$1,500 to $1 million in 3 years

[wisdom]

http://money.cnn.com/2013/12/16/investing/penny-stock-trader-millionaire/index.html?iid=Lead

 

[zarley]

He had some luck, including a $9,000 win from a sports bet. But he lost all of that over the course of a year and decided he needed to quit gambling. So he took a shot at investing day-trading.

 

The unintended irony of this bit is outstanding.  ;D

[jay21]

Can't wait for the sequel, $1 million to $1,500 in 3 days.

[CorpRaider]

Hey, you might run through a dynamite factory with a lit torch and survive, but you're still an idiot.

[Valuebo]

Earlier on in college, Grittani played poker and made wagers on sports games to make money. He had some luck, including a $9,000 win from a sports bet. But he lost all of that over the course of a year and decided he needed to quit gambling. So he took a shot at investing.

 

Hate to break it to the guy but he's still gambling and will likely never quit. Obviously completely addicted to the thrill. A stroke of "bad luck" and he'll have close to zero in a matter of weeks. 

 

 

 

[frommi]

He doesn`t seem to be that stupid, he found an inefficiency and exploited it.

 

But Grittani has been able to profit because it's such an inefficient market. He knows what to look for and recognizes how to make money out of pump-and-dump scams without doing any pumping or dumping himself.

 

But now that this secret is official, people will adept and reduce or remove the inefficiency and the only one thats going to get rich is the man who sold him the tips.  :)

[fareastwarriors]

Nonetheless, that is a pretty impressive.

 

Yes he might lose it all eventually but still that's one hell of a streak.

[Kraven]

I thought most interesting is that he learned everything he knows from Tim Sykes, the man who got started trading with his Bar Mitzvah money.  All I got with mine was a Colecovision and some games and a new stereo with dual cassettes so I could dub tapes all I want.  State of the art stuff.

[DoddDisciple]

Pffft. This is nothing like the guy who "invested" $15 in bitcoins like 2 years ago and it's now worth on paper $500k :) However, he was able to convert at least $200k into an apartment building, so he's locked in a hell on a gain.

[siddharth18]

Read like a puff piece for Tim Sykes. Did CNN get paid for this story?

[ItsAValueTrap]

Ironically, Tim Sykes promoted a penny stock on his website.

 

His hedge fund also lost a lot of money before he shut it down.

[Fairfaxnut]

I made 4k Botting in Diablo 3.....and exploiting the auction house.  I eventually had all my accounts banned because I was running them on the same IP.  ;D

[west]

I thought most interesting is that he learned everything he knows from Tim Sykes, the man who got started trading with his Bar Mitzvah money.  All I got with mine was a Colecovision and some games and a new stereo with dual cassettes so I could dub tapes all I want.  State of the art stuff.

 

Hrm... The Colecovision came out in 1982 and Kraven was thirteen at the time...  Something doesn't quite make sense here! :D

 

Joking aside, but Bar Mitzvahs not, I sometimes wonder if we need to do an, ahem, heredity poll here some time.  You know, just for curiousity's sake...

[Kraven]

I thought most interesting is that he learned everything he knows from Tim Sykes, the man who got started trading with his Bar Mitzvah money.  All I got with mine was a Colecovision and some games and a new stereo with dual cassettes so I could dub tapes all I want.  State of the art stuff.

 

Hrm... The Colecovision came out in 1982 and Kraven was thirteen at the time...  Something doesn't quite make sense here! :D

 

Joking aside, but Bar Mitzvahs not, I sometimes wonder if we need to do an, ahem, heredity poll here some time.  You know, just for curiousity's sake...

 

First, I am not sure what doesn't make sense.  Perhaps you should read it again.  Second, what the hell do you mean by a heredity poll?  I do not like where you are going with this.  Explain yourself.

[ERICOPOLY]

He doesn`t seem to be that stupid, he found an inefficiency and exploited it.

 

But Grittani has been able to profit because it's such an inefficient market. He knows what to look for and recognizes how to make money out of pump-and-dump scams without doing any pumping or dumping himself.

 

But now that this secret is official, people will adept and reduce or remove the inefficiency and the only one thats going to get rich is the man who sold him the tips.  :)

 

 

I made a similar comment about the FFH situation.  There may have been some illegal naked short selling, there may have been some illegal manipulation putting false reports out on the company and stories of Prem leaving the country with shareholder money.... all of those illegal things may have been knocking the price down...  but you can make a lot of money from that illegal manipulation without breaking the law yourself (buy the calls after the stock is knocked down).

 

I believe that if you can figure out that some criminal activity is involved, then you are more likely to find legitimately undervalued stocks (the price reflects falsified facts).

[value-is-what-you-get]

This is definitely not typical value investing but it is interesting.  The fact is this guy is not "letting it ride" towards an inevitable zero but has amassed such a return from compressing the compounding period from years to minutes.  If you compound at 10% a net of 20 times a year it adds up quickly.  It s a gambler's mentality (most likely outcome given what's known) applied to market inefficiency.  I don't see how this inevitably goes to zero as the string of bad luck that would be required would be a number of pump and dump stocks in a row actually take off and succeed.  It's labour intensive - not my cup of tea - but not destined to fail either.

[augustabound]

First, I am not sure what doesn't make sense.  Perhaps you should read it again. 

 

I think he's joking that you must be older than 44.  ;D

 

 

[Orange]

Woman turns $2 into $336 million.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-03-06/powerball-lottery-winner/53389588/1

 

 

They both got mad skillz. Don't know how they do it.

[west]

First, I am not sure what doesn't make sense.  Perhaps you should read it again. 

 

I think he's joking that you must be older than 44.  ;D

 

I was. Sorry if I wasn't clear.  Colecovision was out in 1982 minus age 13 for a Bar Mitzvah = Birthdate of 1969 or later.  Which doesn't make sense from what I hear about you.  :)