I second Popular Delusions.

Jim Rogers "Investment Biker" and his other one I forget at the moment are excellent. Oh its "Adventure Capitalist" I think. Get to read about great adventure plus learn a ton. He has a great knack for simplifying complicated things.

I think you need a fundamental view with technical analysis (simple technicals) to help entries in and out. JMO.

steve nissen (nissin?) japanese candlestick charting....or something like that..amazon it. amazingly comprehensive teaching of theory and patterns.
velez and capra -amazon them too. awesome book.

Not essentially a financial investment type book, but gives you the idea behind mass pshycology....Eric Hoffer- "The True Believer"

Vegasradar - Here it is:

Secrets for Profiting in Bull and Bear Markets - by Stan Weinstein


I'm surprised nobody mentioned this yet - I am just reading it now and i'm only half way thru and already its the BEST TRADING BOOK EVER!!!

Definitely a must.

Here are 2 other books that i think are worth mentioning:
Reminiscences of a Stock Operator (the classic that Sandra already reccomended)
How to make money selling stocks short - By William O'Neil

PS - That Candlestick Charting book by Nison seems REALLY interesting however i've never read it so i cant recommend it.........but maybe i WILL check it out - LOL! Thanks for posting.

The Market Wizards books and Reminiscences of a Stock Operator would be a good start. If you want to learn about options I would recommend Option Volatility & Pricing by Sheldon Natenberg.

Below is a link to Reminiscences of a Stock Operator in pdf format:

http://www.trading-naked.com/library/jes....

Thing is about traders though is that they are an extremely hardheaded bunch that simply insist on doing it their own way, driven by a sense and desire for self sufficiency. Given this type of wiring the best outcome at the beginning of a traders life is that they loose in the beginning. Then it gradually sinks in that the old paradigms about how the world works does not apply to the markets.

Reading everything you can find on the markets is important because everyone needs to learn what questions to ask.

To me it's amazing that some traders blow up including many of the so-called professionals. Poor money management and lack of either the proper wiring or perhaps just plain stupidity kills them.

I believe there is no reason that intelligent trading with proper risk management cannot return 50% per year on average without a loosing year over as long a period as the markets exist as we know it now. I also believe that it's not something just anyone can do because it's a wiring issue and nothing really to do with spatial intelligence per say. Both the left and right side brain must all three dance in harmony with the markets.

I generally believe that traders (those that are in and out and not the buy and hold type) should put their energy into the macro picture and TA / along with chart reading and correlation studies. KD offers a great opportunity on how to view TA and the macro picture but in the end it's you standing alone making the right or wrong decisions because a trader is only as good as his own decisions and the person that is too lazy to do his homework will fail.

Geez, what the heck am I babbling on about here. Sorry, got a bit carried away here.

Thank you for the link, Kavadates. I had always meant to get around to reading the Tao Te Ching. You've just made it easy. The format on the site is really easy to get into.

Quote:

The sage experiences without abstraction,
And accomplishes without action;
He accepts the ebb and flow of things,
Nurtures them, but does not own them,
And lives, but does not dwell.

If someone is looking for advice on investing rather than trading this is a timeless classic thats covers the basics:

The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham (Warren Buffett's mentor)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Intelli....

http://books.google.com/books?id=MwPfscf....

This entire book seems to be available online for free. Doesn't get better than that.

Conquer the Crash; How You Can Survive in a Deflationary Depression

By Robert R. Prechter, Jr.

The book I highly recommend:

Van K. Tharp, Trade your way to financial freedom.

This books describes how to set up your trading system, what it is all about and how to use money-management. And that entries are not as important as everyone thinks - but stops and exits and money-management are!

Quote:

I just got Reminiscences of a Stock Operator from the library but I haven't started it yet.

I'm in the middle of reading it, very, very good book.

I also liked Hedgehogging by Barton Biggs


Edit: For noneconomic/nonfinancial books, I really liked Dune by Frank Herbert and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. I don't normally like science fiction books.

two well written books that are just good reads.

"Liar's Poker"

"Buffet" by Lowenstein

Lowenstein also wrote "When Genius Failed" - the book would have been much bette if the geniuses hadnt shut him out and given him more inside scoops.

My list:

The Creature from Jekyl Island - to understand how the Fed works.

Market Wizards & New Market Wizards - to gain confidence that anyone can do this and plenty of examples of blowing out accounts.

Reminenses of a Stock Operator - so you learn how the markets work, they still operate the same just newer technology.

Daytrade you way to Financial Freedom - it all about risk management

How Technical Analysis Works - To learn what the market is telling you.

"A Random Walk Down Wall Street" - the first chapter is so relevant to what we face today with R/E bubble and hedge funds

For all sci-fi nerds entertainment book:

Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson

Manias, Panics, and Crashes: A History of Financial Crises
http://www.amazon.com/Manias-Panics-Cras....

Talks about the Minsky credit cycle in detail, with lots of examples. To quote KD, trouble always starts with the credit markets.

Has anyone read "Irrational Exuberance"? It's about how redic the overvaluation of the stock market was prior to the dotcom crash (it was written in 2000 before it really happened) It's just SPOOKY how applicable it would have been prior to the RE bubble. Seems like a good read to cement in your head when we are ataring at a bubble and how to position to profit from its eventual bursting.

"Spooky"? Read this if you have the time.........

http://www.financialsense.com/series2/pe....

Why hasn't anyone recommended any of Cramer's books yet?! [sarcasm]

Investment Biker: Around the World With Jim Rogers

Amazing insight given that it was written in 1998

Etz,

I've been watching from the sidelines for a couple of months from the T.O. "hood". I enjoy your posts.. I'll add this to my list. I'm late to the game and have lots to learn?

Abi

Without doubt the best book ever written is "Reminiscences of a Stock Operator".

Other good books are:

All the market Wizard series
The Battle for Investment Survival by Gerald Loeb
How to Trade in Stocks By Jesse Livermore
Bulls Make Money Bears Make Money but Pigs Get Slaughtered
Fooled by Randomness
Securities Analysis by Graham & Dodd

That's a start for you. Get a grounding in both fundamental and technical analysis. I can't over emphasise how good Reminiscences is.

Nuke_engineer, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for mentioning that book by Will and Ariel Durant.... "The Lessons of History".
http://www.amazon.com/Lessons-History-Wi....

Will and Ariel were some of the most eminent historians of the 20th century... this book is ONLY 102 pages - it is a distillation of THOUSANDS of pages of their 10 volume history "The Story of Civilization"
If you want to understand WHY things in the world are the way they are, this is, in my opinion, the most profound book I have ever read.... REALLY eye opening. I've been thinking about adding this to the "best book I've ever read" section in the newbie area, but hesitated because it is not a "trading" book. It DOES however give some of the most profound macroeconomic insights I have ever read. To the point of "jeez- that's so obvious, why did that never occur to me".

Seriously people, only 102 pages, and may be the BEST BOOK YOU WILL EVER READ!!!