Ep 76: The Contrarian Trading Style of “Unknown Market Wizard” Jason Shapiro
Ep 76: The Contrarian Trading Style of “Unknown Market Wizard” Jason Shapiro
Jason Shapiro has had zero losing years over the past two decades using a contrarian style with zero correlation to any other trading strategy. Featured in Jack Schwager’s Unknown Market Wizards, Jason joins Kim to discuss what drives genuine conviction, how a stint in a Burmese monastery shaped his relationship with uncertainty, and the psychological edge behind trading against the crowd.
The Trader Positioning Index (TPI) is a 15-minute clinical-grade assessment that measures 70+ indicators of your decision-making under pressure — and delivers a 35+ page personalised report with a custom action roadmap. Learn more about the TPI →
1:00 – Intro to Jason Shapiro 2:10 – Jason talks about his time in a Burmese Monastery 11:05 – On having a contrarian personality 28:37 – Over to the Twitter Space 32:32 – His community of traders 44:04 – On unbiased trading 51:30 – Remembering how reading Market Wizards affected him 1:10:02 – Jason’s take on the SVB collapse 1:11:58 – Jason’s meditation practice
About Jason Shapiro
With 30 years of trading experience, Jason Shapiro runs Crowded Market Report, a successful Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA) business built on a contrarian approach that has produced zero losing years over the past two decades. He was featured as “The Contrarian” in Chapter Two of Jack Schwager’s Unknown Market Wizards.
Disclaimer: All information provided is for educational purposes only and does not constitute investment, legal, or tax advice, or an offer to buy or sell any security. For full disclosures: www.thewallstreetcoach.com
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NEW and Exclusive Discord EQ Trading Room
NEW and Exclusive Discord EQ Trading Room
I’ve been teasing this for a few weeks. Now it’s time to pull back the curtain and unleash it to the world…
I’m very excited to announce the launch of a brand-new, exclusive, Discord EQ trading room called Trader Hero Journey.
It’s more than just another Discord trading group. We created Trader Hero Journey to help you understand — and overcome — the biggest threat to your trading success. Before I tell you what that is, it’s important to understand what your biggest threat is not…
The biggest threat to you becoming a successful trader is not how many patterns you know. It’s not whether you swing or day trade. And it’s not whether you prefer equities, penny stocks, large caps, or even index funds.
In fact, the biggest threat to your success has nothing to do with what you trade or your favorite strategy. So…
What Is Trader Hero Journey?
You’ve probably heard top traders say that you have to grind. They say, “You have to be willing to lose, collect data, and learn from your mistakes.”
On the surface that makes sense. The more you work, the closer you get to your goals — your wants. Most traders have clearly defined wants. They want to make their first million, want to have a 67% win rate, and want to avoid big drawdowns. But grind, grind, grind can only take you so far… It can’t take you to the level you seek because your wants are disconnected from your needs.
Yes, there are intellectual requirements when you trade. But what happens when you ‘get’ all the trading concepts? It’s not enough. Why? Because we also have emotional needs. When those needs aren’t met we’re unhappy, unhealthy, and unfulfilled.
To be healthy, happy, and fulfilled, the emotional and intellectual must be in sync. Or at least moving in that direction. Remember, finding balance is an ongoing process.
Trader Hero Journey is a place to focus on intellectual and emotional synchronization. It’s a place to embrace your Trader Hero quest.
We are naturally creative, resourceful, and whole beings. The answers we seek are within. The solutions you seek are within you. Still, most of us need support and guidance.
In my 17 years of coaching, I’ve never had a trading chat room. So you might wonder… Why now? And why a Discord server?
Now, because there is no better time to learn to “be with” our emotions. Most of us have been taught to be ashamed of unpleasant feelings. That’s not healthy. As a trader… It is risky and dangerous. Think about how badly you trade when you are angry or upset. Or the mistakes you make as losses pile up.
Trader Hero Journey is not so much a Discord trading room as much as it is a place for traders to grow into themselves. A place where you can hone your trader mindset in a healthy way. A place to strengthen your emotional intelligence.
My team and I have experience helping traders identify and avoid the biggest roadblocks to success. There’s no better way to overcome these challenges than working hand-in-hand with a professional coach who’s seen it all.
