Mastering Trading Psychology

by Andrew Aziz, Mike Baehr

Andrew Aziz describes technology, strategy, and psychology as the three essential pillars of successful trading, and he knows that the psychological aspects of trading are the most likely to be underestimated or even ignored. He wrote Mastering Trading Psychology to help traders enhance their understanding of this crucial pillar of trading and to strengthen their “mental skills” in order to maximize their performance.This practical and highly entertaining book takes its readers inside the minds of ordinary retail traders who contributed more than 175 accounts of their successes, their failures, their joys, their struggles, and, most of all, what they have learned as traders. Some are experienced, but many are relative beginners. They represent an intriguing diversity in terms of where they live, their ages, their levels of education, their everyday jobs, and how they tell their stories. All are members of Andrew’s trading community, and their enthusiastic response to his invitation to share their experiences and insights was overwhelming. Complemented by Andrew’s explanatory text, the stories are told in the contributors’ own words, minimally edited for length, clarity, and privacy.

Genres: Finance, Psychology, Nonfiction, Education

410 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 19, 2020

Reviews

[Ben · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm trying to be sympathetic here and give this book two stars instead of one because it probably contains some content useful to the complete trading novice. That being said, for the love of god please read other trading books, actual technical ones, as there are much better authors out there.

It's amazing to me how much of this book's content consists of blog and chatroom posts by failing or soon-to-be failing traders (one of which even proudly stated he was quitting his "useless undergraduate degree" to pursue trading full time) rather than Aziz's own thoughts. Then again, I didn't gain anything from his limited prose either. As a whole, I'm fairly confident reading all these varied accounts of basic trading errors made me temporarily stupider, and unfortunately my trade count to profit ratio this morning attests to that.

The nail in the coffin for me personally was when Aziz readily cited fellow trader guru/shill Rayner Teo whose books I've unfortunately also read and can fully attest to their dog-crap status in their respective reviews.

In the end, I'm just impressed by how low the bar is for publishing trading books, but I guess there's clearly a market for that level of content quality. Judging by the absurdly high ratings on this particular book there's going to be no shortage of folks willing to hand over to me and prop firm traders their meager account balances, so in the end I can't complain too much. If you think this was a great book and you trade actively, I thank you for your liquidity.

[Literarian Shawty · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did enjoy this book as it highlighted mistakes that i was doing and showed that i was not the only one, my mistakes were in fact quite common. This aspect made me feel better.
I did not give this 5 stars because on occasion this book felt like a collection of comments from their chat room, which felt a bit cheeky to be turned into a book.

Revision, I had one chapter to go before finishing the book, but thought id be productive and update my book list. Originally i had this book at 4 starts, however, the last chapter has proceeded to preach about diet, dietary components and nutritional facts. WHAT?!?! I am enraged at the total waste of my time. If and when i would want to furhter my dietary knowledge, i will educate myself through appropriate avenues, NOT a what is supposed to be a trading book, and NOT though one sided vegan opinion. I am extremely disappointed.

[Jate Saitthiti · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author gathered all aspects and experiences from traders in the community. Interesting topics such as self-discipline, meditation, and sleep even increase focus on trade by avoid looking at P&L (Profit & Loss)

The most important thing to remember after reading this book is
-Create a trading plan and realistic goal (Entry, Stop loss, Exit target, Profit target for daily, weekly or annual)
-Track your trade and measure performance
-Always manage downside risk
-Manage emotions, Don't overtrade or revenge trade

[Pushkar Patil · Rating 5 out of 5]

After a long time, found a trading book based on current context. Most of the famous books are set from 1970s to early 2000s. Although trading psychology has not much to do with the time context, but still the book read happens to be refreshing.
The book is mostly a compilation of user reviews and experiences in author's website and trading chat room. However the compilation is spot on and provides a somewhat linear narrative.
I would recommend if you want to have something to read related to trading when you are not trading. It has some valuable advice for the novice as well as the experts.

[Ernesto Alcantara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could be shorter and to the point.

There is merit to some of the material but other portions feel like a repeat of earlier titles (Day Trading for a Living). Feels like only half of the book addresses psychological aspects of trading and then there are too many posts from individuals and their specific point of view. The final chapter focuses on the importance of sleep, exercise and nutrition which is important but again feels like recycling from previous books.

[Ross T · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mastering Yourself

I am just learning about daydreaming by reading first. I tried a crypto, and gold options and made a lot of mistakes.

Most of my mistakes are psychological. This book really helped me understand how to be a better trader.

At present, I am in a self education mode. In 2024, I hope to join the group, the use of the simulator a few months before actually trading.

[Eric Eskin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Start with the Conclusion Chapter

I would recommend reading chapter 9 first (Conclusion). This chapter is pretty much the key points provided in the earlier chapters. Chapters 1-8 re filled with comments and lessons learned by clients of the services offered by his company. Essentially the comments/stories of the clients support the bullets of Chapter 9.

[Steven L Bassin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a lot!

Lots of valuable information in this book. I recommend this book to new and experienced traders .

My only suggestion would be to consolidate many of the individual testimonies that contain redundant information.

[Aditya Kumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not actually a trading psychology book but rather a experience book shared by traders on the website of website by the author/writer. Is really good kind of feels like how to tackle the psychology faced by traders if you're doing it, you'll feel it very relatable.

[Lloyd Bowman · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books on trading psychology!

This book covers all aspects on trading and how a trader can develop into a great trader. This book is worth reading over and over again.

[Jose · Rating 5 out of 5]

very good book

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much needed advice


I liked the way the book was organized and presented. It was very inspiring and hope I can follow what iqlearned

[Luigi Deras · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Will be flipping through it often for refreshers/reminders.

[Igor Potemkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book! I have read it with one breath. Despite having read a lot of books on the theme before, I still found something new and useful for me. Highly recommend it especially to novices.

[Panji Aryaputra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like the book could be much shorter

[Gopakumar Natarajan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very Good Book on Trading Psychology

All aspects of trading Psychology well explained including diet. A must read for new as well as experienced traders. D in no

[KK · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read.

[Abey Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

really good book

[Gandhar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very repetitive.

[Kane Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent but mainly full of failing traders blog posts and a fairly one sided chapter about going vegan. Not really the place for it.

[Gokdeniz Senturk · Rating 1 out of 5]

A complete waste of time. You could read the Trade psychology reddit page for the same benefit. There are conversations from people on the website throughout the book.