Become Your Own Trading Coach

Indicator and Trading Pattern Posts - Volume Four

2009-12-26T17:26:00.001-06:00

This is the final 2009 archive post covering indicators and trading methods. It covers November and December posts; see the separate archives for August, September, and October:

* When intermarket themes and intraday sentiment are in gear;

* Recognizing range markets by tracking sector behavior;

* Tracking NYSE TICK and range markets;

* Following sentiment with the equity put/call ratio; see also intraday put/call ratio;

* Volume and market consolidation;

* Nice tool for tracking ETF performance;

* A look at volume and VWAP during range trade; see also this post;

* Using volume information *within* bars on a chart;

* Characteristics of a downside market break;

* Advantages of volume bar charting;

* A way of tracking traders' risk appetite;

* Sentiment and the cumulative NYSE TICK line;

* Tracking non-confirmations across markets;

* What moves markets; here's the follow-up post;

* Using a basket of stocks to track market trending;

* Intraday volume and market opportunity; see also post on when volume becomes low;

* An intraday measure of money flow;

* Tracking market demand with cumulative Delta;

* Using Dow TICK ($TICKI) to assess short-term sentiment; see also this post on cumulative TICKI;

* Tracking short-term trending with various indicators;

* Resources for tracking sector and market behavior;

* Transition pattern in currency futures market;

* The importance of *what* you trade;

* Fading moves that lack broad participation;

* Gauging market strength with a basket of stocks and their VWAP levels;

* Reversal moves back to VWAP;

* Transition pattern on a swing time frame;
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Indicator and Trading Pattern Posts - Volume Three

2009-12-26T16:20:00.001-06:00

This is the third installment in a set of archived posts that focus on trading indicators and methods. These posts come from October, 2009; see the prior archives for August and September:

* Using NYSE TICK and Market Delta to identify intraday sentiment and trend;

* Gauging intraday strength via sentiment and intermarket themes;

* Identifying range markets; using sectors and a basket of stocks to identify range conditions;

* Catching market divergences;

* Extreme NYSE TICK values--and their absence--as a trend/range indicator; also see this post;

* The behavior of large traders during breakout moves;

* Nice relative volume tool;

* Weekly price targets and swing trading; see also this post on weekly targets;

* $TICKI (Dow TICK) and short-term stock market sentiment;

* Watching price levels to gauge market breakouts;

* Nice way of gauging sector rotation;

* Using VWAP to understand market moves and day structure;

* Identifying an upside trend day;

* Tells for a downside trend day;
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Indicator and Trading Pattern Posts - Volume Two

2009-12-26T13:03:00.001-06:00

Here are trading indicator and technique posts from September; see the prior set of posts from August for more:

* Tracking intermarket correlations to understand macro themes;

* When to exit a trade;

* Identifying false breakouts; see also this post;

* Using volume dynamics to identify downside break;

* Transition trading; here's a follow-up to that post; nice example of transition pattern;

* Momentum patterns in the stock market; a further look at momentum; and another one;

* Intraday market transitions;

* Tracking the real time development of support and resistance;

* Tracking low momentum in the stock market and what it means;

* Using a basket of stocks and changes from the open to assess trending;

* More on using NYSE TICK to gauge intraday sentiment; also, using TICK distribution;

* The value of assessing the market's volume flow; see also volume flow and intraday transitions; also, reading volume flow prior to the market open;

* Evaluating participation during breakout attempts; also see this example;

* Using volume bars to track the market;

* Using information across time frames for trade ideas;

* Primer on reading my Market Delta display;

* Identifying range days in the market;

* Identifying upside breakouts in the market;

* Non-confirmations in NYSE TICK and market reversals; see also NYSE TICK breakouts;

* Using volume to identify key price levels;

* Volume dynamics of a trending market;

* Excellent tool for screening intraday strength and weakness;

* What we can learn from intraday advances and declines in the stock market;

* When economic reports are game changers for stocks;
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Indicator and Trading Pattern Posts - Volume One

2009-12-26T11:38:00.001-06:00

Here is an archive of posts from August that illustrate specific market indicators and trading patterns. I'll be generating archives from subsequent months, picking out posts specifically relevant to trading methods:

* Intraday sentiment and trend with cumulative NYSE TICK line;

* Tracking sentiment with a moving average of NYSE TICK;

* Tracking sentiment by assessing extreme NYSE TICK readings;

* Understanding the market's macro themes;

* Assessing market strength with short-term new highs/lows;

* Using trend status of a basket of stocks to assess market condition;

* Aligning trading with sentiment trends and NYSE TICK;

* Volatility patterns, intraday;

* Tracking sector rotation and odds of market continuation;

* Identifying market breakouts;

* A few of my trading rules;

* Creating price targets for swing trading;
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Creating Your Learning Culture

2009-12-19T15:30:00.001-06:00

If I had to identify one characteristic that separated successful traders from their less successful counterparts, I would say that the successful ones maintained what I call a learning culture.

