The Stock Trading Reality Podcast

The claim is this, “we both did the “right” things…” This comes from an article I read about the real estate market; however, it opens the door to something I’ve seen time and time again in the world of trading. So much of trading (and most other things) has to do with the correct perspective. This is where the trickiness comes into play because in order to demonstrate the correct perspective to others, you risk coming across as a jerk and as being mean. I know… I know… the saying has been said a million times and you probably know what I’ll be saying next, the truth hurts. I have been told by people they are “doing the right things” within their trading, but are they? How can they or myself know? In all actuality, it’s quite easy… let’s discuss.

Let’s talk about your chances of becoming wealthy. To clarify, I don’t mean “wealth” as having a garage full of exotic cars or beach side mansions around the world. By “wealth” I mean enough money to live at an above average standard of living. What are the odds you’ll be able to accomplish such a goal? I want to give you a challenge, or more accurately, a test. Another way we could look at this is Step 1 in proving to yourself that you can realistically become wealthy. If you are not able to complete this challenge, then sorry to say, but I’m not liking your chances of getting wealthy. The Wealth Test is nothing complicated; however, if will force you into focusing on various dynamics that all wealth builders need to consider. Let’s go!

I came across an article regarding burn-out which caught me a bit off guard. After reading it, the author’s points made very reasonable sense, but I had never considered how burn-out could be a good thing. Bringing this into the world of day trading, I think there is much that could be useful. The article is based around someone who has hired 100’s of people for management positions, meaning, she has interviewed 1,000’s of people. She has learned to ask several questions that reveal important characteristics about a person being considered for a management role. These characteristics can (and should) certainly be applied to us as traders. If you are struggling or just can’t quite get over the hump, perhaps asking yourself these questions will be the solution you need. Let’s talk burn-out!

I was given some advice via YouTube and it perfectly summarized why and how so many beginner traders are lead astray. I wish podcasts like these didn’t need to be done, but as I’ll show you with proof, there is a dangerous thought process alive and well that makes perfect sense, but it’s lethal. I want to offer you up a warning and help guide you as you navigate the crazy and overwhelming world of “free information”, which includes my content too! Unfortunately, well intentioned thought processes and advice can be some of the worst diseases that exist when you’re trying to learn and fine tune your trading strategies and rules. Let’s discuss!

I have a single question for you. Do you enjoy building? What does this have to do with trading, investing and money? In my opinion, a whole lot! Maybe this is just me, but sometimes my mind wanders and I just think about stuff - haha! This question is one of the conclusions I came to when thinking through what it takes to find success in the world of trading and investing. Let me explain myself…

If you’ve been following the headlines, you know that “price controls” have made an appearance. While this is not a political podcast, it “is” a podcast about all things money which includes the economy. Therefore, anything in the political world that has to do with the economy I believe is on topic for the show. My goal is to never tell you what to think about any issue, but just give you some considerations and allow you to come to your own conclusions. I understand price controls sound good on the surface. How nice would it be if companies can only charge us a certain price for goods and services we want? This is the game politicians from both sides love to play. Say stuff that “sounds good” and then hope people don’t dig into the comments and their implications any further. I assume my crowd who listens to this podcast is NOT like that. I assume you want to form your own thoughts and are always on the quest for pieces of information to consider within your thought creation. Time to talk price controls!

The month of July was going amazingly well until I went into moron mode. I can only speak for myself, but “moron mode” is just something that is part of me. I’ve been trading now almost two decades and this is an issue that arises from time to time. The secret to dealing with moron mode is to ensure the moments it happen have large time gaps between them. Do I want to talk about these moments publicly? Of course not. But they happen, so I want to walk you through the dangers of what I did and offer up a reminder of just how nasty things can get. Am I trying to teach through fear with this episode? Absolutely! Sometimes the best medicine for fighting against an issue is through pure fear. Bad for me, but good for you is the fact none of this is “in theory”, this lesson comes directly from my own personal moron mode. Let’s talk about it!

I want to keep this short and sweet and try something different in terms of dropping an episode "in the middle" of a current even situation. At the recording of the episode, the pre-market sell off was in full swing and only picking up in momentum. Everywhere I looked, it was one negative headline after another. I wanted to take the opposite approach and offer up some of the fear easing logic that I love to use during these moments in time. Let's get into it and offer a ray of light amongst all the negativity currently in the headlines!

During the early stages of your career in trading, you’ll find yourself constantly surrounded by traps. The majority of these traps are due to how your, normal, brain is wired. I say this because I am not implying you are some kind of moron for falling into one of these traps. The human mind, in the spirit of efficiency, tends to skip over details and definitions that matter. What do I mean? I came across someone who is clearly new (and a bit angry) to the markets and they claimed a great sounding strategy. The main part of its greatness of the simplicity behind it. I decided to press this person a bit more and you’ll see how the human mind has lead them astray. Hopefully I was able to help them out in seeing the error of their ways, but if not, I hope I can use this interaction to point out a few things that you are potentially overlooking within your trading. Let’s get to it!

There was a recent article I read titled, “If you always do these 8 things, you’re mentally stronger than most”. From the article, “After spending decades studying mental strength and interviewing and surveying thousands of people for my recent book, “The Mentally Strong Leader,″ I have good news. The mentally strongest people tend to share certain habits we can learn from. There are patterns I’ve noticed when it comes to what they say (and don’t say) and what they do. If you always do these eight things, you’re already mentally stronger than most. If you don’t — yet! — you can look to this list as a mini-playbook that will help you level up your mental strength.” I want to focus on the number one thing on her list. I’ve talked about it 100’s of times at this point, but now I have a bit more cover fire that I’m not just talking from a theoretical standpoint. Let’s get to it.