The Stock Trading Reality Podcast

We're back with another classic tale of getting punched in the teeth as a rookie. Thanks to our guest, Blake (those of you in the chat room community will known him as 'ElkTrout'), and his openness, we are given an insight into the dangers of approaching the market in… unwise….ways. I've met Blake in person on a few occasions and he's a class act who knows what it takes to work hard and fight back. Sure, he self admittedly didn't get started in the smartest of ways, but he also didn't play the victim card. What did he do? How did he bounce back? That and much more in our nugget-filled discussion with Blake. Let's get to it! Notes: Today we talk to community member Blake who goes by ElkTrout in the community. His work was mainly seasonal at the time so he decided to look for some ways to supplement his income in the off season. This led him to investigate trading, mainly penny stocks. After doing initial research on trading via Google, Blake stumbled upon a few teachers but was able to discern who was genuine and who was trying to sell the 'get rich quick' lifestyle. His short stint trading penny stocks lasted 3 weeks before he decided this wasn't a long term strategy. Blake decided to mainly focus on options trading. Initially he did not do very well since he wasn't fully understanding of the greeks involved in how they are priced. He also skipped paper trading because without any money on the line he did not treat it realistically. Blake also knew that various paper trading platforms gave unrealistic fills. Something that he struggles with is his actual lack of emotion regarding his losses. Losses impact him so little that he pays very little attention to it which can lead to ruin if not checked. Blake recognizes this and checks on his performance weekly. Quotes: I found myself dreaming of being rich from buying a penny stock or two and watching it go to the moon. If you're dumb enough to buy into that you deserve to lose your money, kind of like trading. The first week I got annihilated. I guess that was part of taking my lumps and learning along the way. My chart vision is pretty dialed. I can be confident in that and make trade plans based on them. When you follow through on your ambition it will create consistency.

Before we hosted this discussion, our guest from the community, "Zep" (same name in chat room), sent us a lengthy email that had me quite nervous. I don't want to offer up any spoilers, so all I'll say is that while we as traders certainly need to strive for the best and hold ourselves accountable, we also don't want to go "too far" in accountability. It's a fine line for sure and an interesting gray area of the market and personal growth as a trader. I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation as it allowed us all a deep dive into trader psychology and the angle of personal accountability. Notes: Today we catch up with community member Zep. We start off talking about his current trading issues, mainly being his consistency. With his schedule as a musician it makes it difficult for him to maintain a normal schedule. Zep wanted to focus on directional trading but the problem was the hours he works. After talking with some community members he had his eyes opened up to the practically 24 hour futures markets. This gives him the ability to trade past normal trading hours. A problem Zep has been dealing with is taking his profits too soon instead of letting them go to a logical target or trailing his winners. His goal is to make fewer trades and stay in longer. Most of his current problems come from his mental state. He knows how to trade well but the emotions cause him to make costly mistakes. Now he has a certain rule set regarding when to stop trading for the day. Another thing Zep has to work on is accepting that there is no 100% hit rate in trading. He needs to be more accepting of the uncertainty that trading entails. His trading strategy is sound but he is continuing to work on the mental side which does take everyone a different amount of time. Quotes: My overall problem has been consistency. There's a variety of reasons for that but consistency is what I'm going for. I like directional trading because you can make good gains. I've been trading more to survive than to grow. Not that I don't want to grow… If I start out red, it's a different mindset. It's a lot harder. It's a total mental thing. I had to go through this... The first couple of days I was beginning to question my ability. Links: https://claytrader.com/podcast/episode040/

This is one of my all time favorite episodes. I don't want to offer up spoilers, so all I'll say is that if you ever find yourself feeling sorry for yourself or letting the victim card mentality "sneak in", remember our guest, "Zee". Zee is a member of the chatroom and someone I had the pleasure to meet at our Florida meet-and-greet event. I still remember talking to him in person and being blown away by his story and genuinely motivated and inspired. Those are not empty words either… in fact, I found his story so inspiring that I invited him over to my other podcast, The Money with Clay Podcast for a more in-depth discussion of his life as a whole. Like I said, I'm not giving any spoilers other than saying, if you need even the slightest bit of inspiration or motivation, Zee's story will provide it for you without doubt! Let's get to it! Notes: Today we interview community member Zee. In 2012 he came to the United States because things were not going well for him in his home country. Since he only knew a little English, he had to start with some humble jobs. After a little bit of time he truly got on his feet. Zee started a family and a business. Now that he had extra income every month he learned about trading from a coworker who was using Robinhood on his phone. Zee realized that there was no need to rush into trading and throw money at something he didn't understand yet. After looking at various trading teachers, he ultimately chose to go with the University program based on all the content included. Since his work is mostly seasonal, he had time in the off season to study the material. He is big into tracking his trade statistics. Journaling is crucial to see where he is currently falling short or excelling. Zee also has a morning routine that he credits for giving him the energy to tackle the markets. Discipline has been a common theme in Zee's life and this has definitely helped him trading too. Being competitive can cut both ways but he has been able to use that competitive nature in a positive way to push his growth in the market. Quotes: When I was 16 I realized that my life wasn't going the right direction. It's not that I did anything wrong. It was just the setup. I figured out later that he wasn't really into it. He was just gambling. I had a lot of energy. I didn't jump right into trading. I wanted to jump start trading by focusing on my education. It works for me personally. It gets me out of the comfort zone. I don't want to be someone who just sits around and does nothing. I think I'm not great at my trade management. I try to increase my patience when it takes a while to get to my target.

This episode brings us a great talk with community member Anthony. While he's not completely new, he is still on the journey. His original idea was to use trading as supplemental income but realized that there is a lot more potential there. As Anthony kept learning more about the markets he realized that he had a lot more to learn. He spent a good amount of time reading books and watching video online about the topic. He also realized that there was more opportunity in the US market versus the Canadian market. Currently he is focusing on trading strictly in the morning while maintaining his regular job. While he aspires to trade full time he realizes that it would be irresponsible to quit a steady job before he's truly proven he is consistent. These are all just some of the talking points we hit. Let's get to it! Notes: Today we interview community member Anthony. While he's not completely new, he is still on the journey. His original idea was to use trading as supplemental income but realized that there is a lot more potential there. As Anthony kept learning more about the markets he realized that he had a lot more to learn. He spent a good amount of time reading books and watching video online about the topic. He also realized that there was more opportunity in the US market versus the Canadian market. Currently he is focusing on trading strictly in the morning while maintaining his regular job. While he aspires to trade full time he realizes that it would be irresponsible to quit a steady job before he's truly proven he is consistent. Anthony is focusing on getting licensed in Canada to manage others money if he so chooses. Ultimately this will be an option he can choose to utilize if he would like. Options in the job market is always a positive. Similar to any profession, a key to progressing forward is the ability to recognize your strengths and your weaknesses. Anthony is familiar with where he is falling short but also realizes what attributes help him make money on a regular basis. Quotes: I do feel comfortable trading on my own but I'm not comfortable making alerts for other people. I was watching for news that would move the price. I was using line charts at this time too. One day I bought in the first 5 minutes and then it just dropped. I thought 'it will stop, it will stop, it will stop.' I gave back all my gains from the prior week. I'd say it's close to 50/50 but I let the winners ride and cut the losses. Sometimes I still rush into trades and I need to work on that. I also need to spend more time on education.

Nothing like watching $1,000 disappear down the toilet with the time span of two weeks. Have you been there? I know I have when I first got started. In many ways, it's a rite of passage to watch your own money go "poof" when you first start trading. It does not need to be that way, assuming you take the proper steps, but most people (again, myself included) don't take the proper steps and experience pain. Fellow community member Diego shares with us his initial impressions of the market and how he thought it was all gambling. The mindset lead to headaches up front, but what did Diego do to make changes? How was his journey since pivoted? We talk about that and much more thanks to the honesty and bluntness Diego is willing to provide. Notes: Today we speak with community member Diego. His introduction to the market was fairly recently. He thought that putting money in the market was the equivalent to gambling until he started to do some research. He funded a $1,000 account with the idea that if he were to lose it all it was no big deal. That account had a short life span of about 2 weeks. He attributes this to the large commissions that his offshore broker was charging. Diego opened another account with more capital with a slower growth strategy. Unfortunately that sneaky voice of greed in our heads led him to think that this slow growth was not fast enough. Trading was meant to be the bridge between the money he had currently and the money required to invest in real estate where he lived. While everything was on target it was just not at the speed he wanted. After investing in his education and learning more about options trading, he thought this might be a better use of capital. Ambition cuts both ways. Since Diego wanted to fast track his progress he was consuming massive amounts of education in a very short period of time. He gave himself 6 months to get 'educated' but only made it 3 weeks before live trading again. Clay and Chezz suggest that Diego focus on advanced options because it sounds like it would suit his personality the best. Quotes: I didn't know what made the prices go up or go down. I just heard the horror stories of people losing a lot of money. All the videos I watched were successful videos… they showed you what happens when you win and I thought I could duplicate that. Those greedy voices in my head told me that I could be growing my account faster if I was past the pattern day trader rule. I've alwys been the guy to wing it. Do some research and I'll be able to pick it up after a little bit. Looking back, that's not the right approach to the market. As soon as I got into a trade I'd basically forget everything I learned and ride the high…

We cover quite a bit in this discussion with fellow member Keith (same name in the chat room). We once again see that "free" is not actually free when it comes to YouTube videos and also how strategy hopping works and the hinderances it can create. The overarching point of context here is that Keith left his full time job to focus on trading, which, is a gutsy thing to do. If you are thinking of doing the same, or perhaps already have, this discussion will give you some great insight into what has happened and will probably need to happen. Let's get to it! Notes: Today we talk with Keith who goes by the same name in the community. Unfortunately he invested in some penny stock guru which didn't ultimately lead to anything but it did spark his interest in the markets. After buying and holding some mining stocks, Keith realized he needed to learn from someone who knew how to trade. This would require more than just watching people on YouTube. He enrolled in Claytrader University and left his job to focus on it solely. Even after going through the courses, Keith realized he still needed to focus on his consistency. This is a function of the emotions that play into trading the market. Discipline is crucial for the type of trading he is working on. Keith has tried a few different styles of trading but recognized that he needed to decide on one and give it a real chance. Considering he works 30-40 hours a week, he noticed that he should focus on longer term swing trading. Quotes: I never took the time to go into fundamentals. Now it's just all charts. I don't have the patience for anything long term. Now I drive Uber and Lyft. That was my plan going into it… having some kind of consistent income as well. I don't want to be a strategy hopper. I'm getting more comfortable with it as time goes on. Links: https://claytrader.com/videos/risky-trader-goal/

One of the great things about the market is the lack of age requirements. If you have a passion and want to embark on the challenge, then let's go!, it's open to everyone. In this episode, we sit down with Adam (chatroom alias "EwokAvenger") who is still in college. I first started back in college so I always find these journeys interesting as I can normally relate to many aspects. The part that always surprise me is that even though I'm "older" now, there are still many things you can learn from someone who is technically younger than I am. As a small example/spoiler, I really enjoyed his logic and reasoning behind his strategy towards ensuring if does not get himself stuck in the "education loop" like many do. Adam is a young guy with lots of upside, and it was a beneficial discussion so let's get to it. Notes: Today we talk with Adam who goes by EwokAvenger in the community. While he is still a student, his college education is focusing on business and finance to ultimately become a financial planner. Even though Adam has formal training regarding general market principles, he wanted to turn trading into an additional income stream. This type of education will also have value in the field he ultimately wants to work in. He decided to dip his toe in the trading education waters by trying some low cost courses. Adam decided if trading still appealed to him after that he would invest in the University program. Just as planned, he learned some basics but wanted to take it to the next level and enrolled in the program here. Adam set an arbitrary timeline for when he wanted to start trading live. We speak a lot about how some goals are very risky. The reason he set this target date was to ensure that he didn't get caught in a permanent education loop where he would never put on a live trade. One of the keys to success is determining your end goal and designed a plan to help get you there. While there is always twists and turns, being as best prepared as you can will give you the best odds for success. Adam is well on the path for multiple aspects of his life. Don't be afraid to fail. Quotes: I have a very good online BS detector. I remember seeing some gurus' and realizing they were just selling something. Clay talks about the education aspect of trading, not the lifestyle aspect. That makes more sense to me. If you're day trading, not refining your skills, and your trades are not getting better, it's time to step back and look at the bigger picture. Get good at the basics. That's my style. Once I see its working I can then add to it or expand and develop. I have a literal checklist. I'm an Excel fan.

