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Trading Lessons

Insulate Against a Shrinking Job Market

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Written by Timothy Sykes
Updated 2/12/2026 5 min read

There was a collective sigh of relief the first few years of ChatGPT …

Users described it as a glorified autocomplete. Businesses found that most AI implementations still needed an employee to hold its hand.

But that was three years ago. And in the tech sector, things happen fast.

Earlier this February, the CEO of Hyperwrite dropped an essay on Twitter that’s now been viewed over 40 million times.

Here’s his message: AI can do all of his technical work now. With almost no oversight. He walks away from his computer for four hours and comes back to find the job done. And he says it’s, “done well”.

“We’re not making predictions. We’re telling you what already occurred in our own jobs, and warning you that you’re next.”

Jobs that don’t involve physical labor are most at risk.

Anthropic’s CEO predicts AI could wipe out up to 50% of white-collar, entry-level jobs within one to five years.

Which means these next few years are crucial … starting RIGHT NOW.

Don’t wait for AI to come knocking at your place of work. Get ahead of the trend and diversify your stream of income.

The stock market is full of opportunities. And everyone else already seems to be climbing on board:

In January 2026, US equity markets shattered monthly records with over $1 trillion in shares traded daily. Volume for the month jumped 50% year-over-year.

While AI threatens to automate desk work, the market is exponentially rewarding those who capitalize on one-sided volatility.

Take control of your financial future.

It’s not necessarily about getting rich, this is about stability. Some of my millionaire students still trade as a side hustle to supplement their day jobs.

We’re insulating ourselves from a changing job market, with the resulting gains.

AI Automation Is Coming

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The AI panic isn’t coming. It’s already here.

Ford’s CEO just announced AI will “replace literally half of all white-collar workers.”

Microsoft’s data shows 5 million white-collar jobs facing extinction including management analysts, customer service reps, sales engineers, etc.

Salesforce’s CEO claims AI is already doing 50% of the company’s workload.

The real issue is the kind of job that’s disappearing. We’re talking about entry level work that helps employees move up the ladder.

Without these crucial ladder rungs, there’s no way to climb.

Workers are effectively shut out of higher paying jobs because they can’t find employment that gives them the entry level skills.

And thus, we’ve entered an era of side hustles.

Everyone’s trying to make an extra buck, as inflation pressure persists, and prospects in the labor market shrink.

Turn to the stock market. Trading activity is booming right now.

For example:

Zero-day options are exploding in popularity, SPX 0DTE averaged roughly 2.3 million contracts a day in 2025 and made up about 59% of that product’s volume.

At the same time, U.S. ETFs pulled in a record $1.4 trillion during 2025. It marked the second straight year that ETF inflows topped $1 trillion, following $1.1 trillion in 2024.

Across the market, trading activity is up.

And that means more opportunity for traders who know how to recognize key setups.

My Process for Success in the Market

You don’t need fifty tactics.

You just need a simple playbook to use on the hottest stocks every day. And the discipline to stick to it.

I start before the bell. The biggest stock spikes of the day usually begin during premarket hours.

I always scan top percent gainers that have fresh catalysts: Earnings, contracts, filings, trial updates, etc.

If it’s a former runner, even better. Past spikers can spike again.

Then I look for one of my patterns in the price action:

These patterns repeat in the market because people are predictable during times of high stress.

I’ve used the same patterns to trade for over two decades. And with all the volatility in the market, the same spikes are growing even bigger.

With AI compressing white-collar jobs and liquidity surging through the market, there’s no better time to build a skill at trading.

Insulate your income. Only trade the best setups. Stay disciplined. The upside takes care of itself.

Cheers

 

*Past performance does not indicate 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”