Tim Sykes looks to sue stock promoter Stock Psycho for Libel

Tim Sykes is looking to sue the owner of PennyStockAlerts.com for libel; that stock promoter has written several negative articles about Sykes that appear very high in the search results when searching for “Timothy Sykes” and related searches on Google.

http://pennystockalerts.com/timothy-sykes/
http://pennystockalerts.com/penny-stock-millionaire/
http://pennystockalerts.com/stock-psycho-busts-timothy-sykes-promoting-penny-stocks-for-pay/

Sykes wrote a blog post responding to the second of the above posts last June, entitled Refuting 8 Lies About My Being A Penny Stock Promoter & A Scam, Excuse Me For Only Being Up 1,458%.

It was Tim Sykes who alerted me (and his other Pennystocking Silver subscribers) to this matter via a Profiding alert (link for subscribers only) in which he linked to this brief article on Domain Name Wire that describes his lawsuit (PDF) against Domain name registrar Moniker Online Services LLC  in Florida. The case is 0:12-cv-60515-JIC in the Southern Florida district of U.S. District Court, and the complaint was just filed by Sykes and entered into the court docket yesterday. Excerpted from the complaint below is the information pertaining to Sykes’ complaint against PennyStockAlerts.com:

7.   Upon information and belief, the registrant for pennystocksalerts.com uses the alias “Stock Psycho” (“Stock Psycho”).
8.   Stock Psycho has engaged in unlawful activities, including without limitation defamation, trade libel and other related torts, and has caused Plaintiff damage by reason thereof.
9.   After exhaustive investigation, Stock Psycho’s true identity is unknown to Plaintiff.

The weird thing about this is that it is not hard to find Stock Psycho’s true identity. While the domain name is registered privately via Moniker (see whois search or check out my screenshot of a whois search I ran today), the disclaimer page at http://pennystockalerts.com/disclaimer/ (see screenshot taken today) states:

Pennystockalerts.com is owned and operated by IPR Agency LLC, a California company.  For purposes of this disclaimer, IPR Agency LLC and Pennystockalerts.com are to be understood as the same entity.  All references to “we”, “our”, etc, refer to IPR Agency LLC and its wholly owned website PennyStockAlerts.com

California has an online business entity search. A quick search for “IPR Agency LLC” brought up the following info (see full screenshot):

So the website that Sykes alleges has defamed him clearly states that it is owned by a Californian LLC by the name of IPR Agency LLC, for which Ryan Franks is the registered agent. I do not understand why Sykes’ lawyer bothered to sue Moniker when the PennyStockAlerts.com website indicates that it is owned by a Californian LLC that exists and that can thus be served with a lawsuit.

I should add that the same person and LLC that runs PennyStockAlerts.com also runs DailyPennyStocks.com under the alias “Darth Trader”. The indications that DailyPennyStocks.com is run by IPR Agency LLC are less obvious — at the current time that is not mentioned on the disclaimer page but is mentioned in the copyright and in the emails (see these screenshots).

[Edit 12/7/2012] – The lawsuit against Moniker was dismissed without prejudice (pdf). I believe that Sykes is pursuing the matter in another venue though.

A web search yielded the following classified legal ad in the Los Angeles Times:

Legal Notices: NOTICE OF ACTION CONSTRUCTIVE SERVICE IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE ELEVENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT OF FLORIDA, IN AND FOR MIAMI-DADE COUNTY. CIVIL ACTION NO. 12-33962 CA 25 IN RE: TIMOTHY SYKES vs. RYAN FRANKS AND IPR AGENCY, LLC, NOTICE BY PUBLICATION TO: RYAN FRANKS AND IPR AGENCY, LLC YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that an action for legal and equitable relief has been filed against you and you are required to serve a copy of your written defense, if any to it on Karen Cohen, Esq., attorney for Timothy Sykes whose address is Law Offices of Karen Cohen, PLLC, 1041 Ives Dairy Rd., Suite 236, Miami, FL 33179 and file the original with the Clerk of the above styled court on or before January 2, 2013; otherwise a default will be entered against you for the relief prayed for in the complaint or petition. WITNESS my hand and the seal of said court at Miami-Dade, Florida on this 16th day of November. Clerk Name: Harvey Ruvin As clerk, Circuit Court Miami-Dade – County, Florida By Barbara Rodriguez As Deputy Clerk (Circuit Court Seal)

This appears to indicate that Sykes and his lawyer have not been able to locate Ryan Franks or IPR Agency LLC in order to serve them with the lawsuit.

