The Stock Trading Reality Podcast

Imagine being entrusted with a piece of equipment that costs 10's of millions of dollars to design and construct. You don't entrust these sorts of things to just "any random person". You would need to ensure this is an above board person who approaches life in a structured way. My guest this episode, Scott, is exactly that.. an airline piolet who has been entrusted with some very large pieces of equipment known as planes! How does someone of this caliber translate into the world of trading? What kind of mindset and approach do they have? Checklists! That's one word that stands out to me about this discussion. If you're going to fly a plane, you need checklists. If you're going to put your hard earned money on the line, you need checklists! We talk about way more than just checklists, but this is an enjoyable conversation that is filled with an unique perspective that not many of us have. Let's go!

Well… just when you think you've heard all the different approaches and attitudes about trading, you find something new! In this episode I talk Angele who looks through the trading lens in a very self ware way. She's a younger woman who is very smart. How smart? She majored in physics! With that being said, just because you are smart does not mean trading is easy. Angele is well aware of this and is placing a huge amount of emphasis on her "energy". She explains it very eloquently within our discussion and is very polite in humoring me with my, probably stupid, questions! I appreciated her viewpoint and can always respect the various ways people approach trading to "do what needs to be done" to get themselves under control to find consistency. Emotions play a massive role in trading and even more-so than the technical charts or anything else, Angele is all about focusing on emotions. Let's get to it!

My data collecting has continued and now I'm to the point where I'm over 200 trades of what I call the Sniper Shot Strategy. At some point you need to draw the line and declare "this is enough data", and that's what I'm doing. I respect if you don't think over 200 trades is "enough", but I'd hope we can at least find a middle ground that is it no small number of trades either. While I'm not here to proclaim I have found a golden goose holy grail trading system, I do want to share with you the data I've collected. Unfortunately though, there was a train wreck that occurred near the end of the data collection. It was actually very disheartening and it caused me to stop looking at the data for a week (which is how I ended up with 207 trades instead of 200). Finally, I want to once again address the notion that "day trading is a coin flip and total gambling". This is a topic I've covered a million times, but it's one that can not be addressed enough because it's a constant false narrative you see. Let's jump into the data and see what we can learn about The Sniper Shot Strategy.

What would it be like for an investigative journalist to get into trading? We're about to find out. My guest, Rosemary, is a retired investigative journalist and someone who has dedicated her life to the craft of finding the truth and researching a topic from all angles. She now finds herself in a the foreign world of day trading where, if you're not careful, being eaten by "being overwhelmed" is a very real thing! She is definitely one of the more intelligent people I've conversed with, and it was a true pleasure! I loved her humility and ability to set aside her proudness and ego and simply discuss her journey: both the good and bad. I will say, although not perfect (but no one is), she made some very wise choices along the way which saved her from some potential massive headaches. Rosemary and I go down several rabbit holes that keep the conversation diverse and exciting. Let's get to it and hear about our investigative journalist's journey!

Have you been there before? Maybe you are in the spot right this very moment? "I can learn how to trade all on my own, why pay when it's all on the internet and in books?". It's a fair objection and a more than reasonable thought process on your part. In fact, I would go as far as to say you would be somewhat irrational to think any other way. I mean let's be fair, the internet is filled with information and a whole lot of free stuff! How does this translate into the real world of trading though? This will be an underlying theme through the course of this discussion. I'm obviously biased given I do sell trading education; however, I do my best to remain totally neutral and let our guest, Cory ("ckrager" chatroom alias) speak for himself. Like all of us who are honest, Cory has done several foolish things in his journey and he is totally open and transparent about it. I always enjoy the stories of stupidity as it makes me feel a whole lot better about myself to know I"m not alone! These are oftentimes the best learning lessons too. Let's learn about what Cory has learned from his trading journey so far!

If you're looking for an episode where the guest has done a whole lot of, wrong, things, look no further! These are the discussions which I believe help the most people. Don't get me wrong, hearing from someone who is super successful certainly brings with it motivation and inspiration to keep on fighting; however, that can also be hard to relate to. We've all done dumb things in our trading and have ongoing struggles. When you hear about someone else's dumb decisions and struggles, it reassures us that we're not alone. That's what we have with fellow community member, Brian ("BrianSchmelzle" in chatroom). Thanks to Brian being so transparent and honest, we have an invaluable lesson how just how important being patient is. When you are not patient, it's a domino that gets pushed over which causes everything else to spin out of control. Brian gives one of the most confusing answers I've ever heard, but in doing so it totally makes sense as it proves the point of the power of patience. Let's get into it!

