In this episode of the Learn to Swing Trade the Stock Market podcast, we explore how to profit from Bitcoin without the need to buy or store cryptocurrency. Discover everything you need to know about Bitcoin ETFs, including: 📈 What is a Bitcoin ETF? 📊 How Spot Bitcoin ETFs work ⚙️ Alternative Bitcoin ETFs and how they track Bitcoin 💰 Understanding Bitcoin ETF fees 🤔 Why invest in a Bitcoin ETF instead of owning Bitcoin directly ✅ How to choose the right Bitcoin ETF for your trading strategy ...
Jan 05, 2025•18 min•Season 2Ep. 54
In this episode of the Learn to Swing Trade the Stock Market podcast, we dive into one of traders' most critical decisions: when to exit a losing trade before it hits your pre-determined stop loss. While stop losses are an essential tool for managing risk, there are times when leaving a trade early can protect your capital and save you from unnecessary losses. Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode: Market Conditions : How to assess overall market health, including market breadth and advancing...
Dec 15, 2024•16 min•Season 1Ep. 48
In this episode of Learn to Swing Trade the Stock Market , Brian Montes breaks down the critical concept of risk-on vs. risk-off markets and how understanding this dynamic can improve your swing trading results. Whether you're a new trader or looking to refine your strategy, this episode equips you with actionable insights to help you evaluate market sentiment and align your trades with broader trends. Key Topics Covered: What do "risk-on" and "risk-off" mean in the stock market? Why underst...
Dec 07, 2024•14 min•Season 1Ep. 45
In this episode, we examine one of the most powerful bullish chart patterns in technical analysis—the long-term cup and handle pattern —using a real-world example from Home Depot ($HD). Over the past three years, $HD has formed a textbook cup and handle, presenting a potential trading opportunity. Whether you're a swing trader or a long-term investor, this episode will give you actionable insights to approach similar setups confidently. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: What is a Cup and Handle...
Nov 25, 2024•10 min•Season 1Ep. 44
In this episode of Learn to Swing Trade the Stock Market, we tackle every trader's critical question: How do you identify an A+ swing trade setup? Brian Montes breaks down six actionable criteria in this episode to help you zero in on high-probability trades. Whether you’re a beginner or looking to refine your strategy, this episode provides the tools to improve your trading results. Key Takeaways: **Trend Alignment:** Why trading in the direction of the prevailing trend is non-negotiable for A+...
Nov 21, 2024•11 min•Season 1Ep. 43
In this episode of Learn to Swing Trade the Stock Market , Brian explores what swing traders need to know about navigating the stock market under a Trump administration. While we’re not making any political statements, it’s clear that markets respond differently to various administrations, and swing traders should be prepared for potential changes. Tune in as we break down the three critical factors you must watch: market volatility , sector-specific trends , and the interest rate and inflation ...
Nov 11, 2024•21 min•Season 1Ep. 42
In this episode of Learn to Swing Trade the Stock Market , we explore a crucial topic for new and experienced swing traders alike: understanding and overcoming bias in trading. Brian Montes explains the different types of biases—from confirmation bias and recency bias to overconfidence and loss aversion—and how these mental tendencies can cloud judgment and lead to costly mistakes. Discover practical strategies to identify and manage these biases, including maintaining a trading journal, setting...
Nov 07, 2024•18 min•Season 1Ep. 41
In this episode, Brian Montes discusses the Anchored Volume Profile, a powerful tool for swing traders that provides insights into buying and selling activity at specific price levels. He explains how this indicator can identify support and resistance zones, evaluate breakouts, and set stop losses and profit targets. The episode also covers best practices for using the Anchored Volume Profile effectively and common pitfalls to avoid. We hope you like this episode. Please leave us a review and yo...
Oct 28, 2024•16 min•Season 1Ep. 40
In this episode, Brian Montes discusses the call-put ratio and its significance for swing traders. He explains the basics of call-and-put options and how to use the call-put ratio to gauge market sentiment, spot extremes, and confirm other indicators. He also highlights the pitfalls of relying solely on the call-put ratio and emphasizes the importance of risk management and combining it with different trading strategies. Do you have a question or topic you want discussed on the podcast? Email Br...
Oct 19, 2024•14 min•Season 1Ep. 39
In this episode, Brian Montes introduces the concept of Anchored VWAP, a powerful tool for swing traders. He explains the fundamentals of VWAP, its significance in trading, and how the Anchored VWAP differs by allowing traders to select specific points in time for analysis. The discussion covers the practical applications of Anchored VWAP in identifying trade setups, its role as a dynamic support and resistance line, and the importance of integrating it with other indicators for practical tradin...