My world was unexpectedly turned upside down with this discussion. I'll admit, at times my views can be quite rigid; however, hearing this person's story has shown me I maybe need a different approach at times. With all that being said, the pathway and moral-of-the-story was once again the same (and yet another data point): no excuses! Our guest, Ethan ("qualia" in the chat room), had an upbringing that caused him first need to do some heavy lifting in order to change his mindset, but after doing so, he's built himself a nice life and is now expanding into trading. The trading journey is still young, but given his mindset with his work ethic sprinkled in, there's no doubt he's going to be doing great things. I truly enjoyed this discussion and I know you will too. (in fact, I enjoyed it so much I also had a longer discussion with him on my The Money with Clay Podcast) Notes: Today we interview community member Ethan who goes by qualia in the chat rooms. While running his business in California, he met a broker who actually cared and tried to help his clients outperform the market. After looking at all the fees, Ethan wondered why he shouldn't just buy stocks himself. Considering his upbringing, he realized that he had conflicting thoughts about money. This has led to swings in his income over time. He needed to change his thinking and this would ultimately be the turning point for him. After visiting some friends down south, Ethan realized that his money could go much further in the real estate market there over the California market. After getting established at their new home, Ethan decided on a date to which he was going to enroll in Claytrader University. Now that his finances were in order, he spoke with a broker friend of his and realized that he could learn how to do this himself. Regardless of his new plethora of knowledge, the next hurdle to overcome is the emotional side. He knows what he needs to do but it really counts when the rubber meets the road. Quotes: Somehow I got in contact with a broker and this guy was so caring. He always made sure he was helping his clients. Thinking differently was like an exercise and building on it one small step at a time. We had some friends that lived down south. I could start up my business again and I could buy real estate very cheap. People use brokers because they are afraid. They don't want to do it. They want to put it in the hands of others. I actually have to sit down and make a plan and test that plan until I know it works. That's the hardest part.

It's different for everyone, but many times, the wake-up call in regards to, "Hey, slow down!" comes in the form of a nasty account fire. Thanks to some very honest candor on this episode's guest, Josh, we all get to see (or reminded of) how dangerous the markets can be when approaching them without an actual plan. Sure, it never feels random at the time while everything is playing out, but just because things seem to be going okay does not mean you truly have a logical plan in place. From where Josh started to where he is now is night and day; however, he still has room to grow and plenty of things to work out, including trade management which we dig more into with some live coaching. Josh is a solid guy who offers up many things that others may not disclose, but in doing so, he helps bring a very realistic light to the pitfalls of trading. Notes: Today we talk with community member Josh. His introduction to the market was during his time in the military. At this point in his life he did not have any time to spend getting educated further on market principles. Josh's friend was big into marijuana stocks. This was toward the tail end of the big pot stock run that happened 4+ years ago. Following his advice he took his account from 300 dollars down to 80. This is when he realized he wanted to learn from someone who knew what they were doing. After investing in his education he began to practice. He waited until he had over a 50% success rate before he decided to fund a live account. Since he has a full time job and doesn't have time to focus on the charts all day, Josh decided to swing trade using the daily chart. Currently Josh is struggling with management of trades. While he has a great hit rate, if you trail your stop too tight you are hurting your overall profit by cutting good trade ideas short. After digging into his feelings toward money, Clay determines it might be best for Josh to reduce his position size. This should help him stomach losses easier and hold winners longer. Quotes: I tried to trade a couple. One worked. Another I had to hold for about a year and a half. Originally I tried using the 15 minute chart and riding it all day long but that didn't work. Now I use the daily. I had more success with the breakouts instead of the pullbacks. I kept getting whipsawed out of the pullbacks. It makes sense but I have to get over this mental thing I have about it. Nobody likes to lose but I don't go crazy if it goes against me. Discipline, consistency, and don't cheat yourself.

In this episode we welcome back long time community member Dave (alias in chatroom, "SuperDave"). Like some trader's goals, Dave wants to eventually quit his full time job so we can work from home and be his own boss as a full time trader. While Dave has not yet accomplished the goal, he is well on his way and has actually cleared a key hurdle – that being, going from "full time hours" at his job to now only "part time hours". How did Dave know when to make this jump? How will he know when it's wise to make the move to "full time"? We talk about this and much more. Whether you are looking to also quit your job to become a full time trader or just want to pick up some nuggets of wisdom, this conversation has something for everyone. Let's get to it! Notes: Today we speak again with community member SuperDave. To recap, Dave joined the community first to test the waters. During his earlier times here, he recalls being called out for trading without a true proper education or background. This led him to step back and reevaluate what his overall goal in trading was. After opening and closing 3 different accounts, Dave decided to focus on only trading SPY because it is extremely liquid and presents trading opportunities almost every day. He would use his account value to determine the amount of contracts he needed to trade. Dave started slow and steady one contract at a time and now is able to trade quite a bit larger. Dave had an ideal time frame in which he wanted to transition away from his job, retire, and trade for income. He missed his first two targets due to personal and family events but has maintained his longer term plan regardless. He has a strict routine and criteria for trading which he utilizes daily. It is this amount of seriousness that has set Dave up for success and why he is getting very close to his longer term goals of full time trading. Quotes: I knew right away that I was being called out because I didn't really know what I was doing. It's all about controlling your emotions. You'll figure out a trading style fairly quickly but then you have to discipline yourself to stay with it and trust it. I don't take a lot of risk with my money. Now is not the time to take on risk… now is the time to take on growth. Over time, things change and you become more comfortable from looking at it over and over. It becomes much more predictable. I've had some pretty large losses that were hard to swallow. Wondering why I was still in there and letting it go further and further. Links: https://claytrader.com/podcast/episode055/

The sooner we teach/show/demonstrate to kids and teenagers the various aspects of money, the quicker we are setting them up for longer term success. We have an awesome example of that thanks to a Grandpa leading by example. Our guest, Kainoa (same alias in chat room), had great parenting which jumpstarted his financial journey and has lead him to focusing on goals that will benefit him greatly. This is a discussion for both young and older traders as there are multiple angles and viewpoints that I believe can offer helpful insights to all. Let's get to it! Notes: Today we interview community member Kainoa who goes by the same alias in the community. He remembers when he was in college his grandfather took him with to his financial advisor and started to learn about compounding interest. Kainoa saw a friend of his posting on social media about trading in the stock market and inquired about what he was doing. This led him down the rabbit hole of Youtube and trading. He was smart enough to see some red flags for who was trying to sell people a lifestyle versus a systematic approach. After taking extremely detailed notes on the courses, Kainoa started trading live which entailed some success and some failure. Revenge trading was a stumbling point for him but it's more important that he recognized it early. Kainoa is extremely intelligent but his ambition is also his worst enemy. After realizing that this will be a slow and steady process, he took a step back from the market and reassessed his goals. This led him to a longer term time frame look at charts and continuing to enjoy the fruits of his full time job. After talking with Clay, there are some options presented that may fulfill a few goals Kainoa has in regards to swing trading and day trading. They also have a good conversation about personal finance in terms of funding other accounts and heading toward future goals. Quotes: It was pretty cool seeing my grandfather go through his retirement portfolio. Before I got involved I knew I wanted to do it properly. I wasn't willing to invest in these guru's because they seemed a little shady to me. Those losses would lead to revenge trading where I would repeat the same thing… being to aggressive and being emotional. I would categorize my trading as sloppy. I'm so eager to trade I take a wide variety of setups.

There is no avoiding it. As annoying and frustrating as it is, being wrong and having losing ideas is all part of trading the markets. Fellow chat room member Murray (alias in the trading room, "murman") tells us all about how he has learned to become comfortable with being wrong. We go down many other worthwhile rabbit holes too; however, in reflecting back on the discussion, the battle with losing is what stuck out to me. Probably because it is the one common ground we all have as traders. Oh, and I haven't even mentioned how a 14 month jobless period factored into his overall journey. Needless to say, we had plenty to talk about! Let's get to it! Notes: Today we interview community member Murray who goes by 'murman' in the community. He realized that when you have any amount of money, you should learn how to utilize it in the market. This guided him toward learning about technical analysis. Unfortunately, Murray was part of a down sizing round at his job and this led to his unemployment for 14 months. After he got another job and back on his feet, he started to look into more macro relationships and how it impacts the global economy. After going through the options course here at Claytrader.com , Murray decided to invest into University and has now gone through the courses. What he enjoys the most is that when he feels uneducated about a certain indicator or strategy he can go back through the material and incorporate it into his trading thesis. An important thing in trading is understanding your comfort level with regards to position sizing. After some tinkering, Murray has found the amount of money he is comfortable losing if his positions do not work. This took some trial and error. Quotes: Every time I tried to research the market I stumble upon information on fundamentals and I can hardly keep myself awake to absorb that stuff. There are phases you go through to learn to trade. The first phase is learning to read a chart. If you can hit 40% of your trades, you can make money in the market and that's about average. Solidifying those things down into trading rules instead of generalizations is key. It is very very thorough. You don't need to watch this ten times to realize a concept. It's point A to point B to point C with nothing missing.

This is Part 2. Be sure to listen to episode 181 in order to hear Mike's entire journey. Mike (chat room alias, "afroge") and I pick back up our discussion with a deeper look into his actual trading strategy. Although I am not someone who uses a whole lot of fundamental analysis myself, it was still an enjoyable conversation hearing about how he mixes fundamentals and technical together. For you longer time listeners, you've heard it said time and time again, but there is no Holy Grail in trading. It's all about finding what works for you and going with it – we get to see a detailed example of exactly this thanks to Mike's willingness to share. Notes: Mike talks about how earnings are essentially a forecast for the future. It's intended to show the value a stock has at a later date based on what they're trying to do. If stocks were only priced on current value it would only utilize assets and liabilities in a simple math formula but that's not how the market works. Clay and Mike talk about HMNY and the various red flags that presented itself. There is lots of information in the fundamentals that should have prepared investors to realize there was a concentration in that business. He talks about his easiest trade that involves momentum and reversion to the mean. Utilizing fundamentals and technical analysis is crucial for Mike to catch the meat of the move, whether that is to the upside or downside. Mike utilizes advanced option spread to facilitate his trades. He can construct these strategies so that he can only lose money on one side of the trade with a cushion even on his downside. Since his strategies involve multiple legs, he's taking advantage of people who don't understand the math behind his trade thesis. Quotes: Stocks are valued based on the future. If it was valued on today's amount we would take total assets versus total liabilities. Just be aware of your surroundings and that instantly makes you better than the average trader. For me personally, the first thing I look for is swing activity in value investing. That's the easiest trade you can ever make. If you're good at math, good at setting up investment thesis and an option play that make no sense to the buyer, as long as they don't understand the math you make money over the long haul. If you're not willing to learn you will get punished.

