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James 0:00
Hey, what’s going on guys? We’re back with another episode of the after hours Podcast. Today, it’s just Harry and I kind of like the old school. Alex is taking a little time off. So yeah, man. So I guess lately we’ve been talking a lot about like general the economy and like what how things have been working as far as the indexes and all the the major large caps and all that stuff. And, you know, I feel like every week, we’re getting a lot more information. There’s like news coming out every week that’s kind of driving the latest stock market kind of move. And I feel like this last couple of weeks has started to really show like, as a country, and as probably a war as the world, we are probably headed into a recession, if not, whatever is worse would be a depression. You know, so far everything Data Wise that we’ve been waiting for CPI and all that stuff has been higher than expected. Everything’s coming out worse than they think. Yeah, you know, and I don’t know about you, Harry, but at least around here. I’m noticing. I’m starting to notice more now. recession again. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it’s here. It’s we talked about in the past, but it’s like, there’s just no one working. There’s people kind of just struggling to go on and get by markets down. When the markets down. People spend less, right like I live in a nice area. And a lot of people was there make money in the market, they’re taking that money out, they’re buying the nice cars, they’re buying, you know, the houses, and they’re doing their job renovations for their house and all that. And I’m noticing now is kind of definitely slowing down. But I don’t know what what’s everything going on in like Canada right now.
The Problem With the Dollar Store Index
Harry 1:33
Yeah, so like, kind of where I live, there’s like, and I was talking about this with my grandparents as well, because my grandparents like live in like a pretty like, well off kind of like decent area, like where I’m from. And kind of what they’ve noticed is that and like I’ve noticed this too, is that during COVID, I found the top one, not 1%. But let’s say that, let’s say like if we just say between, like 50%, like the bottom 50% didn’t do the best, you know, the people on the bottom did not do well, right? Like if you were already struggling to get by before COVID. Now you have to worry about getting groceries, now you have to worry about everything being more expensive, right? So we have things that have inflated so much where it’s like, if you own any of those assets, like you did pretty well. And if you don’t, and you’re more of a consumer, and you don’t really have the best job and you weren’t really in the best position. You know, you were you are if you were struggling before you’re really struggling to afford things now, right. And so I noticed that there are a lot more people on the streets where I’m from, there are a lot more people like, like Walmart is packed every single fucking day, Walmart is packed, there’s a lot less people using where I’m from, we have kind of like two main grocery stores. We have superstorm we have Sobeys there’s a lot less people shopping there. There’s a lot more people shopping at Walmart, the dollar store lines, they had to implement self checkouts, because there’s the lineup is at the back of the fucking store 24/7 7 days a week, right. And so that dollar store index is kind of what I used to see, like, you know, first of all that stocks never going down like Dollarama where I’m from, it’s a Canadian stock, that stock is never going down, even in COVID Didn’t even didn’t even go down and COVID You know, like no one’s sold that shut off. Because it’s the Dollarama you know, that’s where everyone is shopping. And it’s crazy, because like when I noticed stuff like that, that’s when I’m like, Okay, we’re actually in a problem. You know, Walmart is packed to the end of the store, the lineup is packed, like they couldn’t even like you, you will go on a Sunday morning, you can go on a Friday night, a Monday night, wherever the Dollarama and Walmart is packed. So for me, it’s like I know, people are struggling when I see a lot of people there. And also, I think and we talked about this as well with that helped yesterday is that companies like FedEx, companies like Purolator are closing down their offices right now due to the fact that you know, they’re just not seeing the shipping volume, like they did before on COVID. Right? Drone COVID that expand, they had to open things up. They’re like, our business is growing like crazy. And now we’re in a situation where, you know, they’re shutting down. They’re like, the package volume is not what it used to be. So I mean, that’s where I’ve kind of seen, you know, yeah, that’s where I’ve kind of seen a lot of kind of like where it is right now. You know, I think before when you had me on the like or not you had me on the podcast, I guess it’s like ours, but like, I think before, kind of in the summer I was like I don’t really see it, you know, but now I’m starting to see it a little bit more where it’s like, you know, people are still going to concerts, it but you definitely The restaurants aren’t as full, right? Like I used to have, I used to have to make reservations in advance, I used to have to worry about waiting an hour. Now it’s like all walk right in and get a table. You know, that was like unheard of where I’m from. So it’s like, you are starting to see it now where it is getting worse, things are getting a lot more expensive. I can’t go to the grocery store without spending $30 for one meal. Right? I can’t like I mean, what was that like before, you know, yesterday, like 10 15 bucks, you know, if you wanted to go in and get now if I want to go in and buy, like, let’s say I want to buy a nice steak, right? Like just for supper, I want to buy a nice steak, I want to buy some fries. And let’s say, you know, if you add, you know, pop or you add if you add beer, you know you’re spending 50 bucks, if you add pop, you’re spending 30. So it’s crazy.
