The Mental Strategies of Top Traders: The Psychological Determinants of Trading Success

Ari Kiev

John Wiley & Sons, Dec 21, 2009 - Business & Economics - 208 pages

An honest depiction of the challenges of trading and a clear explanation of what it takes to succeed

Trading tends to be a winner-take-all activity where a small number of traders are very successful, while the majority either lose money or generate relatively small profits. In The Mental Strategies of Top Traders, author Ari Kiev identifies and analyzes the characteristics of successful traders and shows you how to cultivate these same characteristics.

Successful trading, Kiev asserts, requires an unusual and sometimes contradictory blend of intellectual and psychological abilities, including the willingness to take risks, but in a very controlled manner; the discipline to develop high-conviction trading ideas in the face of unpredictable markets and incomplete information; as well as a strong drive to win, but also accept failure. Here, you'll discover how to achieve all this, and much more.

• Provides advice and solutions for traders struggling with today's volatile and stressful markets
• Authoritatively identifies key mental strategies of top traders
• Written by Ari Kiev, a highly respected figure in the professional trading community
• Analysis is supported by comments from contemporary traders and portfolio managers, many of whom struggled with the markets of 2008

Designed with the serious trader in mind, this book will put you in a better position to excel in today's tumultuous markets.

Contents

• A History of Success: 14
• Putting It All Together: 21
• Chapter in Review: 27
• Case Study on Having a Variant Perception: 35
• Personality Factors and GoalSetting: 42
• GoalDirectedness in Turbulent Times: 50
• The Ability: 57
• Learning to Upgrade Your Performance: 71
• Chapter in Review: 77
• Idea Construction: 88
• Defining Expectational Analysis: 94
• Case Study on Knowing the Business: 95
• Idea Velocity: 105
• Case Study on Communicating Effectively: 111
• Case Study on Trading Stress: 123
• Case Study on SelfAssessing During Drawdowns: 129
• Chapter in Review: 140
• Finding Complements to Your Team: 151
• Chapter in Review: 159
• Directing Success: 161
• Exploring Potential Leaders: 176
• Chapter in Review: 189

About the author

Ari Kiev (Park Ridge, NJ)?is a psychiatrist who specializes in stress management and performance enhancement. Kiev has had a distinguished career in psychiatry. He is president of the Social Psychiatry Research Institute and is recognized worldwide for his pioneering work in transcultural psychiatry, suicidology, and psychopharmacology. Kiev has counseled Olympic athletes on how to achieve states of peak performance in athletic competition. In recent years, Kiev has worked with many traders on issues of stress management, goal setting, and performance enhancement. He has worked extensively with Steve Cohen's multi-billion dollar SAC Capital Advisors.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Mental Strategies of Top Traders: The Psychological Determinants of Trading Success; Volume 452 of Wiley Trading
• Author: Ari Kiev
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 2009
• ISBN: 0470509538, 9780470509531
• Length: 208 pages
• Subjects: Business & Economics / Accounting / General; Business & Economics / Finance / General; Business & Economics / General