The sheer bluntness displayed in this interview I found completely refreshing and… well… honest. There is no need to sugarcoat or beat around the bush when it comes to how the market actually works. Bottom line, if you show up to trade and are underprepared, there are people out there who will take advantage of that fact and punish you. Our guest, Mike (chat room alias, 'afronge'), is one of those "punishers". He has a great story and many insights on the market (hence the two part episode), but the one that stood out to me the most was how ignorance is costly. The market is a living breathing creature that sets up knowledgeable traders (such as Mike) to benefit against the ignorant/cocky traders. The cool part is, the market is also fair. You have a choice on which "kind" of trader you want to be. I'm confident Mike can motivate you to take the slower and more effort required route of becoming knowledgeable and then a PUNISHER! Notes: Today we talk with community member Mike who goes by 'afroge' in the community. He was introduced to the market at the young age of 6. While he was stuck in the hospital after a surgery he discovered what is now CNBC. Years later he discovered a publication called Value Line. This was very eye opening to Mike since he was able to see how these companies would grow over time. In his teenage years after working odd jobs, he decided to put just over $1,000 into the market. As he progressed through college, after changing his major and getting a masters degree in accounting, he was able to find a few jobs in the financial industry before ultimately becoming a consultant. Throughout this journey, Mike continued to expand his education to be more than just an accountant. As he progressed in his career he was forced to navigate lots of red tape that is involved in the world of finance, which led to him only being able to swing trade a limited number of names. He eventually realized this was not what he desired to do. Quotes: If you can watch TV and make money, keep in mind I'm in 3rd grade still, that sounds like a lot of fun. That was a big wake up call realizing that I'm never going to be a music major. I needed to find something to make money and something I'm good at. I learned investor relations, strategy, financial planning and analysis. This was good because it wasn't traditional accounting. I know what I'm good at and what I need to learn. I'm not going to throw a large sum at a 5 minute candlestick chart when there are things I'm missing.

It all started with betting on sports. From that point forward, the pieces fell into place that allowed for a transition into the stock market and trading. Our guest, Burak (same name in the chat room) walks us through his journey of transitioning from sports to trading. The one benefit Burak had in his favor was he never treated sport's betting as a random gamble. He approached it in a very methodical way which he wisely then carried over to his trading ambitions. Even if you don't have any experience in betting on sports, there is still many nuggets of knowledge to collect from his experience. As someone who has never bet on sports, I really appreciated the business aspect of how he treated both like a business and not a gambling addiction (which unfortunately, many people do). There's lots to see and learn from Burak, so let's get to it! Notes: Today we speak with Burak who goes by the same alias in the community. He spent some time in college sports betting which taught him the importance of risk versus reward and managing your bankroll. After dabbling in the market with smaller amounts of money in more risky names, Burak started to invest in his education on top of all the information he acquired from YouTube and Google. Being someone who loves statistics, he originally leaned toward the algorithmic or automated trading. Ultimately he wanted to improve his day trading and had enjoyed trading the forex market. In the beginning of 2018, Burak joined Claytrader University because he honestly felt like it was a value buy with the amount of content you get versus the cost. Since his job is so demanding, Burak is focused strictly on swing trading. While he hasn't investigated advanced options yet, Clay and Chezz ultimately suggest he takes a look because we consider it to be 'swing trading with an edge.' There are quite a few things that distinguish successful traders from those who fail. Burak treats this as a business and has an entire business plan outlined in terms of what he looks for regarding entries, exits, and in progress management. It's consistent effort like this that distinguishes who succeeds and who does not. Quotes: It wasn't until college where I was gambling a lot on sports betting. It has some relations to the stock market in terms of knowing your risk and knowing your reward. The first part was understanding technical analysis. The second part was the psychology part of it which I didn't know about. In the back of my mind I always wanted to get back into day trading. I like forex. It's 24 hours. I use full leverage but I have my stop losses set at a certain percentage so no matter what I don't lose my whole account in one trade.

I still can't quite put my finger on it, but the way self-awareness as a person and trader was presented and explained truly intrigued me. Our guest, Wojtek (chatroom alias 'Surlymac'), started out with dollar signs in his eyes and wanting the good life. As he will explain, in very self-aware fashion, this lead him to become blinded to logic and reasoning. When logic and reason go out the window because of greed, this opens up the emotional box of demons… the big one for Wojtek being stress. In fact, as I write this and think about it, the way he described his situation is that of absolute misery… ugh! If you take nothing else away from the interview, please take away the power of being honest with yourself when reflecting. It becomes much easier to fix things when you acknowledge them. I know you'll enjoy this discussion, so let's get to it! Notes: Today we interview community member Wojtek who goes by Surlymac in the community. After looking for some more ways to earn money, Surly ended up finding 'gurus' who pitched their wonderful lives as a result of trading penny stocks. After falling prey to the Stocktwits group think trap, he was broken both mentally and financially after a string of losers. He had heard of Clay and his nonexistent 'shorting army' shortly after this and he figured that if he couldn't beat them, join them. After talking with Chezz and finding out that shorting army did not exist, he still decided to join the community. After a few days as a member, he enrolled in the University program. While he was learning a lot, this actually made him more dangerous in terms of trading. He knew enough to think he had solid plans but still wasn't able to see the larger picture of what trading really entails. Surly eventually realized that trading advanced options fit the best with his personality because he could define his risk from onset of a trade. This allows him to sleep easy at night knowing that even if the market completely collapses over night, his max loss is capped at a level he is comfortable with. Along with finding strategies that work best for him and his personality, Surly now focuses on a smaller basket of stocks to focus on and this leads to a higher success rate for his trading. Realizing that success does not come overnight, he understands that consistency is what ultimately wins the game. Quotes: I was sitting on Google looking for easy ways to make money. Lots of videos with Lamborghini's promising millions. You presented information in a very dry way. This piqued my interest. Also, everyone hated you. I realized how much I didn't know and how dangerous I was. Robotic Trading showed me that there is so much beyond just one course. One of the big things I took away from last year was that I have time. I don't like to see red. If it's within the trade plan, don't react. When I first started I was anxious, excited, fearful, joyful, the full gambit. Today, trading is incredibly boring.

It's always great to have younger people on the show as it demonstrates how the markets are for all ages, no matter your experience level in this thing we call life. Our guest, Matt (his chat room alias, "dewolf"), walks us through his journey thus far into the markets. Matt's journey is one I feel many will be able to relate to, but with that, also be able to take away from bits of information that can be used to avoid potential pitfalls. Although he is younger in years, those years he has lived and experienced the market have already begun to shape and mold him into someone that is giving himself a real possibility of long term success in the stock market. No matter your age, what Matt has gone through can and will assist in streamlining your personal journey, so please don't' dismiss him because of his age. Let's get to it! Notes: Today we talk with Matt who goes by 'dewolf' in our community. He was gifted a book while still in highschool called "The Teenage Investor" but completely forgot about it until he got to college. After actually reading the book and reading that it explicitly said 'do not day trade,' this led Matt go look further into that topic. A quick google search had revealed tons of articles for him to dive into. Matt and his friend joined an investment club in college and purchased the Options Trading Simplified course for the club. Most club members didn't truly appreciate using a cash account to avoid the pattern day trader rule. He paper traded for a bit and then funded an account to take live. While he currently utilizes options, he has the ultimate goal of trading stock outright. While he is confident in a few specific setups, Matt would like to broaden his horizons in terms of setups and also work on the mental game that trading requires. Quotes: I kick myself everyday not picking that book up and taking it seriously sooner. It went up a couple of cents and then it completely dumped. Nothing crazy or huge but that was my first trade in the stock market. All these people were economics majors, not traders. They were all very interesting and it opened up the other side of trading. Eventually I'd like to join University and learn about advanced options. I want to learn how to leverage using options over time.

What does it look like to go about becoming a full time trader the right way? Thanks to our guest, Geoff (chat room alias, 'CrestronWizard'), we are given a perfect example of how to wisely make this transition. Here's a minor spoiler: Geoff did not wake up one morning and randomly decide he wanted to be a full time trader, there was a bit more planning and preparation that went into the decision. We've talked with Geoff before about a year ago, so it was great to hear how his journey has continued to unfold and what steps and experiences he has gone through to give him the best odds of success. Notes: Today we reinterview community member Jeff who goes by 'CrestronWizard' in the community. To recap, Jeff used to trade penny stocks and went as far as becoming a distributor for one of the companies he became heavily invested in. With the intentions of becoming a full time trader, Jeff took the necessary steps to give himself the best odds of success. He had essentially crushed all his debts and had an emergency fund with over 6 months of living expenses. Jeff also has four income streams. He initially started trading long options and while he found initial success, ultimately he realized that he struggled to set stop losses when trading far out of the money options. This led him to investigate trading advanced options. Jeff has an ideal account size he is striving to get to before he ever starts taking withdrawals to pay himself. Since he has multiple streams of income, this is a very realistic probability for him assuming he sticks to the path he has laid out. Quotes: I was looking to start trading in October but didn't start until January. I started with 5 grand and it was going well to start. My biggest issue in trading, whether it's pennies or anything, is knowing the right time to sell. Knowing how long to stay in. It's better to trade often, be mechanical, and get out instead of trading 10 times a month and hold out for max profit. Links: https://claytrader.com/podcast/episode131/

There is nothing worst then someone who agrees with every little thing you say in every little way possible. I'm thankful to say this is not the case in our discussion with longtime member Charlie (same name in the chatroom). I had the pleasure of meeting Charlie at our Denver meet-and-greet and I can say from personal experience he is a quality guy who is not a "yes man". Because of this, we had some good solid animated discussions about trading and his current situation that will hopefully help with his ambition. A cruel part of the markets and trading is how ambition can be used against a trader and as you'll see, this is Charlie's current struggle. It's a fine line that we as traders must walk, and I hope that due to Charlie's openness this is something you as a listener will learn and benefit from. Let's go! Notes: Today we talk with Charlie once again. To recap, Charlie started trading penny stocks before eventually investing in his education. After realizing he didn't know exactly what he was doing he decided to pump the brakes and focus on education and practice before reentering the market. Charlie realized that most of his liquid net worth was in his trading account and he decided that this was just too much so he decided to trim down to a smaller amount for trading specifically. Since he had now gone through the University program, he thought this was his year to triple his trading account. Unfortunately he lost about 50% of his account and decided to step back. When he came back to the market he decided to focus on trading shares instead of options or penny stocks. He funded an account with a set amount where if it dropped 200 dollars he would stop again. He also recognized how much his trading dictates his emotions. Charlie wants to succeed so badly that it actually hinders his ability to be profitable. This is how important and powerful your mind is when it comes to trading. While some people thrive under pressure, too much unnecessary pressure is never helpful and Charlie is now realizing that the world will not end if he does not succeed. This allows him to be open to trading what the market has to offer no matter what the result. After discussing what his overall monthly and weekly goals are, Charlie is realizing that he hits his quota quite often if he were to take his profit when it presents itself. Quotes: I realized I didn't really know what I was doing. Eventually I made 2 grand and CTU just happened to be 1,997. I realized that most of my trades were green at some point, not a huge amount. Those breakouts just never happened. It was amazing to me how dramatic I am in my own mind. I'm the most dramatic person I've ever met. I don't know if I had any day trades. Day trades for me are exclusively for stop losses. You never want to use 2 out of 3 in a week. Links: https://claytrader.com/podcast/episode064/

