When the stock market is up and doing well, oh man everyone thinks that they are a genius. But when it is DOWN… you may find that you are not as smart as you think you are.
When the market is down, what is your game plan?
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As you may know from following me on Instagram, some exciting things have happened in the Brown household… my wife and I welcomed our first daughter, Kayla, which has been soooo exciting. I also have been on a few personal developmental trips – like the Man Up! getaway. This is where a group of men from my church convene to talk about life, being a better husband and father, about God, figuring out where our blind spots are, etc. It is an awesome experience.
The market pull back
When I got back, I was thinking about the stock market – we had a huge DOW drop, S&P 500 big pull back… and then all of this doom and gloom from potential interest rate hikes.
What I took away from it is that: MONEY is not as important as we think it is. I was not solely thinking about my account when the market dropped – I was thinking after coming off of those two big events, that there is so much more to life than money.
When we lose money, we can always get it back. As long as you have breath in your lungs, you can get it back.
When I was at the Man Up! event, I broke a lot of what was happening in the market down. I talked a lot about the opportunity to buy in the market at the pull back to those at the event… and I thought “What would happen if they didn’t have me?”
What happens when we do life, and investing, on our OWN?
We feel like we don’t need anybody else – no community. The reality is, when things are going well, they’re going well.
If anyone got involved with the stock market recently, it has been going up for the last 8 years. They may think, “Oh I am the best in the world! I am making money, I don’t need any courses, I don’t need a community, etc…”
It is funny that when the market tanks – when it has a bad week – it humbles you. You realize that you are not as smart as you thought you were.
Perhaps you realize that you actually need more strategies at your disposal than you know. Perhaps you realize you need a team of supporters to be right there with you in the trudges, with trading ideas and examples to help you.
When the market pulls back as it did, you start asking questions:
- What happens next?
- Why did it drop?
- What should I do with my current positions?
The #1 problem when you’re trading alone
When you are trading on your own, in solitude, there is no one to talk to! If you start to immediately talk to someone, you are unsure if you can trust their opinion because they are new to you. You haven’t been following them, you don’t know their trading philosophy. So most people end up dazed and confused.
Most people turn on the TV and the news when the market is going down. But here’s the thing: most of them are in it for “info-tainment”. They want to give information, but they ALSO are there to provide entertainment so that they can keep ratings up, so they can keep advertisers on their platform. They are informed people, but sometimes they over exaggerate the market. “This is the WORST day since…” then bring up all of the stats.
Although they may be true, where are they coming from? Where does that mean in the overall BIG picture? Does that mean that it is time to buy? Time to sell? That you should be using advanced option strategies? They do not give you WHAT TO DO next. All it does is give you heartburn and wonder about what is happening.
That is what happens when you’re by yourself – the news is predicting doom and gloom, but then the market turns around and they say “oh yes we knew you should have been buying here!” But that isn’t what they were saying while it was happening.
I had to break this all down to the members inside of Man Up! and in Power Trades University –
- Money isn’t everything, we still have our health, family, faith etc
- We took profits on majority of our trades when it was high
- We had a spread strategy that actually made money while the market pulled back
What happens if myself or my team aren’t here to steer the ship? People on the outside are thinking, “That’s why I didn’t buy! That’s why it isn’t for me!”
When the reality is: you also have been missing out on the greatest bull market in the past 8 years! It isn’t about not getting involved, but getting the knowledge and the right people who can navigate and steer you in the murky waters.
What Man Up! events have to do with you and trading
When we go into our annual Man Up! event, I always think about, man where would I be if I couldn’t get around these awesome men and take the mask off and talk about some of our problems and what’s going well in life? We would have a bunch of men not treating women right, hiding their feelings with alcohol, etc.
The POWER of when we get into community and TALK to each other.
We talk about, “Yeah I have been through that – here is how I pulled through it”. I can’t tell you how powerful that is, and its why I go every year.
When you look at your account, your investing, your financial goals – I can’t tell you how powerful it is to have the SAME CONNECTION in my business. It is something you have to experience!
When I look at our members and other traders who communicate ideas and new strategies and how to limit risk and put capital to work – it is so powerful. If we didn’t have that, we would have people out there nervous about losing their money, looking to turn to alcohol to numb the pain, they are confused and don’t know what to do, they don’t have experience people talking them off of the ledge with training and coaching, etc.
They are just like me, years ago, before I went to my first Man Up! Event. I didn’t know what we were going to be doing, I was apprehensive about it, I didn’t know if it would be my thing… When I did go though, I got to be paired with someone who had been there for awhile and could show me the ropes and introduce me to new people, which calmed my nerves down, I mingled, I had fun, it was the best decision! Now every year we bring new people, too.
What does this have to do with you and your investing?
If you are on the outside, someone in your circle has to take the leap and say, “I need to actually learn this. I am tired of doing this by myself, I am tired of my friends and family not understanding.”
Someone needs to take the leap and put themselves in the position where they can take the mask off and talk about what is REALLY going on behind their trading – the fears, the doubts, the uncertainty. You have to take it, just like I took the leap years ago to try the Man Up! event.
Someone in your circle needs to take the mask off and quit acting like they have allllll the answers, like everything is okay when it isn’t, like their trading is going well when it’s not, like they’re not scared when the market pulls back, etc.
When the market goes down, it starts to test:
- Do you really know what you know?
- Do you believe in what you believe in?
- Do you truly have a game plan to get back up?
- Do you realize how short the pull-back is, and if everything will actually be okay?
If you don’t have a community of supporters, if you don’t have the strategies you need when the market pulls back, I invite you to GET INSIDE that community! Learn about options trading!
Options are the tools to help you when the market is pulling back. You CAN make money and also protect your portfolio with “put options” when the market is selling off. There are advanced options like spreads where you can make money if the market goes up OR down, and make both profits if the market stays within a certain range.
I invite you to…
- Register for my FREE option trading webinar. Pick your date, time, and come learn how to put the options to work.
- If you are doing this by yourself, if you do not have the strategies you need when the market goes down, I encourage that you get into a community of serious traders. A community where I share my trades, where others are sharing theirs, where we all are talking about what is going on in the market. This is Power Trades University.
What I believe the future holds
I believe in the next 1-2 years, you will see that the easy money has already been made. The economy and employment are going well. It’s about, “Are you getting your piece of this as the stock market is going well?” I think we only have 1 or 2 years left of this bull market, then we will enter into choppy waters – more of what we have seen recently.
You will need to learn how to trade options, how to hedge against your account, how to make money even if the market is going down, how to “rent” out your stocks… you will NEED those strategies. You need them now, but I think they will become even more important in the next 12-24 months, as this bull market potentially tapers out.
How do you make money in a market like that? I think we have the answers for you here, check out the free options trading webinar.