The Stock Trading Reality Podcast

While I’m known as a trader, I do also invest! Investing does not need to be talked about nearly as much given the long term nature of the strategy; however, I do still enjoy talking about it. I wanted to take a few moments to share with you one of my favorite ETF’s for investing. Will this kind of investment be for you? I have no idea. I don’t know what your goals are and what kind of place you are in life, but I’d imagine there have got to be some of you out there that would find value in this ETF. An important aspect of investing for me is to be able to understand “what” the ETF is doing and “how” it accomplishes its goal. In my mind, the ETF I will be sharing with you makes perfect sense in a very simple way. I’m not too smart, so I need simple! Let’s talk about this ETF and see if it is something that can help you meet your goals in investing!

I recently came across a passionate plea from a retail trader arguing short selling should be banned. This is not a new topic within the world of trading and investing. Short sellers are often the evil people of the market and carry with them a sense of mystery and darkness. They’re often times used to blame for falling prices and the backbone of numerous conspiracies. If you believe short selling should be banned, then that’s fine. You are more than welcome to carry that opinion; however, I will say I’ve never seen a “ban short selling” opinion that didn’t import false logic. In this episode I hope to give you some talking points to arm yourself in case you come across one of these “short selling bad, ban it!” people. Or, who knows, maybe you are against short selling but have an open mind so are willing to hear me out (which I 100% respect). Let’s do some talking about short selling!

I get it. The vast majority of you reading this email do not work in the world of sales. Neither your job title or job description mentions anything about working on a sale’s based commission. The fact of the matter is, you are in thee world of sales whether you like it or not. I recently have an interaction with someone who reminded me that many people are unaware of this fact. The sooner you realize you are a salesperson, the sooner you’ll be able to position yourself to be as successful as whatever your goals are. Even if you don’t want to do sales and want to work at a job where you interact with no one, you are STILL a salesperson. Let me explain how.

While I really can’t stand the term and being called one, let’s talk the world of “guru”. I get it. It’s a pretty slimy term and carries with it a whole lot of negative connotations. I wanted to give a bit more context about my goals as a “guru” (including making money) so you can have a better informed decision as you listen to the podcast and whether or not you want to continue to listen. I recently had someone email me in and say some kind words; however, there was still something missing that I wanted to shed light onto. It’s a quick tip to always keep in mind as you do your searching for an online community. How can you cut through all the smoke and mirrors of what people “say”? Obviously, everyone “says” the right thing and how they want to help and care for you, but do they actually? Do they only care about the money? Let’s discuss this some more.

A student of my training program recently reached out to me and I wanted to share a few of the points that reveled themselves. When you’re new and you don’t know what you don’t know, you can quickly become mislead and develop faulty understandings of trading. The tricky part is, the misleading is nothing malicious or spiteful, it’s simply one person trying to help another. Unfortunately, the very kind act of trying to help is doing the exact opposite. I want to talk about a few topics that I’ve seen crop up time and time again. It’s nothing new, but it’s also something that I don’ believe can be repeated too often. There’s a constant flow of new people coming into the market and the sooner these beginners can be given a firm foundation, the sooner these hurdles can be overcome. Let’s get to it!

One of the most important tools in your day trading toolbelt is this calendar. A crucial part to any day trader’s success is having a plan. A crucial part to any plan is not getting caught off guard and being aware of as many variables as possible. This calendar will help you in identifying and building trade plans that make the most sense. I recently had a potential train wreck due to my, unacceptable, forgetfulness to use this tool. This tool is 100% free and day trader’s have zero excuse on why they can’t implement it within their strategies and plans. There are a few certain dynamics to consider that go beyond the surface level dynamics, both of which I’ll talk about. Let’s get to it!

There is a small amount of click-bait in my title. Technically speaking, I did “do something” in the form of making a decision; however, besides that, I literally did nothing and made over $30,000. What am I talking about? Let’s talk real estate a bit. I realize this is more of a trading and investing podcast, but I like to talk money whenever possible. Also, many people will encounter the world of real estate and some point in time and be able to use the exact same strategy I recently did. I really want to reiterate, I literally did nothing except for make a conscious choice. Let me walk you through a recent real estate transaction I was part of and the SUPER EASY strategy I used to make myself a nice chunk of change!

I recently read an article from CNBC containing a quote which I believer perfectly summarizes people’s disconnect of what inflation is and how it works. My goal with this podcast has always been to inspire and educate people in regards to more than just trading and investing. While I could argue that understanding inflation can certainly assist in your trading and investing, even if this were not true, from an educated citizen standpoint, it’s still worthwhile! This will be a brief episode but one that hopefully can help you help others if you come across someone not quite “getting it” when it comes to this stuff. Inflation is coming down, but… there’s a but…

If you have spent any amount of time on social media, YouTube or online message boards, then I’m at a 97.8% confidence level you’ve heard “stock manipulation” used as the reasoning for some kind of event. Usually this event involves the person making the claim having lost money or not making as much money as they could have. The reasoning comes in various forms, but the most often used culprits are those evil hedge funds. The (true) problem with stock manipulation accusations is it doesn’t solve the actual issue the particular trader is facing. What do I mean? Well let’s take a look at a stock that have entered into the news and are now causing the alarm bells of stock manipulation to ring out!

Can you imagine walking through literal mountains in the pitch dark at the age of 11? That’s what our guest, Hussam (goes by “Sam”), endured as his family left Iraq back in the 1990’s! Sam had to start at ground zero and build from there. Learn the language and culture and then become self sustainable. Sam has done exactly that and demonstrated an immense level of ambition and drive. With that being said, this is where Sam is now struggling as a trader. One of the cruel jokes the market plays on us is having the requirement that you need to be ambitious; however, at the same exact time, you can’t be too ambitious of you’ll have lots of issues. Sam held nothing back and walked us through his struggles and the issues that have been plaguing him. Thanks to his transparency, it opens the doors to many learning lessons for those of you who are beginners and offers up a reminder for all of us traders at all levels. Let’s get to it!