Preface vii
Acknowledgments xi
Part I Inside a Prop Trading Firm 1
Chapter 1 These Guys Are Good 3
Chapter 2 One Good Trade 31
Chapter 3 A Good Fit 53
Part II Tools of Success 83
Chapter 4 Pyramid of Success 85
Chapter 5 Why Traders Fail 117
Chapter 6 Live to Play Another Day 141
Part III Getting Technical 163
Chapter 7 Stocks In Play 165
Chapter 8 Reading the Tape 193
Chapter 9 Maximizing Your Profits with Scoring 223
Part IV The Trader's Brain 249
Chapter 10 Trader Education 251
Chapter 11 The Best Teacher 285
Chapter 12 Adapt to the Markets 305
Chapter 13 The Successful Trader 335
Bibliography 339
About the Author 347
Index 349

An inside look at what it really takes to become a better trader A proprietary trading firm consists of a group of professionals who trade the capital of the firm. Their income and livelihood is generated solely from their ability to take profits consistently out of the markets. The world of prop trading is mentally and emotionally challenging, but offers substantial rewards to the select few who can master this craft called trading. In One Good Trade: Inside the Highly Competitive World of Proprietary Trading, author Mike Bellafiore shares the principles and techniques that have enabled him to navigate the most challenging of markets over the past twelve years. He explains how he has imparted those techniques to an elite desk of traders at the proprietary trading firm he co-founded. In doing so, he lifts the veil on the inner workings of his firm, shedding light on the challenges of prop trading and insight on why traders succeed or fail. An important contribution to trading literature, the book will help all traders by: Emphasizing the development of skills that are critical to success, such as the fundamentals of One Good Trade, Reading the Tape, and finding Stocks In Play Outlining the factors that really make the difference between a consistently profitable trader and one who underperforms Sharing entertaining, hysterical, and page turning stories of traders who have excelled or failed and why, many trained by the author, with an essential trading principle wrapped inside Becoming a better trader takes discipline, skill development, and statistically profitable trading strategies, and this book will show you how to develop all three.