The Impact of Inflation on Buying Power
James 5:53
Yeah, it is crazy. And I think right now the biggest thing I’m noticing is just like lack of buying power. I think this is the first time in our our Platinum, at least we’re seeing inflation be as high as it is. And I think I never understood the actual impact of inflation on just like the regular world like everything going on. And I’m noticing it now I’m noticing people more penny pinching, because when you’re spending that much more on food, on gas on everything, you just have a lot less money to spend. And I actually went to the mall the other day to grab some stuff, it was dead. And COVID It was a zoo because people were getting stimulus checks who were spending money that Louie Vuitton Gucci, it was just crazy. Whereas now it’s like, it’s kind of like what you said, I just noticed people spending less, and starting to be a little bit more tight, which is not good for the market, because we need especially in small small cap traders to but we need people putting money into the market. And the reality is that most people nowadays probably don’t make enough to not only pay their bills, you know this even pre inflation, but now not only to pay their bills, but they don’t have more money to actually put into the market. So what really sucks is that we’ve for the last 100 years, we’ve already grown the wealth gaps, so significantly bigger. And when stuff like this happens, like as bad as this is right now for the world, when we come out of it, because it will happen eventually we might go into a recession, depression, whatever, yeah, people that had the money, the people that were able to capitalise will just get richer. So it’s just the wealthier, the wealthier top 10% of people will just get wealthier, and the lower end people get lower, because then stocks will rebound, then they really won’t have any money to buy. And you know, it’s right now too. It’s tough. I know, a lot of my friends are looking for houses. And then when inflation is like this, your buying power is cut into a third. You know, you’re it’s just it’s very hard right now. And I think I think the general world is starting to wake up and realise like, hey, something’s wrong. Meaning like, it’s not just America now. And I think America has always been the engine of the world for at least the last, you know, 100 years or so. But now it’s like the global recession is probably happening. You know, we have foreign countries working together to on foreign policy, possibly like D pegging the dollar or trying to go against the dollar, which would be terrible for us. If we lost that got that standard.
Harry 8:13
Oh, that would be bad, terrible.
James 8:15
It’d be terrible for the market and everything. And now we have people like Ray Dalio, who I think is probably one of the most intelligent people in the world, is saying that if rates continue to increase even by a little bit more, he sees a 20% downside in stocks, that would crush the economy, because there’s a lot of over levered people in the market still, and they’re just praying for it to bounce because we’ve been saved every time. And, you know, it was what 2008? Well, you know, yeah, whatever, when Lehman crashed, you know, that was not that long ago. And it feels very similar to that just as far as data goes, and, and all that.
Harry 8:50
Yeah. And also, I think, like, and this is one I was thinking, like, if you were in the bottom, let’s say 10%, like, like, what do you do to to try and get richer? Like, I’m not really sure at the moment, you know, like, you try and save money here. But oh, you’re, let’s say, you know, oh, you have a rent increase, you know, you try and save money here. But this pops up, oh, you’re trying to save money here. Oh, but this pops up, right? Like, you would have to literally just work and come home, and, and save your money and hope that your car doesn’t break down or hope that you don’t get a flat tire. You know, but and that would be it. And then the only way you could really do it is putting that money into into stocks. Like that would be the only way you could try and you know, get richer and like improve yourself. Other than that, I don’t really know, you know.
