The Stock Trading Reality Podcast

We preach it all the time on the show. Trading is a business of hard work, NOT "get rich quick" despite how some conman out there market it. Our guest for this interview, Andrew ("Ava"), is a shining star of what hard work and dedication looks like. Better yet, he provides a perfect case study example of why "I don't have the time" is not a valid excuse. As you will learn, Ava is a busy guy with all sorts of stuff going on in his life, HOWEVER, he still makes time to better himself as a trader. I have little doubt this interview will motivate you to stop using silly excuses on "why" you haven't attempted trading or aren't being successful at it. Notes: Ava was involved in a workplace injury and found himself with time on his hands. He decided he wanted to put his money to work for him and invest in the stock market. When he began he would just follow whatever the most popularly talked about tickers were on iHub. He even went as far as trying to find individual stock pumpers that had a high success rate to find some trades. Ava has always treated trading as a business. He had no desire for excitement (realizing that this is not a casino). He wanted to learn to trade so he could build wealth and increase his income. His business approach led him to decide to get educated so that he was better equipped to deal with the market. Quotes: “I was trying to figure out how to get rich trading something only worth a penny.” tweet this quote “I was still really blind to what was going on. I hate losing money and that led me to purchasing courses on technical analysis.” tweet this quote “Averaging down, it’s a killer. The worst part is that it does work but that one time it doesn’t will take you to the woodshed.” tweet this quote “The gains from my options trades were so much larger than my straight up equity trades so it made sense to just trade options.” tweet this quote “You can make decent money scalping but you will make the majority of money off of those runners if you let them work for you.” tweet this quote Links: Video: Live Trades

Bad starts. If we're all being honest with ourselves, I'm sure we can relate to getting involved in something and then having things not go very well. That is the spot today's guest found himself in after attempting to get into the stock market. Chat room member, Nick, shares his experience of the tough start he had, but then, more importantly and inspiring, "what" he did to bounce back. As the saying goes, "it's not how to start, but how you finish" and Nick's story is very applicable to this. I was quite inspired by it. Nick got knocked down pretty hard, but he didn't let the beginning experience keep him down. Notes: Nick started with penny stocks based on what was popular on iHub. He thought it was a good idea based on the fact that it required a small amount of capital and people always talked about how extraordinary the gains could be. He had lost a good amount of money due to lack of liquidity and inability to sell out of his losers. Nick put in a few orders to close those positions and shut off his platform for a few years until he made his way back to trading in the winter of 2014. Nick ventured back into the market now armed with education. He found what strategies work best with his risk profile and personality. Treating trading as a business is certainly a requirement for long term success in the stock market. Quotes: “I started holding some bags at one point. Had a bad experience and quit trading for a few years until I came back December 2014.” tweet this quote “I was a little bit jaded. I kind of felt entitled to a 100% gain on every trade since that’s what happened with my first trade.” tweet this quote “I don’t look at any indicators. They are all lagging and are all derived from the chart unfolding in front of your eyes.” tweet this quote

I'm sure you've noticed: many stock trading sites out there like to focus on all the glitz and glamour areas of life. Sure, if you are trying to sell people products and services, why not turn your advertising into a late night infomercial? A sucker is born every minute. Today's guest, Alex, gives us the truth and realistic side of trading and the markets. Hard work. Trading is possible, but it doesn't happen overnight and Alex shares all the ups and downs of his current journey in a very open and honest way. Notes: Alex’s father used to look at the stock prices in the newspaper every Saturday and that was what sparked his initial interest. He did some light trading with a few friends in high school but completely stepped away from it after he graduated. His interest was sparked with the rise of the marijuana stock boom. After watching ClayTrader profit on almost a daily basis, Alex decided to invest in his education and stop the bleeding his account was suffering from. Quotes: “We took $300 we made from selling collectable cards and bought 3 shares of $AMZN with it. It was great.” tweet this quote “We would check the price everyday and it would go up a dollar then down a dollar. It wasn’t doing anything.” tweet this quote “60-70% would have a sudden jump up and I’d feel like I missed the boat. I wasn’t accounting for the gap up and trap.” tweet this quote “I spent my entire Christmas break going through every course. Especially RvR Trading. That one was revolutionary for me.” tweet this quote “I was getting paralysis by analysis. I was trying to find the holy grail but there is no holy grail.” tweet this quote “This isn’t a journey of money. This is a journey of emotions.” tweet this quote Links: Course: The Trading Freedom Pathway

