The Stock Trading Reality Podcast

Let's go to Australia once again and hear from a community member who sets a great example of what it takes to be a trader. It may not be the prettiest thing, but it's a real life look into the bumps and grinds that us traders must endure to make it happen. My guest, Dan, is an open book and shares his journey of trading the market and what he has planned for the future. I found his overall attitude and perspective greatly motivating… and to be frank, he says a lot of stuff that many people need to hear! While it might rub some people the wrong way, it's the truth and how things need to be (assuming you want to find and take hold of success). Let's get to it!

If you want the maximum value out of this episode, I'd highly recommend you go back and listen to episode 242 first. I wish I could say I had this all pre-planned, but I'm just not that good at my job! I welcome back long time member Jeremy (better known as "Remy" in community) for his 3rd appearance on the show. Jeremy has been crushing it lately and walks me through all the things he needed to admit to himself before making the change to his new and much improved strategy. It's never easy to admit defeat, but after Jeremey did he was able to expand and explore into various strategies that fit his needs. If you're looking for a deep dive into the details of taking a broad strategy and then shaping and modeling it into your own personal risk tolerance, then you'll love our discussion. Let's get into it. Ready for details? Let's go!

It's time to roll our sleeves up and get down and dirty with the challenges that trading can present. I welcome back long time member and friend, Ben (for those of you in the community, alias "close2pga") to get an update on his journey. Ben has been struggling and not seeing the results he'd like, so this turns into more of deep dive into his psyche and trying to pinpoint what the problem is, but more important, what the solution is. If you are brand new to trading and have never put real money into the market, this discussion may be a bit over your head; however, if you are someone who has put their hard earned money into the market, then I'm confident you'll be able to relate in more ways than one to Ben and his challenges. Who knows, maybe "the thing" that has been causing Ben his issues is the one correction you can also make within your trading to turn your results around? This was an awesome discussion and I'm excited to bring it to you! Let's go!

A positive attitude can take you far in life (and trading) and that's what we really get to see here. My guest, Homer (fellow member from the community who goes by alias "homercon") opens up about his journey so far and holds nothing back. I really appreciated how he just told the truths of all the ups and downs he has been through. He's not a profitable trader… but this is what separates him from many in society who seem to take such a negative out look on things. In his mind, he adds in a single word that changes the landscape. In Homer's mind, he's not a profitable trader, YET. The addition of that extra word shines through in Homer's attitude and perspective and its something that was a breath of fresh air and motivating to me. Let's get to it!

90% of us as traders have been there, in a hole. Whether it was due to letting emotions get the best of us, not knowing what we were doing, or an honest mistake, we've stood at the bottom of a hole and knew we needed to now climb out of it. If you can relate to any of these situations, then you'll find great value and motivation in my discussion with fellow member George (alias in community, "gvigilgem"). Like the vast majority of traders, his journey started on a very bumpy road that eventually lead him downwards and into a hole. It was at that moment George knew he needed to change his ways, so what choices did he make? What actions did he take? We discuss that and a whole lot more (including how he is now well on his way to almost being OUT of the hole). Let's get to it!

We are traveling down under for this week's episode. For the first time ever I speak with a fellow member who is located in Australia! Ron has been trading Forex for quite some time with many ups and downs. Thanks to his honesty, he offers up many opportunities for us all to learn from the mistakes he has made. While he does have experience in Forex, he is also beginning to expand into other areas of the market which we also talk about. I really enjoyed the conversation with Ron and am confident you'll walk away with some "nuggets of experience" that he shares. Watch out for kangaroos and poisonous spiders, we're going to Australia! Let's get to it!

I'm sure I'm not alone when I say it isn't necessarily enjoyable to receive criticism of ideas, systems or strategies that you have put time and effort into. Criticism is part of life and in all actuality, should be embraced for all of us as traders. According to Ray Dalio (worth billions of dollars), you should view any type of criticism as an opportunity. Through my own personal experience in life and especially in trading, I can attest to the fact that what Ray Dalio says is definitely true in the real world. Criticism may not be pleasant, but it is a valuable opportunity when you have the right attitude and perspective about it.

How would your life be affected if you could pay for something as big as college with trading profits? Knowledge pays. Putting a plan into motion that allows for you to take full advantage of what the market offers, while not happening overnight, is completely possible! I welcome back long time member, Micah, to update us on his journey in the world of trading. He first appeared on the show three years ago, so needless to say, much has happened in his journey since then. Micah is absolutely tearing it up and serves as a great source of motivation and inspiration in regards to what is possible with hard work and dedication. If you're in need of some inspiration, then look no further. Let's go!

I'm pretty sure this week's guest is a long lost brother. When it comes to hustling and finding ways to make money in order to obtain a larger scale goal, Leon (better known as "Blew" in the community) is a monster. Those who enjoy making excuses for everything in life won't enjoy Leon and his story, but if you are looking for some motivation and inspiration as you continue to grind in your goals, you're going to love him. Leon works a full time job, so like many of you, his big goal is to best fit trading into his personal work schedule. If you are someone who wants to trade but also have a full time job, Leon has several insights and strategies that you can potentially use in your situation. He's a man who doesn't offer up excuses, but simply grinds things out, and this is what it's all about. Let's get to it!

One of the most dreaded rules in all of the markets: the pattern day trader rule ("PDT"). A classic example of government regulations thinking they are helping but in all actuality, creating a massive hassle for people. It is what it is, but there is some good news when it comes to this common issue. We welcome back "Reboot" (chatroom alias) to update us on his journey. A large part of his new journey has been escaping and working around the PDT rule. He takes us through all the adjustments and realizations he has made in order to place himself on a pathway to profitability that works for his account size, personal time schedule and overall goals. If you are someone who has a smaller trading account, then there will for sure be some nuggets of wisdom you will walk away with, so let's get to it!

Those who succeed diversify. In many cases, people hear the word "diversify" and automatically think about diversifying their stock portfolio. This is certainly important and something you should be doing; however, there is also diversification of income streams. The more directions of income you can create for yourself, the more freedom you will experience. As a business owner, our guest Christopher understands this and is currently grinding away to use trading as another source of income. I was certainly inspired by his journey so far (especially as someone who lives in another country) and I'm confident you will be too. It's time to get out there and focus on multiple streams of income.

Consistency is the magic pill to trading success and this episode's guest has found that pill. Long time community member, best known as RDTrader12 ("RD"), has gone through many ups and downs in his journey. He's shared many of them on previous appearances on the show, but now he's back to give us an update on where he currently is on his journey. Not only do the markets shift, but so does life in general. Because of this, RD had to do some reworking of trade strategies he uses in order to best fit his life. Overall, RD is a shining example of what is possible when you find and establish consistency within your trading. Him and I go down several interesting rabbit holes of topic, so buckle up… it's going to be a valuable ride!

I love bringing back previous guests to get updated on their journey. In this episode, Carl (who is very active in the chatroom) comes back to talk trading and share all the new developments in his trading. One of the great things about Carl is his willingness to be an open book of transparency. He shares with us a trade that resulted in a $100,000 plus loss and how it helped to shape and mold his current strategy. Fast forwarding to present day, Carl is seeing some great success due to the time and effort of narrowing down a strategy that works for him. He discovered the unique strategy from other members of the community, but as it should be (and needs to be), he fine tuned it to fit into his personal risk tolerance. We talk about that and much more, so let's go!

