The Stock Trading Reality Podcast

What does it look like to go about becoming a full time trader the right way? Thanks to our guest, Geoff (chat room alias, ‘CrestronWizard’), we are given a perfect example of how to wisely make this transition. Here’s a minor spoiler: Geoff did not wake up one morning and randomly decide he wanted to be a full time trader, there was a bit more planning and preparation that went into the decision. We’ve talked with Geoff before about a year ago, so it was great to hear how his journey has continued to unfold and what steps and experiences he has gone through to give him the best odds of success. Notes: Today we reinterview community member Jeff who goes by ‘CrestronWizard’ in the community. To recap, Jeff used to trade penny stocks and went as far as becoming a distributor for one of the companies he became heavily invested in. With the intentions of becoming a full time trader, Jeff took the necessary steps to give himself the best odds of success. He had essentially crushed all his debts and had an emergency fund with over 6 months of living expenses. Jeff also has four income streams. He initially started trading long options and while he found initial success, ultimately he realized that he struggled to set stop losses when trading far out of the money options. This led him to investigate trading advanced options. Jeff has an ideal account size he is striving to get to before he ever starts taking withdrawals to pay himself. Since he has multiple streams of income, this is a very realistic probability for him assuming he sticks to the path he has laid out. Quotes: I was looking to start trading in October but didn’t start until January. I started with 5 grand and it was going well to start. My biggest issue in trading, whether it’s pennies or anything, is knowing the right time to sell. Knowing how long to stay in. It’s better to trade often, be mechanical, and get out instead of trading 10 times a month and hold out for max profit. Links: https://claytrader.com/podcast/episode131/

There is nothing worst then someone who agrees with every little thing you say in every little way possible. I’m thankful to say this is not the case in our discussion with longtime member Charlie (same name in the chatroom). I had the pleasure of meeting Charlie at our Denver meet-and-greet and I can say from personal experience he is a quality guy who is not a “yes man”. Because of this, we had some good solid animated discussions about trading and his current situation that will hopefully help with his ambition. A cruel part of the markets and trading is how ambition can be used against a trader and as you’ll see, this is Charlie’s current struggle. It’s a fine line that we as traders must walk, and I hope that due to Charlie’s openness this is something you as a listener will learn and benefit from. Let’s go! Notes: Today we talk with Charlie once again. To recap, Charlie started trading penny stocks before eventually investing in his education. After realizing he didn’t know exactly what he was doing he decided to pump the brakes and focus on education and practice before reentering the market. Charlie realized that most of his liquid net worth was in his trading account and he decided that this was just too much so he decided to trim down to a smaller amount for trading specifically. Since he had now gone through the University program, he thought this was his year to triple his trading account. Unfortunately he lost about 50% of his account and decided to step back. When he came back to the market he decided to focus on trading shares instead of options or penny stocks. He funded an account with a set amount where if it dropped 200 dollars he would stop again. He also recognized how much his trading dictates his emotions. Charlie wants to succeed so badly that it actually hinders his ability to be profitable. This is how important and powerful your mind is when it comes to trading. While some people thrive under pressure, too much unnecessary pressure is never helpful and Charlie is now realizing that the world will not end if he does not succeed. This allows him to be open to trading what the market has to offer no matter what the result. After discussing what his overall monthly and weekly goals are, Charlie is realizing that he hits his quota quite often if he were to take his profit when it presents itself. Quotes: I realized I didn’t really know what I was doing. Eventually I made 2 grand and CTU just happened to be 1,997. I realized that most of my trades were green at some point, not a huge amount. Those breakouts just never happened. It was amazing to me how dramatic I am in my own mind. I’m the most dramatic person I’ve ever met. I don’t know if I had any day trades. Day trades for me are exclusively for stop losses. You never want to use 2 out of 3 in a week. Links: https://claytrader.com/podcast/episode064/

