New to my blog? This is the place to start. Here is my advice on what to read and in what order.
1. About – Read about who I am.
2. FAQ – My frequently asked questions, answered.
3. Terms of Use – If you want to spend significant time on my blog you should read this; it is not just irrelevant legalese. It details my relevant business relationships.
4. Q&A Index – These are video posts I have done to respond to questions readers have emailed me. These are less common questions than those in my FAQ but most have been asked several times.
5. Reading List – Some books I recommend.
6. Trading profits – A record of almost all my trades at Profit.ly. I do not guarantee the accuracy of the data here but I have tried to be as accurate and comprehensive as I could. When I could import trades directly from a brokerage I have done so.
7. The search box – There is a search box at the top right of my blog. Curious about a particular subject? Search for it.
I will post links to my favorite blog posts and which order to read them in later! Check back in a month or so.
enjoying your videos…thx
I am one of Tim’s challenge members and when I watched Tim Fundamentals Part Deux the answerw to the Pop Quiz #1: What websites are some good sites for daily watchlists?
He said – Reapertrades.com and timalerts.com, besides investors live.com and others.
I couldn’t find any help in this regard on reapertrades.com and I think the only help offered on timalerts.com is if you subscribe which I already am so I get his alerts by email and now profiding. So are these answers just out of date or am I missing something?
I use clearstation.com mostly for watch list help.
Thank you,
Old_warhorse
Well the simple answer is that I stopped blogging and doing daily watchlists. There are a number of other penny stock traders who have started blogging since Tim did that DVD and who do frequent watchlists. I really don’t follow any blogs though so I cannot help you with that.
Is this the New APS subscription site or website ?
You are highly confused. I don’t even understand the question.
Dear Michael ! Love your work and your trades. I also love Tim. I am just confused. I opened SureTrader.com account and found out I canNOT short ANY stocks under $1. Only $1-$5 and actually the Platform itself is VERY confused . I am thinking of opening IP account. My questions:
1. Does InteractiveBrokers allow to tarde , SHORT stocks under $1 AND $1-$5 ?
2. Did you have the same experience with SureTrader as me?
I thought that with their change of clearing firm they now allowed shorting stocks under $1 — I heard from multiple people with Suretrader accounts that they shorted ATC yesterday at $0.30
IB does allow shorting stocks at any price. I do not have an account at Suretrader.
First of all thanks for sharing all your thoughts and experiences.
Iam just new to penny stock trading. I would like to know do you set up stop loss right at the beginning? If yes isn`t there a problem with stop loss “fishing”. I mean didn’t the stop loss get trigger by high volatility to often? Do you exit your trades manually or do you have a take profit?
Thanks for your answer.
I use mental stops; but yes there is the problem of stops being triggered by volatility and then getting out right before the stock goes in my favor. For that reason I set my stops at important support / resistance levels.
All right. That’s what i was thinking. At the moment (Forex Trading) i increase my stop loss, if there is any important news release. Thats a good way to avoid a stop loss, in fact of price spikes.
I am very interested in learning penny stocks, however, I find how to start very confusing. Should I buy a TIM Sykes dvd and open a suretrader account? what is the best way to learn these methods? I am not a new trader I have traded for 10 years regular stocks and options. I just want to get into these penny stocks because the setups seem more predictable than almost any other method. Thanks for your time if you answer my question because I know you are a busy guy.
Mark
My broker recommendation is Interactive Brokers for shorting penny stocks. There is plenty of info to learn the niche online on various blogs, but the quickest way would be to buy Tim’s DVD Pennystocking Part Deux.
Tim recommends Suretrader but I do not for a few reasons: 1) They are offshore, so there is no SIPC insurance to eliminate your risk of loss if they go bankrupt. 2) Being offshore, US citizens may be required to file special forms declaring the account with their taxes. 3) Their commissions and fees are pretty high and a special rule makes them inappropriate for anyone with very, very small account or who wishes to trade stocks under $0.10 — this rule means they chart $50 per trade if the commission would otherwise be over 5% of the trade value. 4) You should not expect to hold shorts there for multiple days. Despite these drawbacks, many people do like its great access to shorts — it is just important to be aware of the drawbacks before signing up so you know what you are getting into.
