The Stock Trading Reality Podcast

Do you think your schedule would be a bit hectic if you had five children? Who knows, maybe you are reading this as someone who has had more than five kids? My guest in this episode has great ambitions of being a a quality trader, but he’s also got five kids. And because he’s a quality human being, he is also trying to be the best father possible! As someone who also has five kids, I can speak from experience that life gets busy and there always seems to be something going on. Shawn (”spursfreak” chatroom alias) is a man who is not throwing up his hands with excuses, but rather, keeping his head down and grinding to be both a good trader and Dad! Even if you don’t have any kids yourself, are you an Uncle or an Aunt? Do you know any younger kids in general? If so, I think there is quite a bit you can learn about Shawn and his attitude towards them in terms of pointing them in the right direction. Along with this, Shawn is totally open about his journey so far with trading and to no surprise, he has not been perfect! That’s what is awesome though! Within the imperfections that Shawn shares, we can all learn valuable lessons! Let’s get to it!

The mind is no place for playing checkers. It is one massive game of chess on steroids. If you are a beginner, the sooner you realize that mastering your mind is a big puzzle piece for trading success, the sooner you give yourself an actual chance at success. If you are a veteran trader, then you already know how challenging the mental game is for us as traders. No matter where you are in your journey as a trader, my guest for this episode will sound relatable! Nick (”SecondChance” for those of you in the chatroom) shares his journey with us which includes a variety of situations that I was able to relate to, and I’m sure you will too. If you are a beginner, he offers up some great bits of advice from mistakes he’s made. I appreciated Nick’s willingness to be open about his struggles and areas of the market he realizes he still needs to work on. We also discuss the tricky market we’ve been in over the past couple of months, including how to make adjustments and navigate the choppy waters. If you’ve felt as though the markets have gotten more difficult over the past couple of months, you’re not alone! Nick and I feel the same way and talk through the challenges together. There is something for everyone in this episode, so let’s get to it!

Being wrong is part of being a trader. No one is perfect within the financial markets, not even Warren Buffet. The difficult aspect of being wrong in the financial markets is it causes you to lose something you are psychologically tied to: survival (in the form of money). The whole idea of accepting a loss is very hard to describe. Or, as my guest in this episode, Kris, explained, “you need to to take a loss to understand a loss”. It may be easy to “think” you know how a loss works and how it will (or will not) affect you; however, as Kris points out in accurate fashion, that’s all pure theory. This was just one of many interesting talking points Kris and I covered. Kris is a highly intelligent individual who works in the engineering field and with AI, so he knows how to think. He certainly lives his life in a structured and logical way (which I appreciate as a former engineer myself) and his outlook on life is one I would argue is required for success. We also have a great discussion on the future of trading as AI continues to develop, so there are a variety of rabbit holes that are explored in what I found to be, very interesting ways! Let’s hear about Kris and his current trading journey!

One of the most important facts about trading is also one that is rarely talked about. If you are trying to sell a product or service, then from a marketing standpoint, some facts are not beneficial to discuss. One of these facts is the need to be so brutally honest with yourself that it hurts. Let’s be serious. As humans, we all want to feel good about ourselves. I realize that is obvious. The problem is, in many situations within the world of trading our egos will need to be bruised to ensure we move forward and survive was traders. This concept is perfectly illustrated with my guest from the community, Aaron (Aharris_6 in the chatroom). Aaron is pretty new to the markets; however, to his credit, he understand the important of needing to not just be honest with himself, but brutally honest. Aaron has been making a whole lot of wise decisions within his trading and is a shining example of what it takes to be successful when you are in the early part of the journey. If you are looking for someone who is making millions of dollars, you won’t find that here. If you are looking for someone who is willing to share their journey so that you can learn and earn from them, then perfect! I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation and I’m extremely confident you will too!

The stock market begins to crash, and as investors we begin to hear, “buy the dip”. The stock market (or any financial market for that matter) can never go straight up, so there will be those times where the ride gets pretty crazy. At times, the price action will simply be a correction; however, at other times, it will be a Bear market where stocks crash and prices go lower than you had ever planned. These are the moments where an investing strategy can begin to fall part and produce results that didn’t seem possible. What do I mean by “didn’t seem possible”? This is where the “bad logic” comes into play in regards to buying the dip as stock prices continue to fall. Let me be clear though, the logic “makes sense” and on the surface seems to match up with reality. If you are a beginner to investing into the stock market and looking to just get started, this apparent logical reality is why investing and trading can be so misleading. There are several areas on the market that make sense and are logical; however, from a strategy building perspective, it’s bad logic. To be fair, there are certainly times where buying the dip is a good thing and you should have strong hands as an investor during the turbulent times. With that being said, if you are using the kind of logic I discuss in this week’s podcast, you’re going to end up in some bad situations where your stock investment, literally, disappears.