James 9:47
yeah, so like 10 years ago, when I was 18. We full when I was when we opened my first business. And back then I could work over like I could work as much as I wanted. So I’d work 80 hours right if I was working 40 And let’s say I wanted more Money, I just work more hours. And then, you know, I was in a position back then where I could just stash the money away, which helped me long term and got me into trading and all that stuff. But now, it’s like you said, I have friends that work 50 hours a week to full time job. And after that they get, let’s say, $1,500 in their check after taxes at 750. And then they pay their expenses. They’re left with like 150 bucks over a week or something like that. And it sounds terrible. And it sounds really harsh, but you cannot grow wealth on $150 a week at that point, you need to somehow work on moving up in your career moving up to another job that’s going to pay you more, because I hate when people talk about like saving money by like not buying coffee. It’s like I get it. But that $2.50 a day, I’m sorry, it’s not going to change your life ever. No. Right? And it’s like, but and that’s the point is now there’s so many people in that position of how do I save money? How do I get to the next level? How can I invest in stocks? But the reality is, most people can’t, most people can’t get into real estate, they don’t have the cash. Right. And it’s, and I’m noticing that a few years ago was only a few people I know that were like that. Now it’s, I would say 90% of people I know, are just gonna pay their bills go to work, pay their bills go to work. And it’s just a cycle of like, never breaking it and never moving on. And now only people want to work from home. All people want to do they want to work less, they’ll make less, but at least their life is just a little bit easier because they don’t have to actually commute anywhere. Yeah. And you know, I just I don’t understand that whole concept anymore.
Working From Home With Two Jobs
Harry 11:29
It’s like the whole concept of like, and this is another thing that actually I have even a friend who has done this, where they’re working from home, and they’re working two jobs. So he went from making 50k a year and he also signed a contract like he signed a contract non compete, it’s not a contract that you would not have another job. And literally, this dude is working from home. He’s like one of my one of my good buddies. And, you know, he’s making 100k Because he has two jobs, right?
James 12:00
I respect it. I mean, that’s a hustle. You know, I mean, it’s like, no, it’s not technically allowed. But, I mean, dude, people gotta get by, people have to make more money, right? It’s like, it’s like the same thing. It’s like, you know, I don’t know, people, they do whatever they can to get by make some extra cash.
Harry 12:16
yeah, like, he’s working it. He’s like, on the phone all day. Like different calls come in from like, different places. He’s like, selling shit. You know, he’s got like, leads and prospects. And he’s doing it for both companies meetings. He’s scheduled them like, an hour apart. He was like, bro, I had meetings from nine to five today. I was like, why? Like, why do you have so many meetings? He’s like, bro, I got one company here. And then right away, I got another company here. But it’s like, what are you supposed to do? At this point, like, I think it should be allowed, like, you know, if you’re like, those types of non compete contracts shouldn’t exist anymore. Because if you’re not going to pay your employees like a good wage, like how are your employees supposed to live? You know.
James 12:58
yeah, and just wait and wait until there’s an actual, like, when it really hits the shit hits the fan that we’re really in a recession, I mean, companies are gonna start laying people off, they’re gonna start, you know, actually realising like, wait a second, people need to come back to the office. So while you can’t you gotta hustle as much as possible. But I think as like traders, we come become kind of numb to the money and like, you know, the reality is to get involved in the stock market you I mean to trade you need call it 30. Grand 25k is PDT. Trade unlimited. Over you basically need 30, though, to even get your feet wet. And it’s like, you become numb to that. Because, you know, when you’re making a few $1,000 a day, you just forget how much money that actually is. And it’s like, dude, the average person, like, they might not even have 30k to their name, you know, they’re they might not have, they don’t even there. Anything they have may not even be worth that. And I understand that a lot of my friends want to trade and they want to learn, but it’s like, Dude, it sucks, but you need money to make money. And it’s tough. And I just I think we’re entering this phase of like, you know, it’s going to be slow for a while. I think small caps are very interesting right now. I’m like, noticing like, there’s, there’s these moves, and you’re like, you’ve been taking really good advantage in the long side. But like then it’s nothing’s powerful.
Harry 14:12
yeah, nothing’s like too crazy. For me, how I kind of see it right now is that, like, if we break over here today, it’s gonna be like, 20 30 40 cents. Yeah, you know, and if it’s a lower price stock, it’s probably gonna be like 20 cents. You know, that’s probably all you’re gonna get, you know? Yeah. And yeah, I mean, for me, I’m just trying to take like, what I’m offered and what I’m given.
