Drugs for Day Traders

I’ve posted before about how I think most traders will benefit from nootropics or “cosmetic neurology” (substances which are claimed to boost human cognitive abilities) in the very near future. This latimes article goes into some depth about it:

“There isn’t any question about it — they made me a much better player,” said Paul Phillips, 35, who credited the attention deficit drug Adderall and the narcolepsy pill Provigil with helping him earn more than $2.3 million as a poker player.

“Poker is the sort of game that a lot of people can play well sporadically, but tournaments are mostly won by people who can play close to their best at all times,” he said. “It requires significant mental effort to play in top form for 12 hours a day, five days in a row.”

Day traders: your competition is probably already eating this stuff now.

“You still have adrenaline flowing in your body, but you don’t feel that adrenaline rush so you’re not distracted by your own nervousness,” said Dr. Bernd F. Remler, a neurologist at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.