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

Patience… It’s All About… Patience!

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

A 19 Year Old Who is Crushing It!

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

I’ve Made a BIG Change

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

Being Calm and Prop Firm Accounts

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

Small Caps, Options and Bartending with “HeyFordy”!

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

His $18,000 Trade and More!

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

Talking SPX Options With My Friend

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

Am I Being Stupid?

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

A Baller from Barbados!

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

Trading Bots and The Viking

Thanks for checking out the ClayTrader Stock Trading Reality Podcast. Our show, hosted by ClayTrader, is designed to motivate and inspire traders of all experience levels. We interview REAL traders, discuss their trading journey, and lessons they learned along the way, both positive and negative.

Clay does not sugar coat the work that needs to be put in to be a successful trader.

Great content!

Probably my favorite episode ever!! Lewis is awesome!!  Thanks for the podcast guys

STR 101

The Stock Trading Reality Podcast

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.

Get Good at the Basic | STR 188

If you are not aware, you will be after reading the next sentence. There are quite a few people who approach and use the stock market as a “stay at home” Las Vegas. They believe trading is all about luck and is “a gamble”, so that’s how they conduct their trading. This of course leads to all kinds of stupidity and dumb decisions, and our guest in this episode is geared around taking advantage of these opportunities. We’ve talked with Chris a couple years ago on the podcast, but we’re bringing him back for his update. If you’ve been around the community for any amount of time, I’m sure you know him better as his chat room alias “gocubsgo”… or as I refer to him as, “cubs”. Even if you have no interest in trading options, there is still a ton to be learned in regards to what it takes to set up a strategy and system that you can have full confidence in due to its consistency. Chris has been doing very well and it’s all thanks to the system he has built himself… which, is essentially a casino to take advantage of degenerate gamblers. Let’s go! Notes: In this episode we are re-interviewing Chris. He started trading 2 years prior to this podcast and as we left off last time, Chris had just begun his journey into selling options instead of buying options. This strategy worked well for him since it is a swing traders strategy and he didn’t have time to watch the market intraday. As Chris learned more about selling options, he started to narrow down his risk profile from quite conservative to much more aggressive as time as gone on. This also leads him to not fear being assigned stock as the names he trades, he is willing to take shares of the company (most likely a good dividend stock). Keeping trade sizes small to start ensures that no big losing trade can do any real damage to his account. He is also well versed in defending losing positions using various option strategies. The big emphasis he makes is repetition is key. Chris has no desire to nail tops or bottoms but he can structure his trades to give him a much higher than 50% success rate with his usage of time (in the event he is wrong initially). For newer traders, Chris recommends using the probabilities that are built into the option chain to spot high probability setups and to swing trade instead of day trade. With time you’ll start to understand the nuances and what you are most comfortable with in terms of risk. Quotes: It’s one thing to learn the basics but when you get comfortable it’s about efficiency and small tweaks. I like finding those kinds of plays, doing them often and staying small so that you keep your account uncorrelated. The longest roll was probably a year. Fitbit didn’t have an uptick since its IPO. Be reasonable about it and don’t size up. UVXY accounts for 10% of my portfolio but it accounts for over 20% of my gains on the entire account. Links: https://claytrader.com/podcast/episode027/

