Trading in the Zone: Maximizing Performance with Focus and Discipline (Wiley Trading) - Hardcover

Kiev, Ari

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0471379085 ISBN 13: 9780471379089

Verlag: Wiley, 2001

Inhaltsangabe

Overcome the obstacles that can prevent you from winning at the trading game

A trader's emotional state is vital to being a successful investor. There are many psychological factors that can affect the decisions one makes in the course of a trading day. This book focuses on overcoming issues such as anxiety, fear, and over-ambition so that traders can become more focused and be more successful-in other words, enter the zone-and stay in it as long as possible.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

ARI KIEV, MD, is a psychiatrist who specializes in stress management and performance enhancement. He is also President of the Social Psychiatry Research Institute and is recognized worldwide for his pioneering work in transcultural psychiatry, suicidology, and psychopharmacology. His other books include the acclaimed Trading to Win: The Psychology of Mastering the Markets; Transcultural Psychiatry; A Strategy for Daily Living; and The Courage to Live.

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PRAISE FOR TRADING IN THE ZONE

"Ari Kiev takes us inside the most successful trading firms of our time and shows us how those firms seek to improve performance through disciplined self analysis and structured goal management. His application of psychiatric tools to the short-term trading aspects of behavioral finance can give readers a competitive edge."
Charles A. Leeds Jr., CFA, Managing Member, Hermit Capital Management, LLC

"Kiev uses the powerful combination of his professional training as well as a unique vantage point inside the ropes at a market-moving, high-rolling hedge fund to deliver a fascinating analysis of a trader's psyche. Although trading is widely acknowledged as an art, one that requires incredible innate intuition and feel for the markets, Kiev prescribes 'getting into the zone'- a psychological state that one can create - for those aiming to achieve a higher level of performance. His anecdotes, case studies, interviews and tales of the 'Master Trader' are both instructive and tremendously insightful.A compelling read."
Ciaran T. O'Kelly, Head of Equity Trading, Salomon Smith Barney

"Trading in the Zone discusses the psychological considerations that serve to distinguish the most successful traders and portfolio managers from the majority of traders who are doomed to failure. Trading is so greatly influenced by emotions and discipline that not to have Ari's insight and advice is a serious mistake."
Tom DeMark, author of The New Science of Technical Analysis

"I have been managing money for more than twenty years and I am happy to endorse Dr. Kiev's principles, which have enhanced my performance and that of my traders over the past three years. Trading in the Zone will propel readers to the next level of trading success."
Jay Goldman, Hedge Fund Manager, J. Goldman & Co., L.P.

"Ari Kiev's Trading in the Zone clearly and forcefully illustrates the mental discipline that will enable a stock trader to improve his performance."
Allan R. Tessler, Chairman and CEO, Jnet Enterprises

"Dr. Kiev works with professional traders, including some of the best traders in the country. In Trading in the Zone, he provides numerous case studies based on the market experiences of these traders, told both through narratives and their own words, in order to distill insights and lessons that should prove invaluable to professional and aspiring traders alike."
Jack Schwager, author of The Market Wizards and Stock Market Wizards

Aus dem Klappentext

"Most traders believe that 'getting into the zone' happens when you have 'a hot streak.' I believe you can create the zone. The zone is a psychological state. It is when you are focused, disciplined, and fully engaged in the process at hand . . . trading in the zone will certainly increase your capacity to perform and succeed."
―Ari Kiev

In his internationally acclaimed Trading to Win, psychiatrist and top trading coach Ari Kiev showed traders how to master common psychological obstacles to success and how to develop winning personal trading strategies. Now, in this groundbreaking new book, he takes us to the next bold level with a complete, easy-to-follow program for Trading in the Zone.

Drawing on his years of experience helping top Wall Street traders achieve and sustain peak performance levels, Dr. Kiev describes proven techniques for tapping the energy, focus, and enthusiasm needed to enter the zone and stay there, every trading day, regardless of short-term results or market conditions.

With the help of many fascinating case studies, Dr. Kiev describes psychological and emotional factors that routinely undermine the decisionmaking process of even the most savvy trader during the course of the trading day. Writing for traders in virtually every market, he explores the varying psychological and emotional issues confronting different classes of traders based on their risk profiles and preferred instruments. Trading in the Zone helps you gauge the extent to which your effectiveness is being hamstrung by common problems such as anxiety, fear of failure, negative self-image, and greed. He provides step-by-step guidance on how to overcome those internal obstacles and enter the zone, where you will produce outstanding results, day after day, year after year.