Oct 11, 2024•11 min•Season 1Ep. 38
In this episode, Brian Montes emphasizes the importance of defining your 'why' before embarking on a swing trading journey. He discusses the significance of clear motivations, setting short-term and long-term goals, and managing emotions throughout the trading process. The conversation highlights that trading is a skill that requires dedication, patience, and emotional resilience and encourages listeners to reflect on their motivations and goals to prepare for the challenges ahead. In this episo...
Oct 04, 2024•10 min•Season 1Ep. 37
In this episode, Brian Montes discusses the Advanced Decline Line (AD line), a crucial market breadth indicator for swing traders. He explains how to read and utilize the AD line to assess market health, confirm trends, and improve trading strategies. The conversation covers the significance of the AD line in identifying market direction, spotting divergences, confirming breakouts, and avoiding false signals. Brian emphasizes the importance of understanding market dynamics and encourages traders...
Oct 01, 2024•16 min•Season 1Ep. 36
In this episode of the Learn to Swing Trade the Stock Market podcast, host Brian Montes discusses the common temptation among traders to focus on their profit and loss (P&L) rather than the trading process and risk management. He emphasizes the importance of concentrating on the trade itself, outlining three key reasons why focusing on P&L can undermine decision-making, distort risk perception, and drain emotional capital. Brian provides actionable strategies for managing P&L focus a...
Sep 21, 2024•15 min•Season 1Ep. 35
In this episode, Brian discusses the Average Daily Range. (ADR), a crucial concept for swing traders. He explains what ADR is, how it is calculated , and its significance in swing trading strategies. This episode covers how ADR can help traders set realistic price targets, manage risk, and improve timing for entries and exits. What you will learn in this episode: ADR measures the average daily movement of a stock’s price over a set number of days. Understanding ADR helps set realistic profit...
Sep 14, 2024•17 min•Season 1Ep. 34
In this episode, Brian discusses how seasonality can impact the stock market. Seasonality refers to recurring patterns or trends that appear at specific times of the year, just like seasons in nature. Brian emphasizes that while seasonality can provide insights into potential market movements, it should not be the sole factor in making trading decisions. He highlights key seasonal trends such as the January effect, sell in May and Go Away, Back to School and the infamous Santa Claus rally. Brian...
Sep 07, 2024•22 min•Season 1Ep. 33
In this episode, Brian discusses the importance of understanding support and resistance in technical analysis for swing trading. Support is the price level where a stock tends to stop falling and bounce back up. Resistance is a price level where a stock tends to stop rising and pull back. Mastering support and resistance is crucial for reading charts and making informed trading decisions. As you listen to this episode you will learn different methods to identify support and resistance, including...
Aug 31, 2024•21 min•Season 1Ep. 32
In this episode, Brian discusses divergences in technical analysis and how they can be used to make more informed trading decisions. He explains that divergences occur when the price of an asset moves in the opposite direction of a technical indicator, signaling a potential reversal in the trend. He focuses on two types of divergences; a bullish divergence and bearish divergence. Bullish divergence occurs when the price makes lower lows, but the indicator makes higher lows., indicating a potenti...
Aug 23, 2024•12 min•Season 1Ep. 31
In this episode, Brian discusses the importance of volume in trading and how it can enhance trading strategies. He explains what volume is and why it is important, as well as three ways to measure volume. Brian also explores how volume can be used as a confirming indicator, to identify price reversals, and to time trades. He highlights various volume indicators and tools that can be used by swing traders. Incorporating volume analysis into trading strategies can lead to more informed profitable ...
Aug 17, 2024•13 min•Season 1Ep. 30
In this episode Brian provides a high level overview of the different types of orders available to traders. Learn how to protect your profits, manage risk and avoid the common pitfalls with the different type of orders available to traders. Learn the difference between - 1. Market orders 2. Limit orders 3. Stop on quote 4. Stop limit on quote 5. Trailing stop % 6. Trailing stop $ 7. Conditional Order OCO 8. One triggers OCO If you found this episode helpful, be sure to subscribe to the podcast a...
Aug 11, 2024•22 min•Season 1Ep. 29
In this episode, Brian discusses the importance of using different chart timeframes in swing trading. He explains that different timeframes provide different perspectives, with shorter timeframes offering a more granular look and longer timeframes showing broader trends. Daily charts are commonly used by swing traders to identify short term trends and identify entry and exit points. Weekly charts offer a broader perspective and help confirm (or deny) the trends seen on daily charts. Monthly char...
