"trading in the zone" is not a good book for beginners even for professionals. I will not suggest this book. since I have a bad experience with it. after I read it, I felt "I can do trading" (walk barefeet on hot coals), man, I get burned hard immediately. I trashed it. trading is not psycholgy. good performance comes from good money management, detailed trading plan and competent expertise in tape reading, trend finding/following, turning point timing. there is no such thing as psychology. a non-sense book.
Wow,,, trader198 Sorry you had such a horrible experience with the "Trading in the Zone" Book. Maybe I got caught-up in the moment. Whenever I hear of someone who has built a system that is generating winning trades 92.3% of the time (12 of 13) and then tries a few "seat of the pants" trades (for whatever reason), I go a little postal. I, on the other hand, got more out of the last 30 "pages" of "Trading in the Zone" than I've gotten out of the 30 "books" I've read since. I'm not much in to the pyscho babble stuff myself, but the last chapter in the "Zone" contains a great exercise on taking a system, trading it for 20 trades, and then evaluate the system and yourself. For me, the last 3 (three) pages 199, 200 and 201 of "Trading in the Zone" gave my trading a very (profitable) new direction. Furthermore, I figured "mrbochin23" would be bombarded with great books to read and never notice my post anyway. I guess we're just different. Good trading <*)))><
Trading in the Zone a big game changer for me. I read it once and understood it cerebrally. Read it a second time months later and "got it". It was as if I read two different books. The soil has to be properly prepared before the seeds take root and thrive.
Trader 198 please don't take this the wrong way but may I ask what your nationality is? I am guessing you are not from the US. I have been on this earth for 48 years and there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that every aspect of my conscious existence is totally and completely controlled by my psychological makeup. I don't know what else to say. When we start to look inward it brings up uncomfortable feelings, we challenge the ego when we question ourselves. The ego doesn't like to be challenged. Please understand I mean no disrespect towards you. Sincerely, Bruce
for a new driver, even sit in the driver seat, look at those buttons, that makes the noob overwelming. is it psychology? no, because they lack of driving skills and experience and necessary knowledge! understanding how the car is built does not help you drive. the same applies to a trader.
Most of the best traders in the world have written on the subject and they disagree with you. Unless your strategy is 100% automated, trading is all about psychology. Even with the best money management techniques and a solid trading stategy, 90% of the traders will screw up. You know why? because our actions are driven by our emotions and our state of mind wether you are aware of it or not. Your car analogy is bad because of the above. A car does not think. A car doesn't have emotions. It doesn't get mad and do stupid things. If you want a good analogy, take professional athletes. If you have done any competition, you know techniques don't make the difference. But psychology does.