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The Perfect New Year’s Resolution

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Written by Timothy Sykes
Updated 1/2/2026 4 min read

It’s finally here.

A new year, a clean slate, and another shot for traders to flip their accounts from rags to riches.

Forget the usual resolutions in 2026.

You don’t need to swear off carbs, hit the gym at 5 a.m., or pretend you’ll read a book every week.

If you’re serious about growth this year, here’s the only resolution that matters:
Learn to take advantage of what others ignore.

Most people trade with a foot already halfway out the door. They’re hoping for quick gains. They’re not committed.

The smartest traders know there’s a window that opens when everyone else stops paying attention. A brief moment that can change the entire trajectory of your year.

  • It’s not about trading more.
  • It’s not about risking big.
  • It’s about showing up for opportunity when everyone else assumes the play is over.

That’s how small accounts grow. That’s how discipline compounds week after week. That’s how real traders stay strong all year long.

Because while the rest of the world laments about their resolutions, the best traders are already acting on theirs.

Quietly, confidently, and right on time in the market.

The Top Setup For 2026

Let’s kick off 2026 with a secret trading pattern that isn’t really a secret. Not if you’ve been paying attention.

There’s one pattern that’s been paying traders for years. It doesn’t care about the economy, politics, or what the Fed says next week.

And it shows up every single Friday. I call it the Weekend Pattern.

Here’s how it works: When most traders clock out for the weekend, a very specific window opens.

The strongest stocks in the market consolidate into the weekend, unable to spike higher due to the lack of buyers in the market. Then the buyers come back on Saturday and Sunday. They enter buy orders and the stocks spike into Monday.

My goal is to buy on Friday when everyone leaves the market and sell into the Monday spike.

You don’t need to stare at the screen all day. You don’t need a big account.

You just need discipline and patience to act when everyone else assumes the week is over.

That’s why I love this setup.

  • One trade.
  • Once a week.
  • At the same time.
  • With the same pattern.

Your resolution should be to finally gain consistency this year. Stop chasing random moves and master this one.

How SOPA Proved The Pattern Still Works

Last weekend, Society Pass Inc. (NASDAQ: SOPA) delivered a textbook example of how powerful this setup can be when executed correctly.

After the close on December 23, Greenridge Global published a research report titled “Positive Developments at Society Pass Overlooked by the Market.”

The report outlined major catalysts:

  • NusaTrip ($NUTR) completed its IPO and forged new partnerships with Agoda, driving massive growth.
  • Thoughtful Media Group ($TMGX) was preparing for its own IPO, positioning SOPA for additional upside.
  • SOPA announced it would acquire and operate AI software and infrastructure companies across Southeast Asia, Europe, and North America.
  • Management confirmed aggressive cost controls and AI integration to boost efficiency and profitability.

Despite all that bullish news, the market barely reacted at first.

But patient traders who understood the setup recognized what was coming.

As the week wound down, SOPA started to coil, holding its gains into Friday’s close after an afternoon spike.

Then came the payoff: By Monday morning, the stock exploded.

The entire move, Friday’s spike into Monday, measures 200%*.

On the chart below, every candle represents one trading minute:

 SOPA chart multi-day, 1-minute candles Source: StocksToTrade
SOPA chart multi-day, 1-minute candles Source: StocksToTrade

That’s the power of timing the market when everyone else is tuned out.

The same pattern that’s repeated for decades: A strong catalyst, Friday strength, and a Monday breakout.

If you’re serious about leveling up this year, stop guessing what the next hot stock will be.

Start focusing on when the best opportunities appear — and learn to catch them before the crowd does.

Use My Weekend Pattern Every Friday Afternoon This Year.

It’s a perfect New Year’s resolution.

Cheers

 

*Past performance does not indicate future results



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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.
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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”