With all the available info for free online, many of you still want an old-fashioned book to read about Forex trading.
I gotta respect that.
But is there even anything worth reading out there?
Episode 31’s question is from Kunal
“Are there any books on Forex trading you recommend I read?”
Kunal, Durban South Africa
Before we get started, since you’re here, I did write a book, so you can check that out too.
They Still Make Books?
Look, nothing makes me happier than to see people wanting to nerd out on Forex (as long as it’s relevant info they’re after).
And what’s nerdier than reading an actual book on the subject in 2019?
“Another chapter on Trend Lines……shit.”
I personally learn better with a physical book in my hand than I do staring at blue light all day.
With an actual book, I can filter out distractions, zone in, and take in the information as it was naturally meant to be taken in.
There aren’t a lot of Forex books even written anymore. But out of all the ones written, and all the trading psychology books to boot, there certainly has to be at least a few we can reference, no?
Well, there’s one problem with this…
Killers Island — Population: Us
Many of you are just used to the way we do things here at No Nonsense Forex. So much so, you’re forgetting one major trait about what we do here…
We do everything damn near the opposite as everyone else.
This is what made the material so appealing to you in the first place.
Your eyes were opened, and you escaped that bubble of redundant information that everyone else provided.
You changed, but that bubble didn’t. It’s still right there where it always was.
The rest of the Forex world, at least in regard to media outlets (books included), is still chirping away about support and resistance, supply and demand, fundamental analysis, yadda yadda.
It amazes me still to this day how absolutely nothing has changed. And these poor sheep who don’t know any better keep waddling right up to the feed trough to get their daily dose of useless indoctrination.
We are not them. We are the polar opposite of them.
“Good-by blown out accounts! We won’t miss you!”
So if we’re here, and they’re way over there, how am I supposed to recommend anything on the entire internet from one of those people?
And if I can’t recommend any of these online wonks, how on earth am I going to recommend a freaking BOOK?
There’s just nothing I can do for you, if this is what you were looking for.
Now in regard to trading psychology, there have been some decent books out on this topic.
But there’s a fatal flaw with these in my opinion.
They cover topics in way too much detail.
The same topics that you’ll see in my Trading Psychology playlist.
And if they don’t, they’re covering painfully obvious topics like “Don’t trade what you can’t afford to lose”, and “don’t chase losses”, and “don’t squat with spurs on”.
It’s taking a blow torch to an ant hill. Just watch a 30 minute video from me and get what you need that way. A 500 page book is just going to say the same thing.
*I actually do recommend a trading book on this blog post. Keep reading.
Mindset Is Everything
The books I do recommend, and most of you have seen me recommend them before, are mindset books.
Having a killer mindset, on a macro level, makes everything you do better.
It’s hard to explain until you’ve actually gone from a scarcity mindset to an abundant one.
The 1950’s version of the “American Dream” (a phrase created by home mortgage broker Fannie Mae) is still alive and well, and for a lot of people it’s a dream worth catching.
But thanks to the internet, there’s a new dream available. A dream that requires a departure from the “American Dream” mindset of the past.
In my not-so-humble opinion, regardless if you have the agility of a digital nomad, or have a big beautiful family at home, this mindset is crucial to achieving ultimate success in trading.
If I didn’t choose the red pill on this one, I can say with 100% confidence I wouldn’t be typing words on a screen for you all to read right now.
You may be different. Everyone is. I certainly am. But if I’m going to be the one recommending books, mindset books are what I’m recommending.
And very particular ones at that. You won’t find “The Secret” or “The Power of Positive Thinking” being recommended here. Though the latter wasn’t terrible.
The VP Book Club
“Just like the Oprah Book Club, but it’s awesome”
I’m going with it.
“Oh yeah? Count these stacks, bitch!”
Fair enough.
You’ve seen me recommend most of these at some point in the material. There will be a couple new entries however.
And full disclosure, I’m using Amazon affiliate links, which means if you click on the link to buy the book, I get a whopping 7% take, if that (still learning how these work).
I’m testing these out here, so I can use them for a different project elsewhere (completely non-Forex related).
Unfortunately, if you want to get rich selling Amazon affiliate products, Forex trading is a horrible niche to be in. But again, this is mainly for testing purposes, and I thank you for understanding.
Time to recommend some books!
The Trading Book For People Who Hate Me
Some of you love price action trading. I’m the anti-price action guy.
We appear to be an an impasse.
But that’s okay, I have something you may like.
This is the only actual book on technical Forex trading that’s not a complete dumpster fire.
