The Stock Trading Reality Podcast

The world of trading is a crazy place for several reasons. It’s amazing how much money can be made (lost) in such small amounts of time. It’s amazing how you can make (lose) these amounts of money from anywhere in the world assuming there is an internet connection. An often overlooked reason is the vast scale of strategy approaches ranging from extremely intense to extremely laid back. Our guest from the community, Robert, shares his journey and how he has ended up on the end of the scale requiring a laid back approach. Robert was not always at this point in the scale, but upon deeper reflection, this is what a trading journey essentially is, right? We are taking a journey across the strategy scale and trying to determine where our personal risk tolerance and comfort level belongs. Some people have fun going sky diving while others have fun reading a book about sky diving. Neither person is wrong, they’re both having fun; but, what it does illustrate is how we all have varying risk tolerances. Robert needed to go through several ups and downs to figure out his place on the scale, but he’s found a great groove at this point! He was kind enough to share some of his journey with us and I am confident you’ll gain great access from it. Let’s learn from Robert and his pathway to finding his “spot” on the strategy scale. 

Admitting to yourself certain weaknesses and areas that need to be improved is not always the most enjoyable activity to take part in; however, it is a required activity if you want to reach your maximum potential. In the world of trading, you must be brutally honest with yourself and admit all weaknesses. At times, you may just have to admit, “I’m simply NOT good at this…” I know we are brought up in a culture of “keep pushing and you can do it!”, which is awesome in most areas of life, but when it comes to trading, this sort of attitude can cause a whole lot of financial pain. In this episode, I welcome back Alex (”LTP” in the chatroom) and he shares with us an update on his journey. He is doing well and figuring out a whole lot. The backbone of his improvement is getting to know himself better by being honest with himself and admitting certain areas he’s no good at. By admitting this, Alex has been able to improvise and adapt to more suitable areas of the market that allow him to find comfort and success. One of the great facts about the financial markets is they are so massive. This allows for plenty of wiggle room and flexibility when it comes to finding something that works for you. But again, this will only be possible if you get to know yourself and are brutally honest with yourself. Alex is a shining example of it. Let’s go!

One of the best facts about the financial markets is they care about nothing. Age, race, height, weight, etc., the markets simply do not care. They will take money from whomever they want, and they will also give money to whomever they want. The financial markets only care about trading strategies and your ability to be disciplined. In other words, using your age as some kind of excuse is just not valid! I don’t want to hear it! Whether that be you thinking you are too young to start to get involved or think it’s “too late” in life, both of those are blatantly a false way of looking at reality. I welcome back community member Alden for his second appearance on the show. If I remember right, he’s the youngest person I’ve ever talked to on the show with his first appearance when he was 16. It’s actually quite crazy to think Alden has just now turned 18, yet, he’s still got multiple years of experience in the markets already. Alden still has lots he needs to accomplish within his trading, understandably so given he’s been finishing up high school and applying to colleges, but he’s still well ahead of where I was at his age! I do a bit of live coaching with Alden on his position sizing and risk management so if this is something you’ve struggled with, I’m confident you’ll gain value along with the numerous other rabbit holes we pursue. Old or young, you’ll gain value from Alden as a great reminder that age is a terrible excuse to not improve your current situation!

If you find yourself thinking of quitting your job and “becoming a trader” as a job to pay the bills, stop! While I understand from a marketing and sales perspective this sounds awesome, when you bring the idea into the world of reality it becomes much different. I welcome back long time member Aaron (better known as “Zep” within the community) who has been on several past episodes. I suppose it just goes to show how long the show has been around as the last time we spoke was 4-5 years ago! Zep updates us on his story and pulls back the curtain to the real life look at what happens when you place too much pressure on needing to pay bills from your trading gains. Here’s a spoiler alert: the pressure is way too much and leads to unintended consequences. I’ve always admired Zep and he reminded me why as he dives into the changes he made to alleviate this pressure and keep trading part of his life. He’s got a great attitude toward how trading works and is not looking to paint a picture that does not exist in reality. He’s doing well and seeing his account grow, but it wasn’t always this way. He’s been through several “down periods” which he is gracious enough to share with us all to learn from! Let’s get to it and get an update from Zep!

I’m not sure how to explain it, but when you’ve been doing something for such a long time, it’s almost as though you forget things that you know. I’ve been trading in the markets since 2006 so needless to say, I’ve seen quite a bit and have had plenty of “ups” and “downs”. Just this past week I found myself in an unexpected set of circumstances that ultimately could not have been more beneficial for myself. Not only did it help with my actual trading results, but it brought back to my attention a vital skill that we all as traders need to remember to implement into our trading. There is no doubt about it that much of trading is all about your personal needs and risk tolerance levels; however, it is also a fact that there are general rules that apply to 99% of people. The craziest part about all of this is it is something I know I’ve talked about dozens and dozens of times on this very podcast. I’ve lectured other people on the powers of this skill, yet, somehow I had forgotten about it in the deep down places of my mind. I’m thankful that I was able to go through the experience I did as I truly received a great reminder and I want to share it with you so you can, hopefully, benefit as much as I did.