If you are not aware, you will be after reading the next sentence. There are quite a few people who approach and use the stock market as a “stay at home” Las Vegas. They believe trading is all about luck and is “a gamble”, so that’s how they conduct their trading. This of course leads to all kinds of stupidity and dumb decisions, and our guest in this episode is geared around taking advantage of these opportunities. We’ve talked with Chris a couple years ago on the podcast, but we’re bringing him back for his update. If you’ve been around the community for any amount of time, I’m sure you know him better as his chat room alias “gocubsgo”… or as I refer to him as, “cubs”. Even if you have no interest in trading options, there is still a ton to be learned in regards to what it takes to set up a strategy and system that you can have full confidence in due to its consistency. Chris has been doing very well and it’s all thanks to the system he has built himself… which, is essentially a casino to take advantage of degenerate gamblers. Let’s go! Notes: In this episode we are re-interviewing Chris. He started trading 2 years prior to this podcast and as we left off last time, Chris had just begun his journey into selling options instead of buying options. This strategy worked well for him since it is a swing traders strategy and he didn’t have time to watch the market intraday. As Chris learned more about selling options, he started to narrow down his risk profile from quite conservative to much more aggressive as time as gone on. This also leads him to not fear being assigned stock as the names he trades, he is willing to take shares of the company (most likely a good dividend stock). Keeping trade sizes small to start ensures that no big losing trade can do any real damage to his account. He is also well versed in defending losing positions using various option strategies. The big emphasis he makes is repetition is key. Chris has no desire to nail tops or bottoms but he can structure his trades to give him a much higher than 50% success rate with his usage of time (in the event he is wrong initially). For newer traders, Chris recommends using the probabilities that are built into the option chain to spot high probability setups and to swing trade instead of day trade. With time you’ll start to understand the nuances and what you are most comfortable with in terms of risk. Quotes: It’s one thing to learn the basics but when you get comfortable it’s about efficiency and small tweaks. I like finding those kinds of plays, doing them often and staying small so that you keep your account uncorrelated. The longest roll was probably a year. Fitbit didn’t have an uptick since its IPO. Be reasonable about it and don’t size up. UVXY accounts for 10% of my portfolio but it accounts for over 20% of my gains on the entire account. Links: <a href="https://claytrader.com/podcast/episode027/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://claytrader.com/podcast/episode027/</a>

He Operates His Own Metaphorical Casino. Welcome Back Cubs! | STR 140

We've talked to traders of all age ranges, but in this episode we hear from someone a bit younger in years. Chris (known as "cubs" in the chat room) tells us all the things he has already experienced in trading, along with what he has learned in what many would consider a relatively short amount of time. This includes turning $3,000 into $25,000 and then losing it all... ouch! That stings to just type that, but what has Cubs done since then to bounce back? The answer to that and much more, including what Cubs is currently doing to profit in the markets, in today's interview. Notes: Cubs got interested in the market during an economics class stock market picking game. While caddying as a summer job he saved up some money and bought 3 stocks to which he is still holding today. Once he got through school with a finance degree he joined a finance firm and has continued to buy good dividend stocks for his long term portfolio. During the pot stock boom, Cubs decided to gamble with some penny stocks and got very excited from the large returns. He took 3-4k to 25k before losing it all. He tried day trading while at his full time job but decided it wasn’t worth the risk of possibly losing his job. Cubs decided to take a swing trading approach after this attempt. Now Cubs is utilizing options to swing trade with an edge. He can take a neutral position and profit from the passing of time. Quotes: "I wasn’t using what I learned in college… it was more the gambler in me when trading penny stocks.” tweet this quote “I maybe lost a few hundred dollars day trading but it was just too much stress while working full time.” tweet this quote “I like being the casino and selling people sucker bets that have low probability of success.” tweet this quote Links: Course: Advanced Options Trading Strategies Explained

Finding Your Groove as a Younger Trader | STR 027

We have almost done 50 episodes, but this interview is a first for both Chezz and I. Our guest, Tony ("elkhuntn" in the chat room), had his journey start by literally working for a penny stock company that was in the mining sector. Can you say "shady???" By getting an inside look at penny stocks, this gave Tony a very unique start to his journey which contains many twists and turns. It was an enjoyable interview that includes what I find to be very valuable nuggets of wisdom that can only be gained through experience. Notes: Tony worked for a very small mining company that was publicly traded and this is what led him to get interested in penny stocks. After losing a little bit of money, he decided to invest in his education and learned about penny stocks from Clay. After moving away from penny stocks, Tony hit some fools gold trading options right away but as most fools gold goes, he gave it back relatively fast. Even with some nice size gains on a few trades, just a few 100% losses in options completely wiped out his gains and then a majority of his account. Recognizing that he needed to focus on his strategy to emphasize consistency, Tony now has a set basket of options stocks he watches and utilizes the same setups over and over when he is able to be at the computer trading. Tony has time to trade in the morning before he starts work so he can focus on strictly day trading. With some self diagnoses, we determine that if he had only traded the morning session and skipped the rest of the day he would go from being red on the year to green. Less really is more in trading. Quotes: “Working at penny stock company, I pretty much quit trading penny stocks after better understanding how they worked.” tweet this quote “I have a hard time paper trading but if I take a really small positions I can at least be honest about it.” tweet this quote “I denied the losses at first. It didn’t slow me down like it should have. It should have been a red flag but it wasn’t.” tweet this quote “If I would just trade the first hour of the day, I would be green for the year.” tweet this quote Links: Course: The Penny Stock Survival Guide Video: About Pattern Day Trader Rules

