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Mentor Updates

Millionaire Mentor Update: 5 Lessons for Long-Term Trading Success

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Written by Timothy Sykes
Updated 10/15/2021 12 min read

In this week’s update: five lessons for long-term trading success.

I’m so grateful for this life that I could only dream about growing up in Orange, Connecticut. I hope to inspire you to live your dream life. For me, learning to trade successfully gave me freedom. If you’re ready to learn to trade, apply for the Trading Challenge today.

It’s Thanksgiving week in the U.S. — remember the markets are closed on Thursday, November 28. and there’s only a half-day of trading on November 29.

Before I get into the five lessons for long-term trading success, here are some of the cool and crazy things happening in my life.

Trading and Travels

In last week’s update, I told you I’d been in New York, Las Vegas, and then back to New York where I spoke at another trading conference. The conference was held at the TWA Hotel, which was pretty cool.

Hanging at Kualoa Ranch

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From New York, I flew directly to Hawaii. It’s so beautiful here and it’s great to be back. But it’s also a great reminder of why we need to protect nature and our environment.

I’m hanging out at Kualoa Ranch working on a new project with Amir Zakeri — the filmmaker behind Save the Reef. If you haven’t watched Amir’s amazing film please take the time to watch it now.

It was such an inspiring project to make this film, and I’m honored to be part of it. And it’s awesome that it now has over 4 million views. But we need to continue working to spread the message. So please share it now. Let’s see if we can get 5 million views before the end of the year.

We should be previewing a new project from Amir in the next 60 days. I’m very excited about that.

More Charity Work for Sustainable Coastlines

I also spent some time talking with a bunch of different charities in Hawaii working on sustainable coastlines. One of the big issues facing coastal communities and our oceans is beach pollution. When the garbage ends up in the sea, it harms marine life.

The charities I’ve been talking with clean up trash on the beach. We did a beach cleanup with them. (We have video but there’s editing to do — I’ll share it soon.) We’re really proud and excited to get more involved with charities supporting sustainable coastlines.

Divide and Conquer

From Hawaii, I’m off to Europe again. But check this out…

One of my team members — a photographer/videographer — has been traveling with me recently. He’s the eye behind some of the amazing photos and videos you see on the blog and on my Instagram.

While I’m headed off to Europe, the photographer is off to Japan to prepare for an event we’re having there. We’ll be showing off a new line of charity apparel for Japanese consumers. The money we raise will go to build more schools in Bali.

And while the charity apparel event prep is happening in Japan, I’m off to Italy for a foodie adventure. I’ll be there doing truffle tasting all over the country. I’m gonna eat and eat to make my belly happy.

So if you don’t want to see pictures of me eating the most amazing truffles … you shouldn’t follow me for the next week. Mute my stories if you don’t wanna see me go crazy showing off the best truffles. They’re SO delicious.

After truffle tasting, I’ll meet the photographer in Japan for the charity apparel event.

Trading Lesson of the Week: Long-Term Trading Success

I haven’t had that many trades. My travel schedule has been crazy — but it’s also good as there just hasn’t been anything truly great.

(New to penny stocks? Check out my FREE penny stock guide here.)

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Last week, I told you about my ASTC trade — I was a little early on it. I bought and had alerted it, but I had to go speak in New York so I missed the big run-up. I was actually on stage when the big run-up happened.

I traded ASTC again on November 22. This time it was a dip buy off its premarket highs. The bounce near the open was weak so I got out for a small win. It was a rare premarket entry for me. You can view all my trades on my Profit.ly trades page.

This brings me to the first lesson for long-term trading success…

Respect Your Personal Schedule

There have been a few plays but my schedule sometimes prevents me from taking advantage. I’m not perfect. And I want you to understand that. But it’s important you learn to respect your personal schedule.

My Trader Checklist guide goes in-depth about the seven indicators I use before every trade. Personal schedule is one of the seven. You MUST understand how your personal schedule affects every trade before you enter. So apply this concept when you trade starting today.

I’m proud of not being able to take every trade. And being able to walk away if I mistime a trade a little. Why? Because I’m living my life. This is my dream life.

Some people say, “Well, why don’t you just stay in one place?” Screw those people, because this is my dream.

