Zen in the Markets: Confessions of a Samurai Trader

As a Quantum Currency Hedge Fund Manager, I found ths book very insightful. The easiest part of currency trading is developing a successful trading system. The MOST DIFFICULT part is following one's rule set.I'm a master of not following my own trading rules. I swear the author of this simple book had been watching me trade. I found myself on almost every page. Having read the book several times I now am doing much better following my own rules...but still slip into the "Dark Side." At least for me, the psychology of trading is the hardest part. My net return for year 2022 was 350.45% using 50:1 leverage. And this excellent book will help me do better in future years.

I decided to rewrite my review, so that it makes more sense.The central message: You have to listen to the market and not tell the market what it should be doing.But what does that mean?? It implies trend following, but it's far more subtle.The best analogy I can think of is when birds or animals decide to migrate because of winter, summer etc.They don't consciously decide that it's time to migrate. They simply "know". It's the same with the markets.So how does one "know"??That's the hard part.It's losses in the market, which no one wants to take, but take anyways. Every loss makes you closer and closer to the "knowing" state. There are no short cuts.You will "know" when you take the mother of all losses, simply give up trying to figure out the market and keep going regardless (critical step). You totally surrender to the market. It's a very painful process, but suddenly the markets start "talking" to you. It's the most magical of feelings!I left my original review below.--It appears that this book will only make sense to the person who is either close to or has already completed the "trading journey".Thus, one can say that it's useless :)Isn't life amazing?Addendum:While it's agreeable to view Ego as the cause of the problems, I differ with the author in his goals of diminishing it's impact.Ego is part of us. Instead of diminishing it's role, why not direct it to other areas? Here are a few ways that I believe are effective.1. Make goals. How about turning a 10k account in a million dollars?2. Donate 10% of winnings to some non-profit?If you read any of the "how to be successful" books, every one of them insist on these two ideas. I think success follows by directing the ego into areas that benefit others.An "ego death" if you will. I have been told Ayahuasca and other drugs provide you with that experience.

Here's a book that gets to the point quickly. I read this book in less than an hour. But in that amount of time, it really packed a punch and I suspect that many traders will find its key points to be of immense help from the next opening bell.Author Edward Allen Toppel is a trader with a background in the S&P Futures Pit of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. He's been at it for 20 years. So he isn't your typical vendor just in it to sell you books, courses, and seminars.His book is based on his experiences both as a winning and losing trader. His thesis is simply this:To succeed as trader, you have to trade with the flow with the market.As incredibly simplistic and mystical this sounds, Toppel gives powerful suggestions on how to accomplish this.Here are three of my favorites:1) A loss is a loss, whether or not it's unrealized. Many traders mistakenly think that if a position goes against them, they haven't lost any money until they sell the stock.2) Buy high, sell higher. The odds of success are much better if you buy stocks that are trending higher, than if you try to bottom fish and buy a stock because it's cheap.3) Keep your positions small enough that you ego does not get in the way of good judgment.On that last point about keeping position sizes small, I want to expand a bit.To me, that was the single most profound statement in the book. I've heard it hundreds of times before, but Toppel's discussion of position size was riveting and had me thinking deeply about my own performance as a trader. His thesis is this:We all have some threshold of position size which, when exceeded, transforms us into complete morons.Keep your position size below this threshold, and you'll likely make money over the long haul if you're any kind of decent trader. But exceed the threshold, and your ego will inevitably cloud your judgment when something unexpected happens on a trade.Think about it.

I train daytraders for a living, I make them read 2 books before they start: 'Reminiscences of a Stock Operator' and this book 'Zen in the Markets.' I quote it almost daily when instructing traders - Trade what you see, not what you think. It is a very quick read.It is NOT for long-term stock investors, anyone reading it for those purposes will be disappointed and give it a negative review about how it downplays fundamentals, charts, technical patterns, and such. Short-term (like 1-2 minute in a trade) daytraders and pit traders are the ones who swear by this book, as I do. I traded on the floor of the exchange and still make my living in the quick in-and-out daytrading world, and for people like me this book is a must have.

A nice little book but its message could be summed up in one sentence. Get rid of your ego and always let winners ride but cut losses short. There you have it!

If you're an aspiring Trader, you certainly want to read as much material on the subject as possible. For me, Mr. Toppel, although very successful as a Trader, has some interesting views on the subject on trading. . I won't be specific. Want to know what I'm talking about? Buy the book. Overall? A good read. I gave it three stars only because I disagreed with some of his views.

Ego is the enemy. I read a chapter every day to remind my monkey brain that ego is stronger and any mistakes you will pay months if not years of time & money. I read all the trading books out there. you just need this one. It is 90% mental and this book teach you how to conquer yourself. If you think all this talk about the ego and subconscious is non sense, I have news for you: you still not ready yet to be consistently profitable trader. THE CHOICE IS YOURS. RIP DAVID PAUL the legendary trader how recommended this book. A real HERO.

Delivered on time, quick. In good quality.This is a great book, must read for any investor or trader. Especially, when you being before you get into bad habits.

I have read a lot of other Books, and in comparsion to them "Zen in the Markets" is just 2 Stars.Its clear that this Book would helpful 12 years ago. But today there are really better Books.An example is:Technical Analysis of the Currency Market: Classic Techniques for Profiting from Market Swings and Trader Sentiment (Wiley Trading Advantage)

I found the writing style and more importantly the content of this book simple but very profound.A lot of emphasis is placed on becoming more proficient at analysing charts, news, technicals, fundamentals etc. However, few place little, if any importance on the psychology of trading. Personally, I know the biggest enemy to one's success is not the ability or inability to decipher chart patterns or trading strategies but the ability to conquer YOURSELF!If you want to make and retain profits in the market, then I strongly recommend this book. And once you've bought it, read it on a regular basis.

This book offers nothing new whatsoever. In fact, it does not cover much of the things we already know either: It simply covers1. the cardinal rule of letting winners run and cutting losers short, and2. that in order to do that, you must not let your ego interfere with your tradingTake my word for it. Nothing else is covered in this book.The reason I gave it 2 stars instead of 1 star is because of chapter 6. Again, nothing new is offered in this chapter, but I liked the way he put it--the way he tried to get the point across.(See my other reviews, for much better trading books)