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Trading Tips-Tim Sykes Penny Stock

Warning: Beware Twitter Pumps and Fake Gurus

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Written by Timothy Sykes
Updated 9/6/2022 12 min read

before you follow twitter pumps or fake gurus read this first

Following Twitter pumps and fake gurus is an ultra-high-risk strategy.

It’s crazy the amount of misinformation and lies in this industry. As usual, there are a lot of penny stock promoters. But there are also a lot of newbies teaching…

Everyone Wants to Be a Guru

It’s a weird world we live in where everyone wants to be a guru without first gaining experience. You see it everywhere. From business coaches to now, unfortunately, trading teachers…

Newbie Gurus — The Blind Leading the Blind

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Newbie gurus … they’ve been trading one, two, or maybe three years and think they’re experienced enough to teach. So they post big profit screenshots. And people think that’s what you can make trading.

Heed my warning: newbies are falling prey to newbies who have no business teaching. And the newbie teachers are telling them to use leverage and go all in. Or, as we’ve seen recently, they try to short sell some of these penny stocks with no clue of the risks involved.

Then they realize…

“Wait a minute, these effing newbies are leading us to ruin.”

But they often realize it too late.

Fake Gurus With Big Profit Screenshots

Then you have the fakes. These slimy crooks post screenshots of one trade or one month. They don’t go into the details. You have no idea what they risked on the trade. They don’t show all their accounts. They’re fakes.

You have to be careful of that.

If you’re gonna learn from somebody, make sure they show every single trade. Make sure they show every single detail. You should question it when someone posts a screenshot and says “I made $20K today.”

If I’m trading with a million-dollar account, and I make $20K, I’ve only made 2% on the trade. That sucks. If you have a $4K or $5K account you’re not gonna make enough to justify the trade. Not to mention taking a lot of risk.

Twitter Pumps — Losers Leading Losers

Then there are the Twitter pumpers. Again, heed my warning. If you don’t, the market will make you pay. It’s your choice.

I know I’m blunt. I purposely swear more on Twitter to rile up promoters and fakes. Since they think I’m emotional it goads them into honesty. (Shhh … don’t tell them I couldn’t care less. I just like getting the truth out of them.) I believe there’s more opportunity for you when you’re real and honest.

All Promotions End Badly

I posted this tweet about promoters on October 1. I’ll give you the general gist of it. But go read the replies — this is what you’re dealing with if you follow promoters and Twitter pumpers.

The replies were almost comical. These morons think a stock up 20,000% is going to the moon. Heed my warning: all pumps look bullish when the promo is on. And they all end badly. Every. Single. One.

Twitter Pumper Admits He’s Poor and a Novice

When you read the replies you’ll see there was a guy calling me a pumper because I post YouTube videos to promote my strategies. And when you look at his tweets you see they’re all promoter tweets.

He took offense to one of my replies in the thread when I mentioned my running joke about promoters needing drugs to do a better job. (Not too much or too little — promoters have to find their happy medium.) So this guy said he didn’t do drugs and “you’re the one selling a technique.” 

Of course I am. My technique is real. I don’t need to pump stocks for my strategies to work because there are enough promoters out there pumping. And I hope they do a good job because it makes me and my top students a lot of money.

My results are not typical. I’ve spent years refining my skills. All my top students report doing the same. Don’t expect consistency until you’ve built your knowledge account and gained experience. 

The funny thing is, in the end, the guy admitted he was poor. He admitted he was a novice. And he even asked for money after I offered to pay for him to attend a JB seminar so he could be a better pumper.

Yes, you read that right. Go read the thread on my Twitter page. I offered to PAY for promoters to learn the salesmanship skills needed to be better pumpers.

Just so we’re clear: I’m not gonna send anybody money. Stock trading is all about education. If you wanna learn to be an actual penny stock trader, come to me. If you wanna be a penny stock promoter go learn from JB.

