It’s a happy day for the SteadyTrade Podcast: Papa John (nothing to do with pizza, BTW) is back! We featured him on the podcast about a year ago, when he was one year into his trading journey. Today we’re checking in on how he’s progressed as a trader.

In the episode, he and co-hosts Tim Bohen and Stephen Johnson address a range of trading-related topics, including …

• Why OTC stocks aren’t the only game in town
• How to find what works for you
• Maintaining a passion for trading
• The extreme importance of discipline

Traders of all levels will be inspired to hear how Papa John’s trading style has evolved!

Recap: Papa John

When you first met Papa John way back in Episode 41, he was a fairly new trader with a great story. After losing $16K in his first six months as a trader, he managed to turn things around and finish out that first year in the green.*

Having transitioned to trading from the world of online poker, Papa John was no stranger to waging his hard-earned money. But trading was a totally new game! He says he finally found his edge with OTC stock breakouts.

What’s Going on Now?

Papa John’s expanding and refining his trading techniques in a number of ways.

Most notably, he’s shifting from working with only OTC breakouts and starting to trade listed stocks too.

The problem with only trading OTC stocks? It tried his patience. With OTC stocks, there can be short runs of activity, but then there can be several weeks with little action. To take advantage of those down times, Papa John started exploring listed stocks.

A New Strategy

No big surprise — and as Papa John found — OTC strategies don’t always translate well on the bigger exchanges. Where OTC stocks really require mostly technical research, he found he needs to delve much deeper into the fundamentals for listed stocks.

He learned that lesson pretty fast. He lost money early on in his listed-stocks journey, but now he says he’s regaining ground and found a strategy that works for him.

Papa John’s Strategy With Listed Stocks

The pattern he’s working with? It involves reverse splits.

In the episode, Papa John explains how he looks for recent reverse splits that become very low float in the aftermath of the split. He then waits for a catalyst to pounce on the trade and work with the chart. Traders interested in working with stock splits as a trading strategy won’t want to miss this!

The Importance of Passion and Discipline

In the episode, the three traders also discuss the importance of both passion and discipline for traders. An obsessive scholar of all things trading-related, Papa John has a strong passion … but struggles with discipline.

But he’s working to improve his by implementing these discipline-building practices:

• Taking profits off the top. Papa John realized one of his problems as a trader is letting certain trades go too long and letting his profits recede. Now, he takes profits earlier and still holds a smaller position just in case things keep looking up. Learn how he uses this strategy when trading on the Nasdaq!
• Cutting losses. A loss can hurt, but it’s better to rip the band-aid off quickly to help reduce how long and deep you feel the sting. Learning from foolish mistakes is the smart way to avoid repeating them!
• Waiting for specific setups. As Papa John puts it, “Do you have an edge that you can verify statistically with your setups?” There’s a reason he sticks with certain setups … they work for him! Learn his go-to OTC patterns and the thought process behind his entry points!  

Got a question?

Ask us anything! Well, anything about trading, that is.

BTW … Did you know that if we choose your question to answer on-air, you can win a SteadyTrade mystery gift box? Send questions via the SteadyTrade website, YouTube, or by email.

Thanks for tuning in to the SteadyTrade podcast. Stay tuned for weekly episodes featuring the hottest topics for aspiring traders!

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