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Trading Lessons

My Biggest Mistakes Right Now. Learn From Me!

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Written by Timothy Sykes
Reviewed by Jack Kellogg Fact-checked by Ellis Hobbs
Updated 12/13/2024 4 min read

It’s Tim Sykes here.

Everybody makes mistakes.

Everybody has those days … LOL.

But seriously, don’t feel bad if you messed up last week. As long as you learn from your mistakes.

Even the best traders make mistakes.

We try to stay disciplined and to follow our strategy for profits. But we’re only human.

To help you feel better, last week I probably made my worst trade of the year.

Take a look:

Source: Profit.ly

Ouch … That one hurt.

But I’m not going to let this loss define me!

I got undisciplined and I paid the price for it. This is a perfect reminder that there are rules for a reason.

As traders, we have to follow the rules and stay out of bad plays. Because the bad plays will leech our profits from the good plays.

Here’s how to protect your account this coming week … Stay on the horse!

Stay Safe This Week

© Millionaire Media, LLC

There are a ton of great setups in the market right now.

For example, last week we watched:

  • LDTC spike 780%*.
  • CMRX spike 290%*.
  • CPIX spike 140%*.
  • BNZI spike 90%.
  • GXAI spike 180%*.
  • AMPG spike 220%*.
  • WKEY spike 230%*.

But traders who ignore the rules can easily lose money on setups that otherwise would have led to profits.

I made some serious mistakes last week when I broke my trading rules …

But I’m back on the horse and I’m ready to stay disciplined this week!

Plus, the good news is, you can learn real-trading lessons from my mistakes without losing your own money.

Watch my video below on YouTube:

I made some good trades last week too. But we’re focusing on my bad trades because people tend to learn more from failure than success.

Follow These Rules

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© 2020 Millionaire Media, LLC

The #1 rule that every trader needs to follow is: Cut your losses quickly!

In a market where anything can happen at any time, it’s important to recognize when a trade starts to fail. That way we can get out before the chart turns from bad to worse.

Plus, we can always get back in later if the price action reverses.

When it comes to my TRVI trade from last week, you’ll notice in the notes that I tried to dig myself out over-and-over again. I added shares and lowered my average.

But I should have cut the loss when I first recognized the chart breaking down.

Let me explain:

My students and I use popular patterns to trade these stocks. The process involves buying shares around a specific support level and holding until the price spikes into an upcoming resistance level.

If the price falls below our support level, that’s our cue to sell for a small loss.

“Cut your losses quickly” is rule #1.

And this is the second BIG rule that traders need to follow: Don’t trade unless you see a setup that matches our patterns.

Sometimes, a trader will see a stock that’s spiking higher and greed will push them into a stupid trade.

When you see a volatile stock this week, slow down and check my trading framework.

I know that you don’t want to miss the spike. But there’s another spike right around the corner! And another. And another …

I’ve been trading with the same patterns for over two decades. You’re not going to be late. Take time to learn this process now!

The profits will come later.

For guidance throughout this week, get the next trade setup delivered right to your phone.

And make sure to follow the attached rules!

Cheers.

 

*Past performance does not indicate future results


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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”