Knightrider,
I'm still reading it (pick up and put down) but T.A. of the Financial Markets by John J Murphy is great

I'm pretty sure I got it referred to me in this thread and I'm sure that there are others as well but I recommend this one as it has everything in it and is very easy to understand.

hope this helps

I think I've read most of them. Not knowing your prior education......

If you have an understanding of the basics (maybe Money, and Super-Money by Adam Smith..way old) or basic economics then I've just bought and read 2 great books that brings you up to speed on both technical analysis and fundamentals. Options, and day trading. What you need to do, what you need to watch for. Very practical for today's markets.

"Options Made Easy" (there not!) by Guy Cohen
"Beginner's Guide to Day Trading Online" (it's not for beginners) by Toni Turner.

IF you want to trade options, then "Options Volatility and Pricing" is a must!

This will fill in all the holes of the other two. Personally, I think ETF's are easier to trade for a profit. I only buy options now according to a VIX <40%.

(thanks Gen)

MM... .I am grinding through natenberg now...

Seems like EVERYONE recommends it, but DAMN is it very technical and a very dense read....

INflam, yes It's a tough read. I read it 3 times fast, and found a lot stuck then. I didn't try and understand it all at once.

The main point is this:

Volatility (as measured on the underlying) influences the option prices WAY more than most think. So, you buy low vol and sell high. The largest value/cost spread is in puts, at the top. The worse value is buying calls at the bottom.
(because, in a NORMAL market, IV tends to rise in a falling stock, and drops in a rising. But rises FASTER in a falling stock then the reverse)

Puts benefit, at a top, by BOTH the underlying going down, and the VI going up.
All the rest have a +/- component to them. IOW, stock goes up, vi goes down, call options could actually FALL>
Get that, and you're on your way...

anyone read "The Coming Generational Storm" - kotlikoff, burns (2004)

A Demon of our Own Design by Richard Bookstaber.

Trade Chart Patterns Like the Pros - Suri Duddella

MONEY, BANK CREDIT, AND ECONOMIC CYCLES - JESÚS HUERTA DE SOTO
http://mises.org/books/desoto.pdf

Quote:

In this chapter we will present various examples to show how bankers have throughout history violated traditional legal principles in the irregular deposit, and we will consider the reasons behind the failure of society’s regulatory mechanisms to put a stop to these abuses. We will also contemplate the role of governments in this process. Far from endeavoring to scrupulously defend property rights, they supported bankers’ improper activity almost from the beginning and granted exemptions and privileges in order to take advantage of this activity for their own uses. Thus the intimate complicity and solidarity traditionally present (and still existent) in relations between state and bank institutions. To understand why the different attempts to legally justify abuses have failed, we must first properly understand the legally corrupt origin of fractional reserves in monetary bank deposits.

Hi, you can check these out



1.
High Probability Trading

(Author: Marcel Link)

2.
Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk

(Author: Peter L. Bernstein)

3.
Beat the Dealer: A winning strategy for the game of twenty- one

(Author: Edward O. Thorp)

4.
Beat the Odds: How to win at gambling

(Author: J. Edward Allen)

5.
Beat the Market: A Scientific Stock Market System

(Author: Edward O. Thorp and Sheen T. Kassouf)

6.
Bringing down the House: The inside story of six MIT students who took Vegas for millions

(Author: Ben Mezrich)

7.
Fortune's Formula: The untold story of the scientific betting system that beat the casinos and Wall Street

(Author: William Poundstone)

For more : http://www.trading-commodities.com/index....

in case noone mentioned it...

ANY FRESHMAN COLLEGE MATH BOOK (remedial algebra maybe?). This will put you head and shoulders above 90% of all people trading in the market.

"Don't Know Much About History", Kennith Davis. circa 1990.

A very compelling read. Not at all partisan, and gives us all oldies an update on history, using recent evidence. Want to know WHY Truman dropped the bomb? Or 2? Or why Hoover didn't do anything in THAT recession? And why FDR DID? Wonder about Watergate and who shot JFK? Very entertaining, very accurate, and I lived a part of it. It may be out of print. (I got it sent to me in a plain vanilla envelope).

