Mindfulness and meditation can be enormously powerful when engaged in financial markets. These practices have the ability to weaponize the mind for optimal performance whilst creating a robust and resilient suit of armour against the doubts and uncertainties induced by volatile and uncertain financial markets. In this conversation, the show hosts Steve Goldstein and Mark Randall explore these activities, digging deep into how and why they can be so powerful with US Navy Seal Commander, Jon Macaskill.Jon is a serving US Navy officer who practices and teaches mindfulness and meditation. He is currently transitioning out of the US Navy and whilst doing so, is working on a project called Veterans PATH, which seeks to teach these powerful techniques to US Navy Veterans to equip and empower them in their future lives. Jon has worked in the most stressful, complex and anxiety inducing environments one can imagine. These include multiple tours of Iraq and Afghanistan leading military teams and coordinating with various other teams and units all whilst potentially being responsible for the lives of others and the success of operations.  Jon came to mindfulness and meditation as a way of dealing with the stress, anxiety and depression which resulted from his high wire military life. After some initial doubts and reservations, it proved profound in transforming his life, and improving his performance. Many people in the financial markets now practice these techniques including some of the world’s leading traders and investors. However, many still feel uncomfortable with the concept, which seems out of odds with the testosterone fuelled world of trading and investment. Hearing Jon’s story and reflections will give many ‘pause for thought’ and may influence them in ways which could have a profound impact on how they work and manage themselves in their risk-taking activities.AlphaMind: Powering Performance in Global MarketsAlphaMind brings powerful change, growth and development to people and businesses within global markets.Driven by a deep understanding of how markets work, and how people and businesses function within them, we partner with clients to create personal performance improvements that elevate returns across their trading activities.Go to the AlphaMind website to know more.

In this second interview with David Tait, David talks about fear in trading and how best to cope and manage with the extreme fear which is part of terrain of trading.When it comes to fear, and fear in trading, there are few people better qualified in the world to talk about this subject than David.  David has sat at the top table of the financial markets for near 4 decades. He was formerly head of FX and Proprietary trading at Goldman Sachs. He has also been Global Head of Macro trading at UBS and Credit Suisse, and currently is CEO of the World Gold Council. As well as garnishing a reputation for fearlessness when trading, David is also one of only a handful of people to have climbed mount Everest on five separate occasions, including being the first person to climb from the North side and descend from the South, alongside Sherpa legend Phurba Tashi.David’s climbs of Mount Everest raised over £1.5 million (Over $2 million) for charities which fight child abuse and support child abuse victims. These charities are dear to David’s heart having himself been a victim of child sex abuse.The timing of this interview is aimed to coincide with a new movie about David's life-story called “Sulphur and White” which had its royal premier last month.This is the second of two interviews with David, in the first interview last week, David shared his story, warts and all, reflecting on his uneasy relationship with self-respect and his experiences as a victim of sexual abuse by a now-deceased relative, affected is personal and working life. David’s harrowing experiences are probably one of the reasons why he had a higher level of immunity to the work stresses and fears that impact many others. In this interview we have a deeply engaging conversation about fear, risk and trading. We explore some tips people can use to help them manage and cope with fear better and discuss both of our own experiences in this area. David also shares some insights of when he was gripped by fear, including how he coped when faced with an ice avalanche close to the top of Mount Everest, which he thought was going to kill him.  You can find out more about David and the film ‘Sulphur and White’ by visiting   https://davidtait.com/AlphaMind: Powering Performance in Global MarketsAlphaMind brings powerful change, growth and development to people and businesses within global markets.Driven by a deep understanding of how markets work, and how people and businesses function within them, we partner with clients to create personal performance improvements that elevate returns across their trading activities.Go to the AlphaMind website to know more.

