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Trading Lessons

Your 2 Trade Choices:

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Written by Timothy Sykes
Updated 5/3/2024 6 min read

As a small-account trader, I focus on the hottest trading times.

Usually, that’s the first few hours of the trading day and the last few hours.

Now, most new traders also work a day job. I don’t expect you to watch the market all day long. Just pick one of the time frames and commit to an hour two a day.

That’s all it takes.

Now, it’s easier said than done. But thankfully, over the last two decades of trading and teaching, I’ve developed specific systems to trade these runners.

For example …

Here’s a morning trade that I made last week, with a starting stake of $19,168:

Source: Profit.ly

Here’s an afternoon trade that I made the day before, with a starting stake of $8,100:

Source: Profit.ly

Notice the difference between my profits: I can only take as much as the market is willing to give me.

My trading process helps me identify key price action.

  • Then I get in.
  • Get out.
  • And move to the next big runner.

When are you available to trade, morning or afternoon?

Morning Traders:

sun coming in on Sykes - arms out
© Millionaire Media, LLC

The hottest stocks in the market usually start to spike during premarket hours.

  • Sometimes there are good premarket trade opportunities.
  • Sometimes it’s best to wait until the market officially opens at 9:30 A.M. Eastern.

It all depends on when the news comes out and what the chart looks like.

These stocks can follow popular chart patterns outlined in my 7-Step Framework.

But the biggest challenge that most new traders face is finding the stock in time to trade it. Because these plays are volatile and they can move quickly.

We only want to focus on the best plays. In our case, that means a stock spiking with a good news catalyst.

That’s why I wait for a catalyst alert from Breaking News. Last week on Wednesday we got a huge alert for CytomX Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: CTMX) before the stock market opened.

Take a look at the notification on the chart below, every candle represents one trading minute:

CTMX chart intraday, 1-minute candles Source: StocksToTrade

This is my note for all morning traders:

>> Wait for the next Breaking News alert <<

Then trade the price action using the 7-Step Framework.

Afternoon Traders:

© Millionaire Media, LLC

In some ways, afternoon trades are a little easier to scope out.*

Here’s why:

All the price action from the morning helps us determine a good trade from a bad trade. That’s also why my AI trading bot has been so successful at picking afternoon trades: There’s more data to scan.

We all knew this day would come. Ever since AI burst on the scene in early 2023, there were rumors of people using AI to trade stocks.

I spent MONTHS on this program. And at long last, the XGPT bot alerts traders of potential afternoon profit setups.

The system also offers a trade plan as if I gave you one directly.

Take a look at the afternoon XGPT alert from last week on Mullen Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: MULN) below:

MULN chart intraday, 1-minute candles Source: StocksToTrade

Until a new trader grows to learn this process …

More Breaking News

>> Lean on XGPT for afternoon alerts <<

Small Account-Traders Are Killing It

© Millionaire Media, LLC

There are new profit opportunities every day in our small-account niche.

I’ve been reposting my students on Twitter. And my apologies if I missed your Tweet, there’s A LOT going on.

Take a look at some of the stocks my students are trading:

Source: Twitter
Source: Twitter

There is a real process for profits.

My students and I are using it to trade key price action this week. Hop on board!

Cheers.

*Stock trading is inherently risky.


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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”