Welcome to the After Hours Podcast Hosted by Harry Hoss and James Freedlender Presented by My Investing Club
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James 0:12
What’s going on guys, we’re back with another episode of the after hours podcast today we have Nick, who’s been a member of MIC for about six months, we reached out to a bunch of different members, and we wanted to kind of get people on here their journey. I think it’s really helpful because we as people who aren’t in the group, hear these stories. I hope it encourages them to kind of join and you know, see kind of like the positive positive flow that we’re putting out here. So Nick, thank you for coming on. We really appreciate having you.
Nick 0:42
No problem. Thanks for having me. Of course.
James 0:45
of course, man. So obviously as old fashion. You want to give us a little bit of background about yourself, and then eventually how you kind of came to find them? I see. And go, we’ll go from there.
Nick 0:54
Yeah, so my name is Nick. I’ve started day trading about a year and a half ago. About 40 years old. And anyways, I first started with a another group. And as I got, you know, delving further into day trading very became very serious with it. I ran across MIC I see obviously started following Bao started following, Alex. And they’re just seeing what they were putting out there. I really liked what they’re putting out there. And you know, the YouTube videos and, and then Bao you know, I mean, that guy that stuff he posts on his social media lab and as well, right. Anyways, about six months ago, I started with him, I see, when I initially signed up, I signed up for the annual membership. figured, hey, you know what, I’m, I’m in day trading. And, you know, this is something I’m passionate about serious about learning. And so I jumped in the annual membership. Once I got into the NIC into the group, you know, saw the commentary, just the just, you know, nic in general, you know, all the mods, you know, you Harry Tosh, I mean, you name it, Alex, Bao, I mean, what everybody does, I mean, I was I was really kind of taken aback by it about how much effort all the mods really put in to the group and trying to mentor and educate and get people, you know, keep people on track. And so once I got in, it didn’t take me long. I was like, you know, what, I’m, I’m joining the Platinum membership. And so that’s when I upgraded to Platinum. So that’s, that’s basically, you know, thus far, I’ve been in day trading in about a year and a half. I’m still not, you know, a CPT by any means. I’m still have my ups my downs. Yeah, of course. So that’s kind of where I’m at in my journey right now. That’s cool.
James 2:55
How did you even how did you, alright.
Harry 2:58
I was just gonna, you know, maybe dive into like, what kind of strategies you kind of, like started with and like, maybe, because like, we can always, like, turn this podcast into, like, you know, if you have any questions, or like, you know, talk about, like, what you’re struggling with, and things like that, like, if you want, but also, like, we could also talk about, you know, I mean, what kind of strategies you’re using now and what kind of like, you know, struggles you faced and what kind of like, what you we can talk about, like your ups and also, you know, downs as well. So, I don’t know if you want to kind of dive in about that.
Nick 3:37
Yeah, so since I’ve started, day trading, I’ve primarily, I would say, mostly just been a short seller being on the short side. For whatever reason, it just, I don’t know, my way my brain works, is it uh, it seems to favour me. as of recent, though, I’ve started looking at different setups, you know, looking at different setups and you know, looking at a stock that maybe I was initially wrong at on the short side and just started looking at the trend and figure, you know, what, maybe I’ll start you know, positioning you know, in a long position here, and so I have been trying to, especially in this current market, I’ve been trying to kind of expand my playbook a little bit and not just be so one sided on stocks. One thing that I have, you know, since I’ve joined in my scene the last six months, the biggest thing that I have like done for me that has been very, very beneficial for me is again you guys preach, you know, have a have a max stop loss and auto liquidation with the broker. And also look at your levels look at you know, plan your entries, and see where you’re gonna stop out at. Yeah, And that has saved me tremendously, because prior to MIC, I had some great days trading, but I had some very bad days, because I had no risk management. And so my p&l swings were like, you know, they were super, you know, up and down. And, you know, again, emotions come into play nerve racking. And and it was something that there for a little bit, I was like, I was kind of questioning whether it was truly for me or not. So since joining MIC, I have definitely improved my risk management. And, I mean, it’s super huge. And I would say there are times that I have struggled, one thing that I have struggled with is the fact that sometimes when I would get into a position, I would scale into position, you know, I would be, you know, based off my, you know, position and sizing, like I could be down like 1500 to two grand. Yes.