Live Your Dream Life

One of my goals is to inspire others to live their dream life — by living mine.

Part of the beauty of being rich is … I get to choose my lifestyle. So I’m a teacher. And I’m a trader. I get to go to Italy for truffles. I get to go to Hawaii to work with Amir on a new project and Japan to launch a new clothing line.

I hope my whole life is an inspiration to you. It should be. Not because I want you to live like me. You have to figure out what drives you. What’s your passion? But take inspiration from my life because I’m living exactly the way I want.

Again, your dreams don’t have to be the same as mine. But get inspired by someone living their actual dream life because it’s rare.

Next crucial lesson for long-term trading success…

Don’t Feel Bad if You Miss a Trade

I have an excessively busy lifestyle. And everyone has different things in their life. But it leads to a big problem I see — especially with newbies. If you want long-term trading success, don’t feel bad if you miss a trade.

Feeling bad for missing a trade does you no good. A lot of traders go through it…

They think they need to be in front of their laptop from market open to market close every day. (Read this post for the best and worst trading times.) So when they miss a trade they feel bad. Or they exit a trade too soon because they’re in a rush. Other people hold a stock too long. (This happens to both investors and traders.)

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I also see newbies — still working their day job while trying to trade from work — make silly mistakes. Maybe they get busy at work but let the fear of missing out (FOMO) kick in. It’s dangerous when you start thinking, “Let’s just see what happens…”

That brings me to the next crucial lesson for long-term trading success…

Never Hold and Hope

This is one of the most important stock trading concepts you MUST embrace. But I find myself saying it over and over again because too many people ignore it. If you want to be successful you have to learn this.

Never … never … NEVER hold and hope.

You can learn it here and now, or…

… the stock market will teach you. If you learn from the market, it’s almost guaranteed to be a painful lesson. Maybe worse, most people don’t want to hear the truth because it contradicts their internal belief system.

Here’s a pretty crazy example from Twitter user @TessaLamping:

Finally, remember…

There Will Always Be Another

Just to reiterate … don’t feel bad if you had to exit too soon. Whether you’re cutting losses because you’re disciplined or because life gets in the way. Whatever the reason it’s super important to understand…

 Another Trade Will Come Your Way

There will always be another trade. Sure, the market heats up and slows down. But trades will come. The key is to not expect a trade every day. Sometimes the best trade is no trade. And if you can learn patience, you’ll find…

Another Hot Play Is Around the Corner

Over and over, I tell my students to wait for only the best setups. Too many people have the idea that there should be hot plays every day. There aren’t. And there won’t be. But…

There will always be another hot play eventually. And there’s something else. Recently we haven’t had many hot sectors. But one will come along.

There Will Be Another Hot Sector

Low-priced junkers have been hot recently. But there hasn’t been a really hot sector for a while. In the past, we’ve seen hot sectors like weed stocks and ebola stocks. Whatever the case, you have to adapt. But also understand that there will eventually be another hot sector.

The question is, will you be ready? The best way to prepare is to study, study, study. Your PennyStocking Silver subscription gives you access to over 6,000 video lessons. Watch every one of those lessons and you’ll learn to recognize a hot sector — and be prepared for it the next time it comes.

This video explains how I’ve been adapting this year by looking for informational inefficiencies. Do yourself a big favor and watch the video. Watch it again if you’ve already seen it. Take notes.

Remember, this is not an exact science and you have to adapt. Be ready for the next hot sector when it comes by preparing for it now.

Millionaire Mentor Market Wrap

That’s it for this edition of the update. Sorry I didn’t answer student questions this week. I’ll get back to those soon as time allows.

Also, keep an eye out next week for the December edition of Top Penny Stocks to Watch. If you haven’t already, read Top Penny Stocks to Watch November 2019 now. In the December edition, I’ll review this month’s stocks. Keep reading the blog every day so you don’t miss it.

Have a great Thanksgiving week! Spend time with your family and loved ones and also be thankful. If you’re reading this, you have access to opportunities that many people can only dream of … and past generations didn’t have at all. So take action today.

What did you think of this post? Comment below, I love to hear from all my readers!


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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. Read More

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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”