Trade With Passion and Purpose

Successful trader Mark Whistler draws from the fields of psychology, spirituality, and philosophy to emphasize how self-honesty, self-esteem, emotional balance, and confidence form the foundation of successful trading. He demonstrates how adherence to a small number of core principles vastly improves chances of success, and shares interviews from top traders to exemplify his point that even the most successful traders have had to overcome setbacks.

Acknowledgments xiii

Introduction 1

Believing in Ourselves 2

Part I All of the Answers Are Already Within 7

Chapter 1 Finding Your Purpose-Center 9

The Groundwork 9

Clarifying Your Purpose-Center through the Mission Statement 10

Morita Therapy and Dogma 13

Purpose-Center as Self-Awareness in Style 17

The Dogma of Style 19

Summary 22

Chapter 2 The Time Is Now 23

In the Moment 24

Through Ryan Dempster’s Eyes 29

Summary 33

Chapter 3 Self-Honesty and Self-Esteem 35

The Foundation of Self 36

Honesty 38

Ego Versus Esteem 43

Esteem 44

Pride 45

Summary 46

Chapter 4 The Balance of Humbleness 49

The Importance of Humbleness 49

Mike Palumbo—Words of Wisdom from a Supertrader 50

Balance of Self: An Interview with Kevin Cuddie 54

Summary 58

Chapter 5 Be Courageous, Be Forgiving 61

The Vacuum Law of Prosperity 62

Interview with Dr. Michael A. L. Eckelkamp 65

The Need for Courage: Vic Frierson 67

Summary 70

Addendum 71

Chapter 6 An Investigation of Fear 73

Fear Defined 74

Acknowledging the Predator 74

Good Cop 77

Bad Cop 78

Deciphering the Difference between Good and Bad Fear 79

Event Timing and the Conditioned Reflex 81

Overcoming Good Fear 81

Defeating Bad Fear 82

Fear and Morita Therapy 84

Fear Is the Only Paradigm of the Market 85

Personal Unconsciousness 90

Summary 90

Chapter 7 Overcoming Adversity and Anxiety 93

Turning the Tide on Death—Bob Williams 93

The Basics of Anxiety 99

The Bulkhead of Anxiety 108

Summary 108

Chapter 8 Cause and Effect 111

The Foundation of Cause and Effect 112

Cause and Effect in Trading Decisions 113

Altering the Cause Variables 115

Interview with Joe Ritchie 117

Adding on to Joe’s Words 119

Experience as the Most Important Cause Variable 121

Summary 121

Chapter 9 Emotional Intelligence: The Intuition Wild Card 123

The Roots 124

Emotional Intelligence with Emotional Identification and Acceptance 126

Application to Trading 129

Emotion Versus Intuition 131

Summary 132

Chapter 10 Developing Intuition 133

Levels of Intuition 133

Planning for Intuition 137

Developing Intuition 138

Incredible Intuition through the Eyes of a Publisher 139

Top-Down Processing 142

Intuition in Trading 143

Summary 144

Chapter 11 Expressing Gratitude 147

Gratitude as a Psychological Study 149

Gratitude and Trading 151

Summary 154

Part II Beyond Emotions 157

Chapter 12 Confronting and Defeating Stress 159

A Little Stress Is Good 160

Recognizing Stress 161

Matt McCall on Stress and Investing 164

Summary 169

Chapter 13 A Medical Evaluation of Stress 171

The Facts behind Stress, from Dr. Royce Peterman, md 173

Summary 178

Chapter 14 The Necessity of Relaxation 179

Sivananda Principles 179

Breathing to Deal with Three Stressful Moments 180

Summary 185

Chapter 15 Affirmation and Visualization 187

Affirming Ourselves 187

Visualizing Success 190

Summary 191

Chapter 16 Avoiding Self-Destructive Behavior 193

Understanding Why We Blow Up Leads to Recognition 193

Thwarting Self-Destruction and Cleaning Up the Mess 195

Summary 197

Part III Developing Your Game Plan 199

Chapter 17 Creating a Trading Plan 201

The Plan 202

Trading Plan Integrity through Philosphy 204

Summary 206

Chapter 18 Understanding Risk 209

Managing the Big Picture 209

In Closing 212

Summary 213

Chapter 19 Change Is Constant 215

Change Is the Only Constant We Can Count On 216

When Life Blows Up, Make a Change 218

The Law of Flotation Wasn’t Based on the Contemplation of Sinking Things 220

Summary 221

Last Words 223

About the Interviewees 227

Notes 233

Bibliography 241

About the Author 245

Index 247

Mark Whistler is a trader and financial writer. As a professional options trader, he specializes in statistical arbitrage, a technique for capitalizing on the price differences between similar financial instruments.?Whistler is cofounder of the Web site PairsTrader.com, and a columnist for Traderdaily.com, Investopedia.com, the Smart Options Report, and the Investment U newsletter. He is also the author of Trading Pairs, which is published by Wiley. Trading in today's markets can be extremely stressful and oftentimes, traders—even those with years of experience—make irrational decisions as a result. Overcoming these pitfalls can be a difficult task, but with the right approach you can turn any setback into a great success.

Over the course of his trading career, author Mark Whistler has achieved significant success as well as taken a fair share of hits. During this time, he has seen firsthand what separates great traders from the rest of the crowd, and now, in Trade with Passion and Purpose he wants to share those insights with you.

In Trade with Passion and Purpose, Whistler draws from the fields of psychology, spirituality, and philosophy to illuminate the path to profitable trading. This engaging book acknowledges how difficult it is to consistently win in the markets, but at the same time, it demonstrates how adhering to a small number of core principles can vastly improve your chances of success.

Divided into three comprehensive parts, this book will take you on a journey of self-discovery that will help you hone your skills as a trader. Some of the topics discussed include:

• How being "in the moment," while knowing why you are doing what you are doing is essential to trading success

• The importance of understanding stress and how to work with it

• The roles that affirmation and visualization playin your trading endeavors

• How to recognize and defeat fear

• Why change should be embraced

• How to develop a game plan for trading success that takes risk management into account

• How world famous traders, sports stars, and business people handle stress, and how you can benefit from their success

• And much more

Achieving trading success takes time, guts, the desire to ask yourself some hard questions, and the relentless determination to take action. Anything less and you'll be nothing more than a mediocre trader at best. Filled with the hard-won knowledge gained through Whistler's own trading experiences as well as insightful interviews with proven traders and individuals who have overcome amazing adversity, Trade with Passion and Purpose will help you develop the personal strength and emotional intelligence needed to become a top trader.

"Well conceived and executed—any trader will find this a fascinating read."
—Rich Blake

Senior Editor, Trader Monthly magazine

"Knowing yourself is one of the most important, but perhaps most overlooked, aspects of trading. In Trade with Passion and Purpose, Mark Whistler has a fascinating and unique take on the subject. I'd highly recommend this book for any trader who is serious about improving their craft."
—Cory Janssen

Cofounder, Investopedia.com

"An indispensable resource for anyone who intends to trade for a profit on a regular basis . . . Mark Whistler has outlined and detailed an intangible skill set all successful traders must possess. You simply can't get it anywhere else."
—Alex Williams

Managing Director, Investment University, www.investmentu.com