Trading Psychology  |  SEP 2004

Emotionally Intelligent Trading by Eliot Brenner, Ph.D.

V. 22:9 (62-65): Emotionally Intelligent Trading by Eliot Brenner, Ph.D. Increase your trading profits by incorporating these strategies for emotional intelligence with a sound trading plan. A few months after I began daytrading equities, I learned a tough lesson that illustrates how emotionally intelligent traders can profit from the mistakes of others. I was trading at a firm with 50 other traders who sat shoulder-to-shoulder at computer terminals. The trader who sat next to me was considerably more experienced than I was. On one occasion, I was feeling quite pleased because I was long 400 shares of a stock that had risen eight points. The experienced trader was envying my position. Much to my chagrin, about two hours before the market close, the S&P futures market headed south — taking my position with it. My pride turned to regret. Within a matter of minutes, I lost half of my profit. Fearing I would lose it all, sold the entire position. I turned to the more experienced trader and noticed that he bought the same stock at the moment I sold my shares! “Why did you buy now?” I asked him. He replied, “I figured that when you couldn’t take any more pain, it was a good time to buy.” I watched my colleague’s new purchase earn back all of my “lost” profit and then some.

by Eliot Brenner, Ph.D.