Everyone Fails With Penny Stocks & Day Trading -- Here's Why

The topic: How do I trade penny stocks?

We get this question a lot because there is no shortage of people online talking up day trading. A quick search on YouTube and you’ll find and endless stream of videos with some guy smiling in front of a computer with a bunch of charts on the screen and a promise that he can teach you how to make thousands of dollars from anywhere in the world!

The problem with day trading penny stocks is that it combines two of the most destructive investing pitfalls:

- Trying to time the market
- Buying “stocks” instead of businesses

A lot of our videos talk about the difficulties of trying to time that market, that is, to read technical indicators to try and buy stocks at the absolute bottom and sell them at the absolute top.

Day trading takes market timing and puts in on steroids because buy and sell decisions are made daily or hourly based on stock price movements. On top of the issues that come with timing the market, day traders are often paying fees on every. single. transaction. So even if trades are profitable, they come with $5-$7 brokerage commissions.

Oh, and because day trading tends to denominate time in hours, days and weeks, most of the gains investors earn are taxed at the short-term capital gains rate — aka your standard income rate, which is between 10 and 37% for most people — instead of the more favorable tax rate investors get for holding an investment long-term -- 0, 15, or 20 percent.

But you would be lucky to even have profits to tax with penny stock day trading.

In the mid 2000s, a group of academics studied the activity of day traders on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, they found:

Heavy day traders earn gross profits, but their profits are not sufficient to cover transaction costs. Moreover, in the typical six month period, more than eight out of ten day traders lose money.

The researchers closed with saying:

Prospective day traders should be apprised of their likelihood of success: only two out of ten make money; fewer do so consistently.

Market timing is hard, which is why so few people are able to do it and make money consistently. Add to that the seedy elements of penny stocks and it becomes even harder to make money.

The world of penny stocks is rife with speculation and hearsay, and these stocks tend to move more on buzz than core business fundamentals.

That’s because penny stocks are generally:

Smaller less established companies, have market capitalizations (or total business value) of less than $100 million, and share prices below $5, trade OTC, or “over-the-counter,” meaning that they aren’t traded on major exchanges like the New York Stock Exchange or the Nasdaq.

This means that the companies don’t have to follow the more rigorous reporting requirements established by these major exchanges, AND that shares are less liquid.

Liquidity is a squishy concept, but basically a less liquid stock will move more dramatically when any one person tries to buy or sell it.
Penny stocks often catch the eye of new investors because the shares don’t cost a lot of money, and the low share price makes big returns so easy to imagine. It doesn’t seem far fetched for a stock currently trading at 10 cents to one day be worth 30 cents — and with only $100 you could buy 1000 shares!

The reality is that those shares are probably priced at 10 cents for a reason. Most penny stocks are unproven businesses with limited operating history, and many of them don’t have tangible products or profits to show investors. They trade over-the-counter because they operate on the margins of our financial markets, which makes them a rich area for fraud and manipulation.

In a best case penny stock scenario, you might be buying an unproven company that hasn’t been vetted by analysts and exchanges.

In the worst case scenario, you could be a sucker for pump-and-dump schemers.

Penny stock promoters will talk up little-known companies worth only a couple of million dollars and blast online forums explaining that the business is working on game-changing technology that could make the company worth 100X what it currently is.

Before they do this, they’ll buy shares, then enjoy the ride up as new investors bid up the stock price, then the fraudsters will cash out and make money.

Their followers will be left holding shares of a company they don’t actually know anything about, and with fake hype gone, the shares will drop back down to their previous lows.

Penny stocks and day trading are one of those situations where two negatives don’t multiply to make a positive for investors, they add to create an even bigger loss.

[AJ-wppw]

Day traders do NOT have to buy at the absolute bottom and sell at the absolute top.

They can buy ANYWHERE along the upwards movement, as long as they sell at a higher price than they bought at.

And they can also short a stock and short at any point above they buy at.

[LuvlinessDotnet]

this is such good information, thank you!

[stormtraders]

You don’t invest in them.. you trade the hype and get out. Or short the most obvious offerings. They all crash we know that. Just because you know that you have an huge advantage. You short the pump and bank👍🏼

[GenExDividendInvestor]

I made a ton of money trading penny stocks.. when I was in high school and our Econ teacher gave us fake money to simulate being in the market, lol. Needless to say he got pissed that I didn’t listen to his (good) advice. Fortunately when I got serious about investing real $ I came to the realization that consistently investing in quality companies (with dividends) over the long term leads to wealth. Thx for the vid :).

[jb-cpye]

Yeah dude, that's why you have to get up, shower, and commute round trip to work after spending 8 hours earning a paycheck. Because you don't know how to TRADE (not invest) for a living and much easier lifestyle.
There are many people that trade penny stocks for a living, without having to pump.
Those who can trade, trade. Those that can't trade write about trading! So why would anyone take you seriously when your just a journalist??

[justindavis]

You could say the same thing about most artistic careers though. Just because 1 in 10 succeed, does not mean you shouldnt try. Otherwise there would be no art in the world.
Best just attempt it with paper trading frist to see if you are capable of it. There is no risk in that

[STOPHATECLUB]

Do the opposite of what they tell you and you will be rich. Don't let them EMPLOY you.

[wmc]

This video is for the person who says, 'Oh my, penny stocks seem affordable.. I think i will buy some as they're so cheap' all along knowing nothing about what's really going on. Mention 'fundamental analysis, doing some due-diligence, looking at some SEC info, researching who these people are' and their eyes will glaze over. 'You don't get it, I just want to buy some stocks that are cheap.... Oh look!' they add, 'This one went up 1000% in one day, I think I will buy some shares now'. Savvy player in this space can earn big money plying against those who bought in on the hype and rise.

[sonny]

Penny stocks are for investing, not for traiding.

[ProfitsInYards]

You can buy breakouts. Buy high. Sell higher.

[fails_on_the_regular]

Just want to say you have it all wrong, lol. I trade only penny stocks (90% of the time) and do well. Who cares about a $6 or $12 round trip commission when you'er making $400-$2, 000 a trade give or take. Sure we are in a higher tax percentage but we are sending money to our personal account weekly then reinvesting the left over. Yes most traders loose because they don't learn the trade and download an app like robinhood or they jump on a platform and after a few days they are ready to dive in. I'm grateful for all of those people!

[RyanJamesOfficial]

I mean I've only done two penny stock trades and I made a 150% ROI total between them in 3 days. If you do really good DD and look for catalyst opportunity, it is the same as any swing trade. Proper DD is always the answer.

[squeezemyshorts]

3:36 Haha.... no.... In the BEST case scenario, it'll be a pump and dump scheme. Penny stock traders know that penny stock companies are shit. That's the reason we trade them.

[thedudeabides]

Uh.. this part is dated: 1:07. The fees have pretty much gone away for every major brokerage.

[coachraymsey]

Change the title of the video to: Idiots who invest in penny stocks fail

[nobo]

just don't get greedy, pretty universal advice for stock trading

[GaryThanosHudson]

I like to pimp my dollar bills for 100 dollar bills. Ya dig! Lol

[Burps___]

Topic suggestion #MotleyFool based on comments below...free order execution, true, but remaining fees (NASD NY exchange fee, large lot fees (eg over 10k shares per transaction), the “vig” or “spread, taxes, etc) should be discussed in a timely topic video. Thank you.

[Drone]

Using your logic no one should ever start a business because it comes with expenses and most people fail at it. Do you seriously think the best strategy is to invest only in what OTHER people are successful with??

[adamcornett]

Not an honest sales pitch. "Penny Stocks are the devil." Makes them sound desperate.