A Trader's Journey: Jerremy Newsome

Benzinga's "A Trader's Journey" features a trade who shares their life experiences and how it molded their career. This show airs weekly on Sundays at 11 a.m. ET on the Benzinga YouTube page.

Jerremy knew from a young age he wanted to be involved in the stock market. This drive led him to major in Finance at the University of Florida. He watched people achieve financial freedom by investing in companies, and he knew he could do this, too. As it turns out, the degree didn't teach him what he needed to know about the stock market.

His short stint with Nationwide Insurance provided the springboard he needed. His boss taught him a covered call trading strategy that Jerremy was able to replicate. His first trade netted him a cool $2,700, which was more than he made at work. This realization set the stage for what was to come.

“We never have to worry about money anymore,” was not a phrase Jerremy was familiar with growing up. Creating a financial plan that allowed him to experience this became the driving factor in Jerremy's success. Buying Apple in 1994 didn’t hurt, either.

He learned that the market is controlled by fear and optimism, not greed. He learned that the only creation of your current financial situation is entirely based on your beliefs about money. The exact day where “it clicked” was in the fall, while frustrated about his trades, he wrote down his very first rule: When I enter a trade, I must walk away for two hours. When he came back, the trade had hit his target. That moment, he realized he can write his rules down and have the discipline to follow those rules.

The three things that were frustrating and hurting him were:

• Not following any rules
• Not having any set rules
• Not physically writing them down

What is the most important lesson you try to teach new traders?

“The number one lesson I try to teach is risk mitigation,” Jerremy says. “That’s not what I learned. When I first started trading I got into the marketing hype. Lamborghinis, martinis, bikinis.”

He tries to steer new traders away from this poisonous mentality. It leads to too much risk and more grey hairs: “Make it about the process,” he says.

You can find Jerremy on Twitter @newsomenuggets. You can find his podcast on YouTube. His website has courses, educational material and chat rooms.