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Trading Lessons

Want To Win? Focus on Big Percent Gainers and Trade Scared

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Written by Timothy Sykes Reviewed by Jack Kellogg Fact-checked by Ellis Hobbs
Updated 5/28/2026 5 min read
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This is just a crazy market.

RIP to my sleep (RIP to YOUR sleep if you take this seriously).

4:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET…

Every single day…

Premarket, midday, after-hours…

Try to be there as much as you can.

We’re less than a week away from no pattern day trader rule, okay?

I think it’s going to be crazy.

But the reality is, it’s already starting to get crazy.

Which is why I want you to do these two things…

Two Ways To Win In This Market

Trading is not an exact science.

Right now I’m testing a whole bunch of different things.

I have lots of small gains and small losses (and I think it’s good to be okay with that).

I’m SO proud of so many students learning to take singles (and even doubles).

There are two things they are doing right to win in this market… 

Focus On Big Percent Gainers

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We have big runners every day right now (WAY too many to keep up with).

For example, Astrotech Corporation (NASDAQ: ASTC) has spiked +1,080% in five days…

ASTC, 5-day, 1-minute candles, multi-day runner

QTREX Quantum Ltd. (NASDAQ: QTEX) is up +623% in five days…

QTEX, 5-day, 1-minute candles, multi-day runner

And 3 E Network Technology Group Limited (NASDAQ: MASK) spiked +151% yesterday…

MASK, 1-day, 1-minute candles, first green day

The list just goes on and on and on…

I could name dozens of big runners over the past month. Check my twitter feed to see what I mean.

All of the stocks my students are trading show up first as big percent gainers (I use StocksToTrade, which has a built in Top % Gainers scan).

So, start with big percent gainers.

What’s the other thing my students are focused on?

Trade Scared So Trading Isn’t Scary

I want you to try your best, even if you sell too early. Even if these volatile stocks seem scary.

Here’s my trading psychology lesson #1: Scared trading makes trading less scary.

Watch the video below for all 5 lessons…

This is a GREAT market to learn in.

Yes, it’s scary. Sometimes it’s scary for me, too.

Some people will say, “Tim, I’m never going to make too much trading scared.”

Yes, you will.

There’s more than enough volatility.

There’s more than enough liquidity.

And now there are more than enough plays for you to bank (over time).

What’s missing is…

Many of you do not want to partake in this. 

Maybe you don’t want the emotion or the stress.

You MUST get used to it (especially when the PDT rule goes away).

You have to learn to trade these plays. And the only way to truly learn is to trade them.

Trade small and cut your losses quickly.

Remember, it’s not about making a lot of money in the beginning.

It’s about gaining experience so that you can grow your account over time.

Millionaire Moves

Big props to my student Eduardo who just passed $3 million in trading profits.*

Like all my millionaire students, Eduardo accepted the Trading Challenge and then put in the work.

From sleeping on friends’ couches to his amazing crib, Eduardo is proof that the American dream is still alive. Congratulations again, Eduardo!

How bad do YOU want it?

If you want it bad enough, apply for my Trading Challenge today. 

More Breaking News

Final Thoughts

This market is on FIRE and that makes it the perfect market to learn.

If you’ve been sitting on the fence, now is the time to start.

If you’ve been trading small, now might be the time to start pushing it (just cut losses quickly and lock in singles along the way).

Whether you get too aggressive (and sell too late), or trade scared like me, this is a market to gain experience.

Cheers,

 

– Tim Sykes

 

*Past performance is not indicative of 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”