The Stock Trading Reality Podcast

A community favorite of mine is back to update us on her journey. Rena (same name in the chatroom) is someone I admire greatly. I've met her in person on multiple occasions and she is someone who we can all learn from given her willingness to talk about anything and everything, particularly the "bad stuff". She's a solid trader, no doubt about it, but like all traders she suffers from certain voices that have caused her hiccups. She has pressed on through perseverance and encouragement and has turned the corner in her trading. She's on the right path, now it's just a matter of staying laser focused to remain on the path (which she is doing a great job of!). Don't miss this episode, let's get to it! Show Notes Today we revisit with Rena. As we learned in her last podcast, her son was a large factor in her getting back into the market at a serious level. He has had quite an interest in the market and it was something they both had in common. While Rena has had many successful trades utilizing a rubberband type strategy, the problem she has is managing the ones that do not work. Those losers ultimately wipe out a month or more of profit in one shot. She wanted to start 2018 on a clean slate and decided to close all of her positions. This led her to take a $30k loss but the important thing here is that there is no psychological baggage for her to carry into the new year. Volatility picked up in Februrary and this led to some losses for her 'farm' account. However, she was still able to keep her losses to only $1,000 by utilizing day trading to take advantage of the intraday volatility. Rena decided to reduce her account size to ensure that she wasn't even able to take a huge loss. This size account led her to a 'death by 1000 cuts' since she was mainly playing defense instead of playing any offense. After a good conversation with her husband, Rena realized that if she didn't take any huge blowout losses she could always recover. She is content to take 1-3k losses because she knows she can make that back up. She has now been green the last 6 months after this enlightening moment. Quotes One of the reasons I kept getting back into the market was my son was interested from about the time he was a freshman. I never thought I would be that stupid to max out my account on one bad trade. I got rid of everything I had to start 2018 on a clean slate. The people in the chatroom know way more about my losses than my wins. That's when I need support. They keep me accountable. Can I make this loss up? Because 99% of the time if I get out with even a 1,000 dollar loss I can make that up. I've had a fairly healthy balance with money. I know what it's like to have money and I know what it's like to have none. Links Rena's First Episode: https://claytrader.com/podcast/episode110/

As painful as it is to hear: go slow. I’m well aware and had to learn the hard way of what rushing into the markets can lead to, so I would not call you an idiot if that’s where your mind is at; however, just realize, you’re on the wrong path! Our guest, Jose (chatroom alias, ‘JoseJuanQ’), tells us all about how he has been approaching his quest of becoming a successful trader. His journey has not been very adrenaline filled with excitement surging through his body, but, that is exactly why his current story and approach is so beneficial to us all. Even if you are a veteran trader like myself, there are many reminders and positive signs of reinforcement in regards to how I go about my daily business as a trader. Whether you are brand new or have been around for years, I’m confident you’ll find something worthwhile in Jose’s story! Show Notes Today we talk with community member Jose who goes by JoseJuanQ in the community. He had been following Clay’s videos since 2013. A friend came over one time and they were talking about investments. While having a line chart up he held it to the screen and thought ‘wouldn’t it be nice if we could predict where price is going?’ Jose is not comfortable putting his money into things he does not understand which is why he focused on metals to start. He did take a long break from the market because he was working on his education, focusing on accumulating capital by working, met his wife and got married. He started trading live after finishing University but realized he was trading scared and not in a position of strength regarding his account size. He struggled scalping with only one contract so his new account target value to start is $5,000. Jose had to take on some business debt when he moved to Las Vegas so he is currently focused on clearing that up before he does ultimately fund his account. Since his wife is going to school (and getting paid to do that) he also has to wear the dad hat so he’s looking forward to having the ability to spend more time with his kids. Ultimately he wants to day trade in the morning and focus on real estate during the rest of the day. This reality won’t come true overnight but he’s working very hard to set himself up for success. Quotes I started selling my metals and investing into my tools and my education. I was trading at the time but stopped trading. I took the little amount I had left out and focused on SLAB’ing it up. I kind of want to make it where I wake up in the middle of the night calling out support and resistance. The reason I’m going to options is that it takes smaller amount of capital and I can manage my risk better.