We have ourselves a shining example of why it is ignorant to make blanket statements when it comes to the millennial generation thanks to our guest. Ashton (alias in the chatroom, “bmxashton”) is a young guy doing all the right things. Yes, it can easily be argued that perhaps he is missing out on “things” in the short run, but looking at the big picture, he’s clearly setting himself up for success. If you are someone in younger years, I would argue this interview is a MUST LISTEN for you as you’ll see what is possible when you truly focus your mind and energy. Even if you are someone older such as myself, there is still a ton of value… for me, the biggest value was simply inspiration and motivation to keep working hard… which is something we should all be doing, no matter our age. Get ready to have excuses crushed from every direction! Let’s go! Notes: Today we interview community member Ashton who goes by ‘bmxashton’ in the community. His introduction to the general market was a Dave Ramsey show where he talked about various ways to invest. He first invested in a CD but made hardly anything after 2 years. Ashton initially was focused on investing but wanted to get more involved. This led him to looking into penny stocks. He was using StockTwits and while he got burned on a few he didn’t blow up his account. He was always quite frugal with his money because he recognized very early on that he can set himself up for the future with hard work now. Ashton initially funded his swing trading account with 7-10 thousand dollars at 20 years old. After being unable to find consistency in his swing trading, Ashton stumbled upon Clay’s live trading videos and his strategy intrigued him. Fast and consistent gains was the overall goal. While still being in his early 20s, Ashton has 3 forms of income. This hustle has led him to have an account that is over 25 thousand dollars as to avoid the pattern day trader rule. He has also structured his other jobs to allow him to trade every morning and focus on quick fast gains. Quotes: I learned about penny stocks and the mentors that came with it. I wanted to learn all I could before jumping in. Sometimes it would work. Just a couple pennies here and there and I’d take the small gain but most times they were selling into me. I would try to look for potential swing trade ideas while eating lunch. It was a mess for sure. I was more so paper trading at this time using pen and paper. I practiced for 6 months in my down time at work. I didn’t take it that seriously at first until I realized it could be a great income source. Take it seriously and invest in education.

We have situation that I think many people can relate to if they are honest with themselves. Depending on how you were raised or simply your general understanding of the markets, it can really create a challenging mental situation for yourself when you transition into the world of trading. Our guest, Evans (better known as "reboot" in the chat room) walks us through his journey and we go down some solid rabbit holes that really demonstrate why a common problem exists for many traders out there. I don't want to spoil anything, but if you find yourself struggling to cut losing trades and/or honor stop-loses, then you may be fighting against the same challenges Evans is. In other words, make some time for this episode as it could very well get you on the path you want to be on. Notes: Today we speak with community member Evans who goes by ‘reboot’ in the community. A few family friends started an investment club and this was his main introduction to the market. Evans was in charge of his father's finances as he aged and to his surprise, he saw his dad had stacks of paper stock certificates and eventually turned them in to his broker. This made up the majority of his retirement. During the financial collapse in 2008, Evans was quite nervous as his father’s retirement account had suffered a 50% drawdown. He was torn between the idea of selling or holding during the fall. He comes from an investing background (over 30 years) and this is leading to an unfortunate mentality while day trading. While time is on your side investing, time is NOT on your side when you are day trading short dated options. While members are proud to show their gains to the community, this can sometimes lead to feelings of FOMO and while it was an issue for Evans at first he has conquered that now. He has the ability to spot opportunities himself and form his own trade plans. Quotes: In order to do any research on companies we had to physically go to the library. We only invested in companies that had dividends. I didn’t have much money to invest because children and life but it was fun to watch it on a day to day basis. You know, I want to learn more about technical trading and charts. I want to be a better trader so I joined the Inner Circle. That can be addicting to have a couple of wins and feeling good.

Things all started in a junkyard. From there it was infomercials, trading robots and everything in between. I don’t want to ruin anything with details, but I will say our guest from the Inner Circle community, Trae (“traecampell77” in chat room), is a shining example of passion must be at the forefront of this business we call trading the markets. When you truly enjoy something, you can push through essentially anything thrown your way as you’ll see. Trae was a great guy to talk with and there are many things, big and little, you can learn from his journey… some of which will prove to be some money savers for you. Let’s go! Notes: Today we interview community member Trae. We commend him for pushing through with this podcast while being covered in poison oak. His introduction to the market was at an early age. His family owned a junkyard so he would hear them discussing metal prices and this intrigued him. One late evening, Trae stumbled upon a forex infomercial and he started to play on the demo without knowing what he was really doing yet. While he had a lot to learn, he discovered a love for the market which provides the motivation to learn more and trade better. He purchased a trading robot as well with a ‘100% win rate (because it holds a position until it’s profitable).’ It took him around 6 months to get out of the red and finally close his positions. This led to him taking a break but his interest in the market never left. During his break, his family opened up a car dealership and as it got more profitable Trae found more time to focus on the markets again. He made the move from scalping to swing trading. Trae realizes that psychology plays a huge role in trading. He has spent a considerable amount of time watching his own mentality and then also using crowd psychology to spot trade opportunities. Quotes: As a kid I would always hear ‘metal prices are up or down.’ I didn’t understand then but I was interested. I started trying to put it all together but it was a nightmare. There was nothing solid about it. But I loved the market. I shut the account down and walked away to take a break but something was always calling me back to those charts. Areas to improve always include psychology and removing emotion. It took 6-12 months to learn how to lose properly.

