Chat With Traders

Liam Vaughan is a finance author and senior reporter for Bloomberg.His latest book Flash Crash tells the story of Navinder Singh Sarao, a London trader, living at his parents house, who made ~$70M from his bedroom and was later accused by the U.S. government of playing a role in the 2010 Flash Crash.For anyone unaware, this was a deeply perplexing event in which the U.S. stock market, one afternoon, plunged approximately 9% and then almost completely rebounded, all in the space of just 30-minutes.While Liam speaks on many interesting moments from Nav’s life in this episode—from beginning as prop trader in 2003, through to when he was extradited to the U.S. in 2016—it’s only a sample of what’s covered in the book (an absolute must-read!) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Returning guest, Greg Newman, is a founding partner and the CEO of Onyx Commodities—a London-based proprietary trading firm, prominent in market making of oil derivatives.This episode focuses on recent events pertaining to the global oil market. More specifically, Greg talks through; key themes impacting prices, supply and demand dynamics, why Crude and Brent futures alone aren’t entirely a true reflection of the oil market, how lower prices affect producers and corporates, etc.Given the subject matter, this episode won’t be for everyone—it’s very specific to oil. But if the energy sector interests you, believe me, Greg’s an incredible wealth of knowledge.Episode recorded: 2nd April 2020. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As we’ve seen making headlines recently, reserve banks around the world have been adding liquidity to the market in an effort to stabilize economies. While some listeners will already understand how reserve banks conduct these operations, I figure there will be others who don’t completely grasp what takes place below the surface…To get clarity on the subject, I kindly asked Kevin Muir to appear on Chat With Traders for a second time and to explain the actions of reserve banks during this market downturn. Because, in my opinion, Kevin has a gift for analyzing and explaining complex subjects in a way which is easy to follow.Kevin was a derivatives trader for a Canadian bank during the 90’s, and has been an independent trader from 2000 onward. He also writes a brilliant financial newsletter, The MacroTourist, and co-hosts The Market Huddle podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is an episode to cover the extreme volatility in markets, following the recent outbreak of coronavirus…Joining me is Nishant Porbanderwalla, returning for a second time on Chat With Traders and here to discuss how he’s been navigating through the turmoil of a global pandemic. Nishant is a proprietary equities trader at Kershner Trading Group, with well over a decade of experience behind him.For the purpose of a timestamp, please note this conversation was recorded immediately after the U.S. close 18th March 2020. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a recent episode, I mentioned that I'd be doing a few more interviews with less-experienced traders, who begun with $20,000 or more, have completed 12-months of full-time trading and are making a real effort to get better. Here's another one in the series...My guest is Christian Castillo, he resides in California and trades the foreign exchange market using methods of technical analysis. Although Christian is relatively fresh as a trader, he put up—what I would consider to be—a solid first year. He made money 9 of 12-months, and finished 2019 with a profit just shy of $20,000.We speak about Christian funding his account from driving Lyft, his experience going full-time (favorable and adverse moments), the premise of his trading strategy, the forex market in general, among other things too. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back, as we continue from where we left off last time—here's the Best of Risk Management, Pt 2. Again, this is a compilation of highlights from past interviews, all of which are applicable to managing risk and staying in the game.My hopes in compiling this 'best of' episode is that you'll have a go-to reference for anytime your risk controls require attention, as well as drawing your focus to a few episodes that may have gone unnoticed. If you'd like to hear the full interview with any guest featured, you'll find the link in the show notes: chatwithtraders.com/189 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After sifting through the archive of near-200 episodes, I’ve compiled some of the best bits pertaining to risk management. As there were many bits I deemed fitting for a ‘best of’ episode, it made sense to split the compilation across two parts—this is part one, and part two will follow next (Episode 189).The idea behind creating this compilation, is to reinforce the instrumental role that risk management plays in a traders’ ability to stay in the game. It can also serve as a go-to reference for anytime you find trading loses getting out of hand.One other reason, is to highlight some past interviews which you have missed or skipped over. If you’d like to hear the full interview with any guest featured, you’ll find the link in the show notes: chatwithtraders.com/188 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I recently had an idea, I thought it may be an interesting exercise to have a few less-experienced traders on the show. On Twitter, I wrote that I’d like to chat with someone who:1. Has just completed their 1st year of full-time trading2. Started with a minimum of $20,0003. Is or isn’t profitable (not important), as long as he/she is taking deliberate action to improveFrom this tweet I received many DM’s for consideration, and after filtering through them, I’ve asked several people who fit this general description to share their experiences on the podcast…The first cab off the rank is Josh Evans; 30-something years of age, living in Melbourne (Australia), and actively trading ASX equities.This conversation with Josh follows his progression from newbie investor to intraday trader—including his motivation and preparation for going full-time. A few specific things which have helped Josh to get his equity curve pointing in the right direction. Plus, deliberate processes Josh has implemented for improvement, one piece of advice he received that made a difference, and that’s not all! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joining me on this episode is Sudhu Arumugam, the co-founder and Chief Risk Officer of cryptocurrency futures exchange CoinFLEX.Though prior to this, Sudhu spent near 20-years in various trading roles for banks and hedge funds—mostly transacting in options on indices and single stocks, exotic derivatives and fixed income.We start things off by talking about Sudhu’s early days and experience in London’s LIFFE trading pit, meeting and trading with DRW founder Don Wilson—who he identified as a “force to be reckoned with.” Sudhu also speaks about heading a small institutional trading team within Merrill Lynch and shares insight to its OTC dealings.Then in the later part, we speak more about crypto and the efforts of CoinFLEX to become a market leading exchange. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jaime Rogozinski, a serial entrepreneur who resides in Mexico, is the man responsible for bringing WallStreetBets to life—the infamous and wildly popular subreddit, which proudly boasts the tagline, “Like 4Chan found a Bloomberg terminal.”In other words, WSB is an online forum (on Reddit) where the majority of it’s 700k+ members aren’t looking to establish long-term, sustainable trading careers. Instead they’re buying lotto tickets on commission-free trading apps, taking almighty risks, and attempting to strike it rich fast.This is a community, of mainly unsophisticated investors, where losses of 10’s and 100’s of thousands of dollars are so common that it’s considered the norm. And although less common, there’s also the occasional member who’s handsomely rewarded for his or her audacious risk-taking. It’s kind of insane what goes on here, especially because it’s real-life (minus the odd trolling stunt).But make no mistake, I’m not throwing shade at WSB! The brazen culture is fascinating and you can’t help but appreciate the rawness of it all, not to mention the comments provide priceless entertainment value. And there just might be some insight to gleam, if you look hard enough (even if it’s do the opposite!) Sound and rationale financial advice has no place on WSB.Speaking with Jaime, he tells how the subreddit evolved and took on a life of its own, highlights from the timeline; featuring a member who exposed an ‘infinite money cheat code’ on Robinhood and the infamous ‘Pharma Bro’ Martin Shkrelli who was once a moderator, plus the largest gains and losses in WSB history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices