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From Chaos To Control. A Trader’s Odyssey.

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Written by Timothy Sykes
Updated 12/23/2025 7 min read

Every trader knows what it’s like to feel lost at sea.

You start with fire in your gut and a dream of freedom … But then the storms hit.

  • You take a wrong trade that leads to a bag holder.
  • An unexpected offering takes a chunk out of your account
  • Or worse, you drift for months wondering if this is even possible.

I’ve often said that stock trading is the last true Wild West.

But after the recent announcement from Universal Pictures, I’ve realized another frontier that parallels our journey as traders even better.

There’s a new film trailer that just came out. The Odyssey, directed by Christopher Nolan.

And the nearly two-minute sneak peak already feels like a mirror to our experience in the stock market.

Here’s a clip from the trailer that might as well be a live look at my students and I staring at the newest +1,000% short squeeze:

Odysseus fought monsters and gods just to get home.

Every day, my millionaire students and I fight market manipulation, promoters, Wall Street dominance, FOMO, greed, etc.

Odysseus eventually made it home. Just like my top students who refused to quit.

They rode the wild seas of small-cap volatility, dodged traps, adapted, learned, and finally hit that beautiful shore. Self-sufficient trading.

The Odyssey hits theaters on July 17, 2026. That’s seven months away.

Keep grinding for the next seven months.

In July, The Odyssey should strike you as a relatable tale. Instead of a story about someone else’s triumphs.

Learn From Odysseus And My Millionaire Students

Odysseus faced several challenges during his journey home.

Each more fantastical than the last.

And in the stock market, it doesn’t get more fantastical than trading +1,000% stock spikes.

Traders face sea monsters and cyclopes every day in this market. Here’s how we’ve learned to triumph:

The Sirens

One of Odysseus’ tests on his journey was the song of the Sirens.

The Odyssey tells of sea monsters called Sirens who sang so sweetly that sailors lost all control. They would jump overboard or crash their ships chasing the Siren’s beauty and lies.

For traders, the “Sirens” are the endless alerts, Discord groups, promoters, and self-proclaimed gurus who promise shortcuts.

Jack Kellogg (now with $24 million in trading profits) talked about this openly in his early days on Profit.ly.

He chased every alert he could find, thinking someone else’s hot tip would make him rich.

Instead, it cost him. He called that phase his “grind of confusion”, jumping from one strategy to another, listening to the noise instead of learning the process.

In the mythical story, Odysseus ties himself to the mast of his ship to learn the secrets of the Siren’s song while resisting temptation. And his men put beeswax in their ears.

To parallel, Jack muted all of his chatrooms and tied himself to disciplined trades supported by textbook patterns.

More Breaking News

Every trader must tie themselves to a real trading process. Or the Sirens’ song of “easy money” will sink them before they leave port.

The Cyclops

The Cyclops was a huge monster that trapped Odysseus and his men in its cave.

It was blinded by pride and power, representing brute strength without wisdom.

For traders, the Cyclops is the ego that swells after a big win, and blinds you to future risk.

Matt Monaco lived this Odyssey trial almost exactly.

After his first $100k year, he admitted he felt invincible. He sized up too much, held too long, and took emotional trades trying to “force” millionaire status. 

As a result, he got crushed in a series of overextended OTCs that reversed before he could sell.

Odysseus couldn’t physically overpower the Cyclops, so he cunningly blinded it and used its stupidity to his advantage, naming himself “nobody.”

Just like Odysseus had to use strategy over strength, Matt had to return to time-tested strategy.

After some big losses, he went back to small size and only played A+ setups.

That reset made him stronger. He eventually broke seven figures by trading smarter, instead of trying to impose his will on the market.

The Long Voyage Home

Odysseus lasted ten years of wandering, storms, and near-death experiences, just to get home.

For traders, that represents months and sometimes years of studying, losing, and rebuilding confidence before reaching consistency.

Kyle Williams said, “It took me three years of studying before I made any real money.” He journaled every trade, built spreadsheets, and lost small on purpose just to collect data.

Most traders quit during that “storm phase.” Kyle didn’t.

And now he continues to make gains as a self-sufficient trader. Not because the sea got calmer, but because he finally learned how to navigate without panic.

Same for Jack, Matt, and every other student who passed the $1 million milestone.

They didn’t reach the shores of Ithaca with luck. They plowed through storms with endurance and a relentless drive for self-sufficient gains.

A long storm doesn’t mean you’re off course. It means you’re getting close to mastery.

Every wave is part of the journey.

How To Reach Ithaca

Odysseus had help throughout his journey home. From characters like:

  • Athena
  • Calypso
  • Hermes
  • Zeus.

Let me be your Athena!

I’m not as pretty, so lower your standards a bit … But I’ve got the brains and the experience.

All jokes aside, few traders navigate the stock market long enough to find consistent gains.

And even fewer do it on their own.

I still have PTSD-like symptoms from my early years when I learned to trade without a mentor. It’s hindered me to this day. And it’s the reason traders like Jack Kellogg are better than me at my own process.

My millionaire students and I can help you endure this market and triumph over it.

In case you hadn’t learned by now, The Odyssey myth isn’t about gods or monsters. It’s about human endurance against chaos and the forces of nature.

Every trader who refuses to give up and stay the course, you’re the modern-day Odysseus.

Steering through volatility toward freedom.

>> Climb Aboard – We’re Headed For Gains <<

 

Cheers

*Past performance does not indicate future results

 

 

 

 


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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.
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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”

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