The Stock Trading Reality Podcast

Time horizons matter quite a bit in the world of trading. Time can get a bit tricky when it comes to trading unfortunately; sure, you don't want to be wasting your time but at the same time, you don't want to be rushing either. My guest from the community, Kenneth, gives us a great illustration of somehow who is approaching trading in a time efficient manner, but not rushing. When you choose to take certain steps and surround yourself with the infrastructure Kenneth has, while there are no guarantees, there is the higher probabilities that you will find success. Kenneth is still young in his journey, but his focus on setting himself up for long lasting success offers us all with some great motivation and insights.

Trading and investing can be a very emotional game. If you've ever had a single dollar of your own hard earned money in the markets, you know exactly what I mean. This leads to the next logical question, "what can be done to remove the emotion?" There is certainly no perfect system to do it, but one way is to get so focused on the numbers and data, you almost forget to have emotion. In this episode I welcome back fellow member Sean who is all about the data. To his credit though, he admits that even with a massive deep dive into the data, there can still be hiccups that arise. I enjoyed this talk and I'm sure you will too. Sean had no problems talking about his hiccups and (most importantly) what he learned from them. Let's get to it.

DO something! That's all I ask! Whether it has to do with trading the markets or not, it's amazing how when you simply "do", good things begin to happen. Add in an underlying plan with "do", and WOW... things can get extremely explosive (to the upside!). This week's guest, Davy, is a new member to the community but he sure did get me motivated. The opening part of the discussion was my favorite as he walks us through his opening journey. He actually never mentioned "the stock market" until about 15 minutes in, but the story he told beforehand is what success is all about. Grabbing your bootstraps, putting on the hard hat, and going out and "doing". If you're someone who enjoys using excuses and playing the victim card, this episode will not be for you, but if you're a hustler... then let's go!

As obvious as it may seem, I've lost track of just how many times I've seen it happen. People put their money into the market, and then upon listening or asking a few basic questions, it becomes very clear they really have no idea "why" they entered a trade. The amateur will answer that by saying, "because I think I will make money"; however, the successful trader will be able to give a much more in-depth reasoning. That's exactly what my guest this week, Amit, shares with me. Like many, he started off doing some silly things with his time and money, but to his credit he has quickly realized he needed to change ways and that's what he's been doing. Let's get to it!

What category would you place yourself into? Are you lucky or unlucky? I stumbled across an interesting scientific research study where a psychologist (support by quite a bit of funding) did a deep dive study of lucky people verses unlucky people. While I can't say the results were stunningly shocking, I can say that there are many nuggets of data that can (and should) be applied to us in the world of trading. To further support the data, thanks for a current event that was playing out at the time of this recording, we can see just how this scientific research showed its truth in a very real world setting. If you like making decisions based in logic and reasoning, then I'm sure you'll be able to walk away with at least a few bits of practical wisdom. Let's get to it!

Wins are overrated. Winning streaks are even more dumb! What do I mean? You can have multiple winners and be making all kinds of money; however, that tells you nothing about the viability of your strategy and system. The only way to know if you have a strategy that "actually works" is to take some punches. If you take punches and you're account is still green and trending upwards, this is when you should be forming and maintaining confidence. Yes, I realize right now all I'm doing is talking in theory, but my guest from the community Matt ("msozua" chatroom alias) helps bring this topic into reality in a very motivating way. He started out with a single punch knocking him out, but he's grown very much since then and he's surviving and thriving.

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!