The Stock Trading Reality Podcast

I'm guessing your trading and investing journey has been a totally smooth ride up until this point? At this point you are, rightfully so, thinking I sound like the most delusional person you've ever come across. Anyone with even a shred of trading experience knows the ride is not anywhere close to being smooth. The big differentiating factor is how do you react to the bumpy ride? This is where our...

Have you heard of it? The term is "quiet quitting" and it is a job strategy that seems to be catching more and more popularity as these current times continue. I do my best to be as objective and fair as possible, so on that note, is "quiet quitting" a smart strategy? In order to tackle this question and discussion, I bring back a long time friend of the community and podcast, Judd. I figured Judd...

Have you heard? The Biden administration is proposing to forgive student loans. This has of course opened up the floodgates of opinions and debates. Given this is not only a podcast for trading, but also money/economics in general, I wanted to weigh in on this topic. My main hope with this episode is to discuss student loan forgiveness in a very fair and reasonable way. I am not here to strawman e...

What would you do? You've just become, unexpectedly, homeless and you're sitting there in a motel room. It sounds like a Hollywood movie script, doesn't it? This is the exact set of circumstances my guest, Bradley ("modelact" chatroom alias), found himself at a stage in his life. If you're ready for a an inspirational ride, then let's go! If you are looking for someone uses who plays the victim ca...

Who remembers Scottstrade? Us older traders will have a fond memory of them and how awesome it was they offered $7.99 commissions! My guest, Mark, has had a wide variety of experiences as he's been around for quite some time! Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love talking with guests who are on the younger end of the spectrum; however, when you talk with someone who is older, you can get some great...

I've been blind sided several times on the show throughout the years from guests sharing their stories. Just when I think I know the end results of a story, I hear something completely different. While I can't say it takes the top spot (it may!), I can say this episode's guest, Taylor, has one of the most blindsiding moments in the show's history. There's no other way to say this than, his ego was...

There is nothing more refreshing than self accountability. In a culture where it seems like it is always "someone else's fault", it is a breath of fresh air when someone blames the person in the mirror. Trading is not easy and there are a variety of ways we can twist and turn with the blame game. My guest, Joe, does a deep dive into his journey and holds nothing back. I've been doing this show for...

Are you dizzy? If you say 'yes', I totally understand! Every direction you turn you see headlines making a variety of claims. The problem is, these claims oftentimes are contradicting one another and seem to have no consistent basis. I sometimes wonder if this is by design? What do I mean? Does the government make the statistics it reports very broad and open ended on purpose to create confusion b...

The world of trading is a crazy place for several reasons. It's amazing how much money can be made (lost) in such small amounts of time. It's amazing how you can make (lose) these amounts of money from anywhere in the world assuming there is an internet connection. An often overlooked reason is the vast scale of strategy approaches ranging from extremely intense to extremely laid back. Our guest f...

Admitting to yourself certain weaknesses and areas that need to be improved is not always the most enjoyable activity to take part in; however, it is a required activity if you want to reach your maximum potential. In the world of trading, you must be brutally honest with yourself and admit all weaknesses. At times, you may just have to admit, "I'm simply NOT good at this…" I know we are brought u...

One of the best facts about the financial markets is they care about nothing. Age, race, height, weight, etc., the markets simply do not care. They will take money from whomever they want, and they will also give money to whomever they want. The financial markets only care about trading strategies and your ability to be disciplined. In other words, using your age as some kind of excuse is just not...

If you find yourself thinking of quitting your job and "becoming a trader" as a job to pay the bills, stop! While I understand from a marketing and sales perspective this sounds awesome, when you bring the idea into the world of reality it becomes much different. I welcome back long time member Aaron (better known as "Zep" within the community) who has been on several past episodes. I suppose it j...

I'm not sure how to explain it, but when you've been doing something for such a long time, it's almost as though you forget things that you know. I've been trading in the markets since 2006 so needless to say, I've seen quite a bit and have had plenty of "ups" and "downs". Just this past week I found myself in an unexpected set of circumstances that ultimately could not have been more beneficial f...

By day he is selling potatoes (literally!) and by night he is grinding and growing his trading account! This is one of the amazing attributes about the financial markets. They have no feelings. They don't care about you. While this can be a scary thought in the sense of not feeling bad for taking your money, there is a positive side to this too. They don't care if you are some potato salesman who...

The goal is to grow your account. Simple… right? If you have even a shred of trading experience then you understand how laughable the word "simple" is. If you are relatively new and feel as though it is pretty "simple", I would encourage you to consider the possibility that you are experiencing what is known as fool's gold. Trading is a very challenging and difficult endeavor. The encouraging news...

Depending on where you currently reside in your trading journey, the title of this episode may seem a bit ironic. Perhaps when you take a trade using real money (opposed to trading in a simulator) you experience of surge of emotions and physical stress. I understand and anyone who has traded understands! Here's the thing, these emotions and stressed can be extremely diminished. There will always b...

Odds are, you are ambitious and love a good challenge. With that being said, if you are a total beginner to the world of trading and investing and are here because you "want to get rich quick and easy"… then RUN! RUN away as fast as you can! If you want to find success in the markets, you'll need to be here because you are passionate about it! When you are passionate, you are going to gain the adv...

It amazes me how the mainstream financial media overlooks such basic graphs that illustrate such powerful topics of consideration. Unfortunately, the graph I will discuss in this episode guarantees a painful recession (if not a depression!). Oftentimes the best predictor of the future is looking backwards into history. I realize that past history does not guarantee future results; however, when yo...

You would think taking a break is a good thing. In so many areas of life, the thought of "hitting pause" and stepping back in an amazing situation. When we step into the world of trading however, it might as well be the end of the world. If we are traders, well then… we should be… trading! I understand this all too well in my journey and if you are reading this, I assume you are an ambitious perso...

No. I'm not exaggerating. This trader, literally, lives in the middle of a 1,200 acre swamp surrounded by gators, snakes and hogs. I want to offer you up a fair warning. If you are someone who is constantly looking for reasons on why you can't do something, you are NOT going to like this discussion. With that being said, if you are someone who finds motivation and inspiration in other people who a...

We're once again going "down under" to hear the story of a young Australian trader! It still blows my mind that we have a community of traders from all over the world, including the, literal, other side of the world! These discussions are always motivating reminders to myself that whenever I stumble as a trader, I'm not alone. The same emotions that have caused me and many other traders are the sa...

Day trading is not an easy task. It's a challenge each and every day. The upside potential, in my opinion at least, is well worth it all; however, it's hard. What makes day trading so hard is the psychology that goes into it. In particular, just how fickle everything is. Meaning, all it takes is a slight slip up with your emotions and psychology and your day trading strategy can spin out of contro...

The sale's pitch of "read a book" or "take a course" and then you're a money making trader is extremely attractive. It seems reasonable to conclude you would sell a whole lot of books and/or courses; however, unfortunately this is not how trading works in the real world. You don't get to snap your finger while reading a book and then all of a sudden have money rain down from the sky. Trading in th...

I always enjoy talking with current or former military people. Their point of view comes from a place of massive structure and planning. When people's lives are on the line, having structure and a plan of action is of the utmost importance! I have nothing but respect for people who are serving (or who have served) as they have dealt with situations that for most people can only be imagined. In thi...