The Stock Trading Reality Podcast

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.

I love people who have ambition and follow through with it to the maximum potential. I’d argue that our guest, Peter from our community, takes this to an entirely different level. You’ll see what I mean when he talks about his photography passion…. Wow! I’ll just leave it at that. I bring that up to give you the overall context of Peter’s personality and approach to life. I found the discussion very interesting to see how someone with so much hardcore passion would implement that into the world of learning the markets and becoming a trader. Peter does not disappoint and we talk about a variety of topics and considerations that all traders (new or old) need to remember to factor into their trading approach. Notes: Today we interview community member Peter. His wife was given a bonus but it had to be paid out in stock. They could then decide how to diversify it. Peter didn’t want to be bothered with it so he put it on the ‘middle of the road’ risk parameter and let it grow on it’s own. Peter has a passion for photography so this led him to move to Iceland from Hungary. Since he left the company he previously worked at he was required to cash out the stock’s he had threw them. He did take an introduction to the stock market course but wasn’t very impressed so he didn't continue with this initial source. After going through many Stock Trading Reality Podcasts, Peter knew that this was the place he’d like to learn. After trying to find what timeframes worked best for him, he realized that he did not excel on shorter periods. The good thing is that he took the time to figure this out on paper instead of blowing up multiple accounts to find out. Peter is taking a very slow and methodical approach to the market since he has heard many stories about what happens when you jump in head first without the proper training first. Quotes: I thought the stock market was a playground for the rich people, that’s it. I just wanted to get a broker and I just wanted to start. But I decided to listen to podcasts about it first. I did try shorter timeframes. I killed myself with a noose. I tried to trade those and you know how it is for a beginner. If I started earlier I would have run into it full force and it would have definitely burned me. If you trade the plan it means you have a strategy. If you trade the plan it means you are patient and disciplined.

It’s been requested for quite some time, and here it is (I guess now is better than never?), my personal journey. I do my best to remember everything and start at the very beginning. At the end of the day, all I can really say is DO SOMETHING. Notes: Clay’s interest in numbers has been around since he was a child. From an early age, Clay’s family noticed his entrepreneurial talent and helped nurture that. It also helped that he is competitive and wants to win. A big moment in Clay’s life was happened he was a cart retriever at a grocery store. One time they were overwhelmed with work and one of the millionaire sons of the business offered to roll up his sleeves and help out. This opened up Clay’s eyes to the fact that you’re never too good to do the work required to grow/expand a business. If you couldn’t tell by now, Clay has been focused on making the numbers and math work in his favor. He worked multiple jobs and started his own business to bring in extra revenue while he was in college. Instead of going out and partying like most of this classmates, Clay decided to focus on the growing the business. It only took Clay one time to ‘fall in love’ with a penny stock and unfortunately take a 75% loss. However, this was a great learning experience for him and led him to investigate trading the market further. After putting out video charts on various tickers, he quickly became the most followed person on InvestorsHub. As time went on, Clay decided to see who was serious about learning technical analysis and launched the website. As time went on and the site grew he hired on a friend from his church who is now known to the community as IT-Nate. Shortly after, Chezz joined the team as well. Even after producing courses regarding the stock market and real estate, Clay’s true passion has always been the field of personal finance. That’s where the idea of www.MoneyWithClay.com came about. Quotes: The money just happens to be the scorecard of how well you are doing at this game of figuring out how the numbers work. It’s taught me that you’re never too good to do anything if something is going to help grow your business. I didn’t live the normal college experience because I chose to go down the path of working hard. I thought, the stock market? That’s for dweebs! That’s for geeks! That’s boring. I’d walk into a meeting and Don would say ‘Hey! Claytrader!’ That’s where the alias came from. Because I did something. Just do something. I don't know what your something is but just do it. You never know where it may lead. My true passion is personal finance. I think the reason is that it is something everyone and anyone can do. Make sure you have control of your life. If you don’t have control of your own life, how are you going to control trading? Links: MoneyWithClay.com