[Edit 3/15/2013]: Stock Psycho / Darth Trader now discloses that the websites are owned by Focus Media.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer or legal expert. I have no positions in any stocks mentioned. I have multiple business relationships with Timothy Sykes — please see my terms of use for details. This blog has a terms of use that is incorporated by reference into this post; you can find all my disclaimers and disclosures there as well.

15 thoughts on “Tim Sykes looks to sue stock promoter Stock Psycho for Libel”

  1. Wow this WordPress theme is really starting to annoy me: mixing serif and sans-serif fonts, weird sizing and spacing. I think I’ll be changing my theme again soon.

    1. The actual set-up is ok, or the way it’s structured. At least I like it a little better than the original set up. The font thing is just kinda weird though.

      I thought it was something you were doing. FWIW, I really like the old Reaper website set up, may it rest in peace.

  2. “Another winner on his list is POTG. The short trade in POTG is interesting. Entry at $0.30 a share, exit at $0.27. A mediocre but decent 11% profit.

    POTG fell to 14 cents after his short! A good trader could have locked in about a 100% profit but Tim only saw a very weak 11% profit! Even the day he shorted at $0.30, POTG hit $0.22.”

    I like how he got 100% out of a 50% drop, I hope his gains aren’t added up like that.

    It’s pretty sad when you’ve got one going after another trying to sell something. Until I got lower in the article I thought it was an old customer pissed at Tim, then I realized this person is trying to sell his business by beating Tim’s up. He also talks a lot like one of the posters in the other comments section of your blog, not gonna look his name up, but the points he’s making seem the same to me.

    1. Well, I bet criticizing Tim has worked out well for Franks — he probably gets a bunch of hits and new subscribers who find his website after Googling Tim. Hell, I get a good chunk of my blog visitors from people who search for info on Tim. Of course everything I say is well-reasoned and supported by evidence 🙂

      1. I’m on my cell so I can’t quote your last statement, but I do believe it’s true, and so do many others.

        I can imagine that it does help him get business. The article is very strong and to the unknowing reader it makes a very good case. Unfortenunately we know that most of what was written is not true, the part where he says Tim ridicules students is true though, but that’s just Tim and his tuff love tactics and something that doesn’t bother me.

        The more important thing to me is the part where he’s trying to be honest about his service, admitting that some of his picks lose money, then is just completely dishonest about Tim. I mean, what the hell difference does it make if Tim messed a date up, or typed in the wrong prices by a couple pennies. Tim has made a lot of money trading stocks and he did with students and without.

        People will fall for that though and think he’s offering the most honest and true “pumping” service out there, can you imagine the irony here.

  3. On another note, and to more important things….like trading.

    Michael, now that I have an account that I can trade as much as I want, as many times as I want, how do you control that?

    Are there any tricks or tips that you do/use to control yourself. I understand that by now your trading is second nature and is much closer to reacting without thought(not to mention you’re a very dicsiplined person), or more you have a very good idea(risk/reward) of the outcome before you do it. I’m not saying you’re blindly trading, or are so good that it’s nothing for you to trade, but I know you are very comfortable in your daily-trading-job.

    I know that I have some trading experience and it’s not like I’m starting from scratch, but any bones you, or others can throw my way are very appreciated.

    1. Well, even though I am experienced I still occasionally overtrade or — and this has happened to me over the last week or two — hesitate to trade and miss good trades because I’ve had a recent string of losses. I think the most important thing is evaluating every trade thoroughly prior to making it, planning it out so you know your entrance, stop loss, take profit point — and then it should be clear if it isn’t a good trade.

  4. You missed your true calling Michael………….Detective.

    Always interesting to visit your site in anticipation what the next tidbit of info you will post. Fun reads.

  5. Actually we went this route for a very specific legal reason, I wouldn’t jump to conclusions yet. And no I will not tolerate slander / lies being spread about me, simple.

  6. I find Tim to be very frank and see nothing wrong with that. It’s refreshing to see a person who “calls a spade a spade” and doesn’t pretend to be someone he is not. The fact that he is confident in his skills is what makes him good in this field. He does not hide behind a drummed up false identity and I like that. I like a person who has the guts to say something and then sign his real name! I agree with him that at no time does he need to tolerate libel, slander, and defamation of character. KUDOS to him for saying-“I’m not going to take this”. The reason the “Franks” try to do such things to him can be summed up in one word. ENVY!

  7. Michael,

    I’m assuming the lawyer probably filed in Florida because that’s where he practices. Why would he file suit across the US in Cali when he could get jurisdiction in his home state? Just a guess…

    1. The short answer is that you don’t. I am not aware of any retail traders who were able to short SNPK, NSRS, or AMWI. So the only ones who could have possibly shorted those were market makers (due to the market maker exemption).

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