On the weekend the markets are closed, and that is a good time to learn. I usually spend a bit of time on Sunday evening studying, when I am not engaged with the charts.
I am not talking about hunting for a new strategy, that just gets confusing. I mean improving your mindset and perspective. Here are three books that helped me a lot.
Key takeaways
When the market is closed you have time to study and improve without the pressure of live trades.
Chasing new strategies gets confusing, so work on your psychology and perspective instead.
The Candlestick Trading Bible teaches what candles mean so you can trade real price action, not lagging indicators.
Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas shows how to apply your edge without stressing over any single trade.
Best Loser Wins by Tom Hougard teaches you how to deal with losses so they stop hurting your account.
Studying a little throughout your whole career is how you stay at the level you want to be.
The Candlestick Trading Bible
This was the first trading book I ever read. It shows you exactly what candlesticks mean, individually and in groups, and the meaning behind each movement.
It helps you realize what price action actually is, so you can trade on price alone rather than indicators that lag and only show you what already happened.
Get the PDF version. There are a lot of illustrations, so an audiobook will not help. You need to see the images.
“Trading on price action is much more advantageous than trading on indicators that are usually lagging.”
Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas
This one has been recommended by a lot of people, and it is one of the top trading books ever written. Mark Douglas was a trading psychology coach and a trader himself.
He coached a lot of successful traders, so the book comes from real experience.
What it teaches is how to think in a probability-based approach instead of judging each individual trade. I talk about that on the podcast, but he lays out exactly how to build that mindset.
Best Loser Wins by Tom Hougard
The third book is Best Loser Wins by Tom Hougard. It is a great read and I have mentioned it before.
What it teaches you is how to deal with losses, and how to be able to handle them very easily.
Put the three together and you have a path. The first teaches you technical analysis, the second teaches you to apply it without stress, and the third teaches you to deal with losses.
While you study, compare prop firms on Propvator so you are ready to trade when you are.