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Mariana’s $1 Million Trading Milestone*

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Written by Timothy Sykes
Updated 1/4/2023 16 min read

It’s an honor to announce this $1 million trading milestone … Mariana is my first female Trading Challenge student to pass the million-dollar profit mark!*

It’s kinda crazy … It was only a few months ago in December 2020 that I was announcing Mariana as my first six-figure female student.*

Her growth has been exponential … Just consider her track record last month.

  • The week of February 1, 2021, she made over $100K.*
  • Then in the week of February 8, 2021, she made over $247K.*
  • For the week of February 15, 2021, she made over $136K.*
  • And the week of February 22, 2021, she made over $142K.*

(*Please note that Mariana’s trading results are not typical. Most traders lose money. Individual results will vary. Trading is inherently risky. Before making any trades, remember to do your due diligence and never risk more than you can afford to lose.)

During that last week of February, she was taking advantage of trading opportunities like the GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) comeback … On February 25, 2021, she became my first seven-figure female student.*

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It’s impressive, but there’s something else you should know … Mariana’s only 20 years old.

This is definitely not a common trading story. Most traders fail.

That said, Mariana’s success is no accident. She’s an extremely disciplined and meticulous trader … She studies hard and constantly works to refine her process.

Her story is the perfect illustration of ‘preparation meets opportunity’ — the results are extraordinary.

I want everyone to be inspired by this post, but I want female traders in particular to take note. We need more female traders!

Let’s take a look at how Mariana made this incredible $1 million trading milestone a reality*…

 

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Newbie to $1 Million Trading Milestone: Mariana’s Journey

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As of March 1, 2021, Mariana’s profits are at $1,004,842.* Check out her profit chart — gorgeous.*

It didn’t happen overnight. 

Mariana actually joined my Trading Challenge in 2018, right after she finished high school. But she didn’t take action right away.

Her dad had urged her to find a career path where she could support herself. Trading seemed like the best fit for her.

But she wasn’t passionate from the start. In fact, Marianna didn’t really use the Trading Challenge resources until about a year in!

Everything changed when she went to my Trader & Investor Summit in 2019. She was inspired by my top students’ stories. That’s when she knew she wanted to get in on the penny stock game.

Not only did she find a new career direction … she also found her current boyfriend!

Yep — Mariana is dating Jack Kellogg, who’s currently up over $5.7 million in profits* … They met at the Trader & Investor Summit.

(*Please note that Jack’s trading results are not typical. Most traders lose money. Individual results will vary. Trading is inherently risky. Before making any trades, remember to do your due diligence and never risk more than you can afford to lose.)

But for anyone who dares to think that Mariana hitting this $1 million trading milestone is due to Jack … NOPE.

The Trading Challenge is a community, so naturally they help each other out.

But Mariana’s a skilled trader in her own right. Here’s how her story unfolded…

Getting Serious About My Trading Challenge

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After the Trader & Investor Summit, Mariana dedicated herself to the Trading Challenge.

She started studying and trading … Instead of choosing to paper trade at first, she started with small positions.

Note: I’m not saying I suggest that approach. For some traders, paper trading, or virtual trading, is a great way to test strategies. It’s how some learn how trading works without putting real money on the line. Every trader’s different.

Mariana wasn’t perfect. Soon after she started trading with her $15K account, she’d lost $3,000.

That’s when she quickly realized she needed to refine her strategy. Here’s what happened next…

This Mindset Shift Changed Everything

I’ve gotta tell you something about Mariana.

You’ve never seen someone eat crème brûlée as slowly and patiently as she does. Trust me, I’ve hung out with her and Jack. I’ve seen it.

Me, I’m not so patient. Give me some crème brûlée and I’ll hoover it in like 30 seconds…

I’m not just sharing top student trivia … I’m demonstrating Mariana’s high level of patience, discipline, and restraint. 

She’s just as deliberate about trading as she is about enjoying crème brûlée.

After her initial losses when she started trading, Mariana knew she had to make some changes. That led to a big realization…

If she wanted to be in this game for the long haul, she needed to invest in her education.

She recognized that to do that, she’d need to focus on screen time over profits.

In short … Mariana realized it’s a marathon, not a sprint.

This mindset shift helped her make the following changes…

1. She Scaled Down Her Positions

Mariana shares that sometimes she’d trade as few as 100 shares of a stock.

Those small trades weren’t about money. They were about something way more important.

As she puts it, “I wanted to learn and to see how trading felt.”

She was training her mind and instincts to become a better trader. Why can’t I get more people to do this?

2. She Studied Harder

Mariana also hit the books — and videos, and webinars, and blog posts…

She watched DVDs like my “PennyStocking Framework” DVD and top trader Tim Grittani’s DVD “Trading Tickers.”

