The New Trading for a Living: Psychology, Discipline, T… (2024)

If I was doomed to pick only a single book on trading, I would seriously consider Alexander Elder's The new trading for a living. My impression is that, so far, this is one of the best books in the genre of general trading that I came across.

Alexander Elder (MD), having his background in psychology, delivers invaluable insights about this incredibly important component of psychology in trader’s endeavor. One even will find a small test and a template for the readiness to trade. As it is well known, the weakest link in the trading system is the trader itself. If the nerve is not in control, it can be really devastating. Elder is an expert in this field and he discusses many important aspects of it throughout the book.

The strategies Elder proposes in his work are apparently working well for him. However, if one expects to be able to simply adapt the strategies presented in the book and start generating money straight away based on them, I would say, it would not be so simple. The author doesn’t provide a very structured step-by-step recipe what to do in terms of setting up a particular strategy with all required indicators etc. For a beginner without technical analysis background it might be quite difficult to grasp some concepts without additional studies. But this book is a good starting level. The intent of the book probably wasn’t to give a cook book (which is per se, in my opinion, is extremely hard, due to the nature of the markets and their plasticity and risk for strategy obsoleting), but rather to describe all important components in the process of trading, risk and money management issues, which are essential no matter what kind of strategy one intends to design and implement. The author provides a good and clear introduction to technical analysis, indicators, signals, instruments, what to trade, etc. He proposes his own methods together with some interesting points on trading vehicles and how to avoid being severely injured by the sharks or instantly consumed by a swarm of piranhas.

I liked how the author structures the book, wisely complements his theses with clear examples, good quality charts. The author’s style of writing is especially appealing, he uses a lot of beautifully fitting metaphors making important points live, convincing, and sometimes very funny.

Risk management chapter alone is a wisdom so credibly conveyed which could save many accounts and grievances of the beginners. The price on Amazon is 39 USD for this book now, which may turn into an investment with the highest return ever for many greenhorns out there who know it all without any preparatory studies. The author stresses on the importance of documenting the trading process, keeping structured records and journals, which I totally agree on and try to do myself, considering it as the critical part in building the edge and improvement. There are some great tips on that in the book.

For the experienced traders, the content of the book probably would not disclose something very revolutionary. I would rather seem to be a book filled with a lot of common sense, known technicalities, systems and rules, basically the things which we practice already with a certain level of discipline. However, even pros get wiped out from time to time, and that is often due to breaking some of the rules outlined in this book.

My overall take on this book is -- a compulsory read for the beginners, and a valuable general wisdom of trading for the pros.

There’s a separate study guide available, and that will be my next step giving myself a firmer grasp of the essential trading rules and skills and help me master the key points of Elder’s excellent book.

I re-read this book after having traded for a living for a while now, I read it for the first time before I started trading for a living. I can't think of a better book than this on this topic. The book covers everything from trading strategies to psychology to journaling techniques, in the most organized format. Each chapter is quite short and this book can be slowly read over a long period for better assimilation. I highly recommend this book for anyone considering trading for a living or trading as a serious business, it's the most simplified yet comprehensive trading book ever written.

PS: I have been regularly using the Elder's Index described in the book and is working well for my trading system.

The key message in this book:

Success on the market is determined by knowledge, focus and discipline. With a firm understanding of the traps of individual and crowd psychology, and confidence in classical chart analysis, you’re well on your way to earning your living as a trader.

Does $45 seem like a lot of money to spend on an ebook? Think again. I have already made many multiples of that amount thanks to Dr. Elder. The fact is there is no easy way to make money as an individual trader in the stock market. Developing a system that takes into account numerous market forces and variables is essential to success. I've been trading for about 5 plus years so I'm a newbie for sure- but I've read at least 50 books if not more on the subject and this one is far and away the best for understanding how various indicators work and how to build a reliable system for trading stock. If you are a beginner, you should understand that no single book will provide you with all the information you need to make money trading stock. After you read a few books and have a working knowledge of basic candlestick patterns and technical analysis, I recommend this book to fine tune your understanding of a handful of trading tools and indicators. I read several other books about many of the tools described in this book, but Dr. Elder's insights into crowd psychology and the limits of each tool significantly improved my ability to use them to make money. The book also introduced me to the Impulse tool, created by Dr. Elder, which has become an indispensable element in my trading analysis. Trading is NOT for everyone, it is not about getting rich quick- it is about steady and ongoing small gains that are cumulatively larger than the ongoing small losses. The market is brutally honest in its assessment of your ability to trade and make money and there are no second chances-when you make a bad trade the money is gone. If you come into the market expecting big riches for little effort, you will lose your money. The good news is virtually anyone can make money in the stock market with educated buys, by understanding crowd behavior, and through minimizing risk. If you are focused on making money, Dr. Elder provides tools to help serious traders understand market forces. Add this book to your library as an essential resource if you are serious about learning how to trade and beat the odds.