Warning! This is Part 2 of a multi part interview, so if you want the best experience, then be sure to listen to episode 161 first. I know Part 1 left on quite the cliff hanger, but you don’t have to wait any longer. We continue down the road with Phil (chat room alias “phl1”) on his journey and venture down all kinds of nooks and crannies in the market. We do a little bit of live coaching as we talk about an actual trade that took place as we were speaking (the benefit of doing these while the markets are open). All in all, if you enjoyed Part 1 then there is no doubt in my mind you’ll enjoy this second part just as much, if not more. Let’s get to it! Notes: Phil is very process oriented. He makes a great distinction between a mistake and an error while explaining how it impacts his confidence going forward. Phil reminds us how our body reacts to fear and the unknown which essentially shuts off our logic in the moment. Clay and Phil do a live lesson on CLSD during the interview. The big thing to remember when scalping is that sometimes you need to let the trades form and give you an area of opportunity. Phil has created an in depth business plan for his trading business. While he thinks this is completely normal, he falls into a very small category of people who actually treat trading as a business, not a day at the casino. Since Phil has prepared himself by saving multiple years of living expenses, he is prepared to continue to practice every day and continue to work on increasing his trading size. He will not get himself into a position where he can sustain a catastrophic loss. Slow and steady wins the race. Quotes: I’ve been in chat rooms where I want to go long but they’re going short so I change my strategy but I was ultimately right! When I think I’m not getting anywhere in trading and I see I’ve mastered another section, reminds me that the practice pays off. I have a paragraph about why I trade, then a paragraph about who I am as a trader… If I would have realized I could have done this for a living years ago I would have approached it differently.

This is a great one that could have went on for hours. It kind of did considering it turned into a two part episode. Part 1 takes us down the rabbit hole with Phil (chatroom alias, “ph1l”). Phil is a beast with a plan and while he still has lots to learn, there is no question in my mind he is taking this all as serious as it can be taken. From writing out a personal business plan to saving up a huge hoard of cash to get him going, Phil is being realistic and sharpening his axe to the fullest. What I enjoy the most about Phil is his brutal honesty (he doesn’t really like other people – haha!), yet, he is willing to share so that other people can learn from his mistakes. It’s sort of an irony, but definitely in a good way. Let’s start the journey! Notes: Today we talk with community member Phil who goes by ph1l in the chat rooms. His father had become ill and this led to Phil getting a hold of his father’s brokerage account to manage. After probing him about his purchase decisions, he decided to rework the strategy in hope for more consistency. As he got more serious about trading, he invested over 15,000 dollars in his education but had come to realize that regardless of how many different schools he went through that he needed to stick with just one and give it a chance. Phil paid off all his debts and was able to accumulate 4 years of living expenses before ever attempting to become a full time trader. He was still in the process of figuring out where he fit in the market in regards to strategy and markets. He pulled the trigger on Claytrader University within the first 5 minutes of 2018 and went through the courses as recommended within the first month and a half. After taking some initial losses, Phil decided to reduce his trading size and take it slow just to get into the groove. He can scale up as time goes on but he is not in any hurry. Quotes: I took the account from 50 grand to 150 grand in a few years but now it’s just kind of plateaued. I went from the top of the world to losing everything. My cash flow was negative, my savings were gone… I now have 0 debt. I put away 4 years of overhead into a savings account. I knew that was the only way. I said I was going to be the first one to sign up for CTU in 2018. I was enrolled by 12:04am. This is the rest of my life. This is my new career.

It’s time to bring back a long time member of our community, Mark. He’s much better known via his alias of ‘AlphaThor’ within the community. He was originally on episode 96, but I wanted to sit down with him and hear how things have been going. We discuss several topics but the one that I could relate to quite well is his current strategy of depending on high win rates to tilt the risk vs. reward into his favor. This topic is one that many people don’t quite understand, so I’m confident it will be helpful to those who need to grasp the “full range” of how risk vs. reward can work. Lots to learn thanks Alpha, so let’s get to it! Notes: Today we reinterview Mark who goes by alphathor in the community. To recap, Mark started in penny stocks before discovering Clay. This led to him getting educated which ultimately led to his desire to trade options. Mark has structured his job so that he has the opportunity to trade every morning and work in the evenings. He was smart enough to lighten up on his trading as he tried to find what trading worked the best with his personality and strategy. Even though he didn’t find much success day trading to start, he changed up his entry criteria. He would wait for too much confirmation and miss the move. Now he mainly focuses on overextended moves into important support or resistance levels. This is also a high win rate strategy so while the risk versus reward isn’t what you typically think of, this modified version is typical for scalping. Quotes: I tried swing trading options. That didn’t work out too well. I’ve always had a passion for day trading options. I was struggling trying to find my way so I was just coasting and taking it easy over the summer. Since I’m trading against the trend, I would have rather got out for the quick 50 bucks than have it go against me. I’d like to start with 2 contracts then work my way to 3 and building up to 9 in the future. Links: https://claytrader.com/podcast/episode096/

