The Trading Athlete

"The best traders in the world know that being mentally prepared is absolutely essential to compete in today's markets. Without a firm understanding of the psychology of trading, even the best stock picker will fail. The Trading Athlete gives specific instruction on how new and seasoned traders can keep themselves at the top of their mental game."-Tim Bourquin, Cofounder, TraderInterivews.com and The Online Trading Expo "This book is a great training camp for online traders. Doug and Shane will provide the knowledge and motivation to help you become a successful trader."-Jonathan Markowitz, Partner, SMW Trading Co., Inc. Traders, just like athletes, face tremendous pressure, stress, and expectations that would crush the ordinary, unprepared individual. The Trading Athlete utilizes sport psychology strategies to provide you with the knowledge, confidence, and discipline needed to succeed and profit in the sink-or-swim world of online trading. Using real-world examples of athletes and online traders, this book will help you reach the peak of your online trading performance with in-depth analysis of: * Building confidence in good times and bad * Handling losses by examining your methods * Focusing and maintaining concentration * Playing the game one trade at a time Through sport psychology strategies exemplified by John Elway, Arthur Ashe, and other athletes, you will finally begin to trade and survive in the big leagues.

A step-by-step system for mastering trading psychology. Think about your most costly and recurring trading mistakes. Chances are that they’re related to common errors, such as chasing price, cutting winners short, forcing mediocre trades, and overtrading. You’ve likely tried to fix these errors by improving your technical skills, and yet they persist. That’s because the real source of these mistakes is not technical—they actually stem from greed, fear, anger, or problems with confidence and discipline. If you are like most traders, you probably overlook or misunderstand mental and emotional obstacles. Or worse, you might think you know how to manage them, but you don’t, and end up losing control at the worst possible time. You’re leaving too much money on the table, which will either prevent you from being profitable or realizing your potential. While many trading psychology books offer sound advice, they don’t show you how to do the necessary work. That’s why you haven’t solved the problems hurting your performance. With straight talk and practical solutions, Jared Tendler brings a new voice to trading psychology. In The Mental Game of Trading, he busts myths about emotions, greed, and discipline, and shows you how to look past the obvious to identify the real reasons you’re struggling. This book is different from anything else on the market. You’ll get a step-by-step system for discovering the cause of your problems and eliminating them once and for all. And through real stories of traders from around the world who have successfully used Tendler’s system, you’ll learn how to tackle your problems, improve your day-to-day performance, and increase your profits. Whether you’re an independent or institutional trader, and regardless of whether you trade equities, forex, or cryptocurrencies, you can use this system to improve your decision-making and execution. Finally, you have a way to reach your potential as a trader. Now’s the time to make it happen.

An inside look at what it really takes to become a better trader A proprietary trading firm consists of a group of professionals who trade the capital of the firm. Their income and livelihood is generated solely from their ability to take profits consistently out of the markets. The world of prop trading is mentally and emotionally challenging, but offers substantial rewards to the select few who can master this craft called trading. In One Good Trade: Inside the Highly Competitive World of Proprietary Trading, author Mike Bellafiore shares the principles and techniques that have enabled him to navigate the most challenging of markets over the past twelve years. He explains how he has imparted those techniques to an elite desk of traders at the proprietary trading firm he co-founded. In doing so, he lifts the veil on the inner workings of his firm, shedding light on the challenges of prop trading and insight on why traders succeed or fail. An important contribution to trading literature, the book will help all traders by: Emphasizing the development of skills that are critical to success, such as the fundamentals of One Good Trade, Reading the Tape, and finding Stocks In Play Outlining the factors that really make the difference between a consistently profitable trader and one who underperforms Sharing entertaining, hysterical, and page turning stories of traders who have excelled or failed and why, many trained by the author, with an essential trading principle wrapped inside Becoming a better trader takes discipline, skill development, and statistically profitable trading strategies, and this book will show you how to develop all three.