James 6:00
Are you trading small caps?
How Do You Trade?
Nick 6:01
Yeah, I primarily trade small caps. Although recently, as of this month, I’ve actually been dabbling in the large cats, just based off of the current market conditions. But given the small caps, and so forth, like, you know, I’d be down, you know, you know, maybe a couple grand, and then all of a sudden, you know, obviously, you know, sell off, and I would be a solid green, and scale, you know, and cover on out of it. And, and now the where I have my max stop loss I haven’t set in a very, very, you know, comfortable stop to where, if I hit it. It’s like, like, that sucks. You never want to hit it. But it’s also like, I’m not really concerned about it, I can, you know, set my computers down and go about my day and not really be mentally affected by it. Yeah. Although it is making me I’ve had challenged with is becoming more of a sniper on my entries. Because when I want to get in a certain size that I’m used to, if I don’t get in at the right times, I’m starting out kind of miss that out. Yeah. And so that’s something that I’m kind of struggling with, personally, is it’s helping me I’m sure in the long run. But it’s also kind of limited in that, as of right now. It’s limiting me in kind of my, my profits,
James 7:24
Yeah, I think it’s tough, because I think there’s like a huge misconception between a lot of MIC members to have, like, there’s a difference between like scalping and like scaling, versus like, more of like, the one shot one kill idea and like, like, entries in general, right. And like, I feel like with scalping, there’s multiple ways to do it. It’s like, you can either like I like, like, if you’re really scaling, I like Bowers method a lot, actually. Because he uses like, smaller size. And when I say small size, it’s relative, right? Like, he might use, like, 1000 shares per bullet. But like, for him, that’s like small size, but he’ll scale a lot, right. And he’ll know that his average, he always will know kind of where his average is going to be. But what makes bow so successful is that he also scales out. So like, he might scale into a position have like, a good average, not amazing, but he’s comfortable with that size in the range to where he stops out. Right, like so for me, like, I’m not comfortable with that. I like his method, I just, I’m not comfortable with being down that much anymore. Right? Like, especially as you try to size up, it gets harder and harder. And then you could scale like Alex, Alex is like three bullets. But what makes Alex so special is that he knows when he’s got the balls to size in when the right moment hits, right. Again, not doesn’t really work for me that great, I don’t have that for me, I’ve transitioned very much to more of like a, I almost am like a one shot one kill kind of guy with a set risk now because like you were saying, like you found yourself down at certain points and, and you know, you’ve set your now your max loss to like a reasonable level that you’re comfortable with. But like, like, I wasn’t comfortable being down that much, especially as you try to use bigger size. So it’s not easy. Like, I think that everything that you’re feeling is like a natural growing pain with trading.
Finding the Next Best Entry Size
James 9:07
And it’s just kind of now finding, you know, where your next best entry is going to be. Because you can do both, right? Like you can scale and slowly, but there does come that point where it’ll, it’ll be hard to become profitable. If you don’t get on, I don’t wanna say get on that size. But if you don’t get on that next kind of entry, because that’s where the bulk of your money is going to come from, right. You’ll have those small losses from scaling in, but you need those big wins to counteract it. And Austin did a webinar on this where you need to get on your size at some point, you need trades with Max, I don’t wanna say max size, because max size is a stupid term that’s thrown around way too much. Like just whatever size you’re allocated for that setup, whatever. You need to do that you need to have those trades or else you’ll always just kind of be in limbo. Like I did that for a long time where like, I’d have like, like small loss, small wins, small loss, big loss, small win, you know, and then that’s Yeah, so so it is something to work on, it’s not easy, you know?