David Tait had a fearlessness which made him one of the world’s top traders. This edge helped establish him as one of the leading figures in trading in the financial markets. David success led to him becoming Global Head of FX Trading at Goldman Sachs and he went on to hold other major trading and leadership roles at investment banks Credit Suisse and UBS and was an original partner at Hedge Fund Bluecrest Capital.  David is now the CEO of the World Gold Council and is an Independent Member of the Bank of England’s Fixed Income, Commodity and Currency (FICC) Market Standards Board.  However, behind David’s success was a tragic and heart-breaking upbringing, which he kept secret from the world for many years. David’s incredible story was both fueled and marred by a terrible and dark past.  David's life-story has now been made into a major motion picture, directed by one of the movie industry’s leading filmmakers, and boasting an all-star cast. The film is called “Sulphur and White” and had its royal premier last week. In this interview David shares his story, warts and all. The interview is timed to coincide with the national release of the movie in the UK this week. This is the first of 2 interviews with David: The primary aim of the interview is to raise awareness of the movie, and to help give it publicity to support its release. And whilst this may not be the usual interview on trading and investment, it does however raise some crucially important themes about managing self as a trader, and raises questions around people abilities to separate their lives in the hugely demanding world of trading, from their personal life, and lives of people who matter in their life. Some more background on David Tait: David has been a prolific fundraiser for children’s charities. Most notably the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). He was awarded one of the UK’s top honours (an MBE) by the Queen in 2010 for his services to the charity. David has climbed Mount Everest on five separate occasion to raise money for charity, a feat only achieved by a handful of people. In 2007 he set a world first by performing the very first North-South traverse of Everest. His charity raising efforts have to date raised over £1.5million ($2million) for the NSPCC and ChildLine. All profits from the movie #sulphurandwhite, will be going to the NSPCC. AlphaMind: Powering Performance in Global MarketsAlphaMind brings powerful change, growth and development to people and businesses within global markets.Driven by a deep understanding of how markets work, and how people and businesses function within them, we partner with clients to create personal performance improvements that elevate returns across their trading activities.Go to the AlphaMind website to know more.

25 years ago this week, Barings Bank, founded in 1763, was brought down by the calamitous and illegal trading activities of one of its futures traders, Nick Leeson. Working from their Singapore office, Lesson’s accumulated trading losses amounted to over £800 billion or close to $1.4 billion at the time. Leeson had been hiding trading losses for the previous 2 1/2 years in a false account he had created, the now infamous 88888 account. For a while these losses were of a size that was concealable, however in January 1995, the losses started to spiral out of control. Leeson had been placing a series of huge bets which relied on the Japanese Stock Market remaining relatively stable. However, the market was rocked when a huge earthquake struck the Japanese city of Kobe. As the losses started to mount, Leeson upped the ante, placing even larger bets, effectively doubling up, but the recovery never came, and the losses started to increase exponentially. Eventually, with no hope of recovering the losses, Leeson left a note which simply said, "I'm sorry" and he fled Singapore. An international manhunt followed, gripping the world’s media.After a few days, Leeson handed himself in to the German authorities, and was later extradited to Singapore where he was jailed for over 6 years alongside some of Asia’s most notorious triad gang members. Leeson was released a couple of years early in 1999 on health grounds after being found with colon cancer with a prognosis which was not favourable. In this frank and honest interview Leeson talks with AlphaMind podcast co-hosts Mark and Steve about his trading activities. He talks about his failings and those of the system around him. He tells of living with the stigma of being the world’s most infamous rogue trader. He talks about his time in prison, the mental challenges he faced, and how he rebuilt his life following his recovery from cancer and release from prison. Leeson also shares some lighter moments, including how he was hounded by tabloid journalists convinced he had hidden the lost money somewhere.Listeners may gain a new and somewhat surprising respect for Leeson after listening to this fascinating interview. AlphaMind: Powering Performance in Global MarketsAlphaMind brings powerful change, growth and development to people and businesses within global markets.Driven by a deep understanding of how markets work, and how people and businesses function within them, we partner with clients to create personal performance improvements that elevate returns across their trading activities.Go to the AlphaMind website to know more.

Anthony Crudele started as a trader on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) in the late 1990s. He was one of the youngest members of the CME, originally trading the S&P e-mini futures. Anthony was surrounded by some of the most influential traders and brokers in the financial markets and gained huge knowledge, experience and know-how which helped him develop his own successful trading processes which he then adapted to screen based electronic trading. Having struggled and then finally built a successful trading career and practice, and just when everything seemed to have fallen into place, Anthony’s world was brought to a shuddering halt when he suffered a heart attack at the age of 36. Despite being physically healthy in every way, Anthony believes the stresses and anxieties connected to the job played a key role in this near-death experience. Anthony recovered and was able to continue trading and to rebuild his career. A large part of this was developing the ability to manage and cope with stress by using powerful mindfulness-based techniques and meditation practices which help him to deal better with the stress and anxiety of life as a trader. Anthony also hosts the hugely popular Futures Radio Show, a weekly podcast show where he shares his extensive experience as a futures trader, provide insights into what's happening in the markets, and interviews guests from the world of trading. AlphaMind: Powering Performance in Global MarketsAlphaMind brings powerful change, growth and development to people and businesses within global markets.Driven by a deep understanding of how markets work, and how people and businesses function within them, we partner with clients to create personal performance improvements that elevate returns across their trading activities.Go to the AlphaMind website to know more.

