Spartan Trades

Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

Spartan Trades Presents:

The Masterclass Series: Series 1

Disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor and this guide does not serve as advice on which stocks to buy or sell.
Neither Spartan Trades, LLC, nor I will not be held accountable or responsible for losses incurred on equities that
you so choose to purchase. Understand that trading comes with risk and you must be prepared to assume that risk
on your own accord. All information provided in this guide is derived from personal experience and in-depth
research. Additionally, any resources noted in this guide (ex. books, discord groups, YouTube channels, podcasts) I
am not an affiliate with and do not receive income for mentioning. They’re for your aid. With that being said, let's
lay out some guidelines before getting started.

This guide is for educational purposes only. Nothing written here is to be taken as financial advice.

• First off, ANYTHING can happen in the market.

• Nothing is for certain and you do not need to be a fortune teller to be able to make
money.
• EVERY trade is unique. Just because something happened in one trade, does not mean it
will happen in the next trade.
• Find and trade with your edge. We will define your edge for you later on in the series.

1
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

Table of Contents

1. How to Start
2. Trading Terminology
3. Paper Trading
4. The PDT Rule
5. How Much Money Do I Need?
6. What is a Penny Stock?
7. What is a Large Cap Stock?
8. Support / Resistance
9. How to Find a Winning Stock
10. Money Management
11. What Style of Trader Are You?
12. Trading Journal
13. Consistency
14. Rules for Trading
15. Market Hours
16. What’s Next?
17. Practice
18. Contact Info

2
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

How to Start
Trading is NOT easy. There is a plethora of information and gurus out there that claim
they can make you into a millionaire overnight. This just simply isn’t true. While some can help
you and provide strategies for success, I have found that the best way to learn trading is to
develop yourself. No one will do it for you, and it requires a lot of time, especially in the beginning
as the learning curve is fairly large. So, I encourage you to become obsessed with this. LEARN
LEARN LEARN. Treat trading as a business not as a hobby. In this guide, I will streamline some of
the scattered information into one place so that you have an idea of where to begin. If there is
anything in this guide that you do not understand, please take the initiative to look it up on your
own or contact me, as I am here to help.

YouTube. YouTube is your best friend. Do your research. When I first started, I would
watch all types of videos on trading. Anything I didn't understand I would go look it up in another
place and then come back to the video once I understood what they were going on about. Here
is a link to our YouTube channel. I highly suggest watching all of our videos as well.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCr-bjyGLPu_8dQZaMYiQieQ?view_as=subscriber

Stop wasting time. If you want to learn how to trade, you must eliminate distractions and
time wasters. Instead of listening to music in the car, listen to podcasts on trading. “Chat with
Traders” is one I would recommend or “Beyond the PDT”.

Go to the library and check out books on trading. Buy books on trading. Read instead of
watching TV or playing video games. This is a business remember? If you put in more time than

3
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

the next person, then that means you are just one more step ahead of them in getting in the
trade. “How to Daytrade for a Living” by Andrew Aziz. “How to Swing Trade” by Brian Pezim.

Pick a trading platform that offers paper trading and use it to practice. TDAmeritrade
offers a free platform called ThinkOrSwim. This is the platform I do my charting on and you will
see it below. It encompasses an “On Demand” feature that allows you to replay any day in the
stock market at any time. PRACTICE taking entries and exits using this feature. They also offer a
paper trading feature where you can use fake money to develop your skills. I recommend that
you paper trade until you are consistently profitable before switching over to live trading. We
will talk about this later in the guide.

Join a community. Download the app Discord and join trading rooms. Read the discord
chats. Find out which stocks people are mentioning, what's hot, what news is coming out and is
relevant to the time. Ask questions. You will always have experienced traders in these rooms
who are more than willing to help you out.

This all sounds like a lot, right? Can it be overwhelming? Yes… But you’ve got this. You
don't have to do all of this all of the time but the more that you're engaged, the more you will
learn and the faster you will become the trader you wish to be. If you grind for 3 months using
the information I have provided above, I mean truly set your mind to this, cut out distractions,
and APPLY YOURSELF you will be amazed at what you can accomplish.

4
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

Trading Terminology
HERE is a list of the most commonly used acronyms and terms in the trading community. You
do not need to study this right now, but as you read you will come across these terms and
acronyms. I have provided this list as a reference so that you may come back to a definition if
you see a word or phrase that you do not understand.

AH - After Hours – This is the time after the market closes

Bag holding - Holding shares of decreasing value in the hope that they will rebound or reverse
downward trend

Beat - Meaning that a stock has beaten earnings report expectations

Bearish – A stock is in a downtrend and is falling in price or believed to be falling in price

Bullish – A stock is in an uptrend and is moving upwards or believed to be moving upwards

Blown Up – When an account value has reached $0 because the trader did not follow proper
money management skills.

Catalyst - is an event that causes the price of a security to move, sometimes significantly.
Examples of stock catalysts are: Company earnings releases. Investor/Analyst Days. Analyst
revisions. News or a press release.

Channeling - When a stock continues to fluctuate through a particular set of price ranges on a
fairly consistent basis. Good for determining when to buy into a stock and when to sell, great
for scalp plays

5
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

Dead Cat Bounce - a temporary recovery in share prices after a substantial fall usually after
earnings

DD - Due Diligence (basically research and evaluation)

EMA - Exponential Moving Average - a type of moving average indicator frequently used in
technical analysis

EOD - End of day

Float - The number of shares actually available for trading to the public.

FOMO - Fear of Missing Out

HOD - High of Day

Hedged – to limit by conditions or exceptions

IPO - 'Initial Public Offering' - is the first time that the stock of a private company is offered to
the public.

