The 40 Best Trading Books You Should Read

Reading a wide range of trading books focused on the style of trading that you are learning is the cornerstone of learning how to be a successful trader. If you are a systematic stock trading then read trading books about systems and algorithmic trading, if you are having trouble with your trading psychology then read trading psychology books.

I can’t stress this enough – FOCUS your reading! As soon as I decided I wanted to be a systematic stock trader and focused my reading on systematic trading books my progress and growth exploded.

There are a myriad of trading books available and there are a lot of extremely good ones you can use accelerate your learning. However, the challenge is to identify the few books that will really make a difference in your trading right now.

Like any topic, there is a lot of garbage available too – just look in the stock market section of any book store and you will see. The key for all stock traders, futures traders and forex traders is to select the right books which will accelerate your learning and avoid those with vague untested ideas.

I have read over 150 books on trading and skimmed many many more than that…Just like in trading results, 5-10 of those 150 books added the most value by far. Many more than that were total rubbish or even deceptive!

It is generally possible to find a few good nuggets of information or ideas you can use in most books on trading, but there are a few standout texts that should be included on EVERY trader’s bookshelf.

When you are looking for your trading books Amazon is the most logical place to go. We have provided links to some of the best trading books Amazon has to offer below.

The 40 Best Trading Books You Should Read - Table of Contents

Best Trading Books – Compulsory Reading

The very best trading books are rich with insights that every trader or aspiring trader should be aware of. If you are new to trading and committed to your learning journey then we suggest you start growing your trading library.

The best trading books make a world of difference…are your bookshelves filled with trading books like these?

There are thousands of trading books available, however there is a lot of low quality and unoriginal material which you need to sift through in most of these. The trading books that we have listed below are all extremely well written, thought provoking and present many original ideas. These are the best of the best and should be on the bookshelf of all serious traders, especially those who use a trading system.

On our bookshelves, these have been read and re-read, marked up, highlighted and are referenced regularly for inspiration and direction on our trading journey. In fact, some of these are so useful that they remain permanently on the desk rather than in the library because they are used so often.

Great trading books motivate, inspire and give hope to new and experienced traders alike. We have selected these books from the hundreds that we have read and skimmed. To Qualify for our ‘compulsory reading’ list these trading books have been instrumental in growing our understanding of the markets, ourselves, trading systems and ultimately our profitability.

The best trading books should be the primary focus of your self education efforts. The insights you will gain from these books is far more comprehensive than you could ever hope to gain from a $5000 seminar. If you are like us, you will read these again and again as your understanding of trading, the markets, trading systems and trading system development grows.

The books we recommend on our compulsory reading list will help propel you towards trading success and profitability no matter what trading strategy. It may take a while to get through them, but it will be well worth it and your understanding of the trading game will take an amazing leap forward as a result.

Systematic Trading Books

Title

Author

Systematic Trading

Robert Carver

Market Beaters

Art Collins

Trading book review_quantitative trading strategies_lars kestner

Quantitative Trading Strategies: Harnessing the Power of Quantitative Techniques to Create a Winning Trading Program

McGraw-Hill Education

Trading Systems That Work: Building and Evaluating Effective Trading Systems

Thomas Stridsman

Mechanical Trading Systems

Richard L. Weissman

Trading book review_the evaluation and optimization of trading strategies_robert e. Pardo

The Evaluation and Optimization of Trading Strategies (Wiley Trading) by Pardo, Robert 2nd (second) Edition (2008)

Robert Pardo

Long Term Secrets to Short-Term Trading

Larry R. Williams

Trading book review_breaking the black box_martin pring

Breaking the Black Box: Learn how to Design, Test, and Apply Mechanical Trading Systems Using Profitable Examples

Martin J. Pring

Trading book review_way of the turtle_curtis faith

Way of the Turtle: The Secret Methods that Turned Ordinary People into Legendary Traders

