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My 4 Favorite Catalysts & How To Play Them

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Written by Timothy Sykes
Updated 9/28/2023 7 min read
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Making money in the stock market is fun.

But I get a greater thrill from seeing my students succeed.

And despite heavy weakness in the overall market, many of my students have been thriving.

What are these students doing so differently from most traders right now?

They’re focused on catalysts…

And if you want to be successful at day trading, you should, too.

Today, I will walk you through my four top catalyst trades and how to play them.

 

#1 Pump and Dumps

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Pumps come in many shapes and sizes these days. And for the most part, I used to short them at will.

However, since so many traders are looking to short pumps, they have a better chance at squeezing before they nose dive.

These usually come from trading groups on social media and Discord chat rooms. As well as good old-fashioned stock promoters.

Sometimes, finding the source can be tricky, but it doesn’t have to be if you’re using something like StocksToTrade BreakingNews.

Another thing you can do is look at a historical price chart of a stock.

For example, many of the same companies will pump to boost their stock price up to make an offering.

By studying these historical charts, you can better understand how good the company is at pumping.

#2 Press Releases

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This is pretty straightforward.

It’s when a company releases positive information about itself.

Take the ticker symbol NIR as an example from earlier in the week.

Source: StocksToTrade Breaking News

The company announced it received a decision to grant European patent number EP4024906 titled “Method for Identifying a Device using Attributes and Location Signatures from the Device.”

The stock soared from $0.27 to $0.67 following the announcement.

You can read about how I traded NIR here. 

#3 Earnings Reports

Earnings season can be a goldmine for traders. Every quarter, public companies release their earnings reports detailing their performance over the past three months.

A company’s earnings report can greatly exceed, meet, or miss analysts’ expectations. When they exceed expectations, stocks can see a rapid spike.

On the other hand, if a company reports earnings that miss expectations, its stock might tank.

While many traders avoid holding through earnings due to the unpredictability, others use tools like StocksToTrade Breaking News to gauge the market’s response and get in on the action shortly after the report is released.

I bought AYTU, a big earnings winner, just yesterday on a dip off its highs.

You can read about the details of that trade here. 

#4 Low Float Short Squeezes

This is by far the hottest trend in the market right now.

The catalyst combines shady brokers allocating shares and overaggressive short sellers.

These short sellers are attacking weak companies on BS news…which, in theory, is smart.

But because they are targeting low floats, the supply vs. demand dynamics work heavily against them.

The more they short…, the greater the squeeze.

Click the video below to see how I’ve been playing this catalyst:

 

Discover The Secrets Behind Successful Day Trading 📈

The stock market can be a playground for gains, but what truly excites me is witnessing my students making real profits, even when the market’s down. Just like them, your success could be one catalyst away!

🔥 Want to master the art of playing catalyst trades? Every detail matters, from the shady grounds of Pump and Dumps to the timely significance of Press Releases and Earnings Reports.

🔥 Are you aware of the rage that Low Float Short Squeezes are causing in the market? Learn how to capitalize on these trends instead of getting squeezed out.

🔥 Think you know the game? Think again. Old strategies might be failing you in this volatile market landscape. Instead of trailing behind, stay a step ahead with strategies tailored for the present-day scenario.

 

🚀 Dive into the heart of the action with our upcoming live training sessions.

🚀 Unveil actionable strategies, precise for the ever-changing stock market climate.

🚀 Experience real-time analysis, illuminating the dark corners of the market’s unpredictable behavior.

🚀 Why simply follow when you can predict and lead?

Ready to crack the day trading code and redefine your trading success?

Your roadmap to mastering the market’s catalysts is just a click away.

 

👉 CLICK HERE TO SECURE YOUR SPOT NOW!👈

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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. Read More

* 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”