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Mind over Markets: Power Trading with Market Generated Information

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This book is an examination of Market Profile(tm) charting concepts. The Market Profile principle is also used by knowledgeable and experienced day traders. This is the best available text on the subject. The key element that has long separated tremendously successful traders from all others is their intuitive understanding that time regulates all financial opportunities. In 1984, J. Peter Steidlmayer formally introduced the Market Profile as a way to graphically depict the acceptance or rejection of price over time. For the first time, what had once been the domain of the intuitve trader was not accessible to all traders. The ability to record price information according to time has unleashed huge amounts of useful market information in a form never before available In turn, this information explosion has triggered a new way of looking at markets and opened the doors for accelerated levels of market analysis. Mind Over Markets is a book about learning; learning the dynamics of markets through the organization of price, time and volume, and learning how to synthesize this information with your own intuition. Our goal is to arrie at a healthy balance between the powers of objective observation and intuitive decision-making--a rare talent possessed by only the best of traders.

345 pages, Paperback

First published March 15, 1993

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About the author

James F.;Jones Dalton

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5 stars
126 (58%)
4 stars
51 (23%)
3 stars
27 (12%)
2 stars
6 (2%)
1 star
6 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
Profile Image for Thomson Kneeland.
44 reviews3 followers
August 19, 2018
Mind Over Markets is well worth the read for anyone trading the markets and looking to expand their trading expertise beyond candlesticks and price action; it gives a much needed method of reading the markets' action throughout time to help confirm market direction/bias, excess, and more. It also allows for recognition of trend exhaustion and reversals. Applying this theory over the past few months, I've had a much better sense of where the market might move at open, and why, based on gauging overnight inventory/excess and value parameters. The theory also explains why price has a tendency to return to specific "magnets". Auction theory can give one insight as to how to trade highs/lows and view the market in terms of "value" rather than price. It also allows one to determine what timeframe participants are moving the markets; accordingly you should piggyback on the ones that matter and are not time series noise. This is a course of study in the markets, and not a get rich quick scheme....like any well founded philosophy, it will take time to understand and implement these tools and you can only do so by applying them to real time markets. I am only at the beginning stages of doing this, but the market's movements make much more sense to me; rather than being random fluctuations in price at times, the market is in search of value, and how participants respond at different times/values reflects where they are finding value and when how that value is changing. Price is not what matters, but the perception of value is. As such, auction theory is applicable to any market. Highly recommended!
Profile Image for Bruno de Maremma.
106 reviews
July 7, 2012
A thorough discussion of the Market Profile technique for analysing and trading futures. Undoubtedly applicable to other instruments where you have access to volume information. You can think of this tool as an alternative charting package that has the added strength of embedding volume information in a novel way. No systems for trading discussed in this book, rather, it is a fairly detailed description of the tool itself and how it purportedly reveals future market direction with varying degrees of probability.
Not light reading but worth studying for the potential to gain better insights into market activity and thus increase your chances of placing successful trades. Like any other activity, I think it would take years of practice to become fluent in using this tool.
Profile Image for stoictrader.
8 reviews19 followers
September 11, 2013
This is the second book I always recommend for traders ( first one is Reminiscences of a stock operator ) This book is about market Profile/ Auction market theory. Mind you market Profile concept is totally different, if you used to analyses chart in traditional way ( read linear ) then it may unsettle you a bit. So be prepare for some unlearning as well ( stock market must be the only field where unlearning is more important than learning :p )If you are absolute beginner then congrats! you will save 2 years of your precious learning curve.
Profile Image for Tony WANG.
224 reviews43 followers
May 9, 2020
This has got to be one of the most useful outdated book about the psychological aspect of trading. The legacy methods used in the book to illustrate the price action of charts are the pre-Internet trading era. It uses price profiles like an auction to understand market behaviours.

The first half of the book is less relevant and noteworthy than the last few chapters on Proficient, the Expert Trader and Experience. That being said, this book is not really for beginners. I recommend Dalton's Markets in Profile before reading this book about the psychology of price action in order to connect the dots.

The Mind Over Market formula: Market Understanding + (Self-Understanding x Strategy) = Results

This book is probably a solid 4/5 in this day and age but I am pretty sure that this book was a must-read for traders back in the 90s. Nonetheless, the non-technical aspect of this book is definitely worth to know. Great FYI nuggets to compliment your trading.

Some quotes:

"A trader who forces a trade when there is no real opportunity in the market is like a basketball player who forces a shot when he is off-balance or heavily guarded—the chances of scoring are low.

To progress beyond the average, beyond the middle of the bell curve and into the upper extremes of excellence, you must achieve self-understanding.

The pivotal element in turning market understanding into a practical, successful trading strategy is self-understanding."

“If you don’t know who you are, the market is an expensive place to find out.” - Adam Smith
14 reviews
July 6, 2021
Good material. Like the auction theory very much. Before this, I had been trading on price patterns and volume on the time axis. After reading this, it opens up my view to another dimension of volume and price on the price (x) axis. Which shows how much interest on a particular price over a period of time.

Look at this book as an understanding of how the price reacts the way they do due to the participation of traders in an auction theory. Patterns are a bi-product of the auction process. Understanding the price action and auction theory, give a different perspective and potential involvement of other time frame participant in defending / supporting a price.

Combining the understanding with price/volume pattern can give a very strong signal and trading edge. Had been putting it into practice on SIM, I find it's giving me an earlier entry before a pattern confirmation. Still have much to digest. Going to have to read this the 2nd time to get more out of it.

