steal-moneyIn the last couple of days, I have had an email exchange with a purported journalist who is interested in the Timothy Sykes Millionaire Trading Challenge. Because I’ve written about Tim’s Trading Challenge before, he wanted to ask me some questions. The writer is interested in doing a negative piece on Tim and students, and since I’m a forensic accountant in the trading challenge, he thought I could provide some information.

He wanted to know if I have done a formal investigation of Tim Sykes, have reviewed his brokerage statements to verify his trades, or verified the returns of Tim’s students. The answer to all of these questions is NO. Why have I not investigated Tim and his students? No one has retained me to do so.

The writer insists that everything is suspect if Tim won’t provide him copies of his brokerage statements.  Tim’s trades were verified by Covestor, and are now verified through Profit.ly, but that apparently isn’t good enough.  The writer says that Covestor dropped Tim because the company “couldn’t replicate his trades” for their clients. Translation: They tried to make the same trades Tim did  at some point after Tim executed his trades, and they got different entry and exit points. Stock market 101…. no one will EVER be able to get the same entry and exit points as any other trader because you can only trade after you know what the person did. Even one second later, I will probably get a different entry or exit point. (And if Tim is trading stocks with low volume, the chances are very high that I will not get the same entry or exit price.)

It gets much better, however. Additional complaints about Tim Sykes and his trading strategy include:

  • The strategy isn’t scalable past a certain point. It is true that when trading pump and dumps, there are limitations. Lower trading volume than mainstream stocks may  make it hard to execute trades. And these stocks are often difficult to borrow in order to short. Tim has never hidden the fact that his strategy has some limitations, with scalability being one of them.
  • Alleged former students of Tim’s claim they paid $8,500 to Tim and “lost everything” trading. First of all, it would be nearly impossible to spend that much money on Tim’s programs. So I suspect this guy is a liar. Second, Tim doesn’t trade for his students or subscribers. He only teaches them a trading strategy. Anyone who loses all their money is a complete idiot who did not execute the strategy the way it is taught. That’s not Tim’s fault.
  • Tim promises oversized returns. This is false. Tim doesn’t promise anyone any returns. He shows his trades (and therefore his returns) as well as those of his students (the ones who post their trades on www.profit.ly). But he never makes a claim that certain returns will be achieved by students. He shows you what has been done, and therefore what can be done. But no promises are made.
  • Sykes promises those who use his system are likely to make big bucks. Again, no promise has been made, and no one said it was likely. Only possible.
  • Testimonials from Tim’s students and subscribers mean you can make big returns from easy pickings with little risk. This is simply not true. No one ever said or implied that this was the case. Yes, Tim made huge profits, and some of his students have made huge profits. But no one ever said it was with little risk or it was easy to do or it could be done by anyone.

I believe in Tim’s program and lessons, which is why I joined the Millionaire Trading Challenge and why I have said positive things about all of it. I don’t blame people for being skeptical of Tim and his program. But I don’t fault Tim for not passing out copies of his brokerage statements. Why should he? His trades are already posted publicly. And those critical of Tim should remember to be truthful about Tim and his program. He has never made the promises as alleged above, so saying that he has is false, and claiming that he implies the promises is silly (and dishonest, too).

16 Comments

  1. Alexandra 03/19/2014 at 11:23 pm - Reply

    Hi, Tracy, my name is Alexandra. I am very inspired by your article about Tim. Recently, I just submitted my application to Tim’s challenge, and I know there will be an interview coming. Since you have already joined in the challenge, I would like to know more details about the interview. I would highly appreciate if you can share some information with me. Thank you and looking forward to hearing from you. 🙂

    • Tracy Coenen 03/20/2014 at 8:29 am - Reply

      Alexandra – Everyone’s interview is different, so I can’t help you with that. Sorry! But I hope you get in!!!

      • Alexandra 03/20/2014 at 9:22 am - Reply

        Thank you Tracy. I‘m very glad that you replied so quickly. Can you tell me what questions you were asked and was the interview held online, on phone or in person?
        Thanks again, wish you have a good day!

        • Tracy Coenen 03/20/2014 at 5:05 pm - Reply

          Alexandra – I did not go through the standard interview process, so my questions won’t help you much. Sorry!