My time is limited, however. The investment individual traders make to work with me is in the mid-five-figures. So my team and I created Trader Hero Journey to help more traders like you at a price anyone can afford.
While this new “inner circle” is a Discord trading group, it is unique.
We do have channels where you can “talk shop.” But you won’t find watch lists, hot stock picks, or follow-the-leader trade alerts. Instead, you will join an exclusive server for traders created to help you step into a new way of being. A place to develop your emotional intelligence for all the challenges ahead.
Unlike Other Discord Trader Rooms and Chat Rooms
As I write, there are 7,113 Discord servers tagged trading. They can be a great place to learn about trading and the financial markets. You will find trade ideas, research, technical analysis, and other trading-related content.
The problem is that almost every Discord trading server is an altar to the cult of productivity. Everyone in the room worships at that altar. I have no doubt that hard work is required to be a successful trader. You shouldn’t deny the incredible dedication and work ethic it takes to succeed. But if you don’t have your emotional intelligence developing then all the hard work in the world isn’t going to provide you what is needed to go the distance as a trader.
In “Pathways to Bliss,” Joseph Campbell poses the question…
What Is It We Are Questing For?
Let’s unpack that because it applies directly to traders.
“It is the fulfillment of that which is potential in each of us. Questing for it is not an ego trip; it is an adventure to bring into fulfillment your gift to the world, which is yourself. [emphasis added]
There is nothing you can do that’s more important than being fulfilled.
What does that mean for traders? Is it financial freedom?
Undoubtedly, that is why most people get into trading. A lot of traders have wants like big money, watches, and fancy cars. But what happens next? What happens when you get financial freedom?
What about being able to contribute to those you love? Coaching clients say that’s one of their big reasons for working so hard.
The problem is that we start to identify with our wins and losses. We get demoralized when we lose or make a mistake. We lose our center and any sense of neutrality. Then we double down on studying and working hard. Instead of feeling without judgment, we bury our emotions. We don’t even realize how much it affects our relationships — let alone our own needs.
What you won’t find in other Discord trading groups is a place that helps you to find your center. We created Trader Hero Journey to do just that. To help you spot invisible patterns holding you back. To view your trading and life as a heroic journey.
The Call: Where Traders Embrace Their Hero Journey
What does it mean to embrace your Trader Hero Journey?
It means learning to deal with FOMO and greed. It means discovering how to keep ego in check. It means working on discipline in trading and in life. It means unabashedly bragging about wins and having others celebrate with you because they understand. It means learning how to process and be with the hard to be with feelings of loss, frustration, and anger. So that you don’t find yourself in a losing streak. It means being able to process discouragement without judgment. It means having a better relationship with money.
It means going through the experience rather than ignoring it or hiding from it or numbing it.
Recently I spoke at the Bear Bull Traders Live Trading Summit in San Diego. I talked about every trader’s universal needs and how to recognize your most vulnerable conditions.
It was good times with a great bunch of traders. And my presentation was well received.
But you know what? It only scratched the surface. That’s because trading is more than the next trade or even the next trading conference. It’s an expression of your personal quest. That’s why we created Trader Hero Journey. Accountability. Support. Encouragement. Hard truths. Continuous growth. An understanding that the quest is eternal… Which is exactly why we chose the ouroboros as the Trader Hero Journey symbol.
Your Trader Hero Journey and the Circle of Life
Why choose ouroboros as the symbol of our Trader Hero Journey room? Because it is an ancient symbol that represents eternity. It depicts a serpent or dragon eating its own tail. It symbolizes rebirth, immortality, eternity, protection, an ordered world, self-reliance, self-sufficiency and nature’s cycles. It expresses the unity of all things, material and spiritual, which never disappear but perpetually change form in an eternal cycle of destruction and re-creation. It represents the cycle of death and birth, infinity and endless return. As a trader, you will find yourself up-leveling at every turn. Wouldn’t it be valuable to have a community of fellow traders who will support and encourage this up-leveling as only a trader can? Join us for your trader journey and lean in on what emergence theory teaches us, that “the whole have properties that its parts do not have on their own.”
The Ouroboros represents eternity and is the symbol of Trader Hero Journey.
When you were called to become a trader, you embarked on a quest. As a member of Trader Hero Journey, you’re embracing your quest at every level of your being. Again, not as an expression of ego but as Joseph Campbell described as “an adventure to bring into fulfillment your gift to the world, which is yourself.”
