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I rarely suggest trading books to my students. Anyone who has chatted with me for more than 5 minutes knows this. There have been over 10.000 books on trading written, but the vast majority of traders still lose money.
However, there is 1 book that I would suggest reading. It has been written by a successful industry trader that is well known for his AM/FX writeup: Brent Donnelly.
Naturally, when an experienced trader (that has traded multiple asset classes and has sat in different seats) puts pen to paper, new and experienced traders should get interested. Not too many (successful) industry traders can be bothered to go through the process of writing a book!
The number of anecdotes and examples that Brent has put in the book makes it not only instructive, but also really fun!
But what really sets this book apart from others is, in my opinion, Brent's work on describing the narrative and where trade ideas should come from. I've been helping traders since 2013 and generally speaking, too many traders spend too much time on detailed analysis of price charts...completely missing the real catalyst behind price movement in the first place: fundamental developments. Purely chart-oriented traders will benefit from this immensely.
Along the same lines, the chapters on the relative importance of technical analysis and how to incorporate market positioning and sentiment indications into your trading plan are well worth the price of the book alone.
I would have personally appreciated more trade examples that use the various concepts highlighted (seasonal patterns, NewsPivot, etc) but the examples in the book do offer a decent amount of insight and as a fellow author I also understand that by the time you're at those final chapters of the book, energy levels are pretty much exhausted.
Finally...the one peculiar thing you will notice about Alpha Trader is that the book's structure closely resembles my own choice for Building a Trader. The first part of the book is about what the job of trading actually entails. Then it goes into the psychological makeup of great traders, with exercises and food for thought. Only after this first cautionary part, does the book actually start talking about the practical side of trading.
I second this approach, and I used it for my own book, because successful market participants know how hard it is to remain in the black year after year while most aspiring traders totally underestimate how demanding the job really is.
Alpha Trader has some unique insights that make it a must-have for any new or experienced trader. And to make things even more interesting, Brent Donnelly himself will be coming over to Building a Trader in September or October for a live webinar!
So keep in touch for updates!
In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your summer.
Justin