The Stock Trading Reality Podcast

Bad habits. Ugh! Regardless of where they show up in life, they're called "bad" for a reason! When you introduce them into a setting such as trading and investing where money can be lost, they take on a whole new dynamic. The odd thing though is as obvious as it may sound to say, "bad habits need to be avoided", it's amazing how many traders continue to stare directly at them, yet, don't seem them. When you're new and you don't know what you don't know, one of those areas includes bad habits. This is why anytime I can talk to someone who quickly realizes the danger of bad habits and why they need to be avoided, I get excited. It offers up a great learning opportunity. Thanks for our community member John, we all get to hear some really silly things he did; however, to his credit, he quickly realized the danger (unlike many others) and began to take steps to correct and avoid future problems. John held nothing back and offered up many different rabbit holes of educational opportunity, so let's get to it!

It is our job as traders to find as many variables as possible to leverage in our favor. I'm not suggesting we do anything illegal, but what I am suggesting is the best way to make a trade NOT a gamble is to put the odds in your favor. At the core, trading is a game of probabilities and odds so our focus needs to be on educating ourselves as much as possible, including within the realm of science and psychology. In this particular case, by understanding a very basic concept in psychology, you can better understand a type of trading that is easier. Now just because the trading style/strategy may be easier does not make it guaranteed; however, it again goes back to the point of it allowing you to leverage probabilities in your favor. I don't want to be a gambler. I don't want to view the stock market as my casino. I want to view this all as a methodical plan of attack where I can find myself "most likely" outcomes. The topic I talk about in this episode perfectly illustrates why you need to understand and leverage this human emotion within your personal trading.

Over 300 episodes, yet this was the first time I've spoken to a medical doctor in regards to his trading journey. I think we can all agree that becoming a doctor does not happen overnight and requires a whole lot of hard work and dedication. So, how does this ability to stay focused and dedicate a whole lot of effort to achieve something such as a medical degree carry over into the markets and trading? That's what we'll discover as I talk with community member Steve. I admired his humility in not trying to act like he's got trading and life figured out. He was very transparent and upfront about his journey and because of that, there are some valuable talking points that we can all learn from (or at least be reminded of). The markets demand respect, and that includes from those people who are extremely qualified such as doctors. You'll see what I mean...

For those of you who have been around awhile, you know I'm no fan of excuses. In the vast majority of cases, they are simply "cover ups" for some other core issue. With that being said, I can also fully admit that at times, there are situations where I would not call something an "excuse", but rather, a "reality". That's what we have with fellow community member Jacob. He has had a very rough time with some personal health issues that are just "fact of the matter". Here's the crazy part though, never once during our discussion did he play the victim card or hop on the excuse train. Like I said, in this situation I would have fully understand him feeling a bit bad for himself, but he didn't! He has now turned to the markets to help him overcome some rough circumstances and he's been learning a whole lot! He's done some very stupid things (as we all have!); however, he's also made some huge strides as you'll see near the end of our conversation. There is a whole lot for everyone to learn and quite frankly, just be inspired. Let's get to it!

Buckle up! That's really all I can say. I think the title says enough. I welcome back a long time member of my community for an update on his journey, and as the title reveals, it's a wild ride!

This is a common spot I've seen many of my current students in: they are overall profitable, but still wanting more. While this may sound a bit greedy on the surface, it's actually not (in some cases that is). Fellow member and student of my program Jeremy, is doing a great job of learning and keeping his account profitable, but as you'll see, he wants more in terms of figuring out where he truly belongs in the world of the financial markets. This is a very common place to find yourself especially when you consider just how massive the markets are. Stock market, Futures market, Forex market, Crypto market, Options market, and the list goes on. Should you be day trading or swing trading? What if you have a full time job that requires lots of your attention? Can you relate to this? You are not alone. Jeremy is in the same situation you are, but the nice thing about him was he is willing to share everything with you, publicly! It was a fun conversation filled with several fantastic talking points that, new or veteran, traders should hear! Let's get to it!

Thanks for a recently viral Facebook post I made (over 88,000 Likes and 66,000 Shares), I've gathered quite a bit of insight into a topic that I believe is severely misunderstood and viewed from an impractical angle. I totally understand why people view this topic the way they do; however, I want to talk about the view I take and one that I believe can help you be successful. To be fair, odds are you are already doing very well in this area of life, but I still think that by using my personal viewpoint, you can improve upon the good things you already have going. I mean come on, an improvement in efficiency is always a good thing, right? The fact of the matter is this, whether you like it or not, you are a business owner. There is no way you can get around it, there is no way you can escape it. Let's talk about this business and the types of choices you can make to create opportunity and make the most of it!

Sometimes one of the healthiest things we can do as traders is to ask another trader to "poke holes" in general though process, or in a strategy itself. I'll be the first to admit it is not always the most pleasant thing to hear criticism (even if it is constructive); however, when you take a step back from the situation, it's easy to see how beneficial it can be. I welcome back long time member of the community Chad and spend a good part of the conversation trying to poke holes and expose flaws in this current strategy. Does Chad's strategy hold up? Has he thought through the various areas of the market that can change and prove to be troublesome? I won't tell you that part, but what I can say is that Chad has a true passion for the markets and he is approaching trading exactly like it should be. He's had plenty of hiccups along the way, as we all have, but he's not allowing them to hold him down as he continues to grind to create a solid form of additional income for his personal finances. Let's get to it!

Massive warning! Like, seriously... be warned! If you are someone walking around with a pocketful of victim cards and your specialty is coming up with excuses and love the word "can't", then do NOT listen to this episode! It will cause you to have to look in the mirror and severely question yourself and your viewpoints. With that being said, if you are someone who believes that iron sharpens iron and love to hear stories about people beast-moding it and "finding a way", then you will love community member Sergio's journey! For him, it all started in Venezuela and to set up just a small spoiler of context, he came to the USA without understanding the English language, as a college kid! Where did his life go from there? How has trading played a role? We get into that and much more, but my favorite part by far was his willingness to always be focused on the solution, NOT the problem! Iron sharpens Iron! Let's go!

One of the big traps that I see many traders fall into is using the logic that the more complicated something is, the more effective it will be. While I do completely understand this thought process of thinking "the more you put in, the more you will get out", when it comes to the world of trading, often times it can be very misleading. Thanks to community member Alex (chatroom alias, "LTP"), we have a shining example of how overthinking and trying to do too much at once was ultimately holding him back. I'm all for people being ambitious and wanting to get out there and hustle and grind; however, as I've said many times before, the market loves to take ambitious people and use their ambition against them. While the saying may not always make sense, when Alex discovered that "less is more", his trading began to change. Let's get to it!