Don't let cognitive traps and negative emotions impair your effectiveness as a trader. Read Trading in the Zone and learn how to achieve the heightened levels of objectivity, focus, and confidence you need to trade in the zone and win, win, win.

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Chapter 1: Defining the Zone

Of course, getting in the zone means different things for different traders. For Raymond, it meant getting back in touch with his willingness to take risk and to get support from his team. Raymond had to be ready to give up his individualistic self-sufficient approach and embrace the support of others who could help him get past his fears and inhibitions. He had to get past his fearful state of paralysis and move toward his vision, taking the risk associated with trading at those levels without being afraid of the consequences.

Entering the zone requires conviction. Conviction comes from a willingness to trade your ideas and to develop confidence in your ability to assess what moves to make. Some traders erroneously think that conviction comes from more certainty or from feeling positive. I tell them that when Shaquille O'Neal is off in his shooting, he keeps shooting until he gets back into the groove. Traders have to keep trading until they find the zone. It will not appear by itself. It will appear only from the effort made to keep moving until they get a feel for the market and for the right trades. Jordan, an experienced trader, communicated this thought: "The ability to trust my feelings is the key to it. I will keep trading some positions until I get them right. Finally, I have the confidence to stick with my convictions. When I think I am right, I will stay there. I don't care how the stock trades."

How to Be in the Zone

How do you know that you are in the zone? You know you are there when you are totally focused. Time stands still. You hit the ball effortlessly with no resistance. It's like taking an exam. When you know the answers, they jump out of the questions.

You know you are in the zone when you see things you have prepared to see. There is less resistance, and it feels good. Time slows, extends itself. You feel at one with the game. To get there requires focusing and tuning out other things. You cannot be bothered by ordinary concerns.

Being in the zone means staying on target. Success is secondary. The zone is "getting high from finding a great idea, which may take months of work to actually find," said Phillip.

Another trader described it this way: "There's a spot where I don't get caught up in the marketing muck. I can still float in and catch the big trades and not get back in between. As you are up big and your goal is in sight, you feel less pressure that the daily numbers have to be there, and the numbers just flow in."

Being in the zone means following your strategy, trusting your plan. Jordan is a good trader. His percentage of winning trades is almost 70 percent. He is confident in his abilities. "I stay in things until I am right," he said. "I did the work. If I thought I was right, I didn't care how they traded. I stayed with them. I am trading bigger. The ability to trust my feelings is the key. Other traders may say that they should buy something but then they don't. Some have incredible analyses, but they just won't act."

When you are in the zone you are trading with a lack of concern for results. You are trading according to a plan, and you have a greater tolerance for pain. However, you cannot let this tolerance push you out of control.

If you ski, your natural tendency is to try to control the skiing, but then you fall. Skiing is learning to control the slide. With more maneuverability, you can allow for more free fall. Gravity and sliding take over when you quit holding on so tightly. You may fall, but you also experience more exhilaration.

For example, let's say a trade is going well. Something that was going down is now moving up. However, instead of moving with that, getting more information, and getting bigger, you get scared and take your profits and run. The better traders, however, trust their instincts, take the risk, and stay in the game longer.

That capacity to trust your instinct and go with the flow is where you are allowing yourself to experience the phenomenon of trading in the zone. It is like the sweet spot in tennis when you just focus on the ball. You don't watch the stands or think about the last shot. Your mind is clear, and you focus on what is in front of you-a biomechanically perfect swing. When you are free of extraneous thoughts, free of selfcriticism, replaying past disasters or fearful thoughts, you can become centered and focused.

To be in the zone means that you are using your goal as a lens through which to see the actions you need to take. If you find yourself making trades that are ultimately not in your own best interest, step back and look at what you are doing.

"Everyone trades differently," said Wayne. "The key is to understand your own risk profile. One trader I know, for example, is comfortable losing $200,000 on a trade. After that, he'll bail out. I don't have the loss appetite. How much can you tolerate? Is it 1,000 shares down a point or 1,000 shares down half a point? Your risk appetite should be clearly defined. You need to feel you are in control but still have enough room that you can be right or wrong and not get stopped out."

Among highly trained athletes with appropriate mechanics, there are still factors that differentiate the best from those who would be best. How do Tiger Woods or Wayne Gretzky differentiate themselves from their competitors? It is their ability to sustain concentration in the face of stress...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Wiley
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2001
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0471379085
• ISBN 13: 9780471379089
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Auflage: 1
• Anzahl der Seiten: 240
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Wiley-VCH GmbH; product_safety@wiley.com; ; Boschstrasse 12; Weinheim; 69469; Deutschland