Don't let the title of this episode de-motivate you. The more you know about your brain and how it functions, the greater the likelihood you can make positive adjustments which can drive superior trading and investment performance. In this week’s episode we are in conversation with Dr Daniel Crosby. Daniel is a Behavioural Finance author who has written several best-selling books and is one of the leading authorities on the practical application of Behavioural Finance in the Financial Market's world.In this excellent chat with Steven and Mark, Daniel explains how our brain's role and function so often works against us rather than for us when engaged in our activities in the financial markets.  One of the key topics Daniel talks about is meta-knowledge, the ability to know what we don’t know. Daniel describes how the development of skills connected to Meta Knowledge are so vital in driving successful performance in trading and investment roles. He also explains how, paradoxically, the more fallible we realise we are the more likely we are to make adjustment and thus succeed. Among some of the outstanding books Daniel has written or co-authored are:You're Not That GreatThe Laws of Wealth: Psychology and the Secret to Investing SuccessThe Behavioral InvestorDaniels has featured in 3 outstanding Ted Talks, has appeared in the Huffington Post and Risk Management Magazine, and writes monthly columns for WealthManagement.com and Investment News. Daniel was named one of the "12 Thinkers to Watch" by Monster.com, a "Financial Blogger You Should Be Reading" by AARP and in the "Top 40 Under 40" by Investment News. AlphaMind: Powering Performance in Global MarketsAlphaMind brings powerful change, growth and development to people and businesses within global markets.Driven by a deep understanding of how markets work, and how people and businesses function within them, we partner with clients to create personal performance improvements that elevate returns across their trading activities.Go to the AlphaMind website to know more.

In this week’s episode we are in conversation with Paul Wallace. Paul is a private UK based trader, who taught himself trading after getting attracted to internet stocks in the early 2000s. Prior to that Paul was a fighter controller in the Royal Air Force, and today, as well as working as a trader, and training and coaching other traders, Paul also runs a programme called The Veterans’ Trader Project (VTP) which provides introductory training for ex-forces personnel looking to move into a new career. Paul brought with him some fascinating insights and perspectives. And this conversation veered into some surprising directions, including touching upon themes about:What is needed to succeed as a trader.The delusion many traders suffer about how easy it is to be a trader. Embracing the pain of losing traders to allow you to grow as a trader. The mistaken belief of new traders, that trading systems are a form of ATM. Data Scientist v Traders as system builders.   How operating under ambiguity is a shared skill-set of military personnel and great tradersPreparing mentally for the battle of trading. Improving and developing exceptional performance. Decision-making under uncertainty. Learning from your trains. Being a fear-based trader. Process, Discipline and Self-awareness. The art and science of trading and getting into flow. Building a trading checklist. And many other topics and themes. AlphaMind: Powering Performance in Global MarketsAlphaMind brings powerful change, growth and development to people and businesses within global markets.Driven by a deep understanding of how markets work, and how people and businesses function within them, we partner with clients to create personal performance improvements that elevate returns across their trading activities.Go to the AlphaMind website to know more.

