Business

Craig Steven O’Dear, The Story of an Athlete Becoming a High Profile Lawyer

Published

5 years ago

August 26, 2020

Being a lawyer is difficult. It is a huge responsibility since their arguments can determine the fate of large amounts of money, and who goes to jail or goes free. It requires dedication, hard work, and endless hours. Few have achieved the highest ranks of the profession, but Craig Steven O’Dear is among those few who have done so.

An American lawyer, Craig Steven O’Dear, is a corporate litigator and legal advisor who has managed to establish himself as one of the finest corporate trial lawyers in the country. Due to his passion and hard work, he has been consistently recognized for his efforts in The Best Lawyers in America, Chambers USA, Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers since 2006.

STORY OF AN ATHLETE

Born on June 26, 1957, in Northeast Missouri, Craig S. O’Dear is the son of H.C. O’Dear and Martha Lou O’Dear. His father was a farmer while his mother was a school teacher. He spent his childhood on a hog farm south of Lewistown, where he completed his high school education.

Craig was an accomplished athlete in high school. He was a prominent basketball player and track athlete and played quarterback on the first-ever Highland High School football team. His parents were very proud and kept records of his athletic years. His father drove him to play basketball with the Quincy Herald-Whig publisher’s kids on a YMCA team, beginning in the fourth grade, every Saturday.

When Craig was a student, the school only offered a basketball program, and there was no football program. Craig’s father was a member of the school board. He, along with other local leaders, decided to start a football program. Coach Pat Wozniak was hired as the first football coach.

Coach Wozniak formed the first football team of the school comprising the school’s star basketball players and farm boys who had never played organized sports. Wozniak led the team to a 9-0 record in their first year, acknowledging the efforts of the young and confident athlete, Craig O’Dear. The coach said, “Without the quarterback, that wouldn’t have been possible to have that record. That was a big, strong, smart kid.” He graduated from Highland High School in Ewing, Missouri.

Craig’s success in football, basketball, and track in high school landed him a football scholarship at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. O’Dear played football and ran track at the university while pursuing an engineering education. He graduated with an engineering degree in 1979.

Apart from having a stellar background in sports, his father paid for Craig’s flight lessons, and also encouraged him to learn to fly. As of today, Craig has been a private pilot for 30 years!

STORY OF A HIGH PROFILE LAWYER

Upon realizing that he had a keen interest in law, he skipped continuing the engineering field and attended Vanderbilt University Law School on scholarship. In 1982, he graduated with a law degree.

The same year he graduated, Craig went to Stinson Mag & Fizzell. He was recruited by David Everson, who praised Craig’s confidence. In a year, Craig was given the opportunity of defending Hallmark Cards Inc. and other defendants in the Hyatt Skywalk Collapse. Craig had to defend his clients against a $1.5 million claim of post-traumatic stress disorder from the opposing party. The trial gave Craig’s career the boost it needed, and he had successfully started paving his way to a thriving career.

1988 brought Craig to a law firm headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, where he became a partner in 1990. Craig supported the non-profit organization that exonerates wrongfully convicted people, the Midwest Innocence Project, where he has been serving on the advisory board.

Mr. O’Dear’s accomplishments have been recognized in many publications. He was recognized by the Kansas City Business Journal as “Best of the Bar” in business and product liability litigation multiple times. He was also featured in the ‘Best Lawyers in America,’ Chambers USA, Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyer numerous times since 2006. Benchmark Litigation, named Craig, a ‘Missouri Litigation Star’ and the Lawdragon magazine named O’Dear, one of the Top 500 Leading Litigators in America in 2006.

In January 2018, Craig ran for Senate against Democrat incumbent Senator Claire McCaskill. He stood in the elections as an independent candidate, and a part of a Denver-based national movement of independents called Unite America and refused to caucus with either party if he would be elected. Even though O’Dear lost the election, he gained recognition by various notable personalities as an American politician because of his determination.

Today, Craig S. O’Dear lives with his family, his wife, Stephanie, in Kansas City. They have three children, daughter Sydney, and sons Cullen and Cormac.

Business

From Learning to Profit: MyTradingPro Teaches, Analyzes, and Delivers Signals

Published

8 hours ago

October 29, 2025

Matthew Wiles

In the fast-paced world of trading, most tools focus on a single niche—either they teach, analyze, or send signals. MyTradingPro breaks that mold by doing all three in one seamless platform. From a beginner’s first lesson to a professional’s high-probability trade setup, MyTradingPro acts as a teacher, analyst, and signal provider, giving traders an end-to-end solution for mastering markets and turning insight into profit.

Whether your focus is crypto, forex, or U.S. equities, MyTradingPro integrates education, market analysis, and actionable signals with algorithmic precision—eliminating the guesswork and emotion that plague most retail traders.

MyTradingPro as Your Personal Trading Academy

For those starting out, MyTradingPro’s Learning Academy offers a structured pathway from complete novice to confident trader. This isn’t just static text; it’s an interactive environment designed to make each concept practical and testable.

Key features of the learning journey:

Step-by-step modules: From basic trading terms and chart patterns to advanced order flow and macro analysis.
Interactive quizzes: Reinforce knowledge and identify weak spots before moving to more advanced topics.
Practical assignments: Apply lessons to real market charts and compare your conclusions to MyTradingPro’s own analysis.
Integrated with live market context: Lessons link directly to current market examples, so you learn from today’s price action—not yesterday’s theory.

