One fundamental truth about the markets is that they are dynamic and ever changing. To stay effective, traders must continuously evolve in their thinking and methods. While no single approach remains relevant forever, certain books, including foundational classics as well as more recent works, offer enduring value. In this newsletter, we highlight a curated selection of books that every trader should read at least once. Some present timeless principles that form the foundation of market understanding, while others provide modern insights that help refine and strengthen a trader's approach. Together, these books will not only deepen your knowledge but also offer a structured framework for observing and evaluating stocks with greater clarity.

1. How to Make Money in Stocks - By William J. O’Neil

First published in 1988, this book has helped traders and investors for decades. If there is one book that can teach you how to pick quality stocks, it is this one. The method explained in the book is not just a concept but a complete system in itself. It walks you through how to enter trades and how to filter strong stocks worth investing in. If you want to improve your stock selection and build a clear process for finding high-quality opportunities, this book is a great place to start. It also includes many real market charts that show how the system works.

2. Stan Weinstein’s Secrets For Profiting in Bull and Bear Markets - By Stan Weinstein

Stan Weinstein’s Secrets for Profiting in Bull and Bear Markets is a comprehensive book on stage analysis. Although stage analysis was being used by traders and investors for decades before the publishing of this book, Stan Weinstein was the first to document it in this book. If you want to understand the lifecycle of a stock and learn the technical foot prints of a stock in each stage of the lifecycle, do read this book.

3. Trade Like a Stock Market Wizard by Mark Minervini

This book by U.S. Investing Champion Mark Minervini adds more clarity to the approach shared in the previous two books. He takes it a step further by teaching how to study a company's fundamentals in greater detail, how to group companies based on their characteristics, and how to evaluate the quality of their earnings. Mark also shares specific technical traits that a stock must display on the chart to qualify as a strong candidate. One of the key highlights of the book is his well-known Volatility Contraction Pattern (VCP), which helps traders identify strong entry points with precision.

4. Think & Trade Like a Champion By Mark Minervini

Think and Trade Like a Champion focuses on the non-technical aspects of trading—often the most critical ones. It covers key topics such as risk-to-reward ratios, position sizing, identifying when to enter and exit a trade, and how to treat trading as a business. More importantly, it helps you develop the right mindset toward both the markets and individual trades.

What makes this book even more valuable is that Mark shares not only his personal learnings but also the hard-earned lessons of an experienced trader. These insights can help readers bypass years of trial and error. The book is filled with practical trading wisdom that is rarely shared openly. Regardless of your level of experience, you are likely to gain fresh insights and encounter several moments of clarity that can significantly impact your trading journey.

Bonus Book: Anatomy of Breakout and Pullback Trading By Kaushik Akiwatkar

The earlier books help you understand how to identify strong stocks—but the next question is, how do you actually trade them? That is where this book comes in. It walks you through seven practical strategies, some of which I have developed and others that are built on proven market concepts. These strategies cater to different styles, whether you like trading breakouts or prefer pullbacks, and they are explained using OHLC, Renko, and Point and Figure charts.

But the book is not just about entries and exits. It also covers the other pillars of successful trading—how to manage risk, how to use relative strength effectively, and how to build the right mindset. My goal with this book is to give you a simple, rule-based approach that you can trust, especially when the market gets noisy. Order Your Copy Here.

5. How I Made $2,000,000 in the Stock Market By Nicolas Darvas

Nicolas Darvas was both a professional dancer and an independent trader. In this book, he takes us through his personal journey of navigating the stock market and how he eventually developed the now well-known Darvas Box trading system. What makes this book a must-read for traders is the way it shows how observations in the market can be refined over time into a structured trading system. Nicolas begins with a simple theory and, through trial and error, slowly improves it to build a complete method. Along the way, he also shares his personal analogies and experiences, showing that each trader can understand the market in a way that suits their own personality.