Checking a few boxes on my annual 401k form and giving the guy at the bank a check to put into an IRA for me.
Let me repeat: In 25 years of work history, the entirety of my “investing” experience was filling out some paperwork and handing my money to someone else to “do something” with.
When I joined Don’s team in late 2021, I was instantly drawn to the way he explained the market.
The stock market is one of those things that I knew I “should” learn about, but there never seemed to be enough time.
And when there was time for me to Google around online…
It was confusing to try to make sense of what was being said. (Lots of conflicting information — you’ll know if you’ve ever tried to figure it out on your own — and not very well explained.)
Having a “guide” like Don calmed the waters for me. His explanations made sense of what had previously seemed like a confusing blur of information.
Little by little, as I helped coordinate his trade alerts, his live events, his Telegram channel, and his newsletter…
I began to understand how all the different moving parts (earnings, Fed announcements, inflation, war, politics… even market manipulation) affect stocks.
I started to grasp how what had previously looked like a very random thing — the up and down movement of stock prices, and the market in general — can be deciphered.
I began to believe that it really was possible to anticipate what comes next in the market.
It really got interesting (and frustrating, since my portfolio was “all in” on passive investments) in January of this year.
As I watched the market go down, down, down… (it still hasn’t stopped) I watched Don’s picks continue to go up.
This is not to say there weren’t losers, because there were.
But overall, while the market was failing me… Don’s picks were silently taunting me, because at this point I was still just watching them.
I actually started getting angry with Don at one point…
How could he be so successful in such a chaotic environment?
It drove me crazy that he was violating all the rules I had been following for the last 20+ years and basically tap dancing around the market while everyone else was suffering.
And then I realized that *I* was the problem.
Because even as I watched the market drop like a rock…
And Don’s model portfolio went nowhere but up…
Like most of us, I procrastinated..
It took me until May to finally take action.
On May 6th of this year, I had finally had enough of helplessly watching my account sink further and further down.
I’m a cautious person. I don’t immediately jump into things.
So even when I committed myself to putting Don’s teachings to work in my account, I took it slowly.
I was exploring an entirely new world. Not only trading for the first time ever…
But even the mechanics of placing trades:
Where to log in to my account, how to find the option that Don had recommended, how to place a buy order, where to keep an eye on the price fluctuations… And most importantly, how to place a sell order!
Don wasn't going to hold my hand either. He told me to put the work in just like any of his other students.
On the trading side however: spotting opportunities, picking a specific option strike price and expiration, knowing when to get in, setting a sell price, keeping an eye on things and explaining how economic events impacted our open positions…
This is where Don carried all the weight.
Just by following along with all the materials he was putting out, I was able to understand and execute the trades.
I want to reiterate that Don didn’t give me any special treatment. Just because I worked alongside him, didn’t mean I got any special tips or extra training.
Everything I’ve learned along the way is from the same materials that I helped publish via email, via Don’s blog, via our Telegram channels, etc. In other words: all publicly available information.
I think now is a good time to pause and explain that I was still very nervous.
Remember, I had been a passive investor for over 20 years. This was the first time I was taking my financial destiny into my own hands.
And that is not even to mention how often I heard the myth “It’s impossible to time the market” or “Regular folks shouldn’t waste their time trying to pick stocks”
Even kindly old grandpa Warren Buffett is on the record saying:
“Both large and small investors should stick with low-cost index funds.”
With all that “noise” rattling around inside my head…
And even after having witnessed all the success Don was having with his model portfolio… I was still nervous.
So I gave myself a limit.
I set aside approximately $2500 from my account and said this would be the entirety of my trading capital.
Looking back, it’s kind of funny, because I think I had 5 winning trades right off the bat, over the first few weeks.
It was exhilarating to see win after win pile up.
Just to show you how much of a beginner I was, I actually thought to myself, “Hmm, I wonder how long I can maintain a flawless record…”
Inevitably, I clocked a loss and came back down to earth.
But that taught me an important lesson that Don mentions often:
It’s important to have a lot of “at bats”
For those of you who aren’t up with the baseball terminology, that just means that you have a lot of trade ideas and take (reasonable) swings at the good ones.
It’s a critical part of the way Don trades, because it means you aren’t putting all your eggs in one basket.