It's never too soon to start crushing it in life! In our culture today, there seems to be a narrative that younger people are at a massive disadvantage and have no hope. While I fully agree and understand that it's tough being young (we were all once at that point), to go along with the general narrative is false. My guest, Jackson, is one of several data points I've collected over the years disproving this narrative. Jackson is working hard and making some great decisions that will be giving him an edge within the long run. Jackson first got into stocks back in high school; however, his focus and devotion has really kicked up a notch now that he's out of high school. He's been finding some solid success in the future's market, but, as he admits, he's taking it slow as he understands the dangers of getting overconfident. For you younger people who listen, know this: Jackson is the type of person you want to make friends with. You're often the result of who you choose to hang around with, and Jackson is the type of person who will make you better! Let's get into it and learn more about Jackson!

After 16 years, I'm making a change! Is it some kind of earth shattering change? To me it is, haha, but to you it might be a bit anti-climatic. With that being said, I still think there is a lesson to be learned no matter where you are currently residing in your trading journey. I've been a trader for almost 20 years now and I'm constantly learning new things about myself, with this episode pointing out a new thing I've learned. I'm a firm believer in being a coachable person and I can admit I'm not always perfect at it. I sometimes get stuck in my ways and don't care to acknowledge the realities staring me right in the face. On the very practical side of trading, this episode could be a pretty ground breaking piece of information, particularly from the "cost of running your trading business" side of things. Let's dig into this big change I'm making, why I'm making it, and how it just simply makes sense.

I welcome back a great friend of the show and community, Michelle. This is her third appearance, including episode 400 which has been one of our most popular. In this discussion we go down some fun rabbit holes that turn out to be very fruitful. One of those holes in regards to "being calm" and the importance of doing whatever needs to be done to "find the calm" is something ALL traders better be aware of, and doing. We then spend a good amount of time talking about prop trading firms. I will be the first to admit I am quite skeptical of them; however, over the past few months have lowered my guard. Why? Because people like Michelle (who I trust) and others have been digging deeper into them and in some senses, serving as lab rats. As of now, they're all still alive so I wanted to learn amore about this and hopefully learn alongside all of you as listeners. As always with Michelle, you're in for a treat, so buckle up and let's go!

For those of you long time listeners, "HeyFordy" should sound familiar to you! He's been around the community for several years now with this being his fourth podcast appearance. I'll be upfront. Has anything really changed for "Fordy" since we last spoke around 18 months ago? It has not. He's still doing the same types of trading with the same approach. With that being said, is there value in listening to someone who has "found what works" and just continues to grind with it? Yes, absolutely! "Fordy" has taken many lumps along the way and done many dumb things (as we all have!) and he continues to remind himself and us why certain behaviors and attitudes towards trading are must haves. On the career front, he's also beast-moding things as he climbs up the hospitality business ladder. He's a shining example of how "starting somewhere" is required in order to get to where you want to go. He started at the bottom and has worked his way upwards in very impressive fashion. We talk about that and much more! Let's get to it!

It's time to welcome back our good friend Brandon. Within our trading community he's much better known as "BRosi". What I've always appreciated about Brandon is his willingness to share his trading results, both good and bad. Even more-so, his ability to take constructive criticism is motivational. There have been a few times in the past where I came down hard on him (out of love) and instead of getting offended and calling me "mean", he thanked me and appreciated the input. I would hope we can all agree that the world needs a bit more of this kind of thick skin. As you can tell from the title of this episode, Brandon has been doing well and has incorporated quite a bit of new strategies. He is a physical therapist and is currently looking to expand his empire, so he's a shining example of how you can still "be a day trader" while working a full time job. He's after multiple streams of income and he's excelling. He's the type of person I enjoy surrounding myself with. Iron sharpens iron! Let's go!

My good friend is back. The one, the only… Nate Wilson! He's been around since basically the start of the site and has become a close friend. How close? Nate's Dad and I are king of the cornhole circuit! Nate always tells me what I need to hear, not what I want to (a sign of a good friend). Relatively recently he was telling me about SPX options and how they might be worth learning about. I took his advice and heeded what he had to say. So far things have been going fantastic as I learn more in-depth about their personality and how they behave as an asset class. Some our this conversation may be on the advanced side; however, even if you don't understand every detail, you'll get to witness two traders simply having a conversation. If you've ever found yourself struggling because something has changed in regards to your strategy, you'll find a whole lot of common ground with us. We both endured some annoying changes and SPX options are providing that new opportunity we've bene looking for. Let's get to it!

I'm currently in the middle of a bit of a transition within my trading. As always, through my YouTube channel playlist of "live trades", people have taken notice. Members of our chatroom community know I've been in the middle of this transition; however, others are now noticing. With this has come some very interesting YouTube comments that lead us into what I believe to be an important learning lesson. I've been trading for almost two decades and have done many stupid things. In fact, I've done enough stupid things to have crystal clear clarity on "the things" to do that are wise. I'm doing this exact thing right now and I'm getting a bit of grief for doing it. Let's talk about all of this and offer up a very important reminder to us all as traders.

