Page menu

Sunday, August 17, 2025

Meme Stock Trades; Pump And Dump Stocks By Another Name

The dash for trash continued on Friday August Options Expiration with Clean Energy stocks. 

I alerted to the rally in green energy on the 13th, but it took a little time to put it all together  

 I could only find one outlet covering it, but this time it wasn't the WSJ. 

Clean Energy Stocks Keep Rallying barroncom 

They say a picture says a thousand words:   

Sunrun ($RUN) +32.82%  - Sunrun - along with several other solar names - was run up into August Options expiration for a big payday, for the crooked Hedgefunds.   




 

Pump-and-Dump: Definition, How the Scheme is Illegal, and Types investopedia.com 

Last week it was Pot Stocks 

 

$CNBS  (Amplify Seymour (Tim) Cannabis ETF) 


 

$MSOS (AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF) you'll find this one was heavily pumped on social media, before we saw a little run for the exits, heading into Friday's close.

 

 Pump-and-dump schemes generally target micro- and small-cap stocks on over-the-counter exchanges that are less regulated than traditional exchanges. Micro-cap stocks—and occasionally, small-cap stocks—are favored for this type of abusive activity because they are easier to manipulate.2 Micro-cap stocks generally have a small float, low trading volumes, and limited corporate information. As a result, it does not take a lot of new buyers to push a stock much higher.

 

Pump and dump schemes are nothing new but Crypto has added fuel to the fire  

 A study conducted in 2018 examined the prevalence of pump-and-dump schemes in the cryptocurrency market. Researchers identified more than 3,400 such schemes over the course of just six months observing two group-messaging platforms popular with cryptocurrency investors.

 

This illegal scam has really accelerated over the past few year, with meme trading, and meme coins.

Even the Trump family seems to be getting in on the action  

$TRUMP coin is pumped to $100 and dumped. Today we see it trading down around 90%. 

 

I've been keeping a running list of Pump n Dump Stock. Of course we've seen this playbook before, but not on this scale. 

I'm convinced that this trend has helping fuel speculative animal instincts in the AI sector, and buy the dip mentality we've seen in the broader market over the past several months, even years.

A New Generation of ‘Buy the Dip’ Investors Is Propping Up the Market wsj.com msn.com

For many Wall Streets pros, this is yet another sign of froth at a time when stocks, especially the biggest tech names, are historically expensive. The meme-stock trades are rekindling memories of the dot-com boom.

 

Meme-stocks is just a cutesie name the hedge funds decided to give the ol' pump 'n' dump, and I don't believe for a minute that retail investors are "propping up the market".  
 
Beware of falling knives, like the one we saw in pot stocks on Friday 
 
The vast majority of new traders are of the "buy and hold" variety, and the inevitable unwind, may ultimately wipe out an entire generation of investors, just as we saw during the .com crash. 
 
 
Take care, AA  

 

Posted by at No comments:

Friday, August 15, 2025

Healthcare Sector $UH Soars on Perfectly Timed Buffett Press Release + INTC $INTC "" August Options Expiration

Wrapping up the previous blog topic; 

Global Banking Collapse in Focus Chinese Equities Tencent $TME Chart

 ; see my chat with @GROK AI. 

 Although we did see Chinese stocks collapse at yesterday's open, the amount of debt on Evergrande's books is more manageable than it was at the height of the crisis in 2021.   

China will continue to provide stimulus measures, and even buy up bad mortgages, in order to kick the proverbial can down the road...  

INTEL (INTC

INTEL Stock soared late in the day on Thursday, on rumors that the government is considering taking a stake in the company. This comes just days after CNBC Fast Money recommended it, earlier in the week. 

Even @GROK agrees with my assessment of the INTEL $INTC rumor which was published late in the day on Thursday (1 day before August Options Expiration) looks highly suspicious. 

 

Healthcare stocks have been on a tear for the past 2 weeks. This was before the Buffet effect kicked in with yesterday's press release. Again, just in time for August expiration. 

$CURE 3X leveraged Heathcare Bull -  I saw this coming a mile away  

 


$CURE is up another 3% in pre-market trading 

 

 

The rest of the market looks pretty shaky, and I suspect the controllers have their sights set on 6500 (psychological target) on the $SPX. 

$NYSE -  You hear a lot about the market trading at new all time highs, and certain sectors are... but US equities as a whole remain stuck in a range, and the breadth is terrible.  




 Take care, AA  

 

Posted by at No comments:

Thursday, August 14, 2025

Global Banking Collapse in Focus Chinese Equities Tencent $TME Chart

 Yesterday I touched on the collapse of the 2nd largest real estate developer in China, Evergrande calling it "China's Lehman Bros. moment".

