QUESTION – Thank you for taking the time to participate in the Q & A session. Would you like to share with everyone who you are, your background (current and previous career, education, etc).
Answer: Thank you for having me on, My name is Eric most in the Microefutures.com room just call me “E”. Living in the forgotten borough aka Staten Island, NY. In terms of careers, I feel I have done it all from being a private life guard, Helping run a Bounce House company, Delivering pizza (still doing currently), working with contractors on home repair, to now working in Quality Assurance testing software. I graduated Pennsylvania State University in 2013 with a Major in Business Management and minor in Information Technology and was lucky enough to land the position I am in currently fresh out of college.
QUESTION – For our readers who may not know, you are the so called “Captain” of the Mansion Room at Microefutures.com / EquitiesETC.com Trading room. Care to explain what exactly that is – and what is the concept of the Mansion Room in this trading community?
Answer: I am honored the Mansion room considers me the “Captain” although I do not consider myself a captain at all lol. The Mansion Room was created off an idea from a previous BYT interviewee Matthew Mickey. When Mickey joined Microefutures.com he came with an open mind and ready to absorb every detail that was given to him. We had many one on one conversations and said we should do something where after the true Captain of our Room JJ (vwaptrader1) finishes his morning session at 11am est were traders can still watch these funky charts known as TPOs. I was all for it and soon after the Mansion room was created.
The Mansion room is an open discussion and self moderated room that is used within the Microefutures discord channel. It is open to all users where we stream live Market Profile charts on ES, NQ, and discuss what we are seeing in the market throughout the day. As most users may not have the ability to watch TPO or may feel lost after JJ finishes in the morning. I stream in the Mansion Room and talk about what I am seeing happening with terms of inventory and price action. I do tell everyone in there I never worked on a trade desk or within Wall Street I am just hear to reiterate everything JJ has taught us.The room however is open to anyone who wants to stream and it does not have to rely on me I think they get a kick out of my heavy New York Accent. I have even had some say they are understanding and retaining more of what JJ teaches by watching the streams in the Mansion room.
QUESTION – How long have you been trading. And are you more of a day trader, swing trader or longer term investor? What have been your biggest challenges to date?
Answer: I started my trade journey back in late 2016, I was sitting at my desk in Jersey city when a colleague of mine walked by and said have you heard about this bitcoin it’s really on a move. I replied no I never heard of it and he started to show me and tell me. So I began doing research and watched videos of candle patterns and everyday we would step out and talk about these crypto coins and try to make a few bucks flipping them. We would step out and grab a coffee and a smoke and he would go did you see Coin “NEO” and I would reply with na man check this one “TRX”. We did this for a couple of months then Dec 2017 Bitcoins big drop. Was completely wiped of all profits I made because I was chasing the rush of winning. He later left our company and haven’t talked to him since he lives in Cali. A few years passed and I was thinking to myself man there has to be another way to build a secondary income as I just started dating my now fiancée and thought if I could get back to making a few extra dollars it would be nice to put away. The year was 2018 and that is when I found option trading thanks to YouTube and google algorithms. Having the addictive personality I figured I would dive right in and see what it was all about. I saw that I can use the same candlestick patterns I studied in crypto and use them on stocks but didn’t need a whole lot of cash to get started. I was back in the market but this time instead of coins it was calls and puts. As I continued this journey I stumbled upon JJ on twitter and was so intrigued by these Market Profile charts that I dove in and he told me its the futures market and what it is all about which brings me to where I am now trading ES, NQ, and now learning the bonds. Haven’t traded crypto since that drop in 2017 and now rarely dabble in Options.
I consider myself a scalper/day trader, I want to be in and out I am not a big fish so definitely don’t want to be swallowed by one. A quote from a YouTube video I stumbled upon once was showing how traders traded on the floor went like this “That position you are trading right now I flipped it twice, 3 times, maybe 10 times without you even knowing it happened” Thats how I trade in/out on to the next.
Some of the bigger challenges I face is trying to overthink the market, as we discuss in the mansion the market is very simple concept of supply and demand and when trading it I tend to lose sight of that concept by thinking “okay what if this happens?” or “what if that happens?”. The over complicating a simple task is what has been my biggest challenge
QUESTION– What personal or professional failure/setback have you experienced in trading AND your life that has set you up for later success?
Answer:
My biggest setbacks have always been chasing the high when in profit. I have been getting better thanks to the room and the coaching that Microefutures provides for us. When I am trading the movie quote from Top Gun sticks with me always. The line when goose goes to maverick “Every time we go up there, it’s like you’re flying with a ghost.” I keep that quote written down as a way to say don’t chase the high. If we chase the high then that’s where the overtrading and revenge trading steps in and clouds judgement and miss solid entries.
QUESTION : This is becoming a favorite question for many – plus readers get some good gift ideas from it. What purchase of less than $100 have you made in the past year that you simply could not live without now?
Answer: This is a great question and the one thing I bought myself last year was a simple exercise mat and few dumbbells. When the pandemic hit I felt trapped inside our 1 bedroom apartment, my morning routine was thrown off since we couldn’t go to the gym or anywhere. So in the winter months we bought a simple yoga mat and some dumbbells just to stay active. I feel when I lift or exercise before the day starts my mind is clear and in the right place.
QUESTION – If you could choose three dinner guests dead or alive, who would they be and why?
Answer: 3 Dinner guests that I would love to sit down with. First would be JJ (vwaptrader1) just to meet the gorilla of house street. He has helped me so much in becoming the trader I am today. My second guest would be Jesse Livermore, after reading the book “Reminiscences of a Stock Operator” multiple times I would love to have a conversation with him and see how trading was done before computers. (Maybe bring my laptop and have him watch some globex tape with us). My last dinner guest would be Mark Cuban, After watching his interview with JJ and Ray on “Confessions of a Market Maker” he just seems like a great guy to hang out with and learn from his experiences.
QUESTION – What are your trading goals – Do you always want to trade or branch out into other directions in your life?
Answer: My trading goal is to always trade but do it to my leisure. As of right now I trade as a way to make another income, down the road I want to look into more passive strategies that way I don’t need to be actively sitting at the screen to make profit.
QUESTION – What advice would you give to your younger self and to someone just coming out of school (college or high school)
Answer: Always be humble, whether it’s in business, the market, or just in everyday life. Because the minute you think you are better than someone else is the minute you will be humbled.
QUESTION – We hear you are getting married. When, where and do you feel your full time work and trading schedule will be impacted (how will you balance is the question all)
Answer: Yes I am getting married in August, we are very excited and can not wait. As far as balance after the honeymoon of course I don’t feel their will be a big impact as my fiancée works in a school, and since the pandemic I have not been back in my office so the balance should remain the same way it has been *knock on wood* will have to wait and see when I do return to the office.
QUESTION – If you could have a big billboard with your favorite saying or message on it, what would it be? And where can our readers find you on social media? Thank you for taking the time with this interview, is there anything else you like to share with our audience?
Answer: A saying that I try to live by is “Life every day to the fullest, tomorrow is never promised.” Thank you for having me as a guest. For those wanting to follow me on social media you can find me on twitter @_Eric24 and instagram e_herrmann24
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