I kept buying PR pumps on small cap gaps for a year until I figured out how to tell the difference. Here is what I learned - AMA

Software engineer here, 20+ years in the industry, Director of R&D. I trade Nasdaq small cap momentum on the side - Gap and Go, pre-market focus. Learned the strategy from free Warrior Trading content.

The mistake that cost me the most was not bad strategy. It was not being able to tell a real catalyst from a PR pump in real time.

The setup looked identical every time. Low float, big pre-market gap, volume pouring in. I would get in, it would run another ten or fifteen percent, then roll over hard and give back everything. I was exit liquidity and I did not even know it until after.

What I eventually figured out:

**Real catalysts** \- FDA approvals, actual partnerships, revenue beats - attract real buyers who hold. The move has legs.

**PR pumps** \- vague "strategic initiative" press releases, recycled news in fresh language, paid newsletter placements - attract momentum traders who exit the second it stalls. You are buying from the people running it.

The tell I use now before entering any gap: is there real news from today, from a credible source, that a rational buyer would actually respond to? If I cannot answer yes clearly, I pass.

I also built a checklist I run on every single setup - Sparker alert firing, real catalyst, price in range, low float. All four or I do not enter. Removing the "it feels right" override from my process cut my pump losses almost entirely.

Happy to talk through specific examples, how I evaluate catalyst quality, what the rollover pattern looks like, or anything else about trading this style. AMA.