thanks for the info. How much is the minimum to open an account at Interactive Brokers? ( I read somewhere it was 10 thousand?) Also , how much do Tim’s dvd’s cost? There is no price listed and sometimes I get an email saying there is a %discount today or this week only etc? Thank you very much for responding so thoroughly. Also, just from lurking around Tim’s website it seems this “short selling penny stocks” game is a little rigged. He says he wakes up early to “call for shorts, etc”. Does this mean he puts his limit price in as well, do they let you do this? or do u have to get the shares at market open? From my perception, It seems that it is not that difficult to call these tops. I have noticed that when the RSI hit 100% from looking at some of these charts, that it usually the day the big drop occurs. Although many charts did not reach that high level, most hit over 80 RSI and that is near a top. ( example SWVI hit 80 then goodbye) Also, from just looking at these charts, why get out after a few cent profit? Since these companies are garbage, why not hold for a full ride down in the low pennies? Does Interactive brokers let you hold overnight or are the shares called back? Again, thank you for all your responses. PS. Although I have a scottrade account, I made good money on USGT and I noticed that you did as well ( it was my first penny trade ever- could only go long). I bought it after an email in my junk box and using technical analysis then dumped into the heavy buying. Thanks REAPER
$10k is the IB minimum but if you are 25 years old or younger I think it is $2k or $3k. Tim’s DVDs can be found at http://profit.ly/store (just click on one to see the price). I would suggest waiting for a sale to buy, if possible.
As to holding the shorts long-term, I am currently short 17,600 shares of SWVI from $0.714 and looking to cover under $0.08. A lot of times it is better to take quick profits because pumps can bounce big (like GNIN) if the pump continues. Also, on some of the most desirable shorts the borrow costs are high. I am currently paying the equivalent of a 530% apr on my shares of SWVI. Furthermore, to stay short a stock with a price under $2.50 requires me to have $2.50 in cash per share I am short. So my short of SWVI is using up $44,000 of my cash. Lastly, a broker can force you to cover if they can no longer borrow shares to short. I shorted YFRM at $0.27, covered some for quick profits at $0.22 or so, and wanted to keep holding my last 10,000 shares but was forced to cover on its big drop day at $0.128. It is now at $0.06.
On borrowing shares to short, the procedure varies by broker. See https://www.goodetrades.com/2009/09/how-to-borrow-shares-to-short/
Also, I do a little of my own research and notice that Jonathan Lebed and the NIA have been pumping up higher priced stocks the past 2 years and they all went to hell. HE is currently pumping CCUR for weeks so I know that eventually this will be a good short. Just want to give you an idea for answering my questions ( you probably know already anyway). Thanks again. I am also looking for a mentor for learning these methods who has “walked the walk”. I don’t know if you do this but you seem very thorough and honest by reading everything I ever did about you. Any interest?
Mark — Yes, I have been following Lebed and the NIA and the CCUR promotion. The one problem with pumps of stocks like CCUR is that they are real companies and they picked a company with some good things going for it to pump. And CCUR is only slightly above where it was prior to them pumping it.
As to trading coaching, I do not currently offer any such service, although I may change that in the next couple months. I do administer Tim Syke’s TimAlerts chatroom so if you want my help in the meantime, signing up and then private messaging me in chat is the way to go. Disclosure: I do get paid by Tim partially based on how many people are in chat on average.
Hey Reaper,
I am sitting in a weird position. My intellectual mind is doubting that tim’s system and % returns are possible. I want to believe in it, but have doubt. I read on tim’s website about how that black guy turned $500 to $25000 in a few months but am wondering how that is possible if like you said you need $2.50 in reserve for each short? I came across a message you wrote in 2009 saying that you initially had doubts as well, but after watching him changed yourself into a believer. Do you think it is necessary to join his “millionaire challenge” or can I became a good trader from studying pennystocking part deux ( which you suggest is the best)? Do I also need to learn level 2 quotes? I really am at a point in my life where I want to make a change in my life and feel with these pennystocks it is possible. I just don’t want to waste my time or my family’s and my money. Also, how much money does someone really need to start doing this? $2000, $5000, $10000, etc? Tim has these guys making all this money on his site but it doesn’t say how big their accounts are. Thanks again for responding!
Mark — There are at least a few cases where people have started out with very small accounts (under $10,000) and quickly grown them multiple hundreds of percent in months. That being said, the smaller an account is, the harder it is to make serious money. Most of the people who made money with small accounts made most of it, at least at first, by buying pumps.
