How to Day Trade for a Living: A Beginner’s Guide to Trading Tools and Tactics, Money Management, Discipline and Trading Psychology (Stock Market Trading and Investing) Paperback – July 28, 2016

I've read hundreds of trading books and have been active in the stock market for over 30 years. I continue to read trading books to see what other traders say about their own experiences in the market. Good trading books are worth their weight in gold if they give you just a few lessons that increase your profits or decrease your losses.Day trading is a specialized endeavor that requires an edge in the market and the speed of execution, risk management, and discipline to stick with your strategy. New-day traders can get into trouble quickly and lose much money when they lack any of these in their approach. Realizing your need for more knowledge on the subject is the first step; the second step is to study.Andrew Aziz's "How to Day Trade for a Living: A Beginner's Guide to Trading Tools and Tactics, Money Management, Discipline, and Trading Psychology." is the best introductory book on day trading I have come across. Its steady top ranking in book sales and amount of positive reviews confirm this. This concise, no, fluff 384-page new expanded 2022 edition of the book covers all the topics a new trader will need to know without being overwhelmed with the things that aren't important. The writing style is to the point and not dull as it gets to the point and moves to the next lesson. It isn't full of anecdotes or too many personal stories. The book is a focused master class on what you need to know to day trade.Day trading is a professional pursuit, and you must take it seriously. The author of the book is clear that day trading takes work. This is not a get-rich-quick book; it's an educational one. Most people who try day trading lose money because they need proper education, practice, and skills. The author emphasizes that consistent success requires skill acquisition over time, and treating day trading as a serious business is crucial. This is a realistic approach that can lead to future success.The lifestyle and rewards of successful day trading can be pretty enticing: working from home, having no boss, no coworkers, income based on performance, and taking time off when desired. A proficient day trader can earn more in a day than a week at a job. However, achieving this success requires dedication to education, practice, and applying the strategies and principles outlined in the book. Andrew focuses the reader on the journey of becoming a profitable day trader. He gives you what you need, from trading setups and strategies to risk management and the right mindset.He explains that success comes from properly educating oneself and diligently practicing strategies in a simulator for at least three months before trading with real money. He also goes into the details, like hotkeys and how to find the stocks in play for day trading. The book is filled with screenshots, and he goes step by step.The book teaches all the general principles of day trading, risk management, money management, various strategies, discipline, and trading psychology. It also offers a step-by-step process for those who wish to become successful day traders.While the book is an excellent introduction to day trading, the author also provides free introductory access to his trading community, where one can watch him trade, receive advice, and learn from other traders. This book is the manual for the full day trading education he provides, and you can continue your journey to his more advanced books or learn to day trade directly from his service. However, this book is the one to start with and what I recommend to new traders that ask me about day trading books.The author's passion for teaching and trading shines throughout the books, and he genuinely wants to help others succeed in day trading. Andrew is very friendly and social in real life. You can even catch his traveling adventures on social media, where he lives the dream of day trading and visiting amazing places around the world.In summary, "How to Day Trade for a Living" offers valuable insights and a clear path to understanding and engaging in day trading. Whether or not one ultimately decides to pursue day trading seriously as a profession, this book serves as a solid foundation for making an informed decision. This is the first book an aspiring day trader should read in my opinion.

I was looking for a book on how to day trade. Not a book on how to get rich quick. I’m pretty sure I found it.First, I want to say thank you to Andrew for writing this book. And second I want to thank all the leadership team at BBT and the rest of the daily BBT members in the chat room. All of you make learning this topic a wonderful experience. It’s a very supportive community.How to day trade for a living really connected with me. In his book, Andrew talks about day trading being like a sport; requiring dedication, training, and analysis of past performance. Being a former pro athlete, this message really resonated with me. Andrew discusses, in simple terms, the skills to learn, the tools to succeed, the countless hours of practice required, the mental resolve to push thru the hard lessons, and knowing when you’re ready “to PLAY”.Why I wanted to learn:It’s late April of 2020. Like many others, my industry is shut down due to the coronavirus. My clients are saying that they don’t see needing my services till mid 2021. That gives me over a year before I can even think of going back to my career of 30+ years. I needed something to do. Something to challenge my brain. I’m pretty good with computers, software and psychology. So I thought I’d give it a go.The Skills and the Tools:It’s been a couple weeks since I got my trading system all set up. I’m not allowed to trade using the DAS Trader and Interactive Brokers account. It’s a compliance thing with my wife being a CFP. So, for now, I am using TD Ameritrade’s ThinkorSwim platform. But, the tools are only as good as the one using them. I learned that in professional sports. If you have the physical AND mental skills, the tools just give you a small edge. If your physical skills, practice, and mental conditioning are in the top 1%, then you can succeed with any tool set. I’m a very visual person, so seeing candle patterns seems to come easy. My setup is an Alienware laptop and (2) 43” 4K Monitors. Big enough for seeing the stock scanners and the ThinkorSwim charts & data. There’s a 2nd laptop running the BBT chat room; with audio.Practice:I get up at 5am (pacific), get my self ready and do my own research (using Trade-Ideas), before the Chat room opens up at 5:30 ….with Carlos and Norm doing the pre-day. The open is a CRAZY thing to watch. When Andrew says stay away from the open then you’re a newbee…. You better believe it. The HARD lessons are best learned without harming your bank account. As Instructed, I’m using paper money and it makes learning a lot less stressful. (Sort of) ! I spend each day, the WHOLE day, testing my skills during the open, mid to late morning, and afternoon. I test different patterns at different times of the day, while learning to read 1m, 2m, and 5m charts at the same time. Am I seeing what I WANT to see, or am I really seeing REALITY. When I was a pro tennis player, we practiced countless hours. We studied strategy. Every day. All Day. And if we were not on the court, we were building physical strength or psychological strength elsewhere. We were dedicated to our craft. This is one of the primary messages in Andrew’s book.Mental Resolve / Hard Knocks:At the end of each day (1pm pacific) I review ALL my trades. Good traders seem to be doing 5 trades at most each day. They’re patient. They look for the signs. I’m LEARNING my craft. I trade all day long to see if I can succeed …. and if so, when and how….. and WHY. By reviewing all my trades, I can go back and see if there really was a setup (or not). I journal what I saw and what I think I saw. Least week, my worst day was +480 and my best was +1800. Yesterday, my first trade was -858. After reviewing my trades, I found out that I would have been +2400 if I had set my stop loss at 80cents, not 50cents. Today was a +520 day in just 2 hrs. The first trade was -60 and the second was +580. After reviewing my trades, I would have made more if I had been a bit more patient on my exit. I’m LEARNING and my losses teach me more than my wins. The best football players watch more game film. A great baseball player only gets a hit 40% of the time.In summary. This book starts you on the path of being a day trader. It does not promise that you will become one. But, If you have the personality traits and are willing to put in the effort, it will be well worth your time! It’s up to you!

The book was very insightful. It was written with the intent to help. It provides valuable resources and tips. The book is designed for beginners, but sometimes moves past that. The examples will quickly overpower a novice. The book is written mostly as a philosophy in day trading , with many examples. There is little provided in foundational trading knowledge.The market is a mystery to most and this book removes a portion of that. It is a tough read at times because I considered it to be over technical.Overall a great book and I would recommend getting it. It is true book not a mini Amazon micro brochure. If you are interested in knowing more about trading and the market, buy it. The author did a good job.