Let me be clear. If you are defining "baller" as having a fleet of private jets and mansions around the world, then you'll be disappointed. If you are open to the idea of a "baller" as someone who is constantly looking to make "the system" work for him and denying excuses whenever he can, you're really going to enjoy this episode! I welcome fellow member Andy ("FI Andy" is the chatroom) to the show for the first time and he demonstrates what being a baller is all about. Andy is from Barbados and comes from a nation that is, relatively speaking, quite poor to the USA. How did Andy maneuver growing up in a country such as this? What decisions did he make that brought him into the fold of the trading world? We cover that and a whole lot more. Any is beast-moding life and I absolutely love it!

The Viking is back! For those of you long time members, the name "Norse" should strike a chord in your memory. It's been several years since I've spoken with Norse, but he emailed me out of the blue and offered to come update us on his journey. I (obviously) accepted his gesture and scheduled a conversation. Norse is someone who specializes in the world of Forex trading and has gotten significantly involved with using trading bots. I'll be the first to admit that when I hear "trading bots" my mind automatically thinks "scam alert!!!". If I've learned one thing in the almost 10 years I've been doing this podcast it is to not assume you know it all when talking with someone. Norse filled me in on the world of trading bots and how he's making them work for him to grow his account. Is it perfect? Of course not. Nothing is! Was I maybe oversimplying it a bit in calling them all scams? Yup! This was a fantastic conversation and I know you'll find value in it. Let's go!

Warning! As I always do, if you are someone who loves to seek out excuses and use them whenever possible, you will not enjoy this episode! One of my favorite parts about this episode is my guest, Anthony ("Busta" in the chatroom) just turned 18! If you are a younger person, then you without question need to be listening to this episode. With that being said, even if you are older, there's still plenty of lessons to be learned and reminded of. Anthony is one of those people who sets his mind to something and then refuses to let anything stand in his way. The proof is in the pudding. He's already landed himself a very sought after internship at a hedge fund that 1,000's of people applied for. Although his journey is young and only just beginning, he's still got an amazing amount to share with us all. It goes to prove that those people that simply "do something" will already begin to reap the fruits of their journey, even if some of it is from bad decisions which can be learned from. Let's get to it!

I love talking with the variety of traders I do. Some are brand new to the point they've never even traded with real money. Others are in valleys of desperation and frustration. Then we have those like this episode's guest, Dale, who are doing fantastic. Of course it was not always fantastic for Dale, but he's persevered through a whole lot and continues to only get better (and he's already real good). Dale has some fantastic observations, especially about the threats of FOMO (fear of missing out). He's done some really stupid things since he began (I say that as a compliment for being willing to publicly talk about it), but these are things you can learn from. How? Simply do the opposite of what he shares. I really enjoyed this conversation and I'm sure you will too! Let's get to it!

I assume you are well aware that if you want to be a successful trader over an extended period of time, you need rules! Perhaps a more broad way of saying this is you need a valid strategy. This of course prompts the idea of "well, what makes up a strategy? How do you build one?" - the answer being, with rules! With all of that being said, are some rules more important than others? Or, are all trading rules created equally? In my opinion, not all rules are created equal and some are way more important than others. In this episode I want to spend a brief few moments talking about what I believe is a "must have" rule for all traders. I'm even willing to potentially go as far as claiming this rule is the most important one! What is this rule and what makes it so effective and powerful? Let's discuss!

I've always been impressed by this episode's guest. Joey (same alias in the chatroom community) has been a long time member and, from day one, has been very transparent about his journey. In fact, when I was getting more into options a couple years go, I had him come on a Tuesday night live webinar (for premium members) so I could ASK HIM questions. As the saying goes, "iron sharpens iron" and I consider Joey to be a solid piece of iron. Joey was kind enough to come back and update everyone on where he is in life and with his trading. He's been an absolute master in leveraging his trading experience into some very worthwhile "real world" outcomes, including his current job which would make anyone who loves trading jealous! With that being said, his mastering of real world outcomes is something that I believe anyone can do, and we talk about just that! If you're looking for pieces of iron to sharpen yourself against, look no further than Joey! Let's go!

There are many challenges that come with being a trader. We are all facing different challenges at different levels. What do I mean by "different levels"? The worst level a trader can be at is struggling with their results and having no idea what is causing the issues. We've all been there! It's truly a terrible and demoralizing level to experience. You know their is a problem, but you just know what what "it" is. My guest this episode, Trey (same name in chatroom for you community members), finds himself in annoying, but good spot. It's annoying because he is really struggling with a certain part of his trading. How can this be a "good spot"? Because Trey knows what the spot is! He just needs to do what he knows he needs to do! Trey is not alone though. His struggle is one I can relate to and a struggle many other traders can too. Let's talk with Trey and see what we can figure out and try and offer some helpful feedback!