Working for a Penny Stock Company… Really??? | STR 048

This episode holds a special place in my heart as our guest, Louis, from the chatroom was quite the customer service challenge. He was about as hard headed as it got when it came to him actually deciding to come aboard, but I'm glad he did. He's one of those traders who even after making a boatload of money, was still aware enough to know that he need to tap the brakes a bit. He started off guns-a-blazin' and rolling in the dough, but where did that lead him? Well come along for an enjoyable discussion about the bumpy road we call trading. Notes: Louis’s introduction to the market started as a child. He would farm crawfish and he wanted to know why the prices would change all the time. He was witnessing supply and demand at it’s truest form. While Louis was stationed in Iraq, he saw someone on base looking at charts and struck up a conversation with him. Since Louis was always outside of the base, he was unable to really trade similar to this guy but he decided that once he got back stateside he would start to learn how to trade in the market. He joined a buy and sell alert service and his first and only trade was to go long gold (as a hedge against the ‘end of the world’). He put his whole account into this trade and then left it for 6 months. This resulted in him just about doubling his 100k account. Louis heeded the advice of a co worker who warned him that he could just as easily lose all that money he recently made. This led him to start investigating how to further his education. After utilizing as much free education as he could find, he realized that it wasn’t the whole picture so he eventually joined Claytrader University. Recognizing that he shouldn’t risk all the profits he came into, he stopped trading and spent time going through the training. He was also paper trading while going through the courses. This has led Louis to become a completely methodical trader who has a process for spotting entries, managing risk and determining logical places to take profits. Quotes: “The price always changed. That’s what really got me interested in the market. I wanted to know why they changed.” “Well I just forgot about it. I treated it like the Fidelity account. Six months later that trade made me 90,000 dollars.” “I’m cheap by nature so I didn’t want to splurge on the courses. I got to the point where the free stuff stopped working.” “I only put 4 grand in there and wanted to see what I could do with a small account. I saved that money from shoeing horses.” “I experienced a big gap down and my stop loss got hit. My co workers are still hanging on to it and hoping it recovers.”

Doubling a $100,000 Account – and THEN Getting Serious | STR 101

It truly is amazing just how powerful blaming the person in the mirror can be when it comes to your struggles and failures. I truly understand... blaming yourself for failures is not an enjoyable situation and no one likes to do it; however, there is freedom when you swallow the ego and blame yourself. My guest today from the community, Joey, started off about as bad as you possibly can. In fact, I called him a degenerate gambler to his face and he fully agreed with me. The crazy part though is how he transformed from a degenerate gambler to someone who is now consistently growing his account. So far, he's gone from $150 to $25,000 and it continues to grow. Thanks to his honesty and transparency, Joey shares many experiences that present fantastic nuggets of wisdom. Let's get to it!

Turning $150 into $25,000 (In Only 3 Months) | STR 264

If you're newer to the markets and your plan of action is "learning as I go", then all I ask is that you please listen to our guest, Mike ('HeyFordy' alias in chat room), who took the same path. What I like about Mike is that he's from the Northeast, so he's got that accent and has no problem being blunt and telling you like it is. He doesn't hold back any punches and speaks his mind, for better or worse. Mike is an amateur boxer, so his views on mindset and psychology are fascinating. Whether you are new or an experienced trader, I'm willing to bet there will be at least something that stands out to you and assists you in your personal trading. Notes: Mike’s introduction to the market was his buddy who was trading with his free Robinhood account. He funded his account and just dove straight into it. Mike was just puppet trading his friend who gave him some ‘picks.’ Unfortunately, Mike ended up becoming a bag holder and maintained his losing position for a few months. He went on a search for a good group of traders that he could follow. Mike grew his small account by the thousands with sheer blind luck but eventually that luck ran out. After getting stuck in a trade that he was unable to sell, he started to wise up and realize that he needed to learn how to spot his own entries and determine his exits. Mike went on to search for as much free information as he could find but struggled with it since it had absolutely no structure. After this he went on to try some subscription services that offered hot picks. He quickly found out that this didn’t work either. He joined the Claytrader community shortly after this and eventually went on to take the first course, Robotic Trading. Mike said that this was a big eye opener and he know wanted to learn even more. He now started to understand WHY he should be buying and WHY he should be selling. This led him to take a few other courses since he recognized that education for the market is a continuous process. Mike is now truly enjoying the freedom that comes with education in the form of not needing anyone to give him ‘hot picks’ or steer him into various tickers. He has developed his own strategy, applies solid risk management and executes trades that he has personally planned. This is the true path to long term consistent success. Quotes: “I downloaded it, funded the account and dove in. I didn’t have any education or anything. I wanted to do the ‘learn as you go.’ “ "I grew a small account by the thousands very quickly just off of luck. I thought I had everything figured out.” “His DVD was like panhandling for gold. You had to go through a ton of dirt just to get a small speck of gold. It was ridiculous.” “Robotic Trading was eye opening. A lot of the uncertainty went out the window and I started seeing things in a logical way.” “I like swing trading a lot better. I like to manage them over a bit of an extended time.”

