5 Stocks Under $10

It's still OK to think big, even when you're small.

The market's been rolling since mid-March, and low-priced stocks have been some of the rally's biggest beneficiaries. I have been singling out attractive opportunities since my original "5 Stocks Under $10" eight years ago. The past few months have been wildly gratifying.

Let's go over the five picks from March to prove my point.

Stock	12/21/09	3/13/09	Gain
Sirius XM Radio	$0.5747	$0.198	190%
Bare Escentuals	$12.39	$3.66	239%
Focus Media	$15.98	$5.74	178%
Geron	$5.68	$4.36	30%
Ford	$9.67	$2.19	342%

The average gain of 196% in just nine months is remarkable. Sirius XM Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI  ) and Ford (NYSE: F  ) were on the brink of going under before battling back, and have seen some amazing gains.

The next few months may get tricky. Will the Federal Reserve begin raising rates in 2010? Will the rally come undone? Stocks trading in the single digits are risky and are bound to be more volatile than the general market.

With that out of the way, let's go over this month's picks.

China Digital TV (NYSE: STV  ) : $5.98
Like most countries, China is in the process of making the push from analog to digital television. Analysys International estimates that there are 168 million cable subscribers in China, with 10 million added annually.

That brings us to China Digital TV, which is sitting pretty as the market leader in the smartcards that China will require in all set-top television boxes by no later than 2015. This is a play for patient investors, but the good news is that China Digital TV has a cash-rich and debt-free balance sheet.

Pier 1 Imports: $5.60
It's been a long road back for the home-furnishings specialist that at one time was a Peter Lynch darling. Between the bursting of the housing bubble and the recession that followed, Pier 1 hasn't had much of a chance over the past few years.

Thankfully, its fortunes are turning, and its latest third-quarter report was a real eye-opener. Comps rose by 13.7%, margins widened, and last year's quarterly loss was magically transformed into a profit of $0.37 a share this time around. That's a good start, and things will get even better if the economy plays nice.

Take-Two Interactive (Nasdaq: TTWO  ) : $9.43
The presence of Carl Icahn -- who barged in to accumulate an 11% stake -- is apparently enough to make investors forget the red ink that the video-game developer seems to dive into when it doesn't have a Grand Theft Auto title to put out.

Take-Two has already projected a loss for the new fiscal year, despite the scheduled release of BioShock2 in less than two months. This may feel more like buyout bait than a play on near-term fundamentals, but it's not every day that you see Take-Two in the single digits.

NIC (Nasdaq: EGOV  ) : $9.13
You probably don't have to twist too many arms to get someone to agree that government agencies could be a little leaner. That's where NIC steps in, as the country's leading provider of official government portals, online services, and secure payment processing solutions.

NIC markets its eGovernment services on the premise that they reduce costs and increase efficiencies for government agencies. That pitch is apparently resonating, as more than 3,000 federal, state, and local agencies are on board. The proof is also in the results. NIC's revenue through the first nine months of the year climbed by 28% to $96.5 million. Earnings have grown from $0.14 a share to $0.18 a share. Top-line growth accelerated in NIC's latest quarter, and that's another good sign.

China Distance Education (NYSE: DL  ) : $6.10
When you're tasked with online accounting education in China, of all places, you expect to have a good handle on headcount. Well, China Distance's latest quarter wasn't all that impressive if you go right to the bottom line. The company lays the blame on a recent acquisition and its decision to ramp up its headcount for future growth.

The good news is that the growth is for real. Revenue grew by 31% in its latest quarter, fueled by a similar 31% spike in enrollment over the year-ago quarter. As the need for professional education and retooling intensifies in China and more things migrate online, China Distance Education will be there to cash in.

Five for the road
These five stocks aren't trading in the single digits by accident. If I'm right about the catalysts, though, they may not be trading in the single digits for too much longer.

Finding promising stocks while they're still cutting their baby teeth is at the heart of the Motley Fool Rule Breakers newsletter service that I write for. You can check it out for free this month with a 30-day trial subscription. There are more than a half-dozen active stock recommendations in the growth-stock research service trading for less than $10 at the moment, including China Digital TV and Take-Two. Check those out, and I'll be back with more on the third Monday of next month.