As to Tim’s Challenge, that is definitely not necessary. For example, Tim (Kroyrunner) achieved most of his great gains after just being a TimAlerts (or maybe Pennystocking Silver) subscriber and asking me tons of questions in chat. I do believe that joining the challenge would make it easier, but of course big success trading (making six figures or hundreds of percent returns) is not common even for people in the challenge.
thank you for all your fast responses. I believe I will sign up for pennystocking silver soon. I definitely want to talk to you as well! thanks Reaper
Mark
Have you heard anything about AIMHIGHPROFITS.com?
They are a stock promoter and not a very effective one. I have successfully shorted at least one of their pumps. They do write a lot of articles about other promoters’ pumps and those are sometimes useful/
How much does the TimChallenge cost?
See http://www.sequenceinc.com/fraudfiles/2013/04/timothy-sykes-millionaire-trading-challenge/
Hello Sir,
So I’ve studied almost all the video lessons and learned the fundamentals of Tim’s strategy, and was a Silver subscriber for awhile, but currently I am learning Superman’s strategy on Profitly. I’ve just started actually trading and have come across this site and wanted to thank you for providing all this great information free of charge.
So, I’m just starting to get used to IB Trader Workstation and I have a couple questions if you don’t mind helping me out (I hope you still check this blog). I’ve learned how to run the pre-leader scan, but was wondering if you have a scan on TWS for finding the supernovae? In your Q&A it says you use stockfetcher but I just wanted to check if you knew how to run that same scan in TWS so I wouldn’t have to purchase another subscription.
Secondly, your video explaining the pre-leader scan says “how to play these stocks is a different story, which will be detailed in a later blog”. Unfortunately, I was unable to find that blog mentioned. Could you please provide a link if you have it? Or, if not, what are good keys to figuring if the momentum will keep up or if it will die down quickly after the open. Thanks so much in advance, looking forward to your response.
TWS does not have the most powerful scanning tools. But a simple search for the biggest % gainers a the end and beginning of each day should find you most if not all of them.
As to trading the pre-market gainers, I have to confess that I did not ever write that blog post and never became truly proficient trading the stocks I find with that scan.
I used to subscribe to Investools who has a very powerful stock scanner. Has anyone used this and know whether they include penny stocks ?
I have not used it and I cannot think of anyone I know who uses InvestTools.
I’m also new to trading and I have a question… I see a lot of stocks that get pumped and at the moment I cant short them… I would like to buy and sell for a short time making a profit… The problem is that I tend to see that they don’t often have market makers in the L2, should I not trade them if the market makers are not there?
The only stocks without market makers are grey sheet stocks like PWEI. I think it likely that your broker just does not give you OTC level 2. Also most promotions should never be bought — they have a low chance of going up.
Hi Michael,
Great info on your site. Thanks for taking the time to share your education and experiences with us ans for being sincere. I have been listening to Tim’s DVDs, reading info on your site and a few others. I have about 3K to start penny stocking for now. On Tim’s DVDs he said he uses think or swim. do you think that is a good place to start? I don’t have enough to fund an IB account and 30 years ago I WAS 25 ! So that won’t work either. Was wondering about the commissions at think or swim and if the platform was penny stock friendly. Also you mentioned that Tim recommends Suretrader? So he isn’t using T or S anymore?
thanks for your reply!
ThinkorSwim has not been a good broker for shorting penny stocks for years now, ever since they were acquired by TDAmeritrade. Tim currently recommends Suretrader and while I am not a fan (I don’t like that they are offshore and their fees are high) they really are the only option for those interested in shorting penny stocks who do not have enough money to open up an Interactive Brokers account.
Thanks for the reply and much success to you in the future!
Isn’t Interactive Brokers pretty expensive to trade with?
At $1.00 per 100 shares that starts being non-competitive past 1000 shares.
Or is there a break offered for high volume traders?
I have been looking at IB but there fee’s aren’t as good as they would have you believe.
Thank’s for your time and info.
William
Just out of curiosity what were your fees for you short trade of SEEK @ 1390000 shares short?
Sorry…. Meant LONG trade on SEEK.
