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Double Tops and Staying Safe

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Written by Timothy Sykes Reviewed by Jack Kellogg Fact-checked by Bryce Tuohey
Updated 9/28/2026 6 min read
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We’re seeing some OUTSTANDING breakouts right now.

But with solid breakouts there’s always some risk…

You don’t want to just buy any breakout (these are VERY volatile stocks).

Mind you, I’m not a perfect trader.

I don’t always time things perfectly.

But by following my rules and basic guidelines, I’m able to lock in singles.

This is what I think about…

Failed Breakouts and Double Tops

Some of the breakouts we’re seeing, especially in premarket and after-hours, are there for the taking.

IF you’re prepared, that is.

Which means that you have to be very meticulous with your entries to get the proper risk to reward.

For example, on Friday (Sept. 25), Game Your Game, Inc. (NASDAQ: GYGY) had a beautiful after-hours breakout…

GYGY 9/28/26, 1-min candles, after-hours breakout, premarket double top
GYGY 9/28/26, 1-min candles, after-hours breakout, premarket double top

I encourage all my students to buy breakouts like that.

If you’re awake, prepared, and have the right broker, that’s the kind of breakout you should be trading.

But look what happened between after-hours Friday and premarket yesterday. In premarket, it double-topped within a few cents of Friday’s after-hours high.

So, you MUST also watch for failed breakouts, okay?

Right now, failed breakouts often turn into double tops fast (and I’m ALWAYS worried about the double tops).

Here’s another example…

Dreamland Limited (NASDAQ: TDIC) was another big spiker on Friday.

It was halted several times during regular hours trading. But it was still up, so I was watching it after hours.

As it got closer to the previous high-of-day around $4 per share, I warned students that it was a potential double top…

TDIC 9/25/26, 1-min candles, double top
TDIC 9/25/26, 1-min candles, double top

Remember: when the breakout is at a round number, it can create even more potential for a double top.

Especially with a choppy stock like TDIC.

As you can see, it double-topped right at $4.

Which brings me to…

How To Stay Safe With Double Tops

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Get my after-hours watchlist, free

The Night Tape, every trading day after the closing bell, plus The Second Session guide.

A lot of newbies want to sell a breakout like TDIC at $4.05 or $4.10.

They have a goal to sell in the $4s and they’re determined to sell on that breakout.

But oftentimes, the big sell orders pile up at round numbers.

So, if you’re prepared you put in your sell order at $3.99 or $3.97 (or even a little lower).

Why?

To beat the rush, because not every breakout (or double top) is clean.

Think about it like this…

Image created with Google Gemini
Image created with Google Gemini

Do you ever try to leave home 15 minutes early to beat rush-hour traffic?

You know that if you go out early, you can beat it, right?

But if you wait that extra 15 minutes, you could get stuck in traffic. Sometimes leaving 15 minutes early can save you 30 or even 45 minutes, okay?

That’s what it’s like with some of these double tops and failed breakouts.

Remember, this is a game of buyers and sellers.

If you can start to understand what buyers and sellers are thinking, it can help you stay safe.

Which means it’s a matter of…

Preparation and Discipline

Even after warning students and urging them to be careful with failed breakouts and double tops, some of you aren’t following the rules…

I want you to be successful. But you MUST understand two things:

  1. You have to focus on the process and stay disciplined
  2. It’s a marathon and not a sprint…

Isn’t that AWESOME? I’d probably give up after a quarter of it (I’m proud of Bryce).

But I also want you to understand that he went through the same process as ALL my millionaire students.

Bryce is the co-host for my upcoming Millionaire Formula Conference.

If you want to find out how much trading is like preparing to run a marathon…

I URGE you to register and show up this Friday, October 2.

Yes, I Want to Discover the Secret Behind 55 Millionaires

Show up ready to take notes and ask Bryce how trading is like running a marathon, because he KNOWS.

Key Takeaway

Everyone loves to nail the breakout and take a big win.

Just be aware that if the run-up to the breakout isn’t clean, it could be a double top.

In other words, the cleaner the price action is when a stock is getting close to breaking out, the better.

But even THEN you have to be careful and stay safe.

Cheers,

– Tim Sykes

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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”