اول باید بگم که اگر فکر میکنید که باید همه کتاب های آقای الدر را بخونید سخت در اشتباهید. با وجود اینکه عناوین متفاوته اما من سه کتاب دیگه ای که از ایشون بودند نگاه کردم همه یکی بودند. این کتاب هم بهترنشونه و فقط خوندن این کتاب کافیه
سیستم های معاملاتی که معرفی کردند شاهکار و واضحه از جمله سیستم سه صفحه ای
من خود سیستم سه صفحه ای را دربازار فارکس امتحان کردم، شاید اهداف انچنانی براتون ترسیم نکنه اما اهداف معقول و مطمینی براتون ترسیم میکنه. مطمینم از استفادش پشیمون نخواهید شد.

Best general book on trading I have ever come across.

A must-read for anyone into financial markets!

A must-read book for anyone who wants to become a good trader, or at least, wants to know how to survive the brutality of the markets

Prima boek met veel info om traden te gaan leren.

10 stars!!!!
If you're going to read only one book about trading, this is the book for you! And for everyone else who is interested in trading.

I read this book in one of my courses in college and came back to see if it was still a good resource. It is a VERY good resource, a must have for anyone interested in trading.

****

I have not read the original so I can not compare it.

A beautifully printed and bound hodge-podge of helpful hints for semidiscretionary traders, including trading psychology, basic risk management and position sizing, a range of technical analysis from basic to advanced (though not basic enough a man without any competence in TA could benefit: strong focus on indicator divergences and unfair dismissal of classic charting and trendlines) and record-keeping, enough for a private trader and beneficial for learning but not nearly enough for professional compliance (but the book isn't a tax manual either). Elder circles around the insight that profit comes from money management and risk management more than good entries, but never quite drives the point home, instead focusing on the concept of the 'A trade', of which a quarter at least is defined by the 'high probability entry'.

Additional materials available for download are helpful - I do not know about the (ostensibly free) site, SpikeTrade, with trade journal forms, etc. mentioned several times.

This is a good complement to 'Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom' (risk management and psychology - what was it Yogi Berra said about theory and practice), 'Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets' (TA), 'The Definitive Guide to Point and Figure' and 'The Encyclopedia of Technical Market Indicators' (advanced TA), and 'Reminiscences of a Stock Operator' (everything) as a basic educational course for the autodidactic semi/discretionary trader in all markets, later to be supplemented by market- (such as options) and technique-specific books, and hopefully eventually ones on machine learning, pattern recognition, and system optimization for those who become serious about 'Trading for a Living'.

Some sections stronger than others, I give between 3.5 and 5.1 stars overall: let's call it 4.25.

It's a good book for beginner traders. The book contains lots of information which a new trader should know about trading, such as crowd psychology, risk management, stop loss and taking profit, a system for trading. In my opinion, there is no new information for advanced traders. I have already known the informations in the book. The better choice for advanced traders may be the books of John F. Ehlers in terms of developing indicators. If you are an electronics engineer you can easily understad Ehlers' formulas.

Anyway, Elder's book is also a great book for learning trading. It should be read by traders at the beginning level.
(English is not my native language, sorry for mistakes).

This book explain more than psychology. It is better than trading in the zone. Good good that explains many important topic.

I have read more books on investing in the past year and a half then I ever thought I would. This one was recommended in The Cashflow Quadrant, so I wanted to pick it up. First, this book is aptly named - it is more about trading than investing. I have been in the 'value investing' school of book recommendations, and it's jarring to read a book about the stock market that does not even talk about fundamental analysis of companies.

