AlphaBrain
A book to consider.
So I really like ‘lesser-known’ trading books that contain hidden gems for traders, and AlphaBrain by Stephen Duneier fits that bill.
It’s a book written by an ex-hedge fund manager on how to make smarter decisions.
I have to confess I bought this book in 2020 and it’s sat on my bookshelf ever since.
I’ve not turned a page…but I will be dusting it off this weekend.
Anyway, I was chatting with a trader the other day and they mentioned a great theme from that book that really resonated with them…
I’m paraphrasing as there’s a whole chapter on the topic but it goes something like this:
“Trading is not about making good or bad decisions. It’s about making rational or irrational ones.”
And that is such a good way to think about things.
In the heat of the moment when price is at your level, everything’s lined up and you need to decide now… it’s easy to start overthinking “What if this is the wrong decision”
By that time you’ve missed the trade, you beat yourself up… you know how it goes.
But instead of demanding you make good or bad decisions you instead ask yourself to be rational, it becomes a better framework.
“Would you make the same decision again, given the limited information you have?”
“What’s the rational decision here?”
That’s a far better mental model.
Less pressure in the moment and an easier lens to review trading performance through.
AlphaBrain – here on Amazon if you fancy it.
