WATCH LIVE
timothy sykes logo

Trading Tips-Tim Sykes Penny Stock

How To Prepare in This Awesome Market

Timothy SykesAvatar
Written by Timothy Sykes Reviewed by Jack Kellogg Fact-checked by Ellis Hobbs
Updated 6/29/2026 6 min read
How To Prepare in This Awesome Market Thumbnail

I just spent two days in Boston for my Inner Circle meetup.

It was awesome meeting up with so many great students and friends.

It also reminded me (again) why preparation is key.

Especially in this crazy market.

Let’s take a look at a single stock to understand…

  • Why NOW is a perfect time to prepare for your trading future
  • Why it’s even more valuable for newbies and anyone trading with a small account
  • And the #1 thing you can do to take advantage of the crazy moves we’re seeing EVERY SINGLE DAY

This one started on Friday and kept going yesterday…

From After-Hours Runner to Premarket Squeeze

If you’re not spending time during premarket and after-hours at least watching the market, you’re missing a huge opportunity.

For example, Universe Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: UPC) spiked from the $2s to the $12s Friday (June 26) after-hours. Then it faded into the weekend.

But yesterday it gapped up into the premarket session (and that’s when things got CRAZY).

UPC 6/26-29/26, 1-min candles, after-hours spiker, premarket squeeze
UPC 6/26-29/26, 1-min candles, after-hours spiker, premarket squeeze

As you can see on the chart above, UPC squeezed hard about 10 minutes before 9:00 a.m. yesterday (June 29).

It only took four minutes for it to go from the low $8s to the $14s.

Were the Short Sellers Wrong?

Post image

Get my weekly watchlist, free

Sign up to jump start your trading education!

No. But the overaggressive ones got crushed.

After a pullback, UPC squeezed to $18.84 1-minute before the open.

Then, at the open, it finally cracked. It dropped $4 per share in one minute before getting halted.

That’s a scary stock, right?

But this is EXACTLY the kind of moves we’re seeing right now.

And they’re AWESOME for small accounts and newbies, too.

Whether you’re just watching to grow your knowledge account, or growing your trading account…

Get up early. Stay up late. Watch the market when you’d rather watch something else.

Use This Market To Compress Your Learning Curve

Over the years I’ve interviewed many of my millionaire students. One question I often ask is which webinars, video lessons or DVDs they watched.

Most say they watched them all. And most say they watched some of them multiple times.

Which ones get watched the most?

Those that give students more screen time to watch price action and level 2.

Why did all my millionaire students watch old video lessons, webinars, or DVDs?

For more screen time.

Use This Market to Rack Up Screen Time

I know this will sound basic, which means some people will skip over it (that would be a mistake).

You MUST put in screen time if you want to become a better trader.

And this is the best market for putting in screen time in YEARS.

So, if you are serious, then this crazy market is ideal.

Again, you don’t even have to trade to grow your knowledge account right now.

Just open StocksToTrade, check the Top % Gainers scan (it’s built in), and then go through the stocks there.

Even if you spent an hour a day watching the biggest mover in the market, you’ll start to understand how that stock moves.

And if you have any question about what to watch (or you don’t use StocksToTrade) I tweet the top three or four stocks I’m watching every morning in premarket.

Like this…

Millionaire Moves

Get inspired by long time student Adam who started in high school (back before I sold all my cars).

Adam is very humble. He’s not a millionaire yet, but I believe he’ll get there.

If you’re inspired by Adam and ALL my top students…

Apply for my Trading Challenge here.

And if you love the idea of live meetups with a small number of incredible traders and teachers, check out my Inner Circle here. 

On My Radar 

Key Takeaway

I keep saying this (and I’ll continue to say it until the market finally cools down)…

You have SO MUCH opportunity right now.

Get up early and watch the top percent gainers. Stay after-hours and watch the big movers.

Every minute you spend watching (and trading) in this market is part of your education.

Right now, the market is giving free classes to anyone willing to put in the time.

Cheers,

– Tim Sykes

How much has this post helped you?

(0 votes, average: 0 out of 5)
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

* 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”