Nick 10:03
Yeah. And I found, I found myself that, you know, in that same predicament as well, where, you know, sometimes my losses are bigger than my are larger than my wins. Yeah. And I’ve also found too that if like, for example, I scaling up position, it’s going against me it’s, you know, it went past my range where I, where I was anticipating based off of my lines. When I, when I cover out and take those, take those losses, when I do cover out of position, one thing I’m trying to do is I’m like maybe taken half off, and then react higher. You know, I’ve tried to do that at times where, you know, if I see a certain another level, maybe just above, I’ll try to, you know, hit that area. But one thing I’ve found is that when I do take those initial loss on a stock, and they’re not small, but I mean, they’re not, they’re not large. But it what it does is I think it kind of affects me mentally. So when I do get back into that stock at another line, I have found myself not getting back in the same share size, I’ve been getting back in smaller, and then it does what I expect it to do. And then I’m like, oh, sweet, I just did what I expected. But my loss was larger than mine
James 11:18
when Yeah, so I talked about this in a video I just made a couple weeks ago. And it’s I heard it from another trader actually. And I really liked the concept. And it’s just, you need to as a trader, in my opinion, and I’m sure people will find it different their opinions on it. But you need to have consistency in your losses, like you like something I’ve changed going into 2022 is like, if I, if I post all my p&l is and after I was well my losses of the year, which thankfully, you know, knock on wood isn’t that many, but they’re all but they’re all similar. They’re all around, they’re pretty much within $100 of each other, right to account for like slippage, or whatever. But they’re all about the same. So that way I know, when the trade does go my way, I’m totally comfortable with that. Because if on the way up, you lose $1,000, but like your average winners are only like five $600, you’re never gonna get the competence to hold on to that trade for the next line or for like the area to get out of. And that’s the problem. So like, as a new guy, I wish I learned this early on, find consistency in the losses. And that will help you also get a better entry. Because you know, you’re going to take a certain like dollar loss on the trade, you kind of know where you have to get in, you know what your average has to be on that position. So that way, you’re not taking a massive loss. Like, again, when Alex scales like people always say like Alex feels pretty wild because he can go like, like going to get that stock the other day. dcfc is scaling like dollars, right? Because he knew no matter what if he hit his three to four bullets, where his average was, if it went to his stop area, he was comfortable with that loss, because he also knows that when it does turn, he can get back in size into what he wants to and make it all back. But too many people in an area, I’m sure you can account for this. Because I feel like Long’s probably do this, too, is that you take too many losses before the trade actually happens. Yeah, and again, if you’re if you’re taking a $200 loss than a $600 loss, and a $200 loss, by the time the trade turns, you’re like, Well, fuck, I’m only gonna make half of it back, I’m gonna scalp out of this, like Mega scalp. And that’s, that was my problem for like years actually was, I would be okay, and I would keep a small loss in the front side. But then I just wanted to make the money back as soon as possible. So I like kind of scalp out of it. Whereas now that I found consistent consistency in my losses. I know, if I take two cuts on the way up, I don’t really care that much. Because I know I’m gonna make all that money back plus, probably double if my trade thesis actually plays out correctly.
