Trading to Win: The Psychology of Mastering the Markets (Wiley Trading) (Hardcover)

by Ari Kiev (Author) "Analog Devices is thirty five..." (more)
Key Phrases: committed trader, younger traders, trading events, Lady Luck (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Buy low, sell high. Sounds simple? Hardly. As most traders will tell you, finding the right entry and exit points in a market is too often a stressful and even gut-wrenching experience. Ari Kiev, author of Trading to Win, wants to change all that. Kiev spent five years with a group of professional traders at SAC Capital Management, a $500 million hedge fund, studying the psychological and emotional aspects of what makes for a successful trader. Kiev found that what hinders many traders is ego, fear, emotion, and "false beliefs about yourself and the markets." Gaining mastery as a trader means seeing "the market as it is, not as a reference point for your own existence." Kiev advocates a disciplined, Zen-like approach to the markets that begins with articulating a specific goal then committing oneself to attaining that goal in the most objective way possible, overcoming the emotional baggage that too often leads to poor decision-making. Trading to Win is for professional and amateur traders of every stripe who are looking for insight into their own behavior and approach to the markets. --Harry C. Edwards

Product Description
A breakthrough programfor achieving new heights of trading success

The product of a five-year collaboration between Dr. Ari Kiev, a leading psychiatrist renowned for his success with Olympic athletes, and top equities trader Steve Cohen, Trading to Win gives you the essential tools to overcome outmoded, self-limiting beliefs and mindsets that may be keeping you from a higher level of success. Illustrated with real market scenarios and applications, this powerful program will help psych you into a less stressful, more self-possessed mastery of the trading game and help you reach goals you may never have thought possible.

"The strategies in this book will unleash the hidden trader in you, and can substantially increase your trading profits." —Jay G. Goldman, Hedge Fund Manager.

"Ari Kiev has written a wonderful guide for money managers, traders, brokers, and investors alike. Sharing his thoughts with us regarding our behavior patterns enables us to take a step back and look at ourselves more objectively." —Seymour W. Zises, President and CEO, Family Management Corp.

The trading arena has produced its share of select "super-traders," market practitioners who set themselves apart from the rest of the field with one distinct advantage: mental and emotional toughness. Like outstanding athletes who stay focused, remain calm, and stick to their game plan, these master traders in this highly risky, highly competitive arena possess an edge that keeps them from being distracted by fear, self-doubt, greed, and other emotional components that can cause major losses and prevent gains from soaring to new highs.

Trading to Win presents a step-by-step, goal-oriented program for building the mental and emotional stamina not only to win, but to win on an unprecedented level. Created by a leading psychiatrist for a top trading firm, this proven approach spotlights a set of philosophical and behavioral principles designed to assist you in implementing proactive trading strategies, as well as developing the mindset needed to trade effectively in the realm of uncertainty. Delving into your underlying thought processes when you trade, Trading to Win enables you to understand what is motivating you, whether it is consistent with your game plan, and whether you are in any way sabotaging yourself.

Fully supplemented with real market trading scenarios, Trading to Win shows you how to apply key concepts where it counts—in actual trading room situations. For both professional traders and sophisticated investors, this remarkable program offers a rare opportunity for both personal and financial gain.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (October 6, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471248428
• ISBN-13: 978-0471248422
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #152,542 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't start trading without it., February 9, 1999

By	[e-mail] (Cincinnati, OH) - See all my reviews

I have two copies of Trading to Win; one I lend to my traders, and one I keep for myself.

I have been involved in running a professional trading firm for the past three years. At first, there were only a handful of books to help an individual transition from active investing, to trading. These days, it seems, there is a new title introduced every few days. I look at the majority of these books, and few are worth reading from cover to cover.

Trading to Win is an exception. This book deals with the psychology of trading in a more thorough way than any book I've read. As insightful as Elder's Trading for a Living, with more detail on the psychology of winning, and a more updated perspective. Ari Kiev takes his readers through a step-by-step process, showing them how to build their personal psychologies and become "master traders". He compares trader training to the training of Olympic athletes in a way that is accurate and interesting to read. There are numerous questions and quizes in the book, designed to keep readers on track while creating their personal psychological strategies.

Bottom line: In order of importance, your average trader usually puts psychology far behind trading technique. If he worked more on understanding and developing the motivations that governed his trades, maybe he wouldn't be so average.

Buy the book and plan on reading it numerous times.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The Book of Platitudes, June 27, 1999

By A Customer

I bought this book expecting to gain some insights into the psychology of trading. I received one big insight: Don't just research the markets - research books about the markets before buying! Mr. Kiev entreats us to: "Find your weaknesses and eliminate them... Seek your psychological stumbling blocks and overcome them... Determine what restrains you from trading freely and well - and cast these things aside..." And so on -ad infinitum; ad nauseum. Step two - the next logical step - the "How" to do these things is not a part of this book. Perhaps the author will publish a sequel: "Ari Makes Even More Money." Please do not buy this book.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "how to" on Life.....oh, and trading too., May 4, 2001

By	charles siegel "charliesiegel" (ny, ny United States) - See all my reviews

If you've read any books on zen or books like the The Inner Game of Tennis and came away with a little something extra then this book will fit perfectly into your library of READ books. For me, it was really a book about trusting your yourself, your gut, trusting your feal and not getting sidetracked by the conscious brain, anxiety, down days, trusting the work you've put into something, understanding your anxiety, not running from your fears, but rather coddling them, and not letting them run your decision making process. Yes, it's a 'how to' for trading, but its also something a little more intelligent (useful for the real world too). By reading this book, you put your faith in Ari and his successful devotees such as Steve Cohen (forward) who have been incredibly successful in trusting their feal and you learn to trust yourself. Yes, some people have better feal than others. But, what trade to win tries to impress that will help you get closer to victory is that its the trusting yourself (not getting sidetracked), visualizing, taking calculated positions-not gambling, setting realistic/yet stretch goals that help you steadily build up your success rate (applicable really to anything, not just trading). Put it this way, I found so much of value in this book on trading, analysis, and life, that the book is totally marked up and I'm probably going to HAVE to buy another copy. Really worth while for amateur traders, pro traders, non-traders, portfolio managers and analysts alike, and anybody for that matter.