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Trading Psychology

3 Things The Haters Always Get Wrong

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Written by Timothy Sykes
Updated 7/11/2023 7 min read

Not sure if you caught this or not…

The piece talks about how David discovered me online via my YouTube channel. 

Like many folks…he was skeptical…even believing I was a scam.

He went as far as to contact some of my students to see if I was legit.

If you want to read the full story, you can do it right here. 

Today I want to talk to you about my haters. And while they do me a lot of good by posting on my social media, boosting engagement, and multiplying impressions…

They’re DEAD WRONG on so many things, it’s time to clear the air.

 

#1: Tim Sykes Isn’t A Real Trader, He’s Just Good At Marketing.

© Millionaire Media, LLC

I get it.

My story is hard to believe. I turned a small amount of money into millions of dollars trading penny stocks.

I became a self-made millionaire in my early 20s.

I travel the world year-round…

And I was one of the first people online showing folks how to live the laptop lifestyle.

But you know what?

I celebrate my wins not to rub into anyone’s face or to show people that I’m better than them.

It’s the complete opposite.

I came from a small town in Connecticut. I didn’t have Wall Street connections growing up. I was just a young kid determined to make in trading.

I’ve maintained my success because I worked my butt off.

You see, I believe my haters take shots at me because I’m doing something they want to be.

But maybe they don’t have the courage to try…or believe in themselves.

It makes them feel better to think that I’m fake…and that my results are too.

However, there’s ONE THING the haters forget to tell you…

I post ALL of my trades on Profit.ly. 

That’s right…You can see the GOOD, BAD, and The Ugly right here. 

Take a look for yourself.

It’s transparency at its finest.

Unlike most people on social media who only show wins and hide their losses.

Who else is doing that?

#2: Tim Sykes Got Lucky, There’s No Way His Success Can Be Replicated

© Millionaire Media, LLC

Wrong…Wrong…Wrong.

In fact, I have two students who have already surpassed me in career trading profits.

That’s right…Tim Grittani and Jack Kellogg have both made more profits than I have.

Again, most “gurus” would HATE admitting their students have surpassed them.

But not me.

You see, I don’t teach people how to be Tim Sykes clones.

In fact, I tell my students not to copy what I do.

I want them to become independent thinkers and to develop their own style.

For example, David, my student highlighted in that BI piece, loves short-selling and is good at it.

If you’ve been following my blog or my trading, then you know I don’t promote that strategy. I think it’s difficult, and the risk vs. reward doesn’t match up.

But if it works for you…then go for it.

If Tim Grittani and Jack Kellogg decided to be Tim Sykes clones…they would have never become 8-figure traders.

I teach a process and help people build a foundation to become independent.

Do you think my millionaire students hit me up and ask me what I think about every trade they are about to place?

Heck no.

They are free thinkers…and that’s what I want from all my students.

#3: If Tim Were So Good At Trading, He Wouldn’t Need To Teach

© Millionaire Media, LLC

I started teaching my trading process after I became a millionaire trader.

I didn’t initially set out to be a mentor.

But I was receiving so many emails. from aspiring traders to help them, I wanted to show people that great traders aren’t born…they’re made.

Early on in my journey, I had a major chip on my shoulder.

I was motivated by money…

I wanted exotic cars and fancy dinners.

But after a while, I got sick and tired of it.

I discovered charity, and my life changed for the better.

Today all of my trading profits are donated to charity.

The more trading success stories I produce…, the more popular I become.

And while that might sound egotistical…I’m using my platform to bring awareness to those in need.

Strange right?

My haters talk so much junk about me…yet I’m the one who is donating all their trading profits to charity and raising money for worthy causes.

They usually don’t have a good rebuttal to that. So they change the subject and try to find something else to attack me about.

What Are You Going To Do?

If you want to know more about me and how my program differs from anything else out there…And most importantly….why the haters have been DEAD WRONG about me for decades…

Take this moment to join one of my free training classes. 

CLICK HERE TO GET STARTED. 

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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”