I’ve been trading for a bit, but I sense gaps in my understanding. I’ve picked up a couple of books, but none truly resonated.
What books really enhanced your trading skills, especially in market psychology and risk management?
Market Wizards gets mentioned a lot but I think Van Tharp’s Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom is better for practical stuff.
It breaks down position sizing in ways that actually make sense when you’re placing real trades. The risk management chapters helped me figure out how much to risk per trade without getting too academic about it.
For psychology, honestly just keeping a trading journal worked better than most books. Write down what you were thinking before each trade and you’ll spot your patterns pretty fast.
Books waste time just track your wins and losses.
Currency Trading for Dummies sounds basic but covers broker selection and costs better than most advanced books. The rebate and spread sections saved me thousands over the years. Skip the psychology books. Your trading statement tells you everything about your mental game. Pull up your last 50 trades and look for patterns. Are you cutting winners short? Holding losers too long? That’s your real psychology lesson right there. Most trading books are written by people who make more money selling books than trading.
Reminiscent of a Stock Market Operator helped with timing. Most trading books repeat the same stuff though.
Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas changed how I approach the markets completely. Before reading it, I was constantly second guessing my entries and exits. The book helped me understand why I kept breaking my own rules.
Another one that hit hard was Market Wizards by Jack Schwager. Reading about how other traders dealt with massive losses and came back stronger gave me perspective during my own rough patches.
For risk management, I actually learned more from tracking my own trades than any book. Started keeping a simple spreadsheet of every trade - entry, exit, why I took it, what went wrong. That data taught me more about position sizing than any theory.
The psychology stuff is huge though. Most people focus on strategies but ignore the mental game. That’s where the real money gets lost.