This article written by Bruce Bower was originally published in the June 2013 issue of Traders' Magazine.
- Bruce Bower is a portfolio manager at a hedge fund. He has a keen interest in markets, psychology and self-development, having trained as a hypnotherapist.
In school, did you ever study something and end up more confused? For some, trading psychology has that effect. The more they learned, the more they would become confused. Actually, the standard advice is well-meaning and can be appealing on some levels. “Be more disciplined”. “Get in the zone”. Who can argue with that? Who wouldn’t want to do that?! Instead, most traders are struggling to close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. They know what they want, but they can’t quite get there. What to do? Ultimately, trading psychology should help us do two things: 1. Help us to identify problematic areas with ourselves that negatively impact our trading. 2. Solve them.
If you’re spending time “solving” problems that aren’t relevant to your trading, or implementing solutions that don’t work, then you are going to get confused. Instead, you should work on things that make you a better trader. And you know what — confusion doesn’t help you to get better at trading. With this in mind, how do we find out the best advice and block out the stuff that confuses us?
Editors’ Picks
EUR/USD holds steady above 1.0550 on modest USD weakness
EUR/USD struggles to gather recovery momentum but clings to modest daily gains above 1.0550 in the second half of the day on Monday. Although the US Dollar corrects lower following the previous week's rally, the cautious market mood makes it hard for the pair to push higher.
GBP/USD stabilizes above 1.2600 following previous week's drop
GBP/USD defends minor bids above 1.2600 in the American session on Monday, while the negative shift seen in risk sentiment caps the pair's upside. The Bank of England Monetary Policy Hearings and UK inflation data this week could influence Pound Sterling's valuation.
USD/JPY bounces back from 155.00 as BoJ Ueda avoids to provide rate hike timing
USD/JPY rebounds from 155.00 as BoJ Ueda didn’t provide specific timing for further interest rate hikes. Japan Kato warned of possible intervention to support the Yen against excessive volatile moves. Trump’s protectionist policies would accelerate US inflation and growth.
Editors’ Picks
EUR/USD holds steady above 1.0550 on modest USD weakness
EUR/USD struggles to gather recovery momentum but clings to modest daily gains above 1.0550 in the second half of the day on Monday. Although the US Dollar corrects lower following the previous week's rally, the cautious market mood makes it hard for the pair to push higher.
GBP/USD stabilizes above 1.2600 following previous week's drop
GBP/USD defends minor bids above 1.2600 in the American session on Monday, while the negative shift seen in risk sentiment caps the pair's upside. The Bank of England Monetary Policy Hearings and UK inflation data this week could influence Pound Sterling's valuation.
Gold benefits from escalating geopolitical tensions, rises above $2,600
After suffering large losses in the previous week, Gold gathers recovery momentum and trades in positive territory above $2,600 on Monday. In the absence of high-tier data releases, escalating geopolitical tensions help XAU/USD hold its ground.
Bonk holds near record-high as traders cheer hefty token burn
Bonk (BONK) price extends its gains on Monday after surging more than 100% last week and reaching a new all-time high on Sunday. This rally was fueled by the announcement on Friday that BONK would burn 1 trillion tokens by Christmas.
The week ahead: Powell stumps the US stock rally as Bitcoin surges, as we wait Nvidia earnings, UK CPI
The mood music is shifting for the Trump trade. Stocks fell sharply at the end of last week, led by big tech. The S&P 500 was down by more than 2% last week, its weakest performance in 2 months, while the Nasdaq was lower by 3%. The market has now given back half of the post-Trump election win gains.
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