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5 top share trading books for beginners

Learn the ins and outs of investing in Australian and international share markets with these useful and informative share trading books.

Tim Falk
Tim Falk

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When you’re starting out investing in shares, knowledge is power. Before you even place your first trade or receive your first dividend, it’s important to learn as much as you can about how to buy and sell shares.

From the basics of how the market works to in-depth analysis of complex trading strategies, there’s a whole world of information out there that could help you become a successful share trader. One way you can access and digest some of that knowledge is through share trading guide books.

Share trading books can be an extremely potent weapon in the arsenal of any share market investor, allowing you to learn everything there is to know about investing in shares. Let’s take a look at five of our favourite share trading books and how they can help you become a better investor. We also have some coupon codes for you to save money off these books.

Top 5 share trading books

1. Trading Secrets by Louise Bedford

Book cover: Trading Secrets by Louise Bedford

Louise Bedford has more than 20 years of experience as a trading mentor, and in this book she shares her secret to finding a successful trading strategy. If you're looking for a book that explains some pretty complex topics in a concise and easy-to-understand way, add Trading Secrets to your reading list.

The trading world can be very confusing for novice investors, so this book is perfect if you want to wrap your head around how you can invest in the share market for profit. Bedford's entertaining writing style is also a refreshing change compared to many of the other "dry" books in this area, making this a highly enjoyable and informative read.

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2. The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham

Book cover: The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham

This classic tome about investing features in most lists of share trading books every investor should read - and with good reason. Labelled by investment guru Warren Buffett as "by far the best book about investing ever written", The Intelligent Investor lays out Graham's positive trading program for investing in stocks.

Like so many other share trading books it's an American publication, but unlike some guides it offers insight and advice that can help traders the world over. Thorough, detailed and with more than one million copies sold, this is the ultimate guide to value investing.

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3. Market Wizards: Interviews With Top Traders by Jack Schwager

Book cover: Market Wizards: Interviews With Top Traders by Jack Schwager

If you want to hear about trading straight from the mouths of the professionals, this is the book for you. Market Wizards features a collection of interviews with successful stock market traders from the 1970s and 1980s, and gives you an insight into their own experiences as traders. Not only is it fascinating reading, but the traders interviewed are also forthright and honest about mistakes made and lessons learned.

Market Wizards was so successful that Schwager has since released three more books, as well as The Little Book of Market Wizards in 2014. This last publication features the most important lessons from almost 50 of Schwager's interviews, making it well worth a look too.

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4. Adaptive Analysis for Australian Stocks by Nick Radge

Book cover: Adaptive Analysis for Australian Stocks by Nick Radge

If you're looking for an Australian guide to the technical analysis of shares, Adaptive Analysis for Australian Stocks is definitely worth adding to your collection. Veteran trader Nick Radge uses the book to show readers a different way of looking at profitability and explains how you can use price movements to maximise your profit.

Half the battle is also recognising a losing trade and how to get out of it as soon as possible, and Radge's advice will resonate with many finding their way in the trading world. For further reading, Radge's Unholy Grails is also well worth a look.

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5. Trading Tactics by Daryl Guppy

Book cover: Trading Tactics by Daryl Guppy

Australian financial columnist Daryl Guppy has written a series of books that are full of great advice for Australian investors. They're all worth a look, but we thought we'd include Trading Tactics on our list because it's all about finding and exploiting profitable share trading opportunities.

In Trading Tactics, Guppy explores everything from understanding bar charts to using depth of market and using profit and loss numbers to assess potential trading opportunities. Designed to suit anyone from a beginner to an experienced trader, this book also includes checklists to help you improve your trading behaviour.

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