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There are many trading books you’ll find out there. These books cover various topics, such as profitable trading strategies, macroeconomic theory, and technical analysis.
However, one valuable topic you can learn is how to acquire and maintain trading psychology habits to become successful in your career.
In this article, we listed 11 books about trading psychology. Whether you’re a beginner or a professional trader, we have books suitable for every type of trader.
11 Books on Trading Psychology
1. The Daily Trading Coach
Our first pick on our best trading books is The Daily Trading Coach: 101 Lessons For Becoming Your Own Trading Psychologist by Dr. Brett Steenbarger. This book is the ultimate trader’s self-help book, providing detailed tips on trading success and answers to whatever it is you’re struggling with regarding trading.
Dr. Steenbarger’s other book, Trading Psychology 2.0, compliments this book about trading psychology through years of research.
This book offers 101 practical and actionable lessons on how to coach yourself to be a better trader. The author also wrote it as if a performance coach is coaching readers on systematically improving their trading.
All valuable lessons in the book follow the same general format: identifying an everyday challenge that traders typically face, an approach to meeting that challenge, and a specific suggestion for implementing that approach.
This book is excellent for serious traders who need access or cannot rely on their performance coach. Not to mention, it has been recommended by reputable trading coaches. Overall, it’s a great book to pick up if you need help overcoming a specific problem in your trading performance.
2. Market Wizards
The next trading psychology book on our list is Market Wizards by Jack D. Schwager, a famous trading author. Schwager has also written other universally-recognized best trading books. One book is Market Wizards: Interviews with Top Traders.
Before becoming a best-selling author, Jack was a trader. He started his career as a celebrity writer with Market Wizards, where he interviewed the most successful traders of their time.
However, this book is different from a trading psychology book. Instead, it explores the world of elite trading. More specifically, it studies what various millionaire and billionaire trading experts do compared to the moderate trader.
This book will make you realize how good trading psychology is vital to trading success. Each page of this masterpiece offers valuable advice, which all types of traders can resonate with. Hence, it is one of our top picks.
Some topics that this book covers include market wizards, forex, stocks, and commodities. It also contains options ranging from independent to Wall Street traders and hedge fund managers. Simply put, Market Wizards is one of the most comprehensive trading books you’ll ever read.
Another thing to admire about this book is how fascinating and enlightening it is. You should add this to your library if you’re a serious trader or a beginner in the trading industry.
3. The Disciplined Trader
Another very popular trading book you should read is this book by Mark Douglas titled, The Disciplined Trader: Developing Winning Attitudes. This trading book serves as a guide to better understanding the psychology of personal transformation and self-discipline needed to be a successful trader.
Furthermore, this is one of the first books to focus on the role of a healthy psychology in a trader’s success instead of methodology. Without it and despite following the best methods, you can still fail.
Regardless, it’s more enjoyable and educational than other trading psychology books. Douglas’s writing makes the book entertaining, conversational, and informative.
Overall, this book is suitable for those struggling with trading. It will surely activate light-bulb moments and realizations about yourself.
4. Trading In The Zone by Mark Douglas
Similar to The Disciplined Trader, this trading psychology book offers many nuggets of wisdom for aspiring traders. Trading In The Zone is the perfect read for those seeking motivation and encouragement during challenging times.
Mark’s trading career started in the late 1970s. One day, he decided to commit to his passion for mastering the financial markets. So, he left his six-figure income profession to become a broker for Merrill Lynch at the Chicago Board of Trade.
The book’s spiritual tone will enlighten the reader and touches on a couple of esoteric subjects, such as examining what the human experience truly is.
Additionally, it is written in a grounded yet intuitive way that will make the reader quickly understand the text. It also suggests practical ideas and tactics that you can apply in your life.
5. Market Mind Games
Another book considered one of the best trading psychology books is Market Mind Games: A Radical Psychology of Investing, Trading, and Risk.
Market Mind Games is a book by Denise Shull that takes a research on trading psychology to a different level. The author shares his observations and experiences as a trading coach. It also includes the top scientific research and literature.
Furthermore, this book digs deeper into the science behind trading psychology. More specifically, it examines what drives humans’ emotions and thought processes when dealing with inconvenient situations.
