Although day trading is often featured a lot in the media nowadays, not everyone knows just what exactly this practice is. Fortunately, we can answer that question quite easily. Day trading is a trading strategy in which accounts are opened and closed within the same day. While most stock buying involves the trader committing to particular stocks for a long period, day traders tend to profit from the small fluctuations in stock price during a day of trading.

Since day traders work quite differently than average traders, they require a specialized set of knowledge and information to operate effectively. In other words, they need to know what they’re doing, and they need to have access to large amounts of technical market analysis. We can help our readers increase their knowledge of this art-form by recommending what we feel are the best day trading books currently available.

Quick Summary of the Best Day Trading Books

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Best Overall: Advanced Techniques In Day Trading

Even though this book might not be suitable for people who are new to day trading, for people who are already familiar with the basics, it’s a must-have book that we think everyone can use for more successful trading. In this book, the reader will find information on how to shop for the best stocks to trade, how to manage these trades once they’ve been acquired, and how to minimize risk. This book starts with the author’s trading style and then uses that to explain his whole reasoning behind his process.

Some of the chapters that can be found in this book include chapters on choosing a broker, finding a trading platform, price charts, market views, putting in buy and sell orders, float and market gaps, pre-market gappers, price action, mass psychology, candlestick patterns, position-sizing, and information on support and resistance levels. It also features a section on advanced day trading strategies that give the reader some proven trading strategies that will help them to maximize their gains and limit their losses.

What we liked about it
  • It provides all the information a person needs for day trading.
  • It’s a reasonably priced book on the subject.

Best Intermediate Day Trading Book: How to Day Trade for a Living: A Beginner’s Guide to Trading Tools and Tactics

Before we start the review of this book, we should state that this is a day trading book that isn’t designed for people who are already familiar and have some experience with day trading. This book is designed for readers who are new to this world and want to be quickly onboarded. And that’s why makes this book so great. It explains everything in a simple and easy to understand manner that makes it easy for the reader to understand the basics and begin to start day trading. And it’s capable of accomplishing this task without talking down to the reader.

Some of the chapters that can be found in this book include chapters on swing trading versus day trading, retail versus institutional traders, how to buy long and sell short, three-step risk management, the psychology of day trading, how to find the perfect stocks for day trading, float and market gaps, real-time intraday scans, choosing a broker, choosing a trading platform, information on buy and sell orders, an introduction to candlesticks, trade management, how to devise and execute a successful trading plant, and the seven essentials needed for successful day trading.

What we liked about it
  • This is the best day trading book for beginners.

Best Book For Enhancing Trade Performance : The Daily Trading Coach: 101 Lessons for Becoming Your Own Trading Psychologist

The entire purpose behind the creation of this book is to help the reader become their trading coach. It’s designed to be a road map for the reader and to provide them with useful tools and lessons that are designed to help the reader understand their tendencies so that they can improve their trading success. This isn’t supposed to be a book that teaches the reader how to day trade, but it’s designed to be a tool that helps people who are already day-trading become better traders. The lessons in this book help the reader device their strategies for success.

To fully understand this book, however, the reader should probably have an overview of some of the chapters that can be found in it, so we’re going to briefly list some of those chapters. They include a chapter on making friends with your weakness, changing your trading environment for better results, changing your focus, building self-confidence, understand and dealing with personal stress, keeping a psychological journal, how to manage fear, building emotional resilience, turning stress into well-being, and setting effective goals.

What we liked about it
  • This book helps the reader trade more successfully.

Best Swing Trade Book: How To Swing Trade

Okay, we have to admit it. With the review of this book, we’re cheating just a little bit. That’s because this book isn’t about day trading, but is about the practice of swing trading. What’s the difference, you ask? Well, day trading involves the practice of buying and selling stocks over a single day, while swing trading involves buying and selling stocks over a few days or even a few weeks. Readers can think of it as the halfway point between day trading and long term stock investments. In our opinion, that makes this book a useful tool that can be utilized by both day traders and long-term investors to diversify and maximize their gains.

The difference between day and swing trading is explained in detail in the second chapter of this book, right after the introduction, and then the book moves on to breaking down how the reader can use the practice of swing trading to achieve some remarkable results. Some of the other chapters that can be found in this book include swing trading versus position trading, high-frequency trades, how to start trading, how to enter a trade, tools, and platforms for swing trading, and risk and account management. Although it might be a bit too simple for intermediate or advanced traders, it’s a great introduction to the world of swing trading.

What we liked about it
  • This is a great primer for readers interested in swing trading.