Catch a Falling Knife- to buy into a stock that is currently experiencing a drastic fall in price near
the lowest price before it begins to rebound. From the phrase: “One should not try to catch a
falling knife.” This is not something a beginning trader should try.

Liquidity – the degree to which an asset or security can be quickly bought or sold in the market.
The high volume of activity in a market.

LOD - Low of Day

Loading the Boat - Buying more shares of a stock that you already own

Low Float - Relatively small number of shares available for trading. Tend to be more volatile,
meaning they move quickly

6
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

Market Cap – the total value of a company’s shares of stock. Multiply the price of the stock by
its total number of outstanding shares to get the market cap. Example: A company with 20
million shares, selling at $40 a share would have a market cap of $1 billion.

Mental/Mental Stop Loss - a non-literal stop loss that you place in your mind at which point
you are determined to sell your shares of a stock. The point of doing this is to avoid having a
literal stop loss triggered in the event of a sudden drop in ticker price that does not reflect the
general trendline.

NHOD - New High of Day

Offering - The issue or sale of a security by a company

PDT - Pattern Day Trader

PM - Pre-Market - Before the market opens.

PNL – Profits & losses

PT - Price target or Profit Target

Pump/Pumper/Pump&Dump - Artificially inflating the price of an owned stock through false

and misleading positive statements, in order to sell the cheaply purchased stock at a higher
price.

RH - Robinhood app (trading platform)

R/R - Risk to Reward ratio

Run/runner - A stock that drastically gains in value over a short period of time

Scale/Scale out - To sell a portion of your shares but not all of them at once

Scanner – This scans for stocks within any given criteria.

7
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

SMA – Simple moving average. A technical indicator for determining if an asset price will
continue. Same as the EMA the only difference being movement sensitivity.

Spread - The difference between the bid and the ask price on a stock.

Squeeze - When short sellers are forced to buy back their shares due to increased buying
pressure

Sympathy - When a stock gains value due to another stock that is associated with it also gaining
value. Sympathy can be from being in similar sectors, having very similar equity curves, being
based out of the same country, similar legal effects of new laws/restrictions/regulations, etc.

Technical Analysis - a trading discipline employed to evaluate investments and identify trading
opportunities in price trends and patterns seen on charts.

Ticker – This is what we call the stock symbols.

TOS – ThinkorSwim brokerage

VWAP - Volume Weighted Average Price - calculated by taking the price multiplied by number
of shares traded then divided by the total shares traded for the day. This is an indicator used in
technical analysis

WL - Watch list

WW - Worth Watching

YOLO - acronym meaning you only live once. To Yolo a stock is to say screw it, I'm just going to
buy it and hope it goes up despite any catalyst or lack thereof. This is not a sound investment
strategy and should only be attempted for fun with relatively small positions if at all.

8
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

Paper Trading
Paper trading is practice. What it does is allows you to set up an account with a
brokerage, then use their system to trade with fake money. If you have never traded before or
are looking at just getting started, I HIGHLY recommend that you start with paper trading.

We want to protect our hard-earned money, and as a new trader you will lose money.
As an experienced trader, you will lose money. But the amount that you lose can be
substantially reduced if you can learn to trade using a paper account first, then switch over to
funding with real money once you get comfortable.

To begin, go to https://www.tdameritrade.com/tools-and-
platforms/thinkorswim/features.page?a=dym&o=220&CID=pstos&s_kwcid=AL!2521!3!287925895166!e!!g!!thinkorswim&ef_i
d=Cj0KCQiAyKrxBRDHARIsAKCzn8xOgPerw5ZmpXIajCy3fKIp1ZWqWjpjwEO7abOHwZO2c2Azo77qPdUaAjH_EALw_wcB:G:s&s_k
wcid=AL!2521!3!287925895166!e!!g!!thinkorswim&dclid=CjkKEQiAyKrxBRDZ7Kny_cabk78BEiQAfcVxwWQ24naJ4HdRyhOLF9dA

Q1h3mUvTT6m5LwIAHFdnZsrw_wcB and download the program there. This program is called

ThinkorSwim by TDAmeritrade. It is one of my favorite trading platforms, free to download,
offers fantastic charting, offers papertrading, and offers an ONDEMAND feature. The
ONDEMAND feature will allow you to go back in time to ANY trading day even when the market
is not open and allow you to practice trading that day. Go do that now then come back here.

Now that you have downloaded TOS, it is time to familiarize yourself with the program.
You may choose to look at YouTube videos, or call customer support and have them walk you
through the set-up process. Here is a video I have made on how to setup your TOS program.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uW2t07wGyo&t=16s.

Now that you have your program setup, HOLD ON! It is not time to trade yet. We still
have a LOT to cover. Let’s continue.

9
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

The PDT Rule

PDT stands for Pattern Day Trader. It is a rule that limits you to 3 day-trades per 5 days
UNLESS you have $25,000 to fund your account with. This rule is in place to prevent traders
from overtrading and losing all of their money in the beginning. You do not need $25,000 to
trade, but to be able to trade with unlimited restrictions, you will need that money.

What is a day trade? A day trade is the buying and selling of a stock in the same day.
EXAMPLE: Let’s say I want to buy Apple’s stock. Ticker $AAPL. (remember to use the definition
section if you do not understand a word or phrase).

- $AAPL is trading at $200. I buy one share at $200 and sell 3 hours later for $202.
o This is a day trade because I have bought and sold in the same day.

- $AAPL is trading at $200. I buy 2 shares and sell 1 share 3 hours later.
o This is a day trade because I have bought and sold in the same day.

- $AAPL is trading at $200. I buy 1 share, then sell 1 share 5 minutes later. Then decide to
buy another share and sell that share 3 hours later.
o This is 2 day trades because I have bought and sold, then bought and sold again
within the same day.

- $AAPL is trading at $200. I buy 1 share and hold overnight. I sell the share the next
morning.
o This does not count as a day trade because you have bought and sold on
different days.

10
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

- $AAPL is trading at $200. I buy 1 share, then buy another share 5 minutes later. 3 hours
later I decide to sell 2 shares.
o This is 1 day trade, because I have only completed the “buy / sell” cycle once.

- $AAPL is trading at $200. I buy 2 shares and sell 1 share 5 minutes later. Then, 3 hours
later I decide to sell the next share.
o This is 1 day trade because I have bought and sold in the same day.

You see? Once you complete the “buy / sell” cycle in the same day, it counts as a day
trade. So, you can buy buy buy then sell sell sell and it will only count as one day trade provided
that it is the same stock that you are buying. Think of it as a direction, you cannot buy sell buy
sell otherwise that is 2 day trades. You can buy buy buy and sell all at once though and that will
still be one day trade. You can buy then sell sell sell and that is one day trade.

If you violate the PDT rule and day trade 4 times within a 5 day window, TOS will place a
hold on your account where you cannot withdraw your money for 90 days or trade. But they do
understand that this happens on accident. Thankfully, TOS has an awesome customer support
base. Should you break the PDT rule on accident, you may call them and ask for PDT
forgiveness. You are allowed to break the PDT rule on accident 3 times a year and ask for
forgiveness. Should that happen, here is their number for customer support: 1 (800) 669-3900.
I do not recommend breaking the PDT rule on purpose, it is in place for a reason, but should it
happen, you have resources available to you for help.

11
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

How Much Money Do I Need to Start?

Plainly the answer is $0. This is a VERY frequent question that us seasoned traders get asked
and quite frankly we are tired of answering it. If you feel like you have to ask this question, then
your answer is $0. You should be focusing on papertrading and learning. You should be reading
books and developing skillsets. Can you answer the following questions?

1. What is your edge?

2. What is your game plan?
3. What is the current market sentiment? (bearish or bullish)?
4. How much are you willing to risk?

If you cannot answer these questions EVERY TIME you place a trade, then you do not need to
be using real money. Good practice says that you shouldn’t even be placing paper trades if you
cannot answer these questions. Your primary focus needs to be on learning, once you can
answer those questions comfortably, then we can talk about placing trades.

If you feel that you can answer those questions, then my answer to you is to start with what
you can afford to lose. I don’t see an issue with starting with $100 and trying out a strategy for
a bit. As long as you follow proper money management rules, you may start with $100. Because
if you can’t make money with $100, what makes you think you can make money with $1,000, or
$10,000. You see my point?

12
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

What is a Penny Stock?

Simply defined, a penny stock is any stock that is trading for less than $10. Some may
argue that a penny stock is anything less than $5, but for the sake of this guide and for the
direction I am taking you here, a penny stock is anything valued under $10. We DO NOT trade
penny stocks and I would recommend that you stay away from them too.

You may have seen the insane gainers from penny stocks and witnessed how a stock can
run from $2 to $12 overnight. Or even heard of gurus who send out the “hottest penny stock
picks of the week” promising to make you $1000 with investing $100 into penny stocks. Penny
stocks are VERY attractive to newer traders for one main reason. They’re cheap with potential to
yield big profits. There are underlying things here that I will dive into though to show you that
penny stocks are more dangerous than safe. It is more likely that you will lose a lot of money
trading penny stocks as opposed to gaining it.

The term “pump and dump” comes to mind when I think of penny stocks. These stocks
will usually run off of good news for a day or two (the pump), yielding major rewards for those
who were fortunate enough to get in, before coming back down in price (the dump). Some
traders who are bigger in the community that have thousands of followers on apps such as
Stocktwits or Twitter or Facebook, will call out penny stocks that are “hot.” This causes the
followers to BLINDLY buy into a stock that they don’t understand, chasing and pumping the price
up, just to have it all come back down on them when the bigger players in the stock sell (the
dump). Take a look at the following chart for $SAEX:

13
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

14
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

Notice each area I have highlighted with a rectangle box. Each one of those moves was a
“pump” likely due to news. Notice how the candles were printing high, and then each time they
came back down. After each pump the price fell back to normal, or a lower price. Imagine hearing
that $SAEX is up 30% in one day, and you want to get a piece of it. So, you buy in with $100 at
$4.40 / share. You decide to hold overnight and then the next morning you wake up to the dump.
The ticker is down 43% back to $2.50 / share. You have now just lost HALF of your trading capital
in a pump and dump.

Penny stocks are day traded fast. They’re traded off of news and hype. Traders have
scanners that they pay thousands for to catch the news, they have algorithms that buy when a
certain word is mentioned in an article, they have resources that you likely don’t. In addition to
pump and dumps, penny stocks are illiquid. Meaning you likely will not get the price that you are
asking for when buying and selling. This causes a mess when trying to exit with profits, and then
you get filled at a lower exit price, causing your profitable trade to become a losing one.

I may sound like I am bashing penny stocks here; it is because I am. Stay away from them.
There are better things to trade that are less risky. The fact that they are illiquid, traded only
when “hot” for a day or two, and get dumped frequently should be enough for you to know that
they are bad news. Additionally, how can you do any technical analysis on a chart that is
constantly pumped up and down. A good chart should have flow, and rhythm, and waves. Penny
stocks have none of that.

15
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

What is a Large Cap Stock?

These stocks are the “big ones.” They are the names you hear about. Amazon ($AMZN),
Microsoft ($MSFT), Apple ($AAPL), Facebook ($FB) etc. As a rule of thumb, they tend to have a
market cap of at least $10 billion. Refer to the definitions page to see market cap. These are the
tickers that I like to focus on most for a few reasons.

Some feel that they are “safer” to invest in. These are the companies that are virtually
too large to fail. They are very well established and will likely not be going anywhere any time
soon. They have a history. Looking back at the charts you can see the rhythm and flow in the
price action that you cannot see with the penny stocks. This makes the trends more easily
identifiable and partially predictable. They are stable. Unlike penny stocks, it takes a LOT of
money to make these tickers move. For this reason, it is less likely that you will have a 40% drop
overnight. In fact, that would be extremely rare for these names.

Additionally, they offer dividend payouts. If you own shares of a large cap stock, they will
pay you periodically for investing in them. Research is also easy to find on these tickers. These
companies are required to give accurate information to shareholders through the use of financial
statements. Because they often have been around for a while, it is easier to do research on a
company that has a history. You can look back at previous earnings reports to see if a company
has been profitable or not over the previous quarters / years.

The main reason I like these tickers is because they are liquid. See liquidity in definitions.
They are easily bought and sold because they are traded with such high volume virtually every
day. This will become VERY important to you later in the guide when we reach the options
section. For now, just know that large cap stocks are easily traded. Look at this chart for $GOOGL:

16
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

17
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

The thing here to focus on is the white trendline I have drawn. Do you see how we can
use the trendline to identify an uptrend? Additionally, look at how smooth the rhythm is, we have
waves, up and down as opposed to the penny stock chart where we just see random high spikes
in price. Go back right now and look at the two charts. Can you see the difference? Can you see
how smooth the movement is compared to the penny stock chart? This is what makes analysis
on these tickers 10x more reliable than doing analysis on penny stocks.

Now that you see the difference in penny stocks and large cap stocks, you may be asking
well wait, what about the ones in between? The mid cap stocks. I do not have an issue with them;
however, we need to talk about the ones that are traded versus the ones that are not. That will
be covered in the section on volume. For now, let’s talk about charting.

18
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

Support and Resistance

Support and resistance are two of the most utilized techniques when conducting technical
analysis. They are methods used when analyzing charts and they identify price levels where the
stock meets barriers. It can get complex but follow me here with the basics.

Support – An area where a stock typically bounces in price is known as support. The price does
not like to fall below support.

Resistance – An area where a stock typically does not want to rise in price is known as resistance.

The underlying principle here is to try to buy at support and sell at the resistance.

THE MARKET DOES NOT FORGET support and resistance. This is very important to note.

The support and resistance areas act as barriers where the stock has a decision to make.
Either it will break through the support and fall more, or it will validate the support, and bounce
in price. This is known as a reversal. Likewise, the stock will either break through an area of
resistance, and rise more, or it will hit the resistance area and reverse back down, validating the
resistance.

Support and resistance can be identified on ANY time frame but is stronger and more
likely to be obeyed on the larger time frames such as the daily or weekly chart. Support and
Resistance must have AT LEAST 2 points of touch to be validated.

Support and Resistance Horizontal Identification

Watch this video on support and resistance. https://youtu.be/vQxbRjKPDnw

Now that you have a better understanding of what support and resistance is, you can
begin to understand your indicators. Horizontal lines can be used as support and resistance,

19
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

diagonal trendlines can be used as support and resistance, round numbers can be used as support
and resistance, but also INDICATORS can be used as support and resistance.

Support and Resistance Using Round Numbers

Even round numbers in the stock market act as natural areas of support and resistance.
These numbers that I am referring to are known as $50, $100, $150, $200 and so on. Often times,
inexperienced traders like to place their orders around these levels because they are more than
likely feeling that the stock should be valued at these levels. Additionally, institutions such as
investment banks or hedge funds will also place orders around these levels. Since so many orders
are being placed at these levels, it is known to the overall market that even numbers act as
natural areas of support and resistance. Take a look at the daily chart here for $AMZN.

Notice the white line drawn at the 1900 level. For nearly 3 weeks, this 1900 area acted
as a resistance and is currently still doing so. This is a great example of a whole number acting
as a natural area of resistance.

Support and Resistance Using Indicators

Indicators are a great way to identify trends. They can tell you that a stock is trending up
or down by the way that the candles are printing. If candles are printing above an indicator, then

20
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

the trend is most likely up, if printing below the indicator, then the trend is likely down. Much
like horizontal support and resistance, the indicators that are the strongest are the larger
indicators such as the 200 and 50 EMA that we already have setup in our TOS program and on
the larger time frame. We will use larger time frame charts to establish an overall trend. Here is
a chart on the daily timeframe on $IIPR.

NOTICE the circled areas. Each time that the stock came down to that green dotted line (the 50
EMA) it bounced and moved up. This is an example of the stock using the 50 EMA indicator as a
support. Here, we could identify that the trend was up because the stock is printing candles over
the EMA as opposed to below it. Take a look at the daily chart for $TLRY:

21
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

NOTICE the circled areas on the chart. Each one represents a point where the stock pushed up
to the 50 EMA (the green dot line) before being rejected and coming down further. This is an
example of your indicator being used as a resistance.

Old Support Becomes New Resistance (and vice versa!)

There is an adage in trading, and it is this: “Old support becomes new resistance, and old
resistance becomes new support.” Remember what I mentioned earlier? The market DOES NOT
forget support and resistance, especially when drawn on the larger time frame charts such as the
1D or Weekly charts. So, the idea is that once a stock breaks through a resistance point, that old
resistance now becomes new support. This is not always 100%, as nothing in trading ever is, but
it is something noteworthy to talk about. Here is an example of what I mean on $PEP:

NOTICE: The area denoted on the left as “old resistance” around the $134 level, soon become
“new support” after the stock had broken through the resistance. This is an example of a stock
breaking through resistance and then coming back down to test that old resistance as a new
support. On the flip side, let’s take a look at the daily chart for $BLUE:

22
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

NOTICE: Once the “old support” denoted on the left side of the screen was broken through,
$BLUE then recovered in price back to that $97 area. But once it recovered, that old support
became new resistance and the stock was unable to break through that new resistance and hold.
Validating that area as a strong area of resistance.

23
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

Support and Resistance Key Points

• Old Resistance becomes new support and vice versa
• The more times a stock touches a level of support or resistance, the stronger and more
significant that level becomes
• Support and resistance should be thought of as ZONES rather than exact levels
• Support and resistance levels are stronger when preceded by steep advances or
declines. Something that is steadily moving up towards a resistance point, has a greater
chance of breaking through the resistance as it is not attracting as much attention.
Something that flies through one resistance point and hits the next one, is likely to be
stopped at the next one as it has been overextended.
• The more consolidation there is around a support or resistance level, the stronger it is.
Other traders will recognize the tug of war in the area while the stock tries to break
through the level, this causes them to remember these price levels and will likely be
using them again in the future
• Horizontal lines, diagonal lines, indicators, and whole numbers can be used as support
and resistance.
• The market does not forget these levels!

24
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

How to Find a Winning Stock

There are many ways to find a winning stock. Sometimes news is a key player. For
example, when the coronavirus was breaking out, stocks that made surgical masks were being
bought up. Or when Iran and U.S. tensions were rising, defense stocks were being bought up.
Sometimes stock 2, in the same sector as stock 1, may run just because stock 1 has reported
good earnings. See sympathy in definitions.

For the sake of you being new, I will assume that you do not keep up with market
affairs, though you should if you are planning to become a full-time trader. I will show you a
method here on how to find a winning stock based on technical analysis using the indicators
that we have already set-up on your TOS.

Since we have learned about support and resistance, we will be using these indicators to
verify that a stock is trending up, using our indicators as areas of support. The idea is to try to
find a stock that is using one of our indicators as a support and then buying when that stock is
close to our indicator. So, open TOS right now and also go to this website. https://finviz.com/

25
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

This site is called Finviz. It is a FREE screening site for stocks, and you can find some
really valuable information there. First, click on the tab that says screener.

Next click on the tab that says all

26
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

To make things easy, we want to find a stock using the daily timeframe that is trending ABOVE
the 200 EMA. Remember, we are using our indicators as a support here. So, to identify an
uptrend, the candles must be printing above the 200 EMA on the daily timeframe. We want to
find an uptrend because we want our money to grow, right? So, in your filters on Finviz, change
the following values to match mine.

• Price above SMA20 (See definition for SMA)

● Price above SMA50
● Price above SMA200
● Average volume over 1M
● Relative volume over 1.5
● Price over $50

27
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

This will generate a list at the bottom of the screen of tickers that match this criterion.

On TOS, make sure that you have the 1D chart timeframe open. Now, type in each ticker using
TOS and try to find one that is most closely using the 200 EMA as a support and looks to be
recently bouncing off of it.

Watch this video on finding a winning stock for more clarification.

https://youtu.be/_FwZ6PaChj4

NOTE: You should never base your entries just off one indicator. Trading requires a series of
things to be in line such as volume, price action, fundamental analysis, and other indicators that
are giving you the same signal to buy. All of that will be covered later on in the series, but for
now and for the sake of simplicity, this is the easiest way to get you started on how to find a
winning stock.

28
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

Money Management
“The stock market is an expensive place to learn how to invest.” – Unknown

It is easier to lose money in the stock market than it is to gain it. The statistics speak for
themselves. Something like 90% of people who try to trade, are never profitable. Personally, I
think it is because they never put in the time to learn how to be profitable. They don’t learn a
strategy, they don’t bother trying to read guides like this, or books, or listen to podcasts.
Instead, they just jump straight into live trading with real money and hoping that what they buy
goes up. This is not going to be you. You will be prepared ESPECIALLY if you complete this
masterclass.

Capital preservation is important, and this goes hand in hand with money management.
To understand both, we need to understand the term risk. “I understand I can lose money in
the market, thus I understand risk.” Incorrect. Risk is much much more than that. Risk is a how
much you are willing to put into the market, and how much you are willing to put in on one
trade. Money management is how much of that risk you are going to allow yourself to lose.

Successful traders NEVER lose a huge amount of cash on one single trade. They are
diversified, their positions are hedged. (see definitions). You may have heard that trading in the
stock market is like gambling… Maybe it is to the untrained eye. But to the educated, it is
nothing of the sort. It is professional risk taking, it is calculated and managed. No successful
trader goes all in on a trade. Neither should you, ever. Money management requires you to stay
disciplined and honor your rules. We will establish some rules for you later on.

This is easily one of the most overlooked things in trading, especially by newer traders.
Poor money management leads to accounts being blown up. (see definitions). When we get to
the day trading section, I will teach you an EXACT formula that I use to manage my money
appropriately.

29
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

What Style of Trader Are You?

A tough question, considering you are just now learning what trading is. This question is
rather easily answered though, and you will find out just what type of trader you are in the
upcoming months while you practice. As of now, it is okay not to know. In fact, it is almost
encouraged to not know what type of trader you are or want to be. Why?

Because you are curious, you will want to explore. You have a drive for learning and
passion for this (which is why you are reading this guide) and with that exploration you will find
out a lot of different techniques and styles that may fit your personality. Let me give you an
example. I will describe myself.

