The Disciplined Trader: Developing Winning Attitudes

by Mark Douglas

Book Overview

The classic book that introduced the investment industry to the concept of trading psychology. With rare insight based on his firsthand commodity trading experience, author Mark Douglas demonstrates how the mental matters that allow us function effectively in society are often psychological barriers in trading. After examining how we develop losing attitudes, this book prepares you for a thorough "mental housecleaning" of deeply rooted thought processes...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0132157578
• ISBN13: 9780132157575
• Release Date: April 1990
• Publisher: Prentice Hall Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.31 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.4" x 9.3"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Take this review with a grain of salt

...Mark Douglas has a very unique writing style in this book, and I don't even know how to describe it. It took me three WEEKS to get through the first 80 pages. I'm a kinesthetic learner. It was agony. Concepts were coming at me I'd never considered before, and there were very few concrete analogies to sink my teeth into. The wrinting style he uses is pretty much "Welcome to Mark's World - Now Go Home." While I was reading, it didn't feel like a standard book. He doesn't seem to observe any of the standard conventions about clarity, brevity, expansiveness, repetition, or other typical tools.It was very granular at some levels, and very macro at others. Nothing in the middle, which is where a guy like me WANTS it to go. I WANTED somebody to take me by the hand and say, "Here's HOW you change yourself. "Do this self-evaluation form, then "Do the exercises for the 'foundation' areas everybody needs, then"Do these other exercises specifically for the areas you suck at worst, then "Do them for Y weeks, and rinse and repeat as necessary."I didn't WANT to learn this weird Mark way. It wasn't fun. It wasn't hip. But I persevered. I mucked through the swamp. And my mind was opened. The light at the end of the tunnel was not a train. ... First, sometimes we think we know a principle when there's actually something bigger, broader, and more all-encompassing above it. Criminitly... I'm starting to sound like Mark. The second thing is, you gotta know WHEN to apply WHICH principles. Here's an example in my own voice, adapted from the book: The old trading mindset says, "when BAD things happen, kick in either fight or flight reaction." The new mindset says, "When INTERESTING things happen, OPEN YOUR EYES, learn from them and DELIBERATELY choose a response....Studying this book is almost like watching one of the cooking shows on PBS. Those guys ACT like they're going nice and slow, and that you have plenty of time to keep up. But the truth is, They're burning rubber and you don't have a snowball's chance unless you taped the dang show and can re-wind at will. ...One of the things about this book - Mark seems to be a shockingly humble guy. He doesn't present himself as the world's perfect trader. Yes, he has street cred, but he doesn't present it like that at all. He wants you to know the pain he went through, so you can avoid it yourself. Not only does he see the big picture, he sees the ugly gory details...-Norm Chambers

A Complete Insight Into The Disciplined Trader

The number one reason that I like The Disciplined Trader is that Mark Douglas has no formal training in psychology. Rather, Douglas was trained in the only classroom that matters-the battlefield of actual trading. Even though this book was published in 1990 and there have been a plethora of trading-psychology books published since then, Douglas' material stands out has an innovative classic. He just uses his own gift for seeing the mental shortcomings of the losing trader and spells out his own fresh insights on what we, as traders, need to do to experience real success in trading. Douglas starts the book out from a perspective that many traders can identify with-crushing defeat. Humbling himself to the higher power that the market is and analyzing the formula for defeat, Douglas shows how he was able to reverse-engineer it to find the formula for success that many of the book's readers over the years have found useful in exorcising their own psychological demons. Central to Douglas' thesis is that the elements of character that produce success in most of life's endeavors are completely different from those that will make you successful as a trader. To thrive in business or some professional career, you have to work hard to develop the skills that will allow you to be in control of your environment. To build a business empire, you have to be a great leader of people. To become a heart surgeon, you have to learn how to control your scalpel. To be a good mother, you have to know how to discipline your children. But successful trading, says Douglas, is the process of yielding to the market and being in control only of yourself and the way you respond to changing market conditions. When the idea of being in control of yourself sinks in, you realize that you as a trader get exactly what you deserve from the markets. If you consistently get poor results, you deserve this. If you consistently get great results, you deserve that. The market doesn't care, one way or the other. As with any book filled with original and profound ideas, The Disciplined Trader isn't always an easy read, particularly as it slogs through the painful process of pummeling away at our self-destructive mechanisms. Fortunately, as with life, the journey provides a reward and Douglas spends the final chapters of the book explaining practical techniques that will help you to "get it together" as a trader.

A 'core holding' book for traders

The more you grow in your trading career, the better you will understand this book. Read it over and over, and also his other book 'Trading in the Zone', I can relive my psychological growth path and deeply realize that only a real trader can write a book like this.People who rate this book 1 star are simply not developed as traders yet.Tons of books on the market are on the technical aspects of trading, but that is only 10% of this business.

rating this book

As I read the reviews on this book, it seemed that there were two groups of reviewers: the group that just loved the book and the (small) group that hated it. After reading it, I found that the solution to this phenomenon was the following: to truly understand the book, you need: 1) To understand, that this book is not going to present you a clear trading plan or any technical knowledge whatsoever. It's about the mental aspects of trading. 2) A certain level of intellect (not that it is very hard to read, but I'm sure it is too difficult to understand for some). 3) (a lot of) trading experience. You can only appreciate and understand the book, if you can relate to the mental processes and experiences that are presented in this book. Once these three conditions are satisfied, I'm sure you'll just LOVE this one.

Wish I would have had this BEFORE I started trading !

One of the biggest challenges new day traders face is "choking" when they should be "stopping-out" for a small loss.The Disciplined Trader teaches you how get in the right mental frame to "cut your losses fast and let your winner's run"For those who have studied personal development (ie. Tony Robbins type stuff) a lot of this is review, but this book applies these type of persoanl development strategies to trading.Day-Trading is 90% mental