Avoid OTC/Pink Sheet listed Penny Stocks.
Companies trading on the OTC (over the counter) market have fewer regulations placed upon them as compared with stocks listed on the NASDAQ and NYSE. As a result, stocks on the OTC market are highly susceptible to manipulation and fraud. The only penny stocks I trade are listed on the NYSE or NASDAQ. I know these companies are facing stricter requirements to maintain compliance
Don’t fall for the Promotional Pumps.
Many OTC Penny Stocks become promoted at one point or another. These promotions often come with messages like “this stock will be the next Apple”. The reality is, the next Apple is not likely to come from the penny stock world. It’s more likely the next big tech company will start as a large company that IPO‘s well above the penny stock price range, and then continues higher. When you are buying penny stocks to hold in hopes that it will be the next Apple, you become an investor of one of the most speculative financial instrument on the market.
Only Trade Penny Stocks with Volume.
It’s really important to avoid illiquid penny stocks. Most penny stocks trade only a few thousand shares a day. However, when a penny stock has breaking news, they will often trade at 40-50x relative volume achieving 5 to 10 million shares of volume on a big day. These are the days I’ll trade a penny stock. The good news is that there is a penny stock having a once in a year event almost everyday! This means as a trader there is almost always something to look at.
The Hit and Run
Once a penny stock has met my standards for being worthy of trading (having news, volume, and being NYSE/NASDAQ listed), I’ll look for one of my Go To setups. These include Momentum, Gap and Go, and Reversal Trades. An important rule is that I should never over trade these stocks. For that reason, I only take the most obvious setups.I buy in the place where I expect thousands of other traders will also enter. These entries are based on support and resistance patterns. Once I have a profit, I sell 1/2 my position and adjust my stop loss to break-even. By quickly taking profit and adjust stops, I ensure small winners at the least. Occasionally I’ll get into a penny stock and get a big winner, but as a trader, I look for many small wins.
Making A Living 1 Trade at a Time.
It’s important that I don’t look to hit home runs, to make 10-20k in a single trade. My focus is to trade penny stocks almost everyday and have a daily goal of $500-1k/day. That means anywhere from 100-200k in annual profits. Many small base hits ads up over the course of weeks, months and years. My focus is making a living by trading, rather than investing in penny stocks.