Stick To Your Plan
Harry 14:37
And I’m just trying to keep it simple every single day. You know, I had a nice trade on beat the day before that I had a nice trade on whatever that stock was, I forgot. And, you know, just couple of nice trades padding the wallet throughout the week, like I liked it, you know, so I’m just trying to keep it super simple. Just stick to what I know, you know, buy support sell resistance, and I’ll So think that, you know, there are a lot of people in this market trying to go for homeruns. There are a lot of people in this market, who are. It’s more of like a Chasey kind of market, I find where like, there’s a lot of shorts who are slamming the lows, and there’s a lot of Long’s who are buying the highs. And, I mean, that’s just the market in general. But I mean, now, I think a lot of people, the thing is, is that we get these types of markets when people really need money, right? Yep. So those stuff moves at the highs are more prevalent, because we have, you know, you know, we have a bunch of, you know, we’ve got like a million volume, like over the high a day, who are fucking chasing it, just praying for that one breakout praying for that one breakout. And when it stops, you know, they’re all trapped. They’re all stuck. That’s the end of the move. Right? And so every single person, you know, I’d say the majority of small cap traders, you know, there are people who need money, right, you know, they are looking for that big move. Yeah, they’re looking for that 100% Move to grow their account 100 200% And we’re just we’re not going to get that, you know, not in this market. Anyway, you know, how long were we saying, oh, we need to run our we need to run or we need a runner to light this up. And now No one’s even saying that because this is where it is. Once last time you saw stock, oh, three, six at the open, or when’s the last time that you saw stock open up and just keep going higher for the entire fucking day?
James 16:27
I don’t even remember, I don’t remember a stock that like really spiked at the open like lately, they kind of like dropped down a little bit and they might pop up like, we don’t get that push over high date much. And like you said, if it does, it’s like 20 cents, 30 cents, and then it just tends to like channel like, I feel like, it’s like, I’m not a big person be like, ah, there’s algos. There’s algos, but I really feel like right now it’s a lot driven by algorithmic trading, because it’s like, you look at beat yesterday, it’s just up, they sell down, boom, up, they sell. And it was like clockwork, right? It was right at the end of the day, boom, shots over high day by like 20 or 30 cents, right?
Harry 17:01
That was great.
James 17:01
You know, it’s like this. It’s just that kind of trading right now, which is a market where like Dow like really does well, because it’s very much the line to line market. Yeah, there’s, you know, there is no I have to I changed my mentality a little bit and I was talking with bear about it just now it’s my mentality is this before it was about account growth, and just like, keep growing your account as big as possible to increase your risk. But in this market, it’s more of, you know, grow your account, make money, but pay yourself. It’s just get in, you make your money to take it out, you get in you make money, take it out, because there’s just not, there’s not going to be the opportunities anyways, to really size up right now. It’s just not, you know, I think it’s, we take the layups that come, you stick to your risk. Like we said, risk manager was important. You’re talking about it yesterday, you take one cut for 10 cents or whatever, but then you nail a 50 cent move.
Harry 17:49
Yeah, my two cuts yesterday. Were like breakeven. Yeah, that’s you. Oh, sorry. They were both around the kind of like the whole number. Yeah. And I was like, you know, what? If this kind of consolidates or sits here for too long, I’ll just wait. And so it was kind of consolidating, consolidating, consolidating, like kind of, like chilling there for too long. So I just sold it. And then when it dumped lower, I bought back. And I ended up getting that nice bill from like, 195 into, like, it was like, 243.
James 18:29
Yeah, I feel like I feel like there’s a long right now to you have to be like extra careful, because I feel like you could so easily, like, if you ignore your risk, like level, like the stock really not come back. And like, you know, we know people have done it, right, they buy 10 cents lower 10 cents, or 10 cents lower just and you can get one of those days where it just doesn’t bounce. So I think it’s good that how tight you keep your risk. And you’ve always kind of been like that, but how tight you keep it as very important.
James 18:54
Very good. And it’s impressive, you know, and Tom is the same way. In the short side. Tom is very good at you know, he almost basically because he is even Yeah, you guys are very similar in that way. It’s just line to line. I mean, you’re way better than Tom because he’s trashed. But, but no, I mean, the market is going to be tough for a while. I think this is what a bear market feels like. And I just think at this stage of the game, it’s you take your money and you run it, you stay around all day. It’s really not much going on. It’s slow. I check in in main chat and it’s like not much going on. So you know, that’s where we’re at.
