Posted by TimothySykes , Feb 20, 2008 6:39PM

Damn thats a great quote! To clarify:

1. I could care less about secretive hedge funds like SAC, let those greedy bastards make their billions. I'm talking about the lack of transparency in the regulated side of business: mutual fund managers, brokers, analysts--all of them should be REQUIRED to disclose all their positions at all times, otherwise, it's safe to assume if and when they do talk about their positions or try to pawn investments off on others, they're either a.) making money the cowardly way, off fees or b.) trading against their own advice, stealing from suckers who believe it. More importantly, these ridiculous SEC rules and our litigious society have combined forces to create what is for all intensive purposes a crackdown on the sharing of information. Brokers and fund managers can't even publicly comment on things like my book? Startup hedge fund managers can't network freely? Are you kidding me? Wall Street has its head up its ass and since I have no shame, I don't mind calling it like it is.

2. You guys rip on penny stock trading all you want, it's the cause of all my wealth and I didn't even have to rip off any suckers or make any cold calls to do it! For years, I simply didn't understand its limited scalability, but I had to try...now that I understand it, I think it's ideal for individuals with between $1k and $50k, maybe even $100k or $500k, aka a hell of a lot of people who think they should manage their money like a $500m mutual fund. 20-30% annual returns are all well and good, but if you have lets say $5k, you don't really care about making $1k-$1.5k for the year, it won't change your life, even if you compound it out for 10 years. So you should take on a little more risk because similarly a $1k-$3k loss doesn't really matter and thats why my strategy is ideal for these folks. If you follow my blog, you know I'm a pretty bad timer, I trade too often, I trade undisciplined and even I'm up 25% in 3 months! It's just common sense that others can do better than me, if they know what to look for. I don't know why others haven't said this before: 20-30% annual returns are great for people in the business, but it sucks for individuals! Penny Stock trading is surprisingly far safer than most assume, again, there's just never been anybody totally honest out there talking about it.

3. My mother is great, you fools gotta stop ripping on her, only I can cuz we joke around like that.

4. I wish you could see how many incredibly stupid/naive emails I get, these are people who are speculating blindly and inevitably concluding that the stock market, and more specifically penny stocks is random and dangerous. All they need is some guidance from someone like me, who seen the ups and downs and can explain the risks and rewards in a rational manner. Get ready, you ain't seen nothin' yet! Stick around...

Posted by TimothySykes , Feb 20, 2008 11:49PM

1. Who cares about disclosure, it's a joke--I want many more details. Read my blog and you'll see what I think everyone should show, that way, there'll be no more confusion as to who knows what, who knows crap but markets well and who's lucky. It's sad that until Ii decided to play by my own rules and open my big mouth, all I had was a track record and I couldn't raise any capital. Now, even with my 30% drawdown, I get offers every day--too bad I have no desire to manage OPM again, with the regs. the way they are.

2. Penny stocks are risky, but so is every stock. You want to minimize risk, use an ETF or mutual fund. But if more of us were allowed to share our knowledge openly, people would understand the risks better and souped up boiler rooms like Goldman Sachs wouldn't look so rosy anymore!

But let's say you're right and I do take big risks--hell, even though I don't ue leverage, I do play around with 30% of my "portfolio" daily. But the only real risk is a news going the other way or an SEC halt, which has happened only a handful of times since I started this a decade ago. More importantly, I teach people to never leave their computer with an open position, thats why I only take 1-2 positions at a time, I like watching every trade to make sure my stocks act EXACTLY how I want them to while my money is in there.

This all comes to down whether you think the market is random or not. I think penny stocks and smallcaps aren't as random and my entire goal is to show everyone that there are specific times when price action is predictable, for minutes hours or days, depending on the strength of the alignment of all the variables.

My numbers and trades are all listed on Covestor.com, where I'm currently #1. Portfolio theory doesn't apply to penny stocks, I just play whatever is in play because the day trader crowd is fickle and that makes for good trading

Posted by TimothySykes , Feb 21, 2008 12:21AM

I couldn't raise funds because I followed SEC rules and I didn't talk about my performance to anyone!!! All I could do was list my little fund in a database and wait for people to come to me.

I wish I had the guts and knowledge then that I have now as I would've taken out full page ads, blogged, whatever to get my name out there and show I have something special. Yes, my strategy isn't very scalable, but my one big loss was due to the fact that I put too much into an illiquid play.

Now, who knows if I would've done this, but what if I could've networked like any normal businessperson and raised another few million, then my little CYGT investment wouldn't be such a disaster and I'd probly still be running a fund.

It doesn't matter, it's too late for me, but I KNOW there are thousands of startup fund managers going through th EXACT same fundraising hell. They can't speak up because of the rules, so I'm speaking up for them! The SEC terrorists even admitted their gag rule needs changing, but that was over a year ago and still nothing's really been changed. Very sad...

Posted by TimothySykes , Feb 21, 2008 2:30PM

Haha I love how you guys think it's embarrassing to not act like a professional all the time. I love being able to speak freely but what am I doing that's so wrong?

Saying that Penny Stocks are ideal for individuals? I believe they are. Not being as boring as just about everyone in finance? All you need is an ounce of creativity and you've bested all the suits. Not giving into all these BS guessing games/marketing tactics that have suckered millions of investors for decades? Hell yes, Goldman Sachs and the like are nothing more than professional boiler rooms!

So, not only am I proud of my accomplishments, but I'm even more proud to be calling it like it is. It's amazing that honesty is a revolutionary business model in finance, you guys are the ones who should be ashamed. Don't worry, it might take me a few years, but I'll right your wrongs

PS I blog because its the best way to get my thoughts and ideas out there on a daily basis, I could care less about raising funds/managing assets, advantage Sykes

Posted by TimothySykes , Feb 21, 2008 2:48PM

I substantiate it every day on my blog...for better or worse, this is how i've made and will continue to make my money. once you understand the variables, they're simply more predictable. we're not dealing with actual businesses, just patterns and human nature. much less complex, no way to BS it, basically like a predictable casino. no free drinks, just profits. again, doesn't matter to the big boys but it's perfect for those looking to make a few extra grand/month.

and as long as u play the volatile/liquid names, the risk isn't so bad, especially since I teach my students to never walk away while they have a position on. i'm talking about little slices of time.

yesterday's trade was a perfect example, shorted 1,000 of POS biotech IDMI at 3.71, covered into the close at 3.54. easy short into a late day bounce on the first down day after an exponential runup. scalable up to 25,000 shares or so.

and that was just a little play, the big ones are rare, but think 50 cents-$1 predictability, again, usually scalable to 25k-50k shares, sometimes more, sometimes less