There’s a new kind of pump and dump you should be aware of.
If you know the timing, the trend, and the right time to buy, you absolutely can crush it. But if you’re late and don’t recognize what the chart is telling you, it’s dead money.
Kind of like what’s coming on December 6, 2026…
Today at 12PM ET: Tim Sykes Emergency Briefing
Table of Contents
The Big Picture
Let’s look at ReTo Eco-Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: RETO), which spiked and then fell hard last week. It’s a perfect example of the new pump-and-dump setup.
RETO, 9/15-17/26, volume is a catalyst for the new pump and dump
People think this is unusual, but it happens all the time. Especially with these manipulated Chinese stocks.
So, why did RETO go from $0.36 to the high $7s in one day, hit $20 the next day, and then fall hard back to $0.20 the next?
It wasn’t the float or some secret indicator. In fact, it wasn’t anything you could see in advance at all.
The spark that made the whole market suddenly care about this stock one day, and then forget about it the next day was volume.
Before last week, the most volume RETO traded in the past 12 months was around 21M shares on February 25, 2026.
On September 15, it traded 232M shares.
Volume Is the New Penny Stock Pump and Dump?
With these manipulated Chinese pump-and-dump stocks, it all plays out in volume.
When you see a stock explode and gap up with volume pouring in, something happened the day before that made a flood of people rush in.
It’s manipulation (more on that below), but that volume spike creates buyer interest.
It shows up on everybody’s scan, which ultimately leads to…
A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
People see it, they start to trade it, and they feed off of each other.
So, even though manipulation created the initial move, the real traders, people trading chart patterns, trade the momentum.
When you ask why a stock is going up, sometimes the chart gives you the answer. Sometimes in stocks like RETO there is no other catalyst except volume. That’s fine, okay?
Trade the price action because a lot of people will be looking for the next move.
What Counts as a Catalyst?
Most of the time it’s news. It could be an earnings surprise, a new contract, or a partnership.
With biotechs, it could be FDA news, or a press release. Even a flimsy press release can get eyes on a stock. Sometimes it’s an SEC filing.
But there are times, especially with these manipulated Chinese stocks, that it’s just a matter of 232M shares traded on day one.
That’s the company creating something. They’ll never admit it, they rarely get caught, and you can’t prove it. Good luck tracking them down.
But it doesn’t matter. The reality is, the move begets the next move.
My Take
The common thread is simple: a piece of information gives a crowd of traders reason to show up the next day…
Now, here’s something that surprises a lot of traders…
A catalyst doesn’t have to be good. It doesn’t even have to be real. In the case of RETO, it wasn’t.
Most of these press releases are hot air fluff. It doesn’t matter. When you’ve got that kind of volume, the hot air creates volatility. And that brings in more traders.
Watchlist
On Friday (Sept. 18), the White House announced a deal with Denmark for the U.S. to play a bigger role in Greenland’s security. Any stock with “Greenland” in the name became fair game.
Greenland Mines Ltd (NASDAQ: GRML) ran in after-hours on Friday and had a solid continuation move yesterday.
GRML, 9/21/26, 5-min candles, momentum play, Oracle signal hit
GRML double-tapped the Oracle signal before breaking through around 11 a.m. ET. I like how GRML pulled back and held VWAP.
If it holds above VWAP and trades sideways today, look for a day 3 surge tomorrow. If it goes today, watch for breaks above yesterday’s high-of-day ($11.68 as I write) with a target near major resistance at $14.20.
On My Radar
- AMD joins the $1 trillion club (so much for the AI trade being dead)
- Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META) helped drive tech sector momentum yesterday on optimism around its Muse AI agent.
- Reminder: Meta’s annual Connect developer conference begins tomorrow (Sept. 23)
- 10-day countdown: Save your free spot and join Tim Sykes for his Millionaire Formula Conference