I had high hopes for this book, because I strongly believe that the psychology of trading is half the battle. Sure, you need to know the technicalities of how to use various stockbroker order types and how to spot opportunities based on fundamentals or price action; but you also need to make decisive entries and exits unhindered by the emotions of fear and greed. In fact, other traders' fear and greed may be your ally.

Parts I and II of the book were what I expected -- psychology in the context of stock market trading.

Part III was very disappointing; the kind of pseudo-psychology to be found in many self-help books. Not only did this have little or nothing to do with trading, but it was also based on very dodgy science. I quote from page 100 "The experiences [...] will be transformed into electrical impulses of energy [...], the experiences will carry an eletrical charge [which] will be either positive or negative." I get this as an analogy; but to state baldly that positive experiences will be stored in the brain with positive charge whereas nagative experiences will stored with negative charge is ridiculous and plain wrong.

Part IV had the right trading bias, and contained useful information about market support and resistance points as a function of the market participants' psychologies and future expectations. In this part, the book redeemed itself -- but it was too little, too late, for me.

Throughout the book there is an undercurrent of advice to cut your losses efficiently without emotion when the market does not go the way you expect. Sound advice.

Tony Loton, author --
DON'T LOSE MONEY! (in the Stock Markets)
Financial Trading Patterns

Seems to be quite a few negative reviews. Must be by people who have never tried to trade. Yes the author is redundant, but by no means is it as redundant as described by others. This is a very good book and a must read for anyone serious about trading.

Guys,

This book is absolutely awesome. I have nothing against it, and I consider it a must read for any trader. My purpose of this review is to caution you that there are missing chapters in the book that I received. It looks like the publisher screwed up.... Just a caution.

Author Mark Douglas explains that he lost almost everything he owned because of bad trading decisions. The experience led him to rigorous self-examination, and he discovered that emotions, especially fear, had led him to trade imprudently. He went on to write this straightforward, very penetrating explanation of the role of beliefs and emotions in trading. This is not an abstract academic exercise. Douglas is a trader talking to traders. He is thorough and practical in his analysis and advice. At times, his style may be awkward, stilted and even cumbersome; however, these flaws do not prevent him from communicating important, useful information. Although the book is specifically about emotional and psychological factors as they affect trading, readers are likely to notice that these influences are active in other dimensions of their lives as well. getAbstract finds that this is quite a good little book that has stood the test of time, despites changes in the technology of trading.

This is the best book I have read on trading psychology. I almost complete my second reading now, and I am "shocked" how many gems I missed during my first reading...

The best advice I get out from this book is "there're no failures or mistakes in trading, they are only reflections of what one needs to learn to grow." I have found many of the wisdom and "revealations" apply not only to improving trading results but also to almost all aspects of living too. Highly recommended to new traders!

It is crucial that all traders master the principles presented in this book. The lessons presented in this book are 5 stars, however the writing style is 2 stars. If you can walk away with the principles this book teaches in staying with your system, do not buy or sell stocks based on your emotions, and be mentally prepared for both wins and losses then you will do well. I am sorry to say that reading this book is torture, it is about three times as long as it should be. The writers style makes the principles far to complex and clinical. The book dives far deeper into psychology than is needed to trade stocks in a disciplined manner. You would do better to read any of Alexander Elder's book on how to manage the mind while trading stocks or read the author's other book "Trading in the Zone" for a much lighter read. This book is just over kill on simple concepts. Also, reading the last two chapters of this book is all you really need.

This book tazed me bro! There's too much psycho babble! You'll get dizzy. F-it.

This book tazed me bro! There's too much psycho babble! You'll get dizzy. F-it.

There is no doubt in my mind that any person who wants to be a trader needs to read this book. Great insight to the mental struggles that occur when working with the unstructured world of the markets.

I have read Trading in the zone and now the disciplined trader and definately like the way that the author is trying to get the message across.If your serious about trading I recommend reading this book,I could relate to alot of the stories/messages that are in this book.

This is a book about human behavior. At the very end, this is a book about trading. If you are willing to believe (or do believe) that trading IS about the effects of human behavior - and little or nothing else - then this book will be a welcome addition to your library. People make a market. People behave in predictable and repeatable ways. That concept is as fundamental as it is technical.

This book came highly recommended by someone I respect, and that is probably the only reason I stuck through it to the end. Long sentences. Lots of repetition. Extended periods of time where trading is never mentioned, even in examples. The author is frustratingly slow to make a point at times. But, in the end, you will realize (as the title implies) how relevant to your trading career this book really is. You will turn back to page one and start again - it's that good and that important.

I have a pile of trading books from all the best authors - in a closet. This book is open on my desk, every day.

If you are looking for a answer to your trading psycological problems, this is it!!! This books takes you into a journey of understanding your self and your physical functions as a primary element of trading success. I have understood where my fear comes from and of course, I have understood that everything is an illusion and that the market cannot do anything to me.

You outhere, readt it!!!! You will open yourself to a new state of mind.

This book is all about discipline in trading. Great reference book, and I think it should be taught in courses as well. After I read this book, I reviewed all the losses I made in the stock markets over the last 14 years of trading, and found out that most of them simply was due to the lack of discipline !
The book is written in a great language, where I believe the writer fought hard to choose every single word.
A must have for everyone who trades, intend to trade, or even experienced trader.

the author takes you from his time as a novice stock broker, personal banckruptcy and all, to his eventual success. And it comes down to psychological mindset. The market is a whole different animal from anything you have ever experienced. Indeed, it is your past experiences and successes that may cause you to fail in the market. So, before you ever trade, this book is a must.

the author takes you from his time as a novice stock broker, personal banckruptcy and all, to his eventual success. And it comes down to psychological mindset. The market is a whole different animal from anything you have ever experienced. Indeed, it is your past experiences and successes that may cause you to fail in the market. So, before you ever trade, this book is a must.