IB can get expensive for trading cheap stocks, but most of the time they are the only ones who have shares to short so it is still worth it. The maximum commission is 0.5% of trade value.
Thank’s Michael,
Appreciate your time and help.
I have been considering IB because I also trade FX and want to get in on the futures market as well … and IB covers it all.
I just got the tim sykes dvds Pennystocking,pennystocking part deux, shortstocking,timfundamentals,timfundamentals part deux, tim raw and tim tactics. i wanted to know if they are still relevant because they were all filmed during 2008 and 2009.
Wouldn’t the correct time to ask the question have been before you got the DVDs? Anyway, they are still relevant. There are things that are no longer relevant, such as broker recommendations and of course the stocks moving then and now are different but the patterns are the same. For brokers, see http://tim.ly/shortbrokers
hey michael,
with all these companies getting pumped, and all these promoters sending out alerts, do you know any of these promoters that have a good track record of promoting a stock and it actually going up? do you know the names of any promoters that actually makes the stock go up?
The only one recently has been Stocktips.com — search my blog for my recent article on their TGRO and prior pumps. Mailer pumps seem to be doing well too — CNTO VEND GFOX.
Michael,
While I am considering Tim’s Challenge and his pennystocking silver newsletter, I would like to ask a few questions. 1) What is your opinion on speedtrader as a broker? 2) So I take it Suretrader is the only game in town really then for someone with $1000 or less trading pennystocks? plus Tim says mention his name and they give you $100 in joining. Or is the better bet to just open a ThinkorSwim account and just buy on the dips until I get enough capital to get into IB?
I am figuring I need to go with SureTrader.com and try to build to $10,000USD and move to IB broker at such time. I agree that it is riskier and their trades may be more expensive but seems to be all signs point to them until I can raise the capital needed to enter the game with the big boys. I have the time and want to do this just looking for guidance before jumping in the deep end!
Thanks
Bryan
Speedtrader is mostly worthless. They used to be great for buying penny stocks but now they have few routes available for otc stocks. Suretrader really is the only option if you want to be able to short penny stocks and don’t have enough for an IB account.
Michael,
Thanks so much for the fast response! I figured that was going to be the response from you. Let me ask one more thing…. I have heard others negotiated their fees. What would you ask for… Suretrade is this-$4.95 per 1000… I was thinking of requesting $4.95 per 10,000. And do you think the web software for free is good enough or should I invest in the software for $50USD a month? Michael, I know I am asking a lot just trying to get way with as little as possible but still be setup to gain a foot hold.
Yes it is pretty easy to get Suretrader to give you the $4.95 per 10,000 share rate (but not better). The web software is pretty horrible — it crashes too often. The Pro software is good but pricey (and of course if you want level 2 it costs much more than $50/month.
I am trying to figure out how do I determine stocks that may get suspended by SEC.
A few things I found on the stocks which have been suspended are:
1. Free float shares just after reverse merger of a shell company using some loophole around rule 144.
2. Change of name and repump of company with no revenue / no assets.
3. Erroneous news release.
I am trying to figure out if one can trade both sides of pump / dump – go long early in the pump and then short. However cant figure out why Gaur Global (GGBL) got suspended.
The problem is that there are many stocks that have obviously illegal uses of loopholes such as rule 144 that do not get suspended. PWEI for example had an obviously illegal issue of rule 144 shares about 17 months before it was suspended by the SEC.
Hey Michael,
I have been researching trading for a good couple months and am going to take the plunge soon with a few thousand. What would be my best option to take in your opinion? I have looked a great deal at Tim Sykes and am leaning towards trying a month of alerts. I have also applied for his challenge but am awaiting response. And also, lets say I put in $2,000 in my account, how much would your average trade be considering broker fees and such?
Thank you,
Joey
I would suggest at first when you trade to take very small position sizes, at least until you have some clue what you’re doing. Maybe even $500. Only after you are consistently profitable would it make sense to increase your position size. I think PS Silver for one month would make more sense as you would get access to all the video lessons. If you want to learn a lot for free, I suggest reading all of my past blog posts as well as all the posts at tradetheticker.blogspot.com, welcometothegutter.com, and http://www.pennystockrealist.com/
Hello All,
I realize this probably isn’t the place to post this but…
NVLX has gone up about 210% in 4 days and is currently at .365 (when it basically hovered at or below .16 for almost a year).
