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I'm about to buy two more books, and was wondering if anyone has read them and wants to share feedback...
The Daily Trading Coach: 101 Lessons for Becoming Your Own Trading Psychologist, by by Brett N. Steenbarger
and...
Super Trader: Make Consistent Profits in Good and Bad Markets, by Van Tharp
Feedback before I pull the trigger on these two? My thinking is to expand my understanding of the psychological impact and better control it, since I think mastering oneself is really the key to trading (book one), and then to also reach more objective decisions regarding money and risk management, position sizing, etc (book two).
I have found some specifi to trading books interesting, but to respond to the mediocre/excellent topic, I have a different approach:
Transformation: Understanding the Three Levels of Masculine Consciousness by Robert Johnson
(borrowing someone else's review on Amazon): Johnson is a Jungian analyst who writes about myths and how they can tell us a lot about our life experiences and why we do what we do and why things happen to us. In this (short) book (105 written pages) he writes about the three levels of consciousness of men and gives a literary example of each. Don Quixote is Two-Dimensional Man (or simple man), Hamlet is Three-Dimensional Man (or complex man), and Faust is Four-Dimensional Man (or enlightened man). Johnson describes how men go through these stages, but sometimes become stuck at complex man because they have become so educated that they cannot give up their knowledge and return to the simplicity that can be seen in enlightened man. ** as it relates to trading, not being able to pull the trigger....
I also find interesting self sabotage as it relates to success... which includes how maybe guilt or low esteem or trauma promotes a rerun through the most intense feelings one has experienced in effort to resolve them. This implies a need to address mental tapes/ self talk. Any books on meditation might help. Or directly, replacing one replayed belief with another.
Also, I find the use of music, specifically baroque has been suggested to activate holistic thinking. With most of us taught to think with the left brain, it is when one can somehow tap into using a different part of the brain. [COLOR=#800080]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8pFIU65B_g[/COLOR] and anytime you get out of a rut of thinking in the same way, you have the possibility and potential to create, do and think something new.
Also, it is suggested that during the Renaissance, the amazing new thought, artistic excellence and the brilliance of some during that time... that these people were friends. Controversially, they were Freemasons, etc. But what a lot of people don't know is that it is questioned that maybe they used yoga as one route to holistic thinking, not to mention the association with like-minded, creative minds. Yoga balances the use of the body, including the mind and increases the intuition as one benefit. (This wouldn't be a book recommendation but rather an activity..)
Lastly, I recommend Malcolm Gladwell's books, but most specifically, his latest one, "The Outliers" -- In this book I'm interested in people who are outliers—in men and women who, for one reason or another, are so accomplished and so extraordinary and so outside of ordinary experience that they are as puzzling to the rest of us as a cold day in August. [COLOR=#800080]http://www.gladwell.com/outliers/index.html[/COLOR]
Dr. Steenbarger is very well regarded, I haven't read his books but I've read some of his blogs and I like him. I plan on reading his books.
I totally quit reading any books on any trading method. It seems they all either don't work or require expensive software (and probably still don't work!). So I'm now focusing on the money management and psychology part.
I just posted about a blog I'm reading, I originally put it here but since this is a book thread I thought I'd create a new topic. I'm hoping others will read it and want to discuss it. So far, from what I've read, it's far better than other trading psychology books that I've seen.
I've got a great blog I'm reading. It's written by a medical doctor who's also a trader. He explains how we're genetically wired to do things that are good for our survival but not good for trading. He explains the chemicals released …
I don't find trader books very helpful right now either. I am at a different place in my knowledge base than you are, clearly, tho. I find I'm battling discipline, fear and emotion more than anything. I trade very successfully in SIM mode, but the moment I switch over, it's a new ballgame. Getting better, but maybe this blog will help. thanks.
Also plan to check out WH's emotional clearing thread... thanks to him, too.
I went through this stage and unfortunately it took me losing the majority of my account before I broke out of it. Just like an addict as to hit bottom, it seems to be the same with trading.
In my case with sim I tend to let winners run and with real money I tend to cut them short. I'm currently working on a new method and I'm doing some sim and some real. I made a rule for this method:
Rule: Once the order is placed, I cannot touch the DOM. either my target is hit or I'm stopped out.
So yesterday I had 2 successful trades and a breakeven. This is on sim. So in my 4th trade the market was quite choppy over the past 2 hours so I thought I'd exit at breakeven (it had went in my favor and was pulling back). So I got out. About 15-20 minutes later it would have hit my target. So I added another rule:
Rule: Do NOT violate under any circumstances the previous rule.
In the blog I linked to, you'll find repetition is very important. You have to have total confidence in your method to trade without stress. I'm building that confidence in three ways:
- manually backtesting & using market replay to test prior months
- trade on sim until I'm very confident with it
- review every trading day and identify mistakes and missed trades
This is pretty much what I do with any new method. I find once I do that I have the confidence to follow the rules. Most of the time.
I hope you found that useful, if you'd like to discuss it further with specific examples (mine & yours) we can start a new thread.
Cunparis,
I appreciate your response and willingness to start a thread on this... I have a lot going on thru the rest of the month and won't be consistently trading. So, maybe in the new year, if you're still open to the idea. Thanks! I'll get back to you, if so.
LOL. yes. I can relate to the losing the account statement. I apparently haven't hit bottom yet. Thanks again.
I bought his new book, I am creating a thread on it.
I agree with not benefiting too much from 'trading method' books. It's all about psychology and money management. Yet, it's the least popular forum here. But hey, 95% of people here lose money, so makes sense in a way.
I think it makes sense because most people start looking for an edge. And unfortunately, during this search for an edge, they may:
- develop bad habits that are very hard to change
- think they have an edge when they do not
- find an edge that is only temporary
In my case it was all of the above. This is why it took me so long to straighten myself out.
I remember the first "technique" I studied, the teacher said not to trade it, even on sim. He said to just study it and watch it for months. Said it could even take a year. I thought he was off his rocker and I started simming it. I didn't have the edge yet, and in simming it I did stupid things that were sometimes rewarded by the market with a win. And that started my long trip down the wrong road.