Stock market in the streets
We trappin' with the Wallstreet Trapper.
Tuesday has become my favorite day of the week.
One man is responsible for that.
He goes by the name Wallstreet Trapper, and he is my biggest financial mentor.
On a drizzly night on the south side of Chicago on July 22, I got to meet the man who has been instrumental in reshaping my mindset with money and revamping my approach to earning and spending, saving and investing.
Let me introduce you to Leon “Trap” Howard.
Every week he hosts a live show on YouTube called “Trappin Tuesday’s.” I’ve been a loyal viewer since October.
From his intro music and insights, to his energy and engagement, Trap has me hooked. Unless duty calls, I’m posted up somewhere watching faithfully each Tuesday at 6 p.m. The only disturbance I don’t mind is Parker when she calls for our routine 8 o’clock FaceTime chat. If it’s not my princess or something important, leave me alone. I’m locked in.
Unaccompanied for up to three hours each Tuesday night, Trap teaches masterfully about finance, investing and the stock market. His goal is to help lower- and middle-class families heal from generational financial trauma and build legacy. His mission is important. His method makes learning simple.
I’ve watched all 54 episodes of “Trappin Tuesday’s,” approximately 135 hours assuming a 2 1/2-hour average show length. That means I’ve spent almost six full days over the past 10 months consuming Trap’s series. And that’s only his flagship show. He produces and appears in much more content.
I stumbled upon Wallstreet Trapper in an interview he did on “Impact Theory with Tom Bilyeu.” I’m sure I was searching for something about money. The video’s title reads, “The 1% DO THIS to get rich.”
But before Trap began talking about building wealth, his backstory captured my attention.
Around the age of 9 or 10, Howard, a New Orleans native, witnessed his mother get shot. He saw his mom sell drugs, commit robbery, get robbed and be sent to prison. At 14, his grandmother, who had become Howard’s caretaker, passed away while his mother was imprisoned.
He became homeless. Howard fell into the street life. He sold drugs. At 16, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for attempted murder and armed robbery. But that’s where he turned around his life.
Howard met a white man serving federal time. He recalled the criminal rebuking Howard’s crimes. “Man, y’all playing the wrong game,” Howard recalled the inmate telling him.
The inmate had been charged with $2.8 million embezzlement but bragged about paying only $800,000 in restitution and keeping $2 million.
The inmate told Howard wealthy people do three things: stop trading their time for money, make their money work for them and provide as much value to people as they can. The inmate told Howard wealthy people get into stocks, then they start businesses, then they go into real estate.
“So when people ask me how did I get into stocks, it’s because I followed that rule,” Howard told Bilyeu. “If he would have said real estate, business, I would have been the Real Estate Trapper.”
Now I’m following Trap.
His show was the first I found that taught personal finance, financial responsibility and stock market investing in a way I could easily understand. Parker has joined me on several occasions to watch portions of “Trappin Tuesday’s.” She loves the “Flush it or Flip it” segment in which Trap surveys the audience about whether select companies will be profitable in the short term.
I can say without question I would not have been comfortable investing in the stock market when I began last fall without Trap’s weekly teachings. My idea to use an index fund as a savings vehicle came from him.
Episode 11 of “Trappin Tuesday’s” is one of my favorites and among Trap’s most powerful. It was an emotional episode that started with a tribute to his late Aunt Nita. Soon, Trap brought me to tears when he talked about stepping up as part of the next generation to lead his family. He forced his audience to ask ourselves what is our family blueprint.
“What do you do when you’re the person that has to give birth to the freedom that everyone wants?” he asked.
“Are you willing to be looked at as crazy?”
“Are you willing to defeat the odds?”
“Are you willing to take the risk?”
“What are the sacrifices that you’re willing to make to change the dynamics of your family?”
That was also the week Trap unveiled his inspiring mantra, a 161-word pledge he stands and states early in every show. The line that emboldened me most at the start of my investing journey: “The stock market is a machine that prints money, and I am more than capable of operating this machine.”
Last month, Trap took his message to the streets, meeting everyday people in working-class neighborhoods. He set up shop in parks and parking lots in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Dallas, Los Angeles and Chicago among others. He did it free of charge, and in certain instances on consecutive nights. It said a lot about him. Mostly, it showed he truly wants to help.
Chicago originally was on Trap’s seven-city “Recession Tour,” which kicked off with a live audience for “Trappin Tuesday’s” in Atlanta last week. I was eager to attend and would have been happy to pay, but the Chicago leg fell through. I couldn’t miss “Stock Market in the Streets.”
Best of all is it was my weekend with Parker, which meant I could take her. When we arrived, my lady friend Triest surprised us there. My heart dropped and my face lit up. No one knows what Trap means to me more than Parker and Triest. Having them with me will be a lifetime memory.
For three hours, starting in a cramped parking lot behind a small building on the corner, Trap taught stock market and investing basics. He took questions, and he didn’t mind patiently repeating himself.
When the sky darkened and the drizzle strengthened 90 minutes into his presentation, he graciously moved inside. There, he lectured and lingered for another 90 minutes with the crowd huddled close around him.
I blurted a question, which Trap took the time to answer thoroughly. When he finished presenting, Trap posed for every picture attendees requested. In my excitement, I forgot to get one with him by myself. Parker took one with him. Triest took one with him. And I jumped in one with Parker and one with Triest.
Parker got to ask Trap about “Flush it or Flip it,” and I got it on video, complete with Trap cackling before inviting Parker to Atlanta for a live episode of “Trappin Tuesday’s.”
While there, we met Andre Haynes, a Chicago native and savvy real estate investor we had planned on tapping in with soon. Jemal King, another Chicago native and real estate investor, was in attendance as well. King is also known as the 9-to-5 millionaire. It reminded me of the importance of showing up. You never know who you might meet.
The night was perfect.
Trap didn’t sell us a thing. Instead, he gave us two free e-books.
He’s given me so much more.
I echo this sentiment. Saw Trap’s Stock Market in the Street in Philly and I could visually relive the experience through your post above. Very nice!💪🏾