Paper Trading Challenge
It’s a big day for the SteadyTrade podcast …
We’re wrapping up the Paper Trading Challenge, and it’s time to see who hosts Tim Bohen and Stephen Johnson declare as champion!
While this episode is dedicated to announcing the winner, Tim and Stephen note that there are no losers here. Each of the six contestants gained something from the competition, especially more stock market knowledge.
And the final two contestants, in particular, report incredible growth in their trading prowess.
Tune into the episode for a recap of the Paper Trading Challenge and a detailed review of the final days of the competition with the last two contestants — Liz and Chris (aka “DJ”). Find out who takes the Challenge crown!
And if you would like to see another season of the Paper Trading Challenge — especially if you would like to audition to be a part of it — please click the following link and take a few minutes to fill out this brief survey: Paper Trading Challenge Survey
Team Reviews
Stephen and Tim mentored the final two contestants, Liz and DJ, respectively. Here’s their overall take on their progress:
- Liz: As Stephen notes, Liz is “relentless” in the pursuit of her goals. That’s a very helpful trait when taking on the stock market.
Find out how Liz went from “a loser of a penny stock trader” with little knowledge to an absolute rising trader star. Her knowledge of indicators and market rules have grown exponentially. But can she rein in the gambling impulse that every trader wrestles with? - DJ: At the start of the competition, DJ had market experience but lacked focus. Through the course of the challenge, he dialed in and found discipline. He reports that his results went from random to reliable, as he focused on the setups that work best for him.
Is he ready to take his newfound trading success to the real market? Listen to hear what Tim and Stephen think!
What Gives You Passion?
Before announcing the winner of the Paper Trading Challenge, Tim and Stephen discuss some of the key takeaways from the competition. One of the biggest is that you need to find a passion for the process. You need to cultivate a fascination with the mechanics of trading.
Stephen asks: “What makes you approach every day as an absolute beginner?” If you can find that spark, you’ll be ready to approach the market and eager to learn every day.
For the Challenge contestants, this competition seems to be just the thing to instill a sense of curiosity about trading. It helped them develop the discipline to take it to real-life trading.
Tim and Stephen also discuss the difference between a hobby and a passion — and the key difference when it comes to trading.
The Final Phase of the Paper Trading Challenge
For the final month of the Challenge, the rules changed again: contestants started March with their February earnings.
Once the new rules were announced, Liz started scalping like crazy and started with $700K. DJ, on the other hand, ended with $1.6 million. They were also limited to 25 trades and the final tally was measured on winning percentage and the percentage the account grew.
Here’s how they stacked up:
- DJ made 25 trades and was green on every single one.
- Liz only made 9 trades. She was green on six.
- DJ grew his account 77%
- Liz grew her account by 49%
And the Winner Is …
So, who won the Paper Trading Challenge? Listen to the episode to find out! You’ll also get bonus commentary from both Liz and DJ about their final trades, including critiques from Tim and Stephen about what they got right and where they can improve.
Do You Want to Be in the Next Paper Trading Challenge?
If the SteadyTrade Podcast hosts another Paper Trading Challenge, are you interested in getting in on the action? Leave a comment below or on YouTube and let us know your thoughts and ideas for making it even better next time.
Thanks for tuning in to the SteadyTrade podcast. Stay tuned for weekly episodes featuring the hottest topics for aspiring traders!
How much did you learn from this episode and the challenge? Be sure to leave an iTunes review!
Hello, I am interested in becoming a contestant for the next paper trading contest. I’ve been studying daily for about a year now. I’m in the Tim Sykes mentor program. I’ve not yet made a trade yet but I feel like I’m ready and I know I can benefit from this competition.
