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Trading Lessons

Blatant Stock Market Corruption – Trade it. Don’t Fall For It.

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Written by Timothy Sykes
Updated 6/19/2025 6 min read

It’s essential that you understand the truth about the stock market.

The REAL truth.

Not the story that Wall Street spins us.

Otherwise, we’re doomed to fall victim to the overarching narrative that continues to take advantage of unsuspecting traders. A revolving door of pain and losses.

The truth is, in the stock market, there’s greed and corruption around every corner.

We see it at all levels …

From the very top:

  • Elected officials who consistently beat the market due to insider information.
    • Not to mention President Trump promoting his own crypto token while a stablecoin bill passes congress.

To the very bottom:

  • Yesterday, June 18, a lowly penny stock announced news that spiked the share price 360%*. Then the company issued new shares, tanking the price of the stock. They pulled the rug out from under buyers. It was a blatant cash grab.

This has been happening for decades.

All the stories that you hear: Sam Bankman-Fried with FTX, Jordan Belfort as the wolf of Wall Street, even the 2008 financial crisis …

They’re all stories of greed in the market.

Unfortunately, history repeats.

When there’s this much money moving around every day, there will always be low-life players who try to satiate their lust for wealth and power at any moral cost.

Luckily …

Savvy traders who understand the true nature of the market have an incredible opportunity to bank off of blatant pumps and promotions in the market.

For example, yesterday’s 360%* stock spike … It wasn’t the only runner that day.

Every week there are new stocks that spike +100%* in the market.

There are even ways to trade alongside elected officials and Trump’s crypto push.

Yes, corruption exists. But don’t let it dampen your spirits.

Instead, flip the script.

Use The Corruption For Your Own Gains

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I specialize in trading penny stock corruption … But as I’ve already mentioned, we can find this corruption anywhere.

I’ve traded penny stock pumps for over 20 years.

Ever since I started, during the dot com bubble in the late 90s and early 2000s, there have been countless stock pumps.

That’s not hyperbole.

There are at least a handful of insane stock spikes every week. And there are 52 weeks in a year.

After 25 years of trading … Multiply all that up and it gives you a good average.

But there’s no way I could keep track of all of these runners.

This week alone I’m overwhelmed at the number of stocks spiking +100%, look at my post below:

That was before the 360%* spike and breakout on Aptevo Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: APVO)

On June 18 during premarket hours, APVO announced compelling clinical data from a trial of its treatment for acute myeloid leukemia.

It was a classic inflationary press release that spiked the price of the stock. The price action followed my breakout pattern perfectly.

Until, the stock reached a huge move on the day … Then the company issued new shares, diluted the share count, and tanked the price of the stock.

Look at the APVO price action below. Every candle represents one trading minute:

APVO chart intraday, 1-minute candles Source: StocksToTrade
APVO chart intraday, 1-minute candles Source: StocksToTrade

Pumps like this happen over, and over, and over again in the market.

We can trade the price action. But we have to take gains before the stock pump tanks.

These stocks don’t always issue new shares, most of the time the stocks just lose steam and the price drops.

No matter the case, it’s important to follow my process.

Don’t believe in the stock. Just play the price action.

For a full explanation of these plays, watch my video below:

The Next Corruption Opportunity

There’s always another trade setup around the corner.

And you don’t have to trade penny stocks to get in on the action.

For example, Trump’s reelection included a hopeful path toward a legitimized cryptocurrency that’s recognized by The U.S. Government.

And as of June 17, we got a lot closer to a U.S. stablecoin.

The U.S. Senate just passed the stablecoin bill. And now it only needs to pass The House before it reaches Trump’s desk.

I’m not telling you to buy Bitcoin. I’m still nervous about the overall volatility.

And I wouldn’t touch Trump’s crypto token with an 80 foot pole …

But there are still ways to trade this momentum without buying a risky cryptocurrency.

Circle Internet Group Inc. (NYSE: CRCL) IPOed on June 5. It’s a legitimate company, not a penny stock, and it runs one of the largest stablecoin networks in the world.

It already spiked 170%* since the IPO.

Yesterday, June 18, it spiked to new all-time highs and followed my breakout pattern three times intraday.

Look at the chart below:

CRCL chart intraday, 1-minute candles Source: StocksToTrade
CRCL chart intraday, 1-minute candles Source: StocksToTrade

The great thing about trading larger stocks like this is there’s less risk for random offerings that tank the share price.

There are still shady dealings, but the SEC watches more closely. So Wall Street has to be more clever.

Already, Trump’s presence in the White House has turned the market into a playground of volatility.

The 170%* spike from CRCL and an upcoming stablecoin … That’s just one example …

Already this year, a trader in our community has pulled $500k from this Trump market.

All without touching a single penny stock.

I’m telling you, my patterns work across multiple markets.

See for yourself! And snag some of this Trump volatility.

Cheers

 

*Past performance does not indicate future results


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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”

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