Scaling in Your Trading Plan
Harry 13:47
Yeah, and I also think, as far as well, I think, as far as like that kind of scaling goes, you have to I think in every trade, you have to have some type of thesis, right? And so maybe for me, it’s like, I think over this breakout level the stocks gonna read, right? Or I think, you know, I think over high of day, they’re gonna clear the stock out and bring it back to Lowe’s or I think that 350 whole numbers going to reject right? And so I think that I was thinking about this the other day, everyone had like, everyone has their kind of like anticipation size. So whether it’s like the 30% over V whap, like MIT teaches or maybe you’re like okay, I’m gonna put some on a little bit before this level because you know, it’s like that FOMO size right where you know, you put some on before it actually happens. I think that that’s really key too and then just adding it to the confirmation because like so many people are getting full size before they’re even proven right? Like I was talking to a guy the other day he was longing a broken stock and I was like, I mean that’s okay. You can long broken stocks like it’s not the most profitable strategy but like, one in every like At 20 I’m sure a rep or one in every 30 Like, and so I asked him like, well, how much size do you have on? He’s like, Oh, well, I was full size. And I was like, Well, have you full size on a broken stock that’s fading? You know, that doesn’t make any sense. It’s the same thing, you know, on frontside, like, you know, let’s say you’re, you’re thinking $2 is going to redirect, well, it’s okay to put a little bit of size on before to for your kind of like, anticipation size. And then when you’re confirmed, just add it in, you know, it’s the same thing with scaling. The reason why I’m not the biggest fan of scaling. And some people have mastered scaling, like Alex, you know, even back to, you know, but the reason why I don’t necessarily love it is because for me as a lawn trader, it was like, I was just anticipating the whole thing and kind of like, hoping, you know, like, and I found myself struggling with that mentally, where it’s like, okay, like, I know, the stock was going to bounce eventually, right? But I need to be sized in in the right area. In order for me to make money on the bounce trade, or else you’re just going to bounce like halfway, and you’re not really going to make money, right? And so that’s what I kind of said myself, like, why arent I putting all the sides where I think it’s going to bounce, rather than just having to FOMO bullet? Like, I know, it’s probably not here, but it’s worth it, you know, and that’s what I kind of struggled with, like, if I have an idea, like, I’m not afraid to go one shot one cow, because, you know, it’s my, my, you know, idea, you know, and so, I think that there is kind of a big, like, a lot of people. The problem is, is that I think we do recommend scaling because people were getting in way too early, you know, they were getting in, like, let’s say, if their trading plan was to get in at V whap, they would get in like 20 cents below V whap. The V Whap projection would come and then they’d be like, you know, crying about it to all of us. And we were like, you know, this scaling is really, for design for FOMO. I think, you know, it’s just a grind, it’s really designed for FOMO. But if you don’t have a problem with FOMO, and you’re just willing to wait, in my opinion, what’s the point of scaling? And that was really the battle I had with myself is that like, okay, like, like, and I mean, just to me, it was like, I know, this is gonna bounce at, let’s say, 230. That is my idea. So why aren’t I taking a little bit of a fantasy into 230? In case it just hits 230? And snapped up to 250? Or 260? Right away? You know, why? Why don’t I put a little bit of size in front of that, and then add one, I’m right, and then just sell into the pop, right?
Harry 17:44
That sounds way simpler to me. That’s what kind of makes sense to me. As far as kind of scaling goes.
The 30% Rule for Shorting
James 17:51
I agree, I think I think I get a lot of DMS about scaling as well. And like people say, or like if they’re struggling with like the 30% rule. And for people who don’t know, the 30% rule is basically it when you’re shorting or longing, I guess. But mostly, what I’m talking about shorting is 30% of your size can be used on the front side of the move. So whether you’re scaling, whether it’s like front side, it’s kind of like your like feeler, etc. But the problem with that, is you also you can scale in with that, but you need to be willing to throw on the rest of your size, when you think the trade is now confirmed or working. Because that’s 70% of your size, or the rest of your size, or called 50 60%, whatever is going to bring your average to like where you want it to, I suppose and like, and that’s the problem is like, if you’re always just only scaling 30%, you’re never gonna have like, sizable p&l That will like make up the difference of the losses. So if you’re struggling to kind of put on the rest of your size, then I just think right at this moment, I’m not talking about you, Nick and stuff in general. As a trader, I think you lack the competence to throw on the sides, because you don’t have the, you don’t have the confidence in the setup yet. So I think if you’re, if you’re a trader who’s struggling to put on the size that he intends for that trade, like if you’re allocating 1000 chairs for position, I mean, you want to get on your 1000 chairs for a reason. So you need to make sure you have confidence in your setup and has to be like back tested and like understood that when a trade is backside, this is how much range it provides. This is how much profit I could make if when it goes my way. That’s the only way I think you can scale successfully is if you’re willing to kind of do those things.
