An Interview With StockManTrading

In our TraderTalk series, we interview some of the most interesting and best performing investors from the worlds of social media, CopyTrading platforms, traditional asset management and private traders. Below is an interview with Stock Man Trading (@StockManTrading). SMT is a successful day-trader and offers great daily insight and education into the market through his technical analysis.

AP: To begin, could you give us a bit of background on how you first got into trading/investing?

I first got into trading in November 2019. Unlike many traders, I had no big moment in my life that got me into trading. I was milling over ways that I could make money without a significant amount of overhead. Trading appealed to me for that very reason – all you need to get started is a phone and any money you can spare.

I started my first account with a couple hundred dollars, and the rest is history. I traded through some of the most volatile times in recent years, from the covid crash to the inflationary battle with the fed. These volatile conditions forced me to quickly learn to adapt and find a way to be consistently profitable – regardless of market direction.

AP: As a technical day trader, what are you looking for to enter a trade?

I have a system where I define A and A+ setups. An A setup for me is any setup where I can identify 3 pieces of conviction that agree with my thesis on market direction. An A+ setup would have at least 4 pieces of conviction. I am a trader who utilizes a wide array of TA tools to create a well-rounded methodology. Pieces of conviction can include an ema crossover, significant increase in volume, candle formation, pattern formation, trendline/channel break, key level break, MACD crossover, etc.

AP: What makes you trade options over shares? Have you always been an options trader?

I trade options over shares in order to maximize my potential returns as a scalper. Since I can be in a trade for as little as a few seconds and typically not longer than 20 minutes, trading shares would only allow me to make much profit with an extremely large amount of capital. Options essentially allows the leverage of 100 shares without the necessary capital. I was not always an options trader – I actually began in penny stocks. I hated how they didn’t respect technicals most of the time and were incredibly inconsistent.

AP: Are there any psychological aspects you had to change to progress your trading?

Absolutely – in fact, this was and IS the most difficult part of trading for me. I have an engineering and mathematics background – the TA is not hard for me to grasp. However, battling emotions such as greed, FOMO, anxiety, anger, and many others during trading was no small challenge. It took years of self discipline and repeated failure before I was able to finally get a grasp on the psychological side of trading.

AP: You’ve been very consistent in the market, now with an 80%win rate. How do you limit risk and maintain a high standard success rate?

The answer to this is quite simple in theory but more difficult in practice. There are infinite trades that one could take in the market – the key is to be incredibly selective with trades and only take those I have the highest conviction in. By only taking trades where I have several pieces of conviction, I drastically increase the probability of success. I always have a plan – enter with a designated size, entry-level, exit level, and stop-loss level. It all comes down to patience and discipline.

AP: What do you think is the biggest mistake that a new trader makes in the stock market?

The biggest mistake a new trader makes is rushing the process – believing that the markets can be a get-rich quick endeavour. This means “yoloing” plays with no technical backing, full porting, taking blind alerts, holding til zero or hero, etc. While this may give you a rush and lead to exciting short-term gains, it is in no way sustainable long-term.

AP: What is the goal of your trading?

The goal of my trading is to provide a low-risk, high-probability methodology that can be scaled and repeated consistently. In terms of lifestyle goals from trading – the profession appealed to me initially for the potential freedom and materialistic items it can provide. But, in reality, I fell in love with the process and my passion for teaching. This is something I want to continue doing for the foreseeable future.

AP: If you could give one piece of advice to those reading this, what would it be?

Stop comparing yourself to others in your trading journey. There will always be someone making more than you, faster than you. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that you stay disciplined, consistent, and forever curious to learn more. You don’t need crazy gains every day. Small and steady wins the race in trading – compound those base hits over time.

We highly recommend giving StockManTrading a follow on Twitter and checking out his links here.

The post An Interview With StockManTrading appeared first on our previous website.