STR 152: The Results of Koolaid. It Ain’t Pretty!

Published: Feb. 12, 2018, 4:45 p.m.

Having confidence in something is a good thing in most areas of life, including the financial markets. This is where the catch-22 comes into play within the markets. Confidence vs. too much confidence (“Koolaid”) can be a very big problem for both traders and investors. Our fellow member from the community, Tony, walks us through some of the major hazards that koolaid can and will introduce into your portfolio. I give him a whole lot of credit for being open and honest about just how bad the koolaid affected him, but as you’ll see, by admitting his blindness and mistakes, he has now been able to put himself on the proper path to success. Looking to learn from some real life cautionary tales? Look no further. Tony shares plenty with us!

Notes:

  • Today we interview community member Tony. He decided that he wanted to have more control over his 401k so started to look into different stocks to determine if he wanted to be invested with them or not.
  • Unfortunately, he had lost most of that account and took 8 years off from the market. He assumed that it just wasn’t for him. Tony’s uncle got interested in the marijuana stock boom and started to tell him about all the opportunities that were out there.
  • Even after two bouts of failure, Tony still did not give up the dream of being involved in the market. He knows that it is possible to have his money make money for him whether it’s from an active standpoint or a more passive swing trading standpoint. This led him to decide to invest in his education.
  • He forced himself to stick with paper trading until he finished a predefined amount of courses. Tony realized that there is no point in jumping back in the market if he did not practice the material he was taught. After two months on paper, Tony is back to live trading now.
  • Since Tony still works a full time job, he has focused strictly on swing trading which he can set up in advance the night before. This is a drastic difference than the trading style he tried before where he would just stare at a chart for hours on end hoping for a move. Now he does his homework the night before and executes the next morning.

Quotes:

  • I pretty much lost all that 401k money. There was no plan. There was no strategy. That was it. That was it for a while.
  • People were posting that it’s a real company so here I am jumping back in the bathtub of Kool-Aid watching all my money go away.
  • I realized I have to learn how to do this or there is no point. I don’t want to lose my money again.
  • I have a plan and I’m going to stick with the plan. If I don’t stick with the plan, I’m going to do the same thing trading stocks.
  • So now because of Robotic Trading, I’m able to take that emotion out of it and not just staring at it waiting for a move.