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Trading Lessons

The Truth Behind These Stock Spikes

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Written by Timothy Sykes
Reviewed by Jack Kellogg Fact-checked by Ben Sturgill
Updated 9/6/2024 4 min read

I see a lot of confusion from students regarding MASSIVE stock spikes like Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust Inc. (NASDAQ: WHLR).

The chart shows an 890%* spike in less than two days. This happened from Thursday to Friday last week.

Let’s set the record straight:

  • The stock does NOT deserve to spike that high.
  • There ARE profit opportunities for traders.

On the chart below, WHLR’s candles represent 5 minutes:

WHLR chart multi-day, 5-minute candles Source: StocksToTrade

Here’s the trade that I made on day one:

Source: Profit.ly

Notice, this process is scalable. WHLR is a cheap stock, that’s why my students are able to start with a small account.

And as they find success, they can scale up over time.

For example, Jack Kellogg, one of my most successful students right now, he’s trading with position sizes over $100,000.

See an example below from last week:

Source: Profit.ly

Jack traded BranchOut Food Inc. (NASDAQ: BOF) in the example above.

These big spikers, WHLR and BOF, they’re not the only stocks we’re watching right now … There’s so much opportunity for traders to profit right now!

Big Spiker Watchlist

Last week we saw moves from:

  • WHLR
  • BOF
  • Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIE)
  • Inspire Veterinary Partners Inc. (NASDAQ: IVP)

None of these stocks deserved to spike as high as they did.

BOF was the only stock that had news … And that wasn’t even the main reason it surged 500%*.

These are low-float stocks that are targeted by short sellers.

The low float ensures volatility. When there’s a low supply of shares (below 10 million shares in the float), the price is more sensitive to catalysts.

And because the stocks are crap, short sellers target them to ride prices lower.

But … If there are too many short sellers in a stock, any bullish momentum could cause a domino effect of short sellers blowing up. And that’s what creates these massive squeezes.

For me and my students, short seller turmoil can offer HUGE opportunities to profit.

You already saw the trade that I made on WHLR

Take a look at Daniel’s post below:

Source

It’s a marathon. Not a sprint!

The Next Trade Opportunity

Attention new traders …

The market is full of profit opportunities right now.

But it CAN be dangerous for newbies.

There are a few patterns that my students and I use to capitalize. And in the beginning, trying to trade every setup can lead to a disaster of over trading.

That’s why I suggest you focus on ONE trade setup this week. Remember, we already agreed, this is a marathon not a sprint.

One good trade a week is all it takes.

There’s no need to overcomplicate things right now …

This Thursday, September 12, at 6 P.M. Eastern, I’m holding a LIVE tutorial to help traders recognize this Friday’s biggest trading opportunities.

I’ll make sure you’re set up for success going into Friday …

Reserve your spot for this Thursday!

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. 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”