Ten books on Futures Trading

Well, of the 50+ trading books I have, I have read the first 5;
Based on that, I'd substitute Douglas' Disciplined Trader for #2 Mkt Wizards, and Paul's What I learned Losing $1M for #3 New Mkt Wizards.

Then for #7 I'd chose Steidlmayer on Markets 2nd ed, and for #8 I'd choose Fooled by Randomness by N. Taleb. Street Smarts by Connor and LBR, but that's without having read those I've replaced. Having started Koy's Markets 101 I'd be inclined to choose that over a Hedge Fund book, but will try the library and give your choices a look-see.

[edit]by moderator to provide direct links to mentioned books[/edit]

Thanks for you comments nhbob. I was very tempted to put Fooled by Randomness into that list because it is one of my favorites but I find that it is more of a wake up and smell the coffee style book. It is basically telling you not to be stupid and believe everything you read/see and to question everything written in the press. I suppose that a pre-amble to anyone who wants to start learning futures trading would be a warning that 90% of what you read in the financial press has been distorted and should be taken with a large grain of salt.

I left out The Disciplined Trader because I felt that Mark Douglas covered all the important aspects that were in this book in the second one that I included. The Disciplined Trader is an excellent book but I feel that Trading in the Zone supersedes and replaces it.

I haven't read What I learned losing $1m but it's now on my reading list and under your advice may well replace one of those books when I've read it.

I've read all the articles about and by LBR but not Street Smarts yet but that and Steidlmayer on Markets are on the list of books to read.

I noticed that you bumped the 2 market wizard books - did you not like them? The reason that I included them was because Schwager picked a different person from each type of market and also varied the type of person that he picked by style of trading. I felt that this gave the reader a complete overview of what type of trading/styles and what markets were available to trade in and allowed the reader to think about what market would best fit their style of trading. A bit like a recently graduated doctor (or any profession really) picking a specialty - you need to read about each and every specialty that exists before deciding what you think is best suited to you.

Thanks again for you insight.

Well guy, I omitted both of Jack's books because of a point that Jim Paul made in "What I learned.." which was that for every trading maxim or rule by a successful trader, there's another successful trader who attributes his success to exactly the opposite rule. Paul came to the conclusion that there are lots of ways to make money, but only a few, classic ways to lose all your money. His book (very hard to find at retail, I had to read a library copy) is all about not losing. Since I read Disciplined Trader before In the Zone, I got more from it...but am due to re-read Zone now that I've re-read Disciplined.

Okay you've convinced me to read What I learned losing $1m. I'll do that before I comment again on those books so I'm more informed.

The one thing that sticks in my head about Trading in the Zone is Michael Douglas' concept of energized and non-energized beliefs that we have in our minds and the way to perform a paradigm shift is to reverse that energy on a belief that's not energized that needs to be. I found that such a great explanation for addressing mental issues we might have and ways of resolving them. Although he alluded to that in The Disciplined Trader he explained it exceptionally well in Trading in the Zone.

OK, and I will reread, this time with greater interest, attention, and basis for appreciation, Trading in the Zone. What I learned really hit me between the eyes, as I had just come off of several bad, unjustified losses which wiped out a couple weeks profits...Jim Paul grabbed me by the brain and shook it real hard. Then Douglas' Disciplined... filled in ways to fix my head (the most damning fear being that of not trusting self to do the right thing when most important to do so) so that reading sequence worked well for me. In the Zone was read a while back, before I recognized the need for getting my head on straight, and thus had less impact. Zone may be much more useful to me now with a better-laid foundation. Now I'm Trading (sim) with but one losing day in 6 weeks, small lots, averaging only about 3 cars, max carry 8 cars, 20-30 cars total/day for about 1 point per. Lots of room for improvement, but the focus has been on avoiding bad entries, drawdowns, and carrying losses deeper than planned stops. Next stop is back to live trades, in same small lots, for 3-6 months, rebuilding the self-trust Douglas talks about. Trade Well!

You too nhbob!! Remember that it's not the trading that makes you money but the waiting. I think that's a Jesse Livermore quote.

I’ve put together a list of top ranked books (and the order in which you should read them) that I believe that every futures trader should read before they start trading: Top Ranked Trading Books

How many of those books have you read?
Had you read those 10 books in that order do you think that your trading would have progressed faster and more profitably?

Post your comments here...

Commodity Trading Manual by CBOT Press.

Just been searching the www.cbot.com web site but can't find that manual. Do you have a URL for it?

well a good place to find out of print books www.addall.com and also used books cheap good luck


i like the wizard books have not read douglas book. First book about trading was pit bull. funny book do not know what it taught me except that trading can become addicting.

So far, the second Douglas book is one of the best that I've read. Doesn't just help with trading but teaches you how to change your mind which is more difficult than it sounds.

It's a reprint. The book has been around for a long time.