TradingLife Podcast with Brad Jelinek

Sentiment extremes still work. Saylor went from cigar memes at the top to talking about selling MSTR on the front page of the Journal — then crypto bounced. Meta was cheap, hated, and legally radioactive when Muse shipped; a few days of actually using the agent was enough to buy it before the Street caught up. Now the real tell may be quieter: parents and boomers treating personal agents like a full-time assistant, and token usage going parabolic. That’s the setup for another AI leg through the daily doomer noise — and, later, the pruning that comes when the market finally prices the next wave

In this reflection, I explore why longevity in this business requires genuinely loving the "mundane" work—plotting charts, reading research, and tinkering with data—rather than just grinding for a paycheck. I draw parallels between my trading journey and starting Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in my 40s: you don't have to be the most athletic or the fastest to win; you just have to love the puzzle enough to keep showing up.

Key Topics:

• The "Grind" Fallacy: Why survival is impossible if you don't actually enjoy the game itself.

• Evolution of Style: Moving away from high-stress, noisy futures trading toward longer-term swing and position trades that allow for cleaner execution.

• Technical Strategy: How I'm using AI to build custom indicators (like adapted McClellan summation indices) and focusing heavily on improving exits—learning to sell into euphoria rather than just focusing on the buy.

• 2026 Resolution: Ruthless simplification. Cutting out the "energy vampires" (short-term noise) to double down on the strategies that actually work for my personality.

In this episode, I talk about the discipline of "getting centered"—why nothing good ever comes from FOMO or fear, and how I train myself to sit on my hands until the setup is perfect. I break down my recent long positions in Chinese equities (betting on the sentiment pendulum swinging back) and why I am seeing massive opportunities in commodities like Glencore while everyone else is chasing US AI.

Key Topics:

• The Mental Game: Why I don't trade unless I'm centered and acting with "aggression and firmness" rather than anxiety.

• The China Thesis: The AI arms race and buying when the market is "uninvestable."

• Commodities: How I use custom price-action baskets to spot breakouts in hated sectors.

• Market Outlook: Why I'm waiting for better entries on US Tech/AI.

I’ve been working on a new project this week using the "Yutori Navigator" API. The original plan was to scrape Seeking Alpha articles for comment volume and upvotes to catch market sentiment, but I realized they guard their data too closely, so I switched to Reddit. I'm having much better luck there and have already found some interesting sentiment trends on stocks like Duolingo and PayPal. I'm also tracking a theory that "silence"—when the chatter suddenly stops after a big price move—might actually be a powerful turning point signal. I’m going to keep refining this to see if I can build a solid automated tracker.

People often ask what I’m actually building with AI all day. In this episode, I break down the 6 active projects I’m coding right now to automate my work and save money:

• The QuickBooks Killer: Replacing a $30/month subscription with a custom Python & Plaid script for automated tax reporting.

• Content Agent: Automatically converting podcast audio into a written Substack newsletter.

• Voice-First Trading Journal: A system to log trading results and tax liabilities verbally into a secure database.

• Global Earnings Tracker: Monitoring earnings revisions across US and global markets.

• The Buffett Scan: An automated scanner finding stocks that meet Warren Buffett’s investing criteria.

• Yutori Scouts: Using a new navigator API to dig up better market intel than Google News.

I’ve been refining my process for longer-term holds, and the market just handed me 5 painful but valuable lessons.

In this episode:

1. Management Integrity: If they miss guidance, get out.

2. Buy the Leader: Don't nurse the loser (NVO) when the winner (LLY) is running.

3. Positioning: Be okay with half-size until the chart proves you right.

4. Crowded Trades: Beware of "Value" stocks that are actually just stuck longs.

5. Execution: Never add to a loser until fundamentals and technicals improve.

Listen in for the full breakdown.

Is a subscription fee holding you back from a winning trade? In this episode, I break down why paying for premium market information is one of the best investments you can make.

I discuss:

• Why I commit to 6–12 month subscriptions to test value.

• How paid info helps identify narrative breakdowns and ownership data.

• Real-world example: How I used paid research to successfully hedge with "story stocks" during a market downturn.

• Why having more tools in front of you leads to better decision-making.

Don't trade in the dark—load yourself up with the best ideas possible.

After a brief hiatus, we are back to discuss the evolution of a modern trading workflow. In this episode, we cover the transition from standard spreadsheets to custom, AI-built Python tools—including a new voice-to-text trade logger and qualitative scanners based on "Rule Breaker" investing principles.

We also dive deep into current market mechanics, blending old-school sentiment analysis with new-school data. We break down the "Investor Day" top in Nvidia, why the disappearance of the MicroStrategy (MSTR) premium removes a critical bid for Bitcoin, and why China and commodities might be the next contrarian play.

Key Topics:

• Workflow Evolution: leveraging Claude to build SQL databases and voice-logging tools.

• Market Psychology: How "Investor Days" and retail euphoria signal tops (The NVDA example).

• The Crypto Thesis: Why MSTR losing its ability to issue equity at a premium signals a potential drop for Bitcoin to the $50k–$60k range.

• Global Macro: A contrarian look at China and commodities amidst the AI arms race.

I share with you some personal projects that i amdoing with artificial intelligence that I think you might find interest in.

I discuss my interaction with a younger Trader and how we are working on zooming out and maintaining proper perspective when developing new trading strategies and when reviewing trade results.