If you ask a trader to explain the emotional relationship he has with his positions, you will usually be met with a gruff rebuff.
But one brave academic, Nigel Nicholson, has carried out an extensive study based on a interviews with 120 traders in the City of London for a book that is scheduled for publication in October.
Speaking at the Euromoney Forex Forum last month, Nicholson, who is professor of organizational behaviour at the London Business School, offered some insights into the curious workings of a trader?s mind.
?I love my positions. I hate them. I live with them, sleep with them, eat them,? one trader said. This person seems to need a holiday.
Nicholson found that people who work in finance tend to be more moody than the general population. People with illusions of control over the markets they trade are bad traders, he notes. And although there are few women traders, they are generally better at the job than their male colleagues.
To seek to explain the odd behaviour of your staff and colleagues, read Traders: managing risks and decisions in financial markets.