She also observed and studied the traders who worked their way through the Challenge to become top traders. This helped her learn how top traders think and approach trades — and that helped her develop her own strategy.

She also studied herself. She reviewed all of her trades to see where she could improve and how to keep getting better.

3. She Got Way Smarter About Cutting Losses

Cutting losses is my #1 rule … It’s important, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy.

Mariana has trained herself to be extreme about cutting losses.

In this video, she talks about a notable loss. It hurt, but it could have been far worse if she’d been a bag holder.

At the time of that recording, her biggest loss had been $400. She’s had a few bigger ones since then, which you can see because she logs every trade publicly … But overall, Mariana is known for being extra-conservative.

She believes that it’s vital for traders to ditch their need to be right about trades. After all, you can be right and still lose money! It’s not personal. That’s just how the market works.

When she took these steps and started zeroing in on a few key setups, Mariana started to see exponential growth*…

This Strategy Led to Mariana’s $1 Million Trading Milestone*

Mariana’s favorite setup? That’s easy. “Buying dips is my favorite,” she says.

Early on, she started dip buying Nasdaq stocks and OTCs. As she started to get the hang of dip buys and the process made sense to her, she started to tinker and refine her strategy.

Dip buying is a fairly simple strategy, but it can be tricky to time it right. For Mariana, it’s a careful balance of being patient but also very quick.

That might sound confusing, but it actually makes a lot of sense…

  • You have to be patient about waiting for the right setups.
  • Then, when the right setup does come along, you have to be quick to react — and quick to cut losses if the trade goes against you.

Mariana tries to wait for truly excellent setups. She avoids choppy price action. That’s because she knows herself and that, for her, it can lead to emotional trading.

Way to go, Mariana. Don’t be a bag holder!

The Importance of Adapting

When Mariana sees potential dip buys that are out of her comfort zone, she adjusts accordingly.

Just this week, there were a few potential dip buys like Labor Smart Inc. (OTCPK: LTNC) that Mariana wasn’t totally comfortable with.

When she feels that way about a trade, she takes extra steps. For one, she double-checks that the stock doesn’t have bad news. And she’s even more disciplined about cutting losses quickly.

Mariana also stays up to date with my Trading Challenge chat room for inspiration about potential plays and how to keep adapting.

She loves how the chat room alerts her to trends or specific stocks in movement. For her, it’s a great jumping-off point to guide her independent research before she trades.

Mariana’s Reaction to Her $1 Million Trading Milestone*

Mariana tells me that her $1 million trading milestone never would have happened without the support of her family.*

From the start, her family has been extremely supportive of her trading journey. When she struggles, they encourage her to keep going.

I love that!

Not every parent is thrilled about their kid day trading … When I started trading with my bar mitzvah money, my parents thought I’d lose it. You can read that crazy story in my autobiography, “An American Hedge Fund.” (Get your copy for no cost using this link.)

Mariana’s family is as thrilled about her $1 million trading milestone as I am* … That’s saying a lot!

She credits Jack as a huge support system and source of inspiration, too:

I know Jack is inspired by Mariana every day, too … Still, I’m trying to get him to up his game in the gifting department…

Mariana says she’s not only excited about her $1 million trading milestone, but also about what it means for the other women in my Trading Challenge.* “I’m so very grateful to have ever attended the Trader & Investor Summit and to have ever started trading … I am now living proof that it can be done by both genders!”

What Comes After a $1 Million Trading Milestone?*

Mariana’s not getting complacent. She says, “My biggest objective right now is making sure I keep what I made.”

She’s also focusing on learning — from her mistakes and from other students’ mistakes. It’s all so that she can avoid getting stuck in bad trades with sketchy OTCs!

She’s also attuned to changes in the market. She says that so far, March “feels slower, so one area to improve is making sure I shift my mindset to being more conservative.”

That’s the right attitude … Every month is a chance to start fresh!

I love Mariana’s commitment … I’m so excited to see what the future holds for her.

Follow My Up-and-Coming Female Trading Challenge Students…

Mariana’s $1 million trading milestone is incredible … But she’s not my only female Trading Challenge student who’s killing it.*

For instance, Angela, who started trading in 2015, is currently up over $176K in profits as of early March.* Check out her profit chart here.*

She credits my Trading Challenge and DVDs like PennyStocking Silver and “How to Make Millions” as being a big part of her education.

(Please note that Angela’s trading results are not typical. Most traders lose money. It takes years of dedication, hard work, and discipline to learn how to trade. Individual results will vary. Trading is inherently risky. Before making any trades, remember to do your due diligence and never risk more than you can afford to lose.)

Angela’s just one of my female students who’s making great progress. Check out this post featuring several of my top female students to learn more about their stories!