A learning culture is one in which there is an explicit philosophy and set of procedures to reflect upon recent experience, extract lessons from that experience, and use those lessons to guide future experience.

While such a culture can be maintained individually, it becomes exponentially more powerful when it is shared. Imagine a small group of people, each of whom is extracting lessons from experience and sharing them with all the others. The net effect is to condense time: a person has gained a week's worth of experience in a day, simply by assimilating the lessons of others.

This condensation of time is essential to a field such as trading, in which the learning curve may outlast one's bank account. Most of us have heard of the "ten year rule", which states that expertise in any performance field requires a minimum of ten years of learning and deliberate practice. Clearly, most of us cannot afford ten years of our lives to learn to master financial markets; few trading firms could or would support such an extended process.

Within a learning culture, however, a trader can gain ten years of experience in a fraction of that time. The key is learning from others and making use of proper tools for exploiting that learning.

Imagine, for example, that I am trading with a group of four other people. At the end of every trading session, each of us shares, via video and with annotation, his or her best trade of the day. Those videos and explanations are reviewed intensively, providing high-yield access to multiple trading patterns. Over time, those patterns are reinforced--and each of the traders is seeing many times the patterns of the average trader.

Sadly, few trading firms make concerted efforts to embody such learning cultures. Whatever mutual learning occurs is the result of informal conversations and occasional collaborations. Because the traders don't hang together, too many hang separately.

Just one learning colleague can double one's rate of growth; conducting learning in groups can turn a 10-year rule into a several year one. It is no accident that the same training facilities--whether in boxing, chess, college sports, or the arts--produce leading performers year after year. Nor is it an accident that the world's leading laboratories produce consistent world-class discoveries; that the world's leading educational institutions generate the best scholarship.

Culture counts. When you're surrounded by high performers, it brings out the best in you.

More:

The Will to Prepare to Win

Previewing and Reviewing Trading

What Makes an Expert?

Perspectives on Teamwork and Trading

2009-08-02T13:07:00.000-05:00

A big part of success in any performance field is networking and teaming with the right people. Here are some posts to help you build your own team:

* Fighting the Isolation of Trading

* Developing Virtual Trading Groups

* Teamwork, Creativity, and Trading Success

* Teamwork and Trading Performance

* Finding Teammates to Build Your Trading Development
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Trading Lessons From July

2009-08-01T00:21:00.001-05:00

A major objective of this site is to archive readings that can help traders with their psychology and their trading. The following posts from July address important elements of trading practice. See also trading lessons from May and June and these posts on trade setups:

* Trading With the Odds

* When to Think of Joining a Proprietary Trading Firm

* Gauging Reasonable Performance Expectations as a Trader

* Identifying Reference Ranges During the Day

* Figuring Out the Structure of the Trading Day

* Range Days and VWAP

* Important Market Lesson: How Markets Respond to Bad News

* Executing Good Trades

* Organizing Your Trading Screens

* How to Plan Trading in a Range Market

* Nice Example of a Transition Pattern

* Transitions and Reversals

* Overcoming Failures in Trading

* Catching False Breakouts From Ranges

* Three Common Mistakes Traders Make

* Trading *Your* Time Frame

* Three Questions to Ask Before You Trade

* What to Look for When We're Trading in a Range

* What to Look for in a Breakout From a Range

* Two Important Lessons Regarding Day Structure

* Trading Slow Market Days

* Trading With Order Flow

* Keeping Time Frames Consistent While Trading

* When Trading Becomes an Addiction

* Upside Market Breakouts: What to Look For

* The Importance of Tracking Volume at Price

* Identifying Non-Confirmations of Market Moves

* Relentlessly Improving Yourself as a Trader

* Five Characteristics of Winning Traders

* How to Use the Morning Information From Twitter

* Integrating Market Information Across Time Frames

* A Self-Evaluation Checklist for Traders

* The Role of the Gut in Trading

* Identifying Market Range Days

* Recognizing When Trends End

How to Trade: Recent Market Lessons

2009-06-27T14:30:00.000-05:00

My earlier entry archived TraderFeed posts covering trades that set up during the day. Here are a few trading-related posts to add to the collection:

* 5/21/09 - The Importance of the Opening Price

* 5/26/09 - Reversals of Short-Term Trends

* 5/27/09 - Knowing When You're in a Range Market

* 5/29/09 - Fading Moves When Participation is Weak

* 6/1/09 - Identifying Key Price Levels From Volume Accumulation

* 6/1/09 - Identifying Trends to the Upside

* 6/2/09 - VWAP and Range Markets

* 6/5/09 - An Example of a Reversion Trade

* 6/16/09 - Identifying Market Breakouts

* 6/19/09 - Using a Basket of Stocks to Gauge Strength/Weakness

* 6/22/09 - Catching the Structure of the Day Session

* 6/25/09 - What to Look for in a Breakout Trade
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Practical Self-Coaching Ideas for Traders

2009-06-27T06:54:00.001-05:00

Here are more posts relevant to coaching yourself for sustained trading success.

