"The Money Game" by Adam Smith (aka Geo. Goodman) 1967, is my fave on the go-go years. Also Andy Tobias' "The Funny Money Game"---chronicles the rise and fall of companies that ipo while their sector is hot, like TSCM and its internet siblings. I have read Adam Smith's books because he writes so clearly about financial subjects, including: "Supermoney (1972) and "Paper Money" (1981). Haven't yet gotten to his "The Roaring 80's", mainly because I lived thru the 80's as an adult so don't need the perspective as much as I did on the 60's and 70's.
Personally I stand behind the idea of papertrading for over a year before throwing real money at the markets. I did it, and do not regret it. Can't say yet whether it is a profitable approach in the long run, because I've only been trading a year now. But haven't lost my shirt yet <g>. I also had the "misfortune" that Eric P. speaks of, of making money in my first three months, so am waiting for the other shoe to drop and wipe me out...
Maybe the reason I haven't crashed so far is because of my slowww process of getting into trading---I read everything I could about the stockmarket and trading before even opening a brokerage account. Have two 5' tall lawyer's bookshelves full of books on the subjects. Was able to get many of them cheapo at used bookstores early in the 90's before this trading craze began. Like some journalist wrote recently, the trashy financial primer has displaced the trashy novel in bookstores nowadays.
Also, as someone said earlier, there's going to be tuition paid; whether it's for books, training, or losses due to naivete. It doesn't matter if you are a law school grad, or a liberal arts grad, or whatever, there is no alternative but to be self taught as no formal curriculum exists for trading stocks. B-school courses in modern portfolio theory are currently obsolete as well. So it's sink or swim. Reading books like Trader Vic's and William Eng gives you just enough knowledge to keep your head above water while you are getting in the flow. |
