Kris Verma may be having a red day, but he’s not letting it get to him. In the scheme of things, this short-biased trader reports doing pretty great. He’s only been active in the market for about three years … and he hit an incredible million-dollar profit milestone in 2020.*
It’s every trader’s dream to grow their account exponentially. In today’s episode of the SteadyTrade Podcast, Kris shares all of his trading secrets with co-hosts Tim Bohen and Stephen Johnson.
Are you ready to open up your mind to what trading could make possible?
Kris Verma’s Story
Kris can actually sum up his story in a sentence: “It’s been so surreal.”
Kris is actually a pharmacist by trade, but he’s always had a side hustle. For many years it was sports handicapping. Until that world changed — and he lost his edge. So he decided to venture out. When a Twitter follower mentioned trading, Kris was intrigued.
Kris says he’s had a long-standing interest in math, statistics, and probability theory … “So when trading was presented to me as an option to make money, it always interested me because I always wanted to use statistics to get an edge in the market.”
Finding His Strategy
Given his time spent in the sports betting world, Kris Verma thought he’d have a leg up with trading: “I thought it’d be so easy.”
Not so much. As he puts it, “with trading, you have so much room for self-sabotage.” He’d never had to learn the emotional discipline before — and contending with common trading mistakes like bag-holding was a big challenge for him.
(Note: Want more real talk? Check out Ep. 167: Hard Trading Truths with Dr. Daniel Crosby.)
In the episode, Kris talks about his learning curve — and the process of figuring out his strategy.
He started out as a long trader buying bounces before switching to the short side of things. But he’s quick to admit that short selling isn’t necessarily for newbies: “It’s not as easy as us short sellers make it out to be.”
It didn’t take Kris all that long to go from a total newbie trader to what Stephen calls “a monster short,” but that doesn’t mean the journey has been totally smooth. Wanna know more? He’s totally transparent about his wins and his losses — follow him on Twitter.
Adapt or Die
For some traders, 2020 has been a banner year. For others, it’s been full of despair.
One big difference between these two camps? The ability to adapt.
A year ago, the market was a very different place. Now, the volume and volatility — particularly for small-cap stocks — is unlike anything traders have ever seen.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. However, it does require changing one’s strategy.
Kris explains that there are new patterns now. The whole landscape of trading is new. He talks about how he’s adjusting his criteria to trade appropriately in ‘the new normal.’
Kris Verma on Hitting the Million-Dollar Mark
How has hitting the million-dollar mark changed trading for Kris? It hasn’t all been good … He admits that he’s had some of his biggest losses since then!
Aspiring traders won’t want to miss the frank discussion of the trouble with sizing up — your winners may be bigger, but your losses are, too.
Plus, right now is a very challenging time for short-sellers. The market’s dominated by longs in late 2020, and shorts are being massacred according to Stephen.
Kris talks about the ebb and flow of the market and how things even out eventually. The question is whether you can be patient enough to wait it out…
What’s Your Edge?
According to Kris, too many traders just want to make a quick buck. “There are more profitable strategies than traders who can execute them.”
His edge? Meticulous planning. Learn why he doesn’t make any important decisions on the fly. And find out how he stays safe by making every decision and determining all entry and exit points before he gets into a trade.
Or as he puts it, “It all comes down to following your plan in the heat of the moment.”
Trading: A Science or an Art?
Lately, Stephen’s been all about the science of trading with his data tracking. But he believes there’s an art to it too — and that intuition matters.
Not so much for Kris Verma who says, “the numbers need to dictate my actions.” He has many data points to back up every action.
Kris explains his specific process for choosing stocks and his entry and exit points. Seriously, you can’t get this kind of advice for free anywhere!
Got Questions?
Did this episode get you thinking? We wanna hear what’s on your mind!
Remember: if we select your question or comment as an on-air topic, you could win a SteadyTrade mystery gift box. Leave a comment below or on YouTube!
Thanks for tuning in to the SteadyTrade podcast. Stay tuned for weekly episodes featuring the hottest topics for aspiring traders.
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Meet Our Hosts
Get to know Tim Bohen, Stephen Johnson, and Kim Ann Curtin here.
Follow our hosts on social media…
Tim Bohen
Twitter: @tbohen
Instagram: @tbohen
Stephen Johnson
Twitter: @Jonk87
Kim Ann Curtin
Twitter: @kimanncurtin
Instagram: @kimanncurtin
*Trading results are not typical. Always remember that most traders lose and that individual results will vary. Before trading, do your due diligence and never risk more than you can afford to lose.