Trading is a massive mind game puzzle that must be figured out in order to establish long term consistency. The first piece of the puzzle is becoming self-aware. If you are not able to do this, then all else will crumble around you. My guest from the community, Lisa, is a great example of what the journey of becoming self-aware looks like. I really enjoyed her perspective on things and how she was totally honest with the mistakes she made and her regrets. I respect here for locking her ego away and shooting straight (pun intended) with me about the things she wish she wouldn't have done. This is definitely an opportunity to learn (free of charge) from someone else's mistakes and regrets so you can keep yourself focused on the things that actually matter. So, let's get to it!

I'm all for physical labor. Sure, it is something you cannot do forever, but if you're willing to do it while you are able, it's a great way to give any longer term goals a jumpstart. I realize most people would love to just start sitting in a comfy office chair and never break a sweat, yet still make money, but the reality is, the odds are against that happening. My guest, Marty, is someone who I have nothing but respect for. He is someone who is doing whatever it takes to accomplish his big picture goal of becoming a consistent trader. In fact, in his daily work he is putting himself into situations that many people are not willing to do, which I find extremely inspiring. I know the saying is way overused, but it applies here perfectly… the saying: where there is a will, there is a way. Marty has a will and he's definitely putting that to use to find a way.

I'm flying solo in this week's episode as I wanted to focus solely on an issue that I see constantly arising for traders. The business of trading presents a constant struggle of both mind and strategy, but when you are new to the markets, this struggle can feel like climbing Mt. Everest. Thanks to a recent article that is grounded in science and research, we are given some extremely practical insights into why trading can be such a challenge when you are first getting started. I'll be honest, it was nice to be able to say, "Hey, this is not my opinion, but rather what research has discovered" when explaining how it all pertains to trading. If you find yourself struggling as a trader and not being able to quite reach the consistency that you want, then there are several items in this podcast that will open your eyes and point you in the right direction. Let's go!

One of the most revealing questions a newer trader can ask is: but WHY? This shows someone's desire to want to be more than a blind sheep trader. With all due respect, if you believe the markets are as easy as "following hot stock tips", then your current status is that of a blind sheep. No worries! I started off the same way and it can be corrected, but Step #1 is first just acknowledging you're a blind sheep. My guest, Aaron, is still pretty new to the community, but he's taking all the right steps to put himself in the best possible position to succeed. The other things I really like about Aaron is his ability to take "hard" feedback and not get all offended or triggered. Too many times people hear something a bit on the hard side and get all offended, but in Aaron's case, he took the feedback as it was intended and rolled with it as any adult and serious trader would. I really enjoyed my time with Aaron and I'm sure you will to, so let's get to it!

Pick up the phone and start dialing for dollars! My guest this week made a living doing this exact same thing as a licensed stock broker. I always enjoy talking with those from the old school way of doing things because it brings such great perspective into today's online world of making money. Community member, Matt, walks us through his early days in the market as a broker to where he is now, learning how to take full control of his money and grow it through actively trading. While Matt is still in his learning stage, he displays some great mindsets and mentalities that demonstrate what it takes if you are going to give yourself any kind of legitimate chance at success in the markets. We venture down quite a few rabbit holes so there is something for everyone in this week's episode. Sit back and enjoy the ride (and scribble down some notes as you see fit).

This person's story is without question Top 3 Most Inspiring since I began the podcast back in 2014. My guest, Diego, has been on the show before and he's one of those guys who will make you think twice before you begin feeling sorry for yourself or making excuses. Diego is an insanely busy guy, however, he continues to make progress within his trading journey. He's had some rough patches for sure since his last appearance on the show, but he has also made extreme progress. In fact, he is now profitable and consistent as he works through his current strategy that he shares with us. What I appreciate the most is that even though he has been consistent and profitable, Diego is still well aware of the pitfalls that could arise so he is on guard in a big way. Let's get to it!

I'm a big believer that the success you have in life is influenced by who you choose to surround yourself with. In this week's discussion, I talk with someone who truly gives off a positive vibe and I was soaking it all in. My guest, Jerry, got off to a great start in the markets back when people still talked to their broker on the phone, but then….well… things changed a bit. Back to the drawing board Jerry went and thus began his journey towards finding and establishing consistency. I really respect the pathway Jerry has chosen in both life and pertaining to his goals with trading. Sure, it may not be the pathway that creates overnight riches, but it is the proven way to a slow burn that produces results. There is certainly something for everyone to take away from in this discussion so let's get to it!

These conversations are some of my favorites. They start out in pure confusion, chaos and craziness; however, by the end of the discussion you can see real progress has been made. Fellow member James tells us all about what he has been through, where he is at, and where he is headed in the future. What I find to be most motivating and inspiring is that you can start out as chaotic as he did, but if you stay self-aware and make the changes that need to be put into place, it is completely possible to start to consistently grow your trading account. I respect that James kept his ego in check and admitted to himself that things needed to change. There is a great lesson in that in and of itself. The great part is, that is only the tip of the iceberg! So let's get to it!

Envision the first domino wiggling back and forth. All it takes it for a slight nudge. Down it goes and all other dominos will be knocked down with the momentum. That's how I can best describe the underlying "feel" of my discussion with fellow member Ezra. He's a younger guy with great potential and a good head on his shoulders; however, there is something missing. There is something holding him back from just going "all in" and learning how to truly take control of the markets and his trading. When it comes to "dabbling" verves "going all in", there is a huge difference and this conversation will demonstrate this comparison. For whatever reason, Ezra is "dabbling" instead of "going all in" and it's a situation many people find themselves in. I 100% respect Ezra and his honesty and willingness to tell us the blunt truth. This opens up lots of learning nuggets that we can all take and apply to our personal journeys. Let's get to it!

While I know the topic of "can you trade with real money WHILE you are learning?" has come up multiple times.... I'm not quite sure it has ever been discussed in this manner. I will admit, I can get pretty stuck in my ways. But the way our guest, Carla, is going about her training and education towards the market has me reconsidering how I view this certain question in the market. Like everything, there is always "gray area" that should be and needs to be accounted for; however, with the way Carla is going about it, I must say.... I fully approve! If you are one of the people who want to use real money "while" you learn, you should consider using The Carla Method!

If you want to be a fly on the wall and listen to traders "talk trading", then this will be the episode for you. In this episode, I talk with longtime member Ryan (better known as "Mico" in the community). Sure, it was an interview as I did ask the questions, but most was just us talking strategy and offering up thoughts and opinions. We talk bitcoin, microcaps, shorting, position sizing, mental stops and a whole lot more! Ryan, just like all of us, has had some time toughs but thanks to his honesty we have ourselves some great nuggets of wisdom. Let's get to it!

Have you ever had a "Utah event"? I know I have and they aren't very pleasant. My talk with community member John sheds a ton of light on some very common problems that many of us face as traders. These problems don't make you stupid, they make you a human…. But, they still need to be addressed and "put under control" at all costs. Although John has struggled, he has now found himself a nice little sweet spot within the markets that has been treating him very nicely over the past couple of years. There are many ways to profit from the market, but one way is to simply get very specialized in one specific location of the market and excel at it. This is exactly what John has learned to do. We'll talk about this and much more. Let's go!