We have ourselves a shining example of why it is ignorant to make blanket statements when it comes to the millennial generation thanks to our guest. Ashton (alias in the chatroom, "bmxashton") is a young guy doing all the right things. Yes, it can easily be argued that perhaps he is missing out on "things" in the short run, but looking at the big picture, he's clearly setting himself up for success. If you are someone in younger years, I would argue this interview is a MUST LISTEN for you as you'll see what is possible when you truly focus your mind and energy. Even if you are someone older such as myself, there is still a ton of value… for me, the biggest value was simply inspiration and motivation to keep working hard… which is something we should all be doing, no matter our age. Get ready to have excuses crushed from every direction! Let's go! Notes: Today we interview community member Ashton who goes by 'bmxashton' in the community. His introduction to the general market was a Dave Ramsey show where he talked about various ways to invest. He first invested in a CD but made hardly anything after 2 years. Ashton initially was focused on investing but wanted to get more involved. This led him to looking into penny stocks. He was using StockTwits and while he got burned on a few he didn't blow up his account. He was always quite frugal with his money because he recognized very early on that he can set himself up for the future with hard work now. Ashton initially funded his swing trading account with 7-10 thousand dollars at 20 years old. After being unable to find consistency in his swing trading, Ashton stumbled upon Clay's live trading videos and his strategy intrigued him. Fast and consistent gains was the overall goal. While still being in his early 20s, Ashton has 3 forms of income. This hustle has led him to have an account that is over 25 thousand dollars as to avoid the pattern day trader rule. He has also structured his other jobs to allow him to trade every morning and focus on quick fast gains. Quotes: I learned about penny stocks and the mentors that came with it. I wanted to learn all I could before jumping in. Sometimes it would work. Just a couple pennies here and there and I'd take the small gain but most times they were selling into me. I would try to look for potential swing trade ideas while eating lunch. It was a mess for sure. I was more so paper trading at this time using pen and paper. I practiced for 6 months in my down time at work. I didn't take it that seriously at first until I realized it could be a great income source. Take it seriously and invest in education.

We have situation that I think many people can relate to if they are honest with themselves. Depending on how you were raised or simply your general understanding of the markets, it can really create a challenging mental situation for yourself when you transition into the world of trading. Our guest, Evans (better known as "reboot" in the chat room) walks us through his journey and we go down some solid rabbit holes that really demonstrate why a common problem exists for many traders out there. I don't want to spoil anything, but if you find yourself struggling to cut losing trades and/or honor stop-loses, then you may be fighting against the same challenges Evans is. In other words, make some time for this episode as it could very well get you on the path you want to be on. Notes: Today we speak with community member Evans who goes by 'reboot' in the community. A few family friends started an investment club and this was his main introduction to the market. Evans was in charge of his father's finances as he aged and to his surprise, he saw his dad had stacks of paper stock certificates and eventually turned them in to his broker. This made up the majority of his retirement. During the financial collapse in 2008, Evans was quite nervous as his father's retirement account had suffered a 50% drawdown. He was torn between the idea of selling or holding during the fall. He comes from an investing background (over 30 years) and this is leading to an unfortunate mentality while day trading. While time is on your side investing, time is NOT on your side when you are day trading short dated options. While members are proud to show their gains to the community, this can sometimes lead to feelings of FOMO and while it was an issue for Evans at first he has conquered that now. He has the ability to spot opportunities himself and form his own trade plans. Quotes: In order to do any research on companies we had to physically go to the library. We only invested in companies that had dividends. I didn't have much money to invest because children and life but it was fun to watch it on a day to day basis. You know, I want to learn more about technical trading and charts. I want to be a better trader so I joined the Inner Circle. That can be addicting to have a couple of wins and feeling good.

Things all started in a junkyard. From there it was infomercials, trading robots and everything in between. I don't want to ruin anything with details, but I will say our guest from the Inner Circle community, Trae ("traecampell77" in chat room), is a shining example of passion must be at the forefront of this business we call trading the markets. When you truly enjoy something, you can push through essentially anything thrown your way as you'll see. Trae was a great guy to talk with and there are many things, big and little, you can learn from his journey… some of which will prove to be some money savers for you. Let's go! Notes: Today we interview community member Trae. We commend him for pushing through with this podcast while being covered in poison oak. His introduction to the market was at an early age. His family owned a junkyard so he would hear them discussing metal prices and this intrigued him. One late evening, Trae stumbled upon a forex infomercial and he started to play on the demo without knowing what he was really doing yet. While he had a lot to learn, he discovered a love for the market which provides the motivation to learn more and trade better. He purchased a trading robot as well with a '100% win rate (because it holds a position until it's profitable).' It took him around 6 months to get out of the red and finally close his positions. This led to him taking a break but his interest in the market never left. During his break, his family opened up a car dealership and as it got more profitable Trae found more time to focus on the markets again. He made the move from scalping to swing trading. Trae realizes that psychology plays a huge role in trading. He has spent a considerable amount of time watching his own mentality and then also using crowd psychology to spot trade opportunities. Quotes: As a kid I would always hear 'metal prices are up or down.' I didn't understand then but I was interested. I started trying to put it all together but it was a nightmare. There was nothing solid about it. But I loved the market. I shut the account down and walked away to take a break but something was always calling me back to those charts. Areas to improve always include psychology and removing emotion. It took 6-12 months to learn how to lose properly.

I don't think I really need to say much other than this is Part 2. If you listened to Part 1 (episode 171), then I'm sure you are ready to go given the cliff hanger we left you at. So with that being said, let's pick back up with long time community member Paddy in his wild trading journey. Notes: After having a successful four days and going into the last trading day of the week, Paddy unfortunately gave back all his profits and then some. This led to some screaming and a visit from some folks walking by to check what was going on. Paddy was able to identify pitfalls he had in his mentality. Being a competitive person does not help you as a trader since it sometimes makes you break rules. There needs to be emphasis on adhering to the plan whether it is profitable or you stop out. The mental side is what Paddy is currently focusing on. He attributes this to why people either follow their trading rules or break them and generally end up feeling the pain. This is partially why he decided to trade options instead of equities. Patience is key in all things related to trading. Patience with the trade, the journey, the failure, the accumulation of experience. Quotes: I was up 400 on the week and I woke up on Friday and said 'just don't blow your week.' In 30 seconds, I had blown my week. The biggest challenge I've had to overcome is that you have to be able to take small losses. Options give me defined risk. If you put 2,000 on the line and those options expire worthless, that's all you lose. If you can't control yourself, having an automatic fail safe is going to save you. Links: https://claytrader.com/videos/stock-trading-quick-tip-redefining-stop-loss/

We bring back a guest who many have said was their all time favorite. He was the first person we ever did a two part episode on, and once again… we have ourselves a two part episode. Our guest, best known as "Paddy" in the trading room community, takes time out of his schedule to update us on all the happenings since his last podcast appearance. I don't want to spoil anything, so all I'll say is if you're looking for someone who is energetic, passionate, and holds nothing back on the honesty front, I can guarantee you'll enjoy this discussion. Buckle up for another wild ride! Notes: Today we talk again with community member Paddy. After a quick recap of the previous two episodes, we hear about his journey after that. A big turning point for Paddy was realizing that he didn't need to rush. He has a great full time job with lots of flexibility. He had to learn about himself and how he handled his emotions trading before turning profitable. He was having a fantastic month of June. Paddy was up 6k and on track to have his first green month since he started trading. On the last trading day of the month, Paddy ended up taking a 17.5k loss turning his month well red. It is an understatement to say that this was devastating to him. Paddy tried to keep his head up but eventually got to the point where he was near the PDT threshold and decided he needed an extended break. He turned off the charts, closed the platform and stepped away in an effort to come back fresh. Once your mindset is shot, it takes a bit to recover. Quotes: You told me that I don't need that money. It was true. I have a full time job, my workload allows me to day trade. It was an anxiousness that was driving mistakes. I was down 25k and it was still going. At one point I had averaged in my entire accounts buying power to the tune of 200k. My biggest problem in rule breaking is blowing stop losses which is arguably the worst rule to break. Links: https://claytrader.com/podcast/episode025/ https://claytrader.com/podcast/episode026/

Time for some experimenting! We had a guest scheduled who wasn't able to show up, so given I had a block of time available, I wanted to give something a try. You never know unless you try right? This could be an epic failure, but that's okay… at least I'll know! With all that being said, please give me your thoughts and feedback on this format. You will not hurt my feelings either way, in fact, I'll thank you no matter what because I'm asking for feedback. I've seen some headlines out there that I wanted to address as it truly drives me nuts and I want to give my two cents on the matter. I may or may not do some ranting, but sometimes I just can't help myself. I look forward to your thoughts and feedback. Notes: Today Clay decides to have a rant since we were stood up. His first topic is regarding tax cuts and where they have ended up. The media has used lots of word play to mislead where the money is actually going. Another article discussed is regarding 401k millionaires. It had increased 45% over the past 12 months. Unfortunately they had implied that it may have taken 30 years, almost painting saving and contributing to the 401k as negative because it took so long. The majority of America does not use a budget which is partially why it appears there has been so many complaints about the new tax cuts. Those who are smart enough to save and contribute to their retirement funds are the ones truly getting the benefit. If you fall into the majority that does NOT use a budget and SAVE, it is probably time to take a hard look at your finances. Quotes: The whole premise that you cannot benefit is a lie. It's a misconception about how things work. More word play. Politics has nothing to do with this. I want you to really see what is being portrayed here. Here we have the majority of people not benefiting from tax cuts because in order to benefit you need to be a saver. Links: MoneyWithClay.com