The toilet man is back! For you long time members of the community and listeners of the podcast, you should remember Jeremy. If you are a member of the community and chatroom, his alias is "RemmyTheRookie". He's been on the podcast multiple times over the years. He was one of our first guests back in 2014 and is still alive in the markets with plenty of bruises. I say that as a compliment though. All traders have bruises, it's part of the business. The key to, long term, success is avoiding those kill shots that knock you completely out of the game. It had been a couple years since Jeremy and I last spoke, so as usual, he was more than willing to come on and just shoot the breeze with me while we talked trading. He's a person I have hung out now with, twice, in person and I can say with full certainty, he's a fantastic human being. He's always willing to help out and share his "stories of bruise obtainment" so that others can learn. Let's get to it!

We're all at different spots within our journey. This is why anyone advertising an "one size fits all" strategy is misleading you. Unless the person knows your exact circumstances and goals, it's hard for them to have any idea what is best for you. In this episode's situation, it is someone who wants to retire, but stay active in their retirement via trading. Community member Paul was kind enough to share with us his journey and reveal what has worked, and not worked, along the way. As a minor spoiler alert, Paul is in a fantastic place within his journey where he's making money and his account is growing. What an amazing feeling! Knowing you are getting close to retirement while also knowing you have a skill that'll allow you to still be making money! I put Paul to the test to see if I could poke any holes in his approach or strategy. Iron sharpens iron so let's get to it!

It's time for a trading challenge! I'm going to call it The Degenerate Gambler Trading Challenge #DGTC! In this video I want to explain why I'm doing the trading challenge and how it will work. I realize the title is a bit eye catching given what I preach on the channel; however, please watch the video so I can add in more context. This will be a challenge where I "think like a degenerate gambler but within a controlled and rules based way". I recently had a premium member share their struggles in our chatroom and it sparked an idea for this challenge. I hope you prove to everyone that when you have the right mindset going into trading, behaving how you should (in regards to your trading strategy rules) will become way easier to do. This challenge is not about seeing how dumb I can get in regards to taking gambles, it's all about following rules and proving it can be done. If you have any amount of trading experience, then I'm sure you know just how hard it can be to follow your strategy rules. You could have all the knowledge in the world, but if you don't know how to think about your money, your knowledge will ultimately prove to be worthless. It's time to be a degenerate and have some, controlled. fun!

We all have bad habits. Whether it is biting our nails or some other, "disgusting", habit, we're humans… we have them. In other words, if there was something that we all as humans could find common ground upon, it would be bad habits. Unfortunately, the world of trading does not insulate us from our human tendencies with habits. In this episode, fellow community Dave is an absolute open book about his journey. He warned me upfront his journey was "filled with stupid", and to his credit, he didn't disappoint! I don't say that in judgement, I say it in admiration and respect for him being willing to share. We've all been there and are still there in many ways.. where? Constantly fighting the desire to allow bad habits to take over in our trading. Perhaps you are a beginner and think I'm exaggerating when it comes to habits, I understand. Give this journey a listen and you'll see just how hard bad habits are to kick!

While I admit that every episode certainly has some common themes, which in and of itself is valuable (if you keep hearing the same things, maybe it's something YOU should be aware of!), every episode also has its own flavors. At times I speak with people who are completely brand new and have never traded with any real money. In other situations, I'm talking with people tossing around large chunks of money. In other cases, we're right in the middle. This is what brings us to this episode's guest, Micah. I enjoy these episodes because it's always fun to do a little in person coaching and talk through various aspects of a person's goals and strategy. Micah is doing well, but at the same time, there is some fine tuning requirements that revealed themselves. Yes, if you're brand new, we do get into the weeds quite a bit with what may seem like trivial matters, but please trust us that when it comes to building consistency, the small (and seemingly trivial) dynamics matter! Let's do some fine tuning with Micah!

A simple, but extremely annoying word within the trading realm: rules. You absolutely need to have them if you want to survive in the markets. At the same time though, following the rules can create all sorts of headaches and frustrations. Here's the thing though, as I talk about with our guest Eric, when you have rules and follow them, you'll do less. For you longer term listeners of the show, you've heard this theme arise on several occasions: less is more! It's a seemingly illogical concept, but it carries with it a whole lot of proof of being effective. Eric has been through quite a bit on his journey already. He was kind enough to volunteer to be a guest so he can share with all of us and offer up some fantastic insights into the realities of trading. I always enjoy these types of conversations where the person just shoots straight and doesn't hold anything back. I had a great time and I'm sure you will too. Let's go!