Taking It Day by Day and Taking It Slow
Harry 19:26
But yeah, and I might, you know, I might start coming back for the afternoons because afternoons have been like kind of, like, well squeezers like into the clothes like that’s nice. But again, like to me, I’m not I’m not pushing too hard right now. I’m just trying to you know, take it take it one day by day as if nothing comes, you know, and that’s really all that someone like me can do. You know, like you wake up like even yesterday like a couple things ran but like in the open I wasn’t really a fan to them. Like we had I think it was like ADXG or something like that the 70 to 72 HKD. And it’s like, you know, I’ve never been good at sympathy stocks, like, for example, oil, when oil was kind of going crazy, and we had all the oil stocks, you know, we got to move from like two to four. But I’ve never been really good at at catching them. Like, I’m just, you really, if you want to trade sympathies, like as long you have to be watching the other stock. And then you have to have an idea on the other stock that also could line up on another stock, you know, so you’re like, oh, I want to buy this one that support, but I’m not gonna buy it, because that’s the head of the snake. Oh, but this one is getting closer to support and you have to like, correctly get get into that timing and get involved. So for me, it’s just too hard, you know?
James 20:54
I feel like as a short, sympathies are a lot easier.
Harry 20:57
100%. Because you see the main one crack? Yeah, everyone’s like, it’s done. It’s done. It’s done. You scale in on all four? And they all fucking get smoked?
James 21:05
Yeah, for sure. And, yeah, I mean, I think you have such a good approach to slow mark. And I think a lot, I think by the time we come out of the bear market, whether it’s a year, two years, six months, whatever, I think there’s gonna be a lot less traders out there. And it was gonna be a lot less people on Twitter talking about how much money they make, because, yes, this is a hard market. It’s been a hard market for a year, which kind of leads into like the questions like we got two questions from members that we wanted to answer. The big two questions, big two, and they but they were good. And you know, so the first one was? How are you adapt? How did you adapt your trading over time? And how did you adjust your trading over time? I guess we can both answer if you want to go first very.
Harry 21:43
For me, I think when I first started, it was really important, like building my account. So my main structure was first bounce, that’s kind of everyone knows, that’s how I kind of like built an account where I would wait for stocks to kind of go up, I take that small 1020 30 cent move, and then I’d go, you know, the stock would go lower. And that would be it right? It would kind of go up, get that bounce cellar, right. That’s how I kind of grew my account. Now, I’m a lot more fucking greedy. You know, I have gotten to a stage where it’s like, you know, as bad as this sounds, I don’t want to be scalping for 10 to 20 30 cents, you know, I want to be getting $1 A share move. And I think that just comes over time with experience, right? Being able to recognise that opportunity. So when I was first growing my account, my mindset was line to line 1020 30 cents, I’m not greedy, I’m very, very, very disciplined. Um, you know, you’re you are strictly growing in account, you’re strictly looking at one setup. You are, you’re not going for a big move, you’re not going to be greedy, your main focus is growing that account. So for me, I was like, I’m sticking to this one setup. I know, my entry, I know, my exit. And I know my this, I know my that. And that’s it. Now I’m a bit more of a different type of creature, you could say, where it’s like, you know, I’m walking in every morning. And number one, it’s what what stock can make me the most money? And what do I need the stock to do? And how do I need this stock to behave in order for me to be able to get like, you know, $1 a share move. Right? And what type of price action Am I looking for, for that? And that comes with experience? You know, I could name all five trades this week. All five of them were? Yes, similar in some way. But very, very different in other ways, right? So for me, you know, I’m not I’m just, you know, doing what I can in order to get the biggest moves each day, and just kind of coming in and, and saying, you know, like, what can give me the biggest thing biggest moves, you know?
