Thriving In A Tough Tape I: Staying Healthy

This is the first part in a series of posts that will focus on thriving in a tough tape.

2011 has been a tough year for traders. The market has been super choppy with huge moves up one day and down the next amid a complex and confused macro environment and illiquidity residing just beneath the bid.

I have heard from a number of pros who have shared with me their frustration and exhaustion. The significant underperformance of hedge funds this year across strategies confirms.

As such, its a good time to identify concrete steps traders can take to more adaptively cope with stress and improve trading performance.

First and foremost comes personal health.

Sleep, exercise and diet become even more important than they already are.

Your state of physical health directly affects your energy level, cognitive capacity and the ability to contain extreme emotions and abrupt emotional changes.

This is not rocket science and I am not telling traders anything they don’t know but simply offering a reminder and stressing that taking good care of yourself becomes even more important in this environment.

Into this weekend, you will want to first get some rest. You have three nights to recuperate which is plenty. Getting to sleep early and minimizing alcohol intake will leave you more rested come Monday morning and more prepared to conquer next week’s market marathon.