* What to Ask Yourself at the End of the Trading Day

* What to Ask Yourself at the Start of the Trading Day

* What to Ask Yourself While You're Trading

* Controlling the Body to Control the Mind

* The Importance of Our Self-Talk

* A Structure for Approaching Trading

* Does Your Trading Truly Draw on Your Strengths?

* Effectively Coping With the Stresses of Trading

* Combating Secondary Anxiety in Trading

* Focusing on Solutions, Not Problems

* Changing Our Psychological Patterns in Real Time

Recent Readings in Market Psychology and Trading Psychology

2009-06-26T18:23:00.000-05:00

Here are recent posts to help you guide your trading success:

* How to Overcome Procrastination

* Handling Mood Swings During Trading

* How to Lose Money the Right Way

* Two Principles of Trade Execution

* Biofeedback for Traders

* The Four Facets of Well-Being

* Identifying Market Transitions

* Identifying Range Bound Markets

* Here are the 40 Stocks in My Basket

* Six Questions to Ask at the End of the Trading Day

* What to Look for in a Breakout Trade

* A Most Common Trading Mistake

* Pitfalls of Developing Traders

* Dr. Brett's Latest Videos

* Transitioning From Range Trade to Trend Trade

* Why Adequate Capitalization is Key to Trading Success
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Excerpts From My Trading Books

2009-05-24T13:01:00.001-05:00

A common question I get is, "Which of your books should I buy?" Below is some information that may prove helpful to traders shopping around:

** Here is a chapter from my most recent book, The Daily Trading Coach. It is a self-help book for traders, formatted as 101 short, practical lessons.

** Here is a chapter from my second book, Enhancing Trader Performance. It is the only book that I know that focuses on the trader's learning curve and ways of accelerating it toward expertise.

** Here is a chapter from my first book, The Psychology of Trading. It is a comprehensive presentation of how psychological factors impact traders and why.

See also the archived posts on this blog (Become Your Own Trading Coach). There are many good resources here.

Trading Patterns That Set Up During The Day

2009-05-17T10:07:00.000-05:00

The more you see patterns set up in markets, the more prepared you will be to act upon them. Here are some recent posts featuring trading patterns:

Reversal Trade From 5/15/09

Sentiment Turning Bullish From 5/14/09

Using TICK to Gauge Sentiment From 5/8/09

Downside Breakout Move From 5/7/09

Reversal Move From 5/6/09

Shift in Sentiment From 5/5/09

Recognizing Upside Trend Day From 5/4/09

Breakaway Move From 5/4/09

Range Trade From 4/30/09

Maintaining Strength on Bad News From 4/29/09

False Upside Breakout From 4/29/09

Upside Breakout Trade From 4/28/09

Upside Trending Move From 4/24/09

False Breakout Move and Reversal From 4/22/09

Transitional Pattern From 4/22/09

Downside Trending Move From 4/20/09

Identifying Range Markets From 4/15/09

Understanding Yourself as a Trader

2009-04-30T21:45:00.002-05:00

Here is a collection of recent posts that pertain to trading psychology and the relationship between psychology and trading performance:

A Coaching Linkfest for Traders

The Importance of Trading Goals

Finding the Heroic Within Ourselves

Sustaining Your Market Focus

The Importance of Our Self-Talk

Managing Trading's Psychological Risks

Coaching in Real Time

Secondary Anxiety and Trading

Regaining Self-Control

How the Body Controls the Mind

Collected Readings in Trading Psychology

2009-04-06T21:09:00.000-05:00

Some of my earliest market writings have been compiled into a PDF (274 pages worth!). I think you'll find some good reading here, with many of the themes anticipating those in my books. Enjoy!

COLLECTED READINGS IN TRADING PSYCHOLOGY

The Daily Trading Coach Kindle Edition

2009-04-04T18:13:00.001-05:00

I just got word that the Kindle edition of The Daily Trading Coach is now available on the Amazon site. Thanks to a kind gift from my favorite Chicago trading firm, I've been playing with my new Kindle and find it easy to use and easy to read. While the electronic version of the book is more expensive than the print version, it does have some functionalities that the hardcover text lacks. For example, you can index and highlight the electronic text and even use Kindle's very basic browser to look up links from the book. An interesting Kindle function that I haven't yet played with creates an electronic voice (male or female) to read the book to you. Not quite as good as a true audiobook, but perhaps a useful feature for situations in which reading would be difficult.