By the time you finish the core curriculum, you’re not just familiar with concepts—you know how to apply them. And because you stay inside the MyTradingPro environment, transitioning from learning to live analysis is seamless.

Market Analysis That Goes Beyond Indicators

Once you’ve learned the foundations, you need sharp analysis to identify real opportunities. This is where MyTradingPro’s multi-layered analytics engine comes into play.

What sets the analysis apart:

Multi-market scanning: Crypto, forex, and U.S. stocks are scanned simultaneously for technical, fundamental, and sentiment-driven setups.
Macro + micro integration: The platform factors in global news, macroeconomic releases, and sector correlations alongside micro-level technical structures.
Real-time updates: Markets change fast; MyTradingPro recalculates probability and risk parameters on the fly.
Clear visualizations: Instead of vague charts with ambiguous arrows, each analysis comes with a full explanation, probability score, and defined invalidation points.

By merging machine learning models with expert logic, MyTradingPro avoids the “indicator soup” trap. The goal is clarity: if a setup is worth taking, you’ll know exactly why—and how to approach it.

The Heart of the Platform: The Super-Signal System

While education and analysis lay the foundation, MyTradingPro’s Super-Signal system is what traders come back for day after day. These signals aren’t hunches from a chat admin—they’re structured, algorithmic trade plans.

Every signal includes:

Two scenarios per setup:
- Primary scenario: Best-case alignment of technicals, fundamentals, and order flow.
- Alternative scenario: A backup path if conditions shift unexpectedly.
Entry point(s): Exact price levels where probability is highest.
Stop-loss placement: Based on volatility and liquidity zones, not arbitrary round numbers.
Multi-target structure: Scaling out profits at different stages.
Probability score: A data-driven confidence percentage so you can size positions logically.
Plain-language explanation: Why this setup exists, what triggers it, and what invalidates it.

If news breaks or market sentiment shifts, the signal is updated instantly with revised parameters—often before the next candle closes. This keeps traders ahead of the curve, not reacting late.

Removing Emotion from Trading Decisions

A large part of MyTradingPro’s edge comes from removing the fear, greed, and hesitation that sabotage human traders. Every signal and analysis is paired with a Trading Discipline Checklist:

Recommended position size based on account balance and probability.
Maximum concurrent trades allowed to avoid overexposure.
Immediate alerts if the trade thesis breaks.
Reminder prompts to take partial profits according to plan.

By embedding discipline into the workflow, MyTradingPro acts like a personal trading coach—ensuring you stick to a proven process rather than making impulse decisions.

How the Three Pillars Work Together

Learn — Understand the “why” behind market moves.
Analyze — Apply that knowledge to identify high-probability opportunities.
Act — Execute with confidence using algorithmic signals and strict risk management.

This cycle repeats, with each trade feeding back into your learning process. You review outcomes in the performance ledger, compare your own reasoning to MyTradingPro’s, and refine your approach over time.

Real-Time News Integration

Markets are reactive to news, but not all headlines deserve action. MyTradingPro’s news engine filters events by actual market impact—flagging only what matters to the instruments you trade.

For example:

A U.S. CPI surprise that could shift the dollar’s trajectory will update relevant forex and gold signals instantly.
A sudden change in Bitcoin ETF inflows will trigger a crypto market scan and, if needed, revise BTC or ETH setups.
A major earnings beat in a tech stock will feed into sector correlation analysis for related equities.

This keeps you focused on catalysts, not clickbait.

Transparent Performance Tracking

Many “signal services” cherry-pick wins and quietly delete losing calls. MyTradingPro takes the opposite approach:

Every signal is logged—win or loss—with timestamp, market, scenario chosen, and outcome.
Filter by market or strategy type to see where the edge is strongest.
Review your personal execution record alongside the platform’s performance to pinpoint areas for improvement.

Transparency builds trust, but it also sharpens your trading instincts through honest feedback.

Who Benefits Most from MyTradingPro

New traders who want structured learning plus guided execution.
Intermediate traders who understand markets but need discipline and higher-quality setups.
Experienced traders seeking algorithmic confirmation and cross-market insights without adding screen time.
Multi-market operators who like switching between crypto, forex, and equities without juggling platforms.

Subscription Options

7-day free trial: Full access to learning, analysis, and signals.
Premium plan: Education + analysis + news integration.
Premium+ plan: Everything in Premium plus the Super-Signal system and full performance ledger.

Best Practices for Using MyTradingPro

Respect the process: Don’t skip learning modules, even if you think you “already know.”
Size trades by probability: The confidence score is there to keep your risk consistent.
Use both scenarios: Primary is your main plan; alternative saves you when markets flip.
Review the ledger weekly: Learn from both wins and losses.
Stay disciplined: The platform is designed to help you avoid overtrading—let it.

The Bottom Line

Most traders fail not because they can’t find setups, but because they lack the complete loop—education, analysis, and execution in harmony. MyTradingPro closes that gap. It teaches you the logic of markets, analyzes them with depth and speed, and delivers structured, probability-backed signals that keep you on track.

From your first chart pattern to your first five-figure month, MyTradingPro is there at every step—teaching, analyzing, and signaling your way to better trading outcomes.

MyTradingPro: From learning to profit—your all-in-one trading partner.