1. Boo, the cat. He’s in charge of risk management and rat control.; 2. University of Alabama shirt.; 3. The spreadsheet I use to track every trade.; 4. The tastyworks platform. Here you see the totality of my trades and the cool profit hump I’ve developed if the market heads downward.; 5. Tom Sosnoff and Tony Batista on tastytrade Live.; 6. The microphone I use when I’m teaching investment and risk management classes online for the University of Alabama.; 7. My little fan. I get really hot when trading.; 8. Stream Deck: I preprogram these icons to open programs and applications with the touch of a button.

Home/Office location

Bowdon, GA

Age

52

Years trading

11

How did you start trading?

I was installing a Roku box on my television and found tastytrade! Initially, I wondered about this homeless dude and his Mafia sidekick. Turns out it was Tom and Tony, and they’re the real deal!

Favorite trading strategy?

It’s a little trade called the 1-1-1. I sell a short
put in S&P 500 futures (/ES and /MES) and use some of the proceeds of the credit to buy a put debit spread. The put debit spread gives me a little bit of protection to the downside. 

Average number of trades per day?

Six

What percentage of your outcomes do you attribute to luck?

Luck? There is no luck! It’s all skill, baby. 

Favorite trading moment?

I was at my podiatrist’s office during the COVID-19 crash of 2020. He told me he had to amputate one of my toes. I wasn’t too concerned because there are worse things to have cut off, right? The market was crashing, and he had a sign in the office that said “no mobile phones.” So, I told him the bottom was falling out of the market, and I needed to close some positions. 

He said, “Certainly! I imagine you’re losing quite a bit of money, huh?”

I told him it was just the opposite. When the dust settled, my account was up 208% on the crash. I lost a toe but made a fortune! 

Worst trading moment?

It had to be the down move in October through December 2018. I remember losing $24,000 on a $50,000 account. I took
too much risk and got burned. Never again!

Favorite trading book

How to Make $1,000,000 in the Stock Market Automatically! by Robert Lichello.