Trading Books
Day trading books can teach you about strategy, risk management, psychology, and a great deal about technical analysis. Unfortunately, librarians and book retailers aren’t day traders. This makes tracking down the best books somewhat challenging. Fortunately, this page has broken down and collated the best books for beginners, top books for particular assets, as well as detailing how different formats can best suit your individual needs.
Alternatively, we have compiled a list of the brokers with the best training academies and educational content in 2024. Learning packages include trading guides, webinars and events, plus how-to guides.
Brokers With The Best Education & Learning Guides
The best brokers offer plenty of educational resources and special support to clients who want to learn more about trading. These are the top brokers for traders that want to get started or take their trading to the next level:
The Best Brokers for Beginners
Best eBooks For Day Traders
ETX Capital deliver a broad library of ebooks for traders to use. From technical analysis to global trends, there are ebooks that can help you whether you trade forex, commodities or stocks. All the resources are free and are well worth making use of.
Day Trading Books For Beginners
When you decide to take the plunge into trading, you swiftly realise how complex strategies, charts, patterns, platforms, and fees can get. This is all the more reason to utilise the resources around you to hit the ground running. The best books for beginners keep it simple and offer step by step guides on how to choose stock, implement strategy and manage your capital and risk.
Below are 3 of the top books for beginners.
1. A Beginner’s Guide To Day Trading Online, Toni Turner
Written by a trader and educator, the book gives clear direction and is also up to date with industry developments. You’ll get a detailed overview of risk management, technical analyses, plus how to set up a trading plan. Recent Editions have been renamed “A Beginner’s Guide To Short Term Trading”
The book is also a fantastic learning tool because it’s packed full of quizzes and checklists. The author also runs through all the basic jargon, whilst somehow managing to keep you engaged. It’s great for the day trader specifically because it distinguishes between short term and long term trading, the benefits, the risks and the concepts you need to focus on.
“A Beginner’s Guide to Day Trading Online” on Google Books
2. Start Day Trading Now: A Quick And Easy Introduction To Making Money While Managing Your Risk, Micheal Sincere
Written from the perspective of an experienced trade, this book centres on technical analysis and also offers some invaluable money management lessons. It initially centres on charts, patterns, and indicators. You’ll then be walked through the practicalities of making your first trade.
You also get the benefit of hearing from interviews with experienced traders, hopefully enabling you to avoid any of the pitfalls they fell down at. Plus, at less than 200 pages this book is an easily digestible read for the aspiring trader.
3. Day Trading For Dummies, Ann C Logue
Although the author’s not a trader, her book is diverse, covering a wide range of topics, making it ideal for those who want to get a broad initial understanding. This book is less of a guide and more information on every day trading topic under the sun. You won’t get detail, but that also means you shouldn’t get lost. This all makes it one of the best books on trading for beginners.
If you had to answer ‘what’s the best books for beginners?’ All of the texts above would top the list. They give you the platform you need to start, as well as somewhere you can turn to for answers as you get going.
Remember, good day trading books for beginners keep it straightforward. They walk you through the entire process, from choosing a stock and strategy, to psychology and risk management.
“Day Trading For Dummies” on Google Books
Best Books
For those looking for more detailed books that offer in-depth technical analysis, advanced strategies, and comprehensive information on all things day trading, there are a number of books you can turn to.
Below we have collated the top 10 books, taking into account reviews, ease of use and comprehensiveness.
1. High Probability Trading: Take the Steps to Become a Successful Trader, Marcel Link
This book centres on the notion of only making trades when the odds are in your favour, so it delves into how you set up your trades, and what to look for to know exactly what to trade and how much.
The author calls on years of successful experience in the markets and you can benefit from his trial and error approach to avoid future mistakes yourself. It’s well written and to the point, making it worthy of a spot on this list.
“High Probability Trading: Take the Steps to Become a Successful Trader” on Google Books
2. The Truth About Day Trading Stocks, Josh DiPetrio
Whilst many books sing about the potential riches, Josh DiPetrio emphasises day trading is not a get rich quick scheme. His writing is easy to follow and you can tell he genuinely wants to make you aware of the dangers, and advise you on how to manage them.
There are some essential lessons you can glean from this book and you get the resounding feeling you’re getting the truth from the first chapter until the last.
“The Truth About Day Trading Stocks” on Google Books
3. Mastering The Trade, John Carter
This is one of the top books because there is so much detailed instruction on how to set up trades. He leaves no stone unturned as he breaks down numerous strategies and different markets. It’s also well established as one of the go-to psychology books.
If you’re looking for a crystal clear guide to what, how, why, when and where, then this is the book you need. It’s also considered one of the best emini books, calling on real life examples to prove points.
“Mastering The Trade” on Google Books
4. Day Trading and Swing Trading the Currency Market: Technical and Fundamental Strategies to Profit from Market moves, Kathy Lien
One of the best selling day trading books, you get to benefit from the experience of one of the most highly regarded analysts in the forex world. If you haven’t seen her on Bloomberg or CNN, then you’ll enjoy her to the point style.
You’ll gain an insight into conducting accurate market analysis, plus the author’s a solid source of trade ideas. If you’re looking for one of the best forex books, then look no further.
5. The Disciplined Trader: Developing Winning Attitudes, Mark Douglas
A lot of good books focus on technical analysis, strategy and risk management, but not so many focus on the complexities of trading psychology. As this book aptly highlights, you can have all the best strategies in the world, but without discipline, you’ll struggle to turn a profit.
The book details why not yielding to your emotions is harder than it sounds and offers you a multitude of tips for keeping calm and getting in the right headspace. You’ll also get on advice on how to document your trade performance and minimise risk.