Fantastic book that deals with how we think when it comes to trading. It will challenge you, it will make you think, it will entertain you and it will give you direction. Do yourself a favour and order a copy. If you are prepared to look deeply into how you think while you trade then this is a must have book.

Absolutely one of the finest books of its kind, I keep it beside me like a bible.

Absolutely one of the finest books of its kind, I keep it beside me like a bible.

Not an easy read, but informative. Last quarter of the book most helpful.

The message is clear, traders must have a trade plan and use it.Everybody knows the importance of stops.It is in many books.This one is a complete waste of time and money, the language is extremelly boring.I foud it very difficult to not sleep while reading it.
Try Oliver Velez or Alexander Elder's books instead.

Antonio Carlos R. Oyama (Duncan)

The book helps prepare you for the psycology of trading and the avoidance of mental pot holes on the road to success.

The book helps prepare you for the psycology of trading and the avoidance of mental pot holes on the road to success.

This book is as far from the title as you can get. It's somewhere between Dr. Phil, an Einstein lecture and a Mensa meeting. !0% of the writings related directly to the title, the other 90% was as far way as you can get. That's where you should be from this book.

First off let me assure you that Mark Douglas deserves all the generally positive reviews he's received for this book and for "Trading in the Zone." What Douglas has to share is essential, extremely valuable information for both aspiring and veteran traders alike. That said, stand warned that Mr. Douglas has quite a tedious writing style. He suffers (and thereby, so does the reader) from a particularly diffuse, circular, and repetitive style. He gives redundant a bad name. Here's a sample, you be the judge:

"Our committed expectations about the future will act as a force on our perception of market information to control its flow into our mental system in such a way as to avoid a confrontation with anything that doesn't conform with what we already believe is possible." Got that? Then this book is for you.

You don't have to worry about picking between The Disciplined Trader, and Trading in the Zone - Mr. Douglas is so repetitive that he essentially wrote the same book twice. Material from each book is either reprinted verbatim or repeated in a slightly different way in the other.

In fairness, Douglas is struggling to convey some very complex psychological concepts which don't easily distill down to catchy one-liners. Still, for all of his good things to say, Mr. Douglas would only benefit from a good editor.

Stick with it though - the keys to success are buried within. And then re-encrypted over and over.

After 20 years of searching for system to make me a successful trader it turns out you are what makes a system successful or not. This book is a must for a serious trader on understanding the psychology of what makes you a successful trader.

This book probably deserves a 4th star but there was nothing new. I was hoping for more. I really like this guy because I suffered the same fate. I beleive he is honest and sincere.I agree with him. If your already successful buy Market Wizzards if your not have this delivered next day air

This book has really changed my mind.
I have finally end to search the perfect system from millions at disposition, and I started to change myself to trade better.
The read is not easy, specially at the beginning, but the hard work is an incredible discouvert of trader's mind, and in the lasts pages there are beautiful gems for everyone.
A book of invaluable valour.

This book is a must reading for all traders. I couldnt put the book down through the first several chapters. The middle of the book becomes just a tad dry but it is still a 'must' read.

The latter chapters have great information specifically for traders. This book is highly recommended not only by me but all the other professional traders out there. Dont pass this one up!

I got more out of this volume than all of the experience I have had trading over the years. And not until after I read it did I realize that it was written in 1990, before the dotcom bubble even began breathing. Every word of it still rings true. Any good book that teaches you about mindset, fear, bad habits, creating confidence, etc. is a winner. Some of the principles I can think of off the top of my head are:
- creating positive patterns
- accepting a losing position
- anticipating traders' emotions
- not expecting the market to "reward" your fear
Overall the psychology in this book is a great return on investment. A few pages are somewhat redundant or off-key but still well written with high application value in any marketplace or profession.

I've had this book for a couple of years and finally got around to reading it. I wish I had done so much sooner. This book is so much more than a pyschology book for traders. It is a book about the pyschology of life. The concepts, once explained, seem so simple but most people do not think in such a way as to understand why they do what they do. Douglas doesn't use stock charts or technical analysis but rather examples from his own life and those of others to illustrate the principles he is trying to teach. This book is for anyone who wants to know why they do what they do and how to change their thinking to acheive their goals in trading and life.

I love this book. It has helped me understand myself in both the market and in life.

I sold a stock that wasn't acting right this week because of the way I've changed my mindset from reading this book. I know I did the right thing and I fully expect it to go down in the near future. This is something I wouldn't have admitted to myself before. I feel like a chain has been broken.

I really like the way he describes things. He tends to give a lot of examples and "in other words" type descriptions.

CANSLIM

An OK book, but very repetitive. The last chapter is the most useful. There are better books, such as Trading for a Living.

Anyone noticed that Mr. Douglas's detractors are NOT experienced traders? All I have to say is: THANK YOU 1000 TIMES MR DOUGLAS.

...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

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.

Mr. Douglas finally lays it all bare. Successfull traders have the discipline to stop their losses.

This is one of three books that I keep handy when I am working with clients. Many futures traders don't understand how to properly trade, they have a all or nothing approach.

Mr.Douglas forces average investors to be introspective and face their demons of fear and greed. Once you take control of these emotions you are on your way to being a disciplined trader. This book along with my book, Futures For Small Speculators, will help any beginning or experienced trader literally put their money where their mouth is, on profits.

Great classic and should be required reading for all those that consider themselves traders.