your local library may have access to companion libraries, such as ILL, (inter library loans), where they can request books from other libraries that yours doesn't have. Also, college libraries often have extensive finance sections, and they may allow the general public to access their books also. I highly recommend you read the books by Ruth Roosevelt, even before you read the Douglas books. Also, often you can find used books at these booksellers. http://www.ruthroosevelt.com/ http://www.abebooks.com/ http://www.alibris.com/ let me know something you learn from them.
Thank Everyone for their contribution. The reason I have asked about these books is this. First I am only a breakeven trader after a year or so of trading. I can't seem to find a method and stick with it. At the first loss I want to try to fix my method, to not ever be wrong. It feels like there is a war that is constantly going on inside me. I want to trade but I have to know I won't lose. Even when only risking 1/2% of my acct. Has anyone of you ever felt like this? It isn't pleasant. Hopefully, Mr. Douglas and Miss Roosevelt can straighten me out. Thanks. Mark
You are going to have to force yourself to learn to accept taking losses sometimes. I feel like I have been posting a lot about this lately but for some reason it keeps coming up. Losses are an inevitable part of successful trading. Yes, I said it, losing is an important component of successful trading. Perfect trading doesnt exist, there are way too many variables in any given trade setup to know with certainty what the outcome will be. All you can do is find setups that work the majority of the time and keep trading those, using proper risk management. Even if you lose on those setups sometimes, you keep taking those trades b/c you know the probabilites are in your favor. Obviously the higher the better. I can honestly say, if you dont shake this need to be right everytime, you will have a very hard time making any headway in this business. I didnt start making any significant progress in my own trading until I accepted the fact that I was going to be wrong sometimes. It does take a great weight off your shoulders, believe me.
Steve you make a great point. I suffer from Mark's dilema too. Funny thing I have no problem walking into a casino losing $200 bucks or so and having a good time. Just starting out day trading, give me a $200 losing day and I am hard on myself. I guess because I have the stats and probs figured out I go into every trade with confidence and expectancy to win. I am doing alot of work on psychological side and it is showing improvement. This is a challenging endeavor, and I know it will pay off. Trading is similar to any challenging thing one first undertakes.......it can be real uncomfortable, but you just have to force yourself to work through the uncomfortable aspects and it becomes more comfortable with time, alteast thats how things works for me.
We all struggle with this. The exercise at the end of Trading In The Zone is perfect for you to commit yourself to. Have you done it yet.
Every now and again, one of the big boys will give an interview about their success which eventually makes it to the media. The bottom line usually goes something like this.... "50-55% winners, the majority of our profits come from a handful of plays, to survive you must be disciplined about stop losses...." You must accept this. If you're thinking or hoping it should somehow be different for you, then your perception needs adjustment. I haven't read Douglas's "Trading In The Zone", but I did read his "The Disciplined Trader" years ago. These kind of books can help a trader develop the proper mindset for market success.
It may help if you realize that this persistent need of most of us to be right is actually one of the reasons that good traders make money. It results in market behavior that presents opportunities to make money. If you are more analytically minded you might find some readings on Behavioral Finance helpful. I find it helps to realize that there are certain human traits which persistently show themselves in traders and from there in market behavior. Unfortunately most of the relevant literature is thusfar quite academic and ponderous. Nevertheless, if you can read past the academic form -- with its great need to give credit to the thousands of related ideas that come before and to explain in lengthly complicated formula that which a normal human can describe in two paragraphs -- there is a lot of interesting and useful information out there. You will be more successful if you are able to be one of the few that can do the opposite of what we are all largely preprogrammed to do. Sometimes this is easier when you realize that our behavior is common and the result of traits and behavior that has proved very useful to humans in other circumstances, i.e. in the more primitive societies in which we developed. Society as a whole rewards conformism and risk aversion, so all our lives we get persistent subtle and not-so-subtle reinforcement of conformist traits. Trading is not like normal life, it rewards non-conformism, confidence, thinking faster, thinking different (yes, I know it should be "differently" but I like the Apple grammar), and above all being able to do that which is risky and very uncomfortable for most. - Curtis
Bobnat has a collection of the Zone affirmations here: http://www.moneytec.com/forums/f90/distilling-trading-zone-9304/
Thanks Guys My local bookstore only had The Disciplined Trader so I picked it up and so far it's really good. I never realized how important the right mindset is to trading. Mark