The first book I read cover to cover. I don't trade forex, and I don't use tick charts. Even so, I picked up a couple of ideas in the book that served me well. The writing is fairly clear, although a bit awkward at times. The second book I didn't even bother finishing.
Not personally irl, but apparently that dude from SimplerTrading is one, Linda Raschke too? I was never too deep into day trading, only more recently am I looking to make it my primary trading, so idk the scene too well. There is also that dude that runs a day trading subreddit on Reddit (r/realdaytrading), who apparently posts and logs everything publicly and he doesn't sell anything either. Has a 300+ page wiki on trading there, and even tells people not to trade a dime of your money until you are profitable for at least 3 months on demo among other things and then start small. The guy above was on the Chat With Traders podcast too..was pretty interesting:
I never understood this vitriolic hatred against trading education, whether books or courses. Everyone knows there are scammers out there looking to steal people's money. But there are obviously legit traders who provide good material, whether for a price or not. People always rave about "they wouldn't be selling xyz if they were rich and profitable" but this is just such simple minded nonsense. Let's face it, trading is not a career that adds value to society like a factory worker at a plant. You could say "more liquidity though, better pricing", but this is really an infinitesimally small value-add. Retail traders are not out here making markets lol. I am willing to bet that when people make it in trading and really hit it home, they feel a sense of lack in trading itself. Not that it isn't enjoyable or rewarding, but that it doesn't fulfill that purpose of helping others in a direct way. Not to mention the guilt that comes from being successful at something people desperately want to successful in and keeping that knowledge solely to yourself, never sharing your journey, insights, etc. This is where education comes in. It's about helping people and fulfilling that part of your heart. And it's probably why people like Livermore, Darvas, and others created material.
You hold a rather idealistic, altruistic, view of society and people... When I look into the faces and eyes of every so-called social media trader guru salesman out there....all I see is a demon with huge $$$$$ Signs in their Eyes... Make the Sale so I can get Richer,
I'm surprised, but not surprised, that philanthropic undertakings has not even entered the conversation. Philanthropy is more fulfilling as far as value to society IMO, than being a factory worker. Further, being self-reliant, or working towards self-reliance, generally speaking, is something a factory worker aspires to... not to be confused with being the best darn factory employee the company has ever had because the factory produces a desirable widget.
Personally I day traded for a while and made money. I found it to be a lot of work and very stressful. Too many moving parts to keep track of. Even when I switched to futures the stress level of constantly watching the market move was very high. I was like having a job where if you made a mistake it cost you money. I eventually moved to swing trading and make just as much if not more and have plenty of time to do other things and the stress level is way down.
Daytraders make the excuse they fear holding overnight. If they fear this, they also must operate under fear in daytrading, pecking away like a sparrow.