Nick 19:30
I would I would agree with myself, personally, is that there’s been times where I’ve had a lot of confidence in my setups, and I have put it on I have put on larger size, and it’s worked out great for me. Although there has been times where I’m like, Oh yeah, I feel very confident this and I didn’t have rules in place. You know, as far as a hard stop or anything like that it’s ripped against me. And that completely like you know, you know, I would say for future trades. and kind of where I’m at right now with the way the market has been going, I have been a little talking myself out of certain areas to really scale in, you know what I need, okay, hey, this is a good spot here where I have a good average, I need to put some size on. And I talked myself out of it, and it ends up doing exactly what I thought it would do.
James 20:24
I know, you know, what I’ve learned too, is like, it’s something that really helped me, like recently, especially is like what I mentioned, to kind of find consistency in your losses, like, you can kind of use as much size as you want. If you know that what kind of loss you’re going to take, right? Like, I think the fear of using like sizing into a position. And I’m not saying like, Oh, like Mega like big whale dick size, I’m just talking about like, using the size you want to use for that setup. Like, I think the fear and I know that was like it for me was that You’re just afraid of what the potential loss, like if you try to use 5000 shares, and you don’t have a hard stop in, like, the loss can technically be as big as you as it could get, I mean, until you stop out or until your broker enforces the laws. But like now, for me, it’s like, I know, like what I’m risking per trade. So like no matter what I could use 50,000 shares if I wanted to, and I know what my loss will be, because I’m always using that hard stop at that level that I want to get out at.
How to Find Confidence in Your Setups
James 21:18
So I think everyone who’s struggling with this concept, it’s like, find the confidence in your setups. And like, honestly, if you don’t have competence yet, then you in my opinion, aren’t putting in enough work at looking at charts because charting and fit technical analysis, like what MIC teaches a lot of is very simplistic, like when the backside is in, it’s in my opinion, it’s kind of easy to tell, it’s kind of easy to tell when a stock turns in the top is set. And it’s like, again, nothing is 100% in the market. It’s not proven, but it’s easy to recognize. So once you learn that talent of recognizing backside is in momentum has shifted when Harry’s done selling. And here he’s like, Alright, I’m walking away. And Austin is long the cells are out, you know, when it’s time that Long’s are done. So that’s when you have to find the confidence to size in set a hard stop. I mean, most brokers allow hard stops, which is like 50,000 shares. So if you’re using 50,000 shares, and you’re not using a hard stop, I mean, I don’t, I don’t quite understand what you’re doing. Right. You need to know what you’re going to lose. If you’re wrong, you need to base your stop off the chart. And then from there, I think finding the confidence to size in comes a lot more naturally.
Harry 22:24
Yeah. And I think also like, I was, I was reading this somebody posted in main chat, like the other day, and they were like, man, like I hiked. And I was like, Don’t worry about it, you know, in my opinion. I’m sorry that I don’t know if you got to hear the truck. That’s like backing up out there. But where I live like there’s like a sushi restaurant downstairs and a couple other restaurants.
James 22:51
it’s a Canadian truck. But anyway.