This book is worth reading if you’re looking for a trading psychology book that will teach you self-awareness and good mental habits. It will make you better comprehend how to compensate for our tendency to make poor decisions related to our predictions of the future.
Not only that, but it will also help you turn it into an asset.
6. High-Performance Trading
Another book that made it to our list of best trading psychology books is Performance Trading: 35 Practical Strategies and Techniques to Enhance Your Trading Psychology and Performance by Steve Ward.
Like other authors on this list, Ward is a performance coach with a respected reputation. He has also worked with elite teams and athletes in over 30 sports, including adventure, endurance and extreme sports.
One exciting thing about this book is how the author leverages his experience with high-performing, high-pressure athletes to help traders get the most out of their talents. If you’re also an athlete, you’ll definitely enjoy reading this!
7. Trading Psychology 2.0
Our next pick on our list of the best trading psychology books is Trading Psychology 2.0: From Best Practices to Best Processes by Dr. Brett Steenbarger. If you’re looking for a book to help you have a successful trading career, this is worth the read and every cent.
Dr. Steenbarger is successful and well-known in the trading world. Not only that, but he also takes his craft seriously. Besides his notable work in highly successful trading firms, Mark Douglas also teaches at a university in New York.
Trading Psychology 2.0 gives readers a comprehensive guide to applying the science of psychology to the art of trading. Dr. Steenbarger contains decades of his research on all pages of his book.
Additionally, he gives critical advice and proven methods for all traders to better understand the market and themselves. He also offers actionable and practical solutions that readers can apply right away.
Once you finish reading this book, you will have a deeper understanding of the core of trading psychology. You will also gain the perspective of experienced, successful traders.
8. Trading to Win
Another great book about trading psychology is Trading to Win: The Psychology of Trading Markets by Dr. Ari Kiev, a highly experienced psychiatrist.
This book is relevant in our modern world since we are now vocal about suicide prevention and mental health. Unfortunately, Dr. Kiev passed away in 2019, but he left a legacy by writing an excellent trading psychology book for modern-day traders.
Like other trading psychology books, Trading to Win encourages and motivates traders.
9. New Trader, Rich Trader (1&2)
You might be wondering why there are two books, and that’s because both books tell two sides of the same story of Steve Burns, who has been trading and investing in the stock market for more than two decades. We suggest you read the first book to understand the second one better.
The first book tells fictionalized experiences of Steve Burns as a beginner trader. Meanwhile, the second book revisits his life after attaining “trader enlightenment” and becoming a consistently profitable trader.
This book may be a fictionalized memoir instead of a typical trading book. However, it still educates readers on good trading psychology.
Steve Burns represents the ordinary trader, which makes it easier for the reader to connect with the book. His experiences will provide valuable insight into the growth and process of becoming a profitable trader.
10. Atomic Habits
Another great book is Atomic Habits by James Clear. This book may not be the kind of book you’ll expect on this list. However, it gives valuable advice on developing powerful mental habits that you can apply in trading.
The author is a blogger-turned-novelist full of wisdom. So, it’s no surprise why his book became a best-seller.
Traders require self-discipline and strong willpower, which cultivate good habits. For instance, disciplined traders don’t need to remind themselves to stay in their position or stick to their trading plan rules. Instead, they now do these things because they’ve become their habits.
Successful traders have these behaviors which come naturally to them. In other words, it has become a routine. Aspiring and beginner traders struggling with self-discipline will surely learn a thing or two from this book.
11. Reminiscences of a Stock Operator
Our last pick is the Reminisces of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefevre. This book may have been published in 1923, but it offers tried and tested techniques that you can still use in our modern world.
The book is about Jesse Livermore, a legendary trader many aspiring traders look up to. His story is also essential in the industry of trading.
The author writes his story sophisticatedly and offers a deep analysis of how to trade successfully.
On the other hand, it provides actions on what can ruin a trader. This book is for you if you’re an aspiring trader interested in day trading. It is also suitable for the beginner trader since it gives a realistic view of a highly successful trader
Final Words
Trading is a highly competitive and unforgiving industry. A trader’s main task is to maintain consistent profits and minimize risk. So, it’s important to have self-discipline and develop good trading habits to contribute to their success.
We listed the 11 best trading psychology books to help you become successful in trading.