Thanks, xxxx!

Hello all. I'm new here and mainly browsing. I used to trade, but since I couldn't make a living at it, I moved on to other, "more profitable", ventures. Nevertheless, I still follow the markets fairly closely - especially when they are the leading indicators for an imminent financial collapse ;-( . I see that there is quite a comprehensive listing of books here, some of which I recognize, and others that I don't. In my day John Murphy's book "Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets" was an industry "bible", and I see that it's been mentioned a couple of times. A book that I highly recommend adding to this list that isn't related to technical analysis but is a great read anyway (highly entertaining, informative, and instructive at the same time) is John Brooks' "Once in Golconda: True Drama of Wall Street, 1920-38" http://www.amazon.co.uk/Once-Golconda-19....

Forgive any weird grammar and spelling. English is not my first language.

-A free nation deep in debt: the financial root of democracy
Required economic background: none

If you have any interest in history and knowledge in general, you go get this book right now!
It's the perfect mix between history and finance blended in one of the most fascinating read I layed my eyes upon. It tells the story of credit and how it shaped and transformed the different society in which it was used.

It is awesomly interesting.

It starts as far back as ancient greece, when there was no taxes (taxes and debt being closely related anyway) but only "volountary contribution" to the government and repayable loan, when being a "free man" only meant being free of taxes. You then jump to india, persia, the time of the great fortune hoarders (most characteristic of despot), then ancient and imperial rome, then Italy and the city states with their early and innovatives attempt at the creation of a credit system (the first one that could be considered somwhat successful), how the Casa di San Giorgio took over the city of Genoa which became run by it's creditor.

I haven't finished it yet (I'm at the american revolution) but it is truly faschinating (and I do mean fascinating in the purest sense of the word).

Granted, it's not a page turner. But each time you put down the book you're always glad you decided to pick it up in the first place because you just discovered something new.

A very good, fullfiling, read.


-Financial and Business Statements, Second edition
Requiered economic background: none

Everything a beginner could ask for if you want to learn the basic of financial disclosure.

This was suiting my need perfectly for the level I was at (a total newbie).

The book is clear and detailed. Every therm is well defined and you're never left in the dark.

You'll learn the basic stuff: current asset, current liability, financial ratios, amortization, double entry accounting, everything.

Very good beginner read.


-A beginner's guide to bond (may not be the exact title)
Required economic background: Light

Unfortunatly, I don't have the exact title which make the review kind of pointless. I'll try to fix that.

But if you want to have a good grasp of what a bond is, what kind of bond there is, what are the different government bond issues, how bonds react to different situation (pricing, yield curve, secondary market, refinancing, risk), in short, if you want to get a clue about bond, this is the book for you.

Little background in finance is needed to understand and most of the terms are well defined and easy to understand.

At the end of your lecture, you'll have the basic vocabulary and knowledge necessary to understand a conversation about bond.

The kind of book you keep by your side, just like "Financial and Business Statements", to review as needed.

Good resource.


-The FED: Inside Story of How the World's Most Powerful Financial Institution Drives the Market
Requiered economic background: A little more than light?

Meh. It's alright.

I didn't really learn how the FED function by reading this book. I mean, you do learn some stuff if you're a newbie but it's not the book's purpose to teach you the basics.

It's more or less an history of the FED and a collection of anecdotes (some interesting, some not) from a guy that knows how to write. It's funny at time and the details of the FED's rise to power are interesting. But the insights are weak and the the whole of it seem, at the end, irrelevant.

There also a problem in the fact that the author thinks Greenspan is awesome. Ooops.

I don't remember much from it. Maybe because there wasn't much worth remembering.

One of the best thing about the book is reading a past quote from Paul Krugman about how, in a recession, the FED just has to lower interest rate and everything will fix itself. He compares it to going to a doctor for a common cold. "Just lower interest rate and call me in the morning."

Further proof that he's a moron sometimes.


-Forensic Accounting and Fraud Investigation for Non-Experts, Second Edition
Requiered economic background: None

If you want to dissipate any doubt in your mind about what fraud exaclty is, just pick up this book and read the first part. There's some good definitions and several exemple of fraudulent activities.