A huge part of trading is mental. It may sound dramatic, but if you want trading success, the mind must be mastered. Our guest today, Marc, takes us on a great journey of witnessing his Dad do well as an "old school trader" in the markets to now trading all on his own. Like all of us, he's had struggles and the one is due to a mental issue I can relate too. Some people find it odd when I tell them, "I don't know anything at all about this company, but I'm trading them" and Marc's struggle illustrates exactly why I approach the market in this way. Bottom line, there are sneaky voices that we can be proactive against if we set certain rules for ourselves and that's just one of the great nuggets of wisdom you will learn. Let's get to it!

Talking with full time traders is always a popular thing on the show, and that's what we have this week. Jason ('jyandcomp2' chatroom alias) is a full time trader who made the jump the way it should be done. Technically speaking, you could quit your job today and then tomorrow "be a full time trader", but that doesn't mean it was a wise decision. This brings up the logical question, "Well Clay… what "would" be a wise way to do it?" You'll get that answered and a whole lot more as you hear from Jason and the ups and downs of his journey so far. I had a lot of fun with this talk and I'm certain there will be some valuable nuggets of wisdom you can extract from it. Let's go!

Stay away from day trading! It is too risky. This is exactly what our guest, Mark, was told when he was first learning about the markets. Here's the seemingly contradicting thing: I agree with the person who gave him this advice! Please give me a chance to explain, but this is just one of the interesting rabbit holes we go down while learning about Mark and his trading journey up until this point. I will say at this point that Mark no longer views day trading as "risky"… how he has reached this point is yet another thing you'll hear all about. Let's get to it.

A unique twist on this discussion is that our guest, Paul, is now a ClayTrader University member. By the time you as a listener hear these talks, in many cases, several weeks have passed by. I think this is pretty cool because it gives us all insight to what having "many pieces" of the puzzle looks like…. But… not quite "all" of them. Perhaps you can relate to Paul in this regard? You know what you are doing, but, you just have this feeling in your gut that something might also be missing? I've talked with Paul quite a bit since this discussion took place, and he'll be the first to tell you that while he certainly was not wandering around blind, there were still "pieces" he was missing out on within his trading. Paul is a great guy who I've apricated getting to know better and better and I'm extremely confident that whether you are brand new to trading or a seasoned veteran, there will be something that you can find of value to apply to your trading or simply use as a "reminder" of how things need to be done. Let's get to it!

This one had me laughing. If you find yourself having to fake digestive problems in order to "make a trade", I feel confident in saying you are NOT going about the markets in the wisest of ways – haha! Thanks to our guest, Chad, and his truthfulness we all get to see what certain "strategies" can lead to. As funny as his story is, I'm sure several of you can relate to it in one way or another. Bottom line, signing up for a service that promises to send you text and/or email alerts in order to make you money is not going to turn out well. I realize on the surface it sounds great (and the really great advertisers make it sound even greater), but in the real world and in a practical sense… it doesn't work consistently. From both an entertainment perspective and a wisdom perspective, this discussion has lots of great stuff in it, so be sure to set some time aside to listen! Notes: Today we speak with community member Chad. His interest in the market grew after he talked to someone who retired early and was currently trading ETFs in his tax-free account to generate about $1,000 a week. After spending hundreds of hours going through free education and briefly paper trading (for a week), he pooled together about 7k and borrowed money to get his account to the 10k mark. His logic was that he could trade 1000 shares of stocks under 10 dollars with that size account. Chad started the first day positive and then promptly lost 800 dollars the next. This led him to realize he needed to find someone who could provide a more structured training. He joined a community that essentially played follow the leader. While he had some winners he had more losers which were also larger than his wins. He decided to take a break and focus on life instead of trading. Utilizing the gains from selling his house, Chad got his finances back in order and cleared his old debts that had accumulated. After getting back into trading he started to paper trade options, futures, and forex. Chad opened a futures account and began to rapidly trade intraday since his new job hours worked with market hours. He realized that he ultimately did not want to day trade. As much as he wanted it to work it just didn't work with his personality. This led him to focus on advanced options. Now Chad is paper trading advanced options while he saves up to a certain amount for his trading account. While he has a rough idea when he will go live, he's going to wait to see what his paper trading performance has looked like and will use that to determine when he is ready to put money on the line again. Quotes: I thought you had to be on Wall Street or work in an office building to be a part of the market. I saw the tab at the top that said 'Options.' I thought that was settings for the platform. I was willing to listen to complete strangers to verify my thesis that this company would do well… even though they've never had a positive earnings report. I like to relate free education to a 1000 piece puzzle. You don't have the picture on the box and you're missing 100 pieces. I came to the conclusion was that I don't like day trading. Despite wanting to do it so badly I didn't like the rapid decisions you had to make. Links: https://claytrader.com/videos/trade-profits-100-time/

It's time to once again to international and talk with a longtime member who lives down in South America! Jose (alias in the chatroom of "jose.olivieri") has been with the community since almost the start six years ago. He is now a full time trader and has adapted some interesting mindsets towards the market, which when we talk about in depth, truly do make sense. At the end of the day, because trading is such a mental battle, you need to do whatever it takes to trick your mind (and voices) into believing certain principles. This is just one of the many things Jose and I talk about. There is lots of great stuff for someone who has been in the market for several years now. It's time to go South below the equator. Let's go!

The first thing I did after recording this episode was run and tell my wife about it. Listen, we've had some great stories of people "doing what it takes" to take control of their life and situation, but I'm pretty sure Zach takes the prize. He has and continues to go to extremes in order to take destiny into his own hands and create the life for his family and himself. I won't go any further than throwing out there… the next time you think, "Can I do it?"… think of Zach! There are also lots of great nuggets of wisdom in regards to just how tricky the human mind can be with emotions. You can be extremely confident that you will be able to control them, but… well… you'll see what I mean. Let's get to it! Notes: Today we talk to community member Zaher who goes by Zach in the community. Currently, his wife and children are located elsewhere and he wanted to find a good job to support himself and his family with the intention of being able to go back home to them. After funding a small binary options account, Zach started making some decent gains following someone else's instructions. He is the type of person who wants to learn instead of following blindly. It soon became clear that this particular broker/educator was all a scam. Eventually, Zach realized he needed to fund a brokerage in Canada and found a discount broker. While he deals with other people's problems and emotions daily for his day job, he thought he was the master of his emotions. This was until he finally put his hard earned money on the line day trading. He got caught immediately buying tops and selling bottoms. Zach realized that he needed a mentor after a little while of losing money. Even regardless of all the books he consumed, it was unable to help him handle the real-life stresses trading involves. After emailing 3 different trading educators, Zach ultimately decided to start taking courses here at Claytrader.com. While Zach would fly through the books earlier in his journey, he has now recognized the fact that it's not a matter of racing to the end. Regarding the courses, he is taking his time one course at a time and rewatching material that he has trouble grasping. He understands this is not a get rich quick scheme and takes time and effort to succeed. Quotes: I'm not the type of person who likes to follow anybody. I just really want to learn. I went and searched for every book that had to do with trading… and I bought them all. I've always thought I was a person who could control my feelings. That was until my first-day trade. 80% of my trades I'm reading it right but it's so volatile it shakes me out right away. Then I re-enter and it shakes me out again. You helped me change. You helped me to think about things differently. I want to commit to being a really good student and I want to live with my kids. It's been 6 years and they are growing up without me.