It's been a long time since I've met up with community members in person. There was this thing called Covid that made these sorts of "meet ups" a bit challenging. With Covid now behind us, we finally were able to set up another event in Arizona. I wanted to walk you through the experience and from my point of view and hopefully give you an idea of just how awesome/normal our community is. Maybe you're a member and thought about joining us in Arizona, but then decided against it. As a shy person myself, I can understand your thought process. I hope to offer you some encouragement of what can be expected and hopefully convince you to come hang out at the next one. Perhaps you are not a member of the community, but thinking about officially joining. I hope to demonstrate just how normal of a group it is. No egos. No Hollywood stereotypes of what traders are like. Come with me on my journey to Arizona and the great time it was!

Don't have the time to trade? Sorry. I'm not buying it! The amazing fact of the financial markets is if you have a great enough desire to trade, you can find a way! My guest, Vinny, is a prime example of this fact. He is the owner of a small family business, yet, has still found the time to learn to trade. Not only has he learned to trade while running a pizza joint, he has now begun to find some solid success. Vinny is all about multiple streams of income and trading has opened up another one of those streams. With all this being said, Vinny got started with no actual plans or strategies. Sure, things are going very well for him at the present time, but wow… he was in total moron mode when he started (like we all are!). Vinny is totally open and honest about his journey and holds nothing back when it comes to sharing his mistakes and regrets. In other words, if you want to give yourself a head start in your own personal journey, just do the exact opposite of several of the choices Vinny made when starting. Let's get to it!

This episode takes a bit different shape than normal. Our guest, Jason, has been on the show before and he's back to update us on his journey. As a minor spoiler alert, Jason's journey so far has still been pretty rough. He's not back telling us how he is now making millions of dollars or anything of the sort. Because of this, I would call this episode more of a "coaching call" than anything else. This does not mean the episode is of any less value than others, it just has a different "vibe" to it. I think it's a great thing when you can mix it up a bit, and that's what we have here. I have a very confident guess that many listeners will be able to relate to the problems Jason has had. His journey and ongoing problems are nothing new and are very normal. Our discussion (I hope) should shed some light on some of the very same issues you may be having. If anything, it will offer up a warning of what you need to be aware of and avoid as you continue on your own journey. Let's get to it!

The journey of any successful trader in regards to their rules is pretty universal. The first stage being imagined rules, the next being loose rules and then finally, tight rules. As you veteran traders know, you can't have a viable and consistently profitable strategy if you don't have rules in place. When you have loose rules, well… that's where our guest from the community, Taf, comes into play. Thanks to his candor and willingness to be open about his journey, you'll hear a great description and account of what loose rules can lead to. Taf is a humble and self aware person (both key attributes) so he eventually was able to look in the mirror and realize the problem. What sort of decisions did he make? How is he now implementing his new rules and ensuring they stay tight? We'll get into that and way more in this episode! Let's get to it!

In my opinion, one of the most productive aspects of doing this podcast is the opportunity to gain insights into certain perspectives. When doing so, I certainly benefit and hopefully… you do too! My guest, Rick, has a mind for numbers and systematic thinking given he teaches math. I realize many people have a love/hate relationship with the subject of math, but I would hope we can all agree, it takes a certain type of "mind" to excel within the subject. This is why I was excited to be able to probe Rick's mind and gain insight into his thoughts and rationale behind certain decisions he has made and is currently making within his trading journey. Rick has been very solid at "cutting loses" and he gave me a very simple, yet powerful, explanation of what makes it so black and white. His response reminded me that despite being a trader for going on 20 years now and talking to 100's of people via this podcast, you can always gain a new perspective. Even if you are someone who despise the subject of math, I'm confident you'll still gain plenty of value from what Rick was willing to share! Let's go!

Signal software, have you seen it? There's a variety of software and programs being sold that promise to show you da money! A simple search can yield an overwhelming abundance of results. But, what's the truth behind these signal software? Does it work? This is where we my guest, John (chatroom alias "JohnSwift"), brings great value to the discussion. He self admittedly has been using a signal software for the past several years, so he certainly has some worthwhile perspectives to consider (and spoiler, what I agree with). He's someone with a whole lot of life experience, so he's seen the evolution of trading and technology from a super interesting point of view. I dig into John's strategies and cover the various aspects of psychology that come along with using a signal software as part of a strategy. I enjoyed the conversation very much and I'm confident you will too. Even if you have zero interest in ever using a signal software, there's still plenty of discussions that will offer value to you! Let's get to it!