Taking the Money and Leaving the Money
James 24:12
Yeah, I guess for me, it was like, kind of the same thing for the longest time it was just about account growth, growing my account, like over PDT and then like growing my account, as I got over PDT, and it was much more of a like, take the money and like bail kind of mindset of like, Yeah, take that 10 20 cents, leave, you know, and if I make $200 That day, great. If I make five, Monroe was great or whatever. Whereas you know, now and back then I also was more timid, of taking the bigger moves, because I think I was more afraid of giving back gains, which is, I think, very normal, I think it’s hard to adjust your brain to thinking like, Alright, I’m looking for a bigger move. And I’m kind of the same way just on the opposite side. Now, like I don’t want to get involved unless I can take a large portion of the move. Like I don’t even really short stocks that are like under 30% that much anymore, because there’s just no range. And that’s kind of like my biggest thing I’ve talked to Recently is like, do you just need range if the stocks up 5060 70%, and I know I can catch it 30% Move, like, that’s what I like to see. And that’s gonna give me kind of like the what’s worth risk. And I think before I was way less focused, which sounds terrible, but when I was newer, I was way less focused on risk, I was more focused on what I could make. And now I’m very much more focused on risk. And that’s it, like, no matter how big my wrist gets, it’s in check. It’s very much like my wrist size that will tell me my share size. And those are the kinds of moves I’m looking forward to bigger and much easier. So yeah, I don’t know, I think everyone you adjust over time, and you learn and if you don’t, I mean, you really won’t make it as a trader anyways.
Harry 25:41
actually surprising, like listening to you talk because like, not surprising, but like, because I’ve kind of brought me back to remembering, you know, when we both first started and you are more of a scalper, you know, you are more of TAKE THAT 20 30 cent move, and that’s gonna be it for me. And me, I was more of a scalper as well, where I’m like, oh, first bounce, you know, like, if you went in the chat, and this was like, three years ago, and MIC or even four years ago, you’d see me doing first bounce, and James doing scalping. Right. And the thing is, I think now, a lot of people now don’t have that mindset, you know? Yeah, like, when we were first growing and account, that was our mindset, we were not greedy, we were taking the moves that we could, but I feel like now with all these, like Twitter people, and, you know, this is the holy grail system. And this is the clear out, and this is the this, and this is the that we have so many more, you know, people saying stuff and doing this, that people really kind of stray away from building an account, and they start doing other things, right? Yeah. Today, I have the idea, because this Twitter dude said this, today, I have the idea because this Twitter dude said that, right? And people get a wet, you know, like, like, and there’s this whole thing, like, do you want to make money or you do want to follow these, like, kind of like, Who rules or whatever systems, right? And so it’s like, it’s okay. If you have built an account, and you’re saying, Okay, I’m gonna maybe try and work on, you know, a new setup or a new strategy. But I can still, you know, get income in my trading from the other things that I’ve been doing, right. And I think, really, if you want to grow an account, Scalping is the way to get started. Because you get to learn and you get to understand how things move, and you get to make money. And we’ve seen a lot of people like if you can’t fucking scalp, I’m sorry, but you’re not going to be able to do your all day fader system. I’m sorry, if you entries, yeah, if you can’t consistently fucking scalp and sit at that chart, and get every bottom tick, and every fucking top tick, all the way fucking up or all the way down. Like you’re, you’re like, you’re, you’re not going to be able to follow your fader system, or your your, whatever system or this or that, or the clear out or the this because you don’t understand how stocks move. Yeah, so it’s like, if you don’t understand how stocks move, and you’re not at that skill level, that’s fine. But, you know, to me, it’s just, you know, you’re you’re gonna, you’re gonna have a lot of trouble, no matter if you have this holy grail system, or that holy grail system. You know, if you don’t, if you don’t understand it, and you can’t scalp and you can’t grow an account that way, then you really don’t have a hope trying to go for these 20% moves, because you’re going to be so flustered on your entries all the way up and not really understand the market dynamics that by the time you’re right, you’re gonna have so many paper cuts, it’s not even worth it anymore, right?
How Close Have You Been to Quitting Trading?
