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Success Stories

A Perspective Lesson Every Trader Needs

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Written by Timothy Sykes
Updated 1/4/2023 21 min read

It’s fun to talk about making money. It’s not as much fun to talk about perspective.

But traders need to understand that this isn’t a get-rich-quick game. They must be willing to study and put in the work. They must understand that it takes time.

That’s why perspective is such an important topic.  

As a trader for two decades and a teacher/mentor for over a decade, I’ve gained a pretty good perspective on the penny stock world.

I’ve seen plenty of successful traders and even more not-so-successful traders.

In all my years of trading and teaching, I’ve seen a lot. So I try to keep an open mind. I try to keep observing and learning so that I can make my lessons applicable to as many people as possible.

I do this because I want more millionaire students.* In fact, I have some new million-dollar milestones to announce today.*

I tell you stories like this to inspire you. But I don’t want you to think it’s easy…

Why Perspective Matters

I love making announcements like this…

 

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It’s an amazing feeling to be able to announce when Trading Challenge students cross the seven-figure mark. I have 13 confirmed millionaire students now*…

Several of my brand-new millionaire students are very young. That might make you think that they attained this milestone quickly or that it didn’t take a lot of effort.

False.

For instance, consider Brock, one of my latest millionaire students. He has an incredible profit chart.*

A year ago, his account was very small. In June 2021, he passed $1 million in trading profits.* It might be tempting to think he unlocked some sort of trading secret.

Look closer. Do you see how many years his chart goes back with little to no profit?

Brock’s been trading for years. He’s been grinding, making thousands of trades, and working hard.

A few years ago, he didn’t have much to show in his money account. But he was hard at work investing in his knowledge account.

Brock’s Trading Story: Hard Work & Family Motivation

Brock first started trading in 2017 after he found me on YouTube.

He liked what he saw. So he figured he’d join my chat room and be able to make some money by copying my trades.

Now, you know how I feel about traders blindly following any alerts, even mine…

Bad idea. I’ve said so for years.

There’s too much you can’t control. It’s a much better idea to use alerts as an educational tool to learn from and develop your own strategy.

Brock learned that lesson the hard way. He says he was “losing pretty consistently” by trying to copy my trades.

But he had a mindset shift when he welcomed his daughter to the world…

A New Source of Motivation

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At that time, Brock was working a full-time job as a furniture salesman. He’d work long days and often didn’t have more than 30 minutes to spend with his daughter throughout the day.

He decided it was time to get serious about trading so he could have a better life with his family. Brock threw himself into his studies.

“I was either studying trades or watching the market/video lessons every moment I could. That came out to be six to 10 hours a day in addition to working at my full-time job … I knew that would be my only way to be with my family more.”

Brock’s Top Trading Challenge Resources

Photo Credit: Brock

When he first started studying, Brock focused on my free lessons on YouTube. But once he exhausted them, he started watching the extensive library of DVDs available on Profit.ly, including “How to Make Millions.”

Like many of my students, Brock reports that Tim Grittani’sTrading Tickers” was game-changing for him. Seeing live trades and Grittani’s methodology helped him make sense of the market, timing, and the intricacies of trading. 

(Note: “Trading Tickers 2” recently came out … Don’t miss Grittani’s updated strategies!)

He also relies on the Trading Challenge chat room, which gives him a peek at the inner workings of some of the top traders.

Being part of a community is huge for Brock. Between the chat room and live webinars every week, he says he constantly hears things from me or other traders that give him ‘aha’ moments.

He also credits my student Jack Kellogg — who’s up over $8 million in trading profits* as of June 2021 — as a huge influence.

“Throughout this process as I’ve been coming up, he has been there to give me pointers and help me understand his mentality as well. Without Jack’s help, I wouldn’t be anywhere near this milestone. He has helped me to think bigger picture and not put focus into sub-par setups.”

Brock’s Go-To Setups

Brock constantly adapts, including his strategy.

Recently, his favorite setups have been multi-day breakouts and panic dip buys with multi-day runners.

On multi-day breakouts, he’s very specific about his criteria. For example, it has to have a significant volume breakout, and it can’t go up too fast to get to the breakout level.

