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Patterns To Watch

Can’t Find Setups? I’ve Got Your Solution

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Written by Timothy Sykes
Updated 4/29/2022 6 min read

Hey trader. Tim here.

You can’t trade without a setup.

That’s like driving without a road.

We all know this. And yet far too often, traders struggle to find one.

If this sounds familiar…

And I mean right now!

I can help, right now, today.

Let me go a little Yoda on you.

  • When you can’t find setups you force setups.
  • When you force setups you take bad trades.
  • When you take bad trades you lose money.

Supernovas are my personal favorite. And I can show you exactly how I trade those week after week.

But I don’t want to stop there.

Let me show you how you can uncover fantastic setups EVERY DAY!

Get Your Story Straight

If you don’t get our StocksToTrade Breaking News then you are sorely missing out.

Our dedicated analysts comb through news feeds and popular chat rooms to curate the stories traders need to know.

For someone like me, it’s been a godsend.

As many of you know, I’ve been in Bali for the past several weeks helping to open 22 new schools.

tim sykes opening school with students cheering
One of the greatest achievements in my career.

However, I still manage to trade the markets and send out alerts.

Trading off a laptop on the other side of the world while helping to build schools presents some immense challenges, not the least of which is time.

That’s why having a premium newsfeed is a must, especially for penny stock traders.

Check out these trades from my Challenge.

Go through and check how many came from news stories.

Nearly every single one.

Even if you prefer to trade big-cap names, you need to keep up-to-date with the news.

Otherwise, you risk some unknown event hitting the wires and sending the stock spiraling.

Scan for Success

Good scanners produce good results.

Great scanners produce great results.

Sure, most brokers will tell you stocks that are up or down on the day.

But how many tell you the premarket movers?

And for the ones that do, how many capture ALL the potential opportunities?

Look, I trade low priced stocks with low floats that are moving premarket.

I can tell you that the number of scanners out there that allow you to drop in this criteria are slim to none.

If you don’t believe me, go try and create a scanner that incorporates all stocks including OTC that have a float of less than 10 million shares that are gapping up more than 20% in the premarket.

And now try to bring that together with the news.

Not gonna happen…

That’s why I helped develop the StocksToTrade platform.

It’s a place where traders could incorporate comprehensive screens, news, and charting all in one spot.

Check it out.

This is a sample layout I put together of the platform.

In just this screen I have scans set up for:

  • Top % gainers
  • Real time news feed
  • Twitter
  • Our proprietary Oracle system with support and resistance points
  • A continuous scanner for low-flat stocks with heavy volume over $1 and less than $20 that ar running

And this is just one screen!

We offer trials for $7 because you don’t need to spend a fortune to acquire professional screeners.

More Breaking News

So if you’re struggling to find trades, then I would definitely give our platform a try.

Create a Watchlist

I want to make my students better traders.

Period.

That’s why I provide watchlists at no cost for folks that sign up for my weekend watchlist.

And I strongly encourage you to keep a comprehensive list of your own.

You see, many times, the stocks that provide the best trading opportunities are the ones that did in the past.

Jiuzi Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: JZXN) is a perfect example of a stock that had multiple trading opportunities in the past year.

IPO’s are another great source for your watchlist. That’s how I found $ACON just the other day.

You can also peruse lists of biotech companies undergoing different trials. These stocks are especially prone to massive swing when the performance data is released.

Final Thoughts

All of these point to one simple conclusion — have a plan.

Know what trades you want to look for and then design systems and screeners to look for those setups.

Don’t make them so restrictive you miss opportunities, but they shouldn’t be too broad either.

The goal is to narrow your focus and save you time.

And one last piece of advice — have patience.

Yes, markets go through periods where there aren’t many opportunities.

It happens.

Take that time to study and catch up on your homework. Try your hand at my Supernova System.

Don’t take a trade for the sake of taking a trade.

Your time is valuable. Use it wisely. Stick with great setups. Don’t settle for mediocrity.

 

—- Tim


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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”