The Stock Trading Reality Podcast

Dennis Campbell ("GatorDC") gives great insight into the life of a trader who trades stocks and options while managing a full time job. Given the nature of trading, it is extremely hard to simply "become" a full time trader from the start, so having a full time job while trading is extremely common. We learn about what has worked, what hasn't worked, and what strategies and systems "Gator" has put into place in order to help make his profits as consistent and efficient as possible. If you are someone who has inspirations to being a full time trader, yet still has to deal with the "day job", don't miss this very informative (and of course, "realistic") interview! Notes: Dennis got his first taste of the market in the 2008 recession, made 100% on his few trades and took a break for 5 years. Even with early success trading, his main focus at the time was on his career. Gator approached his trading as a business instead of a hobby and decided to get educated first before putting money on the line. Throughout his full time trading he continued to invest in his education and that really helped him develop his own strategy. With time and experience, Dennis was able to reduce his emotional response to gains or losses to almost zero because he had a plan and trusted his trading system. Gator moved to trading options about 85% of the time based on the lower capital outlay required and the risk established up front. Now having a full time job, Dennis went from worrying about using a mobile platform to being the most comfortable using it strictly. Many traders with full time jobs utilize conditional orders and trailing stops to allow the platform to manage the trade for them if they need to step away for work. Gator came to the realization that discipline is a huge part of trading and worked on that heavily right from the beginning. Quotes: "I realized I wasn't educated and stayed away from the market because I knew the professionals would run me right over" tweet this quote "I liked the idea of being emotionless and a fully technical trader. I just wanted to trade the chart." tweet this quote "I studied for a month before putting on a trade. I wanted to figure out what my trading style was." tweet this quote "I knew in the back of my mind that I needed to educate myself before I went into a business where there were other professional traders. tweet this quote "My trading was mixed to start. I went through Robotic Trading 4 or 5 times to pound into my head what I needed to know. Once I was in the trade, I didn't really have a plan." tweet this quote "If I see the candles making certain shapes and patterns, I need to know whether that's good for the offense (bulls) or good for the defense (bears). In learning one side of the trade, you learn what the other side doesn't want to see." tweet this quote "I realized emotions and psychology were a big part of trading. Looking at the psychology side of it, I tried my best to not get overly emotional about either gains or losses. It was hard to do." tweet this quote "Probably 75% of my trades that were really big losers were because I failed to follow my rules. At some point I had to put my foot down and say, "If I'm going to do dumb things, I need to be punished by putting myself in timeout." tweet this quote "I did not like having a lot of money out there on the table. I liked the lower capital outlay using options while still using my strategy." tweet this quote "Going long on a stock is like walking up the stairs of a slide and being short is like going down a slide, and that's the fun part." tweet this quote "One of the stages you will go through as a trader includes buying the top and then it will go against you and you will sell the bottom." tweet this quote "At the end of the day when I put on a trade, I have a strategy and I have a plan. Whether that trade makes a profit or a loss, when I follow that plan, it is a successful trade." tweet this quote Links thinkorswim Robotic Trading Penny Stock Survival Guide RvR Trading Trampoline Trading Shorting for Profit Episode #002 (h00ch)

In this episode we discuss a topic that is near the top of the most frequently asked questions when it comes to trading. Whether it be stocks, options, Forex, etc., many people want to know if their personal computer set-up is sufficient enough to get the job done in an efficient manner. In reality, this topic is actually quite tricky. How so? There is a balancing act that must take place in the sense of you don't want to spend "too much" of your trading capital on a system that is more than you need; however, at the same time, you don't want to spend "too little" on a system that won't allow you to trade to your full potential. Chezz and myself have a free flowing discussion with Nate, the "geek" who works behind the scenes at ClayTrader.com, about this balancing act and other "techie" areas within the world of financial markets and trading. Notes: Clay started trading on a one-monitor setup during college. Your motherboard is the foundation of your trading computer. This will determine if you are capable of expanding in the future. Memory is a cheap and easy way to improve your computers multi-tasking once you start maxing out your current setup. Video cards are going to determine how many monitors your computer can run. There are a few routes you can take regarding initial setup or expansion. Benefits of a solid-state drive for your trading computer versus a traditional hard-disk drive. Any modern operating system will suit your trading machine assuming it has up-to-date support. USB monitors are great for those who travel and need to be portable. It is not the best option for those who trade at a desk. Quotes: "The processor and motherboard are going to be the main heart and soul of your computer." tweet this quote "I think two monitors is the sweet spot especially if you are just getting started in trading." tweet this quote "Dockable laptops are great because they are designed to be used at a desk with lots of monitors." tweet this quote "People who trade on-the-go tend to favor brokers with great mobile apps." tweet this quote Links: Build The Best Stock Trading Computer for Your Money 6 Multi Monitor Stock Trading Laptop Setups NVidia NVS Graphics Cards ClayTrader Resources ClayTrader Contact Nates Twitter: donky353

While certainly not the greatest "thing" from a marketing sales pitch perspective, the story of Dave Purnell ("h00ch") is one that is both extremely inspiring AND very humbling in regards to this business not being a "get rich overnight" type deal (as so many portray it to be). In this interview we learn about the 15 year journey that took him from the .com bubble, to penny stocks, to his trading career turning point, to options... where he now truly flourishes. In fact, below you can see a screen shot from the trading in his "small account" (he has 2 accounts he uses) on the day we recorded this podcast. Notes: Hooch had 0 interest in the stock market until he took a job at the bank in 1996. Riding the tech boom up and down by puppet trading and throwing darts. From 1997 to 2004 Hooch was in the market taking huge swings before he decided to hang up his gloves. In 2008 Hooch met a technical trader at work and that sparked his interest to get back in the market. He was trading based off daily and weekly charts, occasionally the 60 minute. Hooch's job loss was unexpected in 2011 and unfortunately there were not many job opportunities in his field. Hooch discovered iHub message boards and ClayTrader when he was getting involved in penny stocks. After taking a substantial loss, Hooch learned the lesson to never invest in penny stocks. After trading on and off for 12 years, he funded a $1,000 options account just to limit his risk since he was new to them. Hooch discusses the importance of not taking losses personal. If Hooch could go back and give himself one piece of advice it would be to get educated and practice practice practice. Quotes: "You could buy any ticker that had a website and you were pretty much guaranteed a 200% gain" tweet this quote "I turned 5 or 10 thousand into over 100 thousand and of course I didn't take any profit." tweet this quote "It was more like a hobby for me. I wasn't putting too much on the line so that it wouldn't affect my retirement plan or anything like that." tweet this quote "I just didn't have the discipline to trust the chart and do what I was suppose to do. If it fell through support I'd wait for the next support for it to bounce." tweet this quote "I did start looking into day trading and basically just taking the same bad habits and doing it on a lower time frame." tweet this quote "I was finding myself being in the green more often but taking huge swings. I didn't have the consistency." tweet this quote "I was involved in more pumps than dumps and then eventually the dumps starting biting me." tweet this quote "When it comes down to it (trading equities vs. options) you're just trading the chart, just like anything else." tweet this quote "You have to find what suits you and what you're comfortable with and really stick with it. Don't get overconfident and raise your risk." tweet this quote "It's better to start all your good habits up front because it's a lot easier to learn something correctly right off the bat than to unlearn bad habits." tweet this quote Links: Risk vs Reward Trading twitter.com/h00ch71

Today on The Stock Trading Reality Podcast I am excited to introduce my new show. I give a quick history of my idea behind the show and how it has now come to fruition. I also introduce my partner in this journey, who will be co-hosting, "Chezz". This is someone I have had a close eye on ever since he joined my private trading group almost a year ago. Michael Chesna ("Chezz") took the traditional route in his younger years of life. High school, college, and then eventually dead-end job. In 2014, he decided to take things into his own hands and determined the financial markets were a great way to do this. His journey began trading with bitcoin and penny stocks. After learning many valuable lessons along the way, he has now settled on weekly options trading. Stubbornness and persistence have kept him alive during the tough times most new traders face. In This Episode... ClayTrader discusses his background and introduction to the stock market. We discuss the purpose of the podcast. Chezz shares his pre-trading life from working in middle-management to moving across the country. How trading requires creativity to find what works for you. Chezz talks about drinking the Bitcoin and penny stock kool-aid. Making false assumtions about trading being too difficult. How a huge loss pushed Chezz towards education. Chezz talks about his ah-ha moment regarding charting and embracing the herd mentality. The importance of support systems and how they are vital when begining your traing journey. Tweetable Quotes: "You need to get creative. You need to figure out what works in your mind for personal risk tolerance." tweet this quote "I thought I was going to go full-time with Bitcoin" tweet this quote "Stubbornness and resilience are two things you need in any type of venture in life. You can't just be discouraged at every dip." tweet this quote "Candlestick charts are just a history of human emotion. That was the light bulb that went off in my head." tweet this quote "Trading will push you to your absolute highs and push you to your absolute lows." tweet this quote "This is a marathon. This is not a sprint. This is not a race to quick riches." tweet this quote Links: More About Clay Stock Trading Quick Tip – The Trader Death Trap Connect With Chezz Twitter E-Mail Phone