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Hot Air or Useful Trading Tips?

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Written by Timothy Sykes Reviewed by Jack Kellogg Fact-checked by Ellis Hobbs
Updated 8/7/2026 6 min read
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It’s good to be real in an industry full of fakes.

Which is why this bucket list experience in Cappadocia, Turkey last week got me thinking…

When it comes to trading education….

Who’s real, and who’s just full of hot air?

The Truth About Trading Education

Social media and platforms like YouTube have made it possible for almost anyone to build a following.

I’m not knocking it. I started with this blog, social media, and my YouTube channel.

And I continue to use all three for my business.

But with all the AI-generated content, and the ability to alter images or create fake videos in minutes…

There are MORE scammers than ever before.

A Public Service Announcement For New Traders

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My goal has always been to pass on knowledge to new students until they outgrow what I can teach them.

© Millionaire Media, Inner Circle Meetup, April 2025
© Millionaire Media, Inner Circle Meetup, April 2025

In some ways, you might even say I’m like training wheels for traders.

At the same time, I see traders make two big mistakes again and again:

  1. They think they have it all figured out. Especially after a good run (or when there’s a hot market). As soon as you get cocky, the market will humble you, okay? You either pay the market’s tuition, or learn from someone with a track record of helping traders break free.
  2. Unaware traders fall for scammers on X or YouTube.

It drives me crazy.

For example, there’s a guy with 540K followers on YouTube who got called out by my friend @TheOneLanceB for being a scammer.

Turns out the guy has a fraud conviction (and he’s STILL posting videos).

The lesson: Know who you are learning from. If they aren’t 100% transparent, run the other direction.

Then there are the…

Whack-a-Mole Imposters On X

These imposters and fake assistants comment right in my posts. Sadly, some people still fall for it.

A reminder…

There are literally hundreds of these scammers out there every day. My team feels like this trying to report them…

It’s like a game of whack-a-mole. Or catch the finger. Whatever. (Please report and block the fakes.)

The point is…

Do NOT Fall for the Scammers

Look, I’m not for everybody (and I’m okay with that). It’s one of many reasons why we have so many great teachers on board.

Like Ben Sturgill, who teaches options trading and how to beat emotions when you trade…

© Millionaire Media, Ben Sturgill teaches at Inner Circle Meetup, April 2025
© Millionaire Media, Ben Sturgill teaches at Inner Circle Meetup, April 2025

Or Tim Bohen, who trades some of the same stocks as me, but in a completely different way.

His students absolutely love his Midwestern work ethic and caring approach. Bohen also teaches swing trading on top of day trading.

Jack Kellogg teaches the 7-Figure cycle and has his own “Jack Of All Trades” newsletter.

The list goes on. Everyone is a little different. There’s no one right way (and we all have VERY different teaching personalities).

I take pride in helping bring together some of the best traders on the planet to help people like you start small and grow their way to freedom.

Speaking of which…

This Friday and Saturday, August 14th and 15th, you are invited to attend…

The Millionaire Formula Conference

During this 2-day live event (which is FREE) you’ll learn:

  • Battle tested setups. There’s no need to play guessing games, these are the A+ setups working now
  • Risk management. Protecting your capital is your #1 job (just like billionaire traders)
  • Algo and AI trading. Wall Street has been using algos for years. Now you can, too
  • How to develop a championship mindset. Stay confident when you trade (it’s key)

And SO much more…

Yes, Tim! Show Me How To Crush The Market

Key Takeaway

There are TONS of people out there blowing a lot of hot air about their big wins and how easy it is to trade.

It takes time, patience and dedication to be a successful trader.

We’ve done everything we can (we work on it every single day) to build tools, create services, and provide A+ trading education that are REAL.

You WILL have to put in the effort. But wouldn’t it be better to join me in Cappadocia for a hot air balloon ride than get conned by someone full of hot air?

Have a great week.

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”