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Resources

First o , let me be very clear about this…

There is no holy grail or magic pill when it comes to the tools you are using.

I am not trying to imply that any of the following “is the secret” to trading
success.

If you want to know the secret to success in trading, here’s a hint… it’s
between your ears.

In the spirit of being honest and transparent, some of the links below are
a liate links.

I’ve broken down the tools into two categories: What I Use and Quality
Alternatives

Brokers

If you want to be able to trade or invest cost e ectively, you need an online
broker.

WHO I USE

For Trading:

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I’ve used Lightspeed Trading for years. I love their customer service and the
ease/speed at which I can place and cancel stock orders. This broker is geared
more towards someone who trades a high volume. They over several
platforms you can choose from, the one I use is called Lightspeed Trader.

For Investing:

If you have a smaller amount of money or are simply looking to get started
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with investing, this is my number 1 choice. They sound too good to be true,
but they are not. Not only do they o er $0 commissions, but they also allow
you to buy partial shares (which is huge). On top of this, they o er tax-
friendly accounts which others (such as Robinhood) do not o er. Over the
long term, tax-friendly structures add up in big positive ways! CLICK
HERE to sign up and you get $10!

Note: while I do have an MI Finance account, my main investing is through Merrill Edge (Bank of
America). I get 100 free trades per month because I qualify for their Platinum Honors program.

QUALITY ALTERNATIVES:

For Trading:

Trailing right behind Lightspeed in terms of commissions, Interactive Brokers

o ers options commissions starting at $0.70. They o er fast and responsive
customer support, a wide variety of platforms to execute through, and many
powerful tools in the platform.

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For Options Trading:

A broker that opens the door for many of you traders who will be starting
with a smaller amount of capital. With no minimum funding requirements for
a cash account and only $2,000 for a margin account, you really can’t go
that wrong. While the charting features may not be complex, they have
every indicator that most of us in the ClayTrader community use including
moving averages and various oscillators. The platform is also extremely
lightweight for those of you on older computers or laptop users. Learn More

Technical Chart Providers

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Technical stock charts play a massive role in my trading strategies and are the
single most important factor in eliminating stress and emotions from my
trading. If you want to add clarity and con dence to your trading strategy,
you need to learn how to not only read a chart, but also how to properly
apply it.

With this being said, nding a “chart provider” is an extremely important area
for you as a trader.

The rst place you should check is with your broker. Most brokers will o er
technical charts with their trading platform, but in some cases, the charts
may not meet your personal preference. Take me for example; I do not like
Lightspeed’s charts that are provided, so I use a 3rd party provider.

At the end of the day, it is up to you to weigh the pros and cons of each
broker in combination with the quality of the stock charts they provide. For
me, it is worth paying extra for chart data because my brokerage has so many
other pros relative to their chart data.

WHO I USE

I have been using them since 2008 and unless they drastically change
something, I don’t foresee myself ever getting rid of them. They are pricey,
but you get what you pay for. The charts that you see in my live trade
videos are provided by eSignal.

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QUALITY ALTERNATIVE

This is another great source for charts. The very impressive aspect about this
site is their charts are streaming, meaning, you can watch the chart be
“created” in real time. They are de nitely a site that should be considered as
a lower priced alternative. Learn More

Level 2 Data Providers

Trading with Level 2 data is not a “please consider” type tool; it is literally a
“must have” tool if you are planning on day trading or doing penny stocks.

If you are not using Level 2 in your trading, you might as well tie a blindfold
around your eyes. That is essentially what you are doing to yourself in regard
to accessing all the possible information you can receive for making a well
informed and clari ed decision.

The best place to go for Level 2 data is with your online brokerage. I don’t
know of any broker that does not o er Level 2 as a choice. If your broker
does not o er Level 2, then run away…. fast!

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Usually the di erence between brokers is whether you need to pay extra for
it. Some brokers will give it to you for free if you make a certain number of
trades each month or keep a minimum amount of money in your account,
others will charge you extra no matter what.

Level 2’s may look di erent from various providers (colors, format, etc.),
however, at the end of the day, they are all showing you the same
information… it just boils down to personal preference of what you feel most
comfortable using.

I use the Level 2 data provided by Lightspeed, my broker, and pay a small
extra fee each month.

Stock Scanners and Screener

If you don’t have the tools to “ nd something to trade” … well…. you will not
last very long as a trader.

I’m not trying to insult your intelligence, but you can’t be a trader if you
can’t nd stu to trade. In other words, a scanner (or some call them
screeners) is an extremely important tool.

WHO I USE

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There is nothing better than a scanner that is a living breathing organism.

When you combine a group of traders together and everyone shares
information as to what they are seeing across the market, it creates a scanner
and tool that no computer can match.

To be fair, there are other chat rooms out there that are free; however, from
my experience (and why I created my own chat room) they are lled with
people just looking to pump and dump their stocks on top of you. Or, they
are so chaotic with clutter and randomness they actually work against the
trader and are completely counterproductive in regard to “providing clarity”.

When it comes to my private “living breathing organism” scanner known as

The Inner Circle the thought process you need to use…

$99 For 3 Month Membership

3 Months = 12 Weeks
$99 / 12 Weeks = $8.25

Which brings up the key question – can the $99 investment to use this living
breathing scanner make me more than $8.25 per week?

I’m self admittedly biased, but the math speaks for itself. I’m very con dent
you can make more than $8.25 each week, and there is plenty of reviews to
back that up. Here is just a couple of many more (which you can see HERE).

