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Millionaire Mentor Update: Adventures in Food

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Written by Timothy Sykes
Updated 2/21/2023 11 min read

Another week of travel, trading, food, and fun — all made possible by self-sufficient penny stock trading. I want this for my Trading Challenge students. You in?

Adventures in Food: European Edition

Last week I flew from South Africa to Copenhagen for another foodie week with The Hungry Tourist. It’s called the Best of Nordic Food Tour. Otherwise known as the Grand Viking Food Trail. It included restaurant excursions in Sweden, Denmark, and the Faroe Islands. We did food tastings at five of the best restaurants in the world.

We went to Frantzén in Stockholm and Fäviken in north-central Sweden. These are restaurants I’ve been wanting to go to for a while. Both have multiple years of wait lists. Fäviken is pretty crazy; we had to take two flights to get there.

After Stockholm, we went back to Copenhagen and ate at Alchemist, which is one of the most hotly anticipated restaurant openings of the year. It opens in a few weeks and we were able to get a sneak peek thanks to The Hungry Tourist.

Then we ate at Noma, where they divide the year into three seasons and change the menu with the season. It’s currently seafood season at Noma — a celebration of Scandinavian seafood.

We finished the tour with a visit to the Faroe Islands, where we ate at Koks, a Michelin-starred restaurant. Whenever possible they serve locally sourced produce, which is pretty amazing when you consider the restaurant’s location. They serve both ancient and modern dishes, and they care about sustainability. Pretty cool.

Visiting five of the world’s top restaurants in one week: beyond awesome. Now I’ve got some weight to lose. Totally worth it.

Trading Lesson of the Week

As always, I’ve been trading. I got a question from someone in the Trading Challenge about how little I’ve been trading…

“Tim, you haven’t taken as many trades this week. Is it because of your schedule?”

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No. I’m on a good time zone — the U.S. markets open in the afternoon here in Europe. I’m always willing to trade.

The morning dip buys that I usually like right near the market open have been happening later. Say, 10 a.m., 11 a.m., or even 12 p.m. Eastern. I’ve had a little difficulty adjusting. You know, that happens sometimes with some patterns.

I’ve been a little off on my dip buys the past couple of weeks. In last week’s update I gave you some examples in my trade with CBD Unlimited Inc (OTCPK: EDXC) — a 100% bouncer off the lows on April 23 and I made a lousy $25. Too early.

Also on April 23, Medicine Man Technologies Inc (OTCQX: MDCL), I was too early. On April 25 it was Body & Mind Inc (OTCPK: BMMJ) … too early. And then on May 3, it happened again. I could have made some good money on the dip buy and I was too early, this time on Precipio Inc (NASDAQ: PRPO).

 

PRPO chart: morning dip buy; later than usual

I tried to dip buy this recent runner as it was dropping hard. I waited longer than usual as I was attempting to adapt to the market. It was also approaching multi-day support. I added to my position on a further dip — realizing I was too early on the first very small position.

I felt lucky to get out of it with a small gain. I was on the right track and made a little money — but missed out on the bounce that happened around noon. You have to adapt. So I’m trying to get better. Which brings me to this…

Learn the Lesson the Market Is Teaching

From each of the trades above, I received a lesson…

I recognized that I was on the right track — all four of them bounced. But in each case, I was too early. Even though I was still too early on PRPO, I bought it later than usual at 11:11 a.m. Eastern. The ultimate dip wasn’t until around noon. So while I was around 50 minutes early, I was adapting to the shift.

Another pattern I’ve had to adapt recently is the first green day. I love to hold first green day, OTC runners, with a strong news catalyst overnight. I think I’ve adapted well by learning to sell late market on the first green day. Not holding overnight but selling half or more into strength at the end of the day.

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You have to learn to overcome your expectations. On KBLB (which I talked about a couple weeks back when asked about the veracity of press releases), I stuck to what I saw. I very quickly got rid of my expectations. When price action isn’t there you have to snap out of it — and fast. You adapt. You adapt or you lose big.

Next week the market might teach me a new lesson. I’ll keep adapting.

That’s all you can do, you know? If you’re too early, you keep trying. You shift your trade a little later. Let the fakeout dip play out — so you catch the real one. If you’re too aggressive, take smaller positions. Be less aggressive. Every trade you should be adapting to the market.  

Big Shout Out to Students and Baby Traders

I want to give a shout out to a couple of Trading Challenge students…

Ramesh reported some success shorting PRPO on May 4. If I’m not mistaken, it’s Ramesh’s biggest reported win since becoming a student. Congratulations, Ramesh! Well done, my man.

Also, Atiqe, who I mentioned in a recent post about my Rolls-Royce also reported making some impressive moves. Congratulations, Atiqe! Awesome!  

Welcome, Next-Generation Traders

I won’t mention names here because privacy is a big deal to me and there are, frankly, some psychos on the internet…

I want to send huge congratulations for a few babies born into the Trading Challenge community. A few of my top students have had babies in the past few weeks. May your children be blessed with health and lead peaceful and prosperous lives.

Pretty cool stuff. I look forward to the next generation of traders.

And finally…

Successful Trader
© Millionaire Media, LLC

Question of the Week

This one is another Trading Challenge student question. It’s related to the late morning dip buys I mentioned earlier in this post.

More Breaking News

“Tim, will you please comment on some of the late-morning dips with strong bounce over the last week? (e.g. $EVLV $PRPO $BMMJ $EDXC). Are these just a variation of the morning panic dip buy?”

[That way of writing the ticker symbol — a dollar sign followed by the ticker — is common on Twitter and in trading chat rooms, including Profitly. So if you see it on my Twitter feed you know what’s going on. Most of you reading this already know, so this is for newbies.]

They’re still morning dip buys. The pattern still works to a T. It’s just later in the timing than I’m used to. Like I said before, you have to adapt.

FOR EXAMPLE: In the past, maybe the pattern didn’t work past, say, 11:30 a.m. Eastern. Or it wasn’t as common. Maybe as soon as the volume started to drop the pattern wouldn’t work. For whatever reason, now in the market, the pattern seems to be working a little later. That doesn’t mean it will stay later.

Trying to figure out the reason…

…it might be because there are more people trying to dip buy and they get faked out earlier. So the ultimate crashes aren’t happening until the early people are getting faked out.

I’m speculating, but it could be similar to what we’re seeing with short squeezes with newbie short sellers. They’re shorting too early so we’re seeing bigger short squeezes. I think something like that is happening with the morning dips. That’s part of the reason.

The Solution to Trading’s Moving Target Lies in Your Ability to Adapt

When you try a pattern and it doesn’t work, you keep testing. You take smaller positions. If it’s working later in the day, you try to trade later in the day. If it’s working earlier in the day, you trade earlier.

It’s important to remember this is NOT an exact science. You have to adapt. You have to respect this is a moving target.

The good news…

Even though I’m testing, and even though I’ve been too early, I’m not losing much. I’ve cut losses or made small gains quickly. You can potentially still break even — if not make small losses or take small gains — even while testing.

If…

…you obey rule #1: cut losses quickly.

So I’ve recognized this slight shift in the pattern. Some of my students have recognized it. And it’s good to talk about it.

Millionaire Mentor Market Wrap

Another week in the books. I hope you spend the week studying. If you can carve out a couple of hours a day — over time — you’ll be surprised how much you can learn about trading. Go get it. Life’s too short. This is NOT a dress rehearsal.

Are you a trader? How are you adapting to the moving target in your trades? Comment below so new traders can learn from your experience. Newbie? What have you learned today you can use right away. 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

* 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”