Where I see Kindle's greatest potential is as a device that can pick up all sorts of periodical content, blog subscriptions, podcasts, music downloads, and the like on the fly, centralizing a traveler's reading and entertainment in a convenient manner. Indeed, you can create your own newspaper on Kindle populated by your favorite RSS feeds.

For those looking for an e-book in a non-proprietary form, the Wiley site will soon carry The Daily Trading Coach as a PDF. That will make the book easily accessible around the world as a quick download. I will put the word out when the PDF version becomes available. Once again, thanks for the interest!

Brett
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Trading Techniques Linkfest

2009-03-29T07:52:00.002-05:00

Recent TraderFeed posts have focused on short-term trading techniques. Here are some links that can get you caught up:

Using VWAP to Determine Day Structure

Identifying Upside Trend Days

Recognizing Range Days

Identifying Breakout Moves

Framing Short-Term Trades With Price Levels

Recognizing Selling Pressure in the Market

Recognizing Buying Pressure in the Market

Observing Buying/Selling Pressure at Key Price Levels

Using the A-D Line to Identify Trending and Range Markets

A New Way of Calculating the Advance-Decline Indicator

Tracking Large Traders

Non-Confirmations and Catching Market Turns

Catching False Breakout Moves

Trader Mentoring and Coaching Linkfest

2009-02-28T14:07:00.002-06:00

Not much has been written on the effective mentoring and coaching of traders. Here are posts that offer some worthwhile perspectives:

Reading Market Communications

Listening to the Market

Somatic Markers and Trading

Emotional Intelligence and Trading:
Part One and Part Two

Following the Market Like a Psychologist

Coaching as a Supervisory Process

Coaching as Training

A Fresh Approach to Mentoring and Coaching

Self-Coaching Posts

The Power of Repetition: Linkfest

The Best of TraderFeed 2008

2009-01-21T06:33:00.003-06:00

Here are the best of the trading and market psychology posts from 2008; interested readers can check out the best of 2007 and best of 2006. Within the extent of my knowledge, the TraderFeed collection is the largest free source of trading psychology materials on the Web. For a more in-depth treatment of these topics, check out my other writings at the top right of this blog page.

Volume One

Volume Two

Volume Three

Volume Four

The Best of TraderFeed - 2007

2009-01-01T16:22:00.005-06:00

Here are the best TraderFeed posts from 2007, covering a variety of topics regarding trading and market psychology:

Volume One

Volume Two

Volume Three

Volume Four
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The Best of TraderFeed - 2006

2008-12-23T10:57:00.001-06:00

I'm in the process of assembling the best trading psychology posts from TraderFeed over the past three years. My hope is that these posts can help you prepare for the coming trading year. Here are the links for 2006's "best of" installment:

Best TraderFeed posts of 2006 - Volume Three

Best TraderFeed posts of 2006 - Volume Two

Best TraderFeed posts of 2006 - Volume One
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Developing Yourself as a Trader

2008-12-10T17:11:00.002-06:00

Successful self-coaching requires an ongoing commitment to tracking and improving performance. Here are some posts that will help guide your self-development as a trader:

* How Can I Learn Trading?

* Coaching Yourself for Profitable Performance

* Self-Efficacy and Attaining Goals

* What Contributes to Success

* Turning Goals Into Habit Patterns

* Setting Effective Goals

* A Secret to Life Success

* Finding the Heroic Within Us

Cognitive Perspectives on Trading Performance

2008-11-15T07:12:00.000-06:00

In these posts I elaborate a perspective on trader performance that informs my coaching work with professional traders and portfolio managers.

Toward a Cognitive Theory of Trader Performance

The Role of Creativity in Trading

Conflict and Creativity in Trader Performance
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Trading Discipline Linkfest

2008-11-11T16:11:00.002-06:00

A big part of coaching yourself as a trader is staying in control when you are risking your capital. Here are some posts relevant to maintaining trading discipline:

Training Yourself for Discipline

Staying Cool in the Heat of Battle

Understanding Lapses in Trading Discipline

Top Reasons Traders Lose Discipline

Changing Your Self-Talk

Trading Stress and Emotion

Avoiding Overtrading

Self-Coaching Techniques - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Learning to Trade Linkfest

2008-11-09T13:48:00.004-06:00

A big part of self-coaching is teaching yourself the skills of trading. These recent posts may prove helpful:

