The Dow closed at a new record on Tuesday as it broke the 30,000 threshold for the first time ever. The blue-chip index climbed 1.5%, while the S&P 500 jumped 1.6%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq popped 1.3% during regular trading, on what was viewed as positive news when it comes to the transition of power in Washington.
Tuesday’s climb extends the market’s rally over the past several weeks, with the S&P 500 now up over 11% since the end of October. The reasons for the run appear simple enough, given the constant backdrop of low interest rates. First off, the overall S&P 500 earnings results came in better than expected for Q3 and the outlook for the fourth quarter and fiscal 2021 has improved.
Meanwhile, investors are happy enough with divided government in Washington. Plus, the vaccine news from Pfizer and others helps bring about more optimism, especially in the spaces that are continuing to be hit the hardest by social distancing efforts, such as travel.
With this in mind, now appears to be a solid time to consider making some additions to your portfolio. Today, we are going to dive into a fun pocket of the equities market and explore strong stocks that are trading for under $10 per share…
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 of the roughly 40 highly-ranked stocks trading under $10 a share that made it through the screen today…
Ford Motor Company (F)
First Majestic Silver Corp. (AG)
Investors Bancorp, Inc. (ISBC)
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.
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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/.
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