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Trading Tips-Tim Sykes Penny Stock

5 Ways To Trade Like A Stock Sniper 🔫

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Written by Timothy Sykes
Updated 8/23/2023 7 min read

While every news outlet couldn’t stop talking about Nvidia’s latest earnings, my sharp-eyed students and I zeroed in on a less obvious target: VCI Global (NASD: VCIG).

The result?

A staggering 130% surge in a single day.

Now, I get it. For many, this level of volatility feels like uncharted territory. It might even seem daunting.

But let me let you in on a little secret… trading this was like taking candy from a baby for us.

The key?

Trading with the precision and patience of a stock sniper.

Here are five ways you can do it.

#1 Understand The Driving Forces

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Every stock move, big or small, is propelled by a driving force or catalyst, whether it’s earnings announcements, like Nvidia’s, or some industry-shattering news.

For VCIG, it wasn’t just magic or luck.

Before the market open the company announced a visionary collaboration with Microsoft Azure OpenAI.

Let’s unpack that.

VCIG is a company you’ve probably never of heard of prior to yesterday…but now it’s announcing business with Microsoft, one of the largest and most successful companies in the world.

In addition, it’s an AI play, one of the hottest sectors all year.

This is what I call legitimizer news.

Source: StocksToTrade Breaking News

Regardless of where you are in your journey and what strategies you decide to trade…understanding catalysts is essential.

Start paying attention to what stocks are moving and what the catalyst driving them is.

Generally hot themes last for more than a day. If you missed the first opportunity, there’s a chance you can catch a similar play later down the road.

#2 Never Ignore Volume

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It will take you a while to grasp what catalysts are market moving and which are duds.

The best way to do it is to pay attention to the trading volume.

For example, a company can issue awesome sounding and super bullish news…but if there’s no volume surge then there’s probably something wrong.

You don’t want to be the first into a catalyst play.

It’s often best to wait for the volume for confirmation.

For example, VCIG typically trades 3 million shares per day.

More Breaking News

However, yesterday it traded over 60 million shares by 3 PM ET.

#3 Arm Yourself With The Right Tools

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The quicker you get the information and the faster you can process it, the better the chances you catch the spike up.

The best way I know how to catch plays like VCIG is to use a tool like StocksToTrade Breaking News. 

It’s curates the news for me in real-time, picking out the most actionable ideas.

This is super helpful for me because I trade off my laptop. I’m not one of those traders who is staring at 4 screens.

And with StocksToTrade Breaking News, I don’t have to hop from one website to the next to get my information.

If you’re relying on an alert service or social media there is a good chance you’ll be slow.

Now, that doesn’t mean you missed the trade entirely. For example, I will sometimes wait after the initial spike and try to dip buy a spiker.

But that is not as easy as buying off the initial headline in my opinion.

#4 Know Your Levels

If you trade penny stocks like me, you’ll notice that some of these companies will pump their stock up via press releases many times throughout the year.

You want to pay attention to the past.

Source: StocksToTrade 

I like looking at daily and weekly charts to get a big picture view. I want to know what happened to a stock the last time it spiked after a press release.

I also want to know the key levels or support and resistance.

This allows me to time my entries and exits better.

#5 Study Every Day

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Yesterday’s move in VCIG taught us one thing…

The AI sector is still hot.

And you know what else?

Traders are probably going to be looking for similar headlines today.

I know that sounds simple. But that’s exactly how day traders think.

That means you want to be studying daily so you’re up on the latest catalysts.

How I traded VCIG

Source: StocksToTrade 

After the market opened, VCIG dropped to around $5.65…and that’s where I entered my trade.

It didn’t take long for the stock to spike back up…

I was able to get out at $6.41.

And while those are impressive gains for such a quick trade. I actually underestimated the stock.

It eventually went on to trade above $9.

And that’s something we’re seeing more of.

Moves are getting extended thanks to overagressive shorts.

Which is another reason why you want to learn how to trade like a stock sniper.

Taking The Next Step

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If VCIG isn’t an indication of the types of opportunities we’re seeing right now…I don’t know what is.

I want to teach how to find trades like this and a lot more.

To help accomplish this, I’ve put together a series of live training workshops.

CLICK HERE TO SEE WHAT TIME SLOT WORKS BEST FOR YOU. 

You got to be in it to win it.

These training classes are absolutely free for you to attend.

Stop making excuses, and start getting involved. 


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* 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”