timothy sykes logo

Trading Lessons

Honor the Sacrifices Made for Freedom

Timothy SykesAvatar
Written by Timothy Sykes
Updated 5/22/2026 6 min read

Let’s take a minute to remember those who died and sacrificed their lives for our freedom.

Never forget.

Really, every day should be Memorial Day.

We’re riding on the backs of so many brave people all over the world.

It’s crazy to think about how much freedom we have now ONLY because of that sacrifice.

It didn’t just come easily. We didn’t just have this freedom.

If you go back decades or centuries, freedom was not a thing.

My Memorial Day Message

The stock market is closed today for Memorial Day.

I love stock market holidays, but especially in a hot market.

If you’ve seen my tweets, trades, and watchlists the past few weeks, you know it’s been insane (I can’t keep up)…

So, I really needed today off.

But Memorial Day means so much more.

Give Thanks to Our Fallen Soldiers and Respect Their Memories

Post image

Get my weekly watchlist, free

Sign up to jump start your trading education!

Image created by Google Gemini
Image created by Google Gemini

Take time to appreciate the sacrifices our brave soldiers made to afford us the freedom we now enjoy.

May God give their souls rest.

And may they live in our memories today and always.

Enjoy the day off, spend time with family, and get some rest.

But also take some time to do this…

Prepare for the Post Memorial Day Market

I believe one of the best ways to honor those who gave their lives is to take advantage of the freedom they gave us.

Even an hour or two will put you ahead of most lazy people.

So, sometime today, run your scans and make your watchlist.

Watch a video lesson or one of my YouTube videos.

Study the crazy charts on my X/Twitter feed. It’s like a library of spikers.

Also, understand history and what has happened in the past after Memorial Day (I’m a glorified history teacher)…

The Week After Memorial Day: A Market Perspective

The week after Memorial Day is historically seen as the start of the “summer doldrums.”

However, both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq have been up 7 out of the past 10 years in the week after Memorial Day.

Chart created by Claude, data from Yahoo Finance
Chart created by Claude, data from Yahoo Finance

What’s going to happen this year?

I don’t play guessing games (and you shouldn’t either).

So be prepared for anything.

Remember, the PDT rule is going away in less than two weeks on June 4.

SpaceX (private but will be NASDAQ: SPCX), likely the biggest IPO in history, is coming on June 12.

And everything to do with AI, from semiconductors to GPUs and data centers is going crazy.

So, even though I don’t know what’s going to happen, I’m ready for this madness to continue.

Millionaire Moves

If you haven’t registered for this training with Jeff Zananiri, today is a great time to do it.

Pay attention to Jeff’s volatility thesis.

Jeff will go into detail about how AI disruption, wars, and policy chaos create ideal conditions for 24-hour trades.

Jeff is also a stickler for position sizing and risk limits.

Register for Jeff’s 60-minute training 

Catalyst Watch

As we head into the short trading week, I’ll be focused on big percent gainers (as ALWAYS).

Especially former supernovas and plays with solid news.

Keep in mind that this market has been so crazy that to get the best opportunities you have to get up early and stay up late.

Even if you’re not trading premarket or after-hours, watch if you can so you can get used to seeing these big moves in real time.

More Breaking News

On My Radar

Final Thoughts

We live in a world of opportunity but we stand on the shoulders of the fallen.

So, as you fire up the barbecue today and spend time with family and friends…

Take a moment to be grateful.

We live in the most amazing time with the world at our fingertips.

Take advantage of every moment in honor of the soldiers who sacrificed everything so you can achieve your dreams.

Have a great day and a great week.

– Tim Sykes



How much has this post helped you?



Leave a reply

Author card Timothy Sykes picture

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”