Alpha Trader: The Mindset, Methodology and Mathematics of Professional Trading, ISBN-13: 978-1736739815
[PDF eBook eTextbook]
- Publisher: Brent Donnelly (May 22, 2021)
- Language: English
- 514 pages
- ISBN-10: 1736739816
- ISBN-13: 978-1736739815
Trading is a chaotic, complex, and loosely-structured game played by the smartest minds and most expensive computers in the world. It is the ultimate puzzle. Few can trade at an elite level for an extended period. The game is constantly changing and the rules, mechanics, and probabilities are difficult to observe and forever in flux. Just when you think you’ve got a plan: BAM
You get punched in the mouth.
Trading attracts intelligent, driven individuals who see enormous financial rewards and few barriers to entry. But no amount of intelligence or skill is enough if you are irrational, undisciplined, or overconfident. The best analysis is useless if you keep reaching for the self-destruct button. How do you survive and excel in this high-stakes competition? How do you become an Alpha Trader?
The answer is mindset, methodology, and math.
ALPHA TRADER is not a behavioral economics textbook and it is not a boring, theoretical deep dive into trading psychology. It’s a practical guide full of actionable information, exciting and relevant trading floor stories, concisely-distilled research, and real-life examples that explain and reinforce critical concepts. The book details the specific strategies, tactics, and habits that lead to professional trading success. It will help you become more self-aware, rational, and profitable.
This book will make you a better trader. It will help you unlock more edge and it will motivate you to become an expert in your market. It covers practical and essential topics like strategy vs. tactics, microstructure, market narrative, technical analysis, sentiment, positioning, and systematic risk management. It will explain the importance of adaptation, rational thinking, behavioral bias, and risk of ruin.
Brent Donnelly, the author of ALPHA TRADER, has been a professional trader for more than two decades and has been writing about macro and markets for more than 15 years. His writing style is engaging, approachable, and entertaining and he has the experience and knowledge of a veteran professional trader. His first book, The Art of Currency Trading is a bestseller and has received rave reviews.
Brent has worked as a senior FX dealer at some of the biggest banks in the world. He has traded global macro for a Connecticut hedge fund, and he has day traded equities with his own money. He loves trading and he loves writing about it.
ALPHA TRADER is for traders of every skill and experience level. Veterans and rookies alike will benefit as the book digs into topics like self-awareness, discipline, endurance, and grit. Learn the common traits of winning traders, the myriad sources of trader kryptonite, how to improve your decision-making, and how smart people do stupid things, all the time.Professional trading is a lifelong journey of self-improvement, struggle, adaptation, and success. This book will help you level up on that journey.
Be rational and self-aware.
Learn, adapt, and grow.
Unleash the Alpha.
Table of Contents:
Foreword by Dr. Ben Hunt
A quick story
Introduction
PART ONE : WHY DO SOME TRADERS SUCCEED, BUT MOST
FAIL?
Chapter 1: Know yourself
Good traders are introspective and self-aware
Chapter 2: If it was easy, it wouldn’t pay so well
Research shows success in trading is difficult to achieve and sustain
Chapter 3: Understanding success
Success and high performance in the world outside of trading
Chapter 4: So you’re saying there’s a chance?
Why some traders succeed but most fail
PART TWO : THE ALPHA TRADER MINDSET
Chapter 5: Level up
The traits and habits you need to succeed
Chapter 6: Kryptonite
Bad behavior, poor discipline, sloppy thinking, and leaks
Chapter 7: Smart people do stupid things
Rational, unbiased trading
PART THREE : METHODOLOGY AND MATHEMATICS
Chapter 8: Understand microstructure
Step one towards becoming an expert in your market
Chapter 9: Understand narrative
Step two towards becoming an expert in your market
Chapter 10: Understand technicals, sentiment and positioning
Step three towards becoming an expert in your market
Chapter 11: You feeling lucky, punk?
Data collection, risk management and variance
Chapter 12: Bringing it all together
The lifecycle of a trade, from idea to execution to exit
PART FOUR : ADAPTATION AND ATTITUDE
Chapter 14: Adapt or die
Stay flexible and achieve long-term trading success
Chapter 15: Thank God it’s Monday!
It is impossible to succeed without the right attitude
Conclusion
One last story
Coda
Acknowledgements
Appendix A: Further Reading
Appendix B: 21 ways to succeed at trading and 13 ways to fail
Index
Brent Donnelly has been trading currencies since 1995 and is currently a senior FX trader at HSBC New York. He is the author of The Art of Currency Trading (Wiley, 2019). He writes a widely-read and highly-respected macro and FX daily called AM/FX. Over the course of his career, he has been a market maker, trader, and senior manager at some of the top banks in foreign exchange.
He has extensive experience trading currencies, FX options, stock index futures, NASDAQ stocks, and commodities. Brent is a respected macro thinker with the unique perspective of a senior risk taker. He has been quoted by or featured in the Economist, Real Vision, Epsilon Theory, the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Bloomberg, and CNBC.
Before joining HSBC, Brent was head of G10 Spot Trading at Citi New York and global head of G10 FX Trading at Nomura New York. He was also a portfolio manager at a major hedge fund in Connecticut for three years. He created and wrote a cartoon called ”Daft Planet,” which aired on TV in Canada, and he dreams of one day winning the Man Booker Prize.
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