In the prologue to “The Hero With a Thousand Faces” Campbell described the Hero’s Journey:
“A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.”
Now it’s time for you to venture forth, to awaken, to understand that each of us is the Hero of our own life.
You Are the Hero of Your Own Story
You answered the call to become a trader. Now it’s time to take it to the next level. You can get what you want on this adventure… As long as you also take care of your needs.
Today — right now — you’re called to a higher level…
“Furthermore, we have not even to risk the adventure alone; for the heroes of all time have gone before us; the labyrinth is thoroughly known; we have only to follow the thread of the hero-path. And where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a god; where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves; where we had thought to travel outward, we shall come to the centre of our own existence; and where we had thought to be alone, we shall be with all the world.” -Joseph Campbell
Today is the day to embrace your quest. Today is the day to own your potential and take steps to fulfill it. Today is the day to start, one step at a time, so you can bring your gift to the world.
Trader Hero Journey isn’t just another Discord trading server. It’s a brand-new way to help traders like you master your trading psychology. It’s designed to help you push through mental barriers and achieve success, balance, and enjoyment.
Follow the link below for all the details on this exclusive offer, limited to only 100 traders…
Investors Underground Asks Kim Ann Curtin to Share Top Coaching Insights
My friend, Anthony Nieto over at Investors Underground, flipped the script and pushed me to share some of the top insights I’ve learned from coaching traders and investors over the last 17 years. In the spirit of giving, I held nothing back here!
Among other things, this is what you’ll discover when you take a listen:
How to finally break free from the limiting beliefs that hold you back
The 6-letter word that shapes all your decisions and actions
The key elements of a purpose-driven life and how to cultivate them
My top strategies for conquering fear, uncertainty, and doubt in pursuit of your goals
And much more…
This is a must-listen episode for anyone who wants to unleash their inner hero and live a life of purpose, fulfillment, and impact — both inside and outside the markets. I hope it opens your eyes to a new way of engaging with the markets today and in the future.
Investors Underground (IU) is one of the largest and most active online day trading communities. IU offers trading chat rooms based on trading style as well as online courses for its members. It was first established in 2004 by Nathan Michaud under the name Investors Live. In 2008, the site was rebranded as Investors Underground – the start of the site we know today. Nathan has been day trading since 2003 and became a full-time day trader in 2007.
Team Doomberg: How to Prepare Your Portfolio for Inflation Uncertainty
For the Money Show, I interview Team Doomberg on How to Prepare Your Portfolio for Inflation Uncertainty.
Has inflation peaked or will it remain entrenched like in the 1970s? The answer has enormous implications for investors and traders today. Listen in for a discussion on what lies ahead in 2023, the hidden opportunities, and how Team Doomberg is preparing their portfolio in the face of so much uncertainty. Hear discussion on:
Team Doomberg’s take on inflation
How long is the lag of the pulse
Russian – Ukraine conflict
What investors should be paying attention to
The blind spot for investors
The hard truth
Chinese ETFs
US layoffs
Diversification
Doomberg is the anonymous publishing arm of a bespoke consulting firm providing advisory services to family offices and C-suite executives. Its principals apply decades of experience across heavy industry, private equity and finance to deliver innovative thinking and clarity to complex problems.
Kim introduces Practice Five — Mindfulness and Self-Awareness.
WATCH the live podcast video below, LISTEN via the audio link or SUBSCRIBE on Apple Podcasts.
Kim introduces Practice Three — Emotional Non-Resistance.
WATCH the live podcast video below, LISTEN via the audio link or SUBSCRIBE on Apple Podcasts.
Kim introduces Practice Two — Empathy for Self and Others.
WATCH the live podcast video below, LISTEN via the audio link or SUBSCRIBE on Apple Podcasts.
Kim introduces Practice One of Five — Self Responsibility.
WATCH the live podcast video below, LISTEN via the audio link or SUBSCRIBE on Apple Podcasts.
Episode One introduces the listener to Kim Ann Curtain, The Wall Street Coach, and provides an overview of Kim’s Five Practices for peace of mind that will be covered over the course of Season One.
WATCH the live podcast video below, LISTEN via the audio link or SUBSCRIBE on Apple Podcasts.