45 Books Like Think & Trade Like a Champion

Of all the books about trading written over the decades, perhaps none is still so beloved, revered, and followed as this 1923 classic by journalist Edwin Lefèvre. Although technically a work of fiction, the book really is about the life and trading style of one of the greatest speculators of all time, Jesse Livermore (told under the guise of “Larry Livingston”).

What makes this book such a treasure is not just its fun prose, and interesting glimpse into what the process of investing in old exchanges and “bucket shops” was over a century ago, when ticker-tape and board boys with chalk and ladders were one’s only information about market prices, but also how the mind of one of the world’s greatest traders worked.

This book offers many gems of knowledge about trading—based upon the general principle that, although methods and technologies change, human nature does not and therefore “there is… show more.

William O’Neil’s How To Make Money In Stocks is great for anyone looking to learn how to trade stocks part-time.

It gives you a framework of what actually causes stocks to make the big moves of 300%, 500%, 1,000% or more over the span of a few months to a few years along with a historical perspective of why they move the way they move and a strategy of how to take advantage of it that doesn’t require tuning into the news or being glued to a PC all day.

One of the big things you’ll learn in O’Neil’s book is that modeling success is key. The book starts out with over 100 pages of annotated charts of the biggest winning stocks in history. What you’ll quickly notice is that history repeats itself, over and over again.

This is another book by a short-term trader. And it reads like a novel. It’s truly a fascinating book about making money in the stock market. Darvas is honest and talks about how lucky he has been on many occasions. What I love most is that this book is from 1960! It’s not a get-rich-quick scheme or whatever.

Darvas, who passed away in 1977, was actually a professional dancer who loved trading stocks. He didn’t try to sell his ideas. He simply wrote an honest account of how he made his money. Much of his knowledge on investing is self-learned, which is how most ordinary folks learn about the stock market. That’s why I highly recommend his book.

Van Tharp’s Super Trader is the book that changed my perspective on trading.

After reading it I began thinking of trading like a business (O’Neil touches on this as well) that works best with well-designed systems and processes.

Tharp goes deep into psychology and belief systems. He says “We don’t actually trade the market. We trade our beliefs about the market.” If this is the case, we better gain as much awareness of our beliefs as we can! He was a huge inspiration in this department and was one of my biggest inspirations in the realm of trading psychology.

Tharp also introduces position sizing concepts in this book that reveal “how much we bet” has far more to do with our overall success in trading than most anything else. Even more so than where we enter and exit. 

We sometimes think patterns like a double top or a triangle are old-fashioned and not useful, but Bulkowksi not only demonstrates but proves otherwise. He set the standard for how technical analysis should be presented—with hard facts about how a pattern is identified, how well it works on specific securities over time, its gain/loss ratio, and other data. And he provides updates on his website. Bulkowski has also done simillar work on swing trading and candlesticks. I like Bulkowski’s work because he uses the scientific approach of forming a hypothesis, testing and re-testing it, and honestly reporting whether a hypothesis is valid (or to what extent it can be trusted).

The classic from 1972 is the book that inspired me to write 100 Baggers. Phelps studied all the stocks that returned at least 100 to 1 from 1932 to 1971. You’ll learn where to look for 100 to 1 stocks and what key traits to focus on. Phelps writes in a folksy and quotable manner as he expounds on his philosophy of buying right and holding on. He writes, “When I was a boy a carpenter working for my father made this sage observation: ‘A lot of shavings don’t make a good workman.’” Let Phelps show you the power of patient, long-term investing.

An easy read for the retirement investor. 

It helps you understand what the real risks are and how to own equities (the world’s great businesses) to create a rising income stream in retirement.

I am usually jealous when I read anything from Nick Murray – wishing I had his gift of communicating with great conviction and humor.

I believe in the message of this book so much that I send it to clients on the one-year anniversary of our relationship!

Just the fact that this is the tenth edition tells me that this is a financial classic. Once your credit is solid and you know how to save, you’ll want to make your money grow. Understanding investment terms will demystify financial planners' and brokers' jargon so you won't be disadvantaged.

I like the fact that this book fits in my pocket and doesn’t weigh 50 pounds! I never have to ask, “What are you talking about?” when I meet an investment professional. It’s an easy-to-use resource.

Good trading does not always involve just buying and selling decisions. If it was, trading would be much easier! To be a successful trader, you must have your psychological “house” in order. And that is what this book is superb for. Trade Your Way To Financial Freedom assists you in navigating the turbulent mental, emotional and psychological waters all traders face.

I love Brett Steenberger’s books. He is a psychologist and coach but also a successful trader. He combines his insights from each of these roles to help traders understand how to develop themselves and their processes. Like the Oracle of Delphi, Steenberger believes that to succeed, you first need to ‘know yourself’ and shows how to go about developing self-honesty and insight.

I particularly like the attention he pays to the need to adapt to changing market conditions, including changes in technology and trading automation. I really like the insights he offers on the difficulties of noticing and accepting when your old processes no longer work and you need to build new processes based on your understanding of how to fit your strengths to new market conditions.