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Take the Meat of the Move

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Written by Timothy Sykes Reviewed by Jack Kellogg Fact-checked by Jeff Zananiri
Updated 10/9/2026 6 min read
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I had to learn this the hard way.

And I believe it’s one of the most important lessons anyone can learn…

Perfection is not the goal.

I will never be a perfect trader.

And you will never be a perfect trader, either.

Instead, do this…

Adapt and Optimize

Grow your knowledge account and try to get a little better every day.

Too many traders just try to swing for the fences.

They might hit a home run once in a while.

But in the long run, it never ends well.

Why No Great Trader Swings for the Fences

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The Night Tape, every trading day after the closing bell, plus The Second Session guide.

This is one of the most difficult lessons for newbies…

Image created with Google Gemini
Image created with Google Gemini

Swinging for the fences will keep you broke.

You don’t need to worry about catching the bottom of a move.

Likewise, you’re not trying to catch the top.

The goal is to take a good piece, a good section of the move, so you can lock in gains.

Look, I have good trades and bad trades. But with every single one, my goal is to…

Take the Meat of the Move

I see a lot of misinformation and misconceptions lately.

So, let’s take a look at one of my trades to clear things up.

Xiao-I Corporation (NASDAQ: AIXI) spiked several times in the past two weeks…

AIXI 10/1/26 to 10/9/26, 1-min candles, former runners can run again
AIXI 10/1/26 to 10/9/26, 1-min candles, former runners can run again

AIXI made it all the way to the $4s in premarket trading on Tuesday (Oct. 6).

But you can see on the chart how it trades. It can spike in a hurry, but it also comes down in a hurry.

You have to try to understand how these stocks move.

It’s not just “Oh, this is a good company. This is a bad company.”

Watch the price action and learn how they move.

That’s how I was ready for this premarket trade on Thursday (Oct. 8)…

AIXI 10/8/26 premarket trade based on understanding price action
AIXI 10/8/26 premarket trade based on understanding price action

You don’t want to chase a stock like AIXI. If you chased that big spike just before 7 a.m. ET, you would have been down.

What was I thinking about before entering this trade?

  • 7 a.m. is when a lot of retail brokers open. If you’re looking for big moves, they usually come when there’s more volume. So, 7 a.m. is a key time.
  • It was holding the round number at $2. I always look for zones of support.
  • AIXI showed me that it could spike fast. (It happened several times over several days.)
  • It formed a higher low. Not by much, but when it tried to spike before 7 a.m. and came back down, it was enough to give me confidence.
  • I thought it could reclaim VWAP. Or at least test it. (VWAP was in the $2.30s at the time.)

So, I made an educated guess that it could hold the support level and spike.

But here’s maybe the most important part of my trade…

When It Hits Resistance, Lock In the Single

HODLers with “diamond hands” usually end up broke…

Image created with Google Gemini
Image created with Google Gemini

Just lock in the single, okay? That’s what I mean by taking the meat of the move.

Hold and hope is not a strategy.

Remember, this is a marathon and not a sprint. Stay in the game by learning to take the meat of the move.

And as always, cut losses quickly if a trade doesn’t go your way.

Millionaire Moves

One of the things I LOVE about trading is that you can do it from anywhere.

Any guesses where I went for my weekend adventure?

The world is an amazing place. Get out there and explore!

Meanwhile, while we’re on the subject of taking the meat of the move…

This Could Change the Way You Approach Trading Forever

StocksToTrade lead technical trainer Tim Bohen has identified a setup that tells you exactly what stock to buy, when to buy it, when to cut losses, and when to exit.

He’s had a TON of success with this setup. And he wants to share it with you today…

This Breakout Pattern Signaled Moves of 173%, 377%, and 527% in a Single Day

Key Takeaway

Focus on the process, cut losses quickly, and learn to take the meat of the move.

If you can set those three ideas in your mind (and follow them)…

You CAN break free with trading.

Now go study. HARD!

Cheers,

– 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”