The Stock Trading Reality Podcast

A beginner trader reached out to me and the conversation ended with him accusing me of being “mean” and “aggressive”. I want to walk through this conversation as it allows for us to see the inner working of the human mind. Why does this matter? Well, as traders, the human mind matters a whole lot! You can have great knowledge, but if your mind is playing games with you and your emotions are out of control, that knowledge goes down the toilet in a hurry. Part of being a good trader is learning. Part of learning is having the skill to learn. What does this skill look like? This is the talking point I want to focus on: the skill of learning. Let’s walk through this conversation and see the pitfall of this beginner trader’s learning skill (or in this case, lack thereof).

So you want to be smart about your trading and investing approach? Good! The best way to find success is to find expectations that are reasonable. One of the biggest problems I see within people’s trading journey’s are expectations that belong on an entirely different planet. To be fair to these people, when you’re new and don’t know what you don’t know, this includes how to properly build expectations. On the positive side, none of this is difficult to do. It’ll only require you being self ware and honest about yourself and situation. Once you get a few basic questions answers, the resulting expectations will naturally be revealed. Let’s talk about it!

Given my unique position of having a sizable following on YouTube and social media, I am a prime target for certain side hustles. Because I am a target, I believe I can offer a valuable point of view towards those who are doing these side hustles. It takes money to make money, so anything that is geared towards creating streams of income, I feel it is worthwhile to weigh in on. If you are someone looking to make some extra money, please avoid doing what I am going to show you here in this episode. It’s very basic, but I’ve had it happen to me over and over again and all but ensures you’ll have very little success in your efforts. Let’s get to it!

I try my best to avoid this subject. The problem is, the argument is totally true and my conflict of interest does not make it any less true. If you are a beginner day trader and just getting started, I hope this case study can open your mind to at least considering a more than common and valid logic you are using. For those of you who continue to struggle in your trading, I hope this case study will, again, get you to open your mind to considering a different approach. Let’s talk about how you will be paying either way you go. This all boils down to “how much” will you pay? Let’s dig in a bit deeper and consider both the pros and cons.

Someone accused me of being shady by only doing analysis of “obvious” charts. This interesting comment got me thinking a bit and, well… here we are! I’ve been told to ignore the negative people who leave comments; however, in this person’s case, they offer up an important distinction that needs to be made within the world of trading. In particular, what kind of trading approach are you going to take? I personally feel better with one over the other (as I believe it contains less risk), but that’s not to say I am absolutely right. Good thing we’re all allowed to have our own thoughts and opinions! Whichever you feel is best for you is all that matters, but let’s make sure we all understand the two kinds of trading approaches!

Have you heard of the logical mistake people get tripped up known as the sunk cost fallacy? Odds are, you allow this thinking error to influence your life more than you think. The games our mind can play with us are abundant to begin with in the world of trading and investing. Sprinkle on the day to day mind games such as the sunk cost fallacy and I don’t blame you if smoke begins to pour out of your ears! It’s annoying no doubt, but the biggest problem I would argue is the lack of knowledge of its existence. Once you are aware of these thinking errors, you can be much better prepared to handle them. In my hears of coaching traders I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen the sunk cost fallacy create unneeded issues for people. Let’s talk a bit more in-depth about it so you are aware and prepared to fight off this logical fallacy when it comes knocking on your door.

My goal is to keep the world of money, trading and investing as clear as possible. With clarity comes a sense of actual reality. Actual reality brings with it the ability to make the best choice for your personal goals and circumstances. I had an interaction with a person who offered up some criticisms about day trading that are totally valid. I think he took these criticisms a bit too far and baked in some faulty assumptions; however, setting that aside, this person in correct. His criticisms leads to a conclusion to: don’t trade. I disagree. Let’s dig a bit deeper and explore this criticism with a fair and honest approach.

In this episode, I dive into the realm of options trading, particularly focusing on individuals beginning their investment journey with a small trading account. This episode is designed to begin to lessen the concept of options trading, proving that it's not as complicated as it might seem and demonstrating how it can be a powerful tool for generating impressive returns in a short amount of time, even with limited capital. Through a real-life example shared from our trading community, I explore how a modest investment in options can yield a substantial percentage return, emphasizing the importance of risk management and capital efficiency. This reference point is perfect for beginners looking for a straightforward entry into options trading, offering insights into leveraging small accounts for significant gains.

I believe it’s safe to say this person does not like day trading… at all! In a recent YouTube comment someone brought a flame thrower and, in their opinion, torched day trading as a money making income stream. He made several claims that I want to address as it kills a few birds with one stone. Discussing these claims helps not only dispel them as very weak, but also helps build a better context for aligning reality and expectations. I’d hate to see someone avoid day trading because of these kinds of thoughts; however, there are minor pieces of truth to them, so I want to be sure that beginners have a firm grounding in reality. This person was quite harsh, so let’s consider their critiques and think through them together!

While we all have different risk tolerances and personalities as traders, at the core, we’re all still human. Meaning, there are some general scenarios that happen to us all whether or not it seems like it. Given the nature of social media and YouTube, some situations can seem to never happen to people, but I assure you… they do! The dangerous part of this particular situation I discuss is the impact from the mental standpoint it can pile on you. During the piling on process it can tend to open up another whole can of worms. The solution to all of this is a simple one: be aware! When you are aware you can realize what is going on in your brain and deal with it in logical ways, not emotional. Let’s talk about a very important topic for all of us as traders!