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Investing and the Irrational Mind: Rethink Risk, Outwit Optimism, and Seize Opportunities Others Miss [Hardcover]

Robert Koppel
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

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Book Description

March 21, 2011

Make RATIONAL decisions in the IRRATIONAL world of investing

"Readers will find within these pages new truths that will help transform their thinking. This is more relevant than the latest strategies, trading systems, or technical chart formations."
--William J. Brodsky, Chairman and CEO, Chicago Board Options Exchange

"Koppel offers pioneering insights, backed by substantial research, that help explain how psychology influences financial decisions and drives markets. Investing and the Irrational Mind is a must-read for both the professional and nonprofessional investor."
--Robin Mesch, President, Mesch Capital Management

"If there is truth to the Yiddish proverb that 'man plans and God laughs,' read Investing and the Irrational Mind to gain an essential understanding of what to do with your stocks and bonds when God is cracking up. As the sages advised, 'All the rest is commentary.'"
--Yra Harris, CME Group member, President of Praxis Trading, and author of the daily investment blog Notes from the Underground

"Investing and the Irrational Mind explains the psychological barriers to making good investment decisions--and more importantly how to overcome them. Koppel shows the dangers of our own habit-driven behavior, biases, and heuristics and how they lead us to violate our own investment axioms."
--Alexander Abell, Director, BlackRock, Inc.

"Investing is fraught with uncertainty, which gives rise to psychological issues that investors ignore at their peril. Bob Koppel has written a fascinating, entertaining, and comprehensive examination of this multifaceted area of inquiry. If you invest for a living, or even if you're just a student of the psychology of self, you will find beneficial insights in the pages of this book."
--A. Thomas Shanks, President and CEO, Hawksbill Capital Management

About the Book

Most investors are driven by greed and panicked by fear, which is why so many lose so much during market upheavals. It's also why so few gain so much. What separates the winners from the losers? People who remain calm, focused, and analytical during market ups and downs always come out on top--and snatch the losses of those who panic.

Investing and the Irrational Mind gives you the tools for overcoming the self-destructive impulses that stand between you and profit. Behavioral finance expert Robert Koppel reveals why your brain sends certain negative messages during the investing process. Applying the latest advances in neuroeconomics and insights from top traders, he provides a program for building the habits used by the world’s most successful investors.

Investing and the Irrational Mind teaches you how to:

  • Identify negative, self-defeating patterns of thought
  • Tailor your goals according to your particular investing psychology
  • Develop a framework for overcoming irrational thoughts in investment decisions
  • Use one of your most powerful investing tools--intuition

The investing world operates by the law of the jungle, with a new surprise lurking around every corner. How often have you abandoned a perfectly sound investing strategy because you panicked? "Success requires focused concentration that permits an unbiased perception of the market," writes Koppel. "All we can ever control is ourselves, but that is more than enough."

Armed with 30 years of experience as an analyst and fund manager, Koppel helps you develop a focused, disciplined, confident, and profitable approach to investing using the best tool at your disposal: your brain. Filled with surprising insights into human behavior and rock-solid financial advice, Investing and the Irrational Mind helps you draw consistent profits in an inconsistent investing world.


Best Value

Buy Investing and the Irrational Mind: Rethink Risk, Outwit Optimism, and Seize Opportunities Others Miss and get What Investors Really Want: Know What Drives Investor Behavior and Make Smarter Financial Decisions at an additional 5% off Amazon.com's everyday low price.

Investing and the Irrational Mind: Rethink Risk, Outwit Optimism, and Seize Opportunities Others Miss + What Investors Really Want: Know What Drives Investor Behavior and Make Smarter Financial Decisions
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Robert Koppel is a former member of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), a hedge fund partner, and president of his own division at Rand Financial. The author of numerous books on the psychology of trading, Koppel was the senior business writer for Onmoney.com. His work has appeared in the national financial press and been featured on CNN, CNBC, and NPR.


Product Details

  • Hardcover: 304 pages
  • Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (March 21, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0071753370
  • ISBN-13: 978-0071753371
  • Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 1 x 9.3 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #243,006 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
(7)
4.3 out of 5 stars
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Mind Over Money: Great Big Think Money Book April 1, 2011
Format:Hardcover
Robert Koppel is the person you want sitting beside you as you make tough investment decisions and execute trades. His book is informative and entertaining. It forces us to take a sobering, humorous look at ourselves and how irrational emotions and expectations ensnare us when it comes to our finances. The former exchange member and behavioral finance expert explains how when it comes to our money, our brain's response to uncertainty is almost certainly irrational.

Even the most rational among us, he says, while trained to look at the market as an orderly spreadsheet, should actually be seeing it more as a "jungle." This book is an excellent "survival guide" to navigating the irrationality inherent within us and the marketplace.

Hard to put down at 300 pages at it draws on the latest research from neuroeconomics and behavioral finance. Not just for investors, traders and business people, but general readers. Highly recommended.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Great research on the research May 8, 2011
Format:Hardcover
One of the phrases I use in business is "fail often, fail fast, fail cheap". Koppel starts the book by saying that successful investors have wins and they have losses.

I like reading about how we think and how the brain works. Many investment mistakes are illogical but people make them all the time. Koppel cites Arily's Predictably Irrational book and builds on it.

Koppel has researched all the research on mistakes investors make. Early on, he quotes Baruch:

"Only as you do know yourself can your brain serve you as a sharp and efficient tool. Know your own failings, passions and prejudices so you can separate them from what you see."

And Baruch's rules for successful investing:

1 - don't speculate unless you do it full time (I violate that one or perhaps I don't since I do not like to think that I speculate)

2 - resist "information" or tips

3 - Before purchasing a security, know everything you can about the company.

4 - never attempt to buy at the bottom and sell at the top.

5 - Take your losses quickly

6 - don't buy too many securities. Focus on a few and watch them.

7 - reappraise strategy periodically.

8 - never invest all your funds - keep some liquid

9 - don't try to be a jack of all investments - stick to a field you know (I notice I tend to make money in technology and lose money in other areas)

I liked all the studies Koppel cites. It is a well researched book.

He points out the "self serving bias". We tend to attribute our success to us and our failures to external events. I call this the "be careful when you start thinking you are smart" syndrome.

Good book - makes me re-think some of my investment strategy.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining Read for All Investors May 8, 2011
By Mox Tan
Format:Hardcover
with "Investing and the Irrational Mind", Bob Koppel has written a book that marries "tried and true" principles of sound investing and trading with the latest findings in the fascinating fields of behavioral economics and neuroeconomics. It is an entertaining read with amusing anecdotes from Koppel's decades on the trading floor. Although primarily aimed at the rapid fire trader, all investors, including private equity investors in illiquid assets, will benefit from its insights.
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