The Stock Trading Reality Podcast

You certainly aren’t crazy. You by no means are being irrational. Using the logic, “I’ll learn from the internet” makes perfect sense in today’s age of technology. You can jump online and before you know it, you have information, opinions, facts, tools, etc. all being thrown at you in an instant… at the same time! A glaring problem quickly arises when you are new and you don’t know what you don’t know. Part of this is, what is a fact? What is an opinion? Does this tool pertain to me and what I am needing? Can you relate to this feeling of what I like to call “overwheminess”? That’s where our guest, Alberto, found himself when beginning his journey. He already had some investing experience under his belt, but the YouTube algorithm lead him into day trading and peaked his interest. This lead him into the vast sea of internet knowledge and attempting to learn how to day trade, properly. Where did this decision lead him? What were some of the mistakes he made along the way? What were his solutions to these issues? We get into that and a whole lot more. There are many relatable parts of his story I can remember going through, and I’m sure you will too. Whether you are a beginner or a veteran, there is something for everyone!

I always enjoy talking with successful people. There is constantly something to learn in one form or another. When you just sit back and listen, you can gather little bits (or who knows, big bits?) of wisdom through their experiments and general experience. When you applies these dynamics to your own life, things only get better. In this episode, I welcome back fellow member Sean for an update on his journey and life in general. He’s primarily an investor, but he’s also a business builder so we talk a variety of topics. I would argue all traders (day or swing traders) should also have, in the background, investing strategies at work too. I’m all about diversity of income streams, so don’t forget, investing into the stock market can serve as its own form of an income stream when done right. Even if you have zero interest in investing, there’s still plenty of great conversation that can be applied not only to your personal trading strategy, but life in general. I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation and I’m very confident you will too. Let’s get to it!

I’m guessing your trading and investing journey has been a totally smooth ride up until this point? At this point you are, rightfully so, thinking I sound like the most delusional person you’ve ever come across. Anyone with even a shred of trading experience knows the ride is not anywhere close to being smooth. The big differentiating factor is how do you react to the bumpy ride? This is where our guest, John (”JerryPMan” in the chatroom) shines in regards to setting a great example. As you’ll hear, his journey was had plenty of bumps in it. In other words, he has had plenty of bumpy experiences he has needed to react to. How did he react? What was the main thought process behind his reactions? Was he using poor or rational logic for these decisions? We get into that and a whole lot more. I enjoyed speaking with John as he was a straight-shooter who didn’t try and pretend he was someone he was not. He was kind enough to share his experiences that we will all be able to relate to in one form or another. Let’s get to it!

Have you heard of it? The term is “quiet quitting” and it is a job strategy that seems to be catching more and more popularity as these current times continue. I do my best to be as objective and fair as possible, so on that note, is “quiet quitting” a smart strategy? In order to tackle this question and discussion, I bring back a long time friend of the community and podcast, Judd. I figured Judd would be the perfect person to discuss this strategy with due to the fact he has built and sold (for a very nice profit) a business. He’s also worked his way up within several corporate structures (from the bottom level), so he’s had to eat dirt before he could sit in a higher perch. With his experience at higher levels of companies (and building his own), he has also had to hire several people throughout his career. Point being, Judd is someone who I trusted has the ability to give a solid perspective to the strategy of quiet quitting. If you have no idea what quiet quitting is, no worries, I’ll be sure to define it right at the beginning. I have a suspicion that you already know what it is, you just don’t necessarily have a name for it. Perhaps you are doing it? Maybe you’re thinking of doing it? But, should you? Let’s discuss…

Have you heard? The Biden administration is proposing to forgive student loans. This has of course opened up the floodgates of opinions and debates. Given this is not only a podcast for trading, but also money/economics in general, I wanted to weigh in on this topic. My main hope with this episode is to discuss student loan forgiveness in a very fair and reasonable way. I am not here to strawman either side’s argument. In fact, I’m not going to argue one way or another. I’m just going to point out some flaws in the arguments that I’ve seen. Some of these are factual flaws, others are more so logical flaws. I would like people to be able to have fruitful and productive conversations about this topic. In order to do so, there needs to be some general acknowledgements of facts and logic. This does not mean both people are going to ultimately agree; however, it does ensure people don’t talk pass one another. Maybe I’m just a conspiracy theorist, but at times it seems the mainstream media is intentionally confusing us to cause disagreements where there is actually an agreement. I suppose confusion creates content and clicks, and given media companies are “for profit”, it makes sense they want to create confusion and drama. Let me cut through the drama and point out some of the most common arguments being made with additional content and considerations.

