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Trading Challenge Student Profile: Kyle Williams

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Written by Timothy Sykes
Updated 8/10/2021 4 min read

As a trader, it’s important you know how to be self-sufficient. But that doesn’t mean you can’t turn to others for motivation and great ideas…

Meet Trading Challenge student Kyle Williams. Here’s his inspiring story: He’s learning to trade while maintaining full-time responsibilities.

Still in his final stretch of college, Kyle reports nailing some impressive milestones since he started trading in 2016 — all while maintaining a full course load.

Let’s take a closer look at his story and upward trajectory…

Kyle’s Trading Story

A few years ago, Kyle enrolled in San Diego State University as an engineering student. But then a little movie called “The Big Short” changed everything for him. This movie opened his eyes to the stock market — with life-changing results.

Within a relatively short period of time, he changed his major to finance and opened his first trading account.

He joined the Trading Challenge in the summer of 2016 … but got off to a rocky start. Like many traders before him, he really didn’t devote himself to actually learning the market before jumping in with his reported $6K starting account. And he got burned.

His first trade was totally blind — he didn’t even look at a stock chart. Surprise, surprise: He quickly lost about 20% of his account. That’s when he realized he’d have to get serious if he wanted to be in this for the long haul.

So, he got smart and went to work. He devoted himself to the many Trading Challenge lessons and webinars available to my students, kept track of his trades, and began to actually find some rhyme and reason to his successes.

Kyle Williams Finding Success

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Kyle started to focus on the setups that worked for him — OTC dip buys/massive panics. His progress was slow but steady, and in his tenth month of trading, he had his first profitable month. Since the 12-month mark, he reports steady profits.

He credits consistency and refining the setups that work as the not-so ‘secret’ behind his success. According to him, it’s not about a one-time ‘aha’ moment in trading — it’s about continuing to learn. Every trade, good or bad, leaves a nugget of a lesson. Are you ready to learn from them?

Wait for the Right Plays

One big lesson Kyle Williams learned in his relatively short time as a trader is that patience is key. There’s a temptation to always be active in the markets, but sometimes the best trade is no trade.

For Kyle, right now his plays are shorting good ol’ pump and dumps and overextended OTC runners.

It’s hard to wait for plays, right? Sure … but it’s important to wait for trades where you know you have an edge — you understand the setup, and the criteria align with your strategy.

Forget FOMO! When you see others trading and you’re just waiting for your perfect setup, it can make you want to trade just for the action. But learning this restraint is also a big part of how you can help keep your account in the green.

Remember: If you’re not losing, you’re likely doing better than many traders out there.

Want to know more about Kyle? Follow him on Twitter, and check out his Profit.ly page!

What are some of the most powerful lessons you’ve learned as a trader? Leave a comment and let me know!


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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

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* 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”