Here’s some advice for new option traders:

1. Do not get emotionally attached to the underlying stock. Success in options is mostly dependent on picking stocks that Wall street traders are buying, or selling (if you are shorting) at the right time. 

You may think, for example that zoom is the best company ever and believe all the analysts who are paid to be right, but who are usually way behind after a stock reverses direction. What goes up fast, often comes down fast. 
Example 2: You may be convinced Inovio will become the winner because they have the “best” vaccine. In the meantime Wall Street might be piling into Moderna, mostly because they probably know something you dont. I always assume Wall Street knows something I dont. I only care if my underlying stock is moving in the right direction at the right time.

2. Dont make decisions solely based on fundamental analysis of a company’s net worth. Many stocks are undervalued, but are ignored for long periods of time.

3. To be as smart as a Wall Street Trader (although they often just follow each other) you have to know how to read charts and be able to see on that chart when a stock is starting to move in the direction you want it to go. Timing has to be part of a winning strategy.

4. Learn how a stock is connected to a sector, which is connected to an index, which is connected to the economy and World events. You may decide, for example that the virus is having no impact on the stock market, until you realize that about 30 (covid19) stocks have been pushing the indices higher while half the remaining stocks are groveling along the bottom. And those 30 amazing stocks may be connected to the 30 richest people in the World, who own 47% of the World’s wealth. We, as option traders are only competing with other traders to take some of that wealth for our own financial well-being.

5. Always build cash and keep some diversity in your portfolio. Have an exit strategy when you are wrong. Any profit is better than a loss. Great traders have all had huge losses, and they never stop learning and refining their strategies.

6. Finally, be aware of the addictive component that will drive you into financial despair. Making fast money is like a drug that makes you instantly happy. But the opposite part is despair and depression during the times you are wrong (often not by your own fault, but by multiple factors you may not have seen in your analysis). The solution to this despair is to always build cash and to be able to see the fruits of your labor. It is always tempting to put all your chips in. Dont do it. The vast majority of all traders quit within 3 years, half of those within the first month. You alone are responsible for your successes and losses. Learn how to be successful first with smaller amounts of money, spread out over several different stocks. Learn how to minimize loss.

by Baker Symes 

I am officially and Author! Diamond Mind has been released for purchase.

My new book is available - Diamond Mind! 

I am proud to be a co-author of this great new book 

Diamond Mind: How to Gain Clarity and Strength Through the Pressure of Life's Obstacles 

After 6 months in the making the book is finally available on Amazon for your Kindle or in paperback. This is such a labor of love and I am proud to be included with 9 other women telling our stories of triumph over adversity. I hope you enjoy it and find it encouraging. 

Click here to purchase.

Stock Day Trading versus Investing - What's the difference?

Trading vs Investing 

So, you want to trade stocks?  Do you enjoy looking at the stock market daily, watching the financial news, reading charts? If you do, then trading is probably for you.  If you answered no to any of these questions, I think you are more of the investor type.  

Trading is a short game in the financial world. Let’s break it down, a stock trader typically looks at the news in the morning, keys up the stock scanner, looks for stocks that are on the move for the day. Then once the market opens at 9:30 E.S.T., he/she will execute trades in and out of stocks in the same day hoping to profit on the short- term movements of the stock. 

Investing is more of the long game in the financial world. An investor looks to buy a stock after learning about the fundamentals of the company and truly wants to be a shareholder. He/she hopes that the stock will increase in value over a longer time frame. That time frame may be a year or ten years.  

Many people like myself are both investors and traders of stock for both have their purpose. If you have a 401K at work you are most likely invested in mutual funds which is a long game mentality. However, if you would like to become a day trader, you can open a brokerage account and begin the journey into the world of trading stocks. I see stock trading as an opportunity to live my dreams and look out onto a bigger world than I could have possible imagined in a 9-5 job! 

Trading 101 Series : Episode 1

Thank you so much for joining me on this financial journey. I am looking forward to putting together a new series to help you get started from the bottom, all the way up to being a successful trader and investor.

What makes me qualified to teach these topics you may ask? First and foremost, I live the full time stock trader life and I am profitable. I am able to pay bills each month with money I've taken out of my trades as a day trader. I also manage traditional IRA and Roth IRA with a long term and swing trade approaches.  As far as education goes, I have an MBA and a BSBA in Finance from the University of Central Florida. Work experience includes being employed as a financial advisor and stock broker for Merrill Lynch, Empower Retirement and Duncan Williams, Inc. I have worked with thousands of people over the years to help them take control of their finances. Teaching them the basics and watching them flourish in the new freedom that control of your money has to offer.

As a basic syllabus I have outlined the following topics that we will cover in the upcoming days, weeks and months ahead.

-Trading versus Investing - Knowing the difference.
-When to apply Day Trading, Swing Trading and Investing strategies.
-Account Types - Brokerage, IRA, Roth
-Brokerage Firms- the good, bad and ugly.
-Basic Terminology of the Stock Market World
-Dividends
-Compounding
-Investment Types - Diversification
-Trading Section
-Investing Section
-Knowing yourself
-Mindfulness and Meditation; How do they apply to the world of Finance?
-Conclusions
-Personal Coaching - One on One assistance with your questions. (Specific stock selection not included.)


I hope you will all gleam nuggets of information here and on my podcast. My life's work is to educate and encourage you to take control of your money and make it work for you.

Namaste!
Michelle