The S&P 500 and the Dow hit new highs to start the final week of October amid a solid early third quarter earnings season, with everyone from banking giants to tech firms posting stronger-than-projected financial results. The Nasdaq now has its sights set on records, with Apple, Microsoft, and other tech titans reporting this week.

A lot of uncertainty remains heading into the winter and the holiday shopping period. But the bulls still managed to regain control of the market, shrugging off supply chain worries, rising prices for everything from energy to consumer staples, and other economic headwinds. And new October consumer data supports Wall Street’s positivity.

U.S. consumer confidence increased in October, after three months of declines. “While short-term inflation concerns rose to a 13-year high, the impact on confidence was muted,” Senior Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board Lynn Franco said in prepared remarks.

“The proportion of consumers planning to purchase homes, automobiles, and major appliances all increased in October. Likewise, nearly half of respondents (47.6%) said they intend to take a vacation within the next six months—the highest level since February 2020, a reflection of the ongoing resurgence in consumers’ willingness to travel and spend on in-person services.”

Rising consumer confidence amid the slowing spread of the Delta variant could push fourth quarter estimates higher. On top of that, the overall S&P 500 earnings outlook for Q3 has surged in the last several weeks. Plus, S&P 500 margins remain strong and the interest rate environment should stay accommodating for stocks even when the Fed starts to lift its core rate (also read: Previewing Big Tech Earnings: Apple, Microsoft and Other Giants).

Given this backdrop, investors likely want to consider adding stocks as we head into November. Today, we utilized our Zacks screener to find highly-ranked stocks trading for under $10 a share to consider amid the current market resurgence…

Penny Stocks

One dollar or less used to be the common threshold for what we call “penny stocks.” Today, the SEC has expanded penny stocks to securities that trade for less than $5 a share. Many investors avoid these stocks because they are speculative in nature.

Meanwhile, penny stocks often trade infrequently and hold wide bid/ask spreads. These stocks also carry many other traits that, in many cases, cause excessive volatility. With that said, some penny stocks perform incredibly well, which helps them remain attractive.

Stocks Under $10

Moving on, let’s briefly discuss the next class of cheap stocks. Stocks that trade in the $5 to $10 range are generally less risky than their penny stock counterparts. Investors might be more likely to have heard of these companies or seen the tickers. They are, however, still inherently more speculative than many other higher-priced stocks.

Investors can obviously find winning stocks for under $10 if they are extremely selective. So today, we narrowed the list of thousands of these more speculative stocks down to a more manageable group of $10 and under stocks that might help boost your portfolio.

Screen Parameters

• Price less than or equal to $10

• Volume greater than or equal to 1,000,000

• Zacks Rank less than or equal to 2

(No Holds, Sells or Strong Sells.)

• Average Broker Rating less than or equal to 3.5

(Average Broker Rating of a Hold or Better.)

• # of Analysts in Rating greater than or equal to 2

(Minimum of at least two analysts covering the stock.)

• % Change F1 Earnings Estimate Revisions -- 12 Weeks greater than or equal to 0

(Preferably upward earnings estimate revisions, but definitely no downward revisions.)

Here are three stocks of the 22 highly-ranked stocks trading under $10 a share that made it through the screen today…

Centennial Resource Development

Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (PTEN Quick QuotePTEN - Free Report)

Chico's FAS, Inc.

Overall, all three of these stocks offer solid growth potential. Yet, it isn’t wise to pack your portfolio full of cheap, $10 or less stocks. Still, these stocks are certainly worth further investigation because grabbing a few of the top names from this list might bolster your returns. And let’s not forget that picking a few cheap stocks can also be quite fun.

Get the rest of the stocks on this list and start screening for the best stocks under $10 for yourself. And don't forget to backtest your strategy so you'll know how successful it's been before you put any of your money at risk.

Click here to sign up for a free trial to the Research Wizard today.

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Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.

Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks’ portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance/.