Alexander Elders

Alexander Elder, M.D., is a Russian-American professional trader and a teacher of traders. He is the author of Trading for a Living, considered a modern classic among traders. First published in 1993, this international best-seller has been translated into more than a dozen languages and is being used to educate traders around the world. His Come into My Trading Room: A Complete Guide to Trading was named a 2002 Barron’s Book of the Year. His Entries & Exits: Visits to 16 Trading Rooms' was named a 2007 SFO Magazine Book of the Year. His latest book is The New Sell & Sell Short: How to Take Profits, Cut Losses, and Benefit from Price Declines.

Elder was born in Leningrad and grew up in Estonia, where he entered medical school at the age of 16. At 23, while working as a ship’s doctor, he jumped a Soviet ship in Africa and received political asylum in the United States. He worked as a psychiatrist in New York City and taught at Columbia University. His experience as a psychiatrist provided him with unique insight into the psychology of trading.