A great example? When AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AMC) broke its January highs on May 27, 2021.

Brock says, “That was an incredible setup … So many shorts would likely be risking off of that level and it opened the door to a massive short squeeze and huge gains since it hit nearly $73 just three days later.”

Brock traded AMC several times over the following days — including an incredible $50,362 profit trade.*

Staying Humble

Image credit: Brock

Brock put in years of studying and hard work. That’s why when the market madness came along in late 2020 and early 2021, he was prepared.

There were A+ setups left and right in the market. Simply by trading the same setups he’d become comfortable with, he was able to take his account to the next level.*

But just because he’s reached this milestone, he’s not just focused on money.

He shares, “During my time of pushing to be the best trader I could be, my mother suddenly passed away in November.”

For him, that was a wake-up call that he needs to spend as much time as he can with the people he loves.

Brock continues, “While trading does give you the freedom to be able to do the things that you want, don’t lose sight of why you’re trading. Money absolutely isn’t everything. Push your hardest to get to that freedom but always remember who you’re doing it for as well.”

Well put, Brock. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for you!

Roy’s Story

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Roy is another upcoming student who’s had an incredible year.

I actually had the good fortune of meeting him in Dubai on a recent trip — he traded live with me and two of my top students, Mike “Huddie” Hudson and Kyle Williams!

Roy always wanted to find a job where he didn’t have a boss telling him what to do. When the crypto bubble happened in 2017, he decided to try to make some money by getting in on the action.

While exploring crypto, he came across one of my ads. In 2018, he decided to explore the stock market.

For a full year, he focused solely on education — getting to know the market through screen time and watching videos.

In 2019, he started trading with real money … and Roy quickly blew up his initial account. But he didn’t give up…

Roy’s Favorite Trading Challenge Resources

Image credit: Roy

Roy says the Trading Challenge helped him shift his way of thinking away from the ‘money mindset’ and get-rich-quick mentality.

For one thing, it made him realize that no two traders are the same — so he should keep his eyes on his own trading monitor.

He says, “Nobody trades the same so you have to find what works for you and stick with it.”

That’s why Roy focuses on learning from traders instead of trying to copy them. 

For instance, he closely followed Grittani, who’s up over $13.5 million in trading profits as of June 2021.* Grittani was very active in the Trading Challenge chat room in late 2019 and early 2020.

By observing Grittani’s approaches and mindset, Roy was able to begin formulating his own approach.

Roy also credits two DVDs with helping him understand trading: “How to Make Millions” and “Trading Tickers.”

Sound familiar? Yep: those are the same exact DVDs Brock said have been helpful in his trading career…

How Roy Studies and Trades

Image credit: Roy

At the beginning of his journey, Roy was obsessed with learning. But he was also still in school, so he was only able to devote two to four hours a day to his market studies.

These days, Roy likes to schedule his day according to the market. He reports that when the market’s hot, he’ll work up to 12 hours a day.

But when it’s a cooler market climate, like now, he devotes about four to six hours per day to his trading and ongoing education.

Right now, his favorite setup is shorting overextended stocks that are up multiple days. He likes to short when he sees the first sign of weakness.

But he doesn’t just go short. He also likes dip buys and breakouts when the opportunities are there.

Moving Forward & Sage Advice For Newbies

Now that Roy has found his stock market stride, his goal is to learn more setups and get comfortable sizing up in the future. He wants to be the best possible trader he can be.

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As for his advice to new traders?

Start small — both in terms of money and focus. 

He says, “Don’t focus too much on money in the beginning. Start small. Focus on one or two setups and become really good at them. Once you become consistent with those, you can try new setups.”

Roy learned that the hard way … Use this opportunity to learn from his mistakes! Remember, big things have small beginnings.

June 2021: Trading Challenge Milestone Momentum

Brock and Roy aren’t the only ones killing it in 2021.

But again, perspective is key. All the students I’ll mention now have worked extremely hard for what they’ve attained…

Kyle Williams: Two Million-Dollar Milestones in One Year

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Kyle didn’t profit at all for his first 18 months of trading.