James 28:57
I think I think the reality is like, you need all these people think like, Oh, I’m gonna, I’m gonna start a PT, I’m gonna follow this system, I’m gonna be rich. The reality is, you need a big account, to follow these kind of like, system things because you need to be able to withstand, like, cut after cut after cut after cut. Whereas most people don’t realise it. That’s part of it. And it’s really hard. So I think like, both of us, for example, like we were able to scalp our way to an account where it made sense. Now we can be more picky, but like, there are steps to this. You can’t skip step one, two, and three to get step five. So I think that’s a really big thing. And, you know, I think that’s why we’re still here is because we started slow, made our consistent gains, and then allowed us later to take these kinds of opportunities that come now. So yeah, you know, and that, I guess, the we can go into the last question here, which is, how close Have you ever been to quitting trading? And if so, you know, kind of what did you do about it or if not, you know, kind of two Talk about that.
Harry 30:01
Um, yeah, I think for me, there was never a point where I was like, oh, I want to quit. There have just been bad days. And you have that with everything right? You know. So for me, it’s just like, if I have a bad day, you know, I’m just going to probably drink about it. Now have a drink, like, oh, let’s chill, have a drink, and then I’ll come back stronger than that day. And that’s just kind of what you’ve got to do. You know, it’s like, we are going to war every single fucking day. And there’s gonna be days where you’re fucking shot at, there’s gonna be days where you get fucking wounded. But you got to go back, you got to stitch yourself the fuck up and go the fuck back out there. And that’s it. You know? If, if, if you are like, like, to me, it’s just quitting wasn’t an option. So it’s like, yeah, you know, I don’t I don’t really have that luxury of me saying, Oh, well, I’m gonna go back to another job here. Like, you know, if there’s no way like there, yeah, it’s just not an option for me. But if it it, the thing is, is that there’s probably a bunch of guys, they all have degrees, they all have a bunch of fucking work experience. You know, if trading doesn’t work out, they can always go back to their old job. It’s fine. No harm, no foul. For someone like me. It’s like, I’m so young, where trading has been my entire life. Trading has, like, a trading was there. You know, when I was in fucking high school for me. So for someone like me, it’s like, I don’t have that. Oh, I’m going back to my regular job. Like, for the most part, this has been the only adult job that I’ve ever fucking had. It’s like, that’s just it. Like, I’m so like, I’m talking 23 I started this shit when I was like, what? 17. And so this has really been the only adult job that I’ve had making real fucking money. So it’s like, I would never do anything else, you know?
James 31:59
Yeah. No, I, I think that makes sense. Like, I guess I was like, for me, it was like, I’ve just always known this is what I want to do, even since I was younger. And you know, for me, the reality was just, I’ve never once woken up. And then like, I don’t want to do this. I don’t as I remember, after, when I was first growing my account, I like Scout my way. I grew my account over PDT. And yeah, you know, I was doing really well. And I remember I, the biggest loss, I took it really early on. It was when I took I took like a $4,000 loss, right? And it was like, just when I was like, hitting this big stride. And the feeling in my stomach was awful. Like, everything was terrible. I went to bed I woke up, I got right to the computer. And it was like, I didn’t think once like, I need to quit, I can’t do this. Yeah, well, and I think I think if you have that mentality, then trading might not be for you. Because you’re going to have those moments where like, you’re going to take a hit, you’re going to take a big hit, and you’re going to sit there and like have to reason with yourself. And the reality is anyone who makes it in trading, or I, in my opinion, they’re hustlers. And then they’re very, very driven. And those people, you know, you just kind of you’ve got to fight through that feeling. Because it’s not going to go away really like that, that maybe that self doubt or that like that stress if you’re one of those people. And you’re gonna have to find ways to cope with it, you know, and just either you’re you have that feeling or not. And like I just Harry and I have similar we just don’t so yeah, yeah, I think that’s pretty good.
Harry 33:22
Think that’s pretty much it.
James 33:24
That’s it. I mean, guys, reality is, you know, trading is what you make of it. The harder the harder you work, the more you put into it, the more confident you are in yourself. And the better you do, it’s going to show in your results. You take it slow, it’s one step at a time, and you’ll kind of end up kind of finding your own path. So, you know, I hope you guys enjoy these podcasts. You know, honestly, every week we’re looking for new, anything you want to hear like, please do let us know. We’ll have Alex back on to talk more macro stuff, but we love talking about small caps. So just let us know if there’s anything you’re interested in. You can DM me you can DM Harry, and yeah, I’m gonna try to incorporate it so.
Harry 33:59
Perfect. Yeah, thanks, everyone. So
