Recommeded study plan before total beginner opens 1st account

[tatertrader]

I would add "Market Wizards" and "Market Wizards II" by Jack Schwager. along with "Schwager on Fundamental Analysis" and "Technical Analysis Explained" by Martin Pring. Before you trade a real dollar you should also read "Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom" by Dr.Van Tharp.

This may sound like a lot of reading, but I've managed to work my way through these books while engaged in active simulated trading over 3 months. The time has flown by and now that I'm making my first real trades it is really paying off.

BTW, if you are just starting out now, I would suggest leaving stocks alone for awhile as the market is so difficult, and looking into the E-mini futures (the E-mini S&P 500 contract is my weapon of choice). Novice traders are sometimes reluctant to venture into the unknown world of derivative futures, but I assure you the many advantages including,margin, tax treatment, ease of selling short (CRITICAL in this market) and the daily volatility and superb liquidity make it an ideal trading vehicle for these market conditions.

www.cme.com

 

[Rigel]

Originally posted by maestroM
Just recently began reading about short term investing & swing trading. Seems to be an overwhelming amount of info & opinions. Anyone willing to narrow the field for me as to what I should be reading/watching, etc? Have much to learn before opening 1st account & getting involved with REAL money!

.
You're getting ahead of yourself. You have to go through a stage when you look like this :eek:, then this , then this then this then this before you'll look like this LOL
Disillusionment, transformation, nirvana.

 

[Fitz]

Originally posted by Rigel

.
You're getting ahead of yourself. You have to go through a stage when you look like this :eek:, then this , then this then this then this before you'll look like this LOL
Disillusionment, transformation, nirvana.

That sums it up nicely. No matter how much one studies the above example will happen.

 

[Cesko]

BTW, if you are just starting out now, I would suggest leaving stocks alone for awhile as the market is so difficult, and looking into the E-mini futures (the E-mini S&P 500 contract is my weapon of choice).

Yep that's it, go trade futures they are much easier than stocks.

P.S. This post not supposed to be taken seriously.

 

[candletrader]

Originally posted by SilverBullet
Does anyone have a URL to order reminiscenses of a stock operator??

You can read it for free here:
http://www.stock-market-seminars.com/downloads/reminiscences-of-jesse-livermore.pdf

Its the full book, online as a 238 page pdf file, but personally I don't think its worth the price of the electricity used to read one chapter of it online...

Bo recommends Reminiscences as well as the Magee, Farley and Douglas books.. I most definitely agree with you, Bo, on the Magee, Farley and Douglas books, but I respectfully disagree with you on Reminiscences... Livermore was a bigtime swinger who kept on swinging too big... he blew his account up a few times before blowing a bullet through his head... you don't wanna be taking a book like that too seriously, or else you will lose all sense of risk control.... guys, by all means read it and search for the occasional gem in it (which is possibly what Bo was referring to)... but please don't trade like Livermore did!! Judging by the Book ratings for Reminiscences, I am in a distinct minority... but I am perfectly comfortable to be in the minority on this particular book...

 

[pretzel]

This book is a good start -



pretzel

 

[Brandonf]

The best way to learn is by going out there, trading and losing some money. Keep a diary of all of your trades and note what is working and what is not and why? If you do this you will learn more from it than you could from 1000 books.

Brandon

 

[tatertrader]

Originally posted by Cesko
BTW, if you are just starting out now, I would suggest leaving stocks alone for awhile as the market is so difficult, and looking into the E-mini futures (the E-mini S&P 500 contract is my weapon of choice).

Yep that's it, go trade futures they are much easier than stocks.

P.S. This post not supposed to be taken seriously.

Easy is not part of the equation. I don't understand your point, and I think you do a great disservice to someone starting out with that kind of blanket bias generalization.

 

[T/A_Bo]

That's actually one of the reasons I love "Reminiscences" Candletrader! I learned more about what NOT to do from that book then anything else. I read it early on in my “career”. The wild swings of this guys life, his stubbornness and heavy “plunging” really put the fear of the trading Gods into me. This story and the fact that my first trade went bad both worked to really instill a respect for market risk.

For me the value of that book comes from the lessons about trading the long pull, and also from the mistakes he made. But in particular his exploits in cotton, and how he uses the market and news to provide liquidity took me to a new level of market understanding. I began to “see” the big guns moving the market, setting traps, and testing support levels as they decide where to put on a big position.

IMO he pretty much makes every classic mistake in that book. Those descriptions helped me identify when I stepped in the same holes and saved me from some sticky situations early on. It seemed self evident to me which parts of his life a trader would wish to emulate So maybe the book needs to be read with that caveat!

-Bo

P.S. The E-mini index futures are about as wily a market as you can find. The “pirana factor” is very high. NOT a place for beginners.... you have far too many expert competitors, too much leverage, and an inflexible contract size. They are in instrument to graduate to, not to begin with in my strong opinion.

 

[Cesko]

Easy is not part of the equation. I don't understand your point, and I think you do a great disservice to someone starting out with that kind of blanket bias generalization.

I think you started with generalization. If you say stock market is difficult and then go on recommending futures, what does it mean? IMO it's all the same, basically, except the leverage. Service or disservice, what kind of service you provide by recommending futures to a total neophyte? Do you work for CME?