Penny Stock Returns

Why do people invest in penny stocks if they are so risky? The answer lies in a few facts as well as a few misconceptions about penny stocks.  First let us look at the positive side of how penny stocks can be more profitable.

It is a well-known fact in finance that risk and return have a positive correlation. This means that an investment that carries greater risk will also give higher returns. The reason for this is very easy to understand and is almost intuitive. Suppose you had $10,000 to invest and two options A and B. Option A is a secure government bond that gives you 5% return, while option B is a higher risk investment in a company that will pay you only if it makes profits. Assume that this company has a history of making 5% Profits over several years and is likely to continue on the same lines.

That is, you can expect to get a return of 5% in future years, but that is subject to the company making the same level of profits. Where would you invest your money? If the returns are likely to be the same and if you are a sane person, you would obviously invest in the risk free option. Now suppose, option B were to pay you not 5% but 15% consistently, you might be tempted to put your money in it. In other words, a higher return can make you to invest in a riskier venture.

Since penny stocks are higher risk alternatives compared to regular stocks, the only way they can attract investment is by holding out a promise of higher return. How would a penny stock offer a higher return? This will be done not directly by the stock or the company, but by market forces. The market price of a stock is fixed on the basis of a few factors such as its intrinsic value and the return yielded by it. The market price of a stock divided by the return it gives is known as the price-earnings ratio.

For example, if $10 stocks were to be traded in the market at $20, and the company earns a net income per share of $1, the price-earnings ratio is 20. The price-earnings ratio will be higher for solid stocks that are known to be backed up by good management, have a history of consistent and good performance, and are perceived to be stable. The price-earnings ratio for stocks that are riskier, unknown and do not enjoy a positive perception will be much lower. This means that as against the example of price-earnings ratio of 20 that we assumed for a stable and well-known stock, a penny stock may have a much lower price-earnings ratio, say 3 or 4. Actual figures will depend on a number of other factors also.

Because of this, a penny stock will be priced lower for the same level of net income, and will therefore yield a higher return on the investment.

Studying The Fundamentals of Penny Stocks

Penny shares are shares that are either low in value or low in the complete industry cap. The description of small cap shares can differ a bit from one individual to another. Usually, small cap shares can be recognized to mean any inventory that is not a significant inventory. The two requirements that we have set above will identify whether a inventory is something or not according to its cost and industry cap.


In addition, one can also consider a stock as a penny stock if it does not conform to stock exchange regulations and are thus more risky. In practice, however, it would be extremely difficult to find a large market stock that is not meeting the major stock exchange regulations. Because of this reason, penny stocks are generally understood to be those stocks whose absolute price or market capitalization is very low.

The next question that arises is ‘how low is low’? Obviously this is a little subjective and also prone to change from time to time. While there are no hard and fast rules, we can follow some rules of thumb. However, you must remember that not only are these rules not sacrosanct but also are likely to keep changing over time. Having said that, we can set some rules of thumb for considering a stock as penny stock. Any stock that is below a certain cut off price is considered as penny stock.

The cut off price is a matter of opinion. Some consider any stock below $5 to be a penny stock, while others are more liberal and consider only those stocks that are below $3 to be penny stocks. There are still others who would rather set the limit at $1, considering any stock above $1 as not a penny stock. Similarly, in the case of market capitalization, various limits are set by various people. In general, we can consider any stock with a market capitalization below $300 million to be a penny stock.

There could further classifications within this group, with stocks having a market cap of below $50 million being considered a step below penny stocks and classified as nano-cap stocks. The general idea is that any stock having a low per stock price or low market capitalization would be considered as a penny stock.

In case you are wondering what is market capitalization, here’s some information that would help you. Market capitalization (or market cap for short) is the total value of all outstanding stocks at the current price. Suppose a stock sells at $10 and there are 100,000 stocks outstanding, the total market cap would be 10 x 100,000 or $1 million. Market cap is an important indicator, because the greater the total amount outstanding the greater the stakes.

If a large number of people or a large amount of money is involved in a stock, the chances are that there will be greater control on the stock. There is one exception to this. If the stock is not traded on a regular stock exchange like NASDAQ, it is not under any regulatory control to comply with a number of regulations that have been designed to safeguard the interest of the investor.

In these cases, even if t he market cap or the price is large, there may not be sufficient safety. In general, however, we can assume that for large market cap stocks the possibility of being outside the purview of a recognized stock exchange are very remote. The reasons for this, as well as the reason why penny stocks are considered risky will form the subject matter of our next article.

How you can make (or lose) money on penny stocks

As we have seen earlier, penny stocks carry higher risks and also can give greater returns. This actually means that you can either lose a lot of money by investing in penny stocks (because of the higher risk factor) or make a lot of money (because of the higher potential returns). Which of these happens to you will depend a lot (but not only) on how you go about assessing the investment. Before we go further, however, you should be aware that no matter how much care you may take there is a certain amount of risk associated with penny stocks, which is much higher than in the case of large cap, stock exchange registered stocks.

In order to assess whether you can make money out of a penny stock, you should understand how one makes money in the stock market. One of the returns that one gets from a stock investment is in the form of dividends. That however, is usually a very small portion of the returns that one gets from stock investment. The major returns come from appreciation in the price of the stocks. The prices of stocks are assessed using different yardsticks or parameters. The first of these is the return on investment. If the return on a stock is 10% and the price earnings ratio is 10, for example, the stock would be priced at ten time the earnings or 100% of issue price. In other words this stock would be traded at its face value. From this we can see that the price would depend on two things, the absolute return and the price-earnings ratio.

