Low priced stocks are the things that dreams are made of. We have all fantasized about buying a stock in the single digits and watching it explode higher. Too often, however, investors never realize that dream.
For any number of reasons, they often buy a low priced stock only to sell it at an even lower price. This common practice is really quite curable.
The mistakes investors make when dealing with low priced stocks have simple answers. Most of the time you already know what the answers are; it is the execution that is hard. I want to share some of these common problems and give you the solutions so that you can become a better investor.
Beware Buying the Bottom
Everyone wants to get something for nothing, and if you can't do that then paying as little as possible is the next best alternative. I mean let's face it, who wouldn't want to buy at the 52-week low and then sell at the 52-week high?
The problem is, sometimes the bottom you see, is not at all the bottom. Usually, stocks making new 52-week lows are not the stocks you should be buying. The market is telling you that this stock is consistently worth less and less when it appears on the list of the 52-week lows.
Bottom feeding is fine for some species, but investors that want to see good returns in a reasonable amount of time should avoid stocks at their "perceived" bottom. Always look for confirmation that the bottom is in and the stock is recovering.
Adjust Your Risk Profile
Buying a low priced stock sometimes seems like a riskless or a very limited risk venture. The stock is in the single digits and how much more can it go down? The answer to this one is always the same thing.
Any and every stock can go down 100% from where it closed the day before. Rarely does this happen, but the point is you have to think about returns more in percentages than stock prices. A $7 stock going to $3.50 is a loss of 50% and that is a hard to swallow number.
The solution to this problem is position sizing. You must know how much of your portfolio should be dedicated to low price stocks and not to put all your eggs in one basket. This is an issue that is unique to every investor, as everyone has a different amount of investable dollars and most have a different time horizon as well. Position sizing will allow you to withstand short term loss and also encourage long term success.
More . . .
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Low-Priced Stocks with Sky-High Potential
Zacks is now revealing its top stock recommendations priced under $10 per share. Each is a high-quality company with prospects for 2X returns and even more. Recently, our recommendations have closed gains as high as +129.9%. 1
Strong earnings growth plus other Zacks' indicators mark our rare Under $10s for sustained growth. Look into them today, and then ride the potential profits high and long.
See Top Stocks Under $10 Now >>
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Don't Double Down
Many investors believe that the stock they pick is destined to succeed. I mean they have done their research (sparse as it may be) and came up with the idea, so it probably has some merit... right?
This sort of confirmation bias leads many investors to double down on a bad idea. When an investor buys a stock at $8 and then doubles down at $6, the problem only becomes a bigger one when the stock slips to $5. Now you have twice as many shares losing more money with every tick!
The discipline to cut losers and let winners run is something that even the most seasoned professional has trouble with. Assess the amount that you are able to withstand in a pullback and stick to those limits. Often times, small priced stocks have a way of really falling out of bed when there is trouble... and no one wants that.
My Best Advice for Making Big Profits with Low Priced Stocks
Be patient with your investments. Low priced stocks generally need more time than their bigger brethren. A healthy dose of patience will go a long way for a low price stock portfolio.
Leverage the Zacks Rank to help find stocks that analysts see earning more money. The Zacks Rank looks at earnings estimate revisions of the models from all the covering analysts and compares it to all stocks in the Zacks universe of coverage. So when an analyst at Needham or William Blair moves numbers higher, the Rank helps you know when estimate increases are the most meaningful.
Assessing risk is a difficult task and something only you can do. One way to limit risk is to spread the exposure to several low priced stocks. Instead of going "all in" and buying 10,000 shares of a single digit stock, spread that out among several names. A larger portfolio will spread the risk out across several names and that will give you a better chance to succeed.
Position Yourself for Profits Now
One of the easiest ways for you to avoid costly mistakes and position yourself for substantial profits with single-digit stocks is to see the recommendations we're holding in our Stocks Under $10 portfolio.
We select a diverse group of companies on the verge of big upward moves and get in when the Zacks Ranks and other proven indicators point to success ahead. Then we ride them long and high. For example, we've recently closed out positions with gains as high as +129.9%. 1
Now is a great time to join the investors following Stocks Under $10.
I just added an exciting new stock to the portfolio yesterday. It’s a small-cap with strong price momentum and a major catalyst scheduled for the first week in May. The profit potential is impressive – and you can still get jump in early.
One more thing. Get started today and you are also welcome to download our just-released Special Report, 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. From our proven list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys, our team of experts handpicked these 7 for immediate breakout.
But a word of caution: Your chance to download this report for free ends at Sunday, April 28.
See our Stocks Under $10 and download the Special Report now >>
Best,
Brian
Brian Bolan is our aggressive growth expert and the editor of the Zacks Stocks Under $10 portfolio.
¹ The results for the companies listed above are not (or may not be) representative of the performance of all selections made by Zacks Investment Research’s newsletter editors.