The Future of Trading…

I’m honored and humbled to have had several students find their way in my Trading Challenge and cross the million-dollar profit mark.*

But I’ve gotta say … Mariana’s $1 million trading milestone is special. She’s my first seven-figure female student* … That’s a milestone for me, too!

I want to celebrate Mariana. And I also want her story to inspire all the other women day traders out there.

The markets don’t care about your gender. Trading is all about your discipline, mindset, and work ethic.

Mariana proves that women can find their stride as traders … Now that the floodgates are open, I can’t wait to see how female traders will continue to make waves in the market.

Are you inspired by Mariana’s story? Leave a comment and let her know! Please share this post with any aspiring female traders you know … We need more female traders!


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Timothy Sykes

Tim Sykes is a penny stock trader and teacher who became a self-made millionaire by the age of 22 by trading $12,415 of bar mitzvah money. After becoming disenchanted with the hedge fund world, he established the Tim Sykes Trading Challenge to teach aspiring traders how to follow his trading strategies. He’s been featured in a variety of media outlets including CNN, Larry King, Steve Harvey, Forbes, Men’s Journal, and more. He’s also an active philanthropist and environmental activist, a co-founder of Karmagawa, and has donated millions of dollars to charity. Read More

* Results are not typical and will vary from person to person. Making money trading stocks takes time, dedication, and hard work. There are inherent risks involved with investing in the stock market, including the loss of your investment. Past performance in the market is not indicative of future results. Any investment is at your own risk. See Terms of Service here

The available research on day trading suggests that most active traders lose money. Fees and overtrading are major contributors to these losses.

A 2000 study called “Trading is Hazardous to Your Wealth: The Common Stock Investment Performance of Individual Investors” evaluated 66,465 U.S. households that held stocks from 1991 to 1996. The households that traded most averaged an 11.4% annual return during a period where the overall market gained 17.9%. These lower returns were attributed to overconfidence.

A 2014 paper (revised 2019) titled “Learning Fast or Slow?” analyzed the complete transaction history of the Taiwan Stock Exchange between 1992 and 2006. It looked at the ongoing performance of day traders in this sample, and found that 97% of day traders can expect to lose money from trading, and more than 90% of all day trading volume can be traced to investors who predictably lose money. Additionally, it tied the behavior of gamblers and drivers who get more speeding tickets to overtrading, and cited studies showing that legalized gambling has an inverse effect on trading volume.

A 2019 research study (revised 2020) called “Day Trading for a Living?” observed 19,646 Brazilian futures contract traders who started day trading from 2013 to 2015, and recorded two years of their trading activity. The study authors found that 97% of traders with more than 300 days actively trading lost money, and only 1.1% earned more than the Brazilian minimum wage ($16 USD per day). They hypothesized that the greater returns shown in previous studies did not differentiate between frequent day traders and those who traded rarely, and that more frequent trading activity decreases the chance of profitability.

These studies show the wide variance of the available data on day trading profitability. One thing that seems clear from the research is that most day traders lose money .

Millionaire Media 66 W Flagler St. Ste. 900 Miami, FL 33130 United States (888) 878-3621 This is for information purposes only as Millionaire Media LLC nor Timothy Sykes is registered as a securities broker-dealer or an investment adviser. No information herein is intended as securities brokerage, investment, tax, accounting or legal advice, as an offer or solicitation of an offer to sell or buy, or as an endorsement, recommendation or sponsorship of any company, security or fund. Millionaire Media LLC and Timothy Sykes cannot and does not assess, verify or guarantee the adequacy, accuracy or completeness of any information, the suitability or profitability of any particular investment, or the potential value of any investment or informational source. The reader bears responsibility for his/her own investment research and decisions, should seek the advice of a qualified securities professional before making any investment, and investigate and fully understand any and all risks before investing. Millionaire Media LLC and Timothy Sykes in no way warrants the solvency, financial condition, or investment advisability of any of the securities mentioned in communications or websites. In addition, Millionaire Media LLC and Timothy Sykes accepts no liability whatsoever for any direct or consequential loss arising from any use of this information. This information is not intended to be used as the sole basis of any investment decision, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet the investment needs of any particular investor. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future returns.

Citations for Disclaimer

Barber, Brad M. and Odean, Terrance, Trading is Hazardous to Your Wealth: The Common Stock Investment Performance of Individual Investors. Available at SSRN: “Day Trading for a Living?”

Barber, Brad M. and Lee, Yi-Tsung and Liu, Yu-Jane and Odean, Terrance and Zhang, Ke, Learning Fast or Slow? (May 28, 2019). Forthcoming: Review of Asset Pricing Studies, Available at SSRN: “https://ssrn.com/abstract=2535636”

Chague, Fernando and De-Losso, Rodrigo and Giovannetti, Bruno, Day Trading for a Living? (June 11, 2020). Available at SSRN: “https://ssrn.com/abstract=3423101”