The psychology of trading: tools and techniques for minding the markets Ebook

It has been said that trading is a microcosm of life and that if you have “issues” they will play out 100-fold when you trade. Why is this so? In life we manage uncertainty about an inherently unknowable future in our quest for what we value. The trader enters the market, studies, obtains trading systems, works out methodologies that he tests for success. Yet we can still fail — often miserably. How is it that otherwise successful people — from doctors to attorneys to engineers, people who have known nothing but success — enter the market only to pile up loss after loss? Clearly, trading and investing is about more than “smarts,” about more that “market knowledge.” Success in the markets, as in life, depends on a healthy and clear strategy for emotional risk management in addition to market knowledge. Brett Steenbarger, a leading practitioner of brief therapy and counselor to high-functioning individuals, presents cutting edge ideas and research in psychology out of his experience in psychiatry and his knowledge of trading. In an engaging read that provides practical solutions to real trading problems, Steenbarger walks the trader through the most common “issues” the market will force the trader to face. From breaking destructive patterns and managing uncertainty to developing the capacity for focus and discipline to crisis management, Risky Markets, Uncertain Minds show traders by real-world example how to identify their patterns of success and failure and exercise greater control over them. The case studies, research, and ideas presented in this book are heavy intellectual and emotional ammunition to transform your approach to risk and reward.