Becoming a Disciplined Trader: Techniques for Achieving Peak Trading Performance

Ari Kiev, a psychologist who has previously coached Olympic athletes on improving their performance by managing stress, attempts to apply those same techniques to the high stakes world of options trading in Becoming a Disciplined Trader. Hedge fund trading is a stressful activity in which "bailing out" too soon can cost the trader thousands in profits. In this recent seminar, Kiev advises his students on how to handle fear and anxiety while staying on track with realistic performance targets. Common trading mistakes and "limiting beliefs" are analyzed, and Kiev counsels the audience to pay close attention to one's risk tolerance, keep a daily performance journal, and use the mind to boost self-esteem by visualizing successful trades (hold your snickers, please). Viewers hoping to find financial advice on markets will be disappointed. On the technical side, the producer's inexplicable decision to shoot Kiev's talk from the side, rather than face on, provides great views of the meeting room doors throughout (which some of us may wish we were exiting through), but hardly offers any shots of the speaker's facial expressions (a strange choice for a self-help psychology video). Too, as much of the video involves Kiev fielding questions from his audience, minimal editing would have added polish and helped shorten the video's running time. Not recommended. Aud: C, P. (S. Rees)