Trade Outside the Box: Advanced Thinking for Professional Traders

Traders and investors who use the same methodology as everyone else become part of the consensus. If you think like everyone else, you will perform like everyone else. To outperform, you need to:

TRADE OUTSIDE THE BOX

Many trading books, including Brent Donnelly’s 2021 classic Alpha Trader, cover the core disciplines: fundamentals, technical analysis, behavioral finance, and quantitative trading. But once you have mastered those critical frameworks, the next step is learning how to break beyond them and see markets in new, original ways.

This book will sharpen your thinking and help you develop unique ways to analyze markets, identify opportunity, and improve your trading. In this follow-up to Alpha Trader, Donnelly draws on thirty years of professional trading and writing experience to deliver another entertaining, practical, and unconventional guide for serious traders.

TRADE OUTSIDE THE BOX is the latest collection of trading insights, strategies, and war stories from Brent Donnelly: trader, market maker, macro podcaster, novelist, creator of the daily am/FX newsletter, and author of Alpha Trader, 50 Trades in 50 Weeks, and The Art of Currency Trading.

“Alpha Trader is one of the few trading books worth owning. Hard-earned guidance on professional mindset, self-awareness, and uncompromising risk control.”
@Trader_XO

Amazon reviews for Brent Donnelly's Alpha Trader are overwhelmingly positive, calling it a must-read, essential, and a practical guide for serious traders, praising its blend of trading psychology, real-world examples, market insights, risk management, and actionable advice, making it a valuable handbook for both beginners and veterans looking to improve their trading skills and mindset. Reviewers highlight its engaging style, real trade examples, focus on self-awareness, and how it demystifies professional trading beyond basic theory.

“I couldn’t put this book down! Brent captures the challenges that traders face daily.”
Ben Melkman, Bridgewater Associates

“An instant trading classic!”
John Mauldin, Chairman of Mauldin Economics

"“Alpha Trader changed my trading and my life.”
Maximilian Pacella

“Alpha Trader changed my year, and thereby, my life.” — KS Emilia

“Lively, well-written, and informative.” — Goodreads

“Buy this book. You will be happy.” — Hammons

“If I had to recommend a single book for any serious trader, it would be this one.” — Simon

“Great read - Should be one of the first books you pick up if you’re serious about the markets.” — Goodreads

"Donnelly’s writing style is engaging, approachable, and entertaining and he has the experience and knowledge of a veteran professional trader." — Barnes & Noble Review

"An unambiguous must-read for any aspiring discretionary trader." — Goodreads

“Three months after reading ‘Alpha Trader,’ I found that my trade quality is improving, and there are more winning trades than losing trades. It's a life-changing book.” — AK on LinkedIn

Brent Donnelly has been trading currencies since 1995 and is currently a senior FX trader at HSBC New York. He writes a widely-read and highly-respected macro and FX daily called AM/FX. Over the course of his career, he has been a market maker, trader and senior manager at some of the top banks in foreign exchange. He has extensive experience trading spot FX, interest rate products, FX options, stock index futures, single name equities and commodities.

Brent is a respected macroeconomic and currency analyst with the unique perspective of a senior risk taker. He has been featured on Epsilon Theory and Real Vision and he has been quoted by The Economist, The WSJ, FT, Bloomberg and CNBC.

Before joining HSBC, Brent was Head of G10 Spot Trading at Citi New York and Global Head of G10 FX Trading at Nomura New York. He was also a portfolio manager at a major hedge fund in Connecticut for three years. He created and wrote a cartoon called Daft Planet which aired on TV in Canada and dreams of one day winning the Man Booker Prize.