Ever since I posted a video on my YouTube channel about the $400 to $29,000 trade, you as viewers have demanded to hear from this trader! Well, here he is! Our guest, Maquan Dawkins, took some time out of his extremely busy schedule to share his journey with us… including the massive winning trade he scored. While I realize it is easy to get caught up in the hype of such crazy numbers, please keep in mind the underlying themes here of just how much work and effort Maquan has put into his trading strategy. He is by no means throwing darts and certainly is not doing the whole "go big or go home" approach. Once in a while though, the market does give you BOOMS in your favor. Maquan is a high energy guy, so be ready! Let's GO! Notes: Today we talk with community member MaQuan. His introduction to the market was before 2008. He was friends with the president of a bank who would talk often about the market. While his friend tried to explain the market to him, he never fully grasped it at the time. After changing location and taking a pay cut, his fiance suggested he focus with much more intent upon trading. After looking around the education landscape, he ran into someone offering a program for $20,000 but he thought that was ridiculous. MaQuan invested in the University package and began working through aspects he wanted to focus on. The problem he had was his consistency so he developed a seven-step strategy that should shape what kind of volatility his portfolio will have. While he didn't paper trade using a platform, he mentally tested his strategy over time with lots of reviews after the market was closed. A big reason for his fluctuating results earlier was not utilizing the same amount of capital per trade. Now all of that criteria is part of his seven-step strategy. He's never going out looking for home runs. Base hits add up fast. Quotes: Fund an account with no education. Find stocks with no education. Buy stocks with no education. 2015 was a good year for me. My strategy wasn't there so I couldn't duplicate what I did right. Because of my job I don't have a lot of time to sit and watch the trades. That's why I had to form a strategy that fits for me. I'm a football player, Clay. That's how it works. My brain is looking at a set of plays they run and the percentages. That's exactly how I work in the stock market. Links: https://claytrader.com/videos/turning-400-into-29000/

Struggle with emotions in your trading? Taking a step back and letting numbers and data be the drivers of your decisions can make a huge difference. This is the exact pathway our guest, Sean (in the chatroom, "seantepper"), has chosen to pursue. What I found especially fascinating about Sean was his unwavering desire to stay laser-focused on the numbers and nothing else. Oftentimes, there are so many shiny objects floating around that it can be easier to distracted and pulled off our target goals, but for Sean, he's like an iron trap clamped onto the data. This brings up a few areas of gray that he and I discuss to better position himself, but all in all, there is a lot that can be learned from his mindset and approach. Let's get to it! Notes: Today we talk with community member Sean who rarely has time to hang out in the Inner Circle based on his current job. Coming from the tech world, Sean recognized he needed to focus on educating himself first rather than just blindly throwing money into the market. Sean utilizes Excel Spreadsheets to quantify if an option is worth buying. He sets alerts so that throughout the day he can take action if required. This sheet helps him analyze opportunities in about 30 seconds per stock which allows him some time in the morning to make decisions. While he is still focusing on paper trading, the gains in that account do not matter to him. Paper trading is to build good habits and give himself the best odds for success by having a historical record. Sean realizes that he can over-engineer this spreadsheet until the end of time but sometimes the market does what the market does… it has an element of randomness to it. This has led to some big wins and big losses but he recognizes that those events happen now and again. His key focus is the trend of his system. Quotes: I wanted to learn 'true value investing' like Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger but I ran into your courses first. If you move forward with uncalculated risk, you're just gambling. I went through 5 stocks and each one was disqualified. Each one would lose money for me based on previous tests. There are no emotions. It's just really leveraging data to make decisions for me. You look at the trends of why you're losing and winning and see the correlations. It just takes practice. Focus on the discipline and the money will follow.

Whether or not people want to admit it, most start out as a gambler within the markets. Sure, it may not be intentional, but when you don't know what you don't know… odds are… you are doing something that is essentially gambling. How do you evolve away from this? What types of ups-and-downs does this bring along with it? We go into this and much more with our guest Jim (chatroom alias of 'farmboy'). Jim experienced the world of penny stocks for a while before deciding to climb out of that mud pit and then from there still had plenty more lessons to learn. Jim is currently trading with real money as he builds up good habits which can eventually be scaled into larger trading amounts. There are some key talking points that our discussion brings about, so be sure to listen carefully so you don't start comparing apples to oranges. Let's get to it! Notes Today we talk to community member Jim who goes by 'farmboy' in the chat. When he started his first job he was able to buy into a 401k. He was limited to 3 funds and focused on the ones with the best percentage returns. Most of the capital Jim had was in safe investments such as mutual funds and various diversified funds but allocated a small amount for speculation. He did dabble in penny stocks but learned a valuable lesson regarding liquidity very quickly. Eventually, Jim realized that he needed to learn much more about trading and dove headfirst into Claytrader University. After going through the penny stock course, he decided to leave the penny stocks alone and move onto more liquid products. Jim doesn't paper trade because it doesn't evoke any emotions. He believes he wouldn't make the same decisions without having money on the line. Moving forward he would like to focus on swing trading since he still spends a majority of his time working on his farm. Quotes I knew the power of compound interest. As far as the market it is, it's still mystical to me. Kind of like an addicted gambler. Even though I know I'm throwing my money away to a certain extent, maybe I can make it on the next one. Even though I still don't know what I'm doing, I'm still trading. I just can't stop myself. I want to get more into swing trading. I just haven't gotten up to those courses yet. I found myself not wanting to honor stops but realized I need to let it go and let the stop happen.

Rough times happen. Falling into a rut happens. The question becomes, how do you respond to these types of circumstances? In this episode, we talk with international member (from Denmark) Zagros who experienced some bumps in his journey, but as you'll see, no excuses… he did what needed to be done. Even though he is a younger guy, there is something that we all (no matter our age) can take away from Zagros and his journey up until this point. For me, it was pure motivation and inspiration that when life feels "off", you just need to look in the mirror and take matters into your own hands. He is working hard on his trading knowledge and doing what needs to be done to set himself up to give him the best possible chances to succeed in the market. Let's get to it! Notes Today we talk with community member Zagros from Denmark. His interest in the market was due to a search online about various jobs he could work digitally with lots of flexibility. He doesn't have the largest family but he wanted to provide for them while having the ability to travel. Zagros expressed an interest in Clay's courses at 16 years old and after his mother was assured that he was truly interested she helped him pay for the first course. He was having a rough time in his life so he took a break from trading education and volunteered for military service. This service led him to find the discipline he lacked prior to joining. When he finished his service, he enrolled in University and began his educational journey. Zagros takes in information best by both listening, watching, and transcribing what is taught to give him the best odds of retaining the data. Zagros utilizes options in the US market because he enjoys having the ability to cap his risk and also decide what type of probability of profit he would like. This is another example of how trading is different from one person to the next. His risk profile will most likely differ from your risk profile. After trying to create a 'holy grail' type system, he realized that this was a fool's errand and scaled it all back to just the very basics. Price action and volume are kings but implied volatility is also an option traders friend. Quotes I wanted to make money online so I could care for my mother and travel. I knew I could not do it with a traditional 9-5 job. Clay said 'discipline discipline discipline.' I wasn't a very disciplined guy so I wanted to kick myself in the butt. A defined risk is a beautiful thing. You can theoretically have an 'all weather' portfolio by adjusting your positions. When I tried to make my own system, I put so many indicators on the chart that it was crazy. So I went back to basics.

