Friday, January 2, 2009

Want To Know What Penny Stocks To Buy? Look Inside....

By Sam Lockwood

Penny stocks have been around since the 19th century, and they've also been a big part of the American investment system ever since they developed. This era is actually the one that gave these stocks their names, as modern penny stocks cost far more than a penny. They average between ten cents and five dollars apiece in modern money. Why don't we take a look at some of the risks you'll encounter when dealing in penny stocks, then ways they can help you turn a profit.

Penny stocks are share offerings made by companies that are either too new or too small to be listed in the major exchanges. These have a potential to grow a lot for a relatively small initial investment, but they can also be part of unpleasant pump and dump schemes. Like anything else in the over the counter (OTC) market, the buyer should beware.

Buying penny stocks reasonably means that you need to get the company's business model independently appraised. Just like when you buy shares of any other company that's being publicly traded, you must understand the company business model, what the company does or makes, who their competition is, and what they have to offer.

One of the most appealing things about penny stocks is that the majority of businesses offering them are quite simply put together. One typical type is that of a mining company, which will only be profitable when the price of the material it mines reaches a certain level. There are also some oil exploration stocks which use this kind of valuation.

Penny stocks are rated as a high risk vehicle by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Some of the risks involved include incomplete or indirect reporting of finances, fraud, and limited liquidity. People playing using a day trading strategy, sudden demand on penny stocks can create wide ranging volatility, which also makes it hard to short sell them.

The financial reporting guidelines on penny stocks are actually pretty loose. Unlike the national exchanges, not much is required of companies that list this way - in fact, sometimes these stocks will just de list for a few days! In the investment type called Pink Sheets, penny stocks have nearly no regulatory requirements at all, including few to no minimum accounting standards or reporting guidelines.

Due to this lack of standardization, this kind of stock is extremely vulnerable to being manipulated and even used for fraud. People posing as independent observers will use their influence to run up penny stock prices, then they'll sell and delist the stock. This is the classic scam referred to as pump and dump.

That doesn't mean you should be scared away from these kinds of stocks completely. There are plenty of reasonable startup companies, and they need somewhere to start. If you're able to pick a winner out of them, you'll get a significant return.

If you're someone who can spot companies that have a lot of promise, you could end up with a big payback. Even if you lose on eighty percent of your picks, the twenty-five percent that do work out, will be enough to make up for the rest. - 14915

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