There is a wonderful blog I just found Barking Up the Wrong Tree that focuses on performance. One research report was recently cited on the power of touching and enhanced performance that I found interesting to our game of trading.
In a paper due out this year in the journal Emotion, Mr. Kraus and his co-authors, Cassy Huang and Dr. Keltner, report that with a few exceptions, good teams tended to be touchier than bad ones. The most touch-bonded teams were the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers, currently two of the league’s top teams; at the bottom were the mediocre Sacramento Kings and Charlotte Bobcats… Players who made contact with teammates most consistently and longest tended to rate highest on measures of performance, and the teams with those players seemed to get the most out of their talent.
I see some of our traders fist bump before the open. This decreases stress as each trader is saying to the other, “We are in this together brother.” Biologically, cortisol levels are reduced leaving them less stressed. Should all traders fist bump before each trading open? Should we high five after the open? After a review session, should we huddle up, bring in our hands, and chant “SMB”?
Mike Bellafiore