Instead, Elder focuses strictly on technical analysis, although to be fair he does argue that the chart shows everything you need to know on fundamental analysis anyways. If you are wanting to learn how to trade, including day trade, this would be the first book I recommend to you. It's also great for learning more about technical indicators, like MACD and stochastic divergences. I used a few of these that I learned about from Rule #1 and have tweaked them after reading this, as well as adding a few more.

His insights into self-psychology, crowd psychology, and risk management are worth the price of the book, even if you ignore the rest. Learning how to invest following his risk management advice will help you gain a lot of experience quickly with a very acceptable risk based on your account size. That said, I will only use the technical tools here, most likely, when deciding the best time to exit a trade based on chart analysis. Worth reading if you are already well versed in value investing or are looking for a good follow up on the technical analysis of Rule #1 by Phil Town.

Võtsin selle raamatu ette kindla kavatsusega päevakauplemine endale selgeks teha. Raamatu esimene pool läks väga ladusalt, aga millalgi poole raamatu pealt sain aru, et nii lihtne see asi ikka ei ole. Ilmselt maksimum, mida suudaksin saavutada, on swing-kauplemine.
Ma arvan, et see raamat sobib paremini neile, kes juba mõnda aega börsil tegutsenud ja pigem isegi veidi päevakauplemist proovinud. Algajale on siin korraga liiga palju infot ja erinevaid teooriaid, nii et seda on keeruline korraga meelde jätta ja arvestada. Mul ausalt öeldes ajud juba aurasid vahepeal suurest pingutusest.
Raamatus oli ka veidi liiga palju kordusi, mille tõttu kippus lugemine vahepeal natuke tüütuks minema. Aga jah, mida vähem on esialgu reegleid, millest kinni pidada, seda lihtsam. Pole vaja korraga kõike seda endale pähe ajada, saab kätt harjutada ka vähematele reeglitele toetudes.
Selle raamatu töövihik on mul ka, nii et lähipäevil kavatsen testida, kas oskan teha õigeid valikuid.

This is a detailed book primarily aimed at short term or day trading from a US perspective. The book includes in depth narratives on four major aspects the author feels are essential, psychology, tactics, risk management and record-keeping. Prior to becoming a trader and author Dr. Alexander was a psychiatrist so his insight into the psychology of the markets comes from a very appropriate perspective. It is easy to wrongly see the market as an automaton that can be predicted when it is in fact other human players who you are trying to outmanoeuvre, your task being how to work out how to get money out of their pockets and into yours. My own interest is long term where a knowledge of the companies invested in and their fundamentals are key and for this One up on Wall Street was more appropriate, but if you are interested in charts, true and fake breakouts, kangaroo tails and the like then this is the book for you.

Do you sometimes catch a glimpse of Bloomberg or the financial update on the news and think, “Wow, look at all those people making money. Maybe I should get in on that!” Well, why not? The financial markets are open to all, and there is a lot of money out there, waiting to be made. Just look at the vast wealth of George Soros or Warren Buffet.

However, jumping into financial trading without knowing what you are doing is not wise. If you get things wrong, you could end up losing a lot. Therefore, before starting your new life as a trader, read these blinks. Based on the thinking of a market expert, they map out the basic rules every beginning trader should know.

Success on the market is determined by knowledge, focus and discipline. With a firm understanding of the traps of individual and crowd psychology, and confidence in classical chart analysis, you’re well on your way to earning your living as a trader.

Dr. Elder shared a possible way to make a living in this book. Here is one of his quote in the book, "You can be free. You can live and work anywhere in the world. You can be independent from routine and not answer to anybody."

Dr. Elder emphasised numerous time in the book the journey to be a consistent profitable trader is not easy, but it will be very rewarding on the other side.

In this book Dr. Elder start with trading psychology -> trade planning (risk management) -> trading strategy (setups & indicators). The message suggest us to the most resources (>50%) on psychology, then (~35%) on planning, finally (~15%) on strategy. Similar idea was also found in another renowned book "Market Wizards" by Jack D. Schwager. This idea is a paradigm shift to me.

This book is definitely worth revisit.

A good intro book. It doesn’t provide any specific trading strategies, but it does provide a good basic level description of technical indicators together with risk management strategies and trading psychology. Great intro to trading. Will see where it goes from here.

