The Stock Trading Reality Podcast

I welcome back a great friend of the show and community, Michelle. This is her third appearance, including episode 400 which has been one of our most popular. In this discussion we go down some fun rabbit holes that turn out to be very fruitful. One of those holes in regards to “being calm” and the importance of doing whatever needs to be done to “find the calm” is something ALL traders better be aware of, and doing. We then spend a good amount of time talking about prop trading firms. I will be the first to admit I am quite skeptical of them; however, over the past few months have lowered my guard. Why? Because people like Michelle (who I trust) and others have been digging deeper into them and in some senses, serving as lab rats. As of now, they’re all still alive so I wanted to learn amore about this and hopefully learn alongside all of you as listeners. As always with Michelle, you’re in for a treat, so buckle up and let’s go!

For those of you long time listeners, “HeyFordy” should sound familiar to you! He’s been around the community for several years now with this being his fourth podcast appearance. I’ll be upfront. Has anything really changed for “Fordy” since we last spoke around 18 months ago? It has not. He’s still doing the same types of trading with the same approach. With that being said, is there value in listening to someone who has “found what works” and just continues to grind with it? Yes, absolutely! “Fordy” has taken many lumps along the way and done many dumb things (as we all have!) and he continues to remind himself and us why certain behaviors and attitudes towards trading are must haves. On the career front, he’s also beast-moding things as he climbs up the hospitality business ladder. He’s a shining example of how “starting somewhere” is required in order to get to where you want to go. He started at the bottom and has worked his way upwards in very impressive fashion. We talk about that and much more! Let’s get to it!

It’s time to welcome back our good friend Brandon. Within our trading community he’s much better known as “BRosi”. What I’ve always appreciated about Brandon is his willingness to share his trading results, both good and bad. Even more-so, his ability to take constructive criticism is motivational. There have been a few times in the past where I came down hard on him (out of love) and instead of getting offended and calling me “mean”, he thanked me and appreciated the input. I would hope we can all agree that the world needs a bit more of this kind of thick skin. As you can tell from the title of this episode, Brandon has been doing well and has incorporated quite a bit of new strategies. He is a physical therapist and is currently looking to expand his empire, so he’s a shining example of how you can still “be a day trader” while working a full time job. He’s after multiple streams of income and he’s excelling. He’s the type of person I enjoy surrounding myself with. Iron sharpens iron! Let’s go!

My good friend is back. The one, the only… Nate Wilson! He’s been around since basically the start of the site and has become a close friend. How close? Nate’s Dad and I are king of the cornhole circuit! Nate always tells me what I need to hear, not what I want to (a sign of a good friend). Relatively recently he was telling me about SPX options and how they might be worth learning about. I took his advice and heeded what he had to say. So far things have been going fantastic as I learn more in-depth about their personality and how they behave as an asset class. Some our this conversation may be on the advanced side; however, even if you don’t understand every detail, you’ll get to witness two traders simply having a conversation. If you’ve ever found yourself struggling because something has changed in regards to your strategy, you’ll find a whole lot of common ground with us. We both endured some annoying changes and SPX options are providing that new opportunity we’ve bene looking for. Let’s get to it!

I’m currently in the middle of a bit of a transition within my trading. As always, through my YouTube channel playlist of “live trades”, people have taken notice. Members of our chatroom community know I’ve been in the middle of this transition; however, others are now noticing. With this has come some very interesting YouTube comments that lead us into what I believe to be an important learning lesson. I’ve been trading for almost two decades and have done many stupid things. In fact, I’ve done enough stupid things to have crystal clear clarity on “the things” to do that are wise. I’m doing this exact thing right now and I’m getting a bit of grief for doing it. Let’s talk about all of this and offer up a very important reminder to us all as traders.

Let me be clear. If you are defining “baller” as having a fleet of private jets and mansions around the world, then you’ll be disappointed. If you are open to the idea of a “baller” as someone who is constantly looking to make “the system” work for him and denying excuses whenever he can, you’re really going to enjoy this episode! I welcome fellow member Andy (”FI Andy” is the chatroom) to the show for the first time and he demonstrates what being a baller is all about. Andy is from Barbados and comes from a nation that is, relatively speaking, quite poor to the USA. How did Andy maneuver growing up in a country such as this? What decisions did he make that brought him into the fold of the trading world? We cover that and a whole lot more. Any is beast-moding life and I absolutely love it!

The Viking is back! For those of you long time members, the name “Norse” should strike a chord in your memory. It’s been several years since I’ve spoken with Norse, but he emailed me out of the blue and offered to come update us on his journey. I (obviously) accepted his gesture and scheduled a conversation. Norse is someone who specializes in the world of Forex trading and has gotten significantly involved with using trading bots. I’ll be the first to admit that when I hear “trading bots” my mind automatically thinks “scam alert!!!”. If I’ve learned one thing in the almost 10 years I’ve been doing this podcast it is to not assume you know it all when talking with someone. Norse filled me in on the world of trading bots and how he’s making them work for him to grow his account. Is it perfect? Of course not. Nothing is! Was I maybe oversimplying it a bit in calling them all scams? Yup! This was a fantastic conversation and I know you’ll find value in it. Let’s go!

Warning! As I always do, if you are someone who loves to seek out excuses and use them whenever possible, you will not enjoy this episode! One of my favorite parts about this episode is my guest, Anthony (”Busta” in the chatroom) just turned 18! If you are a younger person, then you without question need to be listening to this episode. With that being said, even if you are older, there’s still plenty of lessons to be learned and reminded of. Anthony is one of those people who sets his mind to something and then refuses to let anything stand in his way. The proof is in the pudding. He’s already landed himself a very sought after internship at a hedge fund that 1,000’s of people applied for. Although his journey is young and only just beginning, he’s still got an amazing amount to share with us all. It goes to prove that those people that simply “do something” will already begin to reap the fruits of their journey, even if some of it is from bad decisions which can be learned from. Let’s get to it!

I love talking with the variety of traders I do. Some are brand new to the point they’ve never even traded with real money. Others are in valleys of desperation and frustration. Then we have those like this episode’s guest, Dale, who are doing fantastic. Of course it was not always fantastic for Dale, but he’s persevered through a whole lot and continues to only get better (and he’s already real good). Dale has some fantastic observations, especially about the threats of FOMO (fear of missing out). He’s done some really stupid things since he began (I say that as a compliment for being willing to publicly talk about it), but these are things you can learn from. How? Simply do the opposite of what he shares. I really enjoyed this conversation and I’m sure you will too! Let’s get to it!

I assume you are well aware that if you want to be a successful trader over an extended period of time, you need rules! Perhaps a more broad way of saying this is you need a valid strategy. This of course prompts the idea of “well, what makes up a strategy? How do you build one?” - the answer being, with rules! With all of that being said, are some rules more important than others? Or, are all trading rules created equally? In my opinion, not all rules are created equal and some are way more important than others. In this episode I want to spend a brief few moments talking about what I believe is a “must have” rule for all traders. I’m even willing to potentially go as far as claiming this rule is the most important one! What is this rule and what makes it so effective and powerful? Let’s discuss!