Learning to Trade: Reviewing Trading

Learning How to Lose

Learning to Trade by Trading

Resources for Learning to Trade
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Ten Recent Posts For Self-Coaching

2008-10-28T07:42:00.001-05:00

These recent posts may be of particular help to traders in their self-development:

Resources and Reflections for Traders

Five Successful Trading Behaviors

Breaking Cycles of Trading Problems

Breaking Trading Slumps

Two Common Trading Problems

The Need to Be Right vs. The Need to Make Money

Trading the Way You Want to Trade

Hindsight Bias and Regret in Trading

The Gambler vs. The Entrepreneur

How Personality Affects Risk Taking
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The Daily Trading Coach Book is Finished

2008-09-14T08:05:00.004-05:00

I submitted the edited manuscript for The Daily Trading Coach this past week; it's scheduled for sale during the first quarter of 2009. Wiley is estimating 415 pages; the book will also be available in e-book format. Each chapter contains ten "lessons" that cover skills important to self-coaching: both psychological and performance strategies. Here's an advance look at what will be in each chapter:

CHAPTER ONE - The change process: how people change and how to make change happen

CHAPTER TWO - Stress and distress: how to cope with the pressures of trading

CHAPTER THREE - Psychological well-being: how to maximize positive experience in trading performance

CHAPTER FOUR - The coaching process: general strategies for effective self-coaching

CHAPTER FIVE - Psychodynamic strategies for self-coaching

CHAPTER SIX - Cognitive strategies for self-coaching

CHAPTER SEVEN - Behavioral strategies for self-coaching

CHAPTER EIGHT - Strategies for coaching your trading business

CHAPTER NINE- Best practices for self-coaching from 18 contributors

CHAPTER TEN - Using Excel to find a trading edge

My goal was to create a "coach in a book", with an emphasis on practical strategies that can help traders manage themselves and their trading performance. Thanks to the contributors to Chapter Nine and to the many readers who have expressed interest in the project.
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An Introduction to Trading

2008-09-06T07:51:00.009-05:00

This is the master page and table of contents for the e-book "An Introduction to Trading". The book is being written one blog post at a time, and all the posts will be linked below. The goal of the book is to help developing traders gain a better understanding of the principles and practices of trading. Readers are encouraged to share their ideas, links, and experiences in comments to the posts to add perspective and insight. This e-book is being made available at no cost to readers; I ask only that the posts not be reproduced on other sites or used for any commercial purposes. Thanks for your support and understanding--

Brett

An Introduction to Trading

Part One: The Principles

Learning How to Trade

Developing a Conceptual Framework

Stock Market Cycles

Cycles and Their Implications

Tracking Cyclical Movements in Markets

Stock Market Cycles Across Timeframes

The Market's Auction Process

Market Auctions and Multiple Time Frames

Part Two: The Practice

Learning How to Trade: Resources and Links

2008-09-04T10:55:00.003-05:00

In addition to showing traders how to become their own coaches, I'm using this site to help traders mentor themselves in trading skills. The links below will help developing traders get started:

* My inaugural post for the online book "Introduction to Trading"

* My "How to Trade" blog linkfest - Volume One, Volume Two

* My post "How Can I Learn Trading?"

* More resources for learning how to trade

Selected Publications From Brett Steenbarger

2008-08-18T20:26:00.001-05:00

Steenbarger, B. N. (in press). The Daily Trading Coach: 101 Lessons for Becoming Your Own Trading Psychologist. New York: Wiley.

Dewan, M. J., Steenbarger, B. N., & Greenberg, R. P. (2008). Brief psychotherapies. In A. Tasman, J. Kay, J. A. Lieberman, M. B. First, & M. Maj (Eds.), Psychiatry, Third Edition (Vol. 2; pp. 1889-1903). Chichester: Wiley.

Dewan, M. J., Steenbarger, B. N., & Greenberg, R. P. (2008). Brief psychotherapies. In R. E. Hales, S. C. Yudofsky, & G. O. Gabbard (Eds.), The American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Psychiatry, Fifth Edition (pp. 1155-1170). Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc.

Steenbarger, B. N. (2008). Brief therapy. In M. Hersen & A. M. Gross (Eds.), Handbook of Clinical Psychology – Volume 1, Adults (pp. 752-778). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Steenbarger, B. N. (2007). Enhancing trader performance. New York: Wiley.

Steenbarger, B. N., & Foster, D. (2007). What’s in your head? Becoming a trader. In L. Sether (Ed.), Psychology of Trading (pp. 6-15). Cedar Falls, IA: W&A Publishing.

Steenbarger, B. N. (2007). Diagnosing the trader: Enhancing performance through self-assessment. In L. Sether (Ed.), Psychology of Trading (pp. 48-56). Cedar Falls, IA: W&A Publishing.

