PREFACE

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PREFACE

Trading for a Living was published in 1993 and became an international best seller. It remains at the top of many reading lists, as friends recommend it to friends and trading firms give it to their new hires. All these years, I resisted revising my book because I trusted and liked its internal logic. I traded, traveled, wrote other books, and taught a few classes. Now, 21 years later, I agreed to update my most popular book so that you can benefit from the new technologies as well as the lessons I’ve learned.

My late great friend Lou Taylor, to whom this book is dedicated, used to joke: “If I get half a percent smarter each year, I’ll be a genius by the time I die.” Revising my very first book felt like reliving my youth with the benefit of experience.

In planning this update, I thought of a building complex in Vienna, Austria called the Gasometer. At its core are multistory storage tanks, erected by Austrian bricklayers in 1927. When modern technology made huge gas cylinders obsolete, architects converted them into modern apartments. They punched wide openings in brick walls, creating panoramic views, installed floors and elevators, and added glass-enclosed penthouses. I used to stay in one of them and wanted my new book to follow that model of blending old craftsmanship with new technology.

Before you begin reading this book, ask yourself: what’s the single most important step you can take to become a successful trader?

Psychology is important. Since I was actively practicing psychiatry while writing the original Trading for a Living, its psychology part stood the test of time and I changed it very little in this new edition.

Market analysis is very important—but remember that when we look at a chart, we deal with only five pieces of data—the open, the high, the low, the close and volume. Piling up masses of indicators and patterns on top of those five values only increases confusion. Less is often more. If you’ve read Trading for a Living, you’ll see that I’ve reduced the number of technical chapters and moved some of them into a downloadable addendum. On the other hand, I added several new chapters that focus on new tools, notably the Impulse system. I also added a section on stops, profit targets and other practical details.

Money management is extremely important because financial markets are hotbeds of risk. That was the weakest part of the original book, and I completely rewrote it. One of many tools you’ll discover will be the Iron Triangle of risk control.

Psychology, trading tactics, and money management are the three pillars of success, but there is the fourth factor that ties them together. That factor—which integrates all others—is record-keeping.

Keeping good records will enable you to learn from your experiences. It’ll help you break out of the vicious circle of small gains and big losses, running like a squirrel in a barrel, sweating and stressed but never getting anywhere. Keeping good records will make you your own teacher and a better trader. I’ll show you several types of records you need to keep and will share several of my trade diaries.

If you’re a new reader, welcome to the journey. If you’ve already read Trading for a Living, I hope you’ll find this new book two decades smarter than the first.

Dr. Alexander Elder New York–Vermont, 2014