Harry 22:55
I think I’m gonna get sushi for lunch, actually. Yeah, I mean, I think like, it’s so anyway, he messaged me in and or he didn’t message me. He just posted the main chat like, oh, like, you know, I pike today. Like, that’s crazy. In my opinion, Scalping is really designed to like build your account until you’re ready for the next level to hold longer. Right there. We have some guys who hold like literally all day, but they started with scalping in order to develop that market experience. Right. So everyone starts at level one. And they’re like, oh, I want to be like level 100 I want to do this, I want to do that. But it’s like no, what you should do is scalp grow your account, learn some things about the market, learn some things about yourself, find your personality. And then when the time comes, you know, expand into holding a bit longer and expand into you know, getting better. And someone commented below and was like, Well, what if the market shifts? Or what if this or what if that? It’s like if you have true edge? Okay, you would have piped like 10 to 20 times in a row. Right? Like me missing the KKT I’m pretty sure I was the first person to even talk about that stock inside. Am I safe? Where I was like, oh, looking at 460s You know, it’s eight bucks now. But to me that was like one pipe for me out of I don’t know, like it was like one pipe out of like, everything else could have been scalps right like everything else was a fine trade. Everything else I did right everything else I sold at the right area. This one run state doesn’t really bother me, right? But if I have 10 to 20 stocks run to eight bucks, you’re sure as shit I’m going to be holding right you have the confidence to hold longer in that type of situation. So that’s why I kind of disagree with people who are like, oh, like, you know, he should have held or he should have done this or he should have done that. It’s like no, just take the money right now because right now you’re just developing and spirits right now you’re just getting better. You know, but if you do have true edge with the holding strategy, like your scalps will be Pike’s like 20 to 30 times in a row. And so that’s what I mean, like, there’s no problem with like learning a new strategy, and treating it as a scalp. And then looking at what happens after the fact and tracking down and saying, Okay, well, this stock went to eight bucks, or this stock went to five bucks, so this stock went to three bucks. And when you get a lot of those in a row, then in my opinion, that’s okay to hold longer. But, you know, all these guys who were like, you know, I want to be this, I won’t be that it’s like Master scalping first, you know, Master, get some time and get some experience over the market. Because like, you know, it takes time to kind of develop what you’re good at to find your personality, like Nick may be a crazy VWAP projection, short trader, you know, and we were talking about that last night, James, where I was explaining, you know, how float really does kind of affect the stock. And, you know, if you’re looking to short a VWAP or plan on a higher float stock, it’s going to be a lot easier, because like, the higher the thicker the float, you know, it’s like putting your hand in a peanut butter jar, you know, versus putting your hand in some water, right, the water is a lot thinner, and the water is kind of acting as the low float, whereas like, kind of that peanut butter jar acts as a thicker float. But what I was trying to kind of get at is just like, you know, everyone’s good at something different. And in my opinion, in till you find that people shouldn’t be looking for homeruns. And people shouldn’t be just, you know, coming up with their own kind of trade ideas coming up with their own kind of thesis, you know, putting your own size into that, that level or that idea, and then adding one right, and that’s probably the simplest way to do it, in my opinion.
The Difference Between Scalping and Piker Trading
James 26:54
Yeah, I think so too, I think. I think there’s also a difference between like being a scalper and like there’s a massive difference actually, between being a scalper and like being like a piker, like biker is such a broad term because like you could, you could hold for a massive move and still miss a big chunk of it and good luck. I picked that move or whatever. Like Scalping is like that’s a personality trait for a lot of people. It’s like they like to get in they like to get out. But people like on Twitter and stuff they like to Miss Miss, like, I don’t know the right word. I guess they just yeah, like they talked about scalping. Like, it’s like, oh, I’m in five cents, I’m out five cents min, five cents, no, five cents. Like that’s not it like scalping, in like that words of like MIC. And like without and bow is like, you’re just trading line to line you’re just going to support to resistance where it’s resistance and support are 10 cents away. Sure. But most of the time, it’s like 3040 cents away. So that is like scalping. Like, I think people pipe out of positions because it comes back to confidence. Like they don’t have confidence in the setup. Like, if you’re someone who’s still like getting into a scalp, like if you scale into a position, and then you scalp right out of it. Because you’re like, you just want to lock in profit. It’s because you still lacked confidence in that setup. So it I think in my opinion, it all comes back to that it’s just like until you you find where your edge is, in trading, you’re always going to kind of be in that like breakeven stage of like, loss loss, small win small win random big win random fucking huge loss, but you’d like all that stuff. So to me, that’s kind of a difference between the two. And you know, Nick, I don’t know, like, where you’re kind of like, right now for you as a trader, you know, what is it causing, like the biggest headache? Because I think we’ve kind of touched on this topic a lot, but what’s causing the biggest headache for you kind of like to progress?
