. If you could truly absorb what is stated in the book, you will be well on your way.
Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefevre – About Jesse Livermore, but not about Jesse Livermore (but yeah, it is). One of the best traders ever and a perfect example of what not to do or be as trader at the same time. What an enigma. Almost a required read for any trader I think.
Market Wizards by Jack Schwager – Just a bunch of really solid interviews with some of the worlds best traders. Something for every kind of trader here. You are sure to find inspiration and some amazing insights in this book. Really fun to read and super insightful. Its just awesome to read about how all these extremely successful traders go about their craft. It also makes you realize that there are as many trading styles/tactics/preferences as there are people, every one is completely different. Yet, at the same time there are common threads that are found within the successful traders too. A great read.
How to Make Money in Stocks by William O’Neil – This book is worth it for the first section alone. He has charts ranging back from the late 1800’s. Which just makes you realize that these cycles of fear and greed crop up over and over and over again. These patterns just keep reoccurring. If you are a systems trader or fancy yourself as one…then this book is certainly for you. I took a lot from it, really helped me develop a criteria for how I rank and grade my setups. This is really only bluechip stocks, just the big boys but could still be very applicable to all sorts of styles of trading. In fact, Tim Sykes recommended this and he’s strictly a penny stock guy.
The New Trading for a Living by Dr. Alexander Elder – These last two books man, they probably taught me the most. Proper mentality, discipline, risk control, managing trades and technical setups are all covered here. All encompassing and this was one of the best books to really round out your education in my opinion. Overall, probably not for total noobs. This wouldn’t be the first book that I’d recommend, but it would certainly be one of the earliest books that aspiring traders should dive into. It goes over everything you need, the mental side of trading, the technical side, the fundamentals. For swing trading and day trading stocks, this is highly recommended. I read this several years ago now and I still find that I have it up by desk as reference every now and again.
Mastering the Trade by John Carter – Last of the trading books that left a massive impact on me, certainly not least: Mastering the Trade. Holy smokes this one is intense. I read it twice. It’s as thick as the bible and filled to brim with A+ content. I don’t do options and its kind of geared for options trading but it didn’t matter to me too much. I still found this one maybe the most helpful and thorough of all the books. At least on a technical level, this one is tops.
Though, there is easily a third of this book that revolves around the mental side of trading. He even has a chapter where his wife is interviewed; ah to be married to a trader (my wife is rolling her eyes right now). This covers a lot, just a mountain of viable info here. I probably have taken more from any other resource cited here. I even use his Squeeze indicator which is available on a variety of platforms. This guy is highly respected trader and this book is tops.
Mental/Awareness/Spiritual: Now this is an area, I admit, I will probably be exploring and expanding upon for the rest of my days. I find the more I delve into the topics of awareness, psychology, compassion, self esteem, ego, mindset, letting go, Taoism, Buddhism, surrender, etc. The more I need to know. These topics can be directly linked to trading and can directly assist in anyones trading performance. You can be rocking with your technicals and fundamentals but if you are off with your mind and spirituality in general…you are lost my friend.
The Untethered Soul and The Surrender Experiment by Michael Singer – I’m starting with perhaps the two books that left the biggest impact on me…of any book. I’m talking like a Lord of Rings reading when I was 15 level of magnitude here, like really hearing Led Zeppelin for the first time with headphones on at at 13 level here. These books (especially Untethered Soul) left a massive impression. I have these books on my desk with a sticky note that says “Apply this to Trading!!!” always there to remind me.
I even bought his courses, money well spent I must say. So much is encompassed in his lessons. Almost everything I’ve read before and after these books I find echoed throughout within them. The art of letting go, forgiveness, the meaning of life, living in the now, Taoism, lessons of Jesus, Buddhism…yeah its all here. I could go on for days, but really you should just pick up at least the audio versions of these and I dare you to walk away jaded and without being impacted. I’ve spread this to all my friends or anyone who would want to hear me rattle on and almost all agree…he’s tops.
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl – Victor Frankl lost his family and many of his friends in a Nazi death camp. The first half of the book is on his first hand experience surviving this horrendous and unimaginable situation. Its a remarkable and harrowing tale to say the least. Just try to complain about your day after reading this, really puts things into perspective. The second half is his analysis and professional take (he was a psychologist) on the actual meaning of life. How he pulled meaning and value from his experiences. Its a life changing book.
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle – The title really says it all. Cut through the noise, the noise of the past and the noise of projecting into the future. Cut out the ego. This book is heady but really well done. I found it be quite enlightening, very deep stuff and I still think of this book often. Helped with many, if not all of my mental trading hiccups.
Mindset by Carol Dweck – I heard about this book through a trader who said it was required reading in order to join up with a certain trading group. I was intrigued and had to check it out for myself. Wow, I’ve been able to apply this daily to my life. I’m always thinking “Growth mindset or Fixed mindset?”. Helps develop an optimistic and glass half full sort of a view on the world.
The Tao of Pooh and Tao Te Ching – I don’t think I need to delve into the Tao too much, as that is pretty much priceless ancient wisdom. I do think that every trader should read it and work daily on applying to their craft. I’ve been working for a while now on incorporating into my day to day, another book thats always in the back of my mind. And the Tao of Pooh I was recommenced from Trading Man Dan from the Chart Guys. He said that it was one of the biggest impacts on him and I’d have to agree. I’ve read the Tao of Pooh like 3 times now and it will probably be one of those books where I just read every year. Simple but deep.
Letting Go by Dr. David Hawkins – Letting go is something we can all do more of and can all probably be better at. This book seems to me to be the bedrock of many many self help and emotional awareness books/teachers that have followed.
Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday – Ego, we all have it in some form or another. Being aware of ego I’ve found to be a key part of mental/spiritual growth. The author cites great historical examples and its just a fun read in general. We all need to work on how ego messes with us, making us feel entitled, making us into a door mat, making us lash out. Ego is just the perception of how we view ourselves in the world, which seems to be all encompassing. Also, Holiday’s Daily Stoic is another daily exert sort of a read and is a nice pick me up with ancient Stoic knowledge.
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg – We all have habits, because we all have a monkey brain embedded and bestowed upon each and everyone of us when we are born. This is a fascinating read on how to break the habit cycles and possibly forge new positive ones. Now turn this towards your trading (if you have some old bad habits like I did) and its just an incredibly helpful book. Very practical steps and really well explained. Great stories/case studies that couple up with the lessons perfectly.
The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown – I admit I was really late the Brene Brown party. I didn’t even hear of her until like a year ago (2021 I suppose it was). She’s seems to be pretty much Oprah’s psychologist, if that says anything. But wow, her folksy down to earth style of talking and writing really drives the messages home. I’ve been much easier on myself since reading her books. My self compassion has much improved thanks to this one.