“The Disciplined Trader: Developing Winning Attitudes” on Google Books
6. Digital Day Trading, Howard Abell
Although not quite making the top 5 books, this text deserves a look in. If you’re looking for an easy to understand book that doesn’t waste words, then this is a sensible choice. The author focuses on market philosophy and delves into his own trading psychology. You’ll also benefit from three interviews with successful day traders, picking up an array of useful tips.
The only thing to point out is that this book was written during the highly volatile period of the dotcom boom, so some information may be outdated.
“Digital Day Trading” on Google Books
7. The Stock Trader: How I Make a Living Trading Stocks, Tony Oz
If you want strategies you can take from the book and apply with ease then this is a good choice. You get a number of detailed strategies that cover entry and exit points, charts to use, patterns to identify, plus a number of other telling indicators.
This book gets glowing reviews and is written in an engaging way, giving it appeal to a wide audience. It’s not surprising then it’s thought to be up there with the best trading books of all time.
“The Stock Trader: How I Make a Living Trading Stocks” on Google Books
8. Range Trading, Micheal Young
If you’re looking for a specific, honed strategy, then this book deserves your attention. The book explains why most strategies such as scalping struggle to overcome high intraday costs and fees. It then offers you a tried and tested alternative, known as ‘range trading’.
This is a self-proclaimed step by step guide, taking a complex system and making it easy to follow. If you’re looking for a high level of detail and an alternative approach, then you’ll see why this one of the best intraday trading books around.
9. The Simple Strategy, Markus Heitkotter
If you’re looking for widely regarded forex and options books, then this won’t disappoint. The success of this book comes from the clear instructions you get around entry and exit rules, how to capitalise on small intraday trends, plus advice on the software you do and do not need.
In addition, it’s been written so you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to get through it. The author also keeps it light-hearted and engaging throughout, making it one of the must read trading books.
“The Simple Strategy” on Google Books
10. Day Trading Grain Futures: A Practical Guide To Trading For A Living, David Bennett
If you’re looking for specific futures trading books then this deserves a look in. There are no mincing words, it offers you practical advice from page one on how to trade futures effectively.
Firstly, you’ll hear why the author prefers day trading and why the grains futures market specifically. Then you’ll get clear strategies, built on timeless trading concepts, that don’t rely on highly technical and complex indicators. You can also apply the philosophies and strategies found here to any number of intraday markets.
“Day Trading Grain Futures: A Practical Guide To Trading For A Living” on Google Books
Live Webinars And Trader Courses
ETX Capital are currently offering a range of educational tools to traders. They are free to enrol for any traders who have made a deposit of any size. More details can be found here.
Courses are delivered by in-house experts at ETX, and an independent trading company. This ensures a rounded service for those who have enrolled. Most courses and webinars are delivered online.
Alternative Formats
Thanks to the wonders of technology you can now get day trading audiobooks and ebooks. Audiobooks are ideal for listening to whilst you’re driving, on the treadmill, or when you simply want to block out the noisy kids. They also allow you to take notes whilst you listen, or apply the information in real-time on your platform.
You can also get books in pdf, as free downloads. Just like ebooks, having these open in a separate window whilst you trade allows you to easily follow instructions and put into practice what you’re reading. You’ll also have something you can quickly refer back to with just a click of the mouse.
Trading Log Books
These popular day trading books are an extremely useful tool that many people overlook, to their detriment. They will allow you to keep a detailed record of all your trades. These can then be used to check back to when you’re looking for patterns, or when you want to backtest a potential strategy. Some essentials to note down are the following:
- Entry date
- Equity symbol
- Entry price
- Total purchase price (including commission)
- Number of shares purchased
- Initial stop loss
- Profit target
- Exit price
- Total sale price (including commission)
- Profit/loss (total sale -total purchase)
- Profit/loss % ({total sale – total purchase}-1)
Trading Order Books
These serve a different purpose from the bestseller trading books outlined above. An order book is an electronic list of buy and sell orders for your specified security or instrument, organised by price level. You’ll be able to see which brokerages are buying or selling the stock and whether the market is being pushed by institutions or retail investors.
This will help you make informed and accurate decisions. They are also useful because they reveal order imbalances, giving you an indication as to the assets direction in the short term. If for example, there was a significant imbalance of buy orders, this may signal a move higher in the asset as a result of buying pressure.
Different Markets, Different Texts
If you want day trading books for the UK, Europe, U.S, and Canada then all of the books above will be relevant and applicable to markets close to home. But, if you’re looking to delve into markets on the other side of the world, you may want to look for books specific to that region.
If you’re looking to get into the Indian stock market, for example, you’ll want books specifically for day trading in India. One of the best books on day trading in India, which is also written by Indian authors is ‘Intraday Trading Ki Pechan’, by Ankit Gala & Jitendra Gala. Alternatively, ’How To Make Money Trading With Charts’ by Ashwani Gujral also scores highly in recent reviews of trading books.
If you want books with an Australian slant and also written by an Australian author, then you may want to look at ‘Why Gold Matters’, by Peter J. August. ‘Adaptive Analysis for Australian Stocks’ by Nick Radge also scores highly in reviews.
Final Chapter
Finding online books, in general, is relatively easy, but finding the right one for your needs isn’t always straightforward. Before you make your purchase, consider precisely what you want to learn. Are you looking for strategies books, books on forex, psychology, or for beginners? Do you want a step by step guide, or do you just want to hear stories and advice from successful traders?
Once you know that, decide what format will make the information easy to digest and straightforward to apply, hardback, ebook, pdf or audiobook. It’s also always worth checking reviews of the supposed ‘best trading books’, just to be sure you’ll get precisely what you’re looking for.
Alternatively, see our list of the trading brokers with top-rated learning tutorials and training academies. Most of the educational content available at these brands is also free.