timothy sykes logo

Penny Stock Basics

The Top 5 Myths About The Tim Sykes Trading Challenge

Timothy SykesAvatar
Written by Timothy Sykes
Updated 1/9/2023 8 min read

I’ve been posting success story after success story** of my trading challenge students as you can see from recent videos like these:

But despite the successes, the are are some major myths about the Tim Sykes Millionaire Challenge so it’s time I correct it since there’s SO much BS out there on The Internet.

First off, my average student starts with just a few thousand dollars so it’s not a failure if they don’t make $1 million, making even $500,000 or $50,000 or just $5,000 is still a win…not to mention all the knowledge my students get that will earn them money for a lifetime, just not all at once as studying is very front-ended loaded and it takes time to grow a small account to anything substantial.**

Despite the obstacles, my millionaire trading challenge has now produced multiple millionaires and has earned six and five-figures for many more dedicated individuals, but success is not a given as it takes a ton of hard work and studying so it’s only natural for some people to be doubtful.**

The fact is, there are all sorts of opinions on everything out there, but many of those opinions are not based on fact, just assumptions and misconceptions too. So, I want to take a moment to set the record straight by addressing some of the myths.

© Millionaire Media, LLC

1. It doesn’t work. One of the top myths about my millionaire challenge is that it doesn’t work. Actually, I have a pretty funny story about that.

Consider Michael Goode, my first student who surpassed $1 million in profits.** Before he was my student, he loudly spoke about what utter BS he thought my strategy was. He didn’t believe in me, he didn’t believe in the program. But I reached out to him and persuaded him to give it a try, and he did. Within a year he had begun making serious money; not too much later, he broke the $1 million-dollar profit mark.** I bet you could have guessed this, but his opinion has changed. Ultimately he became a valued part of the Tim Sykes Million Challenge Team and now helps me mentor other students too!

The fact is, no program will work for every single person. But how can you know if you don’t try?  Michael and my succeeding millionaire students like Tim Grittani (who most recently surpassed $4 million in profits and is actually now closing in on $6 million)** prove that the program does work if you have what it takes and actually study all the materials we give you. My millionaire trading challenge gives you the direction you need to become successful and this is why we have the MOST millionaire students of anyone…and unlike some BS artists, we show EVERY trade publicly, not just screenshots of some overall gains that are usually photoshopped (surprise!)

2. You won’t learn anything new. Many people falsely believe that my trading challenge can’t provide any new information. Everything I teach is probably already in books, podcasts, or available via other resources, right? So, they come to the incorrect conclusion that they won’t learn anything new from my challenge. Unfortunately, this type of thinking is likely holding them back from getting ahead, financially speaking.

Yes, it is true there are certain facts about the market that are unchanging, that’s the type of information that you can pick up anywhere. I even offer a lot of free information in my comprehensive e-guide to penny stocks. But as informative and helpful as this information is, it’s not the full story.

In the millionaire trading challenge, we go A LOT deeper with the information my top students and I present as we are able to offer insight gained from years of trading. Yes, you’ll get the factual stuff, but you’ll also get the real education that’s full of nuances and subtleties that NOBODY ELSE teaches and we can provide far more personal value and really help you understand how to make trading work for you.

3. It’s too expensive. “It’s too expensive!” is a common cry from people who don’t want to pay for my challenge. The Timothy Sykes Millionaire Challenge cost keeps them from investing in themselves. Ironically, this fear of investing in themselves often keeps people from succeeding.

Think about it this way: you pay a lot of money for college with no guarantee that it will ever make you money--in fact, most people are guaranteed to go in debt for student loans.

On the other hand, I am offering a tried and true system that can reliably make you money that costs a fraction of college…and we have several options too for various budgets (so apply here and talk with my team). Yes, it will require some investment, but it offers many potential rewards. Instead of thinking how much you have to pay, consider it an investment in yourself, and one that can deliver financial rewards like nothing else you’ve ever experienced.

4. It will make you a millionaire instantly. The challenge can and will help you if your goal is to become a millionaire as a trader. However, the challenge will not do the work for you, and it won’t do it overnight. Most of my top students have become millionaires within a few years too so understand that it doesn’t have to take a long time to become a millionaire and most importantly, it absolutely does require a lot of hard work.

To really become a millionaire, there’s a lot that you have to do. You need to study up and get knowledge, you have to practice, practice, practice trading, then refine, refine, refine your process and over time setting goals, and every single day, no days off, you need to work toward them. To be able to work effectively, you have to learn all that you can about trading so that your work will be of good quality and even as you’re guaranteed to make mistakes throughout the journey, you must learn from those mistakes and see what NOT to do.

So, as you can see, it’s simple, but not necessarily easy. You’ll be challenged. You will need to put in some serious hours, and you’ll need to remain dedicated to your goals even when times get tough. This is a big ask, and that’s why it’s a challenge. But I can promise that those who are up to the challenge will become successful.

© Millionaire Media, LLC

5. You don’t need it. I didn’t have my millionaire trading challenge, and I ended up making millions. Maybe, with this in mind, you’re thinking “I can do it all by myself, too”.

It’s true that I am a self-made millionaire,** but it took me SO much longer than it needed to and I made a lot of boneheaded mistakes along the way. If I’d had a mentor, I probably could have become rich much faster. And that, my friends, is why the challenge exists.

The Millionaire challenge was borne of my struggles as a trader. I learned a lot of things the hard way, and now I present myself as a mentor and offer my teachings so that you don’t have to make the same mistakes I did.

It is possible to trade penny stocks without my trading challenge, but it’s also a gamble. You might make money, you might not and you might learn, but probably not fast enough to capitalize on all the opportunities we’re seeing nearly every day lately!

By taking up my trading challenge, you get a targeted education on exactly what you need to be able to find success as a trader. You’ll pick up things right away that you won’t have to learn the hard way. It’s like getting a boost on your career that is well worth it.

It can be hard to figure out what’s true and what’s not among all of the noise and different opinions out there. My challenge in itself doesn’t guarantee success, but if you’re willing to put in the work, it can absolutely help you gain the success you crave and deserve.

Are you ready to study your butt off and become my next top student? Leave a comment below if you’re TRULY dedicated and serious about your financial education!


How much has this post helped you?


Leave a reply


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. Read More

Post image

Get my weekly watchlist, free

Sign up to jump start your trading education!

* 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”