This may be a first. I don’t think I’ve ever talked with someone whose location is Russia! But hey, as the podcast continues to expand larger and larger, I suppose it was only a matter of time. Now, I don’t want to get too dramatic. Many of the struggles you’ll hear about have been talked about time and time again. This truly goes to show that no matter who you are, where you live, what your status in life is, you ARE a human being. Meaning, you’re going to have very similar struggles to others who are attempting this journey we call trading! My guest, Emanuel, was extremely fun to talk with and learn from. We went off on a few different talking points as I had a genuine curiosity of what it’s like to be in Russia; however, we did also talk plenty of trading! Emanuel faces a few more unique challenges than people living in other places in the world, but he’s not making excuses or allowing any of it to hold him back. He’s had some troubles and rough patches, but there are great learning lessons that he shared. He’s got more goals for the future and he’s putting together the plans needed to make them happen. I’m very confident you’ll enjoy this discussion as much as I did, so let’s get to it!

For parts of this discussion, I thought I was in a Hollywood movie about Wall Street. Being a young kid, going to Long Island to work for a brokerage while having to make cold calls to people who would routinely shut you down? Does this stuff actually happen in the real world? My guest for this episode, Demetri, shares his Hollywood like lifestyle when he was younger and where it took him from there. Demetri is a very smart guy; however, he is also extremely humble and willing to set any ego aside and just keep things real. He’s come a long way since his first encounters with the markets in his younger days and he shares it all. For those members of the community, you have seen the results Demetri shares on a daily basis and you know how motivating they are. What exactly is his strategy? What are the dynamics of the market he cares about most to make his trades? How did he arrive at the money making strategy he is currently using? We talk about those things and a whole lot more. This was an extremely fun conversation to have and I’m confident you’ll feel the same way being a fly on the wall. Let’s get to it!

I know. I’ve said it about 17 million times through the history of the podcast, but I’m saying it again: iron sharpens iron. While I certainly do not proclaim to have the world and life figured out, I can say it is my personal experience that when you surround yourself with quality individuals who believe in “taking control” of whatever situation they’re in, it makes you a better person. In this episode, I bring back someone who I consider a friend, Judd. He’s not new to the podcast, but he’s someone who I feel like I could have on every other week. Judd is an extremely successful guy and although he is modest about it, the facts are the facts. The cool thing about Judd is he’s not a hater. He does not look down on people. He is not looking to kick anyone when they’re down. In fact, he’s looking to do the exact opposite. He’s looking to provide solutions and share what has worked for him in life. Judd and I do talk about trading during the podcast (as he’s entered into the world of shorting); however, I would argue the most important talking points of the conversation happen during the first half. Judd has crushed it in life and now he lives a live most dream of. How did he do it? What would he recommend to someone who wants to get to where he is? We go into all that and much more!

It’s logical. You do something really really well and your confidence explodes. There is no harm in having an ever growing confidence, particularly in the world of trading the financial markets. With that being said, there is a very fine line that is easy to cross where confidence turns into over-confidence, or in some cases, flat out cockiness mixed with arrogance. While not everyone spins into the world of arrogant cockiness, plenty of people (myself included) have experienced a slide into over-confidence. As traders we need to keep ourselves accountable and always be monitoring our attitude towards ourselves and the market. My guest this episode, Chad (”iamvol” chatroom alias) returns for his second appearance to update us on his trading journey. I’ll only offer up a small spoiler, but Chad had a... very nice... trade he was part of. One of those trades that can cause traders to quickly cross the line from confidence to over-confidence. Chad’s reaction to this nice score along with how he continues to conduct himself by staying accountable are where the true nuggets of wisdom are derived from. Chad could have gone down several other pathways than the one he did; however, he showed a huge sign of trader maturity with the choices he made. Let’s welcome back Chad and get an awesome update on his current journey!

I truly mean it when I say it, but when it comes to disagreeing on any kind of topic, I’m totally fine with it. The world would be a super boring place if everyone agreed on every topic. With that being said, if we are going to disagree on a topic or have varying opinions regarding it, hopefully we can both agree that a firm understanding of the topic would be wise. I realize I state the obvious when I say that forming opinions on a topic that is not fully understood is a recipe for disaster. There is a hotly talked about topic out there, which has a numerous amount of opinions and that’s great. Unfortunately though, many people out there (hopefully unintentionally) are framing this discussion in a way that is very deceiving and does not allow for an honest conversation to occur. My goal with this episode is to arm you not with an opinion, but with a full understanding of how this topic works so that you can form you own fully educated opinion on it. I will not be sharing my opinion on this topic. I simply want to ensure you have all the pieces of the puzzle before you form thoughts. Or, who knows, maybe you have encountered someone that is missing a few pieces of the puzzle and you can assist them by filling in a few gaps. Let’s get to it!