What would you do? You’ve just become, unexpectedly, homeless and you’re sitting there in a motel room. It sounds like a Hollywood movie script, doesn’t it? This is the exact set of circumstances my guest, Bradley (”modelact” chatroom alias), found himself at a stage in his life. If you’re ready for a an inspirational ride, then let’s go! If you are looking for someone uses who plays the victim card and pulls out a deck of excuses, this won’t be the guy for you! Bradley was extremely kind to share what many others may have wanted to keep to themselves. He was very polite about it, but yeah, his life was hit by some whirlwinds that sometimes just happen. I enjoyed his approach to life and his attitude overall. Therein lies a great learning point though. As you’ll see, even with such a fantastic attitude towards life and keeping things positive, trading still ahs the ability to push you to the limits and expose all the shortfalls. Bradley and I get into some solid discussions over trading psychology and how tricky the human mind can be. The moral of the story is this, if you enjoy a good “not gonna give up after getting punched in the mouth” type journey, you’ll love this one! Let’s go!

Who remembers Scottstrade? Us older traders will have a fond memory of them and how awesome it was they offered $7.99 commissions! My guest, Mark, has had a wide variety of experiences as he’s been around for quite some time! Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love talking with guests who are on the younger end of the spectrum; however, when you talk with someone who is older, you can get some great stories form “the good ol’ days”. Mark has been through quite a bit and shares some big ups and downs which I’m confident we can relate to. Mark has traded pink sheet penny stocks, normal stocks, options and is now moving into futures. He’s a bit unique in the sense he tends to blend fundamental and macroeconomic ideas into his trades, but hey, we all have our different approaches to the market. Like all of us, Mark still has work to do, but the one underlying dynamic I noticed in his journey is becoming extremely good at acknowledging when he does not understand something instead of keeping himself in the dark. Most of his problems came from staying in the dark, but when he has grabbed the flashlight, things change quickly (amazing how that works, huh?). Let’s get to it!

I’ve been blind sided several times on the show throughout the years from guests sharing their stories. Just when I think I know the end results of a story, I hear something completely different. While I can’t say it takes the top spot (it may!), I can say this episode’s guest, Taylor, has one of the most blindsiding moments in the show’s history. There’s no other way to say this than, his ego was out of control! As traders we 100% need confidence. There is no way you’ll have a chance at success without being bold and confident in your decisions. You need a strategy that you can be fully confident in and deploy without hesitation. The trouble with this confidence requirement is it carries with it the oftentimes easy transition into cockiness and ego. When a trader crosses this line, the results ultimately turn out in… unfavorable… ways. Taylor was brutally honest about his ego. He held nothing back and sugar coated nothing. His experience truly represents how bizarre and crazy the human mind can be. It also prompted us to have some really interesting discussions about how society has made trading that much harder. I enjoyed the conversation and I have no doubt you will too. Let’s go!

There is nothing more refreshing than self accountability. In a culture where it seems like it is always “someone else’s fault”, it is a breath of fresh air when someone blames the person in the mirror. Trading is not easy and there are a variety of ways we can twist and turn with the blame game. My guest, Joe, does a deep dive into his journey and holds nothing back. I’ve been doing this show for several years now, and one of the excuses he used back when he was getting started may be the worst excuse I’ve ever heard. He had the courage to admit to using it as an excuse, so I have nothing but respect! I always enjoy a discussion with someone who is brutally honest about their journey and self awareness. With that being said, Joe borderlines being a bit too hard on himself! He was doing it given its part of his sense of humor; however, he did make it sound like he is way worse of a trader than he actually is. All in all, this was a fun discussion and has some great bits of knowledge in it… particularly from the “don’t do this” angle! Let’s get to it!

Are you dizzy? If you say ‘yes’, I totally understand! Every direction you turn you see headlines making a variety of claims. The problem is, these claims oftentimes are contradicting one another and seem to have no consistent basis. I sometimes wonder if this is by design? What do I mean? Does the government make the statistics it reports very broad and open ended on purpose to create confusion by allowing for a variety of opinions and theories to develop? Perhaps I am being a conspiracy theorists, but whether it’s a Republican or Democrat in office, these statistics are ridiculous when you peel back their layers to understand them better. The big talking point currently is Recession vs. Strong Economy. Some say that we have a strong economy while others say we are in a recession with a failing economy. The goal of this episode is to cut through all the headlines and apply some basic common sense that will point us in the direction of where we need to be headed. I may not have a PhD in economics, but I do have enough practical common sense with money to understand what a, truly, strong economy looks like. The good news is, none of this is complicated so there is no need for this to be some multiple hour episode. I want to keep it as brief as possible, thrown in some learning, and then apply some common sense. Let’s get to it!