The roller-coaster movement of stocks we've seen in recent weeks is enough to make anyone queasy. Up 2% one day, down 3% the next -- it's almost enough to make you want to consider Treasury bills.
Almost.
The CBOE Volatility Index, essentially the market's seismograph, hit 37.50 last Thursday -- its highest level since January 2003. Financial stocks such as JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), Merrill Lynch (NYSE:MER), and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) have been particularly vulnerable to the volatility as the perceived severity of the subprime and global credit issues ebbs and flows.
Picking on the runts
After four years of market-beating growth, small-cap stocks trail their large-cap peers year to date. This isn't necessarily due to relative valuations, but rather because higher volatility may have nervous investors seeking out more stable stocks for their dollars.
In fact, some of the market's best small caps from the past five years have been hit particularly hard: Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM), ValueClick (Nadsaq: VCLK), and Joy Global (NASDAQ:JOYG) are each down more than 25% in the past month.
Investors in these companies have to be wondering whether this is the beginning of a protracted decline, or if it's just some turbulence on the path to long-term outsized gains.
Pop quiz, hotshot
I've been wondering that as well. Back in March, I highlighted a stock that I own, Sun Hydraulics (NASDAQ:SNHY), a then-$250 million hydraulic products company, as a stock that passed the test.
What test, you ask? Well, consider that many of the most successful stocks of our generation all began:
- Small
- Underfollowed.
- Financially strong.
- Well-managed.
- Dominant in its market niche.
It's reasonable to assume, then, that the best stocks of the next 10 and 20 years are currently masquerading as small caps that possess these characteristics.
But back to SNHY
Sun Hydraulics surged following its first-quarter earnings report in May, and rose 75% in just two months, seemingly validating my investment thesis. Since its peak in July, however, Sun Hydraulics has been rocky, to say the least. In the past three weeks, the stock has been rattled back and forth -- down 17% one day, up 20% two days later -- and currently sits more than 30% off its July highs.
The wild ride has almost been enough to make me cash out and enjoy my gains.
Almost.
Since my investment thesis hasn't changed -- it's still small, underfollowed, financially strong, well-managed, and dominant in its market niche -- I'll be riding out the storm with this one.
Roll with the punches
Volatility is a natural part of the stock market. A recent report issued by The Vanguard Group showed that between 1970 and 2007, the S&P has traded more than 1% in either direction in 24% of trading days in a given year. But investors may have forgotten: In 2005 and 2006, only 12% of the trading days were up or down 1% or more.
Yet, as Vanguard's report reminded investors, "market volatility ... [is] one of the things that help drive equity prices higher over the long run. ... A certain amount of volatility is one of the trade-offs stock investors make in exchange for the expectation of higher long-term returns."
At our Motley Fool Hidden Gems small-cap investing service, we recognize that the great growth potential of small cap stocks comes with an added dose of volatility. We also believe, however, that by buying shares of great companies at good prices, holding for the long term, and building out our positions during inevitable dips, individual investors can build a fortune investing in small companies.
Led by Fool co-founder Tom Gardner, our Hidden Gems recommendations are beating the market by more 30 percentage points on average. If you'd like see the stocks we're recommending today, click here to try Hidden Gems free for 30 days. There is no obligation to subscribe.
Fool contributor Todd Wenning enjoys a good roller coaster now and again, specifically "Apollo's Chariot" at Busch Gardens Europe. He owns shares of Sun Hydraulics. Akamai is a Rule Breakers pick. JPMorgan Chase is an Income Investor selection. The Fool has a disclosure policy.