According to a recent business insider article: "Evergrande was 300 billion in debt, the most out of any company in the world". businessinsider.com

 That's enough to cover the entire debts of Vietnam ($144 billion), the Philippines ($118 billion), Cambodia ($22.4 billion), Laos ($10.2 billion) combined.


Out of Singapore China 

China’s property crisis hits new low with Evergrande delisting thestraightstimes.com

Evergrande’s downfall is by far the biggest in a crisis that dragged down China’s economic growth and spurred a record of distressed builders.
PHOTO: REUTERS

  "Evergrande’s downfall is by far the biggest in a crisis that dragged down China’s economic growth and spurred a record of distressed builders."

  •  Evergrande's debt is HK$350 billion, with liquidators deeming a holistic restructuring "out of reach"; asset realization has been "modest" at US$255 million.

Anyone who was following the Evergrande story back in 2021, when Evertgrande defaulted on their debt, remembers what a big deal it was, and what it did to Chinese equities

KWEB  (China Internet) destroyed in 2021

 


So why is there practically no coverage of what's going on in China today?    

I find it hilarious that the western media attempts to downplay Evergrande's collapse as an "awkward moment", and as I tweeted several times yesterday, the financial TV news has opted to avoid drawing any attention to the event at all. 

It was not listed as a top story by either CNBC, or Bloomberg. 

I watch a lot of financial news, and I didn't see it mentioned even once, In fact, CNBC Fast Money just last night was telling uninformed investors to invest in China, specifically $KWEB, and Tencent!  

I'm going to assume these people are compromised, and just doing what they're told. 

We all know what happened to pot stocks after they set the snare.  

$TME (Tencent) takes out my primary wave "(5)" target 

 


Tell the retail investor everything is fine. "All is well", and laugh all the way to the bank....   

Financial Collapse in Focus 

Back to the collapse of Evergrand and the possible contagion (fallout). 

The powers that be must be scared shitless, and the last time I can remember anything like this was when they failed to report on the Covid outbreak, as government insiders were allowed to quietly exit the market. 

 $DJUSFN US Financials mostly Banks - another sector CNBC (insiders) constantly recommend.... 


 

 Without giving away any downside targets, the chart shows several false breakouts, followed by a back-test of resistance. Tomorrow is august OPEX, so perhaps it continues to trade UNCH going into weekend, just as US equities did before Covid was reported (the Monday after Feb. 2020, OPEX)   

China to Offer Subsidized Personal Loans to Get People to Spend More breitbart.com  


 Perhaps this latest ditch effort will be enough to keep global markets from collapsing outright, but time will tell. 

In the meantime take care, AA  

 

 

 

Posted by at No comments:

Wednesday, August 13, 2025

Covering the Massive Rally In Small Caps, the Dow Jones, and China ($HSI), as Markets Breakout to New All Time Highs

 After watching stocks consolidate for nearly a month we finally saw a massive 3% move in Small Caps yesterday, which I alerted to at yesterday's opening bell.    

 

Here I am alerting to the bullish setup on the Russell 2000 (IWM), on Friday  

 And I'll bet you a nickle CNBC Fast Money missed the boat again.

Speaking of Fast Money, yesterday evening I called out their resident "chart master" for plagiarism, when I noticed him regurgitating the same chart that the gold bugs have been floating around for a week. 

To document: 

Of course the Dow is also rallying, as I predicted in Sunday's blog, and by the looks of it, this rally is just getting started!    

$UDOW (UltraPro 2X Dow Jones bull) the updated chart from Sunday's update below 

 

If you watch Bloomberg, you'll notice all they report is good news, on 

'hopes of a fed rate cut in Sept.", while avoiding the real China story.  

China's Lehman Bros. moment 

Evergrande delisting is awkward moment for China Reuters 

 Unfinished residential development by China Evergrande Group, in the outskirts of Shijiazhuang

I haven't seen Bloomberg TV mention this breaking story even once, and they've even updated their set in order to keep investors focused on nonsense. Smoke and mirrors.   

 Expect more smoke and mirrors, until the inevitable, comes into focus 

 

 Take care, AA


Posted by at No comments:

Tuesday, August 12, 2025

Covering the Recent Amazing Run in Pot Stocks Tilray $TLRY, and Apple

Funny, I was just blogging on this sector over the weekend - comparing it to the recent pump in gold miner stocks - and low and behold the entire space was up 20% yesterday!    

