Customer Reviews

Mastering Trading Stress: Strategies for Maximizing Performance (Wiley Trading)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

That's what Brett Steenbarger stated in his book Psychology of Trading.

The main purpose of this book is not to help you to make more money but to help you to deal with stress.
When I read the first pages of Mastering Trading Stress I thought Great, a sequel to Psychology of Trading. It's even the same size in the book shelf.

Kiev explaines all the varieties and levels of Stress. And yes, it's really interesting. I thought it might be useful to know where my trading stress comes from. But I've found once you're in the game or battle or whatever you want to call it; you FORGET about all this. That's why markets are anti-therapeutic.
This book aims toward fund managers and institutional traders since all the guys he's interviewing make millions, lose millions, and trade positions of about some million shares. It's not like Vadym Graifer discussing scalping where you get out after momentum fades (that is, after a move of say 13 cents!).

And then at the end of the book, there are the tips about how to deal with stress: I say; nothing special. Long sleep, exercise, healthy diet, etc... you can find this kind of advice in any kind of book about trading or psychology or stress.

I am really pondering if shall rate this book three or four stars because there actually ARE some really useful informations and great interviews in it.
But let me quote some passages to show why I give it only 3:

The Nature of Stress
Personality Factors
p.8
After being a bit stressed out for several weeks, Albert made a conscious effort to stay focused, to spend fewer nights out on the town, and to take some time off and prepare for the end of the year.

The Emotions of Stress
Anger
p.27
[.....]He was also annoyed at not being included in the loop regarding new ideas in venture capital, and by not having more than a very small percentage of commission dollars being allocated for the research process.
Making a conscious effort to stay focused, he went out fewer nights and took some time off to prepare for the end of the year.

So after that passage I had to force myself to read this book to the end.
Still, I've found that this was the only flaw.
I can recommend this book if you are interested in psychology generally and want to know why you and other people act in certain ways. Maybe it does help you, it didn't help me.
If you're an institutional trader buy this book right away. Ari Kiev speaks your language. You won't waste your time reading it nor your money.
For a more effective way how to deal with stress I'd like to recommend Morita therapy. If you went to college you probably heard about it. Otherwise you can learn about it in the world wide web. Or read Trade with Passion and Purpose by Mark Whistler.

3.5 Stars

I rarely write book reviews on the trading books I have bought off amazon, but this book must be critiqued. This book is worse than worthless, because it has negative time value expectancy. From page 16, you will learn that you need to follow a stock closely, then "buy it low and sell it high." Thanks for the tip! The hedge fund interviews wander aimlessly, and the advice they give is highly subjective and of no practical relevance to the reader about mastering the stressful situations they will come across. Even their stories are dull. Quit trying to impress us with the traders P&L, and start talking about the psychological constraints of trading. I am almost tempted to believe the author created these interviews as they are so disconnected. This will be the first book I have bought that went into the trash can instead of my book shelve.

Excellent read and an opportunity to look at your emotions through someone else's experiences. I recommend this book to anyone with roller coaster emotions and want a better understanding about those emotions. It's a book about traders, which is why I bought the book, however applies to life's everyday situations.

this book will not only help me make more $ but save me from loosing $