Just the first part though because as the book progresses, you go more deeply into the investigation process (how to handle data collection, suspect interrogation, use of schematic and matrix to illustrate to a jury how the fraud was conducted etc.)

It's all in clean, plain language but unless you're into that kind of stuff you'll probably loose interest.


-Hidden financial risk : understanding off-balance sheet accounting
Requiered economic background: Medium

You need some math for that one and I don't even have that.

I'm more or less writing about it to let you know it exists rathen than to make a review. I could not go past the first couple of chapters.

It gives you perspectives and does illustrate how companies can cook their books in different ways (hiding debt in operating lease, pension funds, in subsidiary consolidated using the equity method etc.). But if you're a newbie, you'll struggle with the techicalities and the language that's being used.

I'm a total newbie.

For more advanced reader.


-Inside commercial banking

What a ****ing train wreck. No, I'm exagerating. A train wreck can at least be interesting.

I don't know the guy who wrote this book, but it's the kind of thing a banker would like you to believe. I mean, the amount of time the author spend describing bank's corporate responsability and their business ethic is enough to:

1. Make you puke

2. Convince you that he believes in unicorn and skittles (and that there both related)

3. Bore you to tear

Not only this, but the book is, simultaneously, vague enough for you to not learn anything relevant, specific enough for the facts within it to be totally useless.

I was just baffled.

To burn.


-DEBT

http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_02/....

To read. RIGHT NOW.

Has this completly passed under the radar? Never seen it mentionned on the ticker forum!

I stumbled upon it when I was doing some research on the subject of "debt saturation" (which doesn't seem to be a real subject anyway) and was absolutly extremly pleased to find this little editorial piece. It deserves much, much more recognition.

It echoes Gen's writing in a lot of way and, even if you can see he's wrong on 2 big things (look at the date, and look what he says about housing) he's freaking spot on and the truth of what he's saying (his Atocha's supreme law of purchasing power) hits you like a ****ing truck load of bricks.

It's, in my opinion, the best thing I'm recommanding right now and you have no excuse to not read it because it's right there for free. Just click on the link.

His explanation of capitalism and debtism is absolutly marvelous and is a real eye opener.

You go read it right now.

P.S: I feel I'm overly enthousiastic about this one. You might not be as impressed as I was. But I think it's on par with Gen's writing and in some way superior.

Thanks, Honorius - Atocha's work is certainly interesting.

I'd throw in "Traders, Guns and Money" for a fun read of wall street derivatives traders scalping their customers.... by Satyajit Das.

Also Irving Fisher's 1933 piece on deflation is worth a read.....

Swing Trading for Dummies by Omar Bassal was surprisingly good. It gives a good introduction to TA and FA along with a lot of other things.
Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets by John J. Murphy is great too.

Dkane wrote:

"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."


I would definately recommend the first two, especially The Creature from Jekyl Island! Reminenses of a Stock Operator is okay but I didn't think it was great. I didn't read the others on the list above.

I just went through this thread, and holy, there are dozens and dozens of books.

Speaking as a newbie, where should I START?

giving a list of 100 books isn't really helpful.

Maybe a poll on which one(s) in particular (maybe 4 MAX)...

"The lessons of history" by durant

100 profound pages.

Puts everything you ever learn or do in context

read it slow and savor every paragraph

Bighiller, if you're looking for something on trading and are a REAL newbie (as I am), try Toni Turner's book, A Beginner's Guide to Short-Term Trading. I'm finding it very readable.

I 2nd Turner's book(s). I started with her and she demystified tons of stuff.

Gentlemen, thank you.

I got two to go on now:

1. The Lessons of History
2. A Beginners Guide to Short-Term Trading

Havent seen it mentioned but I think what is more important is the Psychological side of things..

i.e The discplined Trader By Mark Douglas
Trading in the Zone..

There is a few others I just cant remember at the moment..Will try and post later..
I started off with the tools, technical analysis but was never prepared for the Psycholigical side of things..


Lombardi, Karl had to do stuff with his daughter..

What happened to ticks today?
Thanks

Not exactly the best place to ask, but karl had things to do today.

Sorry, I realized that.