If you’re new to trading, this is where you start. Before you ever place a trade, there are a few things you must understand, from choosing the right broker and charts to learning how to read price and manage risk. In this episode, we break down the true foundation of trading, including time frames, account structure, and why education and planning come before anything else. Trading doesn’t start when you click buy. It starts with how you prepare.

Set up a free coaching session with Paul:
https://calendly.com/dts-paul/coaching-session-w-paul

The DTS Free Stuff Page:
https://disciplinedtradingstrategies.com/free-stuff

To learn more, visit:
http://disciplinedtradingstrategies.com

Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
https://missionmatters.com/author/paul-lange

If you’re new, scanning is the process of taking a large number of symbols and narrowing them down to a smaller group by identifying the characteristics you want for a possible trade setup. It applies to long-term trading, swing trading, and day trading. The main focus of this podcast is the balance and trade-off between quality and focus when scanning. There can be a real cost to watching too many symbols, just as there can be a cost to watching too few. Some traders manually review large lists, while others use computer scans to help with the process. We’ll discuss both approaches in this episode.

Episode Slide Notes here

Set up a free coaching session with Paul:
https://calendly.com/dts-paul/coaching-session-w-paul

The DTS Free Stuff Page:
https://disciplinedtradingstrategies.com/free-stuff

To learn more, visit:
http://disciplinedtradingstrategies.com

Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
https://missionmatters.com/author/paul-lange

The term averaging can be confusing for newer traders. In simple terms, it means entering a stock at one price and then adding more shares later, which creates an average cost basis based on how many shares were purchased at each price. Buying at higher prices is known as averaging up, while buying at lower prices is averaging down.

In this episode, we take a deeper look at the pros and cons of the three different ways traders add shares to a position. These approaches I refer to as professional, risky, and deadly — and understanding the difference may be the key to avoiding a trade that never ends.

Episode Resource: youtu.be/7eT7kjkq4NA?si=fDDXhv8t8KCkHclq

Set up a free coaching session with Paul:
https://calendly.com/dts-paul/coaching-session-w-paul

The DTS Free Stuff Page:
https://disciplinedtradingstrategies.com/free-stuff

To learn more, visit:
http://disciplinedtradingstrategies.com

Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
https://missionmatters.com/author/paul-lange

Due to the holidays, it's been an extra couple of weeks since my last podcast. This one actually came as an offshoot from the last DTS educational event I did in mid-December. That event was called A Fireside Chat at DTS and highlighted some of my favorite topics from the year. One of those topics had to do with the role of strategies and the misunderstanding of that role as it comes to traders. This podcast explains that very critical concept and also uses a great analogy foreshadowed by the title.

This one was inspired by many questions I received. In this episode, I break down one of the biggest trading demons we all face — FOMO. I talk about how fear, impatience, and the pressure to “catch the move” can quietly push us into overtrading and stepping outside our plan. I’ll show you how these emotions connect, how they trick even experienced traders, and what I personally do to stay disciplined when the market is tempting me the most. If you’ve ever chased a trade you knew you shouldn’t take, this one will hit home.

In this episode, I dive into the trap of judging trades by their results. Sometimes we get rewarded for doing something sloppy, and other times we take a clean, disciplined trade that just doesn’t work out. I talk about why a “good trade” might not be as good as it looks — and why a “bad result” might still be one of your best trades of the week. It’s a simple idea, but once you really understand it, it changes how you look at every trade you take. This is also a key reason for new traders to fail or struggle, tune in for the details.

Two podcasts ago, I talked about trading plans for the first time in this series. Now, it’s not because trading plans aren’t important — they’re actually critical — but they’re not always the easiest topic to break down in a podcast format.

That said, I got a lot of great feedback and a few interesting questions, so in this episode I want to take a little time to follow up and dig deeper.

If you haven’t listened to that earlier episode yet, it’s Podcast #68, “Trading Plans – Just Some Tips.” You might want to go back and check that one out first.

The Pattern Day Trader Rule essentially prevents people from day trading stocks unless they have a $25,000 balance. This rule was enacted in 2001 and was intended to protect traders. In my view, it has hurt those it has tried to help. This video explains why, and also what an opportunity it may open up for the average person.