We've done 168 episodes. I'm pretty sure this is the one that caught me off guard the most. Everything seemed fine and dandy and then our guest dropped a bit of his past life that was… well… quite intense! Johnny (chatroom alias, "johnny5000") proves to be a massive data point in regards to there being no excuses and that when you put your mind to something, it can be done. I don't want to offer any spoilers, but there is no doubt in my mind that you will find Johnny's past life a very intense experience and be motivated and inspired about how life has taken a 180. I could keep on blabbing on now about how motivating it was, but I won't do that. Let's get to it! Notes: Today we interview community member Johnny who goes by johnny5000 in the community. His introduction to the market was the game of Life. The way the stock market works in that game is that you put your money down and spin the wheel. This led Johnny to believe from very early on that the market was just for gambling. Johnny got caught up in some hard times which lasted many years but after a long road to recovery, he started a job and participated in an employee stock purchase plan. Once he realized that he would like to have more control over his investments (to generate a larger return) he decided to do some investigation into various trading education websites. After doing his research, Johnny ultimately joined Claytrader University and started working through the courses in his free time. As he continues working multiple jobs, he is taking his time going through the courses and has just begun paper trading. He also caught himself unrealistically paper trading and stopped that very early. We talk through various products that Johnny may be interested in trading based on his day job. Since he doesn't want to have gap risk, he thinks he will focus on advanced options since he can set his stop loss in advance using various strategies taught. Quotes: I actually never had a real job for a company until I was nearly 40 years old. Every decision I make now is done with caution. I jumped in to CTU and didn't realize you also get hours of webinars that are amazing. It's worth a lot more than you're charging. I have a lot more work to do. I'm not in a hurry. I've only been paper trading for a month. Day job, gym and then courses and webinars at night. Basically whenever I have time I just take in the material. Links: www.uptownaustincoverband.com

A blessing in disguise. I think that's really the best way to summarize this our guest's journey thus far. When Dave (chatroom alias 'Daveslow') first started his journey, he tried to sign up with a text alert service from… well… let me put it this way, a faulty source. There were a few technical glitches and when Dave approached customer service, he was essentially treated like an insignificant piece of meat. This slap in the face led him down a different path on his journey and one that has been extremely beneficial to him. Dave has a military background so when it comes to forming a plan and executing the plan, it is one of his strong suits without doubt. Through Dave's experiences, which he shares with us in the interview, he has constructed a plan of action that I fully believe and find grounded in reality and logic. A plan is the backbone of any chance at success in the market and Dave is a shining example of how experiences shape and mold a worthwhile plan. Let's get to it! Notes: Today we interview community member who goes by Daveslow in the community. After joining the military, Dave accumulated a good size saved up from his time but couldn't spend it. Since he was unable to take it out and spend it at this point he decided to look into peer-to-peer lending. One of his friends recommended he look into cryptocurrencies but he felt he had missed the boat on that one. This did open up his interest to look in other markets though. After attempting to enroll in a text alert service for trade ideas, Dave's debit card was not accepted and they did not really care too much. This led him to look elsewhere for a place to learn and ultimately ended up here at Claytrader.com . Dave fortunately never lost a heap of money trading. He realized it makes no sense to even paper trade until he had fully completed the University program and had a solid grasp on his specific trading strategy. A key to Dave's success is that he is taking his time and using the power of a budget and practice to ensure that as he gets his trading account to the level he wants, he'll have a fighting chance since he has taken so much time to prepare. Quotes: I didn't know the difference between traders and bankers. I thought you needed PhD's and huge skills in math so no interest growing up. I'm not sure why I signed up for a text alerts. I knew I wanted to trade so it's counterintuitive to get someone else to tell you what to do. My very first trade was on a brokerage app. My trade setup was a tablet with live market data and my mobile phone with 15m delay on it. I keep adding to my account every month to get to a size that makes sense while making these tiny trades. After quite a few little losses, I don't struggle losing that amount. Put it in the journal. I struggle more with FOMO and excitement. Links: https://claytrader.com/videos/1-penny-stock-short-scam/

Notes: Today we revisit with community member David K who we interviewed a few years ago. We find out he's about to graduate college shortly. While he started as strictly an investor, David has been working on trading since he was 17 years old. After a frustrating bout with trading, David took some time off before coming back to the market. He realized the value of psychology and how trading is truly a numbers game. David is a shining example of the 'no excuses' mentality. He has worked a handful of side jobs even while being a full time student to keep accumulating capital. A big difference is that he finds enjoyment out of the various jobs instead of just complaining about them. A key to successful trading is the ability to trust yourself and follow your system. David is very proud that he has been able to stay consistent in terms of executing his trades and sticking to the plan instead of reacting to his emotions. Quotes: I discovered a new video series about psychology and how to execute these trades. Really changed the way I think about trading. I would just feel like garbage and make mistakes. There was no reason to put my hard earned money at risk when I haven't slept. I want to execute these trades without any fear or hesitation and without making any errors. Just following my rules 100%. I realized the setup could look the exact same, every moment is unique in the market. There can be different people participating. Links: https://claytrader.com/podcast/episode083/

Make sure to listen to Episode 165 before proceeding any further. This interview is Part 2, so with that being said and out of the way, let's continue! In the first part of the interview from last week, we heard all about Brian and the actions he put into motion to "get er' done", but now we move into more of the trading and the ups and downs he has been through. The one major benefit Brian has figured out is his ability to recognize and adjust to the very common "revenge trade" emotion which has and will continue to serve him well. I also found it interesting the way Brian has set into motion a plan of action that is efficient but most importantly, based in reality. If you enjoyed Part 1 of this discussion, then I have no doubt you'll gain value out of this second section of our discussion… let's go! Notes: A big realization for Brian was the fact that the voices are drastically different when you go from paper trading to live trading. Even though he started off losing money, he has always honored his stop loss. This level of trust in yourself is key to progressing. He is strictly focused on day trading options currently but would like to look into the Advanced Options course since that trading requires less time and effort while he works his full time job. Brian is very good at recognizing when he wants to revenge trade and other various bad habits. Recognizing it is the first step to ensuring those bad habits do not remain. Discipline is something that spans further than trading also. Considering he is a planner, one of the most beneficial things Brian has done in the process of learning is set up a pacing schedule. It's very common to binge through videos and then only retain 25-50%. When you allow yourself only a few hours a day to absorb the material you stand a much better chance at retaining the information. Quotes: I was red the first week. What I've really taken away from the courses is you can be wrong most the time if you honor your stop losses. I like triangle patterns and breaking key support and resistance. And volume as well. That loss from the previous day made me second guess my entry. If I would have trusted my system I would have erased that loss. If I'm not confident in something I'm good at taking a step back and realizing I need to learn more before putting money into it.

We have ourselves a two part episode and as a fair warning, if you are someone who loves excuses and/or carries around a pocket full of victim cards, you will NOT enjoy this discussion. In fact, as I type this up and reflect back on the lawn mower, the tornado, and many other things, I can feel my adrenaline beginning to flow in a "let's go!" type of way, this interview genuinely got me fired up in a good way. Chezz and I had no intentions of a two part episode, but as we talked with community member Brian, things were too good to just not keep on talking. I don't want to spoil anything other than offer up that fair warning. If you are still reading this, I'd assume you are ready to get some cold hard truth about "making it happen".. so let's do this! Notes: Today we interview community member Brian. His introduction to the market was a stock market competition in grade school which he also beat everyone out of the entire state. With careful budgeting, Brian and his wife have set up a separate account that they call the 'financial freedom account.' It is strictly to be used for ventures that can expand their income. Since Brian is a teacher, he has the summers off. Instead of sitting around and doing nothing Brian went and bought a trailer, a good lawnmower and made money all summer before he joined the program here. A tornado unfortunately destroyed Brian's house which led to a delay in his training but the good news is that everyone was okay. To help get back on track, both Brian and his wife got second jobs. Quotes: When I was in middle school I participated in a stock market competition… and I won it. I set up dummy email accounts and emailed you to see if you guys were consistent in your answers. I'm paranoid about scams. I'm probably doing too much too fast. I go to school, teach, then come home and watch the courses for hours. I have a whiteboard in my office that has paper trades I make. I was paper trading swing trading because my plan is to swing trade. Because I'm starting with a small account, if I have fake success papertrading and go live and lose it all then I have to start all over.

I love people who have ambition and follow through with it to the maximum potential. I'd argue that our guest, Peter from our community, takes this to an entirely different level. You'll see what I mean when he talks about his photography passion…. Wow! I'll just leave it at that. I bring that up to give you the overall context of Peter's personality and approach to life. I found the discussion very interesting to see how someone with so much hardcore passion would implement that into the world of learning the markets and becoming a trader. Peter does not disappoint and we talk about a variety of topics and considerations that all traders (new or old) need to remember to factor into their trading approach. Notes: Today we interview community member Peter. His wife was given a bonus but it had to be paid out in stock. They could then decide how to diversify it. Peter didn't want to be bothered with it so he put it on the 'middle of the road' risk parameter and let it grow on it's own. Peter has a passion for photography so this led him to move to Iceland from Hungary. Since he left the company he previously worked at he was required to cash out the stock's he had threw them. He did take an introduction to the stock market course but wasn't very impressed so he didn't continue with this initial source. After going through many Stock Trading Reality Podcasts, Peter knew that this was the place he'd like to learn. After trying to find what timeframes worked best for him, he realized that he did not excel on shorter periods. The good thing is that he took the time to figure this out on paper instead of blowing up multiple accounts to find out. Peter is taking a very slow and methodical approach to the market since he has heard many stories about what happens when you jump in head first without the proper training first. Quotes: I thought the stock market was a playground for the rich people, that's it. I just wanted to get a broker and I just wanted to start. But I decided to listen to podcasts about it first. I did try shorter timeframes. I killed myself with a noose. I tried to trade those and you know how it is for a beginner. If I started earlier I would have run into it full force and it would have definitely burned me. If you trade the plan it means you have a strategy. If you trade the plan it means you are patient and disciplined.

It's been requested for quite some time, and here it is (I guess now is better than never?), my personal journey. I do my best to remember everything and start at the very beginning. At the end of the day, all I can really say is DO SOMETHING. Notes: Clay's interest in numbers has been around since he was a child. From an early age, Clay's family noticed his entrepreneurial talent and helped nurture that. It also helped that he is competitive and wants to win. A big moment in Clay's life was happened he was a cart retriever at a grocery store. One time they were overwhelmed with work and one of the millionaire sons of the business offered to roll up his sleeves and help out. This opened up Clay's eyes to the fact that you're never too good to do the work required to grow/expand a business. If you couldn't tell by now, Clay has been focused on making the numbers and math work in his favor. He worked multiple jobs and started his own business to bring in extra revenue while he was in college. Instead of going out and partying like most of this classmates, Clay decided to focus on the growing the business. It only took Clay one time to 'fall in love' with a penny stock and unfortunately take a 75% loss. However, this was a great learning experience for him and led him to investigate trading the market further. After putting out video charts on various tickers, he quickly became the most followed person on InvestorsHub. As time went on, Clay decided to see who was serious about learning technical analysis and launched the website. As time went on and the site grew he hired on a friend from his church who is now known to the community as IT-Nate. Shortly after, Chezz joined the team as well. Even after producing courses regarding the stock market and real estate, Clay's true passion has always been the field of personal finance. That's where the idea of www.MoneyWithClay.com came about. Quotes: The money just happens to be the scorecard of how well you are doing at this game of figuring out how the numbers work. It's taught me that you're never too good to do anything if something is going to help grow your business. I didn't live the normal college experience because I chose to go down the path of working hard. I thought, the stock market? That's for dweebs! That's for geeks! That's boring. I'd walk into a meeting and Don would say 'Hey! Claytrader!' That's where the alias came from. Because I did something. Just do something. I don't know what your something is but just do it. You never know where it may lead. My true passion is personal finance. I think the reason is that it is something everyone and anyone can do. Make sure you have control of your life. If you don't have control of your own life, how are you going to control trading? Links: MoneyWithClay.com

