Ed Seykota’s first publicly published work “The Trading Tribe” book is now available.
Order Ed Seykota’s new book here.
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Find out about the Michael Covel Book TurtleTrader.
Find out about the Michael Covel Book TurtleTrader.
About The Trading Tribe
The Trading Tribe is Seykota’s first publicly published work, and it is unlike any other trading book. It does not address entry signals, exit criteria, position sizing formulas, or backtest methodology. Seykota takes all of that as given — the technical foundation of systematic trading is not the problem he is addressing. The problem he is addressing is why traders who know the rules cannot follow them.
The book grows directly from the Trading Tribe gatherings that Seykota began in 1992, initially in Los Athos, California, when he gathered a group of traders to discuss their emotions. His observation was that the primary difference between traders with similar systems was psychological. Even the best systematic approaches produce periods of boredom, hope, fear, greed, and despair. If a trader cannot manage these feelings, they will be tempted to deviate from their system. The main problem with trading systems is not that they fail. The main problem is that traders do not follow them.
The Trading Tribe Process (TTP) is the practical framework Seykota developed from these gatherings. It is built around the idea that Seykota calls “Fred” — the subconscious mind — and its role in producing trading behavior. Many trading errors, including holding losers too long, exiting winners too early, and overriding system signals, are produced not by intellectual failure but by emotional patterns that operate below conscious awareness. The TTP is designed to bring those patterns into awareness so that they can be addressed rather than suppressed or ignored.
Seykota’s background is relevant to this framework. He pioneered computerized trading systems at MIT in 1970 and later at the brokerage where he and Michael Marcus worked. He was among the first practitioners to use early computers to test systematic trend following rules. He achieved over 60% annual returns over a 12-year period in his model account. The technical side of systematic trading was something he mastered decades before writing this book. The Trading Tribe represents the other half of what he learned: that technical mastery is necessary but insufficient if the trader’s psychology works against the rules.
The book is 164 pages. It is dense and personal. Seykota acknowledges in the introduction that he has little formal education in psychology and is writing from direct experience rather than clinical training. That directness is what makes it valuable. He is not theorizing about trading psychology. He is reporting what he observed over years of gathering traders and watching what happened when they were asked to examine their emotional responses honestly in a group setting.
The connection to TurtleTrader is direct. Michael Covel placed a link to Seykota’s website on TurtleTrader.com in 2003, and mentioned The Trading Tribe in his book Trend Following in 2004. The book’s publication was an event in the systematic trading world because Seykota had never previously compiled his thinking into a publicly available volume.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Trading Tribe book about?
It is about the psychological barriers that prevent traders from following their systems. Seykota argues that the main problem with trading systems is not the systems themselves but the trader’s inability to follow them consistently when emotional responses to winning and losing create pressure to deviate. The book describes the Trading Tribe Process, a group-based psychological approach to identifying and addressing the emotional patterns that produce trading errors.
What is the Trading Tribe Process?
The Trading Tribe Process is a structured group practice developed by Seykota to help traders identify and work through the emotional patterns that interfere with systematic trading. It involves gathering in small groups, discussing emotional responses to trading situations honestly, and using the group dynamic to surface patterns that individual self-examination often misses. The process is experiential rather than theoretical: the skill is developed through practice, not through reading about it.
Why did Seykota write The Trading Tribe after decades as a systematic trader?
Because the Trading Tribe gatherings that he had been running since 1992 demonstrated that the psychological component of trading was consistently the limiting factor even for traders with sound technical approaches. The book is the published record of what he learned from those gatherings: that emotional awareness and the ability to follow a system through its difficult periods are as important to trading success as the quality of the system itself.
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