timothy sykes logo

Trading Recap

What Does It Take For Six-Figure Trade Conviction?

Timothy SykesAvatar
Written by Timothy Sykes
Updated 5/19/2023 5 min read

My mentorship program has helped over 30 regular folks on their millionaire journey.

But that’s not all.

The program gets better every year. 

You see, not only have I improved as a trader and coach, but many of my most successful students stick around, mentoring and sharing their trading ideas with the group.

One of those student-turned-mentors is Mark Croock.

Mark is up more than $4 million since he started trading well over a decade ago.

Last week he shared a video for Challenge members, explaining how he banked on symbols like APLD, GSIT, and TIO.

However, if you’re not a Challenge member, I’d still like you to learn from Mark’s lesson.

So I’m going to share some of it with you.

Mark made $107,283 on one options trade in MARA a few months ago. It was incredible, considering he spent just $60,000 on the calls and how they quickly gained 179%.

I’ll also share with you what gives Mark the conviction to go big on trades and how he qualifies for them.

 

Get Aggressive When You See The Right Plays Unfolding

how to determine support
© Millionaire Media, LLC

Unlike Mark, I’ve kept my trading size relatively small this year.

And if the market remains hot, Mark believes there will be plenty of opportunities in the coming weeks.

The first thing you want to do is ask yourself:

What’s Working?

Mark saw big opportunities in the ticker symbol GSIT…

Why?

The stock went from $1.74 to $7.30 in just a week.

It has a relatively low float at 18 million shares and a high percentage of inside ownership at 30.9%.

However, it’s a blatant pump.

And Mark believes it is being manipulated.

Managing risk on these types of trades is challenging because you’ll have these big bounces followed by some heavy pullbacks.

However, as long as AI remains the hot theme, he believes pumps, even blatant pumps in the AI space, will have a chance to move in this current market.

Especially if the market keeps panic-buying big tech stocks.

But if Mark could pick, he would rather trade stocks with real catalysts like APLD.

The company announced on the 16th that it signed its first major customer for its latest artificial intelligence cloud service.

The agreement is worth up to $180 million over a 24-hour period.

The stock was a multi-day runner with strong price action.

Mark felt like this could have been a trade for an aggressive long.

Why?

Because the AI theme has been working, tech has been on a monster rally, and risk appetite is high.

And while Mark admits to dropping the ball on APLD, he felt he did an excellent job trading TIO.

This one rallied on strong earnings… and then I think was getting pumped in a bunch of discord rooms.

Mark decided to trade it similar to how would…a panic dip buy.

It was the first red day, and after a sharp morning sell-off, Mark was able to buy some shares in the $3.90s and scalp out in the $4.30s.

 

Mark’s Tips For Building Trade Conviction

© Millionaire Media, LLC
  • Make sure we’re in a good market. Last week big tech stocks like NVDA, GOOGL, and MSFT rallied off the AI buzz. The strong performance by those stocks gave traders the courage to go after more speculative plays related to AI.
  • Find Out What’s Working. Right now, AI and biotech stocks have been on fire. Try to figure out what is causing some of these moves. Traders will often look for similar stocks and catalysts, which could lead them to the next big winner.
  • Take Your Shot If The Boxes Check. If everything lines up, don’t be scared to take your shot.  Mark saw that the market was hot, AI plays were working, and many of the same patterns were repeating.

If you’d like to learn more about the program that helped Mark on his millionaire journey, click here to learn more. 


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”