The Stock Trading Reality Podcast

As the political season really heats up we’re starting to see more and more talking points from the various candidates. While I’m not here to rant and rave in favor of one candidate or another, whenever I see economic talking points, I want to be sure everyone has a baseline understanding. In doing so, you’ll be in the best spot available to make an educated choice. Maybe you choose to go about it differently than I do, and that’s fine with me. If we’re both operating from a place of understanding but we simply disagree, then no problem there! With that being said, my goal is not to persuade you in one direction or another, all I want to do is explain trade tariffs and the considerations we all need to weigh in both directions. Are they good or bad? Let’s discuss it and do some clarifying!

For the beginner and person just getting started in the world of trading, this is a critical question and usually one of the first considerations. I recently had someone ask me about this topic but in more of a unique way. In doing so, they opened up the door for a different approach on the topic that should make things crystal clear. The vast majority of beginners go through the platform and broker process the wrong way. I don’t blame them. When you’re new and don’t know what you don’t know, part of that is not understanding the proper approach. Let me walk you through how to ask this question regarding platform and broker in the most complete way possible.

I realize saying something is “next level thinking’ reeks of exaggeration and being overly dramatic, but in this case, it’s not. There was a recent event that took place in the markets that illustrates how we as traders and investors need to be thinking in “next level” ways. To be fair to all those who fall into the trap (including me when I first got started), you aren’t stupid. In fact, you are thinking in a rationale and logical way. The problem is though, within the world of trading and investing the logical way to think is oftentimes the worst way to think. What do I mean? Let me explain not “in theory” but rather using a real life event that just happened serving as an excellent case study.

All drama aside, what I talk about in this episode is a “must understand” concept for all of us as traders and investors. As you’ll hear about, I came across someone within my YouTube comment section that did not understand this concept and it had them in a very risky personal finance situation. I’ve heard many horror stories over the years due to a lack of understanding, and my goal is to ensure you don’t put yourself in harms way. The good news is, it’s not a totally complicated idea to understand; however, I can totally relate to people getting disoriented by it. Especially if you are a beginner trader or investor, invest a few moments of your time with this episode to ensure you don’t throw yourself into a financial pit!

Scams are a very real thing. I’ve lost count of the number of people who have reached out to me about an “issue” to, unfortunately, realize they’d been scammed. I want to teach you one very simple fact that is all you need to know to avoid being scammed in the world of trading and investing. Is it a basic principle? Yes. Is it one that people need to be told? Based on my personal interactions, yes! This episode will be very quick and to the point. Let’s get to it and ensure you do not fall for any kind of trading or investing scams that are very common place!

As we start a new year, I want to walk you through what I would argue should be the number one goal for all of us as traders. This is a goal that anyone can accomplish. There is truly no excuse on why you can’t put this goal in motion and immediately start to reap the benefits of it. It’s a new year so let’s focus on goals that will have practical affects on our trading outcomes! Let’s go!

A whole lot of whether or not you will find success as a trader depends on your attitudes and perspective before you begin. If you approach the world of trading from the wrong angle, you are not guaranteed to fail; however, you are putting yourself at a distinct disadvantage. We all value our time and in order to maximize your time efficiency as a trader, you want to enter a situation with the realistic mindset. I had an interaction with someone recently and it really made it glaringly obvious that their mind was in the wrong place. Again, I don’t want to overexaggerate and be dramatic. Minds in the wrong place don’t mean you will for sure fail, but minds in the wrong place need to be corrected… so here we are! Let’s make sure you are not in this place within your trading which sets you up for false expectations and causes you to look in the wrong places.

The true skill set of a trader has nothing to do with reading technical charts or understanding balance sheets and cash flow statements. The true skill revolves around understanding your emotions and knowing how to control them. There are a variety of emotions that need to be considered within the world of trading and investing but one of the key emotions is fear. Fear is tricky because not all fear is bad. What do I mean? I want to quickly walk you through two types of fear which must be understood and harnessed. These may not be the most exciting topics do dive into; but, they’re some of the most important and this is why most fail. The normal person chases after the exciting topics and ignores the boring ones. This is a huge mistake! Let’s talk some fear.

The market has a very sick sense of humor. If you’ve been around long enough, you know exactly what I mean by this! For the unsuspecting victims, they are treated as little puppets until the market decides to crush them. I know I’ve been there! The market has played me like a fiddle on more than one occasion. The difficult part with all of this is to most traders, they have no idea until it’s too late. That’s why this episode is so important! When you can become more self aware, you begin to put yourself in way better positions and are better prepared to recognize the market’s mind games. I interacted with someone recently who demonstrates exactly what i mean. I can understand why the person thinks what they do, but this is the type of trader you don’t’ want to be! Let’s talk about it!

I want to talk about a topic that applies to all of us in one way or another. I recently had a conversation who made the argument that everyone should be paid a livable wage. I know this is not some new thought or a talking point which has not been discussed in the headlines before; however, I did want to bring another view to it that I believe many are missing in their analysis. If you ever come across someone who wants a living wage to be paid (or perhaps you already feel this way), I want to offer up a few other angles to consider. I respect everyone’s point of view and can appreciate where everyone is coming from, but if a topic is going to be addressed in the most efficient way possible, we need to ensure we’re approaching it as accurately as possible. Let’s get to it!