I've hung out with this guest multiple times and I can speak with first hand experience he is a quality individual. Mike, or better known as "HeyFordy" in the chatroom, has been on the show two times before, but like I said, he's a great guy so why wouldn't we want an update from him? Him and I talk about some pretty profound areas that really can only be discovered from personal experience or from listening to someone who talks publicly about them, which is what Mike does. Setting all exaggeration and hype aside, please listen very closely to what Mike has discovered after his multiple year journey, it truly is the key to finding your comfort zone in this crazy world we call trading. This was truly an epic episode, don't miss it. Let's go! Notes Today we talk to Mike who goes by 'HeyFordy' in the community. This is his 3rd episode with us which is a testament to his skills considering he has been doing this consistently for quite some time. Mike has realized over the years that trading absolutely affects the quality of his life when he puts too much weight on his performance. He has had large accounts and small accounts but the main takeaway is he found a comfortable spot where he allows himself to withdraw gains while still growing his account. The biggest change in his trading is that he became content with smaller winners more often instead of going for the grand slam every day. The market doesn't present huge opportunity often but it does present smaller opportunities more often and Mike has been making a great return since this realization. Clay and Mike discuss the importance of actually pulling money out of the trading account to pay yourself and remove it from 'harms way.' It is a fool's errand to think that someone's one month's returns will repeat every single month. Pay yourself and do what makes you comfortable regarding your account. Mike mentions that trading is not for everyone. Stress was a huge topic in this week's podcast and not just strictly from a trading perspective. If you don't feel well mentally and also physically, what chance do you think you stand competing against the best in the world in the arena known as the market? Quotes I found my comfort zone. I don't get really big winners anymore but I'm happy with it. I was chasing those big wins a majority of my trading experience. I have this new state of mind regarding not having to hit a big win every time. These small wins are small wins but they add up. If you made a profit there is no shame in taking that little bit out. I use options much like I use equities. I use them on extremes. I'm looking to grow my account just not by leaving money directly in my account. I know that may sound weird but it's probably a mental thing for me. Enjoy your life. Life is not trading. Trading should be a small little part of your life. Links https://claytrader.com/podcast/episode099/ https://claytrader.com/podcast/episode134/

One of the worst things you can do to yourself in the world of trading is forcing yourself into the markets because you "need to trade". As odd as it sounds, the best time to learn about the markets and trading is when you have no pressing need to do so This is exactly what we have with our guest Orval (his chatroom community alias, 'Sandman'). Orval is a police officer who enjoys his job and has done a great job of rising through the ranks. With this being the case, he has put him in the ideal situation of wanting to learn the markets, but not in a high-pressure type of way. At times people can get blinded by the glitz and glamor of trading and look to it as a solution to all their problems. However, in many situations, this comes with people "needing" to have success, which in a cruel way, makes achieving success that much more difficult. Lots of lessons to learn from Orval and his journey so far, let's get to it! Notes: Today we talk with Orval who goes by Sandman in the community. In the 90s, Orval was a drill sergeant for a program designed for at-risk kids. This was his introduction to long term investing where he set aside a portion of his paycheck pretax and then never thought twice about it. After seeing the gains from his mutual funds, Orval decided to open a brokerage account to individually pick stocks in an attempt to beat the mutual funds' return. While he had some winners he also had some losers considering he was relatively new to all things trading. In his younger years, he was familiar with living on a very low amount of income between him and his wife. This was the spark that led him to always have the goal of padding his retirement by saving and living well within his means. This has become a habit for him to the point where he doesn't even think of the additional money he saves every month. Orval started to look into more trading resources and this led him to StockTwits. After a short time there, he saw Clay's analysis on one of the stocks he held and Orval investigated further. He really appreciated that Clay had no problem showing his losers along with his winners. He decided to focus on the guaranteed trade (a JOB) which led Orval to take a break from his trading education. While he was also working on his personal fitness, he once again found the energy to continue working through the University program. Instead of picking a hard date to start trading live trading, Orval will go live once he feels comfortable on paper. He realizes that it takes everyone a different amount of time to get there and forcing a specific date would be foolish. Quotes: I threw around 100 bucks in this stock and let it sit. It went up 1200-1700 percent. Never took profits on it … I figured it was going up and it would keep going up. That wasn't true obviously. I really didn't know anything. Maybe just a little bit of success is a dangerous thing because it makes you think that you know more than you really do. I understood that I got lucky and I didn't want to blow up my account and lose the progress that I made. If you don't have your health you don't have anything. Regardless of if you are a successful trader or not. Yeah I got kind of lucky but it could have gone the opposite way. I wouldn't have lost lots of money but it still would have hurt.

Wanting to learn how to profit from the financial markets is a tricky situation. On one hand, you need to have an extreme passion in order to ensure you have the willpower and desire to push through the tough times. On the other hand, you don't want to allow the passion to create a situation where you are burning yourself out. There is a fine line but it's a critical line that must be located for your personal situation. Our guest, Justin (his chatroom alias, 'ChunkyMonkey') talks about this aspect of his journey amongst much else. He has quite a bit of experience with other "services" in the industry and sheds quite a bit of light on some of the shadiness that exists out there. While he is still in "planning and learning" mode, given all the numerous things he's already been through on his journey there is something for everyone to take away. Let's get to it! Show Notes: Today we speak with community member Justin who goes by 'chunkymonkey' in the chat. His introduction to the market was at a relatively young age. As he got older Justin had a mentor who actively traded in the stock market so he had a slight insight into what trading entailed. While this person mainly used fundamental analysis, he did get a glimpse into technical analysis. His risk profile would be defined as very conservative and he even fears paper trading strictly for the fact that it may not reflect accurately his gains in a live environment. Justin enjoys owning a business and working but his long term goal is to be able to travel the world while making money simultaneously. This overarching idea is what led him to take a closer look at trading. He took a look at a lot of different services offered by other people in the trading industry and while he sampled a few, he didn't enjoy the degenerate gambler feel of some of the communities along with some very surface level information that Justin already knew. What he enjoyed about Inner Circle was the fact that the alert rooms had no fluff or biased opinions, just technical setups. Justin has slowed down regarding going through the courses in an effort to digest the material more fully. While he has only completed the first course he has planned out the rest of his educational journey including when he will start paper trading seriously followed by going live. Since he's learned about many indicators, he absolutely realizes that he needs to pick the ones that help him the most (versus having 10+ on his charts). Justin knows that the search for the Holy Grail is one that cannot be solved but it's more about finding what tools aid in decision making. Quotes: He would show me support and resistance and fibs but it was so overhead at that time for me." I'm very risk averse even when paper trading. I take it very personally, probably more the being wrong part." Part of the thing I love about Inner Circle is that some rooms are just for alerts. In the other chat rooms I had to filter through lots of chit chat." I had to back myself off a little bit because every waking moment I would think about trading. If I overdue it I will burn myself out so I backed off a little bit. It's not efficient to ride a motorcycle with 6 wheels. But just add a few training wheels like moving averages and MACD. Just trying to figure out what works.

