Everybody wants to trade penny stocks. The reason for that is that they have the reputation of having big percentage gains (or losses) in any given day. You can make (or lose) a load boat load of money real quick.
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A list of penny stocks can be found almost anywhere on the internet. Why not, these companies need to raise capital so they can expand their business or even to buy the needed equipment so their company can grow one day be one of the big dogs. There are so many penny stocks out there that are traded everyday, but where are they list? On which board do they trade?
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Most of these stocks are traded on the secondary boards, OTCBB (over the counter bulletin board), Pink Sheets and a few others.
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The main reason that they are so popular is because they are cheap enough where the average person can afford them. How cheap? Well, a stock is considered a penny stock when it’s price per share is less than $5. Many of them are actually less than $1 (they really are penny stocks).
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Just because they are that cheap doesn’t mean that you’ll make a ton of money. Some of these stocks will sit at those levels for months and in a few cases, years. Many amateur traders or newcomers feel that these stocks are on their way up and also feel they can’t get any cheaper. That can’t be further from the truth. If you look around on some of these lists of penny stocks, you will see some even trade in what is referred to as sub-penny. Stay away from these types of stocks. Only one out of thousand will ever get out of this range.

If you want a list of penny stocks, go to Yahoo Finance and type in pink sheet or OTCBB, you will get a list of stocks that you can pick through. Be careful and do your due diligence on the company before investing.
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P.S. Want to learn more about the stock market? take a free two week trail with Jim Cramer from TheStreet.com

photo by petrick2008
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As we see with the way the stock market performed today, the sell-off kicks back into high gear. Investors are still concerned about the condition of the economy no matter who won the election.
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The rally that took place over the last week in alternative energy was erased today with the sell off. First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) which was up $70 in the past week gave back $24 (-13%) in today’s trading.
The rest of the sector did just as bad with Suntech Power Holdings (NYSE: STP) taking the biggest hit of almost 21%. Suntech was trading last week at $11 and gained almost 90% before today’s beat-down. The one stock in the sector that escaped the abuse of today was Biofuel Energy Corp (NASDAQ:BIOF) which gained just over 28%, take in mind though that this stock is a penny stock and gains like that are quite common.
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In the financial area of the stock market, the sector was another wash-out with nearly if not all of the stocks lost ground. Out of the ones that I really keep an eye on, the best performers still lost over 5%.
Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp. (NYSE:AGM), a stock that I’ve talked about before here on this blog took the biggest hit, losing over 25%. Last week the stock traded as low as $2.85 (where I picked up 200 shares) and yesterday hit an intraday high of $8.40, a gain of almost 200% in just a few days.
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I’ve been saying it for some time now, but you need to be ready for when the stock market will turn (good or bad). If I didn’t sell out of AGM when I did, I would have lost some great gains. Don’t get me wrong, I did keep some shares (since I’m now trading with their money). When you get big gains like the one I just spoke about, you need to remember not to be greedy and SELL.
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*DISCLAIMER* At the time of this post Billy is long AGM and has no position in FSLR, BIOF and STP

With the way the stock market has been moving in the last few weeks, it may be wise to look for solid companies that provide a great dividend. Unless you’re a day trader and can play the volatility of this market, you really need to take positions in these types of stocks.
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I’ve been looking at dividend paying stocks for some time. It’s been profitable during these days and since my career is trading in the stock market, I’ve had the time to look into when these dividend payouts will occur.
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Typically dividends are paid out 4 times a year, just around the time that the company announces their last quarter performance. In this month alone I’ve taken advantage of over a dozen stocks that pay out dividends. Be aware though that just because the company has stated that they will paying out dividends, it doesn’t mean they’ll be paying out what you may see on a website like Yahoo Finance or TheStreet.com
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Let’s take a look at what I mean by that comment. A perfect example is Atlas Pipeline Partners LP (NYSE:APL). If you were to take a look at what was reported on Monday October 27th, Atlas reported that there will be a payout of $0.96 of common limited partner unit. In yesterday’s news Atlas stated that there will be a cash payout of $0.05 per share. After further research I found that the $0.96 per common share has been confirmed. As for the $0.05 I haven’t been able to find out if this will be a one time “extra” pay out for each share on top of the $0.96 per share.
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My point is that there are different types of stocks for some companies and if you’re not careful in your research you may be buying into the wrong one. Just for those who maybe thinking of catching some good dividends, Atlas Pipeline Partners LP (NYSE:APL) might be one that you would want to get into. The execution date (aka ex-dividend date) is for shareholders who have stock in the company on November 10th, 2008. Just for your information, at the current price of $17.00, the yield for this stock is almost 24%.
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P.S. Want to learn more about the stock market? take a free two week trail with Jim Cramer from TheStreet.com

*DISCLAIMER* At the time of this post, Billy is long APL