When you decide to get into world of trading, it's important to take your time and go through the necessary steps; however, at the end of the day, you need to just do it! That's the attitude of our guest today, Pendar, and we'll learn how this attitude has both helped and hindered him in his journey. This is certainly a great outlook to have, but it can get you into trouble if it is not focused on the right paths as you will see. Sit back and enjoy the interview as we learn about the pros and cons of "just doing it." Notes: Pendar was driving under the Chicago Mercantile Exchange when the thought occurred to him that trading might be of interest to him. He jumped in headfirst and invested in his education. He got his feet wet right away and traded penny stocks before trying to trade options. Pendar employs various options strategies while utilizing the charts and the quantitative data to put all the factors in his favor for his trades. Quotes: “Trading to me was like another video game. Just to learn the ropes, click on all the buttons. That’s how I learn. Just do it.” "I never paper traded because it didn’t feel real. The real emotions just wouldn’t kick in.” “If you guys have any debt, you should not trade. Pay off your debt first, pay off your credit cards, and then trade.” “My stop loss was like a police officer right behind me telling me to pull over and I wanted to get away.”

Today we have a conversation with Stephan about his current goal to reinvent himself into a trader. Like the markets, life can take many unknown turns, and today we'll learn about how the Great Recession forced Stephan to reevaluate his situation from both a personal and financial perspective. At age 49, needing to pivot in life and do some reinventing probably is not the most preferable thing to do, but Stephan has jumped in with both feet in order to once again place him in a successful spot in life. Come with us on this wild ride which includes a very interesting dynamic regarding Stephan's wife and her field of employment. Notes: Stephen had worked with many large tech companies whose stock prices were growing exponentially. This was when he jumped in buying many well known tech companies. While riding up the tech bubble and riding it back down, Stephen had sat on a pretty large unrealized loss before taking his broker’s advice and unwinding his losing positions. He redeployed his remaining capital to launch a business which was very successful. The recession had a delayed onset and reduced his revenue by 50% when it eventually caught up. Stephen decided to get educated and approach the market once more but with full control of his portfolio (not using investment advisors). His initial interest was in penny stocks but he soon realized the benefits of trading options. Stephen’s support system was the Inner Circle as his spouse works in risk management and sees many traders who fail but she is slowly coming around after recognizing his risk management techniques. His recognition that trading needs to be treated as a business is a key element to takeaway from this podcast. That really is the key to longevity. Quotes: “I rode the tech bubble all the way up and rode it all the way down. I made big mistakes not taking profits when I should have.” tweet this quote “At the height of all this my account value was around 250k but of course I did not take any profits.” tweet this quote “I was at a crossroads. I had to reinvent myself once again. And at 49, that’s not ideal.” tweet this quote “I approached trading as a business. I wasn’t about to jump into something without getting educated and develop skills.” tweet this quote “I was making money but I wasn’t consistent. I was making all the rookie mistakes… not honoring stop losses, averaging down, etc.” tweet this quote “Don’t think that just because someone has a designation after their name that they know more than you.” tweet this quote Links: Course: The Trading Freedom Pathway Video: The Trade Plan Destroyer Video: Is Stock Trading Gambling?