From the AI

“Trading for a Living” by Dr. Alexander Elder provides a comprehensive exploration of trading strategies, packed with practical tips for traders of all levels. Elder’s insights are invaluable, offering a wealth of knowledge that can help readers navigate the complexities of the financial markets. However, some readers may find the book’s repetitive nature a bit tiresome, as similar concepts are reiterated throughout. Despite this minor drawback, Elder’s expertise shines through, making “Trading for a Living” a worthwhile read for anyone seeking to enhance their trading skills and knowledge.

The New Trading for a Living is exactly what you can expect from a Dr. Elder book - straight to the point, easy to understand, very readable fonts and presentation. A lot of the information such as his trading system and trading ABCs have recycled from his previous books.

Nonetheless this is one of more useful book for someone who is interested in the field. Dr. Elder's view on the psychology of trading is arguably second to none. He presented it in a really clean and precise manner. Thus making it easily understood by all beginners and professionals alike.

The only downside is the sample charts are still in bars instead of candlesticks. Hopefully the subsequent versions Dr. Elder can finally adapt to the much more mainstream Japanese candlesticks.

This is the first book I have read on trading in stock market. I didn't exactly know what to expect, however the details (principals, formulas and charts) offered in this book are absolutely amazing. There was so much to digest from this book and I have already started on making a triples screen chart suggested in the book.

Besides technical detail, what I find to be most beneficial is the system proposed in the book to minimize psychological mistakes we may end up making. I feel very confident about investing in individual stocks as compared to my investments only limited to MF in the past.

4.3/5 - a behemoth of a book. I recommend doing a read through, then breaking down and working on most of the chapters like a text book. I will be picking up this book again. There is sooo much to take away from this book, but I also recommend pairing it with videos from YouTube to provide further clarity on concepts as it can be quite dry just reading and looking at charts on text. The dry parts made it really hard to get through.

This is a highly recommended read for beginners in trading. I do suggest some lighter books on trading and some research on basics, before delving into this book.

Note:

This updated version was done a decade ago - I believe it’s due for an update.

This book is written by a success psychology doctor and trader. In contains the most important information on human psychology, especially on fear and greed, which are the two things that formulate the movement of stock market. The book also provides some of the most important tools and techniques on how to read technical chart and form an efficient investing strategy. Mr. Elder also focused on trading discipline and methodology of risk management. A must-read for any stock investor who want to be successful on stock market.

Very useful manual that explains the basics of trading.

The author's writing style makes the book clear and clever at the same time. This is a book for people that are interested in how to trade securities in the market.

It's a How To book but also a manual on psychology and risk management, both very important components in trading.

I suggest this book to anyone interested in diving into the subtle art of trading for a living, or to people who are simply interested in knowing more about the subject.

Author has a bit of ego, but the book has some good information about technical analysis and some psychology about how people trade. It's essentially a toned-down TA book. I think there should be more caveats about TA, e.g. that it's not just an algorithm that works.

There's a misconception in the trading scam world that you can just learn TA and become a good trader by looking at signals. That's missing a lot of subtlety, and the author doesn't really say anything about that. This book just seems to be another one of those scams in that sense...so how useful is it really?

Un libro muy completo!

Me pareció un libro muy completo, se enfoco en los diferentes aspectos del trading, aprendí mucho..! Si estas iniciando en el mundo del trading aprenderás muchísimo si estas en un nivel intermedio te ayudará a refrescar algunas cosas, aprender nuevos conceptos y entender mejor la dinámica de ciertos puntos.

El único aspecto negativo es que intentamucho venderte su página web de traders, cansa un poco...

I realized while I was reading that this book wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. This book is mainly about short term (day-trading or trading within one week) trading and less about long term risk diversification. That being said, the first and final chapters (everything except the endless technical analysis parts) are great.

I am in the process of learning how to trade. This book has been a real help. I would suggest reading it through twice & taking notes as I about to do. If you are of a methodical bent you will like this book. If you aren't then it will be even more use to you & will likely save you a lot of grief & money.

enjoyed reading this book. it would be very useful for people with few or experience in trading. although might be useful for experienced trader to re capture some aspects of the game again. the author explained every topic simply and clearly.

my favorite part was the psychological aspect which overlooked in most of the book. I would recommend it as a good start.

This is my first book on market, and it turned out to be absolutely enlightening. Elder has dived deep into many core concepts both technical and psychological in order to play the game of markets seriously and efficiently.

I personally loved the trade journal lessons and the risk/reward setup advice. It blew me away.

For every wannabe trader, this book is a must read.