Chat with Super Traders – Steve Burns

 

Q: You started investing in 1993, can you walk us through your journey?

A: I started as an investor in tech mutual funds in 1993 and my focus was on being long the tech sector and growth stocks as I thought that is where the capital gains would be. I was right and had beginners’ luck and did very well compounding capital up until March 2000 when that stopped working. I began actively trading after that and learned the valuable lesson about having an exit strategy to lock in profits and risk management.

I began developing strategies to trade trends and had another great run up compounding capital and locked in my 2003-2007 profits in January of 2008 and was even positive in 2008.

From 2009-2020 I focused on developing quantified trading signals to create big wins and small losses and continued to trade my system and grow my capital.

I enjoyed the game of learning to trade the stock market and my trading lead to my financial independence.

Q:  – What is your Trading Style and how has it evolved over the years ? Have you made any changes to it or is it the same which you started with ?

A: It has been a continual evolution of me as a trader and my trading system. I was more aggressive and took on more risk when I was younger, and my accounts were smaller but needed less risk to achieve the same dollar returns in later years. I have focused more on keeping what I have than trying to press bigger risks for big returns.

I have gone from a tech sector investor, to a trend trader, I tried and disliked day trading, I traded options,  and now really enjoy swing trading in recent years.

 

Q: You are author of some best selling books ( My favourite is  “ New Trader Rich Trader” ). What inspired you to write these books and which one is your personal favourite ?

A: I wanted to create the trading book I wish I had when I started that would short cut the learning curve for other new traders. It was a book I felt I just had to write and release. That is one of my favorite books ever to write. I also really enjoyed writing my newest book ‘The Working Dead’ and have received great feedback on it as well. 

 

Q: Can you tell us a bit about your latest book “The Working Dead”?

A: The ‘The Working Dead’ is a manifesto that tries to open the eyes of employees and show them how to create wealth for their self. It is a step by step starter guide on escaping the cycle of consumer debt and being trapped in the corporate grind of working a job you dislike making someone else rich with no other options.

 

Q: In this book, you have talked about “ Low stress finances and financial freedom “ , Can you briefly explain what do you mean by these and why are these topics important  for everyone ?

A: Low stress finances are where you do not have to worry about having the money to pay your bills every month. You have removed financial stress from your life through having plenty of capital on hand and cash flowing assets and your bills and debt are minimal. You may not have enough money to do nothing for the rest of your life but you have enough to choose to do only what you want to do.

Financial freedom is when you have enough money to do whatever you want to do. You control the allocation of your own time and energy. You have the freedom to only work on things you love to do.

 

Q: Can you give some tips to New Traders ? what should they focus on in the early stages of their trading career ?

A: A new trader should never put real money at risk until they have a quantified trading system with an edge that fits their own risk tolerance and return goals. Then they must trade it with discipline and the right risk management consistently over a long period of time if they want a chance to make money.

Random trades, opinions, predictions, big position sizing, emotions, and ego lead eventually to financial and mental ruin.

 

Q: What is your daily routine like ? How often do you monitor your portfolio ?

A: I use end of day signals so my work in trading is done in backtesting, system creation, and the last 30 minutes of the trading day.

I look at the futures at night just out of curiosity to see what they are doing.

I look at my positions in the pre-market in the morning to ensure nothing dramatic has happened to trigger one of my rare emergencies stops.

I look at my positions in the last 30 minutes of stock market trading to see if any of my stop losses or trailing stops are triggered. I also look at my full watchlist to see if any new entry signals are triggered to buy a new position.

I only go in my brokerage accounts to make trades I usually only look at my trading P&L when it is near all-time highs, there is a huge market gap up, and at the end of the month.

I monitor all time highs in stocks, 52-week highs, and the Investor’s Business Daily Big Cap 20 for new stock ideas to backtest and put on my watchlist.