penny / speculative stocks - any big win stories?

[ruzzi]

yes, they're risky and shouldn't make up any significant part of your portfolio... but hell they can be fun!

i've currently got most of my shares in an index fund at the moment and set aside 10% to play with on speculative shares etc. to keep me from getting bored.

just wondering if there's any cool stories of big wins on penny stocks out there? ie. can you make money out of the damn things?

 

[Icarus]

Originally Posted by ruzzi

yes, they're risky and shouldn't make up any significant part of your portfolio... but hell they can be fun!

i've currently got most of my shares in an index fund at the moment and set aside 10% to play with on speculative shares etc. to keep me from getting bored.

just wondering if there's any cool stories of big wins on penny stocks out there? ie. can you make money out of the damn things?

Yes, it is ironic to bring up ethics in stocks; however, when it comes to these, I advise you not to partake. There are individuals you would not associate with in real life, don't let the internet be your only partition in associating with them.

You can make thousands daily in micro caps as they're properly called, if you know what you're doing. However if you know what you're doing, you're violating major SEC laws.

 

[unjung]

Pain **********...

 

[HelloIDistance]

I got a story for you...First ever stock endeavor I get into this stock called CFRI (listed on the pink sheets). It was like 15-20 cents, somewhere around there. I believe I put only 400 bucks in it. Three days later said stock goes up to 80 cents in one day. Next day stock goes up to 1.20. I figured this is easy, it's gonna go up forever. I lose most of my unrealized profit the third day when the stock goes down to .30 or something. I still made out with some money, but I was literally up 400-500%. It was insane. I ended up finding out I bought the stock before a classic pump and dump occurred. Guess an email penny stock pick scam picked this stock as their target.

I do not trade pennys anymore now though. This was like four years ago when I was only 17-18. I swing trade big board stocks exclusively now and will be getting into options soon. Thats where the real money is made

 

[HelloIDistance]

Originally Posted by Icarus

Yes, it is ironic to bring up ethics in stocks; however, when it comes to these, I advise you not to partake. There are individuals you would not associate with in real life, don't let the internet be your only partition in associating with them.

You can make thousands daily in micro caps as they're properly called, if you know what you're doing. However if you know what you're doing, you're violating major SEC laws.

Exactly. The penny stocks (pink sheets and OTCBB) are essentially the same as gambling your money away, if not worse. However, I do know people who consistently make money, big money, playing these. It all depends on your style. One guy I know uses technical analysis almost exclusively only playing pennys and he has made money for years. You can't really use fundamental analysis (financials) on penny stocks.

 

[unjung]

Originally Posted by HelloIDistance

Exactly. The penny stocks (pink sheets and OTCBB) are essentially the same as gambling your money away, if not worse. However, I do know people who consistently make money, big money, playing these. It all depends on your style. One guy I know uses technical analysis almost exclusively only playing pennys and he has made money for years. You can't really use fundamental analysis (financials) on penny stocks.
Trading volume is generally too low to get meaningful tech analysis done either. If they're thinly traded startups, as a previous poster said, the only way to do really well is to be lucky or have info, from what I can tell. I am holding a few things that have pretty thin analyst coverage and hoping to do alright when they release their next quarterly results, but it won't be 100% or more increases...

 

[HelloIDistance]

Originally Posted by unjung

Trading volume is generally too low to get meaningful tech analysis done either. If they're thinly traded startups, as a previous poster said, the only way to do really well is to be lucky or have info, from what I can tell. I am holding a few things that have pretty thin analyst coverage and hoping to do alright when they release their next quarterly results, but it won't be 100% or more increases...

It depends what stock you are trading. I would never trade a penny stock with low volume that is asking for trouble. Technical analysis can be very useful if you use it in the right conditions.

 

[clubbyjones]

Stay away. My friend hooked me onto a high volume penny stock. They diluted, did a R/S, and are diluting again. ******* criminals.

 

[mikeman]

Stay away, I gave them a try this past summer. Was up 100% at times, got greedy and ended up losing. Another way to look at it is sure you may have a few big winners, but most of the time they are going to make you lose money. Learned my lesson the hard way.

 

[Raoul Duke]

I've dabbled a little over the last couple years. I got burned twice on the same stock, NRI-T, which really pissed me off. I stay away now...too much of a crapshoot.

 

[Don Carlos]

Might as well take whatever money you plan to blow on penny stocks and go play roulette in Vegas. Same odds, if not slightly better, and I guarantee you will have more fun doing it.

 

[Valproate]

The commissions might be cheaper these days, but the bid-ask spread kills you. Plus, nearly all the penny-stock companies are junk. Vegas is more fun.

 

[unjung]

Originally Posted by Valproate

The commissions might be cheaper these days, but the bid-ask spread kills you. Plus, nearly all the penny-stock companies are junk. Vegas is more fun.

Yes, bid-ask is a pain.

 

[stant62]

Use option strategies on high volatility sectors.

 

[makushin]

I'm not sure what you consider a big win, but I have a story.

In 2000 I was a freshmen in college. I had messed around with a few penny stocks during a period of a few weeks that didnt really move either way. Then I put $4k in a stock "ECNC" at somewhere around $1/share I believe. It sat stagnant for about a week, then it started moving FAST. I sold at about $3/share for an $8k profit. The ******* stock kept moving, but I didn't have the balls to touch it again. The stock was over $20 in another week. I felt like an ass... until the SEC got involved and froze it. This all happened within about a 2week period.

The funny part of the story is that I had mentioned the ticker to one of my dads business partners in passing. Apparantly he bought $10k at $1. He thought I was a genious for a couple weeks, but he never got out, and lost it all once the SEC froze it. We have some good laughs about it now.

I can honestly say I never touched a penny stock again after ECNC because I realized it was bullshit.