Over the years scumbag stock promoters have given penny stocks a bad reputation. Everyone knows someone who has been burned badly in the past. Innocent people losing thousands investing a large chunk of their savings into a “hot stock tip”.
Although promoters are unethical, they provide educated traders with an opportunity to profit from these pump and dump scams. With that being said the vast majority are awful with a terrible track record. Fast forward to 2020, only a handful of them have the ability to attract enough volume to make it worthwhile to buy or short sell a promotion.
The landscape has changed significantly with big-time promoters getting shut-down by the SEC; these include Awesome Penny Stocks, Best Damn Penny Stocks and Victory Mark Corp. Four or five years ago it wasn’t difficult to make money buying pre-promos by discovering details of upcoming promotions through stock screeners and basic research.
APS had dozens of “sister websites” that released alerts early to subscribers before blasting it out to their massive email lists. John Babikian was the mastermind behind APS, it is reported he made close to $100 million from his scheme. His lavish lifestyle attracted a tonne of media attention, owning dozens of properties throughout the world and driving supercars. John Babikian ended up owing $15 million in unpaid taxes, he fled Canada and is now believed to be hiding out in either Russia or the UAE.
Top Penny Stock Promoters to follow in 2020
As of right now, pretty much all promoters suck! ElitePennyStock.com & Stocktips.com were previously the top two promoters but were shut down by the SEC. Below is a list of the best of a bad bunch.
- Pennystocks.com
- Lionstockalerts.com
- Pennypicks.net
- Pennystockdream.com
- thepennystocknewsletter.com
- Stockcommander.com
- Pennystockprophet.com
- Pennystock101.org
- Ultimatestockalerts.com
Useful Websites for Research
Stockpromoters.com – This is a useful resource to track what promoters currently are the most effective and how many newsletters are touting a certain ticker symbol.
EquityFeed.com – Trading software that can be used to scan 1000’s of symbols to find OTC stocks with abnormal volume.
Goodetrades.com – Great site run by Michael Goode and provides an abundance of research on the latest pump and dumps.
Promotionstocksecrets.com – Premium service to learn out about how promotion works, free articles on the site are educational.
Promotional Tactics
With the rise of social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter, there’s more opportunity to reach a mass audience with minimal cost. Instagram is becoming hugely popular to tout stocks. I’ve noticed Instagram models with millions of followers, getting paid to advertise marijuana companies. With all the hype around the legislation of marijuana, dozens of people lost money on that alert. Twitter in recent times has become the most prominent place for pumpers to hype stocks, below is a list of Twitter accounts worth following for penny stock plays.
- @StanTheTradingMan
- @yatesinvesting
- @buysellshort
- @MrZackMorris
- @Hugh_Henne
Another tactic utilized by promoters is developing a strong brand and portray themselves as a legit company. National Inflation Association was a clever scheme run by Jonathan Lebed and Gerard Adams. To the average person, they appeared as a non-profit organization trying to educate the masses on how to prepare for hyperinflation and profit from the next stock market collapse.
Their short documentaries on YouTube were well-produced and amassed millions of views, allowing them to build massive email lists to promote worthless companies. Hundreds of vulnerable people lost money investing in their stock picks during tough economic times, their email alerts sounded compelling but in reality, were bullshit and dropped 80% a few months after.
Gerard Adams left NIA and co-founded Elite Daily which was later acquired by the Daily Mail for $50 million. More than likely Jonathan Lebed is still operating the website, but his picks receive very little attention. Lebed is the poster boy for pump and dumps, at 16 years old he was indicted by the SEC for pumping penny stocks on message boards and had to pay back $285,000. He created about 80 different usernames on message boards and had conversations with himself to make it look like the stocks he was talking about were great investments. Back in the early 2000’s this was an effective strategy but doesn’t work as well now.
With so many investment scams being advertised, the SEC will have to be more vigilant monitoring the internet for micro cap fraud to protect the public.
James Kelly is my name and penny stocks are my game! Former day trader turned long-term investor with a decade of experience in the market. Over the years, I’ve joined dozens of trading services and I aim to provide honest reviews to help traders make better decisions!
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