Mark Douglas "In a Trance of Investing" [REVIEW]

- If you have to read one book on trading, choose Mark Douglas "In Transition of Investing" - such opinions can be found regularly on internet forums dedicated to the Forex market. Meanwhile, many people also say that there is little about investing in it. Who's right? In this case, one does not exclude the other.

Mark Douglas is  not only an investor, but also the president of Trading Behavior Dynamics, which organizes seminars and training programs in the field of investment psychology for brokerage companies, banks and asset managers in many professional organizations. He admits that he started with losses and frustration when he lost almost all his assets and was unskilfully investing in the stock and currency markets. However, he learned from his mistakes.

However, if you expect to find specific advice in the book on how to invest, what to look for and when to enter a given asset, and when it is better to stay away from the market, then you may be very disappointed. The book is not about strategy, it is not even about the style of investing. It is ... about us - everyone will find in it their habits, beliefs or hopes towards the market. Everyone will find in it their mistakes that they have committed or are still making. They are the reasons why the bill does not always swell with profits. But it can be changed.

You do not exist for the market, so take responsibility for yourself

"They took my SL again and went in the right direction", "I knew, but I knew, you had to buy / sell back then" - sounds familiar, right? The fact is that most traders - especially beginners - make the same mistakes. Mark Douglas emphasizes that the sooner we realize this, the better for us. Especially since most of the beliefs of novice investors are completely wrong. If we are not a representative of the largest bank and we do not invest billions of amounts, we are total plankton for the market. It is worth realizing this, because thanks to this we will understand that everything depends on our decisions and no one will want to complicate them at all costs.

“The hard reality of the stock market game is that if we want to consistently achieve positive results, we must start with the assumption that no matter what the result is, we are fully responsible for this result. This is the level of responsibility that very few people aspire to before they decide to become investors. " - writes Mark Douglas, noting that only we decide about our success or failure.

How to be successful on the market?

It's a question from the genre of "How to become a millionaire", but the author gives the answer. Brutal for some: not everyone is fit to be a trader, even if they think otherwise. If you don't draw conclusions, keep making the same mistakes, and can't make money on a regular basis - you won't be a trader. Even if you have periods, even for many months, when the capital curve goes up aggressively, but then returns to the starting point (or lower) as a result of a few bad decisions - you will not be a profitable trader in the long run.

So how to be successful? Read a lot, educate, participate in training, collect data, test strategies? Of course, knowledge will not hurt, but how many great analysts know who shame you with detailed knowledge? Why "They waste time" for a job, for example, for a broker or broadcasting on television, instead of earning huge money on the Forex market, which has practically no limits? The answer is simple: many of them unfortunately cannot do this. So what is more important than knowledge? According to Mark Douglas - the psyche.

Summary: it's worth reading

In this book you will find signposts, but also specific exercises that will allow you to face your own weaknesses. Maybe even eliminate some of them. Admittedly, the author writes fragments with a style that refers to the type guides "The power to attract money"but definitely defends itself with the merits. He teaches distance and consequences, that is two things that are very important in effective trading.

It is definitely worth reading, because even if the tips contained in it do not allow you to move to the "bright side of trading", they will also be useful in other aspects of professional and private life.