Are you someone with a schedule that does not allow for you to be able to watch your screen every second of the day? If so, you are not alone and you will find great value in our discussion with community member Jon (his alias in the chatroom is also just 'Jon'). He is someone with a packed schedule and on the surface you would think there would not be any way he could "be a trader". There is power and freedom in knowledge and Jon took the steps needed to inform himself to take advantage of an area of the market he was originally not aware of (most new people have no idea about it). Around these parts we call it options farming and it is truly a great way to get involved with the markets in a very time efficient way. Jon tells us all about where he started and how he arrived to the point of making money with minimal time required each day. Lots of knowledge is coming your way, so let's go! Show Notes: Today we speak with community member Jon. His introduction to the market was actually a gift from his grandmother. She gave him some stock as a graduation gift and he eventually learned about dividend paying stocks. While passively investing in his 401k and focusing on companies he thought had potential/believe in, he started seeing a scrolling ticker of big movers for the day. This led him to start looking into penny stocks around 2013 which was quite a time for small cap stocks. After making modest gains being a passive investor, Jon started to see the allure of penny stocks and would focus on the highly discussed ones on StockTwits and iHub. While he had quite a few winners (by luck) he eventually went on a losing streak and decided to abandon penny stocks entirely. Jon saw Clay post a chart analysis video and this intrigued him to look into technical analysis. After some deliberation, he joined the program and has taken a bit of time to work through the program due to his commitments outside of his day job and hobbies. As he has worked through the program he noticed that the Advanced Options strategies work perfectly with him having a limited time during the day to trade actively. A previous podcast led him to investigate the opportunities of those strategies and he has been using them exclusively ever since. Eventually Jon will look more into day trading but Clay and Chezz try to dissuade him from jumping into that too early. While there is nothing wrong with continuing your education and expanding your knowledge, if he only has his lunch hour to trade this can turn into a slow bleed or worse, a disaster. Quotes: I thought you could only buy or sell in 100 share lots. It wasn't until 2011 when I discovered you could buy only 1 share of something if you wanted. Here I am making 1 or 2 percent on Microsoft or Ford and I see these other stocks moving 200, 300, 1000 percent in a day. That piqued my interest a bit. I would buy in and just kind of wait for the news to happen and see what the stock would do when the news did come out. There's so much material it's crazy. It's a good problem to have. There is very little time commitment once you're in the trade to maintain it. It's been awesome for me. Links: A Stock Traders Daily Routine: https://claytrader.com/videos/an-option-swing-traders-daily-routine-in-detail/

I love when people acknowledge they have victim cards and decide to light them up in flames. In my mind at least, there is nothing more motivational than when someone kicks excuses in the face and focuses on solutions rather than perceived problems. In this episode we talk with fellow community member Tomasz ,who lives in Scotland. I don't want to spoil too much, so all I'll say is he went from being at some pretty low points in his mind/life to completely turning things around. We are all humans, so there is nothing wrong with feeling/being "down" in life. I think we've all been there. The problem arises if you choose to "stay down". Tomasz chose to get back up and go into beast mode and it is some inspiring stuff for sure. If you refuse to give up your victim cards, then don't listen to Tomasz, he will give you little room to hide. Let's go! Show Notes: Today we talk with our Scottish community member Tomasz. His introduction to the market was in his schooling that focused specifically on how the market worked. Using newspapers the class would select a basket of stocks and check in over the school year. His first 'paper trade' was successful but he attributes a lot of that to luck. While he was growing up still he decided that he wanted to be a helicopter pilot. After looking at the training and cost associated with that, he wasn't sure he would ever become a pilot. At one point he had 3 jobs and was fully committed to making his dream a reality. Tomasz passed his skills tests and became a pilot. Unfortunately it coincided with the financial downturn that most the world experienced which meant there wasn't much work for him to do in that industry. He experienced a life shaking event when he lost his copilot in a motorcycle accident and this psychologically impacted him enough to stop flying. After doing some research, he decided he wanted to take trading in the market much more seriously and enrolled in Claytrader University. He disabled his Netflix and Amazon Prime and focused strictly on his education by using his time as wisely as possible. In an effort to keep himself from making emotional problems that plague many traders, Tomasz decided that he needed to clear his debts first before even considering funding a trading account. While he was working hard to make that happen he continued to paper trade and solidify his trading strategy. Quotes: It was obvious to me to buy stocks that were up trending. I remember looking at the line charts and seeing those trends. I used my skills as a painter-decorator to finish this house up and sold it 3 years later in 2008 right before the crash. I made over 100% profit on that house. It felt like I was going nowhere. I felt completely beat up by everything around. I attached the victim card to my forehead. I needed to change myself psychologically so CTU isn't just courses. It also discusses bad emotions that come across all your life. I was working a lot and I realized I was unhappy with my accounts I started working even harder. I paid off all my debts and saved money for an account to trade.

This was a pretty unique episode I thought. First off, let me say I love talking with the younger people out there as it sets a great example of why age should not be an excuse as to why or why not you are doing something. When it comes to the markets in particular, the younger you start… the better! This is not my opinion, it's a mathematical fact. I talk with Elliot (in the chatroom he goes by 'elliotwest') and we have ourselves a great conversation, although you will notice as I press him about certain topics, he seems a bit… lost. However, in other areas of the conversation you'll notice he answers me with authority and a plan of action, which leads to some real life coaching to help bump him in the right direction. Sure he's a younger guy, but no matter your age I'm confident you'll be able to relate in one way or another and pull some wisdom from the conversation. Notes: Today we talk with Elliot from the community. He was aware you could purchase shares of a company but wasn't really sure how to profit from that. In high school, he decided that he wanted to make a living working from his computer at home. Stock trading was one of the jobs that popped up in his search. Elliot decided to do his research on Clay after he found his videos on YouTube. He watched all the videos for almost a year before enrolling in Claytrader University. His logic was that if he was still interested a year later then this was something he truly wanted to do. He decided to start trading relatively quickly but suffered some silly losses which led him to take another hard look at his technical analysis and risk management. Elliot stepped back since he realized he started live trading a bit too fast. Elliot started to see the true power of the market after making some profits and he also has a good handle on keeping his losers small and pushing his winners as far as they're willing to go. Considering he is subject to the pattern day trader rule, he wants to focus more on swing trading momentum stocks going forward. Quotes: I learned at a young age that you could buy shares of a company and I thought that was pretty cool but I didn't really know much about that. I tried to find things on you that would hurt your character, no offense. I tried to see if there was anything bad about you online. If I lost it all I wouldn't be broke. I would be bummed out but I was okay mentally with losing it. My goal was to start investing in my retirement before 21. Before I can drink I need to start investing. Losses kind of bum me out but I've come to learn you need to take the loss to get your money back and put it into another trade.

