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Make the Most of Your Trading Time

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Written by Timothy Sykes
Updated 9/11/2026 6 min read

I’m sure you’ve noticed how insane the market is, right?

I’m not talking about the number of plays every day.

How do you keep up with extended-hours trading?

These 16-hour trading days are crazy.

You have to adapt to what the market gives. But at the same time, we all have a life to live.

So, let’s talk about how to…

Maximize the Time You Spend Trading

When I first started trading, it was only 9:30-10:30 a.m. and 3-4 p.m ET.

Those were the two hours of the day when you could capture the majority of the moves.

There was no pre-market or after-hours. I didn’t even keep my computer on at the end of the day…

© Millionaire Media
© Millionaire Media

Can you imagine that now?

We’re seeing spikers from 4 a.m. right through the open to 10 a.m. ET.

For example, check out Tenon Medical Inc. (NASDAQ: TNON) from yesterday (Sept. 10)…

TNON, 9/10/26, 1-min candle, premarket spiker
TNON, 9/10/26, 1-min candle, premarket spiker

That’s crazy, right?

Plus, there are midday squeezes, afternoon breakouts, and after-hours spikers.

For example, on Tuesday (Sept. 8) the big after-hours spiker was Sphere 3D Corp. (NASDAQ: ANY)

ANY, 9/8/26, 1-min candle, after-hours spiker
ANY, 9/8/26, 1-min candle, after-hours spiker

While full-time traders have to adapt to the 16-hour day

You might not want to spend that much time staring at a screen.

Maybe you have a full-time job and you’re trying to fit trading around it.

That means you have to make the most of your trading time.

Even full-time traders have to learn how to maximize time spent trading.

That’s part of the reason why I’m working on this new presentation. It’s going to be Monday, September 14th, at 10 AM ET.

https://x.com/timothysykes/status/2097366334187381019

There’s a link below.

Let me tell you a little about it now, because it’s super important.

There’s a key time of day, a 15-minute interval, that I think more people should focus on.

Why?

Because I believe it is…

The Easiest Time of Day To Trade

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Trading was hard enough when it was only two hours per day.

I’m grateful that it was limited back then. It forced me to look for only the best setups.

Now? SO much has changed…

For one thing, there are millions more traders now than when I started. There are also volatility halts during regular hours.

Add to that more stocks, more ETFs, crypto, and everyone having a mobile phone with a brokerage app on it.

And it’s only going to get worse in December when Nasdaq launches 24-hour trading. There is just so much available at ALL hours of the day.

But the 15-minute window I’ll be focused on takes all that overload and confusion away.

You don’t have to sit in front of your screen for 16 hours (or even 8 hours).

It’s your choice …

Spend Every Waking Hour or Focus On Only the Best Times?

Image created with Google Gemini
Image created with Google Gemini

You could spend every waking hour and hope to catch a big move. Or you could live your life and be ready for the best times to trade.

My presentation on Monday is free. So, tune in, take notes, and learn from the data.

I think you’ll benefit from it…

The 15-Minute Millionaire Summit

Someone recently asked me:

“Tim, if you had only 15 minutes a day to trade, which 15 minutes would it be?”

In Monday’s presentation, I’ll answer that question (and SO much more).

Join Me Monday, September 14th at 10 AM ET

Whatever you do…

Focus On the Best Time of Day

I believe that for most people, the time I’m going to talk about in my presentation is the best time of day.

When you focus on the best time of day (and the best setups), trading doesn’t have to consume your life.

Obviously, if you want to become my next Millionaire Challenge student, you probably should be a little obsessed.

In that case, my presentation on Monday is a MUST.

But even if you have a full-time or part-time job, you can still trade and capitalize every day.

We Remember

Today is the 25th anniversary of 9/11, which was one of the most tragic days in American history.

We remember the innocent victims. We remember the heroes who gave their lives trying to save them. We remember those who lost their lives to 9/11 related illnesses, and the survivors who still suffer.

We remember and we will never forget.

Key Takeaway

In trading, a few minutes can make a BIG difference. Especially with the volatile stocks we trade.

That’s why I want you to maximize your time.

Understand where and when the best plays happen so you can enjoy your life instead of being glued to the screen.

The more you learn to take advantage of the best times to trade now, the sooner you can spend more time doing other things you love.

See you on Monday at 10 AM.

Cheers,

– Tim Sykes


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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”