I think what seems like is happening that there are people in the know about some secret event or information that the public is not privy to. Perhaps if we did know than where those gains happen for some unknown altcoin, you would have bought it already. And you would also know before it getting dumped. how can I get in on this action?
No such thing as secret information. It's just that not all information will be known by you due to your activity limit as it's impossible you can't be always be updated at all happenings in the majority of those coins. There are coins that have a community so they are updated on some events on some coins and from there they can build speculation if will goes pump or dump.
Gaining profit in crypto is not as easy as 1,2,3 so erase the mindset that there's a thing called 100% prediction.
If by any means you become aggressive and really want to push for a service that provides signals, don't believe in those. Mostly, they are a scam.
Based from my experience, you can't really follow all the coins out there. There are only few of them worth following for. But in terms of new coins, if you do really want to follow them, to know when they will have specific pump, you need to keep close with their social media channels. You can get a hint of what's going on. But definitely, it will take so much of your time. So in effect, you can only follow which ones are really worth following for. That is, only those coins that you want to seriously invest with. Just join socmed channels that you have vested interest, others don't. It will only clutter your mind.