I have to be honest. I have listened to the podcast on options spreads twice now. And the penny still has not dropped. Any other recommendations on basic learning on it.

This week's content is about trends and trendlines. You can access the module here. This is very much an introduction to this topic and the video presentation is very basic. In the future we will have another module going into more detail about trendlines. Next week we plan to discuss support and resistance, and then we might have another week where we discuss trends and support and resistance together in greater detail.

I am curious, what is your favorite way to track and analyze your trades? I am trying to decide my best approach to journaling my trades. This is hard because my instinct is to write each one out like a science experiment in this very aesthetically pleasing binder I purchased in hopes of later reviewing my trading psychology. I am concerned however that I might be going too much into the "science" of it and due to my hyper-fixation tendencies, I may accidentally OVER analyze the data or get in my head too much. Alternatively, It seems like there are TONS of online resources that can just import trades and calculate win ratios and so on, essentially doing all of this for me... And after re-reading this, I have determined that I may already be "in my head" too much 🤪

I just ordered my copy and am interested to read this given that so many people seem to suggest it as a fundamental book for day traders. I've heard various snippets of the book in different posts, including Tyler's episode 13. The idea that there are particular traits (i.e., discipline, independence, agency in decision-making) that successful day traders tend to have certainly makes sense, as does the idea that operating from a place of fear or poorly-managed 'emotional' states would not be conducive to success. So, it also makes sense that working to attain and maintain an appropriate mindset (and some sort of emotional equilibrium) will be important to the long term viability of your career as a day trader as well as your profitability. However, as a psychiatrist (and someone who has spent nearly 30 years helping people better understand, manage and make optimal use of their emotions and also training physicians and other psychiatrists to do so), I know with certainty that most people cannot will themselves into or out of emotions simply because they know that a different state would be optimal for trading. I won't go on too long here having not read the book yet. But, I am looking forward to seeing what practical suggestions the author has for, say reducing 'fear,' and whether those seem achievable for the average person. In my experience, most people do not know the difference between anxiety and adaptive/productive emotions (including fear, which is different from anxiety), nor are most very adept at recognizing or managing anxiety. (And this is more complicated to get into, but even those who are capable of recognizing and managing anxiety sufficiently such that it does not impact their capacity for rational thought, often do not fully appreciate what underlying emotions are driving the anxiety in the first place and, therefore, they remain subject to emotion-based decision making.) Sorry, that was longer than I anticipated, but since psychology is such a big part of successful day trading, I'm eager to see what the leaders in the day trading field have to say about it.

Is it just me? How is IBKR experience for you so far? I have to admit I am struggling with the IBKR platform. I just find it very difficult to absorb or process the information in the format that's used, or smoothly conduct a paper trade without having to click in and out of windows. Maybe its just my neurospicy brain, but does anyone else experience this? Im trying to determine if its worth it to perhaps pay a little more for a smoother, more user friendly platform designed for options; or should I suck it up and buckle down til I can really get it on IBKR? it seems like the general consensus is that they are the best, so I feel like maybe I'm missing something? Ive sorta been looking for standalone tools for charting and visualizing p/l curve on options, which i think would make it alot easier, but there's so much out there's, it's hard to filter. Any advice from anyone who has hit this wall?