They did get some good funding recently but that’s still a pretty big gain in such a short period of time, I would think it’s primed for a reversal…your thoughts?
Thanks,
Robert S.
Oh I definitely agree. It should make for a nice short very, very soon. It may give one last big blowoff spike top though.
Hi Michael,
I am a real newbie. I have a couple of questions for you. I opened an account recently at TD Ameritrade and started using their Architech software.Just playing around right now.Joined PS Silver and soaking up everything I can.I have a small acct. $500 which I hope I can learn to grow with pumps. and you and Tim’s knowledge.( I’m turning into a sponge) Hopefully eventually having enough in my accounts to be able to short sell. Anyway my second question is what software would you recommend and what’s your take on Architech?
I am not familiar with it.
Hi Michael,
I am inquiring about any news on how students of Tim’s are using stockstotrade.com. Also I found out that the cost is $1000 for students of Tim’s and non students $1500. Is this true? and Also heard that there is a fee to use the software every month. I am asking do you think that a new trader should or needs this? It says you can trade from it so would not have to use suretraders software. What is your opinion of this?
Bryan
I am not sure of the pricing but I do know there is a monthly fee. It is powerful software but is not necessary — very little is necessary in trading besides real-time quotes and a decent broker. It does interface with Suretrader so that you could make trades at Suretrader (also at IB) without using their platform.
I received a promotional email for WPWR a couple weeks ago when it was sitting at .06…fast forward just over 2 weeks and its been pumped up to .82…total fluff.
I missed the pump (my own fault since I didn’t trust it) and probably wont be able to cash in on the dump either since I haven’t gotten my account setup yet but I wanted to let you know about it (although its probably already on your trading radar)….1300+% gain…it has to come plummeting back to earth soon 😉
Yes I made some money buying it and now I am prepared to short. I do think they manipulate it higher first but it should be a great short soon.
Hi Michael,
The IB’s margin requirements for short selling of penny stocks is 2.50/share. If I have 1000 shares short and in the event that the stock increases, is the margin requirement still the same then (i.e: $2500)? Is there then that safety margin between $.XX to $2.50?
Thanks
It is $2.50 per share for any stock under $2.50. So the same $2,500 cash would be required for a 1000 share short at $0.10 or $1.00.
Hey Mike,
Thanks for your blog. I’m a new MBA and very interested in trading. I have watched Sykes’ videos and read Grittani’s blog. I try to sort through promoters to determine which is effective and have only found possibly 1 or 2. I also use equityfeed at night to determine a watchlist and see if I can forecast the next day which I have some trouble with.
I’m looking to really educated myself on trading and need a place to start and finish and get me on the path to independence. Thank you for your time.
-James
money aside, what broker do you use and recommend for shorting otc? Thanks I appreciate it!
Centerpointsecurities.com and Interactive Brokers
Michael,
Thank you for your time.
I’m watching FITX and ONCS today on speedtrader demo version, and I noticed there is no BID market makers on left and the stock is not shortable noted by no “S”, but there is buy & sell axtivity. Can you clarify? Thanks!
Something must be wrong — there are plenty of market makers on the bid of both ONCS and FITX
Michael,
Thank you. Your correct something is wrong there.
If I open an IB account, I hear their Level 2 if not good for OTC. Can you recommend a level-2 feed? Thanks again for your time.
-James
TDAmeritrade’s Trade Architecht platform has good OTC level 2. Many other brokers (Speedtrader Pro, Etrade Pro, for example) have it.
Michael,
Is that what you do? Trade on one brokerage and get a level-2 feed from another? Thank you.
I have three brokers that I use to trade: IB, Speedtrader, and Centerpoint Securities. I use Speedtrader Pro for charts / quotes for the most part just because I like how they look.
Michael,
I’m serious about trading and realizing I have a lot to learn. The more blogs I read the more questions I have. I was looking into joining a guru on profitly.com. What our your thoughts? Will I learn everything I need to be an independant trader there? Thank you.
Rather than trading out, don’t you think a service that can catch the ZDPY, CANN run up from a few cents to $60 would be better, than trying to short at $50 when neither Suretrader nor IB has any short borrow. Why not find a service who can call the PLUG long at $50, than play around for tiny profits going long and short, surely the long long and stay long was the best
That strategy will work — in 1998 and 1999 with dot.com stocks and so far in 2014 with pot stocks. It is a losing strategy most of the time though.