We look at diversification in a slightly different way in today's interview. Our guest, Darren, operates his own business; however, due to realizing the need to create additional income streams for himself decided to venture into the world of the stock market and trading. Due to Darren's experience already with starting and running a business, he approached his trading career the same way. What did he do? How did he set-up his trading business? We learn about this and more. Notes: Darren owns his own business but quickly came to realize you are at the mercy of reliable employees to continually grow the business. He wanted to take some of that financial dependence into his own hands and opened a trading account. While Darren was not hesitant to invest in his education right away, the training he took did not include any technical analysis and because of this he was unable to develop consistent profits. He is now trading directional options and has focused on a select set of stocks to get intimate with while learning how they act to be able to capitalize on their moves daily. Darren would recommend that all new traders spend a healthy time practicing because with practice comes confidence in yourself and that is a strong attribute to have while trading. Quotes: “I did take an $8k extensive options course but it lacked the charting. Not knowing the charting made it too difficult to stick with.” tweet this quote “I look at the chat and then I look at the chart and then I make an educated analysis. Before I would just buy an alert.” tweet this quote “I used to think ‘it will come back’ when I was taking a loss. Now it’s just like hitting a pothole. You hit it and you move on.” tweet this quote “1. Get educated. 2. Practice that education. 3. Continue to practice until you are confident in your abilities.” tweet this quote Links: Video: The Trade Plan Destroyer Video: Getting Romantic With Options

While a very private individual, today's guest stepped out from the shadows to talk about his journey as a trader. "DS" takes us through first getting started, realizing he wasn't nearly as smart as he thought he was, and then hopping onto the true path of success: figuring out the "sweet spot" in his trading personality. We learn about the steps he had to take in order to construct a trading system that fit his personal risk tolerance profile and therefore allowed for trading consistency. There is a huge amount of great nuggets of information in today's interview, so you'll want to be sure to soak it all in. Notes: DS was invested in mutual funds for many years and after he semi-retired he decided to take control of his finances and decided to learn how to trade. He was struggling to realize why some of his trades wouldn’t follow through when he realized he was competing against other timeframes. DS recognized that everyone has their own trading parameters and comforts. He designed a strategy that fit his risk profile and provided comfort. There are many tools out there for traders to use but what matters is finding ones that work for you. Quotes: “I was looking for something larger than 100$ a day. I could win that on the golf course. The moves just weren't large enough.” tweet this quote “You’re not smart when you first start. You’re either lucky or run out of money until you figure out what works.” tweet this quote “It’s not like you are making money off the company. You are making money off someones inability to read a chart.” tweet this quote “When you lose 10k in a week multiple times you come to realize very quickly that you are not that damn smart.” tweet this quote “You may not have winning days everyday but if you have more green days than red you are able to grow it and retire.” tweet this quote Links: Course: Robotic Trading

Ambition is a great thing. Today's guest has three college degrees, so "ambitious" is probably not even a good enough word to describe her. With this being said, ambition in the world of trading can lead to some pain, and that's exactly what happened to today's guest, "Keisha." She came out of the gates blazing and quickly got into trading without really taking the proper steps, and as you will hear about, she got herself into some trouble. How did she react to this? What was her new plan of action? The answers to these questions and much more in today's episode. I hope you all take to heart what is being communicated within this interview about the pitfalls of going "too fast" compared with the benefits of "slowing down." Notes: Keshia got involved in the penny stock market while she was finished up her college education. She found InvestorsHub and started reading up on various tickers. One of her first trades took her account from $1,200 to $10,000 but greed had kept her from selling. She was determined to get educated and trade smarter after that gain had dwindled to $300. She studied for a minimum of 4 hours a day for months while she was preparing to get back into the stock market. Keshia understands that it takes time and effort to be successful. After stringing together multiple green and consistent months, Keshia is now at the point where she is starting to scale up her size in a slow and controlled manner. She is comfortable with her risk and without that comfort, your trading will certainly be uneasy. Quotes: “I enjoyed watching the level 2 and the candles form on the chart even though I didn’t understand everything they meant.” tweet this quote “My husband really wanted me to pursue the stock market. He really has been my biggest supporter.” tweet this quote “At first I was trying to use all the indicators and it was just too much. All of that is not really necessary.” tweet this quote “In school you are taught that you are right or wrong but with trading it is okay to take a controlled loss.” tweet this quote “If I allow a loser to get larger and larger, that’s a good way to blow up your account and I don’t want that happening.” tweet this quote “You’re better off investing in your education instead of relying on someone else to give you a hot stock pick.” tweet this quote Links: Course: The Trading Freedom Pathway