If you want to succeed, you must lose. While I realize that is a seemingly contradicting statement, it is a critical skill that must be mastered as a trader. Our guest, Mark (‘hyprsnpr’ in the chat room), walks us through his updated journey, particularly in regards to his relationship with losing. He is doing a great job currently with not only putting together some solid wins, but also when it comes to keeping losing trades under control. He shares a huge loss he took which brings up some interesting talking points that I believe will serve as a reminder to us all on just how tricky the human mind can be. We talk about this and a whole lot more, so let’s get to it! Show Notes: Today we speak again with Mark who goes by "hyprsnpr" in the community. Since he had a large life event on the horizon, he took another hiatus until he could have the proper amount of time to spend on practice again, which he knew he needed to spend more time on. Even with a mistake by using a more macro/fundamental approach for a trade idea (which led to a large loss) he still finished the month profitable. He has also noticed that he has the ability to stop revenge trading since he has the confidence regarding overcoming controlled losses. After paper trading for months, he went back to real money and has been green ever since. He has small daily targets but doesn’t get discouraged if he has a losing day. Many newer trades jump from one system to the next if they experience a loss but Mark realizes this is a numbers game. Marks goal is a consistent green year only utilizing basic technical analysis and risk management. He has aspirations to grow his style but he believes having more tools for the toolbox is a benefit. Quotes: It was hard to sit out of the market but at the same time I got a new job which kept my mind off of it. If I normally traded 10 contracts I would then go to 20-25 contracts in an attempt to revenge trade. My ultimate goal was to be consistent by my wedding. Life started to normalize after that and I went back to real money. I’m totally fine if I don’t take any trades on the day. Links: Rena's First Episode: https://claytrader.com/podcast/episode123/

A long time member and friend is back, Nate Wilson. For those of you who are members of the community, he goes by the same name in the chatroom and has been around from almost the beginning. He’s become a personal friend of mine (particularly if you watch the vlogs on the YouTube channel) and he’s someone I respect for his bluntness and honesty. He adapts a “I don’t care what you think” type attitude, so he has no problem simply sharing his experiences, both good and bad. In this update of his journey, he talks about how he needed to step away from the markets and trading for a while which prompts a very valuable talking point. Sometimes as traders, we should be slowing things down and tapping the brakes, but many times we do not which leads to account pain. There is certainly a learning lesson here and with much else we talk about. Let’s get to it! Notes: Today we talk with community member Nate Wilson. He’s been on 3 previous podcasts which are linked below and is a regular member who leads examples on the weekly webinars. Nate generally trades every single morning focusing on his extended scalping strategy but over this past summer he took an extended break during a house remodel. The contractor he was using wasn’t consistent with his timing so this led Nate to stop trading for a while so he wouldn’t get caught in a trade when he needed to help out. Clay and Nate discuss their styles of trading and how they may have a high rate of success, the losers need to be kept in check as to not wipe away all the smaller winners. Nate also talks about having a background in finance which helped him ease into trading. Nate suggests that going into the market with no education is a fool's errand. While eventually you need to put your education into practice, with no education you will have very poor results. It took him 2 years to feel confident in his current strategy. Quotes: I fully realized this is the strategy that works for me and I’ve stopped trying to do anything else. I just didn’t want to get into a trade because I was nervous the contractor would call right after. Once I see 10:30 on the clock I stop paying 100% attention to the market. I start answering emails and doing other work related things. If you’re just going to go into the market half-assed and don’t know what’s going on, that’s the kind of result you’re going to get. I do not have ‘shiny object syndrome.’ I’m very content with the money I make with my strategy. Links: https://claytrader.com/podcast/episode009/ https://claytrader.com/podcast/episode041/ https://claytrader.com/blog/64-trading-days-2-losing-days-possible/ https://claytrader.com/videos/member-trades-account-howd-go/ https://claytrader.com/videos/baltimore-football-crabs-trading-friend/ https://claytrader.com/podcast/episode107/

We are trying something new, so your feedback is certainly welcomed and wanted! In this episode, Chezz and I discuss a recent event that caught fire in the headlines. Perhaps you are aware, but if not, the website OptionSellers.com got extremely careless with their client’s money and ended up creating a massive… we’ll call it… “problem”… for those who trusted them. The entire topic created several rabbit holes of learning and consideration that I believe we can all benefit from. Whether that be for someone like myself where the lessons learned are a “reminder” or for new traders that may never have considered the discussion points we talk about. Bottom line, I believe this format has some potential in the future, so I hope you enjoy and get something from it. Like I said, your feedback would be much appreciated.