I know I've covered this topic before, but as long as the media pushes such narratives driven by insanely biased "studies", I will be here to explain reality. This is not a matter of whether or not I believe you understand how things work, but rather, I want to share with you a simple explanation process to share with those you come across who believe these lies. According to a new Oxfam study, lots of the money being made is "unearned" and it should be taxed at higher rates because of this. Have you ever heard this argument from someone? "Those people aren't even doing anything and yet they're making more money! AND, it's taxed less???" That's theft! That's why the system needs to be ripped down! I wish I could say I was throwing up a strawman argument, but as you'll see as I read from the study, this is the exact argument being made. Let's take a stop back (along with a deep breath) and walk through why this line of reasoning is such a lie and therefore, easily, explained/debunked.

Data. A very boring word no doubt. When I hear the word "data" I think of geeky scientists in their white lab coats typing away on their calculators. For me, as someone who is by no means a genius, the word carries with it a bit of intimidation because I'm not smart enough to be some geeky scientist in a white lab coat! Whether you are a beginner trader or someone who has experience but is still fine tuning your journey, if you are not using data, you should be! We welcome back community member Matt (chatroom alias, "brigbills") who updates us on his journey and how things have been going. If you have not connected the dots already, data has and continues to play a huge role in Matt's current journey. While I don't want to sound overly dramatic about it, the data has been a total game changer for him and opened his eyes in ways he would never have imagined. I love Matt's passion for the world of trading and the seriousness in which he is treating everything. If you aren't inspired to do a deep dive into your trading data after this episode, I'm not sure if there is anything that will convince you. Let's go!

If you enjoy a good mystery, you'll love this episode. I say this with all seriousness, but if you can figure out the "why" behind the actions from our guest, we'd love to hear from you! In this episode, we welcome back Nick ("SecondChance" chatroom alias) and catch up on what has been going on in his personal journey. We spend quite a bit of time focusing on "Nick moments" and I find myself stumped. The good news is, there is a pretty clear solution to his problem (which I hope he tries, but he never committed to it). As far as the "why is he doing it, randomly?", I don't know! So, I'll repeat myself, if you do have any idea of what is going on and why he's doing it, tell us! Having a conversation with Nick (like the first time) was a fun and packed with several quality talking points. Put on your detective hat and get ready for some critical thinking and mystery solving thinking!

Ready for a wild ride? This has gotta be the first time that acid and shrooms lead someone into the world of trading. No, that's not a joke! My guest, Robert, held nothing back in sharing his story with us. It was shocking at times, but it was raw and honest! I don't want to say much here as I'd hate to ruin anything. All I can and will say is, if you like wild rides and dramatic stories, you'll have all of that here. Robert is an inspiring guy and someone who has certainly been through a whole lot. Let's get to it!

I've had an encounter with the mafia! Well, not really but I think my guest this episode is about as close as I'll get given his, amazing, accent. Believe it or not, the previous statement actually pertains to an underlying theme of my discussion with fellow community member Frank. The mafia does not care your reasoning for anything if you are not behaving as you should within their system of business. The same is true for the markets. The markets do not care about anything. If you are not behaving in a way that is logical and disciplined, they will make you pay the price in a big way. Frank's journey has been filled with many learnable moments, but at the core, the one fact he has learned is while the markets don't care about your sex, skin color or anything else, they also don't care if you have a wife and family or a cute little dog. The markets are indifferent and will destroy you all the same. I loved Frank and his attitude (did I mention his accent?) and how he continues to go about this crazy journey we call trading. Let's get to it!

First off, Happy New Year! I wish you nothing but the best for this upcoming new year! I have mixed feelings on New Year resolutions. I'm not opposed to them, but at the same time, they do seem a bit overdramatized. In this solo episode, I want to throw something your way for you to consider this new year. I want you to understand that time machines do exist! In fact, they are all around you when you know what to look for and how to utilize them. While I can't say this topic is an earth shattering one, in some ways it is because the strategy hides in plain sight. Some of the most powerful approaches to trading, business and life can be unlocked by using this time machine strategy. Whether you are trading, investing or just trying to beast mode life, I'm all for sharing what has helped me. If it can provide any sort of assistance to you and your goals, then I'll consider this episode a massive success! Let's get to it!

Progress. Regardless of what you are trying to accomplish in life, that's the core goal. It is no different within the world of trading and investing. We all start out in the same exact spot: brand new and knowing nothing. From that point it's all about making progress. This brings up the interesting and important philosophical question though: what is, "actual", progress? No matter what you do, you'll be making progress; however, it could be progress in the wrong direction as you build up bad habits without even realizing you are. If could be progress towards a cliff edge because you are too new to even know it's a cliff. This is why I enjoyed our guest from the community, Sheng, so much. He's a great example of not only what progress looks like, but "good" progress. He was kind enough to share his journey so far and talk about the ups and downs. He's still got plenty of work to do, but from where he started to where he is now, he's made solid progress and will continue to do so! Let's take a look at what progress is and how you can do the same!