Image: Bigstock
3 Keys to Successful Low Priced Stock Investing
Low priced stocks are the things that dreams are made of. We have all fantasized about buying a stock in the single digits and watching it explode higher. Too often, however, investors never realize that dream.
For any number of reasons, they often buy a low priced stock only to sell it at an even lower price. This common practice is really quite curable.
The mistakes investors make when dealing with low priced stocks have simple answers. Most of the time you already know what the answers are; it is the execution that is hard. I want to share some of these common problems and give you the solutions so that you can become a better investor.
Beware Buying the Bottom
Everyone wants to get something for nothing, and if you can't do that then paying as little as possible is the next best alternative. I mean let's face it, who wouldn't want to buy at the 52-week low and then sell at the 52-week high?
The problem is, sometimes the bottom you see, is not at all the bottom. Usually, stocks making new 52-week lows are not the stocks you should be buying. The market is telling you that this stock is consistently worth less and less when it appears on the list of the 52-week lows.
Bottom feeding is fine for some species, but investors that want to see good returns in a reasonable amount of time should avoid stocks at their "perceived" bottom. Always look for confirmation that the bottom is in and the stock is recovering.
Adjust Your Risk Profile
Buying a low priced stock sometimes seems like a riskless or a very limited risk venture. The stock is in the single digits and how much more can it go down? The answer to this one is always the same thing.
Any and every stock can go down 100% from where it closed the day before. Rarely does this happen, but the point is you have to think about returns more in percentages than stock prices. A $7 stock going to $3.50 is a loss of 50% and that is a hard to swallow number.
The solution to this problem is position sizing. You must know how much of your portfolio should be dedicated to low price stocks and not to put all your eggs in one basket. This is an issue that is unique to every investor, as everyone has a different amount of investable dollars and most have a different time horizon as well. Position sizing will allow you to withstand short term loss and also encourage long term success.
More . . .
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Low-Priced Stocks with Sky-High Potential
Zacks is now revealing its top stock recommendations priced under $10 per share. Each is a high-quality company with prospects for 2X returns and even more. Recently, our recommendations have closed gains as high as +129.9%. 1
Strong earnings growth plus other Zacks' indicators mark our rare Under $10s for sustained growth. Look into them today, and then ride the potential profits high and long.
See Top Stocks Under $10 Now >>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't Double Down
Many investors believe that the stock they pick is destined to succeed. I mean they have done their research (sparse as it may be) and came up with the idea, so it probably has some merit... right?
This sort of confirmation bias leads many investors to double down on a bad idea. When an investor buys a stock at $8 and then doubles down at $6, the problem only becomes a bigger one when the stock slips to $5. Now you have twice as many shares losing more money with every tick!
The discipline to cut losers and let winners run is something that even the most seasoned professional has trouble with. Assess the amount that you are able to withstand in a pullback and stick to those limits. Often times, small priced stocks have a way of really falling out of bed when there is trouble... and no one wants that.
My Best Advice for Making Big Profits with Low Priced Stocks
Be patient with your investments. Low priced stocks generally need more time than their bigger brethren. A healthy dose of patience will go a long way for a low price stock portfolio.
Leverage the Zacks Rank to help find stocks that analysts see earning more money. The Zacks Rank looks at earnings estimate revisions of the models from all the covering analysts and compares it to all stocks in the Zacks universe of coverage. So when an analyst at Needham or William Blair moves numbers higher, the Rank helps you know when estimate increases are the most meaningful.
Assessing risk is a difficult task and something only you can do. One way to limit risk is to spread the exposure to several low priced stocks. Instead of going "all in" and buying 10,000 shares of a single digit stock, spread that out among several names. A larger portfolio will spread the risk out across several names and that will give you a better chance to succeed.
Position Yourself for Profits Now
One of the easiest ways for you to avoid costly mistakes and position yourself for substantial profits with single-digit stocks is to see the recommendations we're holding in our Stocks Under $10 portfolio.
We select a diverse group of companies on the verge of big upward moves and get in when the Zacks Ranks and other proven indicators point to success ahead. Then we ride them long and high. For example, we've recently closed out positions with gains as high as +129.9%. 1
Now is a great time to join the investors following Stocks Under $10.
I just added an exciting new stock to the portfolio yesterday. It’s a small-cap with strong price momentum and a major catalyst scheduled for the first week in May. The profit potential is impressive – and you can still get jump in early.
One more thing. Get started today and you are also welcome to download our just-released Special Report, 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. From our proven list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys, our team of experts handpicked these 7 for immediate breakout.
But a word of caution: Your chance to download this report for free ends at Sunday, April 28.
See our Stocks Under $10 and download the Special Report now >>
Best,
Brian
Brian Bolan is our aggressive growth expert and the editor of the Zacks Stocks Under $10 portfolio.
¹ The results for the companies listed above are not (or may not be) representative of the performance of all selections made by Zacks Investment Research’s newsletter editors.