But when he hit his stride, his account began to grow. In early 2021, four and a half years into his trading career, he crossed the million-dollar mark.*

More recently, in June 2021, he passed $2 million in trading profits.*

This tweet says it all

This is the power of scaling up over time. It took him four and a half years to make $1 million. It took him four and a half MONTHS to make his second million.*

It’s amazing what can happen when you take the time to build a foundation of knowledge then build on it…

Mariana: What a Difference Eight Months Makes

tim sykes and mariana $1 million trading milestone
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Talk about exponential growth. Check out this tweet

Last year, Mariana, my first female millionaire student, bought Ozop Energy Solutions Inc. (OTCMKTS: OZSC) and made $38.*

More recently, she traded the same ticker. But over the months, she’s developed her knowledge and sized up. This month, she traded OZSC again — and made over $16,000.* 

This is why it’s so important to focus on the process above profits. Mariana spent those months refining her process. It gave her the confidence to scale up. That’s what’s leading to her exponential growth.*

I’m so proud of Mariana. And I recently dedicated a Karmagawa school in her honor. I can’t wait to see how much more she’ll accomplish in the coming months and years…

John: To Sleep, Perchance to Meme…

John, another top student, took advantage of the volatility during the recent meme stock spikes and fails.

Over the course of three days, he did a mix of swing trading and shorting AMC, making $34,659 on a series of trades.*

But take a look at his profit chart.*

Sure, he’s at nearly $500,000 in trading profits as of June 2021.* But way back in 2017, when he started logging his trades, he blew up his account and was actually in debt.

John worked hard to dig himself out of the hole he created. He devoted himself to his studies. Now, his hard work is paying off for him.*

Andrew: $31,000 in a Matter of Days*

As of June 2021, my student Andrew is up over $118,000 in trading profits.* But like so many traders, his journey hasn’t been totally smooth.

Look at his profit chart.*

Early on, he experienced quite a few losses. Even when he turned things around, his account growth was slow but steady for a few years.

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But then 2020 happened. The opportunities were there. Andrew had spent years studying, and he was ready.

He’s also expanded his trading repertoire by studying options through my millionaire student Mark Croock.*

Last week, in a matter of days, he made $31,255 trading stocks like AMC and GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME).* That’s quite a difference from the early days.

Sandra: Too Modest About Her $30,000 Milestone

My student Sandra was accepted to the Trading Challenge in November 2020.

Since then, she’s made a name for herself in the community. She was featured in my female trader roundup and my post about balancing family and trading.

In June 2021, she crossed $30,000 in profits.*

Sandra was very modest about it. She said in the Challenge chat room, “I know it’s not much compared to our millionaires today and what some traders are making here daily…”

No way, Sandra! It’s all about perspective. $30,000 is an incredible milestone.* Some traders never reach that level.

It’s not about overnight success … It’s about building slowly, over time.

Keep It in Perspective

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No single approach to trading is right for everyone.

And no single milestone or monetary goal is right for everyone.

I’ve been trading for 20+ years and I’m on track for my single best year of trading — ever.

I’m grateful for what I’ve made this year. It will allow me to help build so many schools and help so many animals through Karmagawa.

I’m also SO proud of my students. They’re doing an amazing job.

But remember … it could all change in an instant. The market could go cold. That’s why traders must maintain a good sense of perspective.

This is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s not about any one trade, day, week, or month. It’s about how you approach trading over time.

Please leave a comment and help me congratulate these amazing students! And let me know how you maintain perspective. I love hearing from you!

Disclaimers

*Please note that any reported trading results are not typical and do not reflect the experience of the majority of individuals using our products. From January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020, typical users of the products and services offered by this website reported earning, on average, an estimated $49.91 in profit. 

It takes years of dedication, hard work, and discipline to learn how to trade. Individual results will vary. Trading is inherently risky. Before making any trades, remember to do your due diligence and never risk more than you can afford to lose. 

Note: Tim has also hired Mark Croock, Tim Grittani, Mike ‘Huddie’ Hudson, Jack Kellogg, and Kyle Williams to help with his trading education business.


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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. Read More

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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”