I think you guys also learned a lot from this last competition about what not to do, and what can be done better (as far as shorting rules, not “cheating”, PDT, etc…)… So I’ll leave that up to you… But – I would Love to be a part of the next paper trade challenge… Like the person before said, I have been actively paper trading on TOS (sorry) for 8 – 10 months now, and been with Sykes MMP for the same time… On paper – I started with $5,000, and am now at $110,000… I don’t cheat, I “score” my losses as well, and I keep a very detailed journal. I am sooooo ready to start trading with real $$$!!! However, I have a biz to sell before I can do that (was my plan all along)… Well, the biz is now for sale, and I am still immersed in the markets every single day, and still paper trading in real time daily, and as soon as I can, I will be opening a real $$$ account, and start my retirement funding! (I am 60)… Please consider me for your next competition, as I am confident I can win!… and Learn!… and I would Love to try out SST during this time, so I can be ready for that as well, once the real $$$ start trading.
I think that an annual paper trading contest would be outstanding. It really helps people to focus on learning, trading and being successful. You can then have a STT Paper Trading Hall of Fame where rah winner is enshrined. We can learn about them, and you can periodically follow up to see how they are currently doing in their trading.
Of course I would love the opportunity to participate, who wouldn’t?
Ya’ll for sure should do another paper trading challenge. Watching the contestants grow, and learn helped me a lot as a trader. As ya’ll say your podcast is for the newer trader, and getting to see some newer traders learn the patterns and become profitable was really inspiring and just makes me want to study even harder. I would love to be apart of the next paper trading challenge! I learned about penny stocks in November 2018, and since then I have been watching all of Tim Sykes videos on YouTube and I have listened to all your podcast! I really want to be mentored by Tim and Stephen. They taught their students a lot, and I know being apart of this challenge would teach me so much. Thank you for all the free content ya’ll put out, and I can’t wait till the next podcast comes out!
Hello!
I have watched three of Tim’s live webnair’s now. I really like the way Tim teaches and explains trades. I am in Tim Skyes challenge. A opportunity to do a challenge like this would a great way to help me learn. I have made few trades and my record is not good.
I would love to be apart of this paper trade competition. For both the experience that I would get from the coaching, and to be apart of the camaraderie that is established between the mentor and the student. I have a slight idea of what I am doing, after watching Tim in both the You Tube vids and the webinars that I was able to catch. Just need something to help push me over the edge to learn what skills I need to be a more confident trader.
I think the paper trading challenge should 100% happen again and I would LOVE to be a part of it! Being able to learn and sharpen my trading skills would be awesome!
Plus the chance to be mentored by you guys throughout the competition would be amazing!
This sounds like a blast! I would love to get involved in this challenge…. as long as I can trade options *My Way!!!!!!! Please let me know when the next challenge is and what I need to do! Thank you and take care.
I have enjoyed watching the Steady Trades podcasts and really enjoyed the Paper Trading challenge. I think it is a good idea to carry on with the paper trading challenge. They are a great learning experience for the people lucky enough to get into the challenge. I would like to throw my hat into the ring to be considered as a contestant for the next challenge. Keep up the great work guys.
Would love to be in a paper trading challenge. I think the contestants learned a lot. I do think it’d be better to keep it to newbie traders. And, I think the scoring of different aspects besides just profits is a good thing (though I can see it would be rather time consuming). Like: points for getting at least 10% gain or more.– looking for the better set ups.
Hi guys absolutely love the podcast. Thanks so much for taking the time to do it. In this episode Stephen mentioned that buying breakouts is only a good strategy in some situations and often can just be a fakeout. Would you be able to elaborate further on when buying a breakout is a good strategy and when it’s more likely to just be a fakeout. Thanks heaps.
I would EASILY Destroy any of your last top 5 paper trading contestants. take ALL of there winnings combined and I will crush them.
Im up 27million in my paper account after 1 month
Good afternoon all,
I understand I might be a little late to this. I first learned about steady trade about a month ago and am trying to play catch up from the beginning while also getting all of the education out of each episode that I can. After listening to the contest I must say, I was highly disappointed in the attitudes of the early traders. Some of their comments made me feel like they didn’t completely understand what I felt was the whole purpose of the contest. That being said I would hope you adjust the judging of each trader from “Money Made” to how well there understanding the material and your assessment of how good of a trader they can be in the future. I hope you continue the competition for years to come and that one day I may be a part of it.
Thank you and have a great day!
Nate