The more trades I’ve placed, the more I’ve realized just how important this idea is.
Now, to be completely transparent, I have to tell you what the full track record for Don’s service has been. Since starting on December 15 of last year until October 14 of this year, the average return per options trade (including winners and losers) has been 16% over a 23 day hold time. He’s put out 147 trades and of those, 74 have been winners, 61 have been losers, 2 break-even trades and 10 open trades.
If you haven’t traded before, it’s easy to look at Don’s official track record and envision yourself taking huge swings (i.e. making large investments) in just some of the extraordinary winners.
The 53% wins… the 108% wins… even some of the rare 200%+ wins.
I mean, who could resist imagining what a $10,000 or $50,000 investment into one of those winners would turn into?
But that’s not how a portfolio grows. Any HUGE win could easily have been a huge loss for many reasons…
Because no one has a crystal ball.
While it’s tempting to label Don a genius, the truth is something that Don reminds us of often:
The market — and the economy — are made up of millions and billions of tiny interactions that happen between individuals on a daily basis.
For any one human to think they can comprehend the entirety of what is going on and exactly how that will affect the market is foolish.
Just as it would be foolish to go to the gym one day and try to lift 200 pounds, thinking that you are somehow going to turn into Hercules…
It’s foolish to think that taking a huge $10,000 “swing” on a single trade idea is going to build a portfolio for the ages.
The key is consistency — And Don gives you that in droves.
There is no shortage of trade ideas… and Don’s consistent, methodical approach to the markets forces you to apply this keystone habit.
Another foundational thing I’ve learned from Don is the importance of trading psychology — essentially controlling your emotions.
I’ve made this mistake myself:
Thinking that “trading psychology” sounds fluffy and mushy and like something other people need, “But oh, not me.”
After all, I’m a careful person. I don’t often let my emotions get the better of me.
But thinking about trading — or even paper trading (which is real trading with fake money) — is completely different from real, actual trading with your own real money.
It’s the difference between watching Mike Tyson pound someone in the ring, envisioning what you would do differently…
And actually being in the ring, getting your teeth handed to you by Mike Tyson.
Or as the boxing legend said:
“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”
And the market WILL punch you in the mouth.
It will turn on a dime, it will make you question everything and at times it will demoralize you.
I remember there was a 6-week stretch this past summer (about early-July through mid-August) where win after win just suddenly stopped.
We were short the market (meaning we were expecting it to go down) and boy — for 6 weeks, that thing just kept going up…
Luckily, we didn’t have a lot of options expiring during that time, but it was harrowing watching their value drop each day.
Especially for a first timer thinking “Well, maybe everyone was right. Maybe you can’t win in the markets.”
This is when the importance of Trading Psychology really came to light.
Having a group of traders that are all going through the same thing, was so valuable.
But more importantly, having the leadership and guidance of someone who has seen it all before… Someone like Don who could remind us to keep our wits about us…
Someone who could remind us of the goal and remind us that we were on the right path, even if it did look a little rocky at the moment.
I cannot overstate the value of having an expert like Don be that rock for us.
And sure enough, after that short summer rally, the market turned around and started working for our positions again.
All in all, I’m more certain now than ever that I’m on the right path.
That I’m learning a skill that will not only serve me, but that I can pass down to my children and grandchildren.
Because I can think of almost no greater gift than the ability to multiply your money and never have to rely on a sole source of income.
It is quite simply a foundational piece of knowledge that can change lives and alter the course of generations.
For me, I’m just at the beginning of that journey.
As I said earlier, I started with $2500 set aside in my trading account.
Today — five and a half months after I’ve started — my $2,500 has turned into $6,377.
That’s more than 2½ times what I started with.
I must be clear: Individual trades have lost money. This is not magic and there is no 100% win rate.
But overall, I have not lost any money. I have never dipped into the red. I have never had to add more money to my account.
Even as I type that, it’s hard for me to believe how insanely successful my trading experience has been. (I’ve gone back to my very meticulously-kept spreadsheet at least a dozen times while I write this to check)
After growing up with a lifetime of messages about the stock market being dangerous…
With jokes like, “The best way to make a small fortune in the stock market is to start with a large fortune.”