The 1030 Rule of Trading
Nick 28:38
I would say in that and so I do. I kind of like how and where I’m currently at right now is I do like bows trading style. Because as far as getting in and getting out, you know, 20 3040 cents or whatever. And based off my size and stuff, that’s that’s okay with me because, you know, I, it’s kind of fits my personality. I’m not the, you know, the holding weight all day long and see what this thing does. I don’t have that time. You know, like, I have a very busy job, very busy career, you know, and so there’s, I can’t be focused on Oh, shoot, I wonder what that stocks doing, as I’m trying to go about my day with work because otherwise my mind is just not in it. And so I have found myself that hey, you know what, market open? market open, I’ll have my I have my line set. See what the stock does. And if it drops 2030 4050 cents, I’m out and buy you know, before you know 1030 And that’s my goal every day and then I get my day started. So what I what I have learned is that 1030 rule is again, I know you guys said everybody says it and they might see I mean and I will say it it is I mean statistically speaking And the 1030 rule is 100. I mean, it’s it’s very, very high percentage that the stocks will rip, you know, they’re not going to go lower at that point, some do, you know, some will come back up and you know, fade off to the rest of the day. But for me, you know, with my work schedule, and with just how my mind works, I’m out. One thing I have tried to do, though, and this is in the last few months, is I found myself scaling out too quick, you know, covering up my position too quick. So, you know, I scale in, it goes 20 30 40 cents down, and I’m like, you know, I’d be all out, I’m back asleep, that was a win, which it is, although I would look back at the stock later on, or, you know, fast forward another 30 minutes, and it dumped another 3040 cents. Yeah. And so one thing I have been trying to do is I will if I have a good entry, you know, good average, and the stock does do what I, you know, what I plan for it to do, and it’s gone down, and I’ve covered out, I tried to cover out about 75% of my shares and leave on another quarter for a break even or see if it comes down a little bit more. And so that’s what I’ve been trying to do as of reset, it has been helping. But I would say that was my biggest issue is what one of my issues. I still have multiple but is, is taking off my profits too quickly, and then watching the stock plummet and go on. Yeah, that’s cool.
James 31:36
There’s like two things with that, because it’s like, some people might look at that as like being greedy, right? They’re like, oh, like it once your your support level, like take it now on bail, take the money. But also at the same time, like if you’re trying to grow your p&l is like some something a few guys like I’ve talked to have mentioned they do and it seems to work well is like they’ve installed like a button on their dos. Like I know, I did something similar, that like almost as like a FOMO cover. So it’s like if you’re in just for example, 1000 shares that FOMO cover might be like 100 shares, but like weirdly enough, like our brains, like, it’s almost like a fear of losing all the money. So it’s like sometimes just taking off that baby cover. Like that little tiny amount like does just like Scratch the edge. And then you can hold for like your actual move. Right? But again, it’s like if the stock does go to your support level, like, that’s where you get out. There’s a reason for it, right? I mean, there’s a reason why like Alex, like, preaches like nail on bail, because most of the time if it gets to a support level, it’s probably going to bounce from there. Right? So it’s like, again, it’s, it’s, it’s a tough, it’s a fine line to walk because like, Are you being greedy? Are you trying to grow your p&l, because you’re missing part of the movie, if you nail the move, I my opinion from 99% of people take the money and walk. And that’s it. But if you’re just trying to hold longer, there’s so many little like methods you can do again, cover like a tiny bit, leave the restaurant, like sometimes, like what I like to do is like I’ll cover just enough to cover like what my loss would be if my trade goes against me and wrong. So then it’s just a break even trade. But I still hold size. Sometimes I like when Austin does like Austin covers like a bulk of his at his line. Like if you look at his trades, Austin will always take off a bulk of his trade at his desired exit.