Warning! This is Part 2 of a multi part interview, so if you want the best experience, then be sure to listen to episode 161 first. I know Part 1 left on quite the cliff hanger, but you don't have to wait any longer. We continue down the road with Phil (chat room alias "phl1") on his journey and venture down all kinds of nooks and crannies in the market. We do a little bit of live coaching as we talk about an actual trade that took place as we were speaking (the benefit of doing these while the markets are open). All in all, if you enjoyed Part 1 then there is no doubt in my mind you'll enjoy this second part just as much, if not more. Let's get to it! Notes: Phil is very process oriented. He makes a great distinction between a mistake and an error while explaining how it impacts his confidence going forward. Phil reminds us how our body reacts to fear and the unknown which essentially shuts off our logic in the moment. Clay and Phil do a live lesson on CLSD during the interview. The big thing to remember when scalping is that sometimes you need to let the trades form and give you an area of opportunity. Phil has created an in depth business plan for his trading business. While he thinks this is completely normal, he falls into a very small category of people who actually treat trading as a business, not a day at the casino. Since Phil has prepared himself by saving multiple years of living expenses, he is prepared to continue to practice every day and continue to work on increasing his trading size. He will not get himself into a position where he can sustain a catastrophic loss. Slow and steady wins the race. Quotes: I've been in chat rooms where I want to go long but they're going short so I change my strategy but I was ultimately right! When I think I'm not getting anywhere in trading and I see I've mastered another section, reminds me that the practice pays off. I have a paragraph about why I trade, then a paragraph about who I am as a trader… If I would have realized I could have done this for a living years ago I would have approached it differently.

This is a great one that could have went on for hours. It kind of did considering it turned into a two part episode. Part 1 takes us down the rabbit hole with Phil (chatroom alias, "ph1l"). Phil is a beast with a plan and while he still has lots to learn, there is no question in my mind he is taking this all as serious as it can be taken. From writing out a personal business plan to saving up a huge hoard of cash to get him going, Phil is being realistic and sharpening his axe to the fullest. What I enjoy the most about Phil is his brutal honesty (he doesn't really like other people – haha!), yet, he is willing to share so that other people can learn from his mistakes. It's sort of an irony, but definitely in a good way. Let's start the journey! Notes: Today we talk with community member Phil who goes by ph1l in the chat rooms. His father had become ill and this led to Phil getting a hold of his father's brokerage account to manage. After probing him about his purchase decisions, he decided to rework the strategy in hope for more consistency. As he got more serious about trading, he invested over 15,000 dollars in his education but had come to realize that regardless of how many different schools he went through that he needed to stick with just one and give it a chance. Phil paid off all his debts and was able to accumulate 4 years of living expenses before ever attempting to become a full time trader. He was still in the process of figuring out where he fit in the market in regards to strategy and markets. He pulled the trigger on Claytrader University within the first 5 minutes of 2018 and went through the courses as recommended within the first month and a half. After taking some initial losses, Phil decided to reduce his trading size and take it slow just to get into the groove. He can scale up as time goes on but he is not in any hurry. Quotes: I took the account from 50 grand to 150 grand in a few years but now it's just kind of plateaued. I went from the top of the world to losing everything. My cash flow was negative, my savings were gone… I now have 0 debt. I put away 4 years of overhead into a savings account. I knew that was the only way. I said I was going to be the first one to sign up for CTU in 2018. I was enrolled by 12:04am. This is the rest of my life. This is my new career.

It's time to bring back a long time member of our community, Mark. He's much better known via his alias of 'AlphaThor' within the community. He was originally on episode 96, but I wanted to sit down with him and hear how things have been going. We discuss several topics but the one that I could relate to quite well is his current strategy of depending on high win rates to tilt the risk vs. reward into his favor. This topic is one that many people don't quite understand, so I'm confident it will be helpful to those who need to grasp the "full range" of how risk vs. reward can work. Lots to learn thanks Alpha, so let's get to it! Notes: Today we reinterview Mark who goes by alphathor in the community. To recap, Mark started in penny stocks before discovering Clay. This led to him getting educated which ultimately led to his desire to trade options. Mark has structured his job so that he has the opportunity to trade every morning and work in the evenings. He was smart enough to lighten up on his trading as he tried to find what trading worked the best with his personality and strategy. Even though he didn't find much success day trading to start, he changed up his entry criteria. He would wait for too much confirmation and miss the move. Now he mainly focuses on overextended moves into important support or resistance levels. This is also a high win rate strategy so while the risk versus reward isn't what you typically think of, this modified version is typical for scalping. Quotes: I tried swing trading options. That didn't work out too well. I've always had a passion for day trading options. I was struggling trying to find my way so I was just coasting and taking it easy over the summer. Since I'm trading against the trend, I would have rather got out for the quick 50 bucks than have it go against me. I'd like to start with 2 contracts then work my way to 3 and building up to 9 in the future. Links: https://claytrader.com/podcast/episode096/

Let's go!!!! I'm sick of excuses! I swear… the more people I interview on the podcast the more crustier and grumpier I become when it comes to people playing the victim card and crying foul with all kinds of excuses. I don't want to spoil anything, so all I'm going to say is that thanks to our guest, Rick ("mollardr1" chatroom alias), I've become that much more of a jerk to those who walk around with the victim card. If you are looking for some inspiration in regards to putting the axe to the grindstone to go from Point A to Point Z, I guarantee you will get that in this discussion. Let's get to it! Notes: In today's episode we interview community member Rick. Since Rick grew up on a farm he was familiar with commodity markets such as corn, cattle, etc. He also participated in a paper trading competition for school and while other people went all in on some penny stocks, Rick took it more serious. Starting at the age of 17, Rick had started to put in monthly contributions to mutual funds hoping for 10% growth over 5-10 years. He eventually closed those accounts out and used the proceeds to buy his family a home. This led to a trading hiatus while he rebuilt up an account. Rick went to a seminar that discussed the importance of multiple streams of income so this was his main focus. This helped him pay off his home in full and generate additional revenue every month which led him to be able to fund a trading account again. After looking at the various education sources out there, Rick decided to join Claytrader and started the formal education that is involved. He enjoys trading longer term time frames as this fits his life best. Even with a high win rate trading strategy, Rick is not prepared to go full time to trade yet. He realizes there is much more to learn and that takes time and experience. Quotes: I walk into Morgan Stanley and told them I wanted to purchase stock. He told me that I couldn't because he wouldn't get a commission. I went on a hiatus for 3 years because I didn't have more money to throw into a trading account. It would be cool to quit my job but I want to know the numbers before hand… because that's a big jump. I paper traded from July '17 until Nov-December. Now I'm slowly starting to build actual positions with real money.

We're going on a journey with a member that begins back in the 80's! I don't mean to insult your intelligence, but that was 35 years ago! Our guest from the community, Fred ('FredSC' in the chatroom), takes us from the start when he used to get physical newsletters his mailbox to present day where technology has changed the game quite a bit for him. He's traded several asset classes and discovered much over the years and he doesn't hold back in sharing the ups and downs that we can all learn from. I always enjoy these discussions as they present a unique viewpoint from someone who has seen a whole lot more than myself. Come along for a stroll through the past 30 plus years. Notes: In today's episode we speak with community member Fred. He ended up using multiple newsletters in the 1980s which contained various strategies. Fred actually ended up buying near the bottom of the market crash and got a great entry. He was not impressed with brokerage recommendations at the time so he continued to focus on putting money into his 401k. Eventually he opened a self directed brokerage account and decided to focus on gold miners. After hearing about the Robotic Trading course, Fred decided to join the community and start his education journey. He quickly realized that there is more to the puzzle of trading than just one course so without much hesitation, Fred joined University. Fred paper traded forex for a while but had trouble dealing with the spreads from TD Ameritrade. This led him to take a look at options. He gave himself some time off from work to also try day trading. Something Fred needs to continue to work on is his stop loss placement. This is something that takes time to develop especially if you're going to focus on a basket of stocks you'll be trading often. Quotes: Somehow the idea got in my head 'now is the time to think about buying.' I just kept plugging money into the 401k. This buddy of mine said he made 1000 dollars in a day with this Robotic Trading thing! I went home and up comes Claytrader. First I'm up then I'm down. Then it comes down and hits my stop loss. I had FOMO going on big time. Back to paper trading. You put it together, look at what happened and then you tune it or you say 'no that worked' and leave it alone.

It's always good to have a variety of journeys and experiences as it brings a true all around view of the markets. Thanks to our guest this episode, Dan, we certainly hear about a strategy that is unique. While we've had past members discuss such strategies, it is view and far between. I do not personally use Dan's approach or anything of that nature, but that doesn't mean Dan is wrong. It doesn't mean I am right. It just means that there are many pathways up the profit mountain within the world of the financial markets. As long as it works and there is a sense of personal risk comfort, that's the key. With that being said, let's get out the blender and blend together some fundamental and technical analysis into one. Notes: Today we interview community member Dan. He utilizes a more fundamental approaches to trading. One way to define his style would be contrarian value investing. After doing research on a company and monitoring it for at least a month, only then will Dan look to purchase a stock. His general timeframe for a trade is up to 2 years. Dan uses the volatility of a stock to help determine potential targets. Since he is buying things that are possibly 50% off their highs, it's not out of the question to target 40-60% returns on them. He has always taken the Option Trading Simplified course to help expand his trading. He mainly goes long stock but he has no problem utilizing options to synthetically short if his thesis agrees that a move down is probable. Dan enjoys utilizing the advice of veteran traders because he believes they have more intuition about overall market direction since they have been involved for so many years. Quotes: I think the first chapter for wealth creation should start with 'how to save.' Let's say you want to buy 1000 shares. Start with 100. Watch for another month then buy another 100. I bought Robotic Trading years ago and go through that 3 or 4 times a year to stay fresh with technical analysis. I have 11 tickers I'm trading. Six of them are down so I'm a loser … but I'm up $818 dollars. You have to be a good loser.

Even if you don't trade Forex, realize there is still plenty of great stuff in this discussion from a general trading experience perspective. Our guest today, "MJ" as he goes by him the community, has been through much on his forex trading journey and he is still going strong! One of my favorite parts (and a great example/reminder for us all) of the interview was how the voices in his head tricked him into practicing in a very irrational way. Sure, maybe you or I would never do something like that, but it brings up the valid thought of, "maybe I'm doing this somewhere else in my approach to the markets?" This of course is just a sampling of one of the many rabbit holes we venture down, and I assure you there are plenty of other valuable conversations too. Give it a listen, you'll be glad you did. Notes: Today we interview community member MJ. His grandfather traded in the market and offered to teach him. Unfortunately this did not work out too well for him but he attributes that failure due to being unfamiliar with the emotions attached when money is on the line. While analyzing the strategy in depth, MJ realized this did not work best for him. He went back to paper trading but was doing it in an unrealistic way that utilized hindsight and cherry picking why he would pass on losers and take winners. After discussing with his wife, MJ joined the University program and got through many courses multiple times. He also decided to move from futures trading to forex trading. After trading on a very short tick chart for futures, he is really enjoying trading the 4 hour chart for forex. This also works well considering he has a full time job. He monitors 20 major pairs but does not trade them all. MJ has found that the spreads are more favorable throughout the US session and generally avoids the European and Asian market hours. Quotes: My grandfather actually traded. He mentioned how effective his system was and it could replace my income so that's where it started. I paper traded and paper traded and paper traded however I was lying to myself because I'd start at the far right edge and work backwards. If I can't afford to put this money in the trash can and set it on fire then I can't afford to trade with it. I keep my risk so small that if I lose the trade it makes no difference. Having money on the line makes me focus. Often I look back and realize I did not screw up my analysis. I was just wrong. When you take a loss it's the cost of doing business.

