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Change This Habit, Protect Your Trading Account

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Written by Timothy Sykes Reviewed by Jack Kellogg Fact-checked by Ellis Hobbs
Updated 8/12/2026 5 min read
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In a perfect world, I’m able to travel and trade any time, plays work any time…

Time for a reality check…

In reality, we are in the middle of a choppy, choppy summer.

I’m trying to trade at different times, but it’s just not working.

THAT has led me into one of the oldest traps in the book.

Overtrading: The Habit That Kills Trading Accounts

One reason I travel so much is because I overtrade when I’m back home.

Image created with Google Gemini
Image created with Google Gemini

Travel and charity keep me busy.

That way I’m not glued to the screen with StocksToTrade open in one window and my broker in another.

And THAT keeps me from taking…

Dumb Losses

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The problem is that I’m a trading addict (yes, I admit it)…

Sometimes I force it (especially when I’ve missed the best time to trade something)

At least I’ve created the good habit of cutting losses quickly.

But the truth is, I gotta be more careful.

That one habit of mine, overtrading (especially weak setups), is just dumb. And it has killed my trading more than once.

I’m trading with a small account right now. Sometimes I’m even using a paper-trading account.

So it really doesn’t matter to me financially, but I want to make good trades.

Why I’m Trading Small Right Now

The reason I’m trading small is because I haven’t earned the right to trade big.

Frankly, I don’t think anybody should be trading big at this time in the summer.

This is when I used to travel to Positano, Italy. I chose August to try to get away from wanting to trade during the August doldrums.

It’s crazy. My addiction leads me to trade sub-par setups.

So, I’m trying to trade less in August to protect my trading account.

Matt Monaco reminded me that he also was overtrading earlier this year. Now he takes Fridays off.

What has he been doing with his Fridays?

Working on a new tool that helps traders target gains in a very disciplined way.

You can check it out today…

Get Free Access to the All New Income Blueprint

Matt is going live today with Tim Bohen at 10AM ET to show you his tool.

It’s WAY cool.

I had the opportunity to ask Matt about it last night, and he told me that after he had a $60K month a few years back, he gave it all back.

Why? Because he was overtrading and undisciplined.

Then he made one small change and made back roughly $113K in two months.* Crazy, right?

Here’s what Matt said about the Income Blueprint:

“Most income methods out there box you into a single approach. They’re either built for the ultra-conservative retiree… Or they’re designed for the risk-hungry investor who’s looking to double their money. There’s no flexibility. No middle ground.”

The cool thing about Matt’s tool is that it targets income based on your preferred risk level.

In other words, you can trade the same stock three different ways depending on your risk.

I LOVE that (and I’ll be tuning in, too).

Access the Free, Live Income Blueprint Class Here

Catalyst Watch: Follow the Qs

This tweet from OddStats caught my attention.

The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ), which tracks the Nasdaq 100, finished the first 150 days of 2026 with a return of +17.7%.

There have been eight years where it was up that much after 150 days. In seven of the eight, the Qs finished the year higher:

Table created using Claude
Table created using Claude

That’s pretty cool, right? Who knows if it will hold true this year, but I wouldn’t be surprised.

Why?

Because we’re close to all-time highs and earnings have been amazing.

Let’s GO!

Key Takeaway

Overtrading is one of the worst habits I see in traders (including me).

If you feel like you’re overtrading, you are.

Even if you just wonder, ask yourself this question:

Am I being meticulous with every trade?

If you are not, then why are you trading?

I’m committed to doing better and trading less.

Stay disciplined and only take trades when the setup is so good that you’d feel guilty NOT taking it. At least until Labor Day.

Cheers,

– Tim Sykes

*Results not typical. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

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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.
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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”