Let me state the obvious. Everyone in the markets has one fact in common: we all started out as new traders. I will make another assumption about us all as traders and people: we value our time. When you combine these two facts, it would make sense to find value in time efficient learning strategies. My guest from our community, Jamie, is focused on doing exactly that. Jamie is going about his trading journey in a very methodical way. Like us all, there have been a few bumps and bruises along the way; however, he has realized the importance of focusing on learning in a manner that promotes efficiency. Jamie is very open about what he has done so far. Both those things that can been painful and those that are helping him achieve his goals. I enjoyed our conversation as he is someone we can all relate to. Our conversation takes us to several topics that I'm confident we'll all be able to find common ground on. Let's get to it and hear about Jamie's story!

There's no way around it. As traders and investors, "fine tuning" must take place in order to truly build a valid strategy. I'll be the first to admit that fine tuning can be really annoying. Sometimes just showing up and applying broad strokes is so much better due to the, deceivingly, time efficiency. This is why not fine tuning is so dangerous. The extra time is where the details are revealed and worked out. My guest, Jeremy is a great example of this. Been been in the weeds fine tuning his strategy, particularly, in regards to "letting it breath". Is this an area you are struggling with? Maybe you aren't even aware it is an area to fine tune? When you're new and don't know what you don't know, this can happen (it's normal!). Jeremy was great to talk with and was completely open about his journey. He shares some great stories that can help us all build and/or safe guard ourselves within our own journeys. Let's get to it and hear about Jeremy and his journey so far!

All of this was pretty unintended. I routinely have people asking me about my thoughts on cryptocurrency, so I chose to do a quick social media post explaining my personal long term investment and wealth building/preserving strategy. For me, I feel most comfortable and at ease with assets that have, real, value. This opened up a can of worms as the crypto diehards showed up and droves to try and refute a very simplistic argument on my end. The fact that something so basic was so stubbornly defended forced me to do some reflections. After about four seconds it dawned on me that these people had no other choice. These people needed to do what they were doing out of pure necessity. The very nature of cryptocurrency, by default, creates cults. I wanted to expand on these so you better understand how to reason with the unreasonable. More so, I hope to help you understand (and therefore save time) in regards to realizing there is nothing you can really do to change a crypto cult member's mind. Let's hit on a few points that will clarify the topic and help you guard your time.

Have you been there? Something happens within your trading and it is as if someone else takes over your body in pure anger and rage? To the person who has never traded with real money, it's easy to sit back and proclaim, "I would never let myself lose control in such a way!". To the person who has experience trading with real money, it's a feeling that we've all encountered. In this episode, I welcome back fellow member Kelly ("Kellynm" in the chatroom). He's a great guy who is easy to talk to and is very open about his journey. As I'm sure you can tell from the title of this episodes, "rage trading" has been an issue for him; however, he is well aware of it and working very diligently to kick it to the curb. Kelly and I go down several interesting rabbit holes, including a great discussion on "letting winners win". If you want to hear from the perfect trader (warning: this person does not exist), this won't be an episode for you. If you want to hear from a genuine trader who is sharing his experience so we can all benefit, then I promise you'll enjoy yourself. Let's get to it!

We did it! We've hit our 400th episodes in a row without missing a single Monday release! I say "we" because you as a loyal listener keep the motivation fire kindled to continue to find volunteer guests. The fact we've been able to find people to volunteer of their time for 400 weeks in a row is a testament to the quality of people in our community. For this special episode, I wanted to bring back to of these volunteers who I admire in many ways: Michell and Ashlee. They are what I would call, Lady Monsters. These are women who offer a very different insight into the world and life compared to the main stream medias narrative. While we don't talk a whole lot about trading, what we do talk about with help you with your trading. How? If you want to be at trader, you need money (capital). If you approach life with the attitude and problem solving philosophy of these two Lady Monsters, you're going to have more money to trade with. In some ways, you'll have more money because you just simply don't waste it! For you younger women out there who want to get into trading, please listen very closely as we go down a rabbit trail about weddings. Again, does it have anything to do with trading per-so? Nope. But both of their attitudes towards the topic reveals why they have found so much freedom of time and wealth within their lives (along with having extra money to use to trade with!). Let's get to it!

Anything you do in life will have phases. This fact is no different when it comes to the world of trading. What I have learned over the years of doing this show and talking with almost 400 traders is most phases are, broadly speaking, the same. The big difference arises in regards to how these phases are approached and navigated. This episode, fellow member Eli breaks down the various stages he has gone through in his trading journey so far. He came prepared to the show with a structure and as a former engineer, I can always appreciate a good structured process! I'm confident you'll enjoy Eli's perspective on how he has approached the world of trading and how he has navigated the various twists and turns that we are all guaranteed to face. As usual, we drift down some interesting rabbit trails that take us into some quality critical thinking conversations. Eli is a very humble man and one whom I respect. I'm confident you will feel the same way as you walk away from the discussion with several pieces of common ground. Let's get to it!

