Customer Reviews

The Disciplined Trader: Developing Winning Attitudes

5 star:		(91)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

The number one reason that I like The Disciplined Trader is that Mark Douglas has no formal training in psychology. Rather, Douglas was trained in the only classroom that matters-the battlefield of actual trading. Even though this book was published in 1990 and there have been a plethora of trading-psychology books published since then, Douglas' material stands out has an innovative classic. He just uses his own gift for seeing the mental shortcomings of the losing trader and spells out his own fresh insights on what we, as traders, need to do to experience real success in trading.

Douglas starts the book out from a perspective that many traders can identify with-crushing defeat. Humbling himself to the higher power that the market is and analyzing the formula for defeat, Douglas shows how he was able to reverse-engineer it to find the formula for success that many of the book's readers over the years have found useful in exorcising their own psychological demons.

Central to Douglas' thesis is that the elements of character that produce success in most of life's endeavors are completely different from those that will make you successful as a trader. To thrive in business or some professional career, you have to work hard to develop the skills that will allow you to be in control of your environment. To build a business empire, you have to be a great leader of people. To become a heart surgeon, you have to learn how to control your scalpel. To be a good mother, you have to know how to discipline your children.

But successful trading, says Douglas, is the process of yielding to the market and being in control only of yourself and the way you respond to changing market conditions. When the idea of being in control of yourself sinks in, you realize that you as a trader get exactly what you deserve from the markets. If you consistently get poor results, you deserve this. If you consistently get great results, you deserve that. The market doesn't care, one way or the other.

As with any book filled with original and profound ideas, The Disciplined Trader isn't always an easy read, particularly as it slogs through the painful process of pummeling away at our self-destructive mechanisms. Fortunately, as with life, the journey provides a reward and Douglas spends the final chapters of the book explaining practical techniques that will help you to "get it together" as a trader.

First off let me assure you that Mark Douglas deserves all the generally positive reviews he's received for this book and for "Trading in the Zone." What Douglas has to share is essential, extremely valuable information for both aspiring and veteran traders alike. That said, stand warned that Mr. Douglas has quite a tedious writing style. He suffers (and thereby, so does the reader) from a particularly diffuse, circular, and repetitive style. He gives redundant a bad name. Here's a sample, you be the judge:

"Our committed expectations about the future will act as a force on our perception of market information to control its flow into our mental system in such a way as to avoid a confrontation with anything that doesn't conform with what we already believe is possible." Got that? Then this book is for you.

You don't have to worry about picking between The Disciplined Trader, and Trading in the Zone - Mr. Douglas is so repetitive that he essentially wrote the same book twice. Material from each book is either reprinted verbatim or repeated in a slightly different way in the other.

In fairness, Douglas is struggling to convey some very complex psychological concepts which don't easily distill down to catchy one-liners. Still, for all of his good things to say, Mr. Douglas would only benefit from a good editor.

Stick with it though - the keys to success are buried within. And then re-encrypted over and over.

As I read the reviews on this book, it seemed that there were two groups of reviewers: the group that just loved the book and the (small) group that hated it. After reading it, I found that the solution to this phenomenon was the following: to truly understand the book, you need: 1) To understand, that this book is not going to present you a clear trading plan or any technical knowledge whatsoever. It's about the mental aspects of trading. 2) A certain level of intellect (not that it is very hard to read, but I'm sure it is too difficult to understand for some). 3) (a lot of) trading experience. You can only appreciate and understand the book, if you can relate to the mental processes and experiences that are presented in this book.

Once these three conditions are satisfied, I'm sure you'll just LOVE this one.

I got more out of this volume than all of the experience I have had trading over the years. And not until after I read it did I realize that it was written in 1990, before the dotcom bubble even began breathing. Every word of it still rings true. Any good book that teaches you about mindset, fear, bad habits, creating confidence, etc. is a winner. Some of the principles I can think of off the top of my head are:
- creating positive patterns
- accepting a losing position
- anticipating traders' emotions
- not expecting the market to "reward" your fear
Overall the psychology in this book is a great return on investment. A few pages are somewhat redundant or off-key but still well written with high application value in any marketplace or profession.

As a former exchange member, I can attest to the validity
of the concepts and the effectiveness of the methodology
presented in this book. Those who have ever traded seriously
know the mental game is the real game. You probably will have to execute over 1000 trades to really appreciate the thought process Douglas lays out. For beginners, reading the book
will introduce you to the REAL challenges in trading.
They don't call trading "A hell of a hard way to make an easy
living" for nothing. This book is one of the very few that addresses this issue.

A previous reviewer complained that this book is all psychological, well yes it is but the subtitle "Developing Winning Attitudes" should be a tip off. The basic idea is that our preconceptions can force us to exclude information that we need to make informed decisions. Also our fears create a self-fufilling prophecy of loss. It's a good book, but it is ALL psychological so if you're looking for nuts and bolts look elsewhere. I couldn't give it 5 stars because it is a little verbose and repetitive in some places.

...and it took it a while to open mine and understand that trading is not only about reading the numbers and mastering the fundamentals and technical aspects.

Generally I'm open to new ideas, even those which are contrary to my firm beliefs and convictions. I have to admit I didn't understand right away what this book was about after having read it only once. This is the kind of book you have to read over and over again to fully understand and appreciate its lessons, the discipline and psychological preparation for trading. Mr Douglas's work won't present you a clear trading plan, technical analysis wizardries and the like. It will rather help you master your fears and wrong beliefs and fight your negative emotions. Greed and fear have been for long my worst trading enemies (especially the first) and reading Mr Douglas's lessons has helped me a lot in fighting my negative psychological aspects.

I don't think one can quickly become an excellent trader after having read only one book, whether it's this or another one. I believe that one can get better and better in trading only step by step, and I firmly believe that reading this book more than once is one of the steps.

I had to read this one twice before it sank in. It was much clearer the second time. I had mixed feelings similar to some of the other readers whom did not review the book very favorably. However, once I left my mind open to understand what I was reading, my respect for the book soared. To benefit from this book you must be willing to accept things contrary to your current belief systems. There is a lot of insightful and unique material that starts at the very basis of our psyche and is then applied to the trading arena. To anyone who did not like the book, reread it, understand it and you will be the better for it.

I've had this book for a couple of years and finally got around to reading it. I wish I had done so much sooner. This book is so much more than a pyschology book for traders. It is a book about the pyschology of life. The concepts, once explained, seem so simple but most people do not think in such a way as to understand why they do what they do. Douglas doesn't use stock charts or technical analysis but rather examples from his own life and those of others to illustrate the principles he is trying to teach. This book is for anyone who wants to know why they do what they do and how to change their thinking to acheive their goals in trading and life.

The more you grow in your trading career, the better you will understand this book. Read it over and over, and also his other book 'Trading in the Zone', I can relive my psychological growth path and deeply realize that only a real trader can write a book like this.

People who rate this book 1 star are simply not developed as traders yet.

Tons of books on the market are on the technical aspects of trading, but that is only 10% of this business.