I don’t think I really need to say much other than this is Part 2. If you listened to Part 1 (episode 171), then I’m sure you are ready to go given the cliff hanger we left you at. So with that being said, let’s pick back up with long time community member Paddy in his wild trading journey. Notes: After having a successful four days and going into the last trading day of the week, Paddy unfortunately gave back all his profits and then some. This led to some screaming and a visit from some folks walking by to check what was going on. Paddy was able to identify pitfalls he had in his mentality. Being a competitive person does not help you as a trader since it sometimes makes you break rules. There needs to be emphasis on adhering to the plan whether it is profitable or you stop out. The mental side is what Paddy is currently focusing on. He attributes this to why people either follow their trading rules or break them and generally end up feeling the pain. This is partially why he decided to trade options instead of equities. Patience is key in all things related to trading. Patience with the trade, the journey, the failure, the accumulation of experience. Quotes: I was up 400 on the week and I woke up on Friday and said ‘just don’t blow your week.’ In 30 seconds, I had blown my week. The biggest challenge I’ve had to overcome is that you have to be able to take small losses. Options give me defined risk. If you put 2,000 on the line and those options expire worthless, that’s all you lose. If you can’t control yourself, having an automatic fail safe is going to save you. Links: https://claytrader.com/videos/stock-trading-quick-tip-redefining-stop-loss/

We bring back a guest who many have said was their all time favorite. He was the first person we ever did a two part episode on, and once again… we have ourselves a two part episode. Our guest, best known as “Paddy” in the trading room community, takes time out of his schedule to update us on all the happenings since his last podcast appearance. I don’t want to spoil anything, so all I’ll say is if you’re looking for someone who is energetic, passionate, and holds nothing back on the honesty front, I can guarantee you’ll enjoy this discussion. Buckle up for another wild ride! Notes: Today we talk again with community member Paddy. After a quick recap of the previous two episodes, we hear about his journey after that. A big turning point for Paddy was realizing that he didn’t need to rush. He has a great full time job with lots of flexibility. He had to learn about himself and how he handled his emotions trading before turning profitable. He was having a fantastic month of June. Paddy was up 6k and on track to have his first green month since he started trading. On the last trading day of the month, Paddy ended up taking a 17.5k loss turning his month well red. It is an understatement to say that this was devastating to him. Paddy tried to keep his head up but eventually got to the point where he was near the PDT threshold and decided he needed an extended break. He turned off the charts, closed the platform and stepped away in an effort to come back fresh. Once your mindset is shot, it takes a bit to recover. Quotes: You told me that I don’t need that money. It was true. I have a full time job, my workload allows me to day trade. It was an anxiousness that was driving mistakes. I was down 25k and it was still going. At one point I had averaged in my entire accounts buying power to the tune of 200k. My biggest problem in rule breaking is blowing stop losses which is arguably the worst rule to break. Links: https://claytrader.com/podcast/episode025/ https://claytrader.com/podcast/episode026/

Time for some experimenting! We had a guest scheduled who wasn’t able to show up, so given I had a block of time available, I wanted to give something a try. You never know unless you try right? This could be an epic failure, but that’s okay… at least I’ll know! With all that being said, please give me your thoughts and feedback on this format. You will not hurt my feelings either way, in fact, I’ll thank you no matter what because I’m asking for feedback. I’ve seen some headlines out there that I wanted to address as it truly drives me nuts and I want to give my two cents on the matter. I may or may not do some ranting, but sometimes I just can’t help myself. I look forward to your thoughts and feedback. Notes: Today Clay decides to have a rant since we were stood up. His first topic is regarding tax cuts and where they have ended up. The media has used lots of word play to mislead where the money is actually going. Another article discussed is regarding 401k millionaires. It had increased 45% over the past 12 months. Unfortunately they had implied that it may have taken 30 years, almost painting saving and contributing to the 401k as negative because it took so long. The majority of America does not use a budget which is partially why it appears there has been so many complaints about the new tax cuts. Those who are smart enough to save and contribute to their retirement funds are the ones truly getting the benefit. If you fall into the majority that does NOT use a budget and SAVE, it is probably time to take a hard look at your finances. Quotes: The whole premise that you cannot benefit is a lie. It’s a misconception about how things work. More word play. Politics has nothing to do with this. I want you to really see what is being portrayed here. Here we have the majority of people not benefiting from tax cuts because in order to benefit you need to be a saver. Links: MoneyWithClay.com