Steenbarger, B. N. (2007). Finding the zone: New perspectives on the mental game of trading. In L. Sether (Ed.), Psychology of Trading (pp. 164-174). Cedar Falls, IA: W&A Publishing.

Steenbarger, B. N. (2006). The importance of novelty in psychotherapy. In W. O’Donohue, N.A. Cummings, & J.L. Cummings (Eds.), Clinical Strategies for Becoming a Master Psychotherapist (pp. 278-293). Oxford: Academic Press.

Lo, A. W., Repin D. V., & Steenbarger, B. N. (2005). Fear and greed in financial markets: A clinical study of day-traders. American Economic Review, 95, 352-359.

Dewan, M., Steenbarger, B. N., & Greenberg, R. P. (Eds.)(2004). The Art and Science of the Brief Psychotherapies. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing Inc.

Steenbarger, B. N. (2004). Solution-focused brief therapy: Doing more of what works. In M. Dewan, B.N. Steenbarger, & R. P. Greenberg,(Eds.)(2004). The Art and Science of the Brief Psychotherapies (pp. 85-118). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc.

Steenbarger, B. N., Greenberg, R. P., & Dewan, M. (2004). An introduction to the art and science of the brief therapies. In M. Dewan, B.N. Steenbarger, & R. P. Greenberg,(Eds.)(2004). The Art and Science of the Brief Psychotherapies (pp. 1-14). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.

Steenbarger, B. N., Greenberg, R. P., & Dewan, M. (2004). Doing therapy, briefly: Overview and synthesis. In M. Dewan, B.N. Steenbarger, & R. P. Greenberg,(Eds.)(2004). The Art and Science of the Brief Psychotherapies (pp. 279-292). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.

Steenbarger, B. N. (2003). The Psychology of Trading: Tools and Techniques for Minding the Markets. (NY: Wiley).

Steenbarger, B. N. (2002). Brief therapy. In M. Hersen & W. Sledge (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Psychotherapy (pp. 349-358). New York: Academic Press.

Steenbarger, B. N. (2002). Single-session therapies. In M. Hersen & W. Sledge (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Psychotherapy (pp. 669-672). New York: Academic Press.

Steenbarger, B. N., Dewan, M., Kaplan, E., Manring, J., Budman, S. H. (2002). Training in administrative psychiatry. In M. Shore (Ed.) Handbook of Administrative Psychiatry (2^nd ed). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.

Steenbarger, B. N., & Budman, S. H. (2000). Brief therapy. In A.E. Kazdin (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Psychology. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Steenbarger, B. N., & Budman, S. H. (1998). Principles of brief and time-effective therapies. In Koocher, G. P., Norcross, J. C., & Hill, S. S. (Eds.), The psychologist’s desk reference (pp. 283-286). NY: Oxford University Press.

Budman, S. H., & Steenbarger, B. N. (1997). The essential guide to group practice in mental health: Clinical, legal, and financial fundamentals. NY: Guilford Press.

Contributors to The Daily Trading Coach

2008-08-03T14:17:00.005-05:00

My greatest thanks goes out to the 18 trading professionals who will be contributing their perspectives on self-coaching in Chapter Nine of the new book. They offer dynamite advice to developing and experienced traders; they also offer quality insights through their websites, which I've linked below:

Henry Carstens
Chris Czirnich
Trevor Harnett
Mike Seneadza
Brian Shannon
Rennie Yang
Charles Kirk
Jason Goepfert
Dave Mabe
Chris Perruna
Rob Hanna
Jeff Miller
Ray Barros
John Forman
Mike Bellafiore
Larry Fisher
Corey Rosenbloom
David Adler

The Daily Trading Coach - Chapter Ten Links

2008-08-03T14:15:00.001-05:00

This will be the master blog page for all links pertaining to Chapter Ten of The Daily Trading Coach. Chapter Ten deals with the topic of using Excel to identify historical patterns in markets and possible trading edges.

The Daily Trading Coach - Chapter Nine Links

2008-08-03T14:14:00.002-05:00

This will be the master blog page for all links pertaining to Chapter Nine of The Daily Trading Coach. Chapter Nine deals with the topic of best practices in coaching, as outlined by 16 respected and experienced traders who share their work with others.

The Daily Trading Coach - Chapter Eight Links

2008-08-03T14:12:00.001-05:00

This will be the master blog page for all links pertaining to Chapter Eight of The Daily Trading Coach. Chapter Eight deals with the topic of coaching trading as a business.

The Daily Trading Coach - Chapter Seven Links

2008-08-03T14:11:00.001-05:00

This will be the master blog page for all links pertaining to Chapter Seven of The Daily Trading Coach. Chapter Seven deals with the topic of behavioral approaches to change and how those can be used in self-coaching.