We’re back with another classic tale of getting punched in the teeth as a rookie. Thanks to our guest, Blake (those of you in the chat room community will known him as ‘ElkTrout’), and his openness, we are given an insight into the dangers of approaching the market in… unwise….ways. I’ve met Blake in person on a few occasions and he’s a class act who knows what it takes to work hard and fight back. Sure, he self admittedly didn’t get started in the smartest of ways, but he also didn’t play the victim card. What did he do? How did he bounce back? That and much more in our nugget-filled discussion with Blake. Let’s get to it! Notes: Today we talk to community member Blake who goes by ElkTrout in the community. His work was mainly seasonal at the time so he decided to look for some ways to supplement his income in the off season. This led him to investigate trading, mainly penny stocks. After doing initial research on trading via Google, Blake stumbled upon a few teachers but was able to discern who was genuine and who was trying to sell the ‘get rich quick’ lifestyle. His short stint trading penny stocks lasted 3 weeks before he decided this wasn’t a long term strategy. Blake decided to mainly focus on options trading. Initially he did not do very well since he wasn’t fully understanding of the greeks involved in how they are priced. He also skipped paper trading because without any money on the line he did not treat it realistically. Blake also knew that various paper trading platforms gave unrealistic fills. Something that he struggles with is his actual lack of emotion regarding his losses. Losses impact him so little that he pays very little attention to it which can lead to ruin if not checked. Blake recognizes this and checks on his performance weekly. Quotes: I found myself dreaming of being rich from buying a penny stock or two and watching it go to the moon. If you’re dumb enough to buy into that you deserve to lose your money, kind of like trading. The first week I got annihilated. I guess that was part of taking my lumps and learning along the way. My chart vision is pretty dialed. I can be confident in that and make trade plans based on them. When you follow through on your ambition it will create consistency.

Before we hosted this discussion, our guest from the community, “Zep” (same name in chat room), sent us a lengthy email that had me quite nervous. I don’t want to offer up any spoilers, so all I’ll say is that while we as traders certainly need to strive for the best and hold ourselves accountable, we also don’t want to go “too far” in accountability. It’s a fine line for sure and an interesting gray area of the market and personal growth as a trader. I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation as it allowed us all a deep dive into trader psychology and the angle of personal accountability. Notes: Today we catch up with community member Zep. We start off talking about his current trading issues, mainly being his consistency. With his schedule as a musician it makes it difficult for him to maintain a normal schedule. Zep wanted to focus on directional trading but the problem was the hours he works. After talking with some community members he had his eyes opened up to the practically 24 hour futures markets. This gives him the ability to trade past normal trading hours. A problem Zep has been dealing with is taking his profits too soon instead of letting them go to a logical target or trailing his winners. His goal is to make fewer trades and stay in longer. Most of his current problems come from his mental state. He knows how to trade well but the emotions cause him to make costly mistakes. Now he has a certain rule set regarding when to stop trading for the day. Another thing Zep has to work on is accepting that there is no 100% hit rate in trading. He needs to be more accepting of the uncertainty that trading entails. His trading strategy is sound but he is continuing to work on the mental side which does take everyone a different amount of time. Quotes: My overall problem has been consistency. There’s a variety of reasons for that but consistency is what I’m going for. I like directional trading because you can make good gains. I’ve been trading more to survive than to grow. Not that I don’t want to grow… If I start out red, it’s a different mindset. It’s a lot harder. It’s a total mental thing. I had to go through this... The first couple of days I was beginning to question my ability. Links: https://claytrader.com/podcast/episode040/

This is one of my all time favorite episodes. I don’t want to offer up spoilers, so all I’ll say is that if you ever find yourself feeling sorry for yourself or letting the victim card mentality “sneak in”, remember our guest, “Zee”. Zee is a member of the chatroom and someone I had the pleasure to meet at our Florida meet-and-greet event. I still remember talking to him in person and being blown away by his story and genuinely motivated and inspired. Those are not empty words either… in fact, I found his story so inspiring that I invited him over to my other podcast, The Money with Clay Podcast for a more in-depth discussion of his life as a whole. Like I said, I’m not giving any spoilers other than saying, if you need even the slightest bit of inspiration or motivation, Zee’s story will provide it for you without doubt! Let’s get to it! Notes: Today we interview community member Zee. In 2012 he came to the United States because things were not going well for him in his home country. Since he only knew a little English, he had to start with some humble jobs. After a little bit of time he truly got on his feet. Zee started a family and a business. Now that he had extra income every month he learned about trading from a coworker who was using Robinhood on his phone. Zee realized that there was no need to rush into trading and throw money at something he didn’t understand yet. After looking at various trading teachers, he ultimately chose to go with the University program based on all the content included. Since his work is mostly seasonal, he had time in the off season to study the material. He is big into tracking his trade statistics. Journaling is crucial to see where he is currently falling short or excelling. Zee also has a morning routine that he credits for giving him the energy to tackle the markets. Discipline has been a common theme in Zee’s life and this has definitely helped him trading too. Being competitive can cut both ways but he has been able to use that competitive nature in a positive way to push his growth in the market. Quotes: When I was 16 I realized that my life wasn’t going the right direction. It’s not that I did anything wrong. It was just the setup. I figured out later that he wasn’t really into it. He was just gambling. I had a lot of energy. I didn’t jump right into trading. I wanted to jump start trading by focusing on my education. It works for me personally. It gets me out of the comfort zone. I don’t want to be someone who just sits around and does nothing. I think I’m not great at my trade management. I try to increase my patience when it takes a while to get to my target.