We’ve done 168 episodes. I’m pretty sure this is the one that caught me off guard the most. Everything seemed fine and dandy and then our guest dropped a bit of his past life that was… well… quite intense! Johnny (chatroom alias, “johnny5000”) proves to be a massive data point in regards to there being no excuses and that when you put your mind to something, it can be done. I don’t want to offer any spoilers, but there is no doubt in my mind that you will find Johnny’s past life a very intense experience and be motivated and inspired about how life has taken a 180. I could keep on blabbing on now about how motivating it was, but I won’t do that. Let’s get to it! Notes: Today we interview community member Johnny who goes by johnny5000 in the community. His introduction to the market was the game of Life. The way the stock market works in that game is that you put your money down and spin the wheel. This led Johnny to believe from very early on that the market was just for gambling. Johnny got caught up in some hard times which lasted many years but after a long road to recovery, he started a job and participated in an employee stock purchase plan. Once he realized that he would like to have more control over his investments (to generate a larger return) he decided to do some investigation into various trading education websites. After doing his research, Johnny ultimately joined Claytrader University and started working through the courses in his free time. As he continues working multiple jobs, he is taking his time going through the courses and has just begun paper trading. He also caught himself unrealistically paper trading and stopped that very early. We talk through various products that Johnny may be interested in trading based on his day job. Since he doesn’t want to have gap risk, he thinks he will focus on advanced options since he can set his stop loss in advance using various strategies taught. Quotes: I actually never had a real job for a company until I was nearly 40 years old. Every decision I make now is done with caution. I jumped in to CTU and didn’t realize you also get hours of webinars that are amazing. It’s worth a lot more than you’re charging. I have a lot more work to do. I’m not in a hurry. I’ve only been paper trading for a month. Day job, gym and then courses and webinars at night. Basically whenever I have time I just take in the material. Links: www.uptownaustincoverband.com

A blessing in disguise. I think that’s really the best way to summarize this our guest’s journey thus far. When Dave (chatroom alias ‘Daveslow’) first started his journey, he tried to sign up with a text alert service from… well… let me put it this way, a faulty source. There were a few technical glitches and when Dave approached customer service, he was essentially treated like an insignificant piece of meat. This slap in the face led him down a different path on his journey and one that has been extremely beneficial to him. Dave has a military background so when it comes to forming a plan and executing the plan, it is one of his strong suits without doubt. Through Dave’s experiences, which he shares with us in the interview, he has constructed a plan of action that I fully believe and find grounded in reality and logic. A plan is the backbone of any chance at success in the market and Dave is a shining example of how experiences shape and mold a worthwhile plan. Let’s get to it! Notes: Today we interview community member who goes by Daveslow in the community. After joining the military, Dave accumulated a good size saved up from his time but couldn’t spend it. Since he was unable to take it out and spend it at this point he decided to look into peer-to-peer lending. One of his friends recommended he look into cryptocurrencies but he felt he had missed the boat on that one. This did open up his interest to look in other markets though. After attempting to enroll in a text alert service for trade ideas, Dave’s debit card was not accepted and they did not really care too much. This led him to look elsewhere for a place to learn and ultimately ended up here at Claytrader.com . Dave fortunately never lost a heap of money trading. He realized it makes no sense to even paper trade until he had fully completed the University program and had a solid grasp on his specific trading strategy. A key to Dave’s success is that he is taking his time and using the power of a budget and practice to ensure that as he gets his trading account to the level he wants, he’ll have a fighting chance since he has taken so much time to prepare. Quotes: I didn’t know the difference between traders and bankers. I thought you needed PhD’s and huge skills in math so no interest growing up. I’m not sure why I signed up for a text alerts. I knew I wanted to trade so it’s counterintuitive to get someone else to tell you what to do. My very first trade was on a brokerage app. My trade setup was a tablet with live market data and my mobile phone with 15m delay on it. I keep adding to my account every month to get to a size that makes sense while making these tiny trades. After quite a few little losses, I don’t struggle losing that amount. Put it in the journal. I struggle more with FOMO and excitement. Links: https://claytrader.com/videos/1-penny-stock-short-scam/