Diving In and “Learning-As-You-Go”. How’d that Work? | STR 099

It's been a while since we've last spoken with community member "Etan" (alias in chat room), but there is quite a bit to report from our last conversation. Our previous interview had Etan with his ax to the grindstone paper-trading and fine tuning a trading strategy; however, as you'll hear, life got in the way and knocked him off course. What I like best about all of this is Etan did not pull out the pity-party-card, he just adjusted and did what needed to be done. We once again have some interesting free flowing conversation... so by all means, please come be a fly on the wall. Notes: Today we revisit with community member Etan. He was focused on shorter term equity scalping and had paper traded for quite a long time with modest success. Unfortunately, his day job picked up very quickly so his time to trade had shrunk considerably so he decided to go back to his old style of swing trading after trying to trade futures. Etan summed it up very well about how he had a lack of ‘chemistry’ with futures. When you are uncomfortable trading something, no matter what it is, you will not make rational decisions. Comfort in your trading is key and comes with practice and persistence. What he really enjoys about options is that he can set and define his risk in advance. It is much less rigid and much more flexible than futures for him and this fit with his personality much better. Etan is a big believer in logging not only his trades but his thoughts/feelings on the trade as well so that he can look back when he gets in a similar situation and recognize that it’s not as bad as he may think and that he has proven he is capable of managing this regardless of the outcome. Quotes: “It’s funny sitting at the table and seeing everyone with their emotions and how bad they get.” “I tried futures and it did not work so well. It moved differently. The risk per tick was different. There was no chemistry for me.” “I’ve been doing Advanced Options since before I even learned charting. So I papertraded and traded those for a couple years.” “It’s a lot slower. It’s really just looking for support levels and resistance levels. It’s a lot less stressful for sure.” “I just pull up the positions, check the probability of profit column to make sure I don’t have to do anything. Takes me 30 minutes or less.” Links: https://claytrader.com/podcast/episode038/

It's been a while since we've last spoken with community member "Etan" (alias in chat room), but there is quite a bit to report from our last conversation. Our previous interview had Etan with his ax to the grindstone paper-trading and fine tuning a trading strategy; however, as you'll hear, life got in the way and knocked him off course. What I like best about all of this is Etan did not pull out the pity-party-card, he just adjusted and did what needed to be done. We once again have some interesting free flowing conversation... so by all means, please come be a fly on the wall. Notes: Today we revisit with community member Etan. He was focused on shorter term equity scalping and had paper traded for quite a long time with modest success. Unfortunately, his day job picked up very quickly so his time to trade had shrunk considerably so he decided to go back to his old style of swing trading after trying to trade futures. Etan summed it up very well about how he had a lack of ‘chemistry’ with futures. When you are uncomfortable trading something, no matter what it is, you will not make rational decisions. Comfort in your trading is key and comes with practice and persistence. What he really enjoys about options is that he can set and define his risk in advance. It is much less rigid and much more flexible than futures for him and this fit with his personality much better. Etan is a big believer in logging not only his trades but his thoughts/feelings on the trade as well so that he can look back when he gets in a similar situation and recognize that it’s not as bad as he may think and that he has proven he is capable of managing this regardless of the outcome. Quotes: “It’s funny sitting at the table and seeing everyone with their emotions and how bad they get.” “I tried futures and it did not work so well. It moved differently. The risk per tick was different. There was no chemistry for me.” “I’ve been doing Advanced Options since before I even learned charting. So I papertraded and traded those for a couple years.” “It’s a lot slower. It’s really just looking for support levels and resistance levels. It’s a lot less stressful for sure.” “I just pull up the positions, check the probability of profit column to make sure I don’t have to do anything. Takes me 30 minutes or less.” Links: <a href="https://claytrader.com/podcast/episode038/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://claytrader.com/podcast/episode038/</a>