The Daily Trading Coach - Chapter Six Links

2008-08-03T14:09:00.000-05:00

This will be the master blog page for all links pertaining to Chapter Six of The Daily Trading Coach. Chapter Six deals with the topic of cognitive approaches to change and how those can be used in self-coaching.

The Daily Trading Coach - Chapter Five Links

2008-08-03T14:08:00.001-05:00

This will be the master blog page for all links pertaining to Chapter Five of The Daily Trading Coach. Chapter Five deals with the topic of psychodynamic approaches to change and how those can be used in self-coaching.

The Daily Trading Coach - Chapter Four Links

2008-08-03T14:06:00.001-05:00

This will be the master blog page for all links pertaining to Chapter Four of The Daily Trading Coach. Chapter Four deals with the topic of the coaching process and how we can guide change processes in trading.

The Daily Trading Coach - Chapter Three Links

2008-08-03T14:04:00.001-05:00

This will be the master blog page for all links pertaining to Chapter Three of The Daily Trading Coach. Chapter Three deals with the topic of psychological well-being and how we can maximize our happiness and fulfillment.

The Daily Trading Coach - Chapter Two Links

2008-08-03T14:03:00.001-05:00

This will be the master blog page for all links pertaining to Chapter Two of The Daily Trading Coach. Chapter Two deals with the topic of stress and distress: what they are and how to deal with them.

The Daily Trading Coach - Chapter One Links

2008-08-03T14:00:00.001-05:00

This will be the master blog page for all links pertaining to Chapter One of The Daily Trading Coach. Chapter One deals with the topic of change and how people change their patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving.

The Daily Trading Coach - Introduction Links

2008-08-03T13:54:00.002-05:00

This will be the master blog page for all links pertaining to the Introduction section of The Daily Trading Coach.

An Open Letter to Edenbridge

2008-07-26T06:40:00.006-05:00

Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent. ~Victor Hugo

I work as a psychologist for traders and portfolio managers in financial markets around the world. I'm currently writing my fifth book. All through the book's gestation, your music has been my companion and inspiration. In your work perhaps even more than mine, you don't always see the impact you have on others: the moments when someone finds in your efforts that which is noble and uplifting. My book would not be the same without you, and for that I'm grateful.

Brett Steenbarger

Edenbridge Site

Starlight Reverie

Fly on a Rainbow Dream

Shine

Wild Chase
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Brief Therapy and a Philosophy of Trader Coaching

2008-07-02T15:00:00.000-05:00

My work in coaching professional traders has been shaped by my experience in the field of brief therapy, a collection of short-term techniques for accelerating change processes. Having taught brief therapy for many years to psychology interns and psychiatry residents--and having co-written a standard textbook in the field--I've been steeped in brief therapy as a philosophy, not just as a mode of helping. Here's how that philosophy impacts the actual process of working with traders:

* Seek Targeted Change - Change efforts are most likely to be effective if they are targeted to very specific changes in thought, feeling, and/or behavior;

* Stay Active - Change occurs from *doing* things differently, not just by talking to someone or by writing in a journal;

* More is Not Better - Brief therapists emphasize intermittent helping, leaving people on their own to practice and apply newly learned insights and skills, not encouraging dependence on a helper;

* Build on Strengths - People have many positive, adaptive qualities. Building on those reinforces health, confidence, and self-efficacy;

* Efficiency as Well as Efficacy - Brief therapy emphasizes time-effective methods for change, keeping the helping process affordable and not too burdensome;

* Strike While the Iron is Hot - Work on problems while they're occurring; changes are most likely to stick if they're rehearsed in realistic settings and situations;

In practice, this philosophy has me working very intensively with people for relatively short periods of time, using very hands-on techniques for altering problem patterns and applying those techniques to many situations. Weekly or monthly interactions are simply too infrequent to sustain the momentum of change; once progress has been made, then it can make sense to space meetings out over time to encourage the long-term internalization of the changes and guard against relapse.

To encourage this intensive interaction, I do not charge people for time spent on the phone or interacting by email (a far cry from the practice of coaches who run the meter at every possible opportunity); I want no barrier to regular contact. But once that contact leads to change, the goal is for the trader to sustain the process himself/herself, not meet for unlimited interactions with only a vague focus and agenda.

There is much in the brief therapy philosophy that traders can apply when they're acting as their own coaches. That will be the focus of my next post.
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The Daily Trading Coach

2008-06-25T15:34:00.004-05:00

Well, here's the proposed cover for the new book. It will be divided into 101 short "lessons", each covering a specific aspect of or approach to the coaching/developmental process and offering specific exercises to incorporate into a daily routine.

