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Patterns To Watch

How I Traded This Beautiful Intraday Cup and Handle

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Written by Timothy Sykes Reviewed by Jack Kellogg Fact-checked by Ellis Hobbs
Updated 4/9/2026 5 min read
How I Traded This Beautiful Intraday Cup and Handle Thumbnail

Sometimes there’s a pattern SO beautiful that it would be crazy not to trade it.

Other times, I’m so focused on one of my favorite patterns that I trade a…

Pattern within a pattern.

It’s counterintuitive, but I know what works best for me.

Still, this was one of the most beautiful intraday cup and handle charts I’ve seen in a while.

Even more wild, it was also a multiday cup and handle (but not as clean).

If you’ve ever wondered about the cup and handle pattern, you’ll love this.

Even if I did drop it in the cup…

The Setup: The Cup & Handle That I Played As a Dip Buy

The funny thing is that I didn’t even trade this one as a cup and handle.

I took the dip buy off of the afternoon squeeze.

But if you look at the two day chart below, it forms a multiday cup and handle.

Beasley Broadcast Group Inc. (NASDAQ: BBGI) was an earnings winner on April 8.

It chopped sideways until yesterday (April 9) before ramping into one of the best plays of the day.

Source StocksToTrade BBGI 04/09/10, dip buy, cup & handle

Source StocksToTrade BBGI 04/09/10, dip buy, cup & handle

As you can see, BBGI formed a cleaner cup and handle on the intraday chart.

My buy entry was inside the cup (much better than when I play golf). And I sold right at the start of the handle.

To go deep on the cup and handle pattern, check out this blog post:

Cup and Handle Chart Pattern: What It Is and How to Trade It

The cup and handle pattern has been around a long time.

Also, William O’Neill wrote about it in his classic book “How to Make Money in Stocks.”

It’s definitely a book you should add to your collection (and READ).

Millionaire Moves

This is a MUST WATCH new video from Mari, my first female millionaire student. It’s SO important to understand what burnout looks like for traders. Watch and learn.

Thank you, Mari, for your transparency.

Before we talk about catalysts…

If you want to learn from one of the best options traders I’ve ever met, check this out…

Bizarre discovery made by a former U.S. Air Force pilot turns

the shortest and most lucrative 84-day trading season into 

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A 365-day cycle of “SUPERSIZED” income opportunities. 

Catalyst Watch

Right now it seems like anything that spikes big can squeeze short sellers.

I’m not saying they all do. But there are SO many overagressive short sellers that we’re seeing squeezes every day.

Watch big percent gainers. It doesn’t matter if they run after-hours, premarket, or in regular trading.

You don’t even need to trade them right away (NEVER chase).

Wait until they chop sideways for a while and be ready for the breakout when they squeeze.

THANK YOU SHORTS FOR YOUR SACRIFICE!

On My Radar 

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Yesterday was the day! I’m SO proud to be part of this elephant rescue.

Also, watch this video of the rescue journey: Som Pond Rescue Journey Update

She’s SUCH a beautiful and gentle elephant who deserves her freedom and a new life.

Have a great day!

– 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”