Good book for anyone that is taking trading seriously. Could be a little heavy at first read, but worth the read.
5 reviews
April 19, 2022
It's a very solid book packed with useful information. What makes it a great read is the fact that authors teach by example. Many reviewers point out that Market Profile is a dated method of looking at the market. Perhaps it is, however this book is not about Market Profile per se, it's about reading the Market using the profile as a tool. Lessons it teaches about Auction Theory can be detached from the (perhaps) dated tool making "Mind Over Markets" worth your time.
Profile Image for Nikhil Mahadea.
253 reviews1 follower
May 16, 2022
This is probably one of the few trading/investing books I'd recommend. Dalton did great with popularizing market profile.

Butttt, this is way too old and the ideas are outdated now. So, I can't recommend this. You're going to waste hours of your life learning about market profiles and those letters when instead, the newer volume profiles and it's multitude of indicators are much better.

Learn volume profile. Youtube is best.
Profile Image for Atif Choudhury.
Author 6 books
June 9, 2014
Information in this book is outdated for the current market.
19 reviews
May 3, 2020
I died reading this book. Lol I Guess some skills are best learn via vid than re referencing of books for sure. But I love his analogy and putting things to context.
5 reviews
February 1, 2021
Great book. Every serious futures day-trader should read it.
Profile Image for Christopher Manske.
Author 2 books10 followers
July 30, 2020
Dalton and Jones offer a complete course of instruction about how to trade stocks and make money doing it with their book, Mind Over Markets. For readers who are looking to use the Market Profile trading method, this is the first (and perhaps only) book to buy. For the beginning day-trader, this is a great place to start especially if you don’t have a system yet for how to identify good value areas and price rejection points. Be sure to buy this edition of the book as it is an updated version of the same text with the same name from a decade ago. Be prepared for a little difficulty seeing and using the e-book’s examples/charts, but this is not at all a real problem point. Overall, if you are ready to put in the work to memorize all the definitions and patterns, this book promises you’ll move from novice to expert by applying its principles over time. Future day traders should buy this book right now!
Profile Image for Mariana W. Colan.
72 reviews1 follower
December 11, 2025
𝙇𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧, 𝙄 𝙛𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙮𝙥𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡. 𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙖 𝙝𝙪𝙜𝙚 𝙖𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙮 [1𝙢] | 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙡𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙣'𝙩 𝙖𝙛𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚. 𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙝𝙨 𝙄 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙚. 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙖 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙛𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙨, 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙮𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨> 𝙯𝙞𝙦𝙘.𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙤@𝙜𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙡.𝙘𝙤𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙙𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙨. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧, 𝙞𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙘 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙄 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙮 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙! 𝙄𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜. 𝙄'𝙢 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙧 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙙. 𝙋𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 — 𝙘𝙮𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨 , 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙖𝙣𝙠'𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙪𝙙 ���𝙚𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙜𝙣𝙞𝙯𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙮𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙨. 𝘿𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙡𝙮.
Profile Image for Per Erik Løff.
130 reviews
April 12, 2025
This is not a easy book. I had to try several times, but I mostly had to watch some of his courses (which are possible to get for a very reasonable price if looking on Google. Or buy them at his website for 1k$+. )

Anyway, I think maybe Dalton and the Wyckoff guy (not sure, but think it's about the same) explain how the market work as a 2 way auction. Atm I going through the Advanced nuances course and I finished the Basic. I think I could understand more of this book now, but now I have learned some of it. i will revisit it tho, as this is an area I don't think you ever will master completely.
Profile Image for Aswin.
20 reviews
May 3, 2025
What a shitty book, I gave all my patience on reading this ad lost it half way through the book, the author jumps from markets to ancient philosopher disecting the brain to a conference happening in chicago.. I mean.. What the hell? Its very difficult to follow this book unless ur in jail for a year and locked up with one book i. e, this one. I dont know why its soo much overhyped? Is it because the ones who recommend it can boast that they got through this one hell of a boring read of 300+ pages? I seriously think thats the reason
Profile Image for Jared Jennings.
10 reviews
December 10, 2023
Required reading for anyone thinking of trading

Not only does the book address aspects of the mental game, but also the critical pieces for the market.
I believe this is an essential book for any trader or investor.
Profile Image for Alexander.
154 reviews
February 15, 2024
Thorough explanation of the market profile and its application to day trading, as well as other timeframes. A useful framework for understanding auction market theory for interpreting and profiting from market behaviour.
Profile Image for Camilo Zuluaga Borda.
109 reviews2 followers
September 11, 2025
Mind Over Markets is an inspirational and transformative book that goes beyond traditional trading techniques to teach the art of thinking like a professional trader. It gives you tools to decode the auction process driving market behavior.
1 review
April 12, 2021
Tough reading . Good info.

Lots of re reading but good info. I’m going to read it again and get the next book in the series.
Profile Image for Alberto.
61 reviews3 followers
January 29, 2017
Maybe read Markets in Profile first: this one goes into a lot of detail. Though it does cover quite a lot, so it doesn't exactly get dry, but it's a big one to chew.
Read it once and I think I barely scratched the surface, will have to read again.
Profile Image for Samy.
70 reviews
January 2, 2023
Good theoretical concept, but there are better books helping You to put your trades into practice
Profile Image for Michael.
22 reviews3 followers
March 7, 2024
Discussed foundations for using market profile and market orders/data to make trading decisions.
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