Michael, read this post and let me know what are your thoughts were on it. This person states that the tim challenge is a scam. I have researched to much and do not believe but i did want to ask what is the amount that you need to make sure you are not going backwards when you trade. I know that is a tough question.
Everybody beware this is a pure scam. 1st you will realistically need anywhere from $8,000 to $10,000 to follow every single trade. I have lost close to $4,500 for 5 months and I did not want to stick around anymore. If you were to take a second and lookat Tim’s profits it states entry at $2.12 exit $2.33 Profit $1,800. Right there should be red flag, sure stock has gone up few % but how much money would you need to invest to earn $1,800, more like $15,000. Somebody like that has came along and invested $1,000 I have earned maybe $45.00 after commission I am down $80.00 and that on the winnings. Tim makes most of his funds through membership not trade. Beware of Scam!
Well if you try to just follow Tim’s alerts you will likely lose money. But if that is all you are looking to do, you can get that a lot cheaper — the Challenge includes a weekly webinar from Tim and I and people get email access to Tim and email / IM access to me. Is the Challenge a good deal? I don’t know — for some people I don’t think it is. But people do get a lot when they sign up for the challenge and people who were confused about what they were getting have received refunds. So in no way is it a scam — but that doesn’t mean that it is right for everybody.
Bryan,
I do not agree with you. Tim is not a scam and like Michael said they refund without asking any questions even if you go into part of the month. I have watched all of Tim’s DVD’s and there is a lot of great material there. Tim warns about just following his alerts and in fact, he flat out states he does not want people looking for that. I learned how to do research from the DVD’s and Michael’s part on the DVD’s taught me so much about SEC filings I don’t even know where to begin telling others about that. I enjoyed learning from both of them. I laughed all the way through Michael’s video on taxes but it was also very informative. They were not boring to me in the least however, having said that, you get out of anything only what you put in. If you are looking to just follow alerts then you should subscribe to Tim’s long alerts. Then you will have the long term investment type moves you are looking for. IMO Don’t tout that Tim is a scam. It’s just not true. He and all his people like Michael here are very honest about everything. How do you think you know that Tim makes more money teaching then trading? Because he is honest about it and says it all the time. He even made a video telling everyone how to follow his business model. What other guru does that? Please name just one for me.
Michael,
I am getting into the stock scanning/list building section of Part Deux. What is the best free alternative to Clearstation?
What’s the skinny on stockstotrade.com? value for money?
Thanks in advance!
Finviz.com is pretty good. STT is very powerful but not cheap.
Thanks Michael.
Can you show a basic setup to find potential Penny stock to look for on Finviz? Also Is Finviz good or StockFetcher would be better?
Finviz does not work with OTC stocks. Start with just top % gainers with good volume.
Hi Michael,
what promoters do you recommend that i subscribe to for their newseletters? as I know that awesome penny stocks is no longer around and what are some other ones that are good and popular??
For potential shorts I recommend subscribing to them all. The only email promoter whose pumps I would consider buying now is Stocktips.com
Hi Mike,
I am new to this and I am really trying to learn everything as fast as possible. Is it true that I cannot short until I reach a certain point. I have opened an Etrade Pro account and have $500 in it. I read some rule you posted and it shows that I can not make any trades 5.00 (penny stock) or under. What if anything would you recommend for entertainment purposes of course 😉 I hope this was not a dumb ass question that irritates you. I just don’t know where to start. I could add 1500.00 to my account. I just thought a start up of 500 would be a great story to tell people if I actually got good and end up making it. I hope you can guide me in the right direction. Thanks for reading this,
Adam
You need a minimum of $2k to qualify for a margin account at any US broker and be able to short sell. Suretrader would let you short with just $500 but that is very little money and would likely quickly be eaten up by fees.
Hello Michael i just open an account with merrill but i cant go short with pennis (even having a margin) in nasdaq,or otc or pink sheets, im opening an account in charles schwap do you have any concerns about charles schwap
PS; i tryed etrade, tdameritrade, but im not an us resident
There are only a couple brokers that will let you short penny stocks: Interactive Brokers and http://www.CenterpointSecurities.com
Hi Michael
Can you shed some light on how many days I can hold “hard to borrow otc shorts” overnight without being “forced to cover” for centerpoint? Some people say you can hold up to 3 days max, but a cp staff told me you can only trade intraday and cover it by the end of the day. I know IB allowed unlimited o/n days because I am using it right now but the borrow availability is not as good as CP.