Curtis M. Faith

Trade Like A Casino: Find Your Edge, Manage Risk, and Win Like the House

Richard L. Weissman

General Trading Books

Title

Author

Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom

Van K. Tharp

Trend Following: How Great Traders Make Millions in Up or Down Markets

Michael Covel

Stock Market Wizards: Interviews with America’s Top Stock Traders

Jack D. Schwager

The New Market Wizards: Conversations with America’s Top Traders

Jack D. Schwager

Market Wizards, Updated: Interviews With Top Traders

Jack D. Schwager

Hedge Fund Market Wizards: How Winning Traders Win

Jack D. Schwager

Unknown Market Wizards: The Best Traders You’ve Never Heard Of

Jack D. Schwager

Trading For A Living: Psychology, Discipline, Trading Tools and Systems, Risk Control, Trade Management

Alexander Elder

Taming the Bear: The Art of Trading a Choppy Market

Christopher Tate

The Art of Trading: A Complete Guide to Trading the Australian Markets

Christopher Tate

Risk Management Trading Books

Title

Author

The Definitive Guide To Position Sizing

Van Tharp

Technical Analysis Trading Books

Title

Author

Come Into My Trading Room: A Complete Guide to Trading

Alexander Elder

Trading Systems and Money Management: A Guide to Trading and Profiting in Any Market

Thomas Stridsman

Beyond Technical Analysis: How to Develop and Implement a Winning Trading System

Tushar Chande

Evidence-based Technical Analysis: Applying the Scientific Method and Statistical Inference to Trading Signals

David Aronson

Following The Trend: Diversified Managed Futures Trading

Andreas F. Clenow

Martin Pring on Market Momentum

Martin J. Pring

Trend Trading For A Living: Learn the Skills and Gain the Confidence to Trade for a Living

Thomas K. Carr

Historical / Classic Trading Books

Title

Author

Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits

Philip A. Fisher

The Richest Man in Babylon

George Samuel Clason

Extraordinary Popular Delusions

Charles Mackay

Reminiscences of a Stock Operator

Edwin Lefevre

Fundamental Investing Trading Books

Title

Author

Beating the Financial Futures Market: Combining Small Biases Into Powerful Money Making Strategies

Art Collins

How I Made $2,000,000 in the Stock Market

Lyle Stuart

Trading book review_one up on wall street_peter lynch

One Up on Wall Street: How To Use What You Already Know To Make Money In The Market

Simon & Schuster

Psychology Trading Books

Title

Author

Super Trader, Expanded Edition: Make Consistent Profits in Good and Bad Markets

Van K. Tharp

Trading Beyond The Matrix: The Red Pill for Traders and Investors

Van K. Tharp

The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable

Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets

Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Enhancing Trader Performance

Brett N. Steenbarger

The Disciplined Trader: Developing Winning Attitudes

Mark Douglas

Amibroker Trading Books

Title

Author

Introduction to AmiBroker: Advanced Technical Analysis Software for Charting and Trading System Development

Howard B. Bandy

Quantitative Trading Systems: Practical Methods for Design, Testing, and Validation

Howard B. Bandy

Modeling Trading System Performance: Monte Carlo Simulation, Position Sizing, Risk Management, and Statistics

Howard B. Bandy

Mean Reversion Trading Systems, Practical Methods for Swing Trading

Howard B. Bandy

Beginner’s Guide To AmiBroker AFL Programming

Ajan K K

The Ultimate Algorithmic Trading System Toolbox

George Pruitt

Foundations of Trading: Developing Profitable Trading Systems using Scientific Techniques

Howard B. Bandy

How to Beat Wall Street – Everything You Need to Make Money in the Markets Plus! 20 Trading System Ideas

J B Marwood

There are trading book reviews which you can link to below. These book reviews highlight whether each should be compulsory reading and the key areas of value you can expect to find in the book.

Is there a great trading book that has really helped or influenced you? Tell us about it in the comments below.

Authors of Outstanding Trading Books:

There are quite a number of outstanding trading authors. I have listed the ones I consider to be the best below. You can follow the links to check out their books on Amazon. I recommend all of these authors depending on exactly which topic you are looking for.