Rating: - A Book For Traders - and a Wider Audience
Greatest Strengths

The greatest strength of this work is the authoritative combination of theory and practice. Dr. Brett draws upon a body of theoretical literature showing a logical progression from building competence, moving from competence to expertise, and using that expertise to become successful. It is the whole package presented by a great writer who understands the theory.

Unlike many works where the strictly academic approach renders them inaccessible to most readers, this book is fun. Each theoretical step is salted with examples from those who have achieved great success by implementing the principles. The reader learns about how noted athletic performers like Dan Gable, Wayne Gretzky, Muhammad Ali, and Lance Armstrong employed the specific methods described. This does not mean, of course, that these athletes had all read the relevant literature. Instead, they learned or developed key methods on their own. Nonetheless, their success demonstrates the power of the theories.

For traders, another great strength of the book is the application of theory to practice. Because of his personal work in observing and helping traders with their problems and methods, Brett's writing really comes to life. Anyone has done some trading will recognize the characters in themselves or someone they know. Any trader has experience many of the same foibles as the featured characters, who are all real traders. The reality of the examples gives the lessons and advice the ring of authenticity.

Wider Applications

While the book is aimed at a trading audience, it is quite useful for anyone engaged in competitive activity where performance is measured. This is not just about trading. Those competing in athletics or games of the mind will find the work most helpful. Our own experience involves competing and coaching people in competitive activities like bridge, backgammon, chess, sports handicapping, poker, and debate. Nearly every chapter has lessons for those striving for success in these fields.

An Important Lesson

There are also important lessons for the individual investor. So much of today's marketing makes it seem easy for anyone to beat the market. Enhancing Trader Performance shows that learning the key lessons to become successful is hard work. It requires a level of commitment that many would not have. It is better to know this before starting, than to learn the hard way.

Summary

Briefly put, this is a must-read for traders and for system developers. It is also recommended for those engaged in any competitive activity. Finally, it is useful for individual investors. Taking the time to understand the problems faced by top traders is the first step. Those unwilling to make the time commitment to read and learn are unlikely to achieve long-run success. Read this book first!

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Rating: - Excellent and Original
If you are or plan to be a serious trader this is a must read. Dr. Steenbarger knows what he's talking about. The fact that he is both trader & a psychologist he would certainly make him uniquely qualified on his subject, and his clear writing style is icing on the cake.

I am incorporating severeral of the ideas in the book into my trading plan. If it makes me rich I'll write an even more enthusiastic review :-)

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Rating: - Excellent--not really for beginners
This is an excellent book that gives a sort of theoretical roadmap on the subject of its title. This isn't theory in the sense of being useless insights and suggestions, though, but theory in the way that a trader needs to learn about how different securities work before trading them. From this roadmap one could construct a sort of trading curriculum that would help the trader to continually enhance their performance. I write that it's not for beginners because one of Dr. Steenbarger's primary insights is that a trader needs to find his/her niche and 'fall in love' with trading before beginning to worry about enhancing performance. For serious traders, I would say this is a 'must-have' to add to your library.

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Rating: - if you need a trade tune up...read this!
This has by far been the best book I've read on trading psychology because it not only examines the psychological issues that we bring to the trading table, it maps out several directions for finding your niche as a trader. This book suggests several types of trading and even gives some details on where to take the next step. Very valuable. This book serves as a desktop manual.

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Rating: - Don't just read it. Absorb it.
First, to keep things totally above board, let me state for the record that Brett Steenbarger wrote the forward to my book, The Essentials of Trading. He and I became aquainted through my editorial work with Trade2Win. When my book was near completion, I asked Brett to give it a look knowing that he was involved in trader training and development. The forword followed from that.

Brett's new book, Enhancing Trader Performance, is his second, following on the heels of his extremely successful and worthwhile initial release, The Psychology of Trading. I would not, though, call it a sequel. While the latter part of the new work does bring in major elements of what the first book covered, the majority of it has a quite different focus

Enhancing Trader Performance is primarily about developing trading expertise. As someone who has spent his fair share of time teaching and coaching on a variety of levels and in different theaters of pursuit, some of which were extremely competitive and performance oriented, I was immediately grabbed by Brett's presentation. And it never let me go - literally pages of notes later.

This book may not be for everyone. It clearly has a bias which leans more toward the full-time and/or short-term trader than someone who traders longer-term and/or on a more part-time basis. This is a natural function of Brett's work helping professional traders with their development and to overcome performance hurdles, along with his own personal efforts in the market, which are short-term in nature as well.

That said, there is still a ton of extremely useful material for any trader, new or experienced. Enhancing Trader Performance provides a sort of roadmap toward developing trading expertise. This isn't about the mental part of actually making trades and managing positions. Rather it is more a discussion of how one becomes more than just a competent trader.

Coaching is a major theme, with Brett clearly being a proponent of traders having coaches who can assist them in their development similar to the way they would an athlete. I personally tend to disagree with the way he uses "coach" and "mentor" interchangably as I consider the two to be different, but that does not detract from the overall message. Importantly, since it can be difficult for the individual trader to get in to a good coaching relationship, Brett shares plenty of tips and advice for how a trader can be their own coach.

The one major carryover from The Psychology of Trading is the use of the stories of actual people - either real or composite. They really help to drive home the points Brett is making, and in a fashion easily relatable by the reader.

In short, read this book if it is at all your objective to excel at trading. More than that, take your time and really absorb it. Read it once, then read it again. I know I will.