This episode brings us a great talk with community member Anthony. While he’s not completely new, he is still on the journey. His original idea was to use trading as supplemental income but realized that there is a lot more potential there. As Anthony kept learning more about the markets he realized that he had a lot more to learn. He spent a good amount of time reading books and watching video online about the topic. He also realized that there was more opportunity in the US market versus the Canadian market. Currently he is focusing on trading strictly in the morning while maintaining his regular job. While he aspires to trade full time he realizes that it would be irresponsible to quit a steady job before he’s truly proven he is consistent. These are all just some of the talking points we hit. Let’s get to it! Notes: Today we interview community member Anthony. While he’s not completely new, he is still on the journey. His original idea was to use trading as supplemental income but realized that there is a lot more potential there. As Anthony kept learning more about the markets he realized that he had a lot more to learn. He spent a good amount of time reading books and watching video online about the topic. He also realized that there was more opportunity in the US market versus the Canadian market. Currently he is focusing on trading strictly in the morning while maintaining his regular job. While he aspires to trade full time he realizes that it would be irresponsible to quit a steady job before he’s truly proven he is consistent. Anthony is focusing on getting licensed in Canada to manage others money if he so chooses. Ultimately this will be an option he can choose to utilize if he would like. Options in the job market is always a positive. Similar to any profession, a key to progressing forward is the ability to recognize your strengths and your weaknesses. Anthony is familiar with where he is falling short but also realizes what attributes help him make money on a regular basis. Quotes: I do feel comfortable trading on my own but I’m not comfortable making alerts for other people. I was watching for news that would move the price. I was using line charts at this time too. One day I bought in the first 5 minutes and then it just dropped. I thought ‘it will stop, it will stop, it will stop.’ I gave back all my gains from the prior week. I’d say it’s close to 50/50 but I let the winners ride and cut the losses. Sometimes I still rush into trades and I need to work on that. I also need to spend more time on education.

Nothing like watching $1,000 disappear down the toilet with the time span of two weeks. Have you been there? I know I have when I first got started. In many ways, it’s a rite of passage to watch your own money go “poof” when you first start trading. It does not need to be that way, assuming you take the proper steps, but most people (again, myself included) don’t take the proper steps and experience pain. Fellow community member Diego shares with us his initial impressions of the market and how he thought it was all gambling. The mindset lead to headaches up front, but what did Diego do to make changes? How was his journey since pivoted? We talk about that and much more thanks to the honesty and bluntness Diego is willing to provide. Notes: Today we speak with community member Diego. His introduction to the market was fairly recently. He thought that putting money in the market was the equivalent to gambling until he started to do some research. He funded a $1,000 account with the idea that if he were to lose it all it was no big deal. That account had a short life span of about 2 weeks. He attributes this to the large commissions that his offshore broker was charging. Diego opened another account with more capital with a slower growth strategy. Unfortunately that sneaky voice of greed in our heads led him to think that this slow growth was not fast enough. Trading was meant to be the bridge between the money he had currently and the money required to invest in real estate where he lived. While everything was on target it was just not at the speed he wanted. After investing in his education and learning more about options trading, he thought this might be a better use of capital. Ambition cuts both ways. Since Diego wanted to fast track his progress he was consuming massive amounts of education in a very short period of time. He gave himself 6 months to get ‘educated’ but only made it 3 weeks before live trading again. Clay and Chezz suggest that Diego focus on advanced options because it sounds like it would suit his personality the best. Quotes: I didn’t know what made the prices go up or go down. I just heard the horror stories of people losing a lot of money. All the videos I watched were successful videos… they showed you what happens when you win and I thought I could duplicate that. Those greedy voices in my head told me that I could be growing my account faster if I was past the pattern day trader rule. I’ve alwys been the guy to wing it. Do some research and I’ll be able to pick it up after a little bit. Looking back, that’s not the right approach to the market. As soon as I got into a trade I’d basically forget everything I learned and ride the high…