By day he is selling potatoes (literally!) and by night he is grinding and growing his trading account! This is one of the amazing attributes about the financial markets. They have no feelings. They don’t care about you. While this can be a scary thought in the sense of not feeling bad for taking your money, there is a positive side to this too. They don’t care if you are some potato salesman who lives in Idaho! If you trade smart and use a risk based strategy, the markets will reward you. My guest, Chad, is a very motivating guy and has a great story that keeps me inspired to continue to hustle and grind on my part! Chad has definitely had to take some big lumps along the way, but he kept going and focusing on the areas that needed fine tuning. In doing so, he’s found a very good place for his personal psychology within this overall trading strategy. Chad also used to be a financial planner with a couple different financial licenses, so he brings in a very interesting point of view from those areas of the market. Chad was open and honest which produced a fantastic discussion about a variety of critical topics for us as traders. Let’s get to it!

The goal is to grow your account. Simple… right? If you have even a shred of trading experience then you understand how laughable the word “simple” is. If you are relatively new and feel as though it is pretty “simple”, I would encourage you to consider the possibility that you are experiencing what is known as fool’s gold. Trading is a very challenging and difficult endeavor. The encouraging news is that, although difficult, it is totally possible to find success. This is where member, Brandon (’BRosi’ in the chatroom), can share some insight. He is seeing his account grow and he’s doing lots of things the right way. He’s a great example of what it takes in order to put your account in a position where it can pick up momentum. With that being said, it hasn’t always been that way for Brandon. He’s gone through plenty of struggles and had to endure hardships during his journey. How did he get through those? What has he learned along the way that he wish he wouldn’t known prior? We go into all of this and way more! If you’re looking to get your account growing, then you’ll want to listen to what Brandon has got to say!

Depending on where you currently reside in your trading journey, the title of this episode may seem a bit ironic. Perhaps when you take a trade using real money (opposed to trading in a simulator) you experience of surge of emotions and physical stress. I understand and anyone who has traded understands! Here’s the thing, these emotions and stressed can be extremely diminished. There will always be emotions due to the fact we’re emotional creates; however, that does not mean they need to dominate our trade plans or experiences. My guest, Greg (”G-Mac” in the chatroom), is a great example of this. He has a very successful job and is very good at what he does. With that being said, with the types of responsibilities he has within his job, it creates a good amount of constant stress. Throw in the fact he’s a father of five kids (like myself!) and I don’t blame him one bit for pursuing something that can become less stressful than his current situation. Greg’s ambition come from a place of wanting to be a good father and I respect that in huge ways. He’s also being extremely smart in the way he goes about it; however, like all of us, he’s played with stupid along the way. Let’s hear about Greg and his journey!

Odds are, you are ambitious and love a good challenge. With that being said, if you are a total beginner to the world of trading and investing and are here because you “want to get rich quick and easy”… then RUN! RUN away as fast as you can! If you want to find success in the markets, you’ll need to be here because you are passionate about it! When you are passionate, you are going to gain the advantage of ambition… but that’s where it all gets a bit tricky. Yes, passion is certainly an advantage; however, it can also work greatly against you in your trading journey. My guest, Sheyi, shares with us exactly how this all plays out. In fact, he was brutally honest about how much of a bad situation be placed himself in as we grew $200 to $7,000 in a single trade (but that’s only the start…). What did Sheyi learn from this? How has slowing himself down become a huge benefit? We’ll talk about that and much more. Sheyi has Nigerian roots which help to give him a perspective that many of us do not have access to. I think there is immense value in his view of the world and how he goes about his daily life. In other words, there is something for everyone in this discussion and I’m confident you’ll enjoy it as much as I did!

It amazes me how the mainstream financial media overlooks such basic graphs that illustrate such powerful topics of consideration. Unfortunately, the graph I will discuss in this episode guarantees a painful recession (if not a depression!). Oftentimes the best predictor of the future is looking backwards into history. I realize that past history does not guarantee future results; however, when you consider the context of the last time in history a balance sheet reduction occurred and combine that with the current state of affairs… uh oh! I don’t mean to be so pessimistic, but it’s hard to be positive when all the data is staring you in the face screaming, “be ready for pain!”. You don’t need to be an economist to analyze this graph and see all the red flags it presents to our current economic conditions. Inflation is a massive problem and needs to be fixed. Will the federal reserve do what it promises to do? This graph suggests, if they do… it’s gonna be painful! Let’s discuss it!