Take note, this is a Part 2 episode, so for the best listening experience, listen to episode 201 first. Assuming you have listened to episode 201, then you already know our guest, Brad ('Darb24' in the chatroom) is an absolute beast who will do whatever it takes to get to where he wants to go. He's truly a shining example of someone who pulls out the hardhat instead of the victim card when things get tough. In Part 2 we now move more into his actual trading and the way he is approaching the markets to pull the most profit as possible while keeping his risk minimized. If you enjoyed Part 1 there is no doubt you'll enjoy Part 2, so let's get to it! Show Notes: Now we pick it back up with Brad. He originally thought options were too complex of a product to trade but this all changed once he went through the Options Trading Simplified course. Unfortunately he had to spend some time finding a broker with reasonable commissions. Brad decided to go with Tastyworks because of the lower commissions but the platform is not the best for day trading. He also experienced 'the voices' that come out when he starts to run out of buying power and has to sit out the rest of the day. While Brad admits to being breakeven at this point in his trading, that is the first step to profits. A big difference between Brad and other traders is that he is focusing on his consistency much more than the size of his profits. This is crucial for long term development. Quotes: Taking it small, trying to form the good habits and working on breaking the bad ones. With me trading such a small account, it doesn't take very long to go through my buying power. If I start off the day with a loss I start off the day with a loss. It is what it is. Once I do get gains on the board it gets me to thinking about taking the risk of giving them back.

The road to becoming a trader can be a dirty one filled with lots of self-sacrifice and many less than ideal situations. I have nothing against the "smoother" journeys, but there is something a bit more extra motivating when someone has to dig deep in order to get to where they want to go. Our guest, Brad (chatroom alias, "Darb24"), is someone who I have a ton of respect for. His journey has by no means been easy, but he never once complained or pulled out the victim card. He sucked it up, got dirty (and continues to get dirty) and made things happen. I know the saying is way overused, but it's truly the case here: where there is a will, there is a way. Put on your hard hat (well… welder's mask) and let's get motivated with Brad! Show Notes: Today we talk with community member Brad. He came from a modest upbringing and didn't think he had any real access to the market for that reason. 401k's and long term retirement investing is what actually introduced him to the market. Brad struck up a conversation with a coworker who said he he was trading in the market. This unfortunately was at the same time as the crash in 2008 which led to a difficult time regarding his employment and income. Needless to say, trading still wasn't in the picture yet. While he found some great paying jobs, most of the time it kept him away from his family so he moved back and worked locally for quite a few years. After changing jobs a few times, he eventually got back onto the idea of trading. One day Brad was searching for reviews on trucks and stumbled upon Clay's video about the new truck he bought. He about fell off the end of the hotel bed when Clay mentioned 'trading' at the very end. This led him to investigate further and ultimately join the community. While going through the courses, Brad funded an offshore account just to get his feet wet in the market. It did not help that he had initially been paper trading unrealistically but regardless, he was able to truly see the voices that appear when real money is on the line. Quotes: I never looked at the stock market as something that somebody like me could take part in. I thought it was for rich people in New York City. I ended up taking a local job back home and worked there for 5 years but trading was always in the back of my mind. I was driving to work one morning thinking 'there has got to be a better way to make a living' and trading came back to mind. I'm spending the money on education and CTU. I opened up a SureTrader account with $1,000 and if it dropped to $500 I would close it. In a few weeks it dropped to $500. Links: https://claytrader.com/videos/got-new-truck-2018-gmc-1500-sierra-denali/

Wow. We did it! Not only did we hit 200 episodes, but we did it 200 weeks in a row. A special thanks to our community whom I give all the credit to for allowing this feat to be accomplished. Without you and your willingness to share your experiences, there is no way we could have done 200 weeks in a row with uninterrupted content. For this episode, we are bring back two members who were part of our first 10 episodes and we're all "talking mistakes". Given the idea of the show is to show the "realistic" side of trading, I figured what better way to celebrate 200 episodes than all sharing some of our biggest screw-ups, no matter how embarrassing they may be. Let's go! Show Notes: Today we celebrate making it to 200 episodes with Nate, Hooch, Clay and Chezz. We spend the episode talking about the three biggest mistakes they've made since they started trading. The first eye opening mistake most of us made was not being completely aware of the commission structures and how they vary across multiple brokers. One of Nate's biggest mistakes was thinking that a bad trade he was in could not get any worse… when in reality it can always get worse. Trade what you see, not what you think. Hooch talks about the importance of multiple sources of income. He clarifies that you do not need to start the next Fortune 500 company to earn some extra income. Multiple sources of income provide you mental comfort if your trading wasn't as stellar as you had expected. Chezz talks about putting a set time frame for when you should start to be 'good' at trading. In reality, everyone takes a different amount of time to hone their craft. When talking about trading mistakes specifically, greed is one that spans across the board. Everyone has to learn how to wrangle this emotion if they ever want to have lasting success. An important criteria for trading always involves liquidity. Regardless of your ability to buy, if you're unable to sell then you're opening yourself up to the possibility for a big loss. Hooch's final thought is to remember there are times when you probably shouldn't trade. This relates to major life changes such as marriage, more children on the way, buying a new house, etc. Anything that is a large event in your life can impact your mentality which will come out in your trading. Quotes: One of my biggest mistakes was not understanding commissions and how it can screw up a trade plan My biggest mistake I like to point out was having the false mentality of thinking 'it can never get worse.' You don't have to start up a new Amazon… even if I make an extra 40-50 bucks in the afternoon I find that really helps me mentally. Overconfidence or thinking you can put a set time frame on when you think you will be good at trading is my biggest mistake. Greed is one of the worst things to deal with emotionally when trading. Doesn't matter how good or bad your day is going. You always think you can squeeze out a little bit more. Another big mistake is knowing when not to trade. Such as getting married or moving or something major on your mind. Trading is such a mind game. Links: Uber Eats: https://partners.uber.com/i/davep13196ue

A community favorite of mine is back to update us on her journey. Rena (same name in the chatroom) is someone I admire greatly. I've met her in person on multiple occasions and she is someone who we can all learn from given her willingness to talk about anything and everything, particularly the "bad stuff". She's a solid trader, no doubt about it, but like all traders she suffers from certain voices that have caused her hiccups. She has pressed on through perseverance and encouragement and has turned the corner in her trading. She's on the right path, now it's just a matter of staying laser focused to remain on the path (which she is doing a great job of!). Don't miss this episode, let's get to it! Show Notes Today we revisit with Rena. As we learned in her last podcast, her son was a large factor in her getting back into the market at a serious level. He has had quite an interest in the market and it was something they both had in common. While Rena has had many successful trades utilizing a rubberband type strategy, the problem she has is managing the ones that do not work. Those losers ultimately wipe out a month or more of profit in one shot. She wanted to start 2018 on a clean slate and decided to close all of her positions. This led her to take a $30k loss but the important thing here is that there is no psychological baggage for her to carry into the new year. Volatility picked up in Februrary and this led to some losses for her 'farm' account. However, she was still able to keep her losses to only $1,000 by utilizing day trading to take advantage of the intraday volatility. Rena decided to reduce her account size to ensure that she wasn't even able to take a huge loss. This size account led her to a 'death by 1000 cuts' since she was mainly playing defense instead of playing any offense. After a good conversation with her husband, Rena realized that if she didn't take any huge blowout losses she could always recover. She is content to take 1-3k losses because she knows she can make that back up. She has now been green the last 6 months after this enlightening moment. Quotes One of the reasons I kept getting back into the market was my son was interested from about the time he was a freshman. I never thought I would be that stupid to max out my account on one bad trade. I got rid of everything I had to start 2018 on a clean slate. The people in the chatroom know way more about my losses than my wins. That's when I need support. They keep me accountable. Can I make this loss up? Because 99% of the time if I get out with even a 1,000 dollar loss I can make that up. I've had a fairly healthy balance with money. I know what it's like to have money and I know what it's like to have none. Links Rena's First Episode: https://claytrader.com/podcast/episode110/

