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Trading and Exchanges: Market Microstructure for Practitioners, An introduction to quantitative finance by Blyth. Avoid pop finance books that is light on numbers. If you want to understand the qualitative aspects/culture/history, books like Flash Boys or Flash Boys: Not so fast are more than sufficient. Stay away from "technical" books that are designed for layman and non-technical readers. They will handwave Black…
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Naked-Trader-anyone-trading-shares/...
Ignoring the 'anyone can make money' byline, a lot of the book covers how it all works. Of all the trading books I've read, this was the easiest one to follow, and the only one that I actually remembered what I'd read afterwards.
As a first step into online trading, I wholly recommend it, although I wouldn't follow his tips verbatim, and your mileage may vary, also do not bet with money you can't afford to lose, etc. ( https://www.begambleaware.org/ )
(https://www.amazon.co.uk/Economist-Guide-Financial-Markets-6...)
This video by Ray Dalio about the Economic Machine helped me more than any book I read: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sMRRz1J9RkI
I do not have a recommodation, but I would be specifically interested in books about trading with options. Any suggestions?
Trading and Exchanges: Market Microstructure for Practitioners, An introduction to quantitative finance by Blyth. Avoid pop finance books that is light on numbers. If you want to understand the qualitative aspects/culture/history, books like Flash Boys or Flash Boys: Not so fast are more than sufficient. Stay away from "technical" books that are designed for layman and non-technical readers. They will handwave Black…
Excluding some of the technical details, specifically related to US Equities, which are a bit outdated, it is hands down the best book on the subject of market participants and their interactions.
Books like Reminiscences of a Stock Operator are great as well because they provide a little historical context to market regulation and improvements to market structure.
If someone were particularly interested in clearing and settlement there is also After the Trade is Made
that should get you started
Graham, Benjamin and Jason Zweig (2006) The Intelligent Investor, revised ed.
I would also suggest the following books, which offer more in-depth analysis of financial markets and securities:
Henwood, Doug (1997) Wall Street: How It Works and for Whom
Lynch, Peter and John Rothchild (2000) One Up on Wall Street, 2nd ed.
Mishkin, Frederic (2018) Economics of Money, Banking and Financial Markets, 12th ed.
True story: A senior trader on the trading desk asked me - "Why did the market go up yesterday?". I tried to pontificate away at some explanation and after a while just shrugged and said - "I really don't know", fully expecting to be commended for my honesty. The trader laughed and said: "The market went up because there were more buyers than sellers". Next question, "Why is the market going down today", he continued "Because they are more sellers than buyers". The whole machinery of finance exists to give you a better story around this but nobody really knows.
There are two perspectives to understand finance. We will call the two perspectives the Alien Scientist and the Blob ;)
The Alien Scientist perspective is that you have arrived at a new planet with a thriving civilization unlike your own and they act in inexplicable ways. After a period of observation, you can predict the outcome of the behavior in the long term. You cannot predict why the outcomes happen. You also cannot predict behavior in the short or medium term.
The Blob is one of the many beings who populate the planet under observation. The Blob is actively trying to understand their environment and how their fellow blobs behave so they can predict the outcomes and thrive from it. The Blob is equally vested in understanding the why of the behavior of their fellow Blobs and also the interaction of the environment, the blobs and so forth (i.e. second, third, fourth-order effects).
You can take the approach of the Alien Scientist (long term investor) or you can take the approach of the Blob (trader/economist). If you take the investor (Alien Scientist) approach you are more concerned with the long term outcomes in financial markets and not with the why (aside: most financial market information is pure noise). The Alien Scientist approach should start by reading "A Random Walk Down Wall Street" and books by John Bogle and Warren Buffet's musings on investments. You would also do well to understand the various tax structures and treatments available to you - 401k, housing, .... since these can significantly impact your end outcomes.
You can invest all the time freed up not having to study finance by reading gossip rags and watching reality shows - you will be entertained and there are pretty people to look at ;) Or invest it in your wellbeing and your long term earning power (i.e. career).
There is plenty of advice in this thread on the Blob approach if you want to go that route.
Good luck!