When I first started trading, I was working a night job. This meant that I had time during
the day to watch the stock market move. I had time to monitor my positions and get the best
entries I could possibly find. I also know that I am a very impatient person, I like to have my money
in hand as soon as it is offered to me. I also like to draw and play music, meaning I have a bit of
an artistic side to me. I also am a very optimistic person. So, what does all of this mean? Well,
because I had a night job, it means I had the opportunity to day trade. Because I was impatient,
I knew that I didn’t like letting my money sit in positions for more than an hour, let alone
overnight. Because I have an artistic side to me, stock patterns (we will talk about these later)
fascinated me. Because I am mostly optimistic, I am a bullish biased trader (see definitions) All of
this came to determine the style of trader I am. Which is a momentum day trader who is
primarily focused on quick breakout stocks using patterns combined with other forms of
technical analysis. (see definitions).

So, you have to find your style. What fits your personality? What fits your work schedule?

30
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

Different Styles of Traders

Scalping – A trader who makes dozens of tiny trades per day trying to “scalp” off some
profit from each trade. Usually lasts no more than 10 minutes and is good for account values that
are large but have low risk tolerance.

Momentum Trading – A trader who tries to find breakout stocks that move in one
direction with very large moves. Trades last 5 – 60 mins on average and is good for the
experienced trader who can read charts and understand what makes a stock “breakout.” Must
also be able to watch the market.

Technical Trading – A trader that looks at graphs or charts for specific buy and sell signals
that the indicators are giving them

Fundamental Trading – A trader that bases their trades on news or recent events,
perhaps prior earnings reports or acquisitions. Usually good for the trader who invests or wants
to invest long term

Swing Trading – A trader that buys a stocks or position and holds longer than one day.
Can be anywhere from 2 days to 2 months. Great for a trader who works a day job and cannot
always watch the market, but who has patience and can hold through small dips in price.

Again, it is okay to not know what type of trader you are. But based on your free time and
your work schedule, you should at least have an idea of what type of trader you want to start
learning how to become. Additionally, it is likely that overtime you will dabble in all of these, you
will find your groove eventually. But I really recommend to microfocus once you figure out what
fits and works best for you. If you want to be a day trader, then learn day trading. If you want to
be a swing trader, then buy books on swing trading.

31
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

As the newer trader, you will want to explore all of these. I encourage that, I was not a
fundamental trader at first, but overtime I realized that I could use my momentum techniques
coupled with fundamental analysis to give my edge an extra boost. This meant that the likelihood
of a stock moving in the direction I thought it would move was increased significantly when my
technical analysis lined up with something that had a fundamental backing as well.

For example, let’s say that I was looking at the daily chart for $AAPL. I see that it is WAY
overextended from the 200 EMA and I am thinking it is time to sell my position because it could
pull back soon. During the market hours, (fundamental) news comes out that $AAPL is closing 5
factories around the world due to a malfunction in phone devices. Now, not only do I have my
chart saying that $AAPL looks overextended, but I also have negative news backing the idea that
$AAPL is ready to pullback. So, I exit my position and sell. Just an example of how technical
analysis can be coupled with fundamental analysis.

Fundamental Factors
Some “news” things that can affect stocks.

• Earnings Reports.
o Quarterly, a company reports its earnings to the public so that investors can see if
the company is profitable or not. It includes things such as sales, income, earnings
per share etc. These are reported after hours or prior to market open. We will
discuss earnings more in-depth later in the guide.
• Analyst Upgrades / Downgrades
o Analysts can upgrade or downgrade a stock when they feel that it is either over
performing or underperforming. This is great for momentum traders who are
trying to find a fundamental backing to their already planned trade

32
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

• News
o War or fires or bankruptcy or viruses or trade tensions global economies elections.
ANYHTING of the sort can affect a stock.

The Deal-eo
There is no wrong way to trade. Not one style of trading is better or worse than the other.
It is about finding your comfort zone. What style resonates with your life and your personality
the most. Which one can you read like a book and make the most out of?

Once you find yourself as a trader, stay specific to that niche. I am a day trader, I know it.
I don’t try to swing trade; I don’t try to hold overnight and make plays happen. I stay within my
zone. It is where I have found success and why change something that isn’t broken?

33
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

Trading Journal
Every trader needs a trading journal. You should track your trades. This is where you will write
down everything about your trades and emotions that you are feeling when trading. It can
literally be a journal, but I have found that an excel sheet works just fine too. In fact, I prefer
the excel sheet because it is able to calculate data for you.

Why Use a Trading Journal?

It helps track your trades throughout each day. It is a way to objectively identify things that
you might not notice in real time. You will begin to see areas that could use more attention and
areas that you excel in. Plus, after collecting 30 – 50 trades worth of data, you are able to go
back and start to see habits that you are forming. Some of those habits can be:

• Are you not holding your winners long enough?

• Are you holding your losers too long?
• Are you losing constantly when you trade $AAPL but winning constantly when you trade
$TSLA?
• Are you winning when using a certain gap strategy?
• Are you winning every time you see a bull-flag pattern?

The list can go on and on and on, the point is, you will begin to see habit and the trading
journal will allow you to capitalize on the areas that you see success in while also allow you to
begin to fix the areas that you do not see success in.

Additionally, a trading journal will track your overall PnL (see definitions) for you. You need
to log your trades every day, but you do not need to review them all every single day. I
recommend just checking your trading journal once a week and comparing all of that data.
Notice the common problems, spot your strengths. Fix the problems, exploit the strengths.

34
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

What you cannot track, you cannot improve. Body builders constantly measure their weights
and calorie intake, pro football players are always re-watching their games and reviewing the
tape, this business is no different. The success you see from the pros is only 10% of the work that
is actually put in. the other 90% happens behind the scenes.