Winning 80% of the time does not mean you will make money. This valuable lesson comes to us thanks to the blunt honesty and transparency of today's guest, "ZenTrader". His highs and lows as a trader provide many situations that I'm confident many of you listeners will be able to relate to. While "talking wins" is certainly the more exciting topic and marketing point, today's discussion revolves around the importance of risk management... a much less attractive topic, but one of the utmost importance. Notes: Zen decided to take his tax return for the year and put it to work in the market. He was lured into the large gains penny stocks are known for making and decided to find some traders to follow. After finding initial success, he attempted to day trade and even with an 80% win rate, his losses were much larger than his wins and that is when he decided he needed to delve deeper into technical analysis. Zen found himself in a vicious circle of puppet trading others successfully and then taking losses when trading on his own. He would alternate between those two types of trading for some time before deciding to get educated. After listening to a recommendation to check out options, Zen spent time practicing and perfecting his methods to find what strategy works best for him. Quotes: “At one point I was looking at 24,000 from 2,000. I thought to myself, I don’t want 24,000 , I want 200,000.” tweet this quote “I would purchase at what I thought was a support then promptly watched it fall through. I then decided to stop trading blindly.” tweet this quote “I had a few successful trades and I didn’t need an education. I didn't need anyone to tell me what to do. I was a trader.” tweet this quote “Just using risk vs. reward and buying stuff when it makes sense seems to be working out a lot better for me.” tweet this quote "You can't learn how to be disciplined. You can't learn how not to be emotional. You have to train yourself to do that." tweet this quote Links: Course: Penny Stock Survival Guide Course: Options Trading Simplified Twitter: NJZenTrader

Today we talk with Justin, aka FreeFall909, and discuss a journey that I'm sure many people can relate to. After being inspired by a Hollywood movie about the stock market, Justin found himself in the Wild Wild West of penny stock trading and eventually turned himself into someone else's puppet. It was not until he got honest with himself that his journey was put on the bullish pathway. While Justin is not a professional trader or anything like that, his story is one that hits the heart and soul of the goal of this podcast: giving insight into the life of a normal guy who is on a quest to conquer the markets. Not only does honesty go a long way in normal life, but when it comes to trading, being honest is a critical piece to the puzzle as you will hear about in this episode. Notes: Justin was interested in the stock market at an early age and decided to get involved after the movie ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ came out. While he was able to find some penny stocks that moved, he was very inconsistent and gave back his earnings most times. He started to follow various people on Twitter and it was on one of those ‘plays’ that he took a significant loss and then decided to take some time off. After seeing people on InvestorsHub talk about technical analysis and charting and decided this would be something worth educating himself on. Justin is not rich and didn’t think he would ever be able to trade big board stocks but then learned about options and completely abandoned penny stocks to trade these larger name companies. While he doesn’t trade huge size, Justin’s winners are drastically larger than his losers and that is an attribute that can scale up to larger trading size in time. Quotes: “I didn’t really take out of it that penny stocks were scams. I thought that they were going to make me rich.” tweet this quote “I thought that any and all marijuana stocks were going to go to the moon. I wouldn’t even pull up a chart.” tweet this quote “I was just pumping the money in until I was at a pretty significant loss.” tweet this quote “I got the options course, realized I could actually play big board stocks and I knew it was going to work at that point.” tweet this quote “I’m trying to manage my risk more than I am trying to get huge gains.” tweet this quote “It’s nice to know now, even if I only make 15$, I actually knew what I was looking at and was rewarded.” tweet this quote Links: Course: Robotic Trading Course: Options Trading Simplified Videos: Live Trade Playlist