In this week’s episode, sprocket888 continues the theme from last week about the end of the 2025 trading year and the tax implications. In this episode, he dives into the details of what his plans are for 2026. He discusses both Mark-to-Market Accounting and Trader Tax Status explicitly. These two items are mutually exclusive and… Read More »The 2026 Plan: Sprocket888’s plan for 2026 and Taxes

In this week’s episode, sprocket888 continues the theme from last week about the end of the 2025 trading year and the tax implications. In this episode, he dives into the details of the position $CIEN. This position has a substantial unrealized loss. As the tax year concludes, sprocket888 discusses the implications of booking the loss… Read More »Washing the harvest: Tax loss harvesting and wash sale considerations.

In this week’s episode, sprocket888 and viperxl007 discuss taxes and the considerations to keep in mind during the month of December. There is consideration to give throughout the year, but December is a critical time because it is the last month to book trades that will impact that tax year. This is something that sprocket888… Read More »Taxes: Something to remember in December.

In this week’s episode, sprocket888 does a quick run-through of some of the impacts of high volatility. In and of itself, volatility is neither good nor bad. Volatility is a measure of how much price swing potential is contained in the underlying being measured. It is essential to understand this mechanism as it can directly… Read More »Volatility: Price, here in an instant, gone in a flash.

In this week’s episode, sprocket888 is joined by viperxl007. They discuss the recent rally in equities and offer their opinions on whether the man with a big red suit might be coming to town soon for a year-end rally. After that, each one talks about how their recent trading action has been going. Viperxl007 has… Read More »Flow Trading: A new approach to trading for viperxl007.

In this week’s episode, sprocket888 does a solo show, taking a look at some upcoming earnings. In keeping with the recent episode that discussed how to “Get paid for a limit order,” he takes a look at how to take advantage of a very volatile earnings announcement. The case in this episode concerns $GTLB, but… Read More »Get paid to go long: Looking at $GTLB around earnings.

In this week’s episode, sprocket888 is joined by viperxl007. They discuss the state of artificial intelligence and the potential impact on employment, the economy, and the market. They frame the discussion by first visiting centuries of technological innovation to remind the viewer that change is always feared, and that it never results in anything close… Read More »Will AI take your job?: Probably, but not how you might think.

In this week’s episode, sprocket888 discusses how selling PUTs to enter a long position is similar to adding sprinkles to your ice cream. One thing is for sure, you will never buy at the pure bottom when you enter a position. Considering this fact, this episode is dedicated to discussing an alternative long entry strategy.… Read More »Always choose sprinkles: If you are going to go long, consider selling PUTs to open the position.

In this week’s episode, sprocket888 discusses what a health savings account is and why everyone should have one. The health savings account, or HSA, is likely THE most tax-advantaged account that one can hold. The HSA is likely the first type of account that individuals should consider funding as they prepare for retirement. Sprocket888 begins… Read More »Health Savings Account: The little account that can

In this week’s episode, sprocket888 discusses a monster loss that he took on $FI. Every time you have an open position in the market, there exists the chance that a monster unexpected move will occur. There are many steps that you can take to reduce this probability, but you can never make it zero. This… Read More »Not always sunshine & roses: A look at a monster loss in $FI

In this week’s episode, sprocket888 and viperxl007 discuss some thoughts around today’s Middle Class. The Middle Class rose to prominence after WWII and has taken on various characteristics over the years since then. The traders take a look at what is being redefined today around the Middle Class and share their thoughts and perspectives. One… Read More »Today’s Middle Class: Is it disappearing or being redefined?

In this week’s episode, sprocket888 and viperxl007 take a beginner’s look at price action. Price action is a deceptively simple component of technical analysis. It seems simple, but it takes a good bit of practice to become more fluent in it. It is about looking at a chart and being able to spot high-level trends… Read More »Price Action: An Intro to a foundational part of technical analysis.

In this week’s episode, sprocket888 and viperxl007 do a quick recap of their most recent trades. Viperxl007 has been building up his mechanics and took a shot at a lottery ticket. This did not really work out the way that he had hoped, but he was prepared and ready for the outcomes. Sprocket888 closes up… Read More »Double Update: sprocket888 and viperxl007 cover their most recent moves.

In this week’s episode, sprocket888 runs a solo show. This is a brief and straightforward episode where sprocket888 takes a look back at his four most recent trades. Two of these have been fully concluded, and the other two have only been opened so far. All four of these are earnings trades where sprocket888 is… Read More »Update from sprocket888: Four most recent trades, and the accompanying logic.

In this week’s episode, sprocket888 is joined by viperxl007. Viper has been working on developing and practicing a mechanical approach that takes a daily trade on the $SPY. It has obvious objective entry and exit rules. As of the recording of this episode, viperxl007 has logged 31 of these trades, and it is starting to… Read More »The Daily Chores: A detailed look into viperxl007’s daily $SPY trade

In this week’s episode, sprocket888 takes a look at everyone’s favorite topic, taxes. When you are trading, nobody is looking out for you to make sure that you are paying the appropriate taxes. Neglecting this topic can lead to very steep tax bills and potentially hefty fines. Accounting for this is pretty straightforward. The only… Read More »Taxes: Failing to plan, is planning to fail.

In this week’s episode, sprocket888 discusses a recent situation in which he panicked. This panic put sprocket888 in a worse situation than if he had kept his emotions in check and executed the plan. Often, in videos, it can appear that trading is always robotic, but in reality, maintaining everything totally robotic all the time… Read More »I Panicked: Panic response will always make a bad situation worse.

In this week’s episode, sprocket888 and viperxl007 discuss the book “Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas”. In a fireside chat style, the traders discuss the premise of the book as well as the highlights that each got when reading the book. The book is fitting for all audiences. Both sprocket888 and viperxl007 agree that… Read More »Fireside Chat: Sometimes what is in your head can make a difference

In this week’s episode, sprocket888 provides a detailed examination of elevated volatility and its impact on options prices. Understanding the effect that elevated volatility has on options pricing is foundational to understanding the potential outcomes. In this episode, sprocket888 takes an objective look at two situations: one where the option chain has elevated volatility and… Read More »Elevated Volatility: Understand the impact before fully engaging.

In this week’s episode, sprocket888 is joined by viperxl007. They each recap one area from last week’s trading. For sprocket888, he goes through how he determines the strategy to deploy for selling premium. This means selling just a Put or selling a Put and a Call. It is a visual inspection that he does to… Read More »Searching and Learning: Sprocket888 is searching and Viperxl007 is learning.