The occasional shower of pennies from heaven might do our bank accounts some good, but we Fools can't say the same for penny stocks. The world of penny stocks is often full of manipulation and deceit, making it harder for investors to separate its few good offerings from the multitude best ignored.
Still, many investors dabble at the low end of the stock-price spectrum. At Motley Fool CAPS, we award the "Pennies" title to investors who rate stocks trading in the single digits more than half the time. Believe it or not, you'll find some of the best CAPS All-Stars among those members.
Pinching pennies
This week, we'll look at some of the low-priced investments these All-Stars have praised. If the best investors regularly scanning this end of the market have singled out these companies, we might want to turn our umbrellas upside-down -- or run for cover!
Here's the latest list of low-priced stocks with All-Star support:
Price when the outperform call was made.
Your two cents' worth
Even if American International Group is able to pay off the government loans it accessed in the wake of the insurer's nationalization, some analysts think that its cash cushion will remain thin, making it a risky investment. Some CAPS members, such as KokueiOTD, think there are still plenty of opportunities for AIG to capitalize on. But others, like Polarimetric, think there’s just too much risk involved to know for certain if it will get off life support:
This will likely lag behind the market. It seems to be moving in lockstep with the indices at the moment, but, as it did today, it will likely lead decreases and lag behind increases. People need to be timid about this stock. This company is basically on life support right now, and although the PR has made the AIG's personal bailout and the sector bailout sound good, things are still a lot uglier than they're letting on.
While American car design often gets knocked when compared to foreign manufacturers like Nissan (Nasdaq: NSANY ) or Honda (NYSE: HMC ) , many investors like 1980xls figure such critics are just remembering the past without looking at General Motors' current designs, awards, and fuel economy. Yet others, like dibble905, think such factors are irrelevant in the current climate:
I do not see this company surviving past the next 2-4 years regardless of the economic downturn or some form of revival -- it is struggling to produce a profit in either case. If this company can fix its liquidity problems, out-innovate its larger rivals, recreate its brand image, and consolidate to well-defined product lines within the next 2 years before its cash runs out... Anything short of a bailout by the government will not save this company.
Make some change
What do you think? Should we fill up the change jar with these penny stocks, or ignore 'em like a discarded coin on the street? It pays to start your own research on these stocks on Motley Fool CAPS. Read a company's financial reports, scrutinize key data and charts, and examine the comments your fellow investors have made all from a stock's CAPS page. Consult our free CAPS investor-intelligence community, where your two cents count as much as anyone else's.
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