Best Book For Trading Risk Management: The New Trading for a Living

Anyone interested in day trading for a living is probably going to give this book a read. That’s because it gives the reader concrete tools they need to day trade for a living. And it presents this information in an encyclopedia-style format that’s easy to read, although we do have to admit that it can be a bit dry and dull at times. It’s written by Alexander Elder, MD—a professional trader and a guy who teaches traders for a living. He’s the author of several books, but this one is probably his crowning achievement and well worth reading.

What are some of the things that readers can expect to glean from the pages of this book? Some of the things that readers can expect include the psychology of trading, how the odds are stacked against you, reality versus the fiction of day trading, mass psychology, classical chart analysis, volume and trade, trading system, trading vehicles, and most importantly, risk management. The section of risk management is extensive enough alone that readers should buy this book just to have access to it. It deals with the main rules of risk control, the 2% rule, the 6%, and other methods of controlling risk and limiting losses.

What we liked about it
  • This book gives the reader the tools they need to make day trading their primary job.

Best For Day Trading Beginners: A Beginner’s Guide to the Stock Market

This book is designed for anyone whose been thinking about day trading but don’t have any experience with any type of stock trading at all. In other words, it’s a book designed for absolute beginners, and as a result, some of the information might be too basic for people who have some experience with the stock market. Having said that, however, we feel that it’s a book that day trading newbies are going to appreciate. This is especially true considering that the book is short, breezy, and very easy to read.

Some of the information that the newbie day trader can expect to find in this book includes information on how to get started buying stocks, making money with ETF’s, how to pick stocks like a professional, making money with growth stocks, day trading strategies that work the best, five mistakes that beginners regularly make, and how to start small to build great wealth. This is a book that only has 98 pages, but it contains enough information stuffed into it that it can help people who are new to day trading.

What we liked about it
  • This book is short and easy to read.
  • It’s designed to help people start trading for the first time.

Also Recommended (Day Trading Beginners): A Beginner’s Guide to Day Trading Online

Not everyone is a professional trader and some of us have little to no experience with day trading. Fortunately, this book is designed to help those with limited knowledge of the markets to easily dip their toe into the pool. Although we have to admit that some of the concepts in this book might be difficult for true market novices, the book is otherwise easy to read and follow. And it presents to the reader highly valuable information that will help them turn their desire to become a day trader into a reality.

Some of the concepts that can be found in this book include a brief history of the market, the benefits of day trading, whether the reader should trade or not trade, the New York Stock Exchange, the NASDAQ Stock Market, The American Stock Exchange (AMEX), deciding on whether to become a part-time or a full-time day trader, creating a success-oriented environment, trading fundamentals, choosing stocks to trade, planning your trades, how to protect your principle, and boosting profits. This is a book that’s designed for anyone who is looking to start day trading, either on a part-time or a professional basis.

What we liked about it
  • It has good information on day trading.
  • It’s written in an easy-to-understand style.

Best For Part-Time Day Traders: The 1 Hour Trade: Make Money With One Simple Strategy, One Hour Daily

Not everyone wants to spend their entire day trading stocks. Some people simply want to know how to trade stocks on a part-time basis—may be to make a little bit of cash on the side. Unfortunately, many of the day trading books available are designed with the expectation that the reader is going to be spending the majority of their day trading stocks. So, it’s probably a good thing that this book was written. This book is designed for people who don’t want to have to commit a large amount of their time to get good results.

In this book, the reader will learn how to make money by using one simple strategy, one-hour a day. Yes, you’ve read that correctly. This book is designed so that the reader can spend just an hour of their day trading. This makes it a book good for people who want to dip their toe into the markets but don’t want to spend a lot of time or money to do it. Some of the information that can be found in this 100-page book includes volume and price actions, controlling risk, high volume runners, gaining entry into the markets, and a step-by-step recap of the process.

What we liked about it
  • It’s a quick read and provides a great trading strategy.

Best Strategies For Flexible Traders: Tools and Tactics for the Master Day Trader: Battle-Tested Techniques for Day, Swing, and Position Traders

Some people might be confused when we say that this is a book that’s designed for flexible traders. What we mean by that statement is that this book is designed to give the reader the information they need—regardless of whether they’re day trading, position trading or swing trading. While there are books dedicated to the three areas of basic trading, this book combines all of it into one book. This allows the reader to understand how they can dabble using each of these three methods and do it without feeling overwhelmed.

This book is designed for people who have passed the intermediate level of day trading and it covers several exciting concepts. Some of the concepts that can be found in this book include the bandwagon theory, why the short-term time frame is the safest, lessons in the art of standing still, how losing can be winning, the seven deadly sins of trading and how to combat them, trading laws of success, how to keep it simple, and a lot of other exciting information. This is the book for traders who are looking to take their trades to the next level and beyond.

What we liked about it
  • This is a concise book for flexible traders.