The Stock Trading Reality Podcast

No. I'm not exaggerating. This trader, literally, lives in the middle of a 1,200 acre swamp surrounded by gators, snakes and hogs. I want to offer you up a fair warning. If you are someone who is constantly looking for reasons on why you can't do something, you are NOT going to like this discussion. With that being said, if you are someone who finds motivation and inspiration in other people who adopt the "no excuses, let's get it done!" type attitude, you'll love Louis! I talked with Louis several years ago on the podcast and he's still the same hustler and grinder that I remember him being! As was the case during our first discussion, I found extreme motivation in regards to how Louis has multiple streams of income, sticks to this strategies, and is always focused on the solution rather than the problem. And let's be honest, his accent is amazing! If you are looking for motivation and need an extra boost of, "get er' done!", then look no further than Louis and his ongoing journey! Let's go!

We're once again going "down under" to hear the story of a young Australian trader! It still blows my mind that we have a community of traders from all over the world, including the, literal, other side of the world! These discussions are always motivating reminders to myself that whenever I stumble as a trader, I'm not alone. The same emotions that have caused me and many other traders are the same emotions that cause issues on the other side of the world. At the end of the day, we're all humans and we can all find common ground. My guest, Riley, opens up about his journey within the markets so far. He's a younger guy, so while he does not have a huge backlog of horror stories or experiences, he does still have plenty of stories to share that we can all benefit from. Riley has several areas he needs to continue to get better at, but thanks to him being open and honest, we gain inside access to his mind which is always helpful. I'm confident you'll enjoy this conversation as much as I did, so let's get to it!

Day trading is not an easy task. It's a challenge each and every day. The upside potential, in my opinion at least, is well worth it all; however, it's hard. What makes day trading so hard is the psychology that goes into it. In particular, just how fickle everything is. Meaning, all it takes is a slight slip up with your emotions and psychology and your day trading strategy can spin out of control in a hurry. I've been day trading for almost 20 years now and I'm still shocked and amazed at how every now and then old habits sneak up on me and cause headaches! The good news is, these events get further and further apart from happening; however, they do still happen and can happen in the slightest of ways. When I reflect back on my experience as a day trader, I've noticed there being four words that come up time and time again. These four words have created many annoyances and heartache. The most challenging aspect of these four words is often times, they will lead you to (seemingly) good outcomes. But yeah… all it takes is one of the situations you'll hear about in this podcast episode to.. well… you'll hear what I mean! I hope you appreciate the transparency of me talking about mistakes and loses so everyone can improve! I'm not the perfect trader and never will be, but if my own public shaming on this podcast can assist you in your day trading journey, then in a weird and twisted way… it's worth it!

The sale's pitch of "read a book" or "take a course" and then you're a money making trader is extremely attractive. It seems reasonable to conclude you would sell a whole lot of books and/or courses; however, unfortunately this is not how trading works in the real world. You don't get to snap your finger while reading a book and then all of a sudden have money rain down from the sky. Trading in the real world is not a snap of your finger, but rather, a journey that requires endurance, passion and... well, time! The whole goal is to aim for a target of continual progression in the right direction. My guest, Scott, shares his journey so far and you'll notice overall he is putting in higher lows and higher highs in regards to his "trend". Like us all, his journey and progress has not always been smooth; however, to his credit he is keeping his ax to the grindstone and continuing to sharpen his skills and understand of the market. Scott worked a super unique career back in the day, which I think has brought an interesting perspective of the markets. What does progressing in the right direction look like? How can you tell if you are doing the same? Scott is a great example of it, so let's get to it!

I always enjoy talking with current or former military people. Their point of view comes from a place of massive structure and planning. When people's lives are on the line, having structure and a plan of action is of the utmost importance! I have nothing but respect for people who are serving (or who have served) as they have dealt with situations that for most people can only be imagined. In this episode, I talk with fellow member Brian. He is now retired from the military, but during his service he had several leadership roles. These leadership positions gave him a great perspective on life and discipline. How do all of these points of wisdom trickle into the world of trading? As you hear Brian speak, you'll begin to see one similarity after another. We had many fantastically interesting discussions which oftentimes circled back to military examples or wisdom gained from his service. Brian is an incredibly intelligent person who has a view of the world (and therefore trading) that many of us will never have. He was kind enough to take time out of his day to share his journey and thoughts with us all. I truly enjoyed this conversation and I'm more than confident you will to! Let's get to it!

This is episode has a pretty awesome set-up! My guest, Joseph, has already been on the show once before. When he was on previously, he had just lost $23,000 and that's where the show (and his current journey) ended for the time being. I have nothing but respect for people such as Joseph who are willing to share their journey publicly, no matter the results. Many people would have never agreed to have come on after having lost $23,000, yet, he did! This in and of itself puts Joseph in rare company and shows how big of a heart he has when it comes to trying to help others learn from his mistakes. He promised to come back a year later and here we are. What happened to Joseph and his journey after having just lost $23,000? Was he able to recover or did he continue to spiral out of control? Joseph is a tenacious guy who loves a good challenge and is not scared of getting punched in the face. He's had continued learning lessons (including one regarding taxes) along the way, but all of these have continued to forge him into a trader. I really enjoyed our discussion and I'm extremely confident you will to! Let's get an update from Joseph and hear what happened after having lost the $23,000!

I know terms such as "poor" and the like get thrown around pretty loosely in today's world as people try and be as dramatic as possible, but that's not the case here. When you hear my guest's starting point in life, we'd all be hard pressed to find a word to describe his situation other than "dirt poor". In this episode, Tyler (for you chatroom members, "DearApolloz") walks us through his trading journey that quite frankly does not even seem possible. A fair warning though in regards to Tyler and his story, if you are someone who walks around with a pocketful of excuses and reasons why a goal can not be accomplished, you will not enjoy Tyler's story. He had every excuse in the world to throw up his hands and berate everyone around him, but he didn't. He focused on solutions and these solutions have taken him far. So far in fact that he's developed positive cashflow in his budget that he can now use to grow through the world of trading! Tyler is currently laser focused in developing his skills as a trader and using new opportunities to put himself in the best spot to succeed with his trading. He's an extremely hard worker who has an insane daily schedule (which we talk about) but he's not complaining. This discussion had me feeling both grateful and motived! If you need a dose of inspiration in your life right now, Tyler's story will serve it up! Let's go!

If you want to be a day trader, then you'll want to definitely understand how the tax system works within the online trading world. I've been working with beginner traders since 2013 and there is one tax trap lurking in the markets that I've continually seen snare unsuspecting beginners. As someone who is just getting started within the stock market (or any financial market for that matter), you could be doing quite well within your wealth generation to then be set back due to this trap. I wish I was being overly dramatic here, but I'm not. This tax trap could have some relatively large negative financial impacts on your cash flow, slowing down your overall wealth building strategies. The good news is, once you are aware of some basic trading principles in regards to "profits" and "loses", you'll know exactly how the trap works but, more importantly, how to avoid the trap. As traders we need to always be focused on mitigating risk and factoring all forms of risk into our trade plan. This behavior needs to also extend out into the general management of your day trading business. Remember, day trading should not be treated as a hobby! This tax trap is an exact reason why! I hear it way too often, "I was just doing all this for some fun and did well, but now I'm in a mess!". Let's get knowledgeable on some basics of trading so you can avoid a much larger potential mess in the future with your trading results!

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!