245 · The Mind of a Tape Reading Contrarian Trader w/ Jason Shapiro

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Jason Shapiro has been a trader for 30 years and was interviewed in the Unknown Market Wizards book by Jack Schwager.  From early on Jason was a rebel who avoided group think and sought out contrarian trading opportunities in overhyped, or deeply oversold stocks and commodities. 

Blessed by early trading successes, Jason retired to a beach in Thailand in the late 90’s and traded his account full time only to experience tragedy less than a year later.  The painful lessons he learned drove him to give up his opinions about markets and instead listen to what the market is saying by becoming a great market tape reader.

You’ll hear how Jason finds great trading opportunities through a combination of weekly trader reports, media commentary and news events to put on his contrarian trades.

Disclaimer

Trading in the financial markets involves a risk of loss. Podcast episodes and other content produced by Chat With Traders are for informational or educational purposes only and do not constitute trading or investment recommendations or advice.

Topics & Timestamps

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  • 00:00 Intro
  • 03:00 Jason’s background and early lessons learned
  • 10:23 Players involved (Dumb and Smart money)
  • 12:40 Media as a good contrarian indicator?
  • 16:15 Professional money managers as a good contrarian indicator?
  • 18:42 Publications which help in finding contrarian opportunities: 
  • 19:38 Looking at the COT report
  • 27:38 Stock analysts as a good contrarian indicator?
  • 28:38 Put/Call ratios, Short interest levels, Surveys
  • 29:45 Looking at P/E ratios, P/S ratios 
  • 31:50 Timing of when to make a trade
  • 34:31 Importance of news releases
  • 37:19 Importance of uncorrelated plays
  • 38:26 How often Jason gets stopped out
  • 39:22 Stock alternatives to increase gain
  • 41:13 How Jason exits positions
  • 44:12 Counter participation approach
  • 45:14 Systemizing a CTA fund & return degradation
  • 48:25 Giving back to the community
  • 49:55 Advice to traders: 
  • 51:40 How to contact Jason

Jason Shapiro

Links & Resources