The Magic of the Journal

The numbers don’t lie. Once you begin collecting your data, your mindset shifts from
amateur to professional. You begin to know yourself and learn about yourself in a data format
and this really causes your mentality to naturally want to improve the areas that need work.

A trading journal will help you stick to one strategy to collect as much data as you can
from that strategy before deciding it either doesn’t work for you or that you just need to learn
more. Confidence will grow and your analysis will grow, and you begin to trust your system and
trading ability. Once all of this comes together and syncs up, you will begin to see the shift from
amateur to consistent.

You will see losers in your journal, but these losers will become easier to deal with as you
think of them as data points as opposed to just bad trading. (which it could be, but you at least
the ability to learn from it). Overall, a trading journal will instill a positive mindset and you will
automatically feel like a professional. It will motivate you to be selective and take the best trades,
because who wants a journal that is primarily filled with losers? Your journal is your
accountability buddy and will hold you true to risk management.

35
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

What to Include in Your Journal?

• Ticker (What are you trading?)
• Return Percentage (How big of a percentage move was your gain / loss?)
• Duration (How long were you in the trade for?)
• Entry Price
• Exit Price
• Number of Shares / Contracts (If you do not know what contracts are, we will get to
them in the options section, for now don’t worry about it if you are unfamiliar.)
• Explain the trade (Why did you enter and exit when you did?)
• Date
• Monetary Value (How much total capital did you use for the trade?)
• YTD PNL (How much money you have gained or lost since starting)

Here is a copy of my trading journal. You may wish to edit it as you like. The “Return %” column,
“$ Value” column, and “Profit” column are all automatically calculated for you.

OptionsTrackerFor
mat.xlsx

If for some reason you are unable to open and download the document there, you may view
my setup here and model your own after mine here.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1KusN62qYh4TPP3WQuJ2LZ7ZN3a4FSkCUiWROMrgMRAU/edit#gid=166
882146

36
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

Consistency
Consistency - Conformity in the application of something, typically that which is necessary for
the sake of accuracy.

Consistency in everything you do is KEY in the stock market. When using your trading
journal, you must be consistent in order to be able to obtain results that are accurate. So, what
are some things to be consistent with?

• Always trade with a plan

• Always pay yourself
• Always write down your trades and review them
• Always trade with the same amount of capital (until ready to scale up)
• Always study and learn and read
• Always stay disciplined
• Trade under the same mentor for as long as you can until you find consistency
• Trade using the same strategy over and over until you find that it is no longer working

Most people think that consistency is just someone who wins a lot or wins more than they
lose. This is not even partially true. What you don’t see is that persons routines. Let me give
you an example of my day to day life.

- 5:15 AM PST - wake up, take dog out / morning walk

- 5:25 AM PST - breakfast / scan for news
- 5:45 AM PST – review the watchlist and adjust my entry levels
- 6:10 AM PST – post the watchlist for the team / respond to discord DMS
- 6:30 – 9 AM PST – trade
- 9 AM PST - reply to social media posts / DMS

37
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

- 9:30 – 10:30 AM PST - go to gym / run

- 11 – 1 PM PST - back on the discord / trading with the team
- 1:15 PM PST - post watchlist results / review and log trades
- 1:30 – 2:30 PM PST - lunch / free time
- 2:30 – 3:30 PM PST - read anything. Usually a book
- 3:30 PM – 5:30 PM PST - chart for the next trading day

Your day does not have to be as structured as mine, but what I have found is that this routine
allows me to increase my discipline and consistency. One thing to note is that every day I have
blocks set out for charting and content creation and reading. While the day to day task may vary,
I am always working to improve.

This eliminates decision fatigue. I do not need to think about what I am going to do; it is
already planned… all I must do is act upon the routine. Now, apply that to trading….

I do not need to think about what I must trade, it is already planned, all I have
to do is follow my predetermined game plan.

You will need to experiment a little bit to find your routine in the beginning. Find out what works
for you and what does not. If you are not seeing the results you are wanting, wake up earlier.

38
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

Rules for Trading

Newer traders often just want to setup their charts and get to trading to make money. If
that is what you are thinking at this point, stop. This is a business, this a job, this is your hard-
earned money that you are putting at risk. Doctors and lawyers must go to school and learn
their profession prior to practicing, correct? This job is no different. It requires research and
should not be treated as a hobby. You must be vigilant, focused, and a machine. Over time you
will find your own set of rules that work for you but until then, here are some of mine.

Rule 1:
Always trade with a plan

A trading plan is a written down set of rules that denote what your entry on a certain stock will
be, what your exit will be, how much you are willing to risk, and of that risk, how much you are
willing to lose should the trade not go your way. The key to this is to STICK TO YOUR PLAN.
Don’t deviate from it, don’t try to trade something else that you have not looked at. It is a plan
for a reason.

Rule 2:
Take profits when offered

I like to scale out of a trade. If I am up 20%, I take off half position size, into a spike I may take
off another quarter, and finally, I let the rest of my position ride until it is clear the stock may no
longer be going in my favor. This ensures I am taking profits when offered and not getting
greedy or risking a trade going against me.

39
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

Rule 3:
Cut losses early

This goes back to following your trading plan. By cutting my losses early I know that I can make
up the money in a different trade later. This is what prevents me from taking huge losses and
having to start all over again re-growing my account to its previous size.

Rule 4:
Never hold a planned day trade overnight

Again, back to following your plan. If the trade I have set out is a day trade, then I will sell it by
the end of the day, NO MATTER WHAT. It is a day trade; it is not a planned overnight trade.

Rule 5:
Do not enter on someone else’s opinion

I cannot tell you how many times I have taken a trade because someone else called it out, and
they were wrong. Or perhaps they were right, but I didn’t have a plan for the trade, and I lost
money. I will never trade based on someone else’s opinion. I will, however, look at a stock if
someone calls it out, if I understand why it is trending and I personally see value in it and create
a trading game plan, then I will enter. But only under the condition that I personally understand
why it is trending.