As painful as it is to hear: go slow. I'm well aware and had to learn the hard way of what rushing into the markets can lead to, so I would not call you an idiot if that's where your mind is at; however, just realize, you're on the wrong path! Our guest, Jose (chatroom alias, 'JoseJuanQ'), tells us all about how he has been approaching his quest of becoming a successful trader. His journey has not been very adrenaline filled with excitement surging through his body, but, that is exactly why his current story and approach is so beneficial to us all. Even if you are a veteran trader like myself, there are many reminders and positive signs of reinforcement in regards to how I go about my daily business as a trader. Whether you are brand new or have been around for years, I'm confident you'll find something worthwhile in Jose's story! Show Notes Today we talk with community member Jose who goes by JoseJuanQ in the community. He had been following Clay's videos since 2013. A friend came over one time and they were talking about investments. While having a line chart up he held it to the screen and thought 'wouldn't it be nice if we could predict where price is going?' Jose is not comfortable putting his money into things he does not understand which is why he focused on metals to start. He did take a long break from the market because he was working on his education, focusing on accumulating capital by working, met his wife and got married. He started trading live after finishing University but realized he was trading scared and not in a position of strength regarding his account size. He struggled scalping with only one contract so his new account target value to start is $5,000. Jose had to take on some business debt when he moved to Las Vegas so he is currently focused on clearing that up before he does ultimately fund his account. Since his wife is going to school (and getting paid to do that) he also has to wear the dad hat so he's looking forward to having the ability to spend more time with his kids. Ultimately he wants to day trade in the morning and focus on real estate during the rest of the day. This reality won't come true overnight but he's working very hard to set himself up for success. Quotes I started selling my metals and investing into my tools and my education. I was trading at the time but stopped trading. I took the little amount I had left out and focused on SLAB'ing it up. I kind of want to make it where I wake up in the middle of the night calling out support and resistance. The reason I'm going to options is that it takes smaller amount of capital and I can manage my risk better.

If you want to succeed, you must lose. While I realize that is a seemingly contradicting statement, it is a critical skill that must be mastered as a trader. Our guest, Mark ('hyprsnpr' in the chat room), walks us through his updated journey, particularly in regards to his relationship with losing. He is doing a great job currently with not only putting together some solid wins, but also when it comes to keeping losing trades under control. He shares a huge loss he took which brings up some interesting talking points that I believe will serve as a reminder to us all on just how tricky the human mind can be. We talk about this and a whole lot more, so let's get to it! Show Notes: Today we speak again with Mark who goes by "hyprsnpr" in the community. Since he had a large life event on the horizon, he took another hiatus until he could have the proper amount of time to spend on practice again, which he knew he needed to spend more time on. Even with a mistake by using a more macro/fundamental approach for a trade idea (which led to a large loss) he still finished the month profitable. He has also noticed that he has the ability to stop revenge trading since he has the confidence regarding overcoming controlled losses. After paper trading for months, he went back to real money and has been green ever since. He has small daily targets but doesn't get discouraged if he has a losing day. Many newer trades jump from one system to the next if they experience a loss but Mark realizes this is a numbers game. Marks goal is a consistent green year only utilizing basic technical analysis and risk management. He has aspirations to grow his style but he believes having more tools for the toolbox is a benefit. Quotes: It was hard to sit out of the market but at the same time I got a new job which kept my mind off of it. If I normally traded 10 contracts I would then go to 20-25 contracts in an attempt to revenge trade. My ultimate goal was to be consistent by my wedding. Life started to normalize after that and I went back to real money. I'm totally fine if I don't take any trades on the day. Links: Rena's First Episode: https://claytrader.com/podcast/episode123/

A long time member and friend is back, Nate Wilson. For those of you who are members of the community, he goes by the same name in the chatroom and has been around from almost the beginning. He's become a personal friend of mine (particularly if you watch the vlogs on the YouTube channel) and he's someone I respect for his bluntness and honesty. He adapts a "I don't care what you think" type attitude, so he has no problem simply sharing his experiences, both good and bad. In this update of his journey, he talks about how he needed to step away from the markets and trading for a while which prompts a very valuable talking point. Sometimes as traders, we should be slowing things down and tapping the brakes, but many times we do not which leads to account pain. There is certainly a learning lesson here and with much else we talk about. Let's get to it! Notes: Today we talk with community member Nate Wilson. He's been on 3 previous podcasts which are linked below and is a regular member who leads examples on the weekly webinars. Nate generally trades every single morning focusing on his extended scalping strategy but over this past summer he took an extended break during a house remodel. The contractor he was using wasn't consistent with his timing so this led Nate to stop trading for a while so he wouldn't get caught in a trade when he needed to help out. Clay and Nate discuss their styles of trading and how they may have a high rate of success, the losers need to be kept in check as to not wipe away all the smaller winners. Nate also talks about having a background in finance which helped him ease into trading. Nate suggests that going into the market with no education is a fool's errand. While eventually you need to put your education into practice, with no education you will have very poor results. It took him 2 years to feel confident in his current strategy. Quotes: I fully realized this is the strategy that works for me and I've stopped trying to do anything else. I just didn't want to get into a trade because I was nervous the contractor would call right after. Once I see 10:30 on the clock I stop paying 100% attention to the market. I start answering emails and doing other work related things. If you're just going to go into the market half-assed and don't know what's going on, that's the kind of result you're going to get. I do not have 'shiny object syndrome.' I'm very content with the money I make with my strategy. Links: https://claytrader.com/podcast/episode009/ https://claytrader.com/podcast/episode041/ https://claytrader.com/blog/64-trading-days-2-losing-days-possible/ https://claytrader.com/videos/member-trades-account-howd-go/ https://claytrader.com/videos/baltimore-football-crabs-trading-friend/ https://claytrader.com/podcast/episode107/

We are trying something new, so your feedback is certainly welcomed and wanted! In this episode, Chezz and I discuss a recent event that caught fire in the headlines. Perhaps you are aware, but if not, the website OptionSellers.com got extremely careless with their client's money and ended up creating a massive… we'll call it… "problem"… for those who trusted them. The entire topic created several rabbit holes of learning and consideration that I believe we can all benefit from. Whether that be for someone like myself where the lessons learned are a "reminder" or for new traders that may never have considered the discussion points we talk about. Bottom line, I believe this format has some potential in the future, so I hope you enjoy and get something from it. Like I said, your feedback would be much appreciated.