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.
