timothy sykes logo

Success Stories

Better Odds—NFL Stardom or Profitable Day Trading?

Timothy SykesAvatar
Written by Timothy Sykes
Updated 10/30/2023 6 min read

0.23% of high school athletes make it to the NFL.

Ellis Hobbs III didn’t just make it. He played in the Superbowl and is in the record books for the second-longest kick return for a touchdown.

He defied the odds, making it to the NFL…and today, he defies them by being a profitable trader with more than $450k in career profits in an industry where the majority loses money

How has he been able to achieve such incredible success in two different fields?

The answer might completely shock you, just like when he took the stage at the Trader’s Conference in Las Vegas.

Humble Yourself

© Millionaire Media, LLC

Ellis initially lost money early in his trading career.

In fact, he was down roughly $34,500 at one point.

He could have refilled his account and kept going.

Instead, he ground it out one trade at a time, reaching breakeven after a few years.

That is some serious humility for a guy who played in the Superbowl and was inducted into the NFL hall of fame.

The market doesn’t care who you are.

It doesn’t ask your name, where you’re from, or what you want out of life.

It just fills buy and sell orders.

I rag on short sellers a lot because they have a tendency to get cocky.

Nearly every penny stock pump is destined for failure.

However, short sellers can get their guts squeezed out if they’re not careful.

That’s why you’ll a prolific short seller win 19 trades in a row, but that 20th trade blows up and wipes out all their gains.

Remind yourself every day the market is an uncaring, unemotional beast.

You Get Out What You Put in

Millioniare Mentor Update Avoid the Slippery Slope
© Millionaire Media, LLC

Ellis didn’t get to play in the NFL by simply being good at running and catching a football.

He spent hours every day studying his opponents, memorizing plays, and working on his timing.

By the time Sunday rolled around, Ellis already had a plan.

He treats trading with that same respect.

This screenshot from his slide deck shows his trading journal.

It’s not some elaborate program. Just a simple Excel sheet.

But it doesn’t miss a single trade he’s planned or taken.

Trading and football aren’t things you simply learn and move on.

They’re an ocean that changes with the tides. You constantly have to adjust to the market.

Even the best patterns go through lulls.

More Breaking News

A trading journal makes it easier to track trends, identify opportunities and risks, and craft plans to match them.

Self Awareness

tim sykes standing in a crowd
© Millionaire Media, LLC

I can count on one hand the number of traders I’ve met who are totally unemotional about trading.

All of us feel FOMO, disappointment, joy, and every other emotion to some degree.

We can’t simply will them away for the sake of trading.

However, we can practice getting better at managing them.

The first step is acknowledging that you have these emotions, and they impact your trading.

Then, you study how they affect you.

Do you find yourself unable to abide by your stop loss?

Or, do you feel the need to double down on a losing position?

Maybe you freeze up and never enter a trade.

If Ellis has taught me anything, it’s that everyone is different. But you can practice managing your emotions.

It sounds silly, but emotional control is a skill just like anything else.

Plan and then Plan Again

© Millionaire Media, LLC

All the trading data in the world won’t make you better until you put it into action.

A trading plan lays out what setups you will play, how you’ll log and review your journal, the size you’ll trade, and anything else you need to be successful.

It’s literally a business budget for your trading.

And here’s the best part…

Your trading plan can help you tame those inner demons.

When you know exactly how much you’ll risk, what you’ll play, and when, it makes your decisions mechanical. And when they’re mechanical, emotions hold less sway.

 

Ready to Defy the Odds in Trading, Just Like in the NFL? 🏈💰

Image Credit: Ellis Hobbs III

You’ve heard the inspirational journey of Ellis Hobbs III—from NFL superstar to profitable trader, mastering not just one, but two fields where most aspire but few succeed. This isn’t a game of luck; it’s a game of skill, planning, and emotional control.

🌟 Do you find yourself battling emotions while trading, just like Ellis did?

🌟 Ever wondered how a simple trading journal could revolutionize your strategy?

🌟 Are you ready to approach trading with the same rigor and discipline as a Super Bowl athlete?

Here’s Your Chance to Level Up Your Trading Game! 🚀

 

📊 Join us in our exclusive live training sessions this week.

📊 Discover the key tactics Ellis employed to defy the odds in both the NFL and day trading.

📊 Uncover real-time strategies that could turn the tables for you in a market that doesn’t care who you are.

It’s Time to Put Your Trading Plan into Action, Mechanically and Emotionally! 💪

If Ellis Hobbs III could do it, so can you. But first, you need to take that crucial step. Are you prepared to commit to trading as more than just a gamble, but as a disciplined skill? Your guide to mastering this elusive market is just a click away.

👉 SECURE YOUR SPOT NOW! 👈

Post image

Get my weekly watchlist, free

Sign up to jump start your trading education!

 


How much has this post helped you?



Leave a reply

* 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”