It’s been a while since I’ve updated my list of Best Trading Books which I recommend to traders looking to up their game. And there’s a good reason for that, I didn’t see anything interesting out there that would make it as a “Top Trading Book”, that’s till I recently came across this fantastic book. First I need to say this isn’t a paid or incentive driven review, I didn’t get a free book, and I have absolutely no affiliation with the writer. I just think that One Good Trade is a damn good trading book which almost any trader can benefit from.

I did skip the first couple of chapters (mostly prop trading related) but then instead of skimming through to the end like I would do with most new “get rich quick” / secret formula trading book for stocks / futures / options and all other instruments on the planet, I actually started seeing some really good material in it which kept me reading. It’s like one of those gem of a trading book that Dr. Brett Steenbarger publishes (his 2 books Enhancing Trader Performance and The Daily Trading Coach are absolute must read).

The author of One Good Trade, Mike Bellafiore covers almost everything you can think of in terms of the journey to becoming a good trader. From specific advice on Tools of Success:

To real world examples and explanations on sound trading building blocks such as

And more advanced stuff such as reading the tape, high frequency trading, when to press your winners etc.

Even if you’ve read dozens of trading books in the past (who hasn’t..) I would still encourage you to pick up this one.

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Update: I currently much prefer these trading video podcasts and lessons. There is significant amount of knowledge here well worth the time.

I recently signed up to the TradeTheMarkets daily video podcasts. They have a very different style from what I do, which makes it interesting to occasionally listen to and get a different perspective on things. When I just started out I’d devour this sort of information by the tonnage but after a while I shut almost all of it out from my area of focus. There are so many different trading methods and styles out there that it can be quite confusing, it can also throw you in different directions if you don’t have a profitable method that fits you locked down. I’ve not found anything yet that I can integrate into my trading but I’ll keep on checking them out for a while for fresh ideas.

This Tape Reading lessons 11/08/2007 is just one example of a video podcast. It was an interesting one to see and especially hear, they use a feed from the S&P trading pit and monitor it for timing the exit of the last 1/4 of a position. It was pretty intense and exciting to hear and also kindda fun but I think if I were to trade this way I’d probably have a nervous breakdown within a week. Might be useful for others though.

Tags: free trading video, learning to trade, profitable method, tape reading, trading pit, trading webinar, video podcasts

While browsing through QCharts features and indicators I came across an interesting measure which calculates the ratio between the Volume at Ask and Volume at Bid (more on this here).The premise is based on tape reading technique in which the health of the trend can be measured by looking at the strength (volume) of the traders sitting on the Ask (moving up) versus that of traders sitting on the Bid (moving down). QCharts may be a good application but the documentation is bollocks so I was looking online for some information on this feature and found this relevant Chat Transcript – Bid/Ask Analysis on EliteTrader.

So far I must say I’m quite happy with QChart, it has lots of features which I’ve never seen in any of the other charting apps I’ve used in the past.

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