Bringing Back Etan. Let’s Update His Journey! | STR 111

You can never get too much of the classic fool's gold syndrome. Most veteran traders have had this syndrome at some point in their journey (myself included), and most newer traders have it right now. The key is, the sooner they realize it is the sooner they can begin to improve away from it. Our guest, Roland, takes us through the beginnings of his journey where he had some success, assumed he was a diamond in the rough and had it all figured out. Of course, this was actually NOT the case and he had to get kicked in the teeth via Mr. Market before realizing he needed to change his tactics and strategy. Roland has come a long way and is now focused on being a swing trader due to his day job. The journey he's been on to get him to the point of, so far, 13% account growth on the year is one filled with nuggets of experience we all can benefit from. Notes: Today we interview community member Roland. After college, Roland ended up at a desk job and his father suggested that he look into the stock market. After doing some options trading investigation via Investopedia and Stocktwits, he opened up a paper trading account. Unfortunately, he was trading with an unrealistic size and saw a 40,000 dollar gain in just a few days so now his interest was really piqued. Roland caught a low float runner that made substantial gains. He did capture some of the moves but after that initial success, he had more confidence in himself than he should have. After that great trade, he had a string of losers that were an eye-opener. After speculating on TWTR earnings, and averaging down, Roland took a big loss but the difference is that he accepted responsibility for his mistakes instead of trying to blame others. With Roland's work schedule, he started to get interested in swing trading futures. He kept making deposits into his account and took it from 25 to 40 thousand dollars. This year from trading January to May he made 13% of his entire account value. Quotes: My dad said options were a great way to make a lot of money with a little money. Just buying calls and puts. I tried to learn on my own but everything seemed kind of jumbled and couldn’t get a good grasp on things. I knew the whole ‘let your winners win and cut your losers fast.’ I sold everything at 6 with a stop loss but then it kept running. I didn’t sell because of greed. I could not do any wrong. I was just going to keep going. I had a 40k account when I started trading futures more seriously. Just trading patterns and can make a trade plan that works for me. Links: Trading In The Zone by Mark Douglas http://amzn.to/1P1TRKP

You can never get too much of the classic fool's gold syndrome. Most veteran traders have had this syndrome at some point in their journey (myself included), and most newer traders have it right now. The key is, the sooner they realize it is the sooner they can begin to improve away from it. Our guest, Roland, takes us through the beginnings of his journey where he had some success, assumed he was a diamond in the rough and had it all figured out. Of course, this was actually NOT the case and he had to get kicked in the teeth via Mr. Market before realizing he needed to change his tactics and strategy. Roland has come a long way and is now focused on being a swing trader due to his day job. The journey he's been on to get him to the point of, so far, 13% account growth on the year is one filled with nuggets of experience we all can benefit from. Notes: Today we interview community member Roland. After college, Roland ended up at a desk job and his father suggested that he look into the stock market. After doing some options trading investigation via Investopedia and Stocktwits, he opened up a paper trading account. Unfortunately, he was trading with an unrealistic size and saw a 40,000 dollar gain in just a few days so now his interest was really piqued. Roland caught a low float runner that made substantial gains. He did capture some of the moves but after that initial success, he had more confidence in himself than he should have. After that great trade, he had a string of losers that were an eye-opener. After speculating on TWTR earnings, and averaging down, Roland took a big loss but the difference is that he accepted responsibility for his mistakes instead of trying to blame others. With Roland's work schedule, he started to get interested in swing trading futures. He kept making deposits into his account and took it from 25 to 40 thousand dollars. This year from trading January to May he made 13% of his entire account value. Quotes: My dad said options were a great way to make a lot of money with a little money. Just buying calls and puts. I tried to learn on my own but everything seemed kind of jumbled and couldn’t get a good grasp on things. I knew the whole ‘let your winners win and cut your losers fast.’ I sold everything at 6 with a stop loss but then it kept running. I didn’t sell because of greed. I could not do any wrong. I was just going to keep going. I had a 40k account when I started trading futures more seriously. Just trading patterns and can make a trade plan that works for me. Links: Trading In The Zone by Mark Douglas <a href="http://amzn.to/1P1TRKP" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://amzn.to/1P1TRKP</a>