"As Jack Groppel so aptly explains, the rigor of corporate athletics is often even more demanding than that of professional athletes. In my world, one does not have the luxury of an off-season. . . . This book is a must read for all those striving for the gold."-Arthur M. Blank, CEO and President, The Home Depot "Wow! This is an incredible book. Every person in business should read The Corporate Athlete from cover to cover and apply it every day."-Brian Tracy, author of Maximum Achievement: Strategies and Skills That Will Unlock Your Hidden Powers to Succeed Today's corporate world is much like the world of professional sports-it is fiercely competitive and mentally and physically demanding, and it requires constant, vigilant training. More than ever, to maintain health, happiness, and career success, executives and employees must become Corporate Athletes. In this book, top business consultant, trainer, and lecturer Jack Groppel shows you how to use the training mentality of elite professional athletes. Based on the latest scientific research, The Corporate Athlete shows corporate competitors how to achieve maximum performance levels-both inside and outside the corporate world. Drawing on the parallels between sports and business, Jack Groppel reveals the integral roles that nutrition, fitness, and self-improvement-mental, physical, and emotional-play in giving Corporate Athletes their winning edge. It's an edge that's crucial if you need to come to a meeting fresh off the plane, pull out all the stops on a big presentation, cut the major deals-and still have the energy to enjoy time with family and friends. This practical and beneficial 21-day program will give you, no matter how overworked you are, the stamina and commitment to develop a world-class career. Learn to: * Have as much energy for your family at 8 p.m. as you have at the office at 8 a.m. * Be on when you need to be on * Respond to change, adversity, and crisis more constructively * Display more positivity and confidence * Eat properly on the road, in the air, and before and during business meetings * Slow down the aging process Take advantage of the same secrets that Dr. Groppel has used to help high-stress professionals-from Olympic athletes and NHL stars to fast-lane executives at major companies like Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Estée Lauder, and Bristol-Myers Squibb-get themselves in fighting shape. Here is the program that will train you to perform at the highest possible levels in both your professional and your family life-because taking optimum care of yourself, mentally and physically, is the best way to take care of business. "Outstanding . . . The Corporate Athlete is a truly comprehensive program to help you achieve both your personal and your professional goals. It will help you take control of your life and effect positive physical, mental, and spiritual change."-Darlene Hamrock, Regional Vice President, Clinique Why do so many top performers call themselves Corporate Athletes? "Today's challenging business climate requires every top executive to be perfectly fit both mentally and physically. The Corporate Athlete is must reading for everyone who wants to manage his or her business, career, or profession effectively while living a balanced life. Buy it-it's a great investment."-Leonard Lauder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Estée Lauder Companies, Inc. "This is the book to teach you how to perform your job at the highest level possible while maintaining maximal health and happiness."-Jim Courier, French Open champion and former world No. 1 tennis player

Praise for THE DAILY TRADING COACH "A great book! Simply written, motivational with unique content that leads any trader, novice or experienced, along the path of self-coaching. This is by far Dr. Steenbarger's best book and a must-have addition to any trader's bookshelf. I'll certainly be recommending it to all my friends." Ray Barros CEO, Ray Barros Trading Group "Dr. Steenbarger has been helping traders help themselves for many years. Simply put, this book is a must-read for anyone who desires to achieve great success in the market." Charles E. Kirk The Kirk Report "'Dr. Brett', as he is affectionately known by his blog readers, has assembled a practical guide to self coaching in this excellent book. The strategies he outlines are further enhanced with numerous resources and exercises for the reader to refer to and keep the principles fresh. I enthusiastically encourage anyone interested in bettering their trading and investing to read this book and keep it on their desk as a constant source of learning." Brian Shannon, www.alphatrends.net author of Technical Analysis Using Multiple Timeframes "Dr. Brett has distilled his years of experience, as both a trader and a psychologist/coach, into the 101 practical lessons found in The Daily Trading Coach. Those lessons provide effective strategies for coping with the stumbling blocks that traders often face. This book should be a cornerstone of any serious trader's library." Michael Seneadza equities trader and blogger at TraderMike.net

Want to become a truly great trader – either for yourself or for a proprietary trading firm? This book will help you get there. This unique approach is the closest thing to signing up for a “trader boot camp” yourself! You’ll learn by watching new traders walk through actual trades, explain what they’ve tried to do, and try to survive brutally tough expert critiques. One trade at a time, The Playbook reveals how professional traders must think in order to succeed “under fire,” how they assess their own performance, and how they work relentlessly to improve. Using concrete, actionable setups drawn from his extensive trading and training experience, Bellafiore walks through an extraordinary array of trades, showing readers how to maximize profits and avoid disastrous hidden pitfalls. He covers support plays, bull-and-bear flags, opening drives, important intraday levels, bounce and fade trades, pullbacks, scalps, technical opportunities, consolidation, relative strength, market trades, and more. He also presents indispensable insights on psychology and trader development, based on his work with hundreds of traders on a major commodity exchange and an elite prop firm’s trading desk. Packed with color, personality, and realism, this is an exciting guide to real-world trading.

Through his own trading experiences and those of individuals he has mentored, Dr. Brett Steenbarger is familiar with the challenges that traders face and the performance and psychological strategies that can meet those challenges. In Enhancing Trader Performance, Steenbarger shows you how to transform talent into trading skill through a structured process of expertise development and reveals how this approach can help you achieve market mastery.

High Performance Trading provides proven practical techniques and strategies to help traders of all abilities, experience levels and styles to enhance their trading performance and psychology. Based on practical coaching and training interventions, personal experiences, the latest research and feedback, and advice from leading traders, trading coaches and trading psychologists, this book offers something for everyone who wants to become a better trader. - Discover how to avoid the common pitfalls of trading and how to take the practical steps that can set you up for trading success. - Strengthen your trading discipline as you discover the art of flawless execution. - Develop and hone your mental edge through learning to think like a successful trader. - Programme yourself for trading success with powerful mental conditioning techniques. - Develop unshakeable focus and concentration and learn how to get into the trading zone. - Understand how to achieve and sustain a core of trading confidence. - Learn how to utilise simple techniques to manage your emotional states. - Build resilience to cope with trading stresses, and pressures and manage losses, setbacks and errors. - Move towards greater consistency and success in your trading performance.