This week on the podcast, I spoke with Tom Sosnoff, who many of you will already know—he’s pretty close to a household name name in this industry. But if you don’t…
Tom was a floor trader at the CBOE for 20 years, later going on to co-found thinkorswim—a widely popular online brokerage. In 2009, thinkorswim was sold to TD Ameritrade for approximately $606M, and Tom left the company shortly after to start financial news show, tastytrade.
In this episode we hit on; the issue with being too risk adverse in markets and in life, Tom’s extensive trading career, plenty of talk about options, the value of intellectually challenging ourselves (with respect to finance), and more.
Lessons learned in this interview:
- Why Tom feels as though too many people are too risk adverse, why it’s an issue that more don’t “roll the dice,” and what seperates good risk from carelessness.
- Tom shares highlights from Druxel Burnham, two decades as a trader on the CBOE floor, and major realizations that permanently affected his trading style.
- The top reasons why Tom prefers options above other financial products, and the truth about popular misconceptions people have about trading options.
- Tom explains the key elements which are crucial for successful options trading, and how the Law of Large Numbers plays into his strategy—with a fitting analogy.
- Tips for those who desire to trade for a living, plus Tom gives his take on trading psychology and why the majority of people aren’t financially successful.
“I couldn’t outsmart everybody, so I tried to outwork everybody.”
Links and resources mentioned:
- Chat With T-shirts & Hoodies – For a limited time only, you can get your hands on fine-quality Chat With Traders apparel. Two prints, available until 2nd September.
- TEDx Talk: Passive Investing Is Broken – Follow this link to watch Tom’s TEDx Talk, which he delivered at an event in Chicago, 2015. Running time: 17 minutes.
- tastytrade.com – Visit the tastytade website to learn more about Tom, and stream countless hours of well-organized educational material for options traders.
- Where Do I Start? – Watch the first season of WDIS, where Tom teaches his daughter, Case Sosnoff, how to become a profitable options trader.
- @tastytrade – While Tom’s not an active Twitter user, you can follow tastytrade.
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