Aug 04, 2024•13 min•Season 1Ep. 28
In this episode, Brian Montes discusses revenge trading and its harmful effects on traders. Revenge trading occurs when traders let their emotions, such as frustration and anger, dictate their trading decisions after a significant loss. This type of emotional decision-making leads to poor trade exits, increased risk, loss of discipline, and a cycle of losses. To avoid revenge trading, traders should recognize their emotional triggers, stick to their trading plan, take breaks when feeling overwhe...
Jul 25, 2024•14 min•Season 1Ep. 27
In this episode, Brian Montes emphasizes the importance of risk management in swing trading. He explains that risk management is essential for preventing portfolio blow-ups and defines a trader's success. He warns against becoming complacent during bull markets and highlights the unpredictability of the market. Brian discusses how emotions can negatively impact trading decisions and emphasizes the need for rational decision-making based on strategy. He provides principles for effective risk mana...
Jul 18, 2024•14 min•Season 1Ep. 26
In this episode, Brian Montes discusses the difference between institutional investors and retail traders in the stock market. He explains that institutional investors are entities like mutual funds and pension funds that manage large sums of money. At the same time, retail traders are individual investors who buy and sell securities for their accounts. The key differences between the two are the size and scale of investments, access to information, trading strategies and goals, market impact, a...
Jul 10, 2024•17 min•Season 1Ep. 25
In this episode, Brian Montes discusses two essential tools for trading: the VIX and the 10-year Treasury yield. He explains how these indicators can provide insights into market sentiment and economic conditions. The VIX, also known as the fear gauge, measures market volatility and investor sentiment. A high VIX indicates increased fear and uncertainty, often leading to a decline in stock prices. On the other hand, a low VIX suggests a favorable environment for entering new trades. The 10-year ...
Jul 04, 2024•12 min•Season 1Ep. 24
In this episode, Brian Montes discusses the importance of patience in swing trading and the dangers of chasing trades. He emphasizes the value of waiting for the proper setup and not entering a trade before the chart has been set up. Brian also highlights the significance of cash as a position, especially in choppy or bear markets. He advises traders to sit on the sidelines if they are uncomfortable with the market conditions. He concludes by emphasizing the need to exercise patience, avoid chas...
Jun 17, 2024•17 min•Season 1Ep. 23
In this episode, Brian Montes discusses the importance of setting technical stop losses when swing trading the stock market. He emphasizes that stop losses should be based on the chart and not arbitrary numbers. He explains that stop losses are meant to indicate when a trading idea is incorrect, even if the trade setup seemed perfect. Brian advises against using mental stop losses and recommends setting stop losses in the brokerage account to avoid missing them. He also suggests using support an...
Jun 09, 2024•17 min•Ep. 22
In this episode, Brian Montes discusses the concept of market breadth and how swing traders can use it to manage risk and make informed trading decisions. Market breadth is an indicator that helps traders gauge the overall health of the stock market, particularly on an intraday basis. By analyzing the number of advancing and declining stocks, traders can determine the strength or weakness of the market and make decisions on profit-taking and stop-loss management. The breadth ratio, calculated by...
Jun 01, 2024•10 min•Season 1Ep. 21
In this episode, Brian Montes discusses the concept of beta and its impact on swing trading. Beta measures a stock's volatility relative to the overall market performance. A beta of 1 indicates that the stock moves in line with the market, while a beta greater than 1 means the stock is more volatile than the market. Beta can help swing traders determine the risk level of their trades and optimize their trading positions. Stocks with a lower beta are less volatile and may be suitable for less ris...
May 25, 2024•11 min•Season 1Ep. 20
In this episode, Brian Montes discusses the hazards of trading or holding stocks just before earnings announcements. He emphasizes that as a swing trader, it is important to not hold over earnings due to the uncertainty of how the stock will react and the potential for large drawdowns. Brian provides examples of recent earnings reports from companies like Meta, Disney, and Plantair where despite solid results, the stock prices dropped significantly. He highlights the importance of being aware of...
May 15, 2024•16 min•Season 1Ep. 19
In this episode, Brian Montes discusses the idea of quitting a full-time job to become a full-time trader. He highlights the misleading information about the ease of trading and emphasizes the importance of understanding that trading is a journey that takes time and experience. Brian provides several reasons why quitting a job to trade full-time may not be the best move, including financial instability, lack of experience, emotional stress, insufficient capital, limited diversification, regulato...
May 12, 2024•16 min•Season 1Ep. 18