Rule 6:
Do not trade in the first 5 - 10 minutes of market open

This is when those holding overnight are taking profits, the new market sentiment is settling in
for the day, and the trend of the trade for the day is being decided. It is always chaotic around
this time, so unless I see a VERY clear direction, I do not enter a trade.

40
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

Rule 7:
Believe you are a successful, consistent trader

Positive mindset is key. I am successful, I am smart, I am consistent, I am a machine.

Rule 8:
Do not get emotional.

I will win trades and I will lose trades. I will not get overly excited about the winners and I will
not get overly sad about the losers. In fact, I should feel nothing about either and think of them
as data points that are being added to my trading journal for logical review at a later date.

Rule 9:
Manage position size

Do not YOLO. (see definitions) tis is my money and I will act to preserve it.

Rule 10:
Trading is a business

Not a hobby, not for fun. If I wanted to gamble, I can go to Vegas. This is a job that requires
diligence, research, and commitment. I am here to maximize profits and business potential.

Trading is hard work. Not one of these rules are significant by themselves, but
rather the rules are very powerful as a whole. If each one is obeyed day to day, I
am building upon my discipline. Discipline builds consistency, and consistency
leads to profitability.

41
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

Market Hours
There will be a section later on that details the best times of day for trading, and what each part
of the day represents. But for now, here are the standard market hours and what they allow /
mean.

(PM) Premarket Trading Hours - 4:00 AM EST – 9:30 AM EST

It can be tough to get filled if trading at this hour due to liquidity issues, but it is important to look
at. Some stocks “gap down” or “gap up” in this timeframe due to news. This can possibly
determine the direction of the stock for the day. You should always note the price at which the
stock traded the highest and lowest at during this time. This is called the premarket high and the
premarket low. We normally do not trade during this time frame.

Regular Trading Hours - 9:30 AM EST – 4:00 PM EST

This is the time frame that you will be looking to trade in. Again, there is no need to sit all day
and trade this whole time, but we will talk about that in the upcoming series.

(AH) After Hours Trading - 4:00 PM EST – 8:00 PM EST

Just like premarket hours, trading can be done after hours as well. This is usually when news and
events are announced, so while the stock prices will still move, its best to stay away from trading
during this time frame. There are also liquidity issues during this time as well.

42
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

Practice / Mentorship
Complete this quiz for practice. You may send the answers to me for review.

1. Trading is a hobby, gamble, or business?

2. What is liquidity? Try to explain in your own terms.

3. Name three tickers.

4. What is paper trading?

5. What is the PDT rule?

6. What is a penny stock?

7. Find and screen shot 3 charts and label the support and resistance.

8. Send me a screenshot of a winning stock Finviz scan.

9. What is technical trading?

10. Name 2 fundamental factors that can affect a stock.

11. Name 3 benefits of a trading journal.

12. What is premarket?

13. I would LOVE an honest review of what you think of the guide so far! Has it helped?
Would you recommend it? Is it easy to follow?

43
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

What’s Next?
Masterclass Series 2: What’s Included?
• Trading Terminology
• How to Read a Candlestick Chart
• What Drives Stock Price
• Determining Overall Market Sentiment
• What is the DOW / S&P 500?
• How to Build a Watchlist
• Market Buy Vs Limit Buy
• Stop Loss Vs Stop Limit
• Setting Alerts
• Cash Vs Margin
• Understanding Long and Short
• How to Place a Trade
• Paying Yourself

44
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

Masterclass Series 3: What’s Included?

• Growing a Small Account
• What Time of Day Should You Trade?
• Mindset
• Dealing with Losses
• Volume and its Importance
• Consolidation
• Gaps
• Using Timeframes
• Overtrading
• Forming a Game Plan
• Trends and Reversals
• Indicators
o RSI
o EMA vs SMA
o MACD
o VWAP
• Indicator Strategy

45
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

Masterclass Series 4: What’s Included?

• Gap Strategy
o Gap Ups and Continuations
o Playing a Stock into the Gap
• Price Action
• Candlestick Formations
o Reversal Candlesticks
o Neutral Candlesticks
• Patterns
o Continuation Patterns
o Reversal Patterns
• Scalp Trading
• Range Trading
• Breakout Trading
• Reversal Trading

46
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

Masterclass Series 5: What’s Included?

• Volatility
• Implied Volatility
o What is an Option?
o Contract Specs
o Why Trade Options?
• Introduction to Options
• Bid Ask Spread
• Open Interest
• How to Scale into a Trade
• How to Scale out of a trade
• When to Take Profits
o Profit Target Trading
o Whole Number Trading
o HOD / LOD Trading
o VWAP Trading
o EMA Trading
o Trendline Trading
• Feeling Comfortable in a Trade

47
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

Masterclass Series 6: What’s Included

• How to Day Trade Options
o Weekly Options
o Steps to Day Trading
• Compounding Interest
• Earnings
o Guidance
o Ratings
o EPS
o P/E Ratio
• Identifying a Bubble
• How to Call Out Plays

48
 Spartan Trades
Masterclass Series
Provided by TradeLikeGates

Contact Information
CONGRATULATIONS! You’re one step closer to being wiser about making money in the market.
Move on to Masterclass Series 2 and continue your education.

Here is my contact information if you have any questions:

Instagram: @TradeLikeGates

Twitter: @TradeLikeGates

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCr-bjyGLPu_8dQZaMYiQieQ/videos

Discord: @TradeLikeGates#1688
A link to join our discord: https://discord.gg/UjnFeBY

49