You are not going to get more than $100-$150 tops. The lawyers would keep most of the monies even if there is a settlement. I get those class action notices on stocks I bought and traded later on. Just pure garbage! Lawyers will just use you to collect!
I think it depends on the nature of the lawsuit. For a settlement with one class action lawsuit ("stock was artificially inflated as a result of Defendants’ allegedly false and misleading statements, and declined when the truth was revealed"), I lost 18% of my original purchase when I sold the stock. The settlement paid 1.5% of the original purchase. For another ("the Merger was not entirely fair to the minority"), I gained 16.5% on the original purchase when the company was bought by another. And the settlement paid 32.4% of the original purchase. Neither of these transactions were day trades.
Yes, probably because a court decided the buying company didn't pay enough. When I receive a check in the mail, I usually take the unopened envelope to my wife, sniff the envelope, tell her I smell money, and open the envelope to show the check. She is not very literate in English, and I'm not sure if she knows how I can do this. I didn't expect this settlement check and didn't see who it was from, so I opened the envelope alone without my smelling money routine. So then I went to my wife, acted worried, and told her I thought I should see a doctor. Then I told her it was because I wasn't able to smell the money. Instead of being happy that I wasn't really ill, or happy that we received some unexpected money, she hit me! I guess I'll never understand women .
It's obviously depend on you. As Overnight stayed will be certain restrictions. In our case we were happy - after five years we received only 8%, but it did not take our time, only feeling the forms ones.
How can you tell if a class action is a scam or not? Some of these websites do not look professional. It does not list any of the lawyers, just the name of the ticker like walterinvestmentclassaction.com or something like that
And do I have to list out every trade (100s) or could I just attach a brokerage copy of all my trades?
If you received notices giving you the option of filling out a form to opt-in or out of a class, the organization that sent you the notice likely got your name and address from your broker. So the notice would not likely be a scam. If the notice is asking you to become a lead plaintiff, it's also likely not a scam. But you might have to do more work (e.g., consult with with the law firm) but get compensated a little better than the rest of the class if the lawsuit wins. For claim forms asking you to opt-in or out of a class action, the instructions on the claim form should say what they want (e.g., your contact info, last 4 digits of your social security number, and evidence of transactions between some dates).
But for evidence of the transactions do I have to literally write out every single one? Or could I send them a printed copy from my broker?