There are some people you just sit back and say, "can I be your friend?". They are just so similar to your approach towards solving problems and overcoming hurdles that it would be foolish to not want to build a relationship with them. My guest, Ashlee (chatroom alias "SassyPantsAsh"), is one of those people. She has been through a whole lot in life, particularly back during the real estate disaster of 2008; however, she never once threw up her hands and said, "I can't!". She found a way to keep trending upwards and her journey only improved in strength. I mean, at this point in her life, one of her streams of income is to recruit astronauts to go to space. Yes, you read that right! This life experience and mentality towards problem solving has prepared her in big ways for trading. Like us all, she is not perfect and has had several headaches when it comes to the world of learning to trade, but, she's doing extremely well and has a great perspective about it. Ashlee and I get into some great discussions about trade management and other key areas that traders struggle with. It's a conversation that is both motivational and I would like to think, entertaining! Let's get to it. Buckle up! Ashlee ain't playin'!

One of the most (if not "thee" most) powerful facts about the market is how flexible it allows you to be as both a trader and investor. When you first get started in the markets, most people get laser focused on a single type of market. In this day and age new traders and investors show up locked in on either the stock or crptocurrency market. While I can fully understand how this happens, you are unintentionally shoving yourself into a corner and limiting your flexibility. Life is an ever changing thing and at times that will creep into your trading and investing strategies. My guest, Christopher, is a great real life example of how all these changing dynamics can require compromising solutions. Christopher showed up in the markets having no idea about the Forex market. As environments around him changed and his journey to finding strategies that fit into his personal risk tolerance evolved, he ended up finding a sweet spot with Forex. Even if you have zero interest in Forex, set that aside and look at the bigger picture of how we can all learn from how other traders have navigated the ever shifting waters of life and the markets. This was a really great conversation and I have little doubt you'll come away with some solid considerations! Let's go!

Do you hang around people that make life harder than it needs to be? Let me be very clear to set the stage: life is hard. I'm not implying that life is easy or anything of this nature. The area I want to dig a bit more into (looking at a real world situation) is how some people choose to make life way more difficult than it needs to be. How does this relate to trading and investing? The smoother your "normal" life is, the easier it becomes to learn how to trade and/or invest. What I've found to be the case is too many people surround themselves with people making their life harder than it needs to be and then believe the system itself is the problem. This is extremely dangerous territory to tread on. How so? If the cause of hardship is "the system", this would mean you have no control over your life. In my opinion, this is a very scary and depressing proposition. I would submit the claim that while life is hard, you do have a significant control of just how hard it is. In other words, as you'll hear about in this episodes, this person is choosing to create massive hurdles for themselves instead of making their life so much easier. Don't listen to the narrative that "the system" is rigged against you. It's not. Too often people have the system working for them and then self sabotage themselves. Let me show you what I mean…

You certainly aren't crazy. You by no means are being irrational. Using the logic, "I'll learn from the internet" makes perfect sense in today's age of technology. You can jump online and before you know it, you have information, opinions, facts, tools, etc. all being thrown at you in an instant… at the same time! A glaring problem quickly arises when you are new and you don't know what you don't know. Part of this is, what is a fact? What is an opinion? Does this tool pertain to me and what I am needing? Can you relate to this feeling of what I like to call "overwheminess"? That's where our guest, Alberto, found himself when beginning his journey. He already had some investing experience under his belt, but the YouTube algorithm lead him into day trading and peaked his interest. This lead him into the vast sea of internet knowledge and attempting to learn how to day trade, properly. Where did this decision lead him? What were some of the mistakes he made along the way? What were his solutions to these issues? We get into that and a whole lot more. There are many relatable parts of his story I can remember going through, and I'm sure you will too. Whether you are a beginner or a veteran, there is something for everyone!

I always enjoy talking with successful people. There is constantly something to learn in one form or another. When you just sit back and listen, you can gather little bits (or who knows, big bits?) of wisdom through their experiments and general experience. When you applies these dynamics to your own life, things only get better. In this episode, I welcome back fellow member Sean for an update on his journey and life in general. He's primarily an investor, but he's also a business builder so we talk a variety of topics. I would argue all traders (day or swing traders) should also have, in the background, investing strategies at work too. I'm all about diversity of income streams, so don't forget, investing into the stock market can serve as its own form of an income stream when done right. Even if you have zero interest in investing, there's still plenty of great conversation that can be applied not only to your personal trading strategy, but life in general. I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation and I'm very confident you will too. Let's get to it!