Every major approach to the change process will be covered; quite literally I'll be showing readers how to be their own "brief therapists" and then apply the methods to their trading.

My goal is to write the most complete, most practical self-help book possible. More to come!
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New Features for a New Book

2008-06-14T14:35:00.003-05:00

As I write the upcoming book on becoming your own trading coach, many new elements are falling into place. I've already mentioned that the book will include fresh trading psychology material, including a primer on identifying historical patterns in markets using Excel and new self-help methods drawn from recent research in psychology. Other new features will include:

1) A Hybrid Structure - The new trading book will be both a print text and an electronic resource (e-book). The book will include links to a variety of Web-based resources, many of which will be on this site, so that readers can go into depth on topics of their choice. These links will be updated regularly, so that the book will always be up to date. Many of the links will be to audio, video, and graphic features, so that the book will facilitate multimedia learning without being burdened with the expense of color graphics, an included DVD, etc.

2) Interactive Features - Readers of the book will be able to share questions, comments, and ideas through this website, so that we can readily learn from one another. In addition, I will be setting up an email account specifically reserved for use by book readers, so that they can ask me questions about the book and ways to apply the ideas to their own trading. The links will be built into the text, so that online readers can simply click and interact with each other and with me.

3) Trader-Friendly Reading Format - Many traders don't have time to read lengthy books; this is one reason blogs have become so popular. The new book is written as 101 short lessons, each with a specific focus and concrete techniques and resources to use for particular trading challenges. These lessons are several pages each, with a very practical focus. They can be read in order or used as a reference work, so that when problems arise, you can turn to the appropriate lesson and begin work on the issue immediately.

I am very confident that the book will contain more information--and more concrete-usable skills and ideas--than any of the high-priced seminars and services currently offered by the self-anointed gurus. It will link with ever-expanding multimedia content, and it will facilitate communication with the author and with other readers. And the price will be reasonable, very reasonable--well within the budgets of beginning traders.

I'm betting that traders can go much further than most people realize toward learning how to become their own psychologists. With the integration of online, multimedia resources into traditional books, publishing is entering a new era--an exciting period in which ideas and skills can now be illustrated and demonstrated, not just described. The book will no longer be a one-way communication from author to reader, but a starting point for ongoing conversations and education. With enhanced content, books can actually teach, not just inform.

There are so many problems and concerns in the world these days: economic, political, ecological--you name it. Amidst those problems, there are exciting things happening all around us that make this a fantastic time to be alive. New technologies promise to extend the mind's grasp and accelerate learning. My hope is to take a small step toward this vision. I look forward to taking that step together.
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Finding Your Edge as a Trader: A Linkfest

2008-06-09T17:53:00.005-05:00

Becoming your own trading coach can be a daunting challenge, but there's no reason to go it alone. Here are some online resources that might be of help to you in extending your edge as a trader:

Vertical Solutions: creative market ideas and resources for testing trading ideas.

Daily Speculations: a range of insights about trading, markets, and life from Victor Niederhoffer and Laurel Kenner.

Quantifiable Edges: offers tested trading ideas in blog and newsletter, including a tracking of (very solid) performance.

Market Tells: loads of market data and indicators, tested trading patterns, and an excellent trend-catcher system.

SentimenTrader: tested market patterns, sentiment analyses, and insightful commentary.

Trading Success: Ray Barros is a coach and experienced trader who offers plenty of resources for traders to mentor themsleves.

Twitter Trader: My Twitter service that posts to the TraderFeed blog (or to you directly if you subscribe; it's free), highlighting trading themes, news, and updated market indicators.

If you know of free or commercial services that are unusually helpful in aiding traders' growth and development, feel free to post in the comments section. I have found the above resources to be especially fertile sources of inspirations and insights.
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Welcome to the New Blog!

2008-05-30T11:32:00.001-05:00

This blog will support my new book, which will be available in 2009. Entitled Becoming Your Own Trading Coach, it consists of very practical, user-friendly lessons that will show traders how they can use time-tested psychological techniques to advance their learning curve, improve their performance, and effectively deal with the stresses that are common to trading.

Wiley will be the book's publisher, and the book will contain several new elements not found in either of my two other trading books or in the Trader Feed blog. I'll be blogging about the book as I'm writing it to keep readers posted about its features and its development. In the interim, if you have topics you'd like to see covered in the text, by all means leave your suggestions as comments to this and future posts.

One of the topics I'm most excited about covering is one that I've been wanting to share for quite a while, but haven't figured out the right venue until now: how to use Excel to identify historical patterns in markets. Part of self-coaching is training yourself to find potential edges in the markets; the new book will be the first resource I'm aware of to tackle that training.

Thanks for the interest!

Brett
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