What's Your Trading Brain Type ?

Five Types

To summarize, there are five general brain types. Among traders and investors, the three most important brain types are Compulsive, Impulsive and Anxious.

Left Brain - Right Brain

People with Compulsive Brains tend to get stuck in a particular thought about the market. “It’s too high.” “It’s too manipulated.” “It’s too risky.” It’s too…” whatever. People with Compulsive Brains tend to operate entirely on their own terms and are generally not open to feedback or other options.  

People with Impulsive Brains are the exact opposite. They are unpredictable and lack impulse control in trading/investing and in daily life. Without much discipline, they start many more projects than they finish. They live for creativity and for what’s possible.

People with Anxious Brains live with a rain cloud overhead.  They pay more attention to the obstacles to their own success (or the success of others) than to the ways that something might work. They don’t like to try new things and don’t appreciate novelty.

The fourth type is the Depressed Brain. These people tend to feel victimized by the market. They have a ‘Rodney Dangerfield’ mentality, believing that they never get a break or a fair shake. They blame the Fed, the robots, the news, company management, or whatever for their investing and trading troubles. This type of thinking rationalizes and justifies their pre-existing mood.   

The fifth type is a combination of Compulsive and Impulsive. These folks tend to be compulsively impulsive, which may mean that they have an addictive relationship to the market and to trading. They overtrade because they are trading-to-trade, like a mouse pressing a lever to generate pleasure signals in their brains.

Free Quiz

If you are curious about your brain type, you may download a free Brain Type Self-Assessment HERE.