The Stock Trading Reality Podcast

So you want to be smart about your trading and investing approach? Good! The best way to find success is to find expectations that are reasonable. One of the biggest problems I see within people’s trading journey’s are expectations that belong on an entirely different planet. To be fair to these people, when you’re new and don’t know what you don’t know, this includes how to properly build expectations. On the positive side, none of this is difficult to do. It’ll only require you being self ware and honest about yourself and situation. Once you get a few basic questions answers, the resulting expectations will naturally be revealed. Let’s talk about it!

Given my unique position of having a sizable following on YouTube and social media, I am a prime target for certain side hustles. Because I am a target, I believe I can offer a valuable point of view towards those who are doing these side hustles. It takes money to make money, so anything that is geared towards creating streams of income, I feel it is worthwhile to weigh in on. If you are someone looking to make some extra money, please avoid doing what I am going to show you here in this episode. It’s very basic, but I’ve had it happen to me over and over again and all but ensures you’ll have very little success in your efforts. Let’s get to it!

I try my best to avoid this subject. The problem is, the argument is totally true and my conflict of interest does not make it any less true. If you are a beginner day trader and just getting started, I hope this case study can open your mind to at least considering a more than common and valid logic you are using. For those of you who continue to struggle in your trading, I hope this case study will, again, get you to open your mind to considering a different approach. Let’s talk about how you will be paying either way you go. This all boils down to “how much” will you pay? Let’s dig in a bit deeper and consider both the pros and cons.

Someone accused me of being shady by only doing analysis of “obvious” charts. This interesting comment got me thinking a bit and, well… here we are! I’ve been told to ignore the negative people who leave comments; however, in this person’s case, they offer up an important distinction that needs to be made within the world of trading. In particular, what kind of trading approach are you going to take? I personally feel better with one over the other (as I believe it contains less risk), but that’s not to say I am absolutely right. Good thing we’re all allowed to have our own thoughts and opinions! Whichever you feel is best for you is all that matters, but let’s make sure we all understand the two kinds of trading approaches!

Have you heard of the logical mistake people get tripped up known as the sunk cost fallacy? Odds are, you allow this thinking error to influence your life more than you think. The games our mind can play with us are abundant to begin with in the world of trading and investing. Sprinkle on the day to day mind games such as the sunk cost fallacy and I don’t blame you if smoke begins to pour out of your ears! It’s annoying no doubt, but the biggest problem I would argue is the lack of knowledge of its existence. Once you are aware of these thinking errors, you can be much better prepared to handle them. In my hears of coaching traders I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen the sunk cost fallacy create unneeded issues for people. Let’s talk a bit more in-depth about it so you are aware and prepared to fight off this logical fallacy when it comes knocking on your door.

My goal is to keep the world of money, trading and investing as clear as possible. With clarity comes a sense of actual reality. Actual reality brings with it the ability to make the best choice for your personal goals and circumstances. I had an interaction with a person who offered up some criticisms about day trading that are totally valid. I think he took these criticisms a bit too far and baked in some faulty assumptions; however, setting that aside, this person in correct. His criticisms leads to a conclusion to: don’t trade. I disagree. Let’s dig a bit deeper and explore this criticism with a fair and honest approach.

In this episode, I dive into the realm of options trading, particularly focusing on individuals beginning their investment journey with a small trading account. This episode is designed to begin to lessen the concept of options trading, proving that it's not as complicated as it might seem and demonstrating how it can be a powerful tool for generating impressive returns in a short amount of time, even with limited capital. Through a real-life example shared from our trading community, I explore how a modest investment in options can yield a substantial percentage return, emphasizing the importance of risk management and capital efficiency. This reference point is perfect for beginners looking for a straightforward entry into options trading, offering insights into leveraging small accounts for significant gains.

I believe it’s safe to say this person does not like day trading… at all! In a recent YouTube comment someone brought a flame thrower and, in their opinion, torched day trading as a money making income stream. He made several claims that I want to address as it kills a few birds with one stone. Discussing these claims helps not only dispel them as very weak, but also helps build a better context for aligning reality and expectations. I’d hate to see someone avoid day trading because of these kinds of thoughts; however, there are minor pieces of truth to them, so I want to be sure that beginners have a firm grounding in reality. This person was quite harsh, so let’s consider their critiques and think through them together!

While we all have different risk tolerances and personalities as traders, at the core, we’re all still human. Meaning, there are some general scenarios that happen to us all whether or not it seems like it. Given the nature of social media and YouTube, some situations can seem to never happen to people, but I assure you… they do! The dangerous part of this particular situation I discuss is the impact from the mental standpoint it can pile on you. During the piling on process it can tend to open up another whole can of worms. The solution to all of this is a simple one: be aware! When you are aware you can realize what is going on in your brain and deal with it in logical ways, not emotional. Let’s talk about a very important topic for all of us as traders!

There is a recent controversial proposal to increase the federal minimum wage to $50 per hour. Let’s consider some economic principles, supply and demand dynamics, and real-world scenarios, we assess the potential impacts of such a significant wage hike on affordability, housing, and the broader economy. Join us as we consider factors between labor costs, housing supply, and market rates to understand whether a $50 minimum wage could truly solve affordability crises or inadvertently lead to unintended consequences.

I’m here to teach! I want everyone to have a firm foundation of even the most basic economic and money principles. With that being said, apparently we need to talk exchange rates. What they are. How they work. Their practical implications. Tucker Carlson recently did a video and his entire argument was based on a very flawed premise. How flawed? The very thing he was arguing for he at the same exact time was defeating. How is this king of logic and accomplishment even possible? Well, if you don’t understand your premise, you’re going to have issues. If you are someone who is not quite sure what an exchange rate is, let’s talk about it. If you are someone who enjoys some comedic irony, you’ll get a laugh out of this.

It’s a confusing time. You look at many of the economic indicators and it seems like the USA is on fire (in a good way!); however, there are some apparent contradictions between economic indicators and public perception. With stock market highs, job surges, and dropping inflation, why does Biden face a 20-point deficit against Trump in economic handling? There is some additional data we need to look into to have a better understanding of what the cause of this confusing disconnect is arising from. Let’s talk some current events while also learning a bit more about economics so you can become the most informed voter possible!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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