Back when I was trying to find my own way, and before I went all-in on indicators, I did read one price action book that was well presented, and had a very viable strategy included.
This book was called “Attacking Currency Trends”, by Greg Michalowski.
He uses support and resistance lines, moving averages (but not the crossover kind, so he’s okay), and even the 5 minute chart!
Greg doesn’t get to live on our island.
But it’s an interesting strategy that I wish I could have at least tried to implement back then, but it would have involved me staying up from midnight to 10 o’clock in the morning.
You’ll see what I mean if you read it.
This book is a terrible idea for those of you wanting to trade the No Nonsense Forex way. It will only set you behind after you spent all this time building up a nice head of steam.
But for the price action-only crowd, don’t ever say I never gave you anything.
Get Your Mind Right!
You have your dreams, and I have mine.
Everyone is different, but all I ask is that you give one of these books a try if you haven’t already, and then you’ll know for sure if this new way of thinking is right for you.
There are hundreds of millions of people completely happy and fulfilled with the old way. There is no real winner here, just the mindset that is right for you.
But you owe it to yourself to at least know which side of the fence you belong.
Let’s begin.
“Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki
I spoke about this book at length in the podcast. It’s the first door you open to the rest of the abundance mindset. Of all these, read it first.
Plenty of people have shit on this book in the past, and I think that’s great. This is exactly what I’m looking for in a book, because it shows that a lot of the masses don’t approve.
Most of the trading masses don’t approve of my material either.
See the correlation?
It was written in the 90s, but books like this and “Think and Grow Rich” are timeless. They are entry level must-reads for anyone on my side of the fence.
He gets shit on for being a self-proclaimed huckster, but people foolishly allow that to deter them from what the book is all about — living like a rich person would.
You can do most of this without having lots of money. I’m serious.
And once you do, you will look at everything differently all the time, and in the best possible way.
“The 4 Hour Workweek” by Tim Ferriss
Badass
The logical next step after “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”. Drills down into how you can really start incorporating these principles into your own personal life.
The link takes you to the updated version, and even then, only the first half of the book is really relevant. But that first half is worth 50X the cost of the book.
I love the criticism too “You can’t just work 4 hours a week and get whatever you want, duh”.
That’s not what the book is about.
And I would argue that you can actually do that over time. Many do.
“Choose Yourself” by James Altucher
Much more of a modern-day version of the two books mentioned above. James is the host of one of my favorite podcasts (Just look up his name), and for 99 cents(!) on Kindle, you can’t afford NOT to read it.
It was good to read this one a year or so ago to keep me refreshed and motivated.
Now we move onto books that are less about “Initiative”, and more about “Discipline” and “Patience”.
“Discipline Equals Freedom: Field Manual” by Jocko Willink.
Written by the “World’s Scariest Human Being”. Decorated Navy Seal (and podcast host) Jocko Willink put out the most eye-opening book I’ve ever read when it comes to looking internally and unfucking our inner wimp.
This is the one book more than all the others that people have written me back and said “Wow, this changed everything”.
I recommend the hardcover over the Kindle version here. Read it and you’ll see why.
“The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living” by Ryan Holiday
Stoicism is the reason I can’t even remember the last time I had a bad day or got really angry over something.
It’s great, and forget what you previously knew about the word “stoic”. It’s different.
It mainly boils down to not concerning yourself with things you can’t control.
And it’s a 365 day calendar of sorts, that gives you one piece of stoic advice once daily.
Wanna keep bad emotions out of your trading? How about mostly keeping them out of your life!
I didn’t think there were ten facets to stoicism much less 366, but I learned something new almost every day.
If you get the hardcover, keep it in a place you frequent daily (toilet), and enjoy.
More than any other book, Daily Stoic impacts me the most now simply because it has been woven into my daily routine and overall outlook on life.
“Principles” by Ray Dalio
Boss Level Badass
The 17th richest man in the world (may have gone higher because of Bezos). And doesn’t trade like Warren Buffet, which is nice because almost none of us have the luxury of trading the way Buffet does.
This is a heavier book. Very macro. Not recommended for the trader who has only put in less than a year of trading.
And even still, a good amount of the info here isn’t relevant, but when you do get nuggets, you get golden nuggets.
Nerds like me eat this shit up.
Conclusion
I know there are other great books out there, but I have all I need thank you.
We’re all different cats, but chances are you and I think alike to a degree. Water seeks its own level after all.
And if any of these books make a change in you’re life, even a little, it was worth my time to make the blog post and the podcast.
If not, at least now you know, and we can all move forward.
Win/Win
— VP