Top 20 Books to Improve your Thinking as a Trader and Investor

*****David Blair, The Crosshairs Trader, is a blogger/trader/educator who does a wonderful job of sharing research on elite performance and how it relates to trading. Below is his latest post for the SMB trading community.***** — Editor’s Note

I am often asked to share my favorite stock trading books. Although I do have a shelf dedicated to the important technical aspect of trading, the rest of my library is devoted to what I believe has always been the most critically important subject for successful trading. Until recently, it is a subject that has been passively discussed, oftentimes merely treated as a footnote in most books dedicated to technical analysis. However, with the gaining popularity of neuroscience research, and for our purposes, neuroeconomic research, more and more traders and active investors are beginning to realize the the greater importance of not what we do but why we do what we do. The insights gained from the study of our behavior (why we do what we do) has the potential to take our trading to another level, a level very few attain mainly because most of us have been looking in the wrong place. We have been looking for what can increase our success (e.g., better technical tools), when we should be looking for why greater success is so elusive (e.g., our flawed thinking).

Although most of the following books do not mention stock investing specifically the principles discussed are vitally important to the high level of success that most of us seek to attain in the stock market. The question then becomes not “what are your favorite stock trading books?” but “what books most influenced your thinking?” The follow up question then becomes “are you willing to put forth the same amount of time (if not much more) to the study of your thinking as you have to the study of your charts?”

The following is a very short list of books to get you started on your road to rediscovery. Warning: you may find that your thinking stinks but this is the first sign that you recognize your need to change. In return, a positive change has the ability to enhance your trading success.

Neuroeconomics: Decision Making and the Brain (Paul W. Glimcher, et al editors)

Behavioral Finance: Investors, Corporations, and Markets (H. Kent Baker and John R. Nofsinger)

The Psychology of Judgment and Decision Making (Scott Plous)

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions (Dan Ariely)

Thinking, Fast and Slow (Daniel Kahneman)

Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness (Richard H. Thaler)

Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes and How To Correct Them: Lesson From the Life-Changing Science of Behavioral Economics (Gary Belsky)

Your Money and Your Brain: How the New Science of Neuroeconomics Can Help Make You Rich (Jason Zweig)

Investing and the Irrational Mind (Robert Koppel)

The Little Book of Behavioral Investing: How Not to be Your Own Worst Enemy (James Montier)

Trading in the Zone: Master the Market With Confidence, Discipline, and a Winning Attitude (Mark Douglas)

The Genius in All of Us (David Shenk)