Have a good holiday.
Terry — I have heard from others that you can hold multiple days. I have held hard to borrow stocks overnight myself and didn’t get chastised by CP. Maybe it depends on your clearing firm (ETC or Wedbush)? I really can’t explain the discrepancy.
Greetings Reaper!,
Hi there, I have followed you and tim sykes and tim grittanis work, and have spend a year
diligently researching tim Sykes’s trading strategy, so……im now ready to go, but being uk based, in sunny old London, small cap us brokers are thin on the ground, it looks like Suretrader in the Bahamas is the only option for me, period, as ive not yet been able to uncover any others who I can start trading with, any ideas buddy? Also just as I was about to fund my sure trader account, there appeared on investimonials, to have a torrent
of highly negative and EXTREMELY WORRYING, comments, which seemed to all indicate that suretrader has highly imcompetant customer service, and possibly was a scam, I really wish to start penny stocking, am I worrying about nothing? have you heard anything relating to suretrader not giving money back from accounts etc etc, I realy appreciate the honesty of your blogs, and would love to hear your thoughts on this my friend.
Steven Tomkinson
Interactive Brokers isn’t an option? They take UK clients. Suretrader does have horrible customer service but everyone that I have seen that has had trouble removing money from them has gotten their money back — they are just slow.
Hi Michael,
I am new to trading and I am interested in subscribing to the penny stocking silver. However, I am not sure what account to open up. Im currently residing in Toronto, Canada. Do you know the best broker to go with here?
Thanks
Ayesha
If you ahve $10k, go with Interactive Brokers. They do not enforce the pattern day trader rule on Canadians.
Hello again,
what if i have less than 10K. I was looking into Questrade, because I can open an account with 2k. Do you think thats a good move or not?
Thanks,
Ayesha
I have never heard anything good about Questrade. Of course your options with $2k are not many.
Reviewing the previous trading blog posts, as you recommended, are an invaluable tool. Referring back to the charts and viewing the day(s) the trades were made are a perfect learning tool. VOLUME VOLUME VOLUME spike and then go from there. What I find interesting is that the ‘spike news’ news can be posted a few days prior, the day of, or after the spike.
MG:
Do you know of any resources that might actually group penny stocks by sector like the small – large caps are? I know this might be a “that would be nice but…” question but here’s my reasoning…
My 2 cents…or pennies…With all of the newer hacks of Amazon, Home Depot, Target in 2014 and now the talk is cell phone security in 2015, instead of searching for cellphone security penny stocks it would be nice to see a list of all the penny stocks together per sector. I know this is all part of the research that must be done with trading but grouping these in some sort of related fashion would be nice.
I’ve coded a few websites before and a fleeting thought entered my head but this would take more time versus trading…I’d rather trade… 😉
Hi Michael,
the Centerpoint homepage went offline? Any ideas what happened to them?
Much thanks!
Mario
I would guess that it is just server troubles and it will be back up soon. But if it isn’t by the middle of tomorrow then I would look into it more closely. Even if they were to go bust without notice though clients’ money is safe because it is held at their clearing firm(s).
Hi Michael,
There’s a comment you made about the Tim Challenge on this page that I’m curious about.
“but of course big success trading (making six figures or hundreds of percent returns) is not common even for people in the challenge”
Presuming that “big success” students are only 10% of the total, is there a common sticking point for the other 90% who don’t see that kind of success?
Thanks
Jeffery
Really I think the reason most fail is because they don’t put in enough time to learn or they do not have the self-control to maintain proper risk control. Of the Challenge students that I know put in hundreds of hours of work and had discipline, most have achieved some measure of success while some never became profitable. Those that never became profitable likely did not have the proper psychology/personality to trade. Do keep in mind that by ‘some measure of successs’, I am referring to those who became profitable and made at least a few thousand dollars. The unfortunate thing is that for most Challenge students I have absolutely no clue whether they ever became profitable or not. And even those that did achieve some measure of profitability could have gone on to lose that profit — few people keep posting profits and losses on Profit.ly