Sandro Interview

Cam: Hey, guys. This is Cam from Investors Underground. We’ve got Splendores sitting with us now. We’re going to do a little interview with him about some of the experiences he’s had as a trader. I’ll guess we’ll kick it off to find out a little bit about him separate to trading and how he got into it and how he became full-time and all that kind of stuff. Tell us about yourself pre-trading life.

Sandro: Sure. I grew up in Switzerland, in Europe. I moved to Los Angeles in 2004. I was just doing some jobs here and there to earn money, but I never really had much money at that point. I was able to save up $2,000 and people were telling me about stocks. I looked into it, and I invested into some biotech. I realized that I won’t get far with that because they hardly move, and you need a lot more money. I was looking for ways to earn more money faster with as little money as I had. That’s how I found out about Nate and Investors Underground. I signed up to Investors Underground pretty much at the beginning of my trading career. I didn’t really trade prior to signing up. I was just lucky, I suppose, that I found this room because there’s so many rooms out there. I think I was very lucky because I surrounded by the best traders. At that point, obviously, I didn’t know that. Now, I know that that’s the case.

Cam: I guess Splendores is being very modest. He opened up an account with $2,000, and he managed to grind that up to around $10,000. He thought he was onto something. So, he opened up another brokerage with $5,000, and he’s managed to turn that into around $100,000 over the last couple of years, which I find amazing for someone with no trading background and just learning from what others have to offer plus combining it with his own style. Splendores, why don’t you tell us a little bit about your style and why you decided to trade in those markets, and what you gathered your knowledge and inspiration from when you’re trading?

Sandro: Sure. First of all, I guess the people that influenced me the most just as a trader were definitely Nate as well as Beach Bum and then my buddy Kevin. These three guys, they all do their own little thing, but I learned the most from them. At the beginning when I started, I just couldn’t believe the entries and exits that Nate got. I felt like that’s almost impossible to be so in tune with it, but now I’ve been trading for two and a half years. Obviously, I’ve been able to refine that. One of my goals is, if I trade the same stocks as Nate, if I can be Nate, I think I’m fine. It’s always a matter of trying to get as good at entry or exit as he does. Then, I know I will probably be okay. My trading style, I guess very soon it became clear to me that day trading might not be my main thing. I’m not as fast as others. I noticed that. By the time I type in my orders, others are already in. I soon realized the fast stuff wasn’t my thing. Swing trading felt more natural to me. Swing trading on the short side. I don’t know why that is. Maybe it is because the first few trades I made, successful trades I made were shorts. That may have defined my trading. I’m a very incomplete trader. I believe 95% of my trades are shorts. I don’t make money with longs. I’m barely profitable with going long. I’m a short biased swing trader, and I trade NASDAQs as well as OTCs. That’s about it.

Cam: Cool. I know that you look for companies that you believe are worthless. Some people who trade pump and dumps will be able to identify with that. In the NASDAQ space, you’re looking for companies that have been over hyped or they’ve gone on a big run without a correction and looking to jump and the short side and get the, I guess, downward move. How long would you say you have to stay in OTCs on one hand on the short side? Then, NASDAQs in the other hand when you’re swinging?

Sandro: Some of my trades are done within 10 seconds. I often enter a trade with the thought of it becoming a swing, but if I get a really good move right off the bat, it can very well turn out into a day trade. I would say I hold maybe, the average is probably three to five days that I’m holding a short position. I think the maximum has been about a month. I would say three to five days is the average.

Cam: Sure. I know recently you left a job that you were working in and now you’re full-time trading. When did that decision become clear in your mind? Was it a combination of past successes of account size? Or you really believed that you’d settled your proof of concept? Tell us a little bit about that.

Sandro: I had a plan, a clearly set plan when I would leave my job. Of course, that didn’t pan out that way. Basically, the plan was pretty simple. I wanted to have $100,000 in my trading accounts. I felt like that’s the amount I need to comfortably make enough to live off and still increase my account size, as well as when I started off I said to myself, I’ll give myself two years to see how I’m doing. I knew that I wouldn’t give up after two years, but I said to myself, I’ve got to invest. I’ve got to give myself the chance to learn this. Trading, like everything, takes time. After two years I looked at my account size and I realized that I’m going the right direction. That was one milestone I wanted to achieve, which was basically being profitable after two years, which was the case. I was very close to $100,000 in trading capital. However, I then decided to ditch my job earlier and give it a shot. I’ve been trading full-time since July of 2013, and it’s been very positive.

Cam: Cool. What do you believe that you take away the most from the Investors Underground chatroom? Whether it be putting tickers on your watch? Do you look at the watch list at night? Do you watch the seminars? What do you do with the room?

Sandro: I watch the seminars whenever I can. Sometimes I go back and watch older ones. Beginning, yeah, very much I watched the seminars. That helped me out. I look at the watch list every night. I don’t always trade what Nate trades or what is on the watch list, but I definitely look at it. The main thing I would say is, it’s the room itself. The traders are exceptional. I’ve been in other rooms. I was curious, so I looked at other rooms. Bar none, Investors Underground has the best traders and I found most of them incredibly helpful. I can PM anybody, and they answer to me. They’ve just been very open in sharing their experiences. Many of these traders have been trading for 10 years plus. As a newbie, that’s just amazing.

Cam: What kind of advice would you give to a new trader starting out, or anyone who’s listening to this who believes that they want to be a day trader and see if they can make it work?

Sandro: I obviously only have my experience to tell, but what worked for me was, I started slow. I didn’t have too big expectations. I had a small account, and I played tiny. I played 100 shares. Sometimes $100, $200 were my positions for the first three months. That way, it just kept me from blowing up. The one thing I suppose that helped me, I was never afraid of actually asking questions. I always PMed Nate. I PMed other people to find out what they thought about ideas that I had. The other thing is, it just takes time for you to find your style. I think that’s the most important thing. Just don’t expect too much too soon. Give yourself the chance to learn this new trade. I never did anything like it, and it just takes some time. At the beginning, it’s overwhelming. Just be kind to yourself. Don’t put yourself under too much pressure. That’s basically the main thing. And take it seriously. I’ve taken it very seriously from the beginning. It’s money. I don’t want to lose it, and nor should you.

Cam: Great. You watched Nate’s DVD. What are your thoughts? What did you find useful, etc.?

Sandro: It’s comprehensive. I’m watching this as a trader. I have been trading for two and a half years, I would say, successfully. It’s a lot of information. It’s awesome. You don’t just watch this once. You watch this 10 times. This is a DVD that will guide you for the first two years for sure even if you’re successful right away. I watched the DVD and I saw stuff that was great reminders for things. I made notes to remind myself of certain things that Nate says and that he has learned over the time. I think it’s a great help and you will find a lot of answers. It’s all there.

Cam: Cool. During this whole slide, you don’t know this yet, but I’m going to be scrolling through photos of you that I found on your Facebook that are embarrassing.

Sandro: Nice.

Cam: We’ll take a few photos of your setup and we’ll show everyone what you’re trading on and all that kind of stuff. Hey, thanks very much for your time. I really appreciate it. I hope the audience has learned a bunch from this interview.

Sandro: Sure. Hit me up in chat any time you want. I’m more than happy to help out.