Let’s go!!!! I’m sick of excuses! I swear… the more people I interview on the podcast the more crustier and grumpier I become when it comes to people playing the victim card and crying foul with all kinds of excuses. I don’t want to spoil anything, so all I’m going to say is that thanks to our guest, Rick (“mollardr1” chatroom alias), I’ve become that much more of a jerk to those who walk around with the victim card. If you are looking for some inspiration in regards to putting the axe to the grindstone to go from Point A to Point Z, I guarantee you will get that in this discussion. Let’s get to it! Notes: In today’s episode we interview community member Rick. Since Rick grew up on a farm he was familiar with commodity markets such as corn, cattle, etc. He also participated in a paper trading competition for school and while other people went all in on some penny stocks, Rick took it more serious. Starting at the age of 17, Rick had started to put in monthly contributions to mutual funds hoping for 10% growth over 5-10 years. He eventually closed those accounts out and used the proceeds to buy his family a home. This led to a trading hiatus while he rebuilt up an account. Rick went to a seminar that discussed the importance of multiple streams of income so this was his main focus. This helped him pay off his home in full and generate additional revenue every month which led him to be able to fund a trading account again. After looking at the various education sources out there, Rick decided to join Claytrader and started the formal education that is involved. He enjoys trading longer term time frames as this fits his life best. Even with a high win rate trading strategy, Rick is not prepared to go full time to trade yet. He realizes there is much more to learn and that takes time and experience. Quotes: I walk into Morgan Stanley and told them I wanted to purchase stock. He told me that I couldn’t because he wouldn’t get a commission. I went on a hiatus for 3 years because I didn’t have more money to throw into a trading account. It would be cool to quit my job but I want to know the numbers before hand… because that’s a big jump. I paper traded from July ‘17 until Nov-December. Now I’m slowly starting to build actual positions with real money.

We’re going on a journey with a member that begins back in the 80’s! I don’t mean to insult your intelligence, but that was 35 years ago! Our guest from the community, Fred (‘FredSC’ in the chatroom), takes us from the start when he used to get physical newsletters his mailbox to present day where technology has changed the game quite a bit for him. He’s traded several asset classes and discovered much over the years and he doesn’t hold back in sharing the ups and downs that we can all learn from. I always enjoy these discussions as they present a unique viewpoint from someone who has seen a whole lot more than myself. Come along for a stroll through the past 30 plus years. Notes: In today’s episode we speak with community member Fred. He ended up using multiple newsletters in the 1980s which contained various strategies. Fred actually ended up buying near the bottom of the market crash and got a great entry. He was not impressed with brokerage recommendations at the time so he continued to focus on putting money into his 401k. Eventually he opened a self directed brokerage account and decided to focus on gold miners. After hearing about the Robotic Trading course, Fred decided to join the community and start his education journey. He quickly realized that there is more to the puzzle of trading than just one course so without much hesitation, Fred joined University. Fred paper traded forex for a while but had trouble dealing with the spreads from TD Ameritrade. This led him to take a look at options. He gave himself some time off from work to also try day trading. Something Fred needs to continue to work on is his stop loss placement. This is something that takes time to develop especially if you’re going to focus on a basket of stocks you’ll be trading often. Quotes: Somehow the idea got in my head ‘now is the time to think about buying.’ I just kept plugging money into the 401k. This buddy of mine said he made 1000 dollars in a day with this Robotic Trading thing! I went home and up comes Claytrader. First I’m up then I’m down. Then it comes down and hits my stop loss. I had FOMO going on big time. Back to paper trading. You put it together, look at what happened and then you tune it or you say ‘no that worked’ and leave it alone.