Sometimes you really need a good book or two to dive into a topic. 

Are you thinking about investing and trading to generate some extra income? Then you should really consider looking into futures trading. 

There are many advantages to choosing futures trading. For example, you don’t need a lot of capital or leverage to start and you can choose to go long or short.

You might be thinking about going in blind and learning as you go along but that’s a bad idea. This article will give you our 7 book recommendations that will help you learn about futures trading.

1. Futures 101 (Richard E. Waldron)

We’ll be recommending quite a few books that are aimed at beginners in this article. Futures 101 is one of them. 

Futures 101 is a basic primer on futures trading that doesn’t get too technical. Unlike a lot of books or courses available, Futures 101 doesn’t really try to sell futures trading as the best method for you to make money trading. The book only aims to explain futures trading as simply as possible in a way that makes sure you understand things quickly. 

Futures 101 explains the basics of the futures market and how most people make their trades. The book provides examples, trivia and illustrations to help beginners easily understand the world of futures trading.

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2. A Complete Guide To Futures Markets (Jack D. Schwager)

This book is on the more complex end of things because it’s a comprehensive guide that really dives into the many facets of futures trading and futures markets. 

A Complete Guide To Futures Markets was written by Jack D. Schwager who’s a well known and respected figure in the world of futures trading. This complete guide is a comprehensive book that teaches you about trading systems, technical analysis, fundamental analysis, key analysis as well as useful forecasting techniques.

A Complete Guide To Futures Markets teaches you multiple trading and analysis styles like technical indicators, trading systems as well as chart and regression analysis. The book teaches you how to build your own trading systems and test them out while avoiding common trading mistakes. This guide uses illustrations and examples for a wide variety of trading strategies to make sure you learn what will work best for you.

3. Futures Made Simple (Kel Butcher)

Futures Made Simple was written by Kel Butcher and aims to simplify futures trading for beginners as much as possible. This beginner friendly book gives out some expert advice and guides you on the fundamentals of profitable futures trading. If you’re a beginner, this book will teach you all the essentials like how exchanges function, market analysis as well as how to execute futures online and offline. 

Futures Made Simple is a simple to digest guide to futures trading for beginners. It provides practical examples of the key points of futures trading, simple summaries of the key points of futures trading and its content is provided by successful traders in futures, equities, options as well as other financial instruments.

4. Candlestick Charting Explained (Gregory Morris)

Candlestick Charting Explained is a more advanced book that dives deep into the topic of candlestick charts. This book was written by Gregory Morris and provides a detailed but simple to understand analysis on more than 80 different candlestick chart patterns. Reading this book will teach you how to use candlestick chart patterns to improve your knowledge of the market as well as your analytical abilities.

Candlesticks are a key tool in the world of futures trading and this book pretty much covers everything you’d need to know about them. You’ll learn about traditional candlestick patterns as well as newer candlestick charts which will all help you become a profitable trader. This book is quite dense with information but here’s a quick summary of what you can learn from it:

• Fast analysis of investor attitudes and expected market directions.
• Various methods for integrating candlesticks with Western Charting analysis.
• How trader psychology impacts both buyers and sellers as well as scenarios and the psychology behind patterns.
• Rules of Recognition, pattern flexibility, pattern breakdown and related patterns.

5. Encyclopaedia Of Chart Patterns (Thomas Bulkowski)

The Encyclopaedia Of Chart Patterns was written by Thomas Bulkowski and is a more advanced book that’s dense with information. The encyclopaedia goes into how what good and bad patterns are in futures trading as well as what almost every possible movement on every possible chart might mean. This book will teach you how to understand how things like QE announcements, sales, stock upgrades as well as downgrades will affect share prices. 

The Encyclopaedia Of Chart Patterns is encyclopaedic and covers almost every possible combination of patterns you’d ever see in futures trading. The encyclopaedia is about 1000 pages long and has more than 60 chart patterns as well as event patterns explained in detail.

Here’s a short list of just some of the things that this book covers: 

• Stock Downgrades
• Stock Upgrades
• FDA Drug Approvals
• Dead Cat Bounce
• Double Tops 
• Broadening Formations
• Cup with Handle
• Island Reversals

This book is one that you probably won’t finish reading in a single sitting. It’s very useful as a reference book and is usually used as such. 

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6. Schwager On Futures: Technical Analysis (Jack D. Schwager)

Here’s another book written by Jack D. Schwager, who’s probably one of the most iconic people in the world of futures trading. While this book is less beginner-friendly than his other book on this list, it’s still simple enough for most people to understand. Schwager On Futures: Technical Analysis is a comprehensive guide on technical analysis and its use in futures trading.

The book covers practical chart analysis for the real world, provides detailed illustrations of practical trading systems, how you can understand cyclical analysis and the importance of trading strategies as well as philosophies. The book also highlights the concept of “continuous futures” and provides over 100 trading tips to help you become a profitable trader.

While this is a more complex book, it’s been written to be as non-technical as possible in order to let even beginners understand the more complex parts of futures trading. Buying this book as well as A Complete Guide To Futures Markets and reading them as a pair is a good idea if you’re just starting out with futures trading.

7. Technical Traders Guide To Computer Analysis Of The Future Markets (Charles Lebeau and David Lucas)

There’s no doubt that computers changed the world of futures trading when they came onto the scene. The internet made regular price updates a thing and provided a gateway for even more small time investors to come into the world of futures trading. The Technical Traders Guide To Computer Analysis Of The Future Markets aims to help teach you how to use computer hardware and software to your maximum advantage and become the most profitable trader you possibly can be.

This book teaches you how you can build a trading system that’s specifically for your own needs, gives you practical tips on how you can display and analyse technical information from worldwide markets and gives you advice on how you can stay disciplined with various risk control strategies.  

Charles Lebeau and David Lucas are both traders with real-life experience. They wrote this book based on all that they learned over their careers as traders and they highlight everything that they think you should know about computer analysis as well as how it should be used in futures trading.

Closing   

The 7 books we recommended above will give you a pretty comprehensive education on futures trading. We recommend reading all of them so that you can be as well prepared as possible when you start futures trading. 

That being said, you can just read the books aimed at beginners and still be more well prepared than most people usually are when they start futures trading. You can also use the more technical books as reference material while you’re trading.

Good luck on your investing and trading journey!