The second important factor that affects the price is the book value of the stock, which is basically computed as a figure that represents the assets available in the company against each stock. For example, if a company has net assets of $100,000 and has issued 10,000 shares, the value of each share under this method would be $10.

The price of a share is also valued on the basis of a few other criteria. However, the most important factor from the market point of view is the returns that the stock generates. The value under this method would depend on the earnings and the price-earnings ratio. The latter is a matter of perception that will depend on the risks associated with the stock. This perception will undergo changes depending on the history of performance of the organization, the available information about the company and its prospects, and the market buzz about impending major events in the company (for example a takeover by a major organization).

Of these, the most important from the long-term point of view is the consistency and quantum of earnings from the long term and the direction of the price-earnings ratio in the short term. As an investor what you need to assess and be aware of are

- Is the company stable enough to sustain its earnings and growth? Who are the promoters? How long has it been in business? Answers to these and other such questions

- How is the market perception of the company? How is it likely to change?

- How are the “fundamentals”? Does the company have a good asset base? Does it enjoy a good business?

Finally, the old adage “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” is true to a greater extent in the case of penny stocks. So invest a little at a time and don’t put all your money on one or a few such stocks.

Advantage in trading penny stocks

Introduction: There are advantages or disadvantages with any of the stocks and similarly penny stocks have some advantages and disadvantages. Although the main disadvantage with penny stock is the risk factor associated with it, penny stocks have a number of advantages. Some of the advantages have been mentioned below.

Advantage in trading penny stocks:  A small and careful investment in penny stocks can bring a high amount of profit. A thorough research about the company offering penny stocks and the companies financial factors can give an idea about the company and prospects of its penny stocks for future. However, for getting the maximum advantage and profit from the penny stocks, you should evaluate and think twice before putting your hard earned money into the market. This is one of the market where you may not get the authentic and reliable information and you will have to search the right stocks that can give you profit in the long run. There are a number of people involved in trading in the over the counter market and some lose and other gain.

You can learn patience and make money from the penny stock market, however you should remember that you should not make any hurry. You should be patient, although you may get lot of misleading statements from brokers or dealers, but avoiding hurry and taking an advice from another operator will benefit you.

Another advantage is that you have lot of opportunities that too in pennies in this market. You should look for the several stocks instead of looking for a single stock. You should also make comparison between stocks and on the basis of various factors including financial factors should decide about the specific stocks. Financial factors such as profit, revenue, and profit equity ratio are important for deciding in favor of a particular penny stock.

Now a days online booking and sales of stocks can be advantageous and you can come to a decision in time and at the same time you can look for the other vital parameters including financial parameter of the company. You can monitor your portfolios online and you can see the stock rates online at the website of pink sheets.

With these simple steps, you can gain a good amount from this market, however you should remember that the penny stocks market is not a quick rich type of market. Your intelligence and look for all the options before investing in a particular penny stocks can be beneficial for not only in terms of money but you can also gain expertise in the area.

Summary: There are numerous advantages in penny stock trading. A lot of opportunities are available in penny stocks if right steps are taken. By through examining the available stocks in the same group, you can arrive at a conclusion in favor of specific stocks on the basis of its performance and financial indicators.

What are Penny Stocks?

The penny stocks or shares are an investment options for those who have a small amount for investment and are willing to take risk. These stocks are generally available in very small amount and even a small investor can take a risk of investing few cents in these stocks.

Although there is some risk associated with every investment in financial market, penny stocks are good option for investment if you have some disposable amount, as here a small amount will be at risk. Broker or dealers trade these stocks and it is better to understand the financial terms associated with penny stocks. I would like to add that if you are looking some penny stocks for investment, you should learn more about penny stocks and you can find the relevant information about the subject on stock newsletter and message boards.

Stock Trading: Penny stocks are very speculative and have a market capitalization of around 500 million. These stocks are traded over the counter and the trading is governed by the SEC rules and guidelines on penny stocks. U.S Securities and Exchange Commission have laid down some rules for investment and trading in penny stocks and a beginner should keep these rules in mind before buying or trading in penny stocks.

SEC Rules on Penny Stocks: Broker-dealer registration compliance is must before buying or trading any penny stocks. A broker or dealer should get a written request and thereafter should approve the investor.

SEC further rules that a customer desirous to purchase a penny stock should be provided a document mentioning the risk involved in the penny stock. The broker or dealer should also inform the customer the current market rate of the penny stock and the commission that will be charged by the broker.

The provisions made in the appropriate sections also put a mandatory requirement of providing monthly statement to the investor showing rates of each penny stock held by the investor in his account.

Sometimes the other terms such as small caps and micro cap are also used for these companies and The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has defined penny stock as a low-priced below $ 5.0 speculative securities of very small companies.
Many small companies have low assets and offer the stocks at very low price. These low price stocks known as penny stocks are traded over the counter generally in low volumes.

The Securities and Exchange Commission strictly adheres that penny stock is low priced speculative stock and the term penny stock does not relate on market capitalization or it’s trading at the exchanges (NYSE, NASDAQ) or over the counter.

Summary: Penny stock’s definition by the Securities and Exchange commission is strictly on the basis of its value and it does not depend on other parameters such as the companies market capitalization or its listing. Investor should carefully examine all the factors associated with penny stocks before investing in them.