This story is crazy. It's hard to believe the truth of it, but given the market he used to generate the gains, the volatility was certainly available to grow money at quick rates. I do want to throw out this disclaimer though… while I find this interview extremely inspirational and motivating, all of that is derived from something outside the money. Let's face it, these results are not typical and should not be the reason you venture into all of this. Of course, you should want to make money, but if you are only going to be happy with the amounts you'll hear.. the odds are HIGHLY likely you'll be disappointed. What I found most interesting and motivating with out guest, "Zentaro", is how after an unfortunate career experience, he was left in a rough spot. He could have used it as a crutch and excuse but he didn't. He put the axe to the grindstone and took matters into his own hands. I don't want to say anything else at risk of spoiling, so let's go! Notes: Today we interview community member Zentaro from the Netherlands. He tells us about his time as a policeman before he was honorably discharged. This led him to try to find another form of income. A friend had suggested he start trading CFDs. After a week of trading on demo, he was profitable and thought all he needed to do was fund an account and he'd be rich. In the first week of trading on a funded account, Zentaro made 50% of his entire account value and thought he figured it all out. Unfortunately that is not how it would work out. After losing a few thousand Euros, it was suggested that he start to trade cryptocurrencies. This was around the time of the US elections and speculated on TrumpCoin and PutinCoin. These trades eventually went to zero. Cryptocurrency was something that made more sense to him though. He continued to have an interest and ultimately turned 12,000 Euros into over 800k. Now he risks less than 5% per bitcoin on trades while still trailing his winners. Zentaro has been diversifying his income by purchasing rental properties and owns a drone business where he is the official Dutch distributor. He has also started to utilize the Grow Rich course by focusing on dividend stocks to help set up his retirement accounts for the future. Quotes: They said I couldn't operate in society. They gave me a little welfare support and that was it for me. I was only 35 years old. In this chat room you were just a robot and pushing the button. A puppet. If you do your homework correctly, you've got some real coins that will go up over time. I'm looking for second homes to buy to put up for rent. I also started the Grow Rich course. I'm accumulating dividend paying stocks. For me it's only charts. I use price and volume as leading indicators.

I have conflicting feelings with this discussion. My greedy side absolutely loves to know this happened as it provides such a great learning opportunity for others; however, I truly do feel bad and annoyed that this actually happened to such a nice guy. Community member Ben, "close2pga" (chat room alias), walks us through his journey and how at the start he was mislead into thinking someone could shove their personal strategy down his throat in order to teach him how to trade. This is one of those marketing ploys that drives me nuts. First, it's simply false and misleading and second, it gives the rest of us (myself included) a bad name as being scum bags. I digress though. Ben's willpower and determination to bounce back from this initial hiccup I found very inspiring and I'm sure you will too. Ben is a business owner himself, so he offers up some solid perspectives on market dynamics and trading that will I believe offer great value. Let's get to it! Notes: Today we interview Ben who goes by close2pga in the community. Ben is an avid golfer who gets out almost 2 times a week and also owns a driving range. Since he leases the land his business sits on, there came a time when he thought that lease would not be able to renewed which led him to look into other sources of income. Ben started looking into various online education for trading and while some of it was good, it pushed him into trading one single way. This is absolutely not a one-size-fits-all job. He had about 6 months to learn how to trade and that pressure did not help him with his learning. After finding Clay, Ben decided to go through the University program and has now put those other two education sources aside. He has noticed what triggers bad habits such as chasing price or not honoring his stop loss and has found remedies for those issues. Since Ben no longer has the pressure of time since he has no issues with his lease, he is now utilizing his patience and persistence to get through the educational content. Not only does he not have the pressure to succeed in a new line of business in 6 months, he is now set up for success by having the guaranteed trade (his JOB) to keep him even keeled as he proceeds through the program. Quotes: It looked like I was going to be forced out of my business. I knew I would have a hard time getting a regular job after working for myself. I really put in my head that I needed to make another living in less than 6 months. It was not good to put that pressure on myself. I noticed that my scanner pulled up momentum stocks that I might just jump into it. How can I stop this? Get rid of the scanner. It's not the money per say. The freedom to have time during the day is what I'd like.

It's always enjoyable to catch up with past guests and hear about their journey as it continues to unfold. That's exactly what Chezz and I do in this episode with longtime community member "Mr. Bee". If you've spent any amount of time in the chatroom, I'm sure you've seen Mr. Bee at work. He's come a long way since our last conversation with him as he learns and masters more areas of the market. The one aspect of our talk that I found intriguing and personally beneficial was how he approached increasing his personal risk tolerance within various strategies. Risk tolerance is critical component of trading success and it was awesome to hear Mr. Bee's perspective and experience with it. I hope you enjoy this discussion as much as I did. Let's go! Notes: Today we reinterview community member Mr. Bee. After picking up where we left off in his last episode, Bee had continued to focus on trading advanced options. The important thing to remember is that he stuck to the strategy in both good times and bad instead of jumping around to different strategies. A big turning point for him was developing the courage to trade 'naked' positions (all of which are explained in the course). Considering there are many mechanics to keep in mind when utilizing trading this way, Bee has always continued to try to learn more each and every month to get a better understanding. Mr. Bee has leveraged speaking to other community members heavily in the past 4 years since he started trading. The ability to bounce ideas off of other members with no agenda can provide some real insight as to potential problems in a trade idea. More eyes is generally better than less. As he continues trading into 2018, he fully accepts that he is a swing trader and wants to continue applying what he was taught even more often if the opportunities present themselves. Quotes: I really have a genuine interest in trading and options really opened that door up to me. There were days that my PnL didn't make sense. It takes you down the rabbit hole in regards of what you can learn about trading. I butcher the order while changing it. I'm going long and this thing just starts bleeding to death. I took the loss. Had to do it. You can make enough money trading options using very little money. That's what led me here. I've found a comfortable balance. I'm going to do a lot more charting in the evening since swing trading is my strategy. Links: https://claytrader.com/podcast/episode071/

Having confidence in something is a good thing in most areas of life, including the financial markets. This is where the catch-22 comes into play within the markets. Confidence vs. too much confidence ("Koolaid") can be a very big problem for both traders and investors. Our fellow member from the community, Tony, walks us through some of the major hazards that koolaid can and will introduce into your portfolio. I give him a whole lot of credit for being open and honest about just how bad the koolaid affected him, but as you'll see, by admitting his blindness and mistakes, he has now been able to put himself on the proper path to success. Looking to learn from some real life cautionary tales? Look no further. Tony shares plenty with us! Notes: Today we interview community member Tony. He decided that he wanted to have more control over his 401k so started to look into different stocks to determine if he wanted to be invested with them or not. Unfortunately, he had lost most of that account and took 8 years off from the market. He assumed that it just wasn't for him. Tony's uncle got interested in the marijuana stock boom and started to tell him about all the opportunities that were out there. Even after two bouts of failure, Tony still did not give up the dream of being involved in the market. He knows that it is possible to have his money make money for him whether it's from an active standpoint or a more passive swing trading standpoint. This led him to decide to invest in his education. He forced himself to stick with paper trading until he finished a predefined amount of courses. Tony realized that there is no point in jumping back in the market if he did not practice the material he was taught. After two months on paper, Tony is back to live trading now. Since Tony still works a full time job, he has focused strictly on swing trading which he can set up in advance the night before. This is a drastic difference than the trading style he tried before where he would just stare at a chart for hours on end hoping for a move. Now he does his homework the night before and executes the next morning. Quotes: I pretty much lost all that 401k money. There was no plan. There was no strategy. That was it. That was it for a while. People were posting that it's a real company so here I am jumping back in the bathtub of Kool-Aid watching all my money go away. I realized I have to learn how to do this or there is no point. I don't want to lose my money again. I have a plan and I'm going to stick with the plan. If I don't stick with the plan, I'm going to do the same thing trading stocks. So now because of Robotic Trading, I'm able to take that emotion out of it and not just staring at it waiting for a move.

We have a rare case of someone who experienced fool's gold… but… in a contradictory way, realized and admitted to themselves that their success was actually NOT "skill", but rather "luck". Upon this discovery and self admission, where did their journey go from here? Our guest from the community, Angelo, tells us all about the decisions he has made along with the rationale behind them. What I really enjoyed and learned from was you always need to keep your ego in check. Even though Angelo has a college degree in finance, he was still able to see through many potential pitfalls that others commonly fall into. Lots to learn, so let's go! Notes: Today we interview community member Angelo. While he has a degree in finance, his interest only spanned as far as his mutual funds and 401k. After Robinhood launched, he was intrigued by the no fees which led him to become a much more active investor/trader. A majority of Angelo's friends were just looking for low priced stocks that they could load up on and hope they went higher. Angelo also falls in the category of finding fools gold to start. The difference is that he recognized that he had been lucky and wasn't a prodigy. He realized that he didn't want to continue down the path of inconsistent trading so he decided to invest in his education AND he closed his account so that he would strictly focus on the education first. The pattern day trade rule really hindered Angelo's short term trading. He once again closed his trading accounts because his situation was suboptimal. He realized that the market will be there in the future so he decided to focus strictly on the courses and paper trade alerts from the community. Angelo still has a few courses to get through but will be considering implementing advanced option strategies so that he can still trade while having a full time job. It is crucial to understand where you are at in your journey and he is not rushing anything. Taking the logical route through training and practice leads to consistent results. Quotes: One of those degrees was in finance. It was mostly looking at my target funds and 401k's but that changed at the beginning of this year. I was up 2 grand and had no idea why or what happened but I remember feeling pretty good. In the back of my head I knew it was luck. My friend's thought I was crazy for spending that much money on education. Eight months later, it's been worth every penny. The big issue I was running into was the PDT rule. It's the worst thing in the world. It messes with your psychology. I know what I'm willing to risk on each trade so that makes it easier to find what fits your plan versus going wild wild west and wondering.