In this week’s episode we are in conversation with David Keller. This is an episode we can only describe as 'Rich': Rich in insight, rich in wisdom, rich in depth, and rich in meaningful dialogue and discussion.  David is someone who comes with a huge dose of wisdom, knowhow, knowledge and experience about how markets work, and how people in markets function and think. David came to markets from an alternative route to many having studied as a classically trained musician and student of psychology. David found himself mesmerised by markets and technical analysis in particular which seemed to capture the harmony of markets and to open a window into the way humans behave within them. These days, David runs his own boutique investment research firm Sierra Alpha Research LLC, where he focuses on managing risk through market awareness. He combines the strengths of technical analysis, behavioural finance, and data visualization to identify investment opportunities and enrich relationships between advisors and clients. David is also Chief Market Strategist at StockCharts.com, where he helps investors minimize behavioural biases through technical analysis. Previously David was Managing Director of Research for Fidelity Investments in Boston, where he managed the Technical Research Department as well as the legendary Fidelity Chart Room. Until recently David was president of the Chartered Market Technician (CMT) Association and is also a member of the Technical Securities Analysts Association San Francisco and the International Federation of Technical Analysts. He has lectured extensively on technical analysis and behavioural finance as an Adjunct Professor at the Brandeis University International Business School in Waltham, Mass.Prior to that David was a Technical Analysis Application Specialist with Bloomberg LP in New York and was a regular contributor to Bloomberg Markets magazine. AlphaMind: Powering Performance in Global MarketsAlphaMind brings powerful change, growth and development to people and businesses within global markets.Driven by a deep understanding of how markets work, and how people and businesses function within them, we partner with clients to create personal performance improvements that elevate returns across their trading activities.Go to the AlphaMind website to know more.

This podcast episode will fascinate all those who work in trading and investing roles. In this excellent interview with co-hosts Steve and Mark, their guest Simon Garcia bares his soul, describes his experience, and shares his views about trading, dealing with the mental and emotional challenges of trading and describing some of the pressures the job entails. This podcast episode will also be of interest to those curious about mental health in the workplace. It highlights how the pressures placed on people in traumatic workplace environments can lead to detachment from family and loved ones, as well as to one's core values. It also emphasises how this can in turn impact well-being and lead to impaired mental health, with serious consequences for the individual and heightened business risks for the firm.    The guest, Simon Garcia, is someone who has won, lost, and won again, the mental battle of trading. Simon has experienced the highs, the big highs, the lows, the deepest of all lows, and then come back to win again. By the early 2000s, Simon achieved great success as a bond trader working at Natwest Markets and Deutsche Bank, before moving to Lehman Brothers where he was running a Convertible Bond trading team. Then one day the strains and stresses of trading hit him and hit him hard. For Simon, the lights went out. Simon had suffered a mental breakdown.  At this point in his life, Simon was achieving great success, was earning big money, had a good marriage and a wonderful young family. To the outside world Simon had everything. But inside, he felt like he had nothing. He was at the point where life had become so painful and traumatic that he was contemplating ending it.In the financial markets this is an all to familiar story. Simon was fortunate however. The firm, through their HR team, came through for him. He got the support and the help he needed and made a full recovery.  Simon was able to continue as a trader after a break and went to achieve great success for another decade at Nomura and then Societe Generale. Simon's story didn't end there though. Following his experience, and whilst working as a trader, Simon started studying to be a psychotherapist. To get his hours of practice and training, Simon spent his evenings and weekends, working in hospitals and for local charities. Last year, after almost 3 decades, Simon left the markets to set-up his own private therapy practice.  He is now helping others. I hope listening to this episode will give people pause to think about how they approach their work and how they can ensure they create the psychological safety which ensures they care for themselves, and those around them. _______________________________________________________________________You can find out more about the AlphaMind podcast and the show’s co-hosts Steven Goldstein and Mark Randall on the AlphaMind podcast website https://alpha-mind.net.You can also follow them on twitter https://twitter.com/AlphaMind101 or visit their blog page https://alphamindblog.blogspot.com/If you are interested in AlphaMind Trader Performance Coaching you can find out more at  https://alphamindblog.blogspot.com/p/the-alphamind-privateAlphaMind: Powering Performance in Global MarketsAlphaMind brings powerful change, growth and development to people and businesses within global markets.Driven by a deep understanding of how markets work, and how people and businesses function within them, we partner with clients to create personal performance improvements that elevate returns across their trading activities.Go to the AlphaMind website to know more.

Greg Zuckerman, a Wall Street Journal special writer, shares insights from his book about Jim Simons, the legendary figure behind Renaissance Technologies. The conversation reveals how Simons combined mathematics and finance to revolutionize trading. They discuss the importance of team culture, unique trading strategies, and the relentless pursuit of innovation. Zuckerman also sheds light on the challenges of quantitative trading and the personal influences that shaped Renaissance's success. Dive into the fascinating journey of redefining market strategies!