Fool’s Gold to Slow Bleed. | STR 133

It might sound a bit backwards, but "going small" in order to get "big results" is something that is overlooked in the world of trading all the time. Our guest, Chad (same name in chat room), explains this bizarre concept via the journey he has been on, and is currently still exploring. Although only being involved in the markets for a relatively short amount of time, Chad has already been through a lot and learned many valuable lessons which he graciously passes on to the listeners. Notes: Chad first got interested in trading after setting up a Roth IRA and decided that he wanted to make his riches with penny stocks. He did some googling for hot penny stocks and eventually found a list of high volume names and did his message board research to see what others thought would go up. After finding quick success in his first penny stock trade, his profits soon turned into losses and that’s when Chad decided he needed to learn more about technical analysis before he traded again. As he went through the courses, he was paper trading alongside of it (which we recommend). However, he was not using realistic trading size so this did not help him prepare for the live market when he decided to return. After a few rough trades when he went live, Clay helped Chad realize he could trade smaller than 100 share lots which still helps him get used to having money on the line (and deal with the voices that appear when money is on the line). Even though Chad is in the beginning stages of his journey now, he is taking steps to ensure he is forming good, consistent habits which will eventually turn into long term consistent gains. He, like many others, approached this as a way to get rich quick but was quickly humbled by the penny stock market. He knows what he excels at and where he is weak. With that knowledge he is capable of fixing the issues and improving. Quotes: “There was about 2 weeks where the stock doubled. I thought ‘this is going to be my new job.’ The next day it tanked.” tweet this quote “Here I am paper trading 1000 shares and making 2,600 dollars in a few minutes. It was very unrealistic.” tweet this quote “One of the things I’ve learned from you guys is to create good habits.” tweet this quote “Now when I take a loss it’s just like ‘okay, it broke support or resistance and I don’t want to be in it anymore." tweet this quote

Going Small in Order to Learn Big | STR 044

As traders we should love the fact that we can not control how high a price rises. Why? Well, that means we can not control how much money we make in a trade! How cool is that? We have a perfect example of this principle with fellow member Orval (better known as 'Sandman' in the community). Orval updates us on his journey which has improved dramatically since the last time he was on the show. It's been a journey of hard work, dedication and consistency, but the time has been worth it. Orval has fully transitioned from paper trading to real money trading and yeah... I don't want to ruin anything, but so far so good! Let's get to it!

Turning $400 into $4,000 (in 1 trade) | STR 255

I've had some people ask about my thoughts, but to be honest, another part of this is me just being sick-and-tired of all the media manufactured drama. I want to give you my thoughts on the stock market and how I am approaching the situation. Let’s take a breath and walk through all of this in a slow, calm, and calculated way by using logic and a bit of common sense. What am I doing as the stock market crash and why? Let’s talk about it.

My Thoughts on Coronavirus and The Stock Market Crash | STR 261

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.

A Young Guy Making His Way in the Markets | STR 178

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

Let It Come To You | STR 242

The much anticipated Part 2 of the "Paddy" interview is now here. The feedback for the first part has been extremely positive, and it's time to see where the journey now heads. The enthusiasm from Paddy does not dwindle in the least as he tells us about where his journey headed after locating ClayTrader.com. His first impressions of me are not the nicest, I will say that as a little spoiler - haha. Notes: Paddy discovered ClayTrader.com after coming across him on StockTwits. After comparing what Tim Sykes had to offer, Paddy decided to try the Inner Circle for 1 year. After 3 days in the community, he decided to join CTU. After testing the water for those few days he knew that he could benefit from the educational training. He went through almost all of the courses, got his computer all setup for trading and decided to ‘get romantic’ with AAPL for the future. He wanted to get to know the stock while applying his new found information acquired from the courses. Paddy has done a great job realizing his strengths and weaknesses. Hesitation, forcing trades, taking revenge trades has got him in trouble in the past but he has put those bad habits to bed. Quotes: “I knew what these indicators were for 10 years and in one weekend I finally understood what they were for.” tweet this quote “I don’t want to work for the man. I want to work for myself. The whole idea here is so I can get my freedom.” tweet this quote “Losses are part of the game. To not expect losses would be unreasonable.” tweet this quote “I used to think ‘go big or go home.’ I’m much better at managing my position size now.” tweet this quote Links: Link: ClayTrader Resources Video: Getting Romantic With Options Trading