QUALITY ALTERNATIVES

I’ve used this scanner in the past, and they’re really solid. I stopped using
them because The Inner Circle replaced them. As already said, it is very hard

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to beat a scanner that is made up of other humans compared with software.

With that being said, I have nothing to bad to say about them. Their monthly
fees compared to The Inner Circle are much… much… much higher, but
that’ll be a choice you need to make.

Some members of our community I know use both, so it truly is up to you as

a trader.

Trade-Ideas is a streaming scanner, meaning, it runs scans in real time and

alerts you immediately when a piece of scan criteria is met. The amount of
scan criteria at your ngertips is extremely impressive.

This site o ers an excellent free scanner with many options. Whether you’re
looking for fundamental or technical criteria to screen for, odds are, this
scanner will be able to accommodate you. Learn More

Trader Information Sources

As a trader, you need to keep up-to-date on what is going around

throughout the world and markets. While I’m not saying you should be
spending hours upon hours with this sort of stu , a quick browsing of the
headlines is a great way to stay informed with dynamics that may in uence
the markets and your trade ideas. Here are some of the sites I use to browse
headlines and news.

BUSINESS / MARKET NEWS

Bloomberg

MarketWatch
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CNBC

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION (SEC) NEWS

Press Releases

Company Public Filings

Trading Suspensions

Litigation Releases

Administration Proceedings

Technology

Check out all of my technology guides here.

Trading Computer: I have a custom built trading computer, for

information on building your own see this guide. I also have guides
about purchasing a trading computer and trading with a laptop.

Computer Power Backup: CyberPower CP1500AVRLCD UPS –

You can sit back, trade, and have zero worries about any kind of
power outage a ecting you. The last thing we want as traders are
getting stuck in a trade without knowing what is going on because
the power goes out.

Google Wi – for quite a while my wireless internet around my

house (where my o ce is) was average at best. I decided to make
an investment in this technology and I couldn’t be any more
pleased. My wireless internet is blazing fast and I am 100%
con dent in recommending this if you feel as though your wireless
internet at home or o ce is lacking.
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Comfort

Trading/O ce Chair: TUL BTEC 600 Big and Tall Executive

Bonded Leather/PVC Chair

Trading Desk: I have sit-stand desk from upliftdesk.com with a

custom wood top from a local carpenter. See the desk here.

Books

All the books I recommend have nothing to do with “trading strategies”.

When I was rst getting started, I bought numerous books and, to be blunt,
they all sucked! This is one of the reasons why I decided to make stock
trading training courses as I feel there was a huge “gap” out there in the
education space. Nonetheless, the books below are great for motivation and
teaching you about psychology and how to deal with the tough times.

Trading in the Zone – a great book on trader psychology and

dealing with the losers.

Confessions of a Street Addict – I’ve read this book three times

now I believe. I love it.

How I Made $2,000,000 in the Stock Market – this is an old

book, but it’s still cool to read how things “used to be.”

Cold Hard Truth – written by Kevin O’ Leary, as I said, I enjoy

reading about successful people in the nancial world.

Movies / Documentaries

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I’m a sucker for a good movie or documentary that revolves around the
nancial markets. Needing some Friday night entertainment? Consider the
below…

Million Dollar Traders: a documentary about attempting to turn

people into actual traders. It does an excellent job of showing how
trading, when you don’t have a plan, can truly mentally torture
you.

Floored: Into the Pit: a documentary discussing more

commodities trading, but still very enjoyable.

Wall Street: the classic Oliver Stone move form the 1980’s. A
must watch for anyone who enjoys the stock market.

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room: a documentary about

what is probably one of the largest scam companies ever. Crazy
stu !

Trading Places: a comedy that revolves around the stock market.

While I can’t say I loved it, it was still entertaining.

Boiler Room: a movie about penny stocks and the brokers

attempting to sell them. One of the rst movies I ever watched
about the stock market.

Wolf of Wall Street: de nitely a movie you don’t want playing

while any children are around, but given it is based on a true story,
it’s some pretty wild stu to think it all happened.

Personal Finance and Wealth Building Lifestyle

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Money With Clay:

If you are looking to take control of your nances and/or life in general, give
it a look. Whether you want to pay o debt or create new streams of income
(such as real estate investing for example), I want to assist you with this.

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The sign of true wealth is being able to sleep like a baby at night. When you
take control of your money, you eliminate stress and can begin building your
legacy. At it’s peak, I had $163,000 of debt in my life, but I am proud and
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e cient manner? What steps did I take? I go over all of this in great detail so
you can get to the freeing feeling of being debt free as fast as possible! Click
HERE to learn more.

Plan and Pro t Real Estate Investing:

Trading is not my only revenue stream. In order to diversify my wealth

building streams of income, I have been involved in real estate investing for
many years. I’ve learned, through down-and-dirty experience, of what “to
do” and what NOT to do. I will not only show you all I have learned but also
share with you the exact systems and strategies I have developed and use
that keep me on track and prevent me from becoming distracted with
dynamics that lead to nancial pain and heartache. If you already have your
personal nances under control but are now looking to diversify and add

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more income streams to your wealth building goals, real estate investing is a
great way to do it (assuming you are strategic about it). Click HERE to learn
more.

The Money With Clay Podcast:

Join me as I talk about all things wealth. To me wealth is about more than
money, it’s about living your life in a way that gives you maximum peace of
mind. Let’s focus on a lifestyle that will lower stress and raise the overall
quality of life. Look it up on any podcast player or simply click HERE to
listen via the site itself.

TESTIMONIALS RESOURCES BLOG PODCAST

TERMS AND CONDITIONS PERSONAL DISCLAIMER

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