Just my 2 cents here, take it for what it's worth:
There will always be people playing the "short term" plays on any stock: flipping, taking profits, etc etc, and it happens more so on penny plays. Part of the challenge of any legitimate company in this realm, is to break free of the "norm" and to prove itself to be a long term, productive, profitable company.
The long term success of these companies largely depends on revenue generation and company growth, which in turn leads to investors who have more of a long term strategy and thereby provide stability to the price. Increased productivity and revenues then directly provide opportunity for an escalating price.
Along the way, the short termers will play their games and stymie the price at times and may even bring it down for a period. If the fundamentals of the company are strong, and the management team is committed to corporate growth (as opposed to their own personal growth), in time, the short termers will "lose out" to the long termers. The value of the stock, should and must represent the true valuation of the company.
This is why it is crucial to perform your own DD and investigate, as much as you can: is the CEO legitimate and committed to the company? Does the company have a viable, saleable product? Will this product generate revenues? Does the product have a long term, far reaching appeal to a mass market? Is there potential for a merger or takeover by a much larger firm in the future, or will this company be relegated into oblivion by competitors? Does the financial information provided by the company match and translate into everything above? And finally, does the share price indicate the true valuation of the company? If the share price is well below, you can expect profitability both short term and long term. If it is at or below, you could be in trouble with making a profit here.
HTH. It's just my basic thought process into any play that I get myself involved in. Best of luck.
