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Losing Money While Trading? Start Focusing On This

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Written by Timothy Sykes
Updated 11/29/2022 7 min read

Trading is not something that comes easy, not many things in life do…

It requires hard work and dedication, but no matter if you are a new or an experienced trader, we all have experienced some type of losing trade throughout our trading journey.

Some losses may be bigger than others, but at any moment when you lose money, it’s never enjoyable.

When you have a losing trade you may start to feel frustrated, or start second-guessing yourself…

Then maybe the first loss is followed by another, and another…

Next thing you know you are trying to make back your losses and then you are stuck in this downward spiral.

To be honest, I made two bad trades the other day and I put myself in a trading timeout where I could take the time to review my trades and not let my emotions get the best of me.

This year the average retail account is down 40%, but I am up over $130,000 this year by sticking to my trading strategy.

So if you are currently experiencing losing trade after losing trade, and not understanding why your trades aren’t working…

You’ll want to keep reading to see what you can do to turn your trading game around!

Putting Yourself In Timeout

Some of you may say if you put yourself into time out, how are you going to make sure you capitalize on any big opportunity?

That is FOMO you are feeling…

There have been times when I do miss big trades, I don’t like to, but it’s part of reality and you won’t be able to catch every big opportunity out there.

I don’t like to trade more than one to three stocks a day because I like to focus on the best setups…

But as long as you study and focus on big percent gainers, you will be able to find some solid opportunities that can be profitable.

Now, not every big percent gainer is going to be worthy to trade, but as long as you understand the process it can help you pick out the stocks you should focus on.

Being prepared is everything, if you go into a trade guessing you’re just asking for a random result.

You need to practice and study so you are able to recognize these opportunities.

If any of you are watching the World Cup right now, those athletes didn’t get to where they are right now just by luck…

When they aren’t playing a game, they are practicing every day and night…

Taking practice shots, doing different drills, and if they happen to make a mistake in a game, you can be sure that they aren’t taking it lightly.

But it’s not just practicing that helps with their game, it’s their mentality and discipline to move beyond any barriers to make themselves better.

This is what happened to me, I was trading and I made multiple mistakes, so I decided to put myself in “trading timeout” to prevent myself from making any more undisciplined trades.

After being in time out, I went back to review my trades and other stocks on my watchlist…

And this is what I found…

Timeouts Over, Now What? 

Putting yourself in time out allows you to dissect your mistakes to see what you could’ve done differently.

It doesn’t mean you should just take a few minutes and just jump back in…

It means you need to learn from your mistakes and make sure you don’t make the same mistakes again.

When I was reviewing my trades, I noticed that there were several multiday runners worth watching, but instead, I was focusing on speculative plays.

Just because you find a trading opportunity, you need to make sure you find the right entry point…

Remember, a bad entry and a bad plan will result in a bad trade causing you to lose money.

So instead of focusing on speculative plays, this is what I am going to start focusing on…

Focus On This 

Right now you want to be focusing on multiday runners that have a solid uptrend.

Over the last few weeks, we have seen several multiday runners, such as Meta Materials Inc. (OTC: MMTLP) and Cloudweb, Inc. (OTC: CLOW).

We have seen MMTLP breakout and CLOW had a dipbuying opportunity…

So other than MMTLP and CLOW, here are 3 of the hottest stocks I am watching…

Western Sierra Resource Corporation (OTC: WSRC)

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WSRC chart 1-day candles | Source: StocksToTrade

WSRC recently broke out to a multimonth high, breaking through a key resistance level.

I will be looking to see how it plays out, but this could be setting up for a nice dip buying opportunity.

Remember, I like for a stock to have a 30%, 40%, or 50% drop in the morning.

Cosmos Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: COSM)

COSM chart 15-minute candles | Source: StocksToTrade

COSM has had a solid uptrend over the last several days, but I am not looking to go long based on its recent run.

I will be looking for this stock to have a big panic, but right now it still has a lot of juice in its tank.

More Breaking News

Helbiz, Inc. (NASDAQ: HLBZ)

HLBZ chart 15-minute candles | Source: StocksToTrade

HLBZ has had an increase in volume over the last few days so I will be waiting to see how this plays out.

This recent run is setting itself up for a morning panic, but there is a little bit of resistance ahead so I will be looking to see if this stock can pick up any more steam to help it move higher.

Final Thoughts

As you continue your trading journey, it’s important for you to focus on your education and what is happening in the current market.

This isn’t a race to see who can make a million dollars the fastest, it’s all about understanding the steps necessary to be successful.

Recognizing these patterns and waiting for the best possible setups is going to help limit your risk as some of these patterns can become so predictable…

Now it doesn’t guarantee that you will profit as you need to know when the right opportunity to buy is.

Over the next several days, I want you to continue to focus on these 3 hottest stocks that I am closely watching…

But there is another opportunity that is lurking on the horizon that I don’t want you to miss…

So be sure to stay prepared, practice spotting these opportunities, and study up!

Until next time,

Tim

P.S. – There is always that one opportunity that can change your life, but it’s crucial that you stay prepared. Be sure to see what is brewing in the market and what we may expect to see in the coming weeks! 



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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.
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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”