The Importance of Leaving Some Money on a Trade
James 33:18
But then he leaves on like, another 25% for like home run stuff. And he just lets it go as far as a kit. And that’s it. And then that that’s I like how he does it because it’s just again, it’s he’s not he’s not shooting for a homerun. But there’s always a potential for a home run, which is kind of cool.
Nick 33:36
Yeah, and that’s, you know, and that’s something that I look at, of, you know, potentially trying out as well where, you know, because you go back, you know, throughout the day, maybe I’ll look at Hey, that that that ticker that I was in on how to get move made money on it. And then I look at it later in the day and I see like it just plummeted you know even more and I’m like, Why didn’t I just leave on you know, a quarter of my position and then you know a stop and you know where again, maybe I don’t make as much or breakeven trade and then just let it play out the rest of the day whatever happens happens and so that’s something.
James 34:16
Little extra something yeah, sometimes that little extra profit will go a long way because that will make up for those small losses later on. You know, like it’s, it’s a good it’s a good talent into it’s a good muscle to work and it all it is is a muscle like Todd used to talk to him all the time about this like it’s just a reflex like leaving a little bit on just for like a little bit lower takes time and you just have to start small you know, if you use 1000 shares start leaving on 100 shares then leave on 150 to under 250 so on so forth. And and it does get easier over time. You know, it’s it’s a muscle it’s a reflex that you have to train.
Nick 34:50
I agree with that. And that is something I’m going to start looking at doing and just just testing it out and see what the you know what it ends up showing for me Personally, another thing that, you know, I know everybody deals with and for whatever reason, I mean, January was pretty good month for me. February so far is a little rocky, I’m not gonna get shot. The last two weeks have been challenging and then been definitely stressful, frustrating, especially when I go back and like my Trader view and I look at last February and I’m like, Oh my gosh, like, I mean, definitely two different two different months going on right now from last year to now. And again, I think it has to do with the fact that small caps for me personally, like in the last couple weeks have definitely there’s they’ve been slow. Yeah, they’ve been really like, you know, not great setups. And then I think even the setups that are there you go to locate, and it’s super expensive. And so I’m like, why am I gonna? Why am I gonna mess with that? And so, I started, you know, obviously getting into large caps and some of the stuff that was put on the group. And I would say that it is a different ballgame. And that’s, I’ve done well in some and then others, you know, not so much. I don’t know if I’m ever gonna, like for example, I don’t know. For me DWAC is super super, like it gets me emotional. And I don’t know if I’m ever gonna train DWAC again, because I’ve lost on it twice. I’m like, why go back for the third.
James 36:26
You’re always better off in my opinion, like I see, like, we have a chart recaps section on MIC where people post their charts and I see traders like, like who trade small caps, but they’re posting charts for like AMC DWAC and like all these other names, and it’s like, Dude, I guarantee you after like, a few years of being in this, like, during times when the market is not ideal for you, you are always always always 1,000% better off just not trading, shutting down for the day. And that’s it like you need to set like, I like I had to like you have to set parameters. Like I’m not shorting anything that’s not up at least 30%. And even then I almost don’t even bother unless it makes a new high of day like I need there to be range or else I’m just not wasting my mental capital because you’re going to burn all this mental capital over the next like month or so whoever, whatever. We don’t know how long this slow market time will last it could last a year you we never know. But you can you will burn mental capital. And then by the time the market heats up, and it’s your turn, you won’t be able to go in guns blazing, you’ll be like fucking exhausted and you’ll be you’ll be confused, you know?
Harry 37:30
Yeah, I think Yeah. I think that that’s probably a good place to end because it has been like yeah,
James 37:35
I don’t know, I just, I just think it’s like an hour
Harry 37:39
40 Some minutes or something like that. But thank you, Nick.
Nick 37:43
Thank you. Thank you both Harry. James. Much appreciated. I appreciate all that you guys do. And thank you very much for having me on. Perfect.
Harry 37:49
Thank you