          • Alexandra 03/21/2014 at 8:31 am

            That’s absolutely fine. I just really want to get into the challenge, and to learn more from those gurus. In addition, your blog has already given me a very detailed foundation of this challenge or a course of study (as you called 🙂 ).
            BTW, please keep this awesome blog, because people who like me read it learn a lot! Thank you for all you’ve done for us. 🙂 🙂 🙂

  2. Ana 03/25/2014 at 10:59 pm - Reply

    Hi Tracy,

    I know the journalist you are talking about and I also read the article he recently wrote.

    I have to admit that Tim Sykes gives me mixed feelings. At first, he looks like he shouldn’t be trusted but his “promises” are so tempting.

    I am fully aware that trading on penny stocks is a massive risk but I kind of would like to give it a go. Not use a lot of money, of course but more like if you go into a casino and promise yourself you will only gamble $20 for the fun of it. If you win, good and if you lose, it doesn’t matter, it was only $20 anyway. Of course, this is only for very discipline people that won’t go crazy over it even if they have luck.

    Now, in terms of the trades, I guess you are meant to act straight away when Tim sends an alert? Because every second counts, right? Perhaps I am making excuses but what you do when you have a full time job or live on the other side of the world with 16-19 hours difference? (Both these things are my case).

    Alexandra, I would love to hear how you go.

    • Tracy Coenen 03/26/2014 at 8:25 pm - Reply

      Ana – As expected, the article was useless and boring. TIM DOESN’T MAKE PROMISES! He shows you his trades and some of his students show their trades. All he promises is to provide you with instruction. What you do with it is up to you.

      This is not gambling. This is learning charts and a strategy which has been successful for many. Tim doesn’t only trade penny stocks, but when he does, the “massive risk” that you mention is mitigated because he has rules and guidelines that have been successful.

      DO NOT TRADE ON TIM’S ALERTS!!!! The point of his alerts is not for you to trade on them, but to follow them in real time and learn from them. You should be making your own picks and your own trades based on what you learn. If you only trade on his alerts, you will lose.

  3. Kat 03/31/2014 at 9:44 am - Reply

    Hi Tracy,
    From time to time I revisit this site to catch up. I just noticed all the comments in your April 8, 2013 blog on Millionaire Trading Challenge are gone? Can you put them back? The comments were helpful in my decision to become a challenge student. Your site is very informative and “Many Thanks” for helping in my decision to become a “Millionaire Challenge Student”.
    P.S Tim Sykes is the real deal!!!

    Kat

    • Alexandra 04/03/2014 at 9:44 pm - Reply

      Hi Kat,
      I just saw your comment, and I would like to ask more about the interview.
      I applied the challenge as well, and they set up an interview for me on next Monday. Since you’ve already been a student, is it possible for you to offer me some suggestions in terms of both the interview as well as Tim’s lectures (I bought the DVD).

      Many many thanks to you and Tracy, who got me the info at first!

      🙂

  4. kate 09/21/2014 at 10:33 am - Reply

    Hi Tracy- I came across your site by googling Tim Sykes as I’m considering subscribing to his services. Can I ask you if you’re actually trading? You talk alot about learning but have you traded yet and how are you doing? I read someone else who did the Millionaire Challenge (wrote about it on his blog) and also seemed to get caught up in the learning and never talked about actually trading so I’m wondering what the deal is. Thanks

  5. Tracy Coenen 09/21/2014 at 11:40 am - Reply
  6. kate 09/21/2014 at 2:30 pm - Reply

    wow. Okay, thanks. Just read all of those comments. Quite thought provoking group of exchanges. Thanks for the re-direct.

  7. Paul JoHansen 03/11/2015 at 10:42 am - Reply

    interview in five minuets I will let you know some/all of the questions

  8. Carl 03/27/2015 at 3:27 pm - Reply

    How long was the interview?

  9. Charlie 04/11/2015 at 8:05 am - Reply

    The interview is held on skype through video or phone call with the team in Utah, US. I spoke with a very nice American and it was formal but relaxed and lasted 10mins before I was offered a place. The questions are about you, such as your interests and experience in trading, how much time and money you can commit. The challenge is for someone who is looking to trade full time for a living. There is no question whether Tim can teach you, he is an excellent teacher but you need to have the time. I was offered to join the challenge but it costs £5,000 which I don’t have spare as I’m only 18.
    So instead I am teaching myself to trade penny stocks and binary options by lots of reading. You can reach me at [email protected] for more support

  10. ken 10/10/2019 at 5:56 am - Reply

    Sykes is a scam artist, plain and simple. All of his claims are lies. He should be in prison rotting.

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