Top 5 Books on Technical Analysis
So today I’m going to share the top 5 books on technical analysis. Before letting you know the list, let me give some advice.
No.1 is, just pick 1 or 2 books from the list. You don’t need to read all of them because a lot of content is common and there is no point repeating the same stuff over again.
No.2 is don’t treat technical analysis as an exact science. Instead of approaching it like maths or science, approach it more like sociology or human psychology. After all technical analysis is a study of human behaviour in the context of greed and fear.
No.3, understand the logic behind technical patterns and why they repeat themselves?
Just knowing what a head and shoulders or a Bullish Engulfing pattern look like doesn’t mean you learn technical analysis. You need to know the reasons why the head and shoulders pattern forms and why bullish engulfing signals are trend reversals.
No.4 is to apply this knowledge to the current stocks and charts.
Some of these books were written 20, 30, and even 60 years ago. Although the core concepts are still relevant, the charts in some of these books are outdated.
Therefore read one chapter at a time and then apply that knowledge to the stocks that you are familiar with.
No.5, don’t get intimidated by US jargon. You will get used to them quickly. Unfortunately, there isn’t a single Indian author who could capture the nuances of technical analysis. Most of the Indian authors have just copied and pasted the content from one of these books and done a very poor job at that.
All right. So now that my advice is out of the way let’s get into the list.
No.1 is “Technical analysis” explained by Martin Pring. Martin does a nice job of covering the key topics and gives some very sound explanations of the core concepts. It’s a good book, but not my favourite because it’s kind of wordy. However, several traders that I admire swear by this book and that’s why it’s on my list.
No.2 is “Technical analysis of financial markets” by John Murphy. This is one of the best technical analysis books I have ever read and I have read it at least five times. It’s a very comprehensive book and a great starting point for beginners. A very strong recommendation from my side.
No.3 is technical analysis of stock prints by Edwards and McGee.
This is the book that got me started and arguably the Bible of technical analysis. I have a hard copy of this at my desk not much for reference, but more for nostalgic reasons. Even though it was published 60 years ago, the concepts are so well explained that it beats almost every other book written on this topic.
The only problem that I hear from my students about this book is that the examples taken are very old and sometimes it’s hard to relate them to the Indian market.
No.4 is Japanese candlestick charting techniques by Steve Nison. If you are new to the candlestick charts, this book is a must to read. Nison was a pioneer in the introduction to candlestick charts and there is no other author who captured the essence of candlestick patterns as Nison. This book is big and has clear charts showing how to read each type of candlestick formation.
Again, a strong recommendation from my side.
No.5 is the last but not the least encyclopedia of chart patterns by Thomas Bulkowski.
This is an exhaustive effort to collect all the chart patterns and a lot of traders I know, use it as a ready reference guide. If you are one of those traders who get confused between the chart patterns, this book should be on your desk. If you put a gun to my head and forced me to pick two books out of this list, it would be Murphy and Nison.
Both of them are solid for beginners. So, this is the list. Now take action and go hunting for these books. Most of them are available online for free and read through them like a treasure map. By the way, you should be proud of yourself that instead of taking shortcuts, like many others, you’re trying to learn to trade the right way.
I promise you these 5 books will put you on the right track.
Good luck…
Top 5 Books on Technical Analysis
So today I’m going to share the top 5 books on technical analysis. Before letting you know the list, let me give some advice.
No.1 is, just pick 1 or 2 books from the list. You don’t need to read all of them because a lot of content is common and there is no point repeating the same stuff over again.
No.2 is don’t treat technical analysis as an exact science. Instead of approaching it like maths or science, approach it more like sociology or human psychology. After all technical analysis is a study of human behaviour in the context of greed and fear.
No.3, understand the logic behind technical patterns and why they repeat themselves?
Just knowing what a head and shoulders or a Bullish Engulfing pattern look like doesn’t mean you learn technical analysis. You need to know the reasons why the head and shoulders pattern forms and why bullish engulfing signals are trend reversals.
No.4 is to apply this knowledge to the current stocks and charts.
Some of these books were written 20, 30, and even 60 years ago. Although the core concepts are still relevant, the charts in some of these books are outdated.
Therefore read one chapter at a time and then apply that knowledge to the stocks that you are familiar with.
No.5, don’t get intimidated by US jargon. You will get used to them quickly. Unfortunately, there isn’t a single Indian author who could capture the nuances of technical analysis. Most of the Indian authors have just copied and pasted the content from one of these books and done a very poor job at that.
All right. So now that my advice is out of the way let’s get into the list.
No.1 is “Technical analysis” explained by Martin Pring. Martin does a nice job of covering the key topics and gives some very sound explanations of the core concepts. It’s a good book, but not my favourite because it’s kind of wordy. However, several traders that I admire swear by this book and that’s why it’s on my list.
No.2 is “Technical analysis of financial markets” by John Murphy. This is one of the best technical analysis books I have ever read and I have read it at least five times. It’s a very comprehensive book and a great starting point for beginners. A very strong recommendation from my side.
No.3 is technical analysis of stock prints by Edwards and McGee.
This is the book that got me started and arguably the Bible of technical analysis. I have a hard copy of this at my desk not much for reference, but more for nostalgic reasons. Even though it was published 60 years ago, the concepts are so well explained that it beats almost every other book written on this topic.
The only problem that I hear from my students about this book is that the examples taken are very old and sometimes it’s hard to relate them to the Indian market.
No.4 is Japanese candlestick charting techniques by Steve Nison. If you are new to the candlestick charts, this book is a must to read. Nison was a pioneer in the introduction to candlestick charts and there is no other author who captured the essence of candlestick patterns as Nison. This book is big and has clear charts showing how to read each type of candlestick formation.
Again, a strong recommendation from my side.
No.5 is the last but not the least encyclopedia of chart patterns by Thomas Bulkowski.
This is an exhaustive effort to collect all the chart patterns and a lot of traders I know, use it as a ready reference guide. If you are one of those traders who get confused between the chart patterns, this book should be on your desk. If you put a gun to my head and forced me to pick two books out of this list, it would be Murphy and Nison.
Both of them are solid for beginners. So, this is the list. Now take action and go hunting for these books. Most of them are available online for free and read through them like a treasure map. By the way, you should be proud of yourself that instead of taking shortcuts, like many others, you’re trying to learn to trade the right way.
I promise you these 5 books will put you on the right track.
Good luck…
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