Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Dinosaur Trader Book Club Selection #1

A book club. Most people think Oprah. Some will think, "Oh, that's something my wife does with her friends." Others will think about that time when their parent's friend told them he had "something in his pocket" but it ended up being... okay, well, some people are really fucked up.

Anyway, I'm going with a straight-up classic to start for two reasons... First, I recently picked it up again and I'm enjoying it. Second, it just helps to read about and hear directly from successful traders.

The book? Market Wizards by Jack Schwager.



You can find loads of resources for finding setups, for plotting lines, and for reading indicators. All of these things are useful. However, there's something about big successful traders that spurs the imagination and lets you know what's possible. And with the inauguration just days away, this is the season of hope... might as well aim for the stars.

So if you're a serious trader or a beginner, this book should be in your library. Each Tuesday, I'll highlight a few of my favorite passages in a post, and hopefully they'll generate some discussion.

So next Tuesday, we can discuss Chapter 1, which is about the trader Michael Marcus. Let's see how this turns out.

7 comments:

TraderCaddy said...

Excellent choice. I have read it probably 20 times. Gil Blake did what I did trading mutual funds in the '80s and '90s before the goons cracked down on frequent trading.
If I can suggest a book for technical analysis (drier than Wizards); Techincal Analysis of the Futures Markets by John Murphy (1986).

Unknown said...

this is like 'happy gilmore' going back to trading school and starting in kindergarten

Dinosaur Trader said...

This is true... but you can't think about the fundamentals enough.

Important to make them second nature. Right thinking is very important in this job.

-DT

Anonymous said...

I have both of the Wizards books sitting next to my bed. Probably read them 10 times each. Love to randomly turn to a chapter and start reading.

Ideas. Encouragement. Inspiration.

Great choice.

Anonymous said...

I accidentally dropped mine in the toilet. (I read in the bathroom when my schedule permits.) I was ten pages into it. My dog came in and started sniffing. I pushed him away, but he was determined. When he started to lick, I jumped up, dropped the book in the toilet, and managed to soil myself. Anyway, I had to buy another copy...for some reason I never got back into the first chapter. I'll try again this weekend.

Dinosaur Trader said...

LT,

Wow... just... wow.

Many questions to ask here, but I'm gonna let them all go.

-DT

Anonymous said...

Well for starters I learned to shut the damn door when I take a dump!