The much anticipated Part 2 of the "Paddy" interview is now here. The feedback for the first part has been extremely positive, and it's time to see where the journey now heads. The enthusiasm from Paddy does not dwindle in the least as he tells us about where his journey headed after locating <a href="http://ClayTrader.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ClayTrader.com</a>. His first impressions of me are not the nicest, I will say that as a little spoiler - haha. Notes: Paddy discovered <a href="http://ClayTrader.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ClayTrader.com</a> after coming across him on StockTwits. After comparing what Tim Sykes had to offer, Paddy decided to try the Inner Circle for 1 year. After 3 days in the community, he decided to join CTU. After testing the water for those few days he knew that he could benefit from the educational training. He went through almost all of the courses, got his computer all setup for trading and decided to ‘get romantic’ with AAPL for the future. He wanted to get to know the stock while applying his new found information acquired from the courses. Paddy has done a great job realizing his strengths and weaknesses. Hesitation, forcing trades, taking revenge trades has got him in trouble in the past but he has put those bad habits to bed. Quotes: “I knew what these indicators were for 10 years and in one weekend I finally understood what they were for.” tweet this quote “I don’t want to work for the man. I want to work for myself. The whole idea here is so I can get my freedom.” tweet this quote “Losses are part of the game. To not expect losses would be unreasonable.” tweet this quote “I used to think ‘go big or go home.’ I’m much better at managing my position size now.” tweet this quote Links: Link: ClayTrader Resources Video: Getting Romantic With Options Trading

Ready. Set. Go! Brace Yourself for this Journey! Part 2 | STR 026

Every single Monday for 100 weeks straight, we've put out a brand new episode... I would be a total liar if I said I thought that would happen when Chezz and I first began our podcast journey. Sure, I planned it would have success, but literally 100 weeks straight of new episodes? No way! With that being said, thank you to YOU, our listeners, for providing enough interest to keep the show going. In this special episode we bring back a couple of guests who are well known among the community and absolutely killing it with their trading. We all just sit back, shoot the breeze, and let the conversation take us down rabbit holes and whatever topics we want. Thanks again to all you listeners and we look forward to another 100 episodes! Notes: In this special episode we have two staple community members on with us, Shawn and h00ch. This podcast will be much more off the cuff than our usual structure since we have interviews with both the guests already. A common problem we encounter here is that people want to quickly double their money. During the discussion, it becomes very clear that there is no ‘one size fits all’ and while some people fall into quick riches, that fools gold is generally quickly lost. Learning to trade is a journey and becoming consistent is part of that journey. We have a good discussion regarding penny stocks versus options. Both Shawn and h00ch have transitioned from penny stocks to options for the various benefits that are discussed. It makes a strong case on why you may want to consider trading options instead of penny stocks. Going back down memory lane, we each list our favorite moments from the past 99 episodes. We get quite a diverse set of answers from everyone and we look forward to 100 more podcasts! Quotes: “This is not a ‘get rich quick scheme.’ You have to be smart. There are bigger dogs out there not afraid to take your money.” “You press the buy and sell button. Nobody else is pushing that button for you. You are completely responsible for what happens.” “If you want that kind of fun you’re better off going to Niagara Falls to hit the casino.” “They think penny stocks are their only hope for a small account. Don’t think it’s either penny stocks or bigger stocks.” “I originally got a part time job to take the pressure off myself so that my needs would be met in order for me to not force a trade.”

We Did It! Episode 100! | STR 100

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

The Right Way to Go “Full Time Trader” | STR 218

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/

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: <a href="https://claytrader.com/videos/risky-trader-goal/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://claytrader.com/videos/risky-trader-goal/</a>

Leaving a Job to Pursue Trading | STR 189

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

The Carla Method | STR 222

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.

The Punisher – Part 1 | STR 181

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