It’s hard to believe that several months have already passed since the end of the SteadyTrade Paper Trading Challenge. 

Recently, hosts Tim Bohen and Stephen Johnson caught up with contest winner Chris “DJ” Dini to see how he’s faring with the transition from paper trading to real-time trading.

Now, they’re catching up with contest runner-up Liz Lele to see how her live trading is going. Her ups and downs are inspiring and relevant to traders of all levels. 

Note: Do you want to be part of the next Paper Trading Challenge? Auditions will be held at the upcoming Tim Sykes seminar in Orlando! Stay tuned for more info in the coming weeks. 

Liz’s Trading Journey 

Liz began trading in 2016. At the time, she was a nanny and had other things going on … and she wasn’t totally serious. It showed in her results. She was losing thousands of dollars. 

She likens it to trying to operate a lawnmower and blithely thinking, “Oh I’ll just reach under it to fix it.” She ended up with very bloody hands. At that point, she figured, “I’ve gotta read the manual”. 

She started to get serious about trading. Inspired by Stephen’s videos, she began her own series of trading videos to hold herself accountable. She got involved in the trading world and was chosen to be part of the SteadyTrade Paper Trading Challenge.

In the challenge, Liz had her ups and downs and tried her mentor Stephen’s patience at times. But ultimately, she rose to the top of the crowd, coming in second place overall. 

How’s Real-Life Trading Treating Liz? 

As a trader, Liz’s been guilty of a ‘throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks’ type of mentality (listen to the episode to hear her hilarious wording of the analogy). 

But now that she’s risking her own money, she’s buckling down and learning how to do things the right way. Or as she says, “my brain is working.” 

She’s finding that full immersion is the way to go with studying trading — you really need to go all in. This is key for many successful traders, and she wants to join their ranks. 

Paper Trade Big, Real Trade Small 

Paper trading is great, but here’s the thing: it’s not real life.

Liz was bold in paper trading because she could be. Even though the trading scenarios were realistic, it wasn’t her actual money at risk. Like a flight simulator, you know that as bad things get, you won’t actually crash. 

But now that she’s putting her actual money on the line, she’s become far more cautious. After all, she could really lose big with the devil-may-care attitude that she adopted as a paper trader.

As Stephen and Tim discuss, caution is good for new traders — the idea is to trade small, find consistency, and scale up.  

They talk about her protective measures, like setting her risk levels before she trades and being super strict about cutting losses. 

Liz’s Trades Reviewed

To close out the episode, Liz reviews her track record as a real-time trader. Overall, she’s doing pretty well! Out of 12 trades, she reports a 50% win rate — with her biggest win at 80 cents per share and her biggest loss at 27 cents per share. 

Tim and Stephen go through her trades and offer constructive criticism … traders of all levels can learn some great tips about how to refine their own trades. 

Got Questions?

Do you have a question about paper trading, this episode, or trading in general? 

Go ahead and ask! Bonus: If your question is chosen as an on-air topic, you could win a SteadyTrade mystery gift box. So don’t be shy … We love to hear from our listeners and want to hear what you have to say. You can 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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