The Stock Trading Reality Podcast

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/

Notes: Today we revisit with community member David K who we interviewed a few years ago. We find out he's about to graduate college shortly. While he started as strictly an investor, David has been working on trading since he was 17 years old. After a frustrating bout with trading, David took some time off before coming back to the market. He realized the value of psychology and how trading is truly a numbers game. David is a shining example of the 'no excuses' mentality. He has worked a handful of side jobs even while being a full time student to keep accumulating capital. A big difference is that he finds enjoyment out of the various jobs instead of just complaining about them. A key to successful trading is the ability to trust yourself and follow your system. David is very proud that he has been able to stay consistent in terms of executing his trades and sticking to the plan instead of reacting to his emotions. Quotes: I discovered a new video series about psychology and how to execute these trades. Really changed the way I think about trading. I would just feel like garbage and make mistakes. There was no reason to put my hard earned money at risk when I haven't slept. I want to execute these trades without any fear or hesitation and without making any errors. Just following my rules 100%. I realized the setup could look the exact same, every moment is unique in the market. There can be different people participating. Links: https://claytrader.com/podcast/episode083/

Make sure to listen to Episode 165 before proceeding any further. This interview is Part 2, so with that being said and out of the way, let's continue! In the first part of the interview from last week, we heard all about Brian and the actions he put into motion to "get er' done", but now we move into more of the trading and the ups and downs he has been through. The one major benefit Brian has figured out is his ability to recognize and adjust to the very common "revenge trade" emotion which has and will continue to serve him well. I also found it interesting the way Brian has set into motion a plan of action that is efficient but most importantly, based in reality. If you enjoyed Part 1 of this discussion, then I have no doubt you'll gain value out of this second section of our discussion… let's go! Notes: A big realization for Brian was the fact that the voices are drastically different when you go from paper trading to live trading. Even though he started off losing money, he has always honored his stop loss. This level of trust in yourself is key to progressing. He is strictly focused on day trading options currently but would like to look into the Advanced Options course since that trading requires less time and effort while he works his full time job. Brian is very good at recognizing when he wants to revenge trade and other various bad habits. Recognizing it is the first step to ensuring those bad habits do not remain. Discipline is something that spans further than trading also. Considering he is a planner, one of the most beneficial things Brian has done in the process of learning is set up a pacing schedule. It's very common to binge through videos and then only retain 25-50%. When you allow yourself only a few hours a day to absorb the material you stand a much better chance at retaining the information. Quotes: I was red the first week. What I've really taken away from the courses is you can be wrong most the time if you honor your stop losses. I like triangle patterns and breaking key support and resistance. And volume as well. That loss from the previous day made me second guess my entry. If I would have trusted my system I would have erased that loss. If I'm not confident in something I'm good at taking a step back and realizing I need to learn more before putting money into it.

We have ourselves a two part episode and as a fair warning, if you are someone who loves excuses and/or carries around a pocket full of victim cards, you will NOT enjoy this discussion. In fact, as I type this up and reflect back on the lawn mower, the tornado, and many other things, I can feel my adrenaline beginning to flow in a "let's go!" type of way, this interview genuinely got me fired up in a good way. Chezz and I had no intentions of a two part episode, but as we talked with community member Brian, things were too good to just not keep on talking. I don't want to spoil anything other than offer up that fair warning. If you are still reading this, I'd assume you are ready to get some cold hard truth about "making it happen".. so let's do this! Notes: Today we interview community member Brian. His introduction to the market was a stock market competition in grade school which he also beat everyone out of the entire state. With careful budgeting, Brian and his wife have set up a separate account that they call the 'financial freedom account.' It is strictly to be used for ventures that can expand their income. Since Brian is a teacher, he has the summers off. Instead of sitting around and doing nothing Brian went and bought a trailer, a good lawnmower and made money all summer before he joined the program here. A tornado unfortunately destroyed Brian's house which led to a delay in his training but the good news is that everyone was okay. To help get back on track, both Brian and his wife got second jobs. Quotes: When I was in middle school I participated in a stock market competition… and I won it. I set up dummy email accounts and emailed you to see if you guys were consistent in your answers. I'm paranoid about scams. I'm probably doing too much too fast. I go to school, teach, then come home and watch the courses for hours. I have a whiteboard in my office that has paper trades I make. I was paper trading swing trading because my plan is to swing trade. Because I'm starting with a small account, if I have fake success papertrading and go live and lose it all then I have to start all over.