You are busy? You don't have the time to make it happen? Nah. I'm going to go ahead and say you're either lazy or simply don't want "it" bad enough. What is "it"? You tell me. Maybe you want to learn to trade. Maybe you want to improve in another area of life. After listening to this interview though, you'll understand why I have very little pity for the "I'm too busy / not enough time" statements people throw around. Our guest, Diego (same name in chat room) gives us a rundown of his current journey and you'll see this guy is not messing around. I also had the pleasure and honor of meeting Diego at our Fort Lauderdale meet-and-greet and I will attest to the fact he's a Grade A person. If you're in search of some real life inspiration based in reality, and not theory, then look no further. Let's get to it! Notes: Today we interview community member Diego. He had contributed to a TSP account which is available for military members until the time his service ended. After taking some looks at the account daily, he became interested in the daily ebbs and flows of the account. This led him to move his account into various mutual funds which ultimately led him to swing trading. This was all prior to any training. A majority of his buying and selling was based on recommendations from various media sources. Diego started to focus strictly on natural gas and would trade UGAZ and DGAZ (two gas ETF's that move inversely). After not finding much success trading those based on fundamentals, Diego looked into options. After having some missed trades, Diego stumbled on to the Inner Circle and expected to get buy and sell alerts from Clay. However, as he soon found out, there are only technical alerts being given since every member has their own risk tolerance. This led to him joining the University program. Diego continued to focus on his interest on options and now exclusively trades advanced option spreads. This works great with his busy schedule. He has also learned that he does not need to be in a trade every day. It's much more lucrative to trade good setups and pass on the mediocre ones. Quotes: I was on the kool-aid for The Street and buying based on what they were saying. My expectation was to get rich now. I want to hit it big and quit my job and live on the beach. It's harder than you expect. I read about options. I bought cheap options on CHK to cap my risk. Something happened so 120 dollars became 700. Let the past be the past. Move forward and focus on the present. The next four months, I studied CTU. I plan the trade the night before then put in my orders at the open. I look again by about 2:00 if I didn't get a fill in the morning.

Some may call me a jerk when it comes to my lack of pity, but hey… you can thank our guest for my shortfall of compassion. We speak with Mario (chatroom alias "MarioR") and as you'll learn, the man is a beast when it comes to "making his passions work". I don't want to offer up any spoilers, but if you're in need of some additional motivation to remove the "I have excuses" card from your deck, then look no further… this is the interview for you! For those of you who are members of the community and hang out in the chatroom, I'm sure you've seen Mario around along with the screenshots he posts of wins and loses. There is no need to beat around the bush, the guy puts up some very big numbers and it is quite inspirational to know what is possible. The big numbers are awesome no doubt, but getting to the point he's at now took all kinds of blood, sweat, and as he admits, literal tears. Prepare yourself for a "no excuse" ride. Notes: Today we interview community member Mario who goes by MarioR in the chat rooms. He was introduced to the market at a young age when his father was trying to day trade on the computer. After Mario got out of the military, he had a large sum of money but was unsure if he wanted to trade with it or invest it long term in mutual funds. He did eventually put it into a brokerage account and tripled his account when he admits he really knew anything. Those easy gains went as fast as they came in and his account was back to the 20k mark. He had a few bouts of success followed by drawdowns which led him to reevaluate his approach. After accidentally discovering short selling, Mario found that he has developed quite a skill to find over extended names to get short on. Just utilizing basic support and resistance, Mario strictly focuses on finding ideal setups, excluding his old boredom trades. Mario has plans to go full time in the future after all his expenses and debts are taken care of. He has a great long term plan regarding what criteria needs to be met before he embarks on that business plan. Since Mario has done this for many years, he knows where he still struggles and is taking steps to remedy those to continue trending his account up. Being honest with yourself regarding both the good and bad is crucial for growth. Quotes: I made some swing trades and eventually had 60,000 from 19,000. I had no idea what I was doing. Everything was low and I made out. If you're going to do this you need to get educated. I just picked up stuff randomly from other traders and made my own style. I can think to myself, if I was long where would I be selling? Then that's where I'm thinking to get short. My problem was I never feared losing money. Income is not a dirty word. I work second shift and that allows me to trade the morning so I stick with it. If you're treating stocks like a lotto ticket you need to change that mentality. Trade well and take what the market gives you.

This discussion certainly got my blood boiling. As someone who is in the coaching/teaching/mentoring business, it truly drives me insane when I see others creating a bad name for everyone. We have a shining example of this thanks to our guest today John ('FatherOfBear' in the chatroom) and his experience with another "coach" in the business. Even if you never spend a penny on my site, please just realize and be aware of some of the glaring red flags that many of these "I want to see you succeed" people out there display. To give John fully credit though, after the rough start due to the bad experience in attempting to learn, he didn't give up and he continued to grind onwards and upwards. Like many of us, John has taken several bumps and bruises along the way, but the great thing for us as listeners, we can learn from them and save ourselves some money in the process. I had a great time chatting with John and I'm sure you will too. Notes: Today we interview community member John who goes by FatherOfBear in the chat rooms. John was intrigued by those who traded in the market and spent some time looking around the internet in an effort to get educated. He came to the realization that if he wanted to do this successfully, he would need to seek out quality training. Unfortunately, he decided to get training via someone who put a time limit on their program and John learns best by a high amount of repetition. A 3 month time limit is not realistic to go from knowing nothing about the markets to a proficient trader. Even without a proven track record on paper, John funded an account and started trading live. After finding some initial success, he eventually dwindled that account down to scraps. John does not like to lose and in most aspects of life, it's a fantastic attribute. But in trading, it can be detrimental. After finding out the material in University was available for LIFE, John dove right into the program to rebuild his notion of trading. He is currently working through the foundational courses before he beings trading again. Quotes: I watched YouTube videos of people explaining what candlestick means. I would watch hours of videos. It was generic at best. I didn't grasp how dangerous it was to trick myself paper trading. I was trading with large size since there was no risk. I get my first big win. I was thinking, I'm not over trading… I'm doing what my teacher is doing. I must be a prodigy. I started learning all about margin calls. It really hurt my account being stubborn and holding. Reinforcing those bad habit muscles. Honestly, I'm not sure I would re-do anything. I've eaten a lot of humble pie. Education is paramount and is worth paying for. Links: https://claytrader.com/videos/big-red-flag-world-trading-educators/

We try our best to keep things as "real" as possible on the show, and in this episode I think we do a great job of that given our guest's strategy. In most instances, the topic of technical charts come up given many in our community use them; however, that's not the case with fellow member Aaron. There is still lots of fine tuning going on within his strategy, especially in the trade management department, so who knows…. maybe one day charts will find a place. As it stands now, Aarron is looking to improve with each passing week and keep his account in the green. He was open and honest which we can all respect him for. Notes: Today we interview community member Aaron who is relatively new to trading. After realizing he was making next to no return keeping his money in savings, he decided to look into the market. Aaron likes to research sectors and individual companies he believes will have future growth. Considering his 9-5 job, he choose industries and companies in that space that he believes will grow. Something Aaron picked up very early on was that most people who use financial social media are generally unable to accept responsibility for their actions. After watching a few of Clay's videos and seeing the information conveyed, Aaron decided to join the community. Aaron doesn't utilize charts to validate his investment choices. He uses the news and fundamental information he comes across. However, he hasn't bet the farm on any of his trades so even if they were all go to zero, he would be fine. Quotes: One thing I regret is that I haven't taken a lot of risks in my life. I realized that my money has sat around and done nothing. When there's a profit to be made, you have to take it. That's the discipline I have to adhere to. The idea of short manipulation is very misconstrued. It's like betting against the dice in craps and the odds are reversed. For me, that's a car payment. Wow that's a better Christmas for everyone. Don't be ashamed of profits.

The impacts of a quality plan can lead to big things. How big? How about a six figure gain within your trading account? What I love about the podcast is the many shapes and forms the motivation and inspiration can take. This time around, the motivation is that of sheer numbers and size of just what is possible. As our guest Stan ('PapaBear' in the chatroom) discloses, nothing happened over night or without a lot of hard work; however, it did happen and continues to happen! It honestly still inspires me and gets me fired up to know that by only using 30% of his account, he was able to double his ENTIRE account. This is the power of a plan and approaching this business we call trading in a logical and realistic way. Come along for a very inspirational ride! Notes: Today we interview community member Papa Bear aka Stan. Back in the 70's, Stan saw an episode of The Brady Bunch when they had an episode about the stock market. This led to an interest that he carried until much later in life. Stan unfortunately suffered a decent loss when one of the mutual funds he was invested in got too heavily invested in a stock that plummeted. This led him to pull his funds into a Roth IRA and start controlling his money himself. After putting together as much as he could from free education, Stan had a big fear about 'what do I not know yet.' This led him to investigate some structured education for trading. After looking around the industry, Stan joined the University program. Stan went through the courses and decided to focus mainly on options. The big emphasis he wants listeners to take away is that position sizing is absolutely crucial in long term survival trading. He has never needed to utilize traditional margin since he is never using the entirety of his account and he has generated a fantastic return only using ⅓ of his account. He mainly focuses on candlestick formations and keeping himself involved in multiple sectors as not to be too concentrated. Quotes: Everyone and their janitor was getting in the market during the dot.com boom. I started getting scared. What is it that I don't know is what really scared me. All these different traders trade differently. You rather eloquently showed me that I was wrong and rather than getting offended by it, I deeply appreciated it. Paper trading was good for learning mechanics. Unless you get the adrenaline of having money on the line, the lesson doesn't stick. My first year after CTU I made 100% only using 30% of my account. We're talking 6 figures. The last thing you ever want to do is turn a day trade into a swing trade. They are two different philosophies. Links: https://claytrader.com/videos/the-surgeons-delemma/

I have no idea what took so long, but we finally have a guest from the UK! I will say this though, it was worth the wait! As far as new trader horror stories are concerned, I'm pretty sure I have a new favorite. I had a great conversation with community member Sarah (alias in the chatroom, "like a glove") where she openly shared her ups and downs. Like I mentioned, her one "down" is quite comical and while that makes me sound like a jerk, I promise it's because she can laugh about it too at this point. Like many newer traders, she started out using strictly fundamental analysis in their approach to finding trades; however, Sarah quickly realized that there had to be better ways and that's when she found the tool of technical analysis. We've heard it time and time again in the past, but it's a concept that can never be overstated… as you'll learn, Sarah's experience with "rushing" didn't exactly lead to great places. I had a genuinely awesome time with this discussion, and I'm confident you will too! Notes: Today we interview Sarah from the community who goes by the handle 'like a glove.' Her introduction to the market was getting issued stock for a company she worked for but she wasn't very educated regarding the market. She tried to utilize as many free resources as she could to learn how to trade in the stock market and that is when she stumbled upon the Stock Trading Reality podcast, which she enjoyed since it interviewed people on their journey. She started off utilizing fundamental analysis for her trades but after taking a string of losers, she decided to invest into her technical analysis education and took Robotic Trading. It opened her eyes up to some of the foolish decisions she made in the past but gave her hope for the future. After taking a massive loss trading on delayed quotes, she decided that she needed to stop trading and really learn to take it seriously or to not participate at all. Sarah has now learned to love her losses because she keeps them much smaller than her winners. If she could go back and do it again she would have spent more time on education first and not been in such a rush. Patience has been a large focus for Sarah since she started to take trading seriously. Quotes: If he can do that, I can do that. I bought loads of books, read tons of stuff on the internet and got as much as I could for free. I did paper trade… for around 20 minutes and then I realized I was making money and I could do this! It was like a bombshell. I didn't know what I was doing for the past 6 months. I've been very lucky I didn't lose everything. I came out halfway through a meeting and lost 90% of my account. I was convinced the price was wrong. It was 15 minutes delayed. Be a lot more patient and less arrogant. And don't call your broker and expect to talk to the manager for a refund!