It’s hard to believe that I — as a complete newbie and without any particular stock picking skill — can sit here and honestly tell you that 2022 has been a wildly successful trading year for me.
This is a year that we will look back at through history books because of the length and depth of its bear market and yet I’ve managed to multiply my money during that exact same time.
I feel secure in a way I never have before.
And I owe it all to Don and what he has taught me.
I hate to make a gambling analogy, because what Don does is the furthest thing from betting your hard-earned money on a roll of the dice…
But I find myself thinking “It’s all house money now”
By that, I mean that my initial investment has grown enough that I could pull it out if I wanted to and still have a chunk of cash that I can continue growing.
And I’m so grateful, because I’ve heard such horror stories about people just starting to get into the market. Learning a pattern here… or a chart technique there… or following a random guy’s “sure thing” stock tip… And quickly ending up in the negative — especially as beginners.
I am reminded of a comment that Mary, a member of Don’s, recently posted in our Telegram channel:
“It feels like magic that my account is moving up today as the general market moves down.”
When I read Mary’s words, I just had to smile… Because they perfectly explained my feelings.
But beyond just being true…
They were true at a time when so many other people were watching their accounts shrink away.
Don’s teachings have guided me through a historic bear market in a way that left me looking like a hero.
And when I reflect on it, there are really 5 key lessons I can draw from what I've just told you:
- Take Action - I get it, life is hard. Things happen a mile a minute. But life passes you by. It wasn’t long ago that I was 24 and soon 64 will be here. Take action on the things that are important to you (and ruthlessly cut out the unimportant things.)
- Put in the work & invest in yourself - Nothing worthwhile comes easy. Respect yourself, your future and your goals enough to invest a reasonable amount of time and capital into the tools and education to get you where you want to go.
- Set your limits - Everything in life is a limited resource, whether it’s time or money or attention. It’s important to apply your resources in the places where they can have the most impact towards your goals. For some, trading might “click” like it did for me. But for others, it might be an uphill battle. Set reasonable limits for yourself so you give yourself the best chance of success, without completely depleting yourself.
- Have a lot of “at bats” - While Don gave me the term “at bats”, one thing I’ve always been a fan of is taking calculated risks. As long as something is not “fatal”, and there’s a reasonable chance of a good payoff, it’s worth trying. The danger comes if you overextend yourself. (see previous bullet)
- Keeping your emotions in check & the power of an expert guide - As I stated before, it’s easy to think that “psychology” is fluff… filler… unimportant. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. When the rubber meets the road, that’s where you find out what you’re made of. Learning to keep your emotions in check — and having an expert who has “seen it all before” is worth its weight in gold.
Now, I think it’s important for you to know: I’m a fairly private person.
So it’s rare for me to put myself out there in a public place and shout from the rooftops about something…
But this experience of the last 6 months has moved me so much…
And been so utterly transformative for me that I can’t help but burst at the seams to share it.
I’ve shared it with people in my own life and now I feel privileged to share it with you.
But don’t let it stop there. This can be your story, too.
That’s why — if trading is as important a goal to you as it is to me — I recommend taking the next step and filling out an application to trade along with Don.
There is no obligation. It’s simply the first concrete step you can take towards getting in touch with one of the Education Advisors on Don’s team.
These helpful folks will be glad to speak with you and help you figure out if Don’s coaching program is right for you.
I often think about how much has changed for me since May 6th.
I think about what if I had just taken another day to procrastinate… If I hadn’t taken action to place my first trade that Friday morning.
Financially, my life has not changed very much. Despite the money I have made, it is not a life-changing sum.
But in other respects, everything is completely different.
I have a new skill under my belt.
I have a newfound confidence around trading the markets.
And probably most important:
I’ve changed my mindset completely to open my eyes to all the societal programming that tells us it’s impossible to make money in the stock market.
I wish these same realizations for you.
And you can start by speaking to one of Don’s Education Advisors today. Just fill out an application now. It’ll take less than 5 minutes.
You can take that first step now — and it could change everything.
— D.A. Gutierrez
October 2022 *The profits and performance shown are not typical, we make no future earnings claims, and you may lose money. Based on historical backtested data. Not indicative of any future results. Trade at your own risk. 
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