 

Trump weighs reclassifying marijuana as less dangerous drug, WSJ reports msn.com

 Of course pot stocks have been rallying since early July, and this story is old news, no doubt revived so that traders can offload their shares to retail investors.  

This isn't the first time we've seen the WSJ use their platform to manipulate markets. 

Grok AI confirms my due diligence:

 Tilray $TLRY - since Grok mentioned Tilray I decided to pull the chart from my junk folder, and have a look. Sure enough, it was up 40% yesterday, but as you can see, it only traded 9 cents higher than it did last week. 

If you're dumb enough to trade that junk, you'll want to keep an eye on the 200 day ma... lol

$AAPL was also recently driven above the 200 day moving average; triggering program buying.

  


That set up for a 4% Friday rally, but I can't say I like Apple at these levels.

 I think the market makers have become overly complacent driving the market using only a handful of stocks, and the short squeeze Friday's are wearing thin. 

Take care, AA


Posted by at No comments:

Sunday, August 10, 2025

The Biggest Pump 'n' Dump Trade Since Cannabis Stocks

Continuing from Saturday's blog [linked] on what's really driving markets; Trump headlines, memes, and foreign investors, along with a lot of speculation in Crypto, and AI.  

One sector I didn't mention that has driven the market since the beginning of the year, is utilities, and that's another sector I think you want to stay away from! 

 One sector more than any other has outperformed since the beginning of the year, and that's precious metals and the gold miner trade.   

It could be that Gold rallies when Trump is in office, because everybody knows Trump loves gold

Apple CEO Presents Trump 24K-Gold Gift atlantablackstar.com

 But Gold is also considered a safety trade, and especially when investors think the $USD is at stake. You've all heard the headlines. 

 $HUI (Gold Bugs) I've created the simple chart below to help illustrate what's really behind this gold miner rally. The blue lines are parallel btw 

 


Another trade I think you want to stay away from 

 Looking for a trade that isn't being pumped on CNBC? Try the leveraged down bull the $UDOW

 


 Take care, AA 

 


 

Posted by at No comments:

Saturday, August 9, 2025

Trump Headlines Continue to Drive Market Direction: Precious Metals Gold Silver Miners, Crypto, and Tech Stocks - my take

Trump Headlines Continue to Drive Market Direction: 

Precious Metals, Gold, Gold & Silver Miners, Crypto, AI/ Tech Stocks, helped lead the NASDAQ to another slightly higher closing high on Friday. That makes for good headline risk, but not much else. 

It was more of a retest than anything else   

The previous high was on Monday, July 28th, where the $VIX popped on a bad Jobs Report, and Trump's firing of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner. That caused stocks to reverse, and that painting a bearish engulfing candle on the chart, and drew some bears off the sidelines.  

In hindsight that turned out to be another bear trap, and short covering on talk of a Russia deal helped add more fuel to the fire on Friday.        

 


I think another thing that's helping to drive markets is an increase in speculative money coming out of foreign markets.

India Loves Gold 

 Israel has also recently pulled back, and low and behold a bullish call on gold miners is published at the Jerusalem Post 

 

With 24/7 trading coming into existence, and the US market increasingly open to foreign investors, not to mention the evolution of program trading, we are currently trading a market environment unlike any other in history, and it's important to try to stay on the right side of the trade.  


 

Trump Headlines Help Drive Precious Metals 

 The Rally in Precious Metals continued, with the help of some fake news on Friday 

Gold prices are on a rollercoaster after a curious tariff ruling that the White House called ‘misinformation’ CNN

 “The White House intends to issue an executive order in the near future clarifying misinformation about the tariffing of gold bars and other specialty products,” a White House official confirmed to CNN on Friday afternoon.

 We've seen this playbook used before, and especially on weekly options expiration Fridays. Typically a rumor is widely reported, only to be walked back, after Friday's close.  

Today is Saturday, and I still can't tell you what the truth of the matter is. 

A Trump Executive order also helped drive Crypto markets going into the end of the week. 

 Friday CBS NEWS 

Trump wants your 401(k) to access crypto and private equity. Here's what to know. cbsnews.com

Forbes Saturday 

Trump Just Dropped A $12.2 Trillion Crypto Price Bombshell—Sending Bitcoin, Ethereum And XRP Sharply Higher Forbes Saturday 

But wait there's more...!  

Trump crypto firm plans launch of public company that will hold family token Furtune.com 

 

The next Trump news is set for his meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday August Options Expiration   

 

Trump says his meeting with Putin to take place in Alaska on Friday Jerusalem Post

This could be another wild ride this week! 

Take care, AA  

 

Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)