The Stock Trading Reality Podcast

If you would consider yourself someone who enjoys "dabbling" into areas of life, I'm very confident you'll be able to connect with my guest in this week's episode. With that being said, even if you are someone who "goes all in" from the start, there are many nuggets of wisdom (and warning) that you'll be able to take away from this guest's journey... which has been a long one! We'll be covering a 15ish year timespan with our guest David, a long time member of our trading community. Throughout the years David has had to constantly weigh the pros-and-cons of trading given his success and growth through is normal "day job". This has been a very wise move on David's part; however, as we come to present day David has made some big changes and he's already seeing the results from them. Let's go!

Randomness, like with most things in life, will destroy any kind of trading ambitions you may have. Whether it's from my own personal experience or from the countless stories I've heard from others, when randomness creeps into the journey.... things get bad! My guest, Eric ("E" in the chatroom), is taking the exact opposite approach of randomness. For full disclosure's sake, his current approach is by no means exciting and adrenaline filled like a roller coaster, but that's the goal! He's taking his trading in a very serious and methodical way. Whether you are brand new to the markets or have experience, but maybe struggling, there are some valuable insights into some ideas that may assist you in your journey. Let's get to it!

While it certainly is not the glamorous pathway to take, sometimes the best solution for problems is to take a step back and put yourself through unfavorable steps. I welcome back long time member Kainoa and he updates us on everything that has been occurring in his journey. As a small spoiler, he has had to make some tough decisions over the past couple of years that were not easy or enjoyable; however, as you will see, they have proven to be the wise actions to take. I really enjoyed this conversation as it does a great job of illustrating (and hopefully reassuring some of you) that there is no shame in hitting the pause button and reevaluating your current location in your trading journey. Hitting the pause button and "doing what needs to be done" is not always going to be rainbows and butterflies, but if you want success it's what needs to be done.

I came across an article that talks about a way of thinking that has been around for 2,000 year and is used by some of the world's brightest. While I don't believe in ever blindly following someone because they are smart/successful, I do believe it is wise to at least listen to and consider what the person is saying. Given I've been coaching and guiding traders since 2013, I can say with full certainty that this "powerful way of thinking is not being put into motion, and it SHOULD BE! I'm just as guilty as anyone else for not using this way of thinking, so no judgements from me! I want to apply this "thinking strategy" to the world of trading so you can see the true building block of what all successful traders build from. Let's get to it!

It truly is amazing just how powerful blaming the person in the mirror can be when it comes to your struggles and failures. I truly understand... blaming yourself for failures is not an enjoyable situation and no one likes to do it; however, there is freedom when you swallow the ego and blame yourself. My guest today from the community, Joey, started off about as bad as you possibly can. In fact, I called him a degenerate gambler to his face and he fully agreed with me. The crazy part though is how he transformed from a degenerate gambler to someone who is now consistently growing his account. So far, he's gone from $150 to $25,000 and it continues to grow. Thanks to his honesty and transparency, Joey shares many experiences that present fantastic nuggets of wisdom. Let's get to it!

While I can't say it is the top issue debated among traders, I can say with full confidence it is easily within the top 3 issues. What is this issue? Is paper trading (demo/simulator trading) worth it? Over the years we have heard both sides of argument on this topic, and to be fair, both sides have made valid points and arguments. My guest from the community in this episode, Joel, shares his journey in a very transparent way that sheds a very raw (and well explained) viewpoint of how not paper trading is dangerous. I realize that we all have varying opinions and experience in regards to this hotly contested issue, so all I ask is you listen with an open mind and be honest with yourself on whether or not you feel like you are on the same pathway Joel was....

If you have even a shred of trading experience with real money, then I'm sure you are well aware of the fact that we all have mental demons we need to fight against. Trading is an extremely mentally challenging business and it truly is filled with demons that need to be acknowledged and then punched in the face! In this episode, I welcome back long time member Donald ('speedster' in the chatroom community) to update us on his journey. Donald has made a whole lot of progress, but to his credit, he's also very aware of the bad tendencies that have the potential of creating problems within his trading. I really respected (and personally benefited from) Donald's self awareness and how he is by no means being dishonest with himself. He's focused on improving and making huge strides while also punching the demons in the face. Let's get to it!

I've had some people ask about my thoughts, but to be honest, another part of this is me just being sick-and-tired of all the media manufactured drama. I want to give you my thoughts on the stock market and how I am approaching the situation. Let’s take a breath and walk through all of this in a slow, calm, and calculated way by using logic and a bit of common sense. What am I doing as the stock market crash and why? Let’s talk about it.

Passion can be a powerful thing. In this case, it lead our guest Mitch to hijack his brother's social security number so he could open a trading account while still in high school. While I certainly do not advise or support hijacking anyone's social security number, I do love the underlying attitude of Mitch just doing what needs to be done to "make things happen". Now sure, there were much better ways he could have gone about it, but the will power and desire were there to succeed. Mitch is currently only 21; however, because he started so early in life he's already got quite the story to tell. So buckle up and let's get to it.

Courage. If I were forced to summarize this episode in one word, that's what I would use. My guest today is back for the third time and wow... he did some really dumb things, but you know what? We all have! The difference is Hamlet has enough courage to publicly talk about it so that others have the opportunity to learn and not repeat the mistakes he found himself doing. This is one of those interviews where if you take serious what is talked about, you can make a whole lot of money by simply learning what to avoid in the first place. A penny saved is a penny earned and if you heed the warnings Hamlet gives, you'll be thankful that you did. Buckle up. It's about to get bumpy!