Duty and HONOR — Teaching Lessons Learned the Hard Way

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I’ve been trading for 20+ years. Now, I’ve been teaching for over a decade. And it pisses me off to see these fakes and newbies leading people down the path to blown-up accounts.

Grateful to Be Real in an Industry Full of Fakes

Transparency. That’s what separates me and my top students from fake gurus, Twitter pumpers, and options pushers.

ALL my top students … from Tim Grittani to Dominic Mastromatteo … it’s not just about the money they make. And it’s not about profit screenshots. It’s showing the process. Showing every trade and being real in an industry full of frauds.

Check out this comment from Profit.ly user Ramesh_Kumar to another top student, Jack Kellogg

“Hey jack. I watched your videos last night. Inspired me how you transformed and sticking to your niche. I think I got some perspective on OTCs after watching your videos. Thanks man.”

That’s what our community is about. Being real.

Trading Challenge

If you’re ready to learn from someone real — with real strategies and techniques that work — apply for the Trading Challenge today. But no lazy losers allowed. You’re gonna have to work harder than you’ve ever worked in your life.

What Students Are Saying

Check out what students are saying…

Profit.ly Users

From Profit.ly user ArielP:

“In @ .2423 on $SNNA , out at .36 done for the day. Good luck everyone!”

That’s awesome! After I congratulated her, she came back with this:

“Thanks Tim! The summit really made me have a breakthrough in the mentality I need to have to make this long term. It’s a marathon not a sprint!”

And this from Profit.ly user momoney3018:

“Tim, it finally clicked to look at big % gainers over these past few days. and really I am in awwwwww. I can be a slower learner at times but once something clicks I can run with it. So thank you and thank you to everyone else as well.”

How about this one from Profit.ly user redwagonrider:

“Thanks tim for posting yet another [expletive deleted] get your heads out of your asses and focus on the best plays video.”

Or this one from Profit.ly user usmarine2daytrader:

“Held onto GHSI 25,000 Shares @ .0438 out at .048 was going to hold to .05 but set sell price and sold before change LOL its ok GREEN DAY”

And these…

CameronMan: “8% dip buy CLSI and 8% buying $PuRA fed 1500$.”

Michaeldufresne: “$500 on a 2k account on $NAKD and $SPNV.”

Arturoil710: “Holding $SPNV overnight. but up a whopping $500 so far.”

JMad: “Made about $664.”

Androo: $290+ on $NIO.”

Aidan7dasilva: 300 on $NAKD.”

chrislife101: “Down market but still profitable! I [expletive deleted] love this TEAM!”

Twitter Followers

If you check out my Twitter feed, you’ll see all the awesome posts about student trades. I retweet whenever a student tags me. Like these…

Here’s a recent tweet from DOorDONOTthereisNOtry:

And this tweet from Tessa:

I especially love that Tessa is willing to study anytime/anywhere as long as there’s WiFi.

How about this one by Hasenrahal who’s learning to take singles:

Check out this tweet from Jack Kellogg showing a recent trade setup he explained during his TISummit presentation:

Great job, Jack!

Blog Readers

I get messages and comments from readers all the time…

Here’s a comment from reader Clayton on this recent blog post

Great article Tim. It’s exciting to consistently watch and learn from you and to start see things play out on my own (using your strategy). Your words and lessons are like the Holy Grail for penny stock trading. Thank you.”

And this one from Challenge student Matt Schroeder (Profit.ly RPhTrader) on this blog post:

“Thanks Tim! Your training program is detailed and intense.”

Or from Brandon on a recent post about the SteadyTrade podcast:

“Went to the Traders & Investors 2019 Summit. It was great! And I even learned some stuff, met some people both from the U.S. and other parts of the world. I didn’t know about the podcast, but I’m excited to find it. It should be a great addition to my recently joined Millionaire Master Program. (learn it, know it, now live it)”

What’s your experience with Twitter pumpers, promoters, or fake gurus? I love to hear from all my readers so comment below!


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Author card Timothy Sykes picture

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”