Trade With Passion and Purpose

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.

• Acknowledgments xiiiIntroduction 1Believing in Ourselves 2Part I All of the Answers Are Already Within 7Chapter 1 Finding Your Purpose-Center 9The Groundwork 9Clarifying Your Purpose-Center through the Mission Statement 10Morita Therapy and Dogma 13Purpose-Center as Self-Awareness in Style 17The Dogma of Style 19Summary 22Chapter 2 The Time Is Now 23In the Moment 24Through Ryan Dempster’s Eyes 29Summary 33Chapter 3 Self-Honesty and Self-Esteem 35The Foundation of Self 36Honesty 38Ego Versus Esteem 43Esteem 44Pride 45Summary 46Chapter 4 The Balance of Humbleness 49The Importance of Humbleness 49Mike Palumbo—Words of Wisdom from a Supertrader 50Balance of Self: An Interview with Kevin Cuddie 54Summary 58Chapter 5 Be Courageous, Be Forgiving 61The Vacuum Law of Prosperity 62Interview with Dr. Michael A. L. Eckelkamp 65The Need for Courage: Vic Frierson 67Summary 70Addendum 71Chapter 6 An Investigation of Fear 73Fear Defined 74Acknowledging the Predator 74Good Cop 77Bad Cop 78Deciphering the Difference between Good and Bad Fear 79Event Timing and the Conditioned Reflex 81Overcoming Good Fear 81Defeating Bad Fear 82Fear and Morita Therapy 84Fear Is the Only Paradigm of the Market 85Personal Unconsciousness 90Summary 90Chapter 7 Overcoming Adversity and Anxiety 93Turning the Tide on Death—Bob Williams 93The Basics of Anxiety 99The Bulkhead of Anxiety 108Summary 108Chapter 8 Cause and Effect 111The Foundation of Cause and Effect 112Cause and Effect in Trading Decisions 113Altering the Cause Variables 115Interview with Joe Ritchie 117Adding on to Joe’s Words 119Experience as the Most Important Cause Variable 121Summary 121Chapter 9 Emotional Intelligence: The Intuition Wild Card 123The Roots 124Emotional Intelligence with Emotional Identification and Acceptance 126Application to Trading 129Emotion Versus Intuition 131Summary 132Chapter 10 Developing Intuition 133Levels of Intuition 133Planning for Intuition 137Developing Intuition 138Incredible Intuition through the Eyes of a Publisher 139Top-Down Processing 142Intuition in Trading 143Summary 144Chapter 11 Expressing Gratitude 147Gratitude as a Psychological Study 149Gratitude and Trading 151Summary 154Part II Beyond Emotions 157Chapter 12 Confronting and Defeating Stress 159A Little Stress Is Good 160Recognizing Stress 161Matt McCall on Stress and Investing 164Summary 169Chapter 13 A Medical Evaluation of Stress 171The Facts behind Stress, from Dr. Royce Peterman, md 173Summary 178Chapter 14 The Necessity of Relaxation 179Sivananda Principles 179Breathing to Deal with Three Stressful Moments 180Summary 185Chapter 15 Affirmation and Visualization 187Affirming Ourselves 187Visualizing Success 190Summary 191Chapter 16 Avoiding Self-Destructive Behavior 193Understanding Why We Blow Up Leads to Recognition 193Thwarting Self-Destruction and Cleaning Up the Mess 195Summary 197Part III Developing Your Game Plan 199Chapter 17 Creating a Trading Plan 201The Plan 202Trading Plan Integrity through Philosphy 204Summary 206Chapter 18 Understanding Risk 209Managing the Big Picture 209In Closing 212Summary 213Chapter 19 Change Is Constant 215Change Is the Only Constant We Can Count On 216When Life Blows Up, Make a Change 218The Law of Flotation Wasn’t Based on the Contemplation of Sinking Things 220Summary 221Last Words 223About the Interviewees 227Notes 233Bibliography 241About the Author 245Index 247