A large number of well-established companies were once trading for under £1 a share, including Ford, JD Sports and Monster Beverage. Those who invested in these companies during their penny stock days could have made a substantial gain over time. Read ahead for everything you need to know about trading penny stocks, including how-to identify good penny share opportunities.
What are penny stocks?
Penny stocks or penny shares are a common stock that trade for less than £1 on UK stock exchanges or less than $5 on US stock exchanges. The low share price means the stock is likely to be a highly speculative investment.
Although the definition of a penny stock is a stock that is valued under £1 or $5 in the UK and US respectively, they have been expanded to cover stocks valued over these guideline prices. But generally, penny stocks have low share prices. They are usually characterized by very high volatility and are seen as higher-risk stocks, with the possibility of significant growth.
The appeal of trading penny stocks and penny shares in the UK is easy to see. If you have £1,000 to invest, you can get a considerably larger share percentage in a smaller company whose shares are trading for a few pence, rather than buying blue-chip shares which may cost much more for an extremely small percentage of ownership. And of course, if your penny share one day goes on to join the blue-chips, you could end up making large returns with the right trading strategy.
Penny stock market analysis
Penny stock markets are well known for being extremely volatile, and price fluctuations of around 20% are very common. Therefore, it is essential to conduct a thorough analysis while following your risk-management strategy before deciding whether or not to go forward with any trading decision. It is also best practice to trade in industries where there is large market growth as opposed to industries that are declining.
Penny stocks in the UK and internationally tend to not see much daily trading volume on the stock markets, therefore it often doesn't take a large buy or sell order to move the price. If plenty of people are talking about a penny share, on internet forums for example, that could also influence the price. It is important not to get sucked into an investment just because it has had a large one-day move and you are afraid of missing out. What goes up quickly can come down even quicker – so make sure your reasons for investing are the right ones.
Trading penny stocks is an extremely risk-tolerant trading strategy, for the investor that is more risk-averse, a strategy involving undervalued stocks may present a better opportunity for speculative growth opportunities.
Penny stock cost management
If you’re happy with your research and have made your trade, another key point is don’t forget to sell. For example, let us say you are fortunate, and the value of the penny stock moves in your favor and, for the sake of argument, it doubles. It can be very easy to sit back and wait for it to double once more. This is not always going to happen, and you should have a strategy in place for when it does not.
When sentiment changes on smaller shares its price can about-turn very quickly, taking all of your hard-won profit, and maybe more. Getting into the position is only half the plan of trading, in fact, some would say it accounts for less than that. Where you get out will determine just how successful penny stock trading could be for you.
The best penny stocks to trade
Trading opportunities on thousands of your favorite global stocks, is available some of which are penny stocks in the UK and internationally. Penny stocks are often small or start-up companies chasing growth opportunities, though you will also find some big brand names that have experienced steep downtrends in their market value.
Many well-known brands once traded at penny stock levels, including Monster Beverage (NASDAQ: MNST), Ford (NYSE: F), SiriusXM (NASDAQ: SIRI), and pharma penny stocks such as Novavax.
When trading penny stocks it can be hard to distinguish between companies that have promising growth prospects and companies that do not. Therefore, it is recommended to thoroughly research companies you wish to trade before considering to buy the stocks.
Penny stock example
Penny stocks can be traded in the same way as any other market on the trading platform. When trading penny stocks you either go long and ‘buy’ or go short and ‘sell’ the asset. The option to ‘buy’ or ‘sell’ offers the trader to play both sides of the market, doubling the potential opportunities available in penny stock markets.
An example of a UK penny stock listed on the London stock exchange is Petra Diamonds.
As of March 2020, Petra Diamonds was trading for around 1.20p, with a market cap of just £10.4m.
Just 3 months earlier, Petra Diamonds was trading at 9.40p, around a 90% upside.
Although there can be large gains when trading penny stocks, there are also risks of losing a significant amount of your investment in a short period. We recommend using ‘stop-loss orders’ to limit your losses and ‘take profit’ orders to capture profit in an automated manner.
If you believe that the price of Petra Diamonds could increase in the future, you could go ahead and open a ‘buy’ position. As the stock price is so low, if the company ever made a comeback you could reap large rewards. However, the chances of the stock staying stagnant or losing more value are also just as possible.
Where to trade penny stocks?
With CFD trading, you can access and trade your favorite financial instruments from around the world on one streamlined platform. This includes thousands of shares, including some penny stocks in the UK and other penny stocks from international markets like the US.
Source: CMC Markets UK
Disclaimer: Century Financial Consultancy LLC (“CFC”) is Limited Liability Company incorporated under the Laws of UAE and is duly licensed and regulated by the Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority of UAE (SCA). This document is a marketing material and is for informational purposes only and must not be construed to be an advice to invest or otherwise in any investment or financial product. CFC does not guarantee as to adequacy, accuracy, completeness or reliability of any information or data contained herein and under no circumstances whatsoever none of such information or data be construed as an advice or trading strategy or recommendation to deal (Buy/Sell) in any investment or financial product. CFC is not responsible or liable for any result, gain or loss, based on this information, in whole or in part.
PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF ACCESS FOR THE PUBLICATION BEFORE THE USE THEREOF.
By use of the publication and continuing to access the publication, you accept these terms and conditions and undertake to be bound by the acceptance. CFC reserves the right to amend, remove, or add to the publication and Disclaimer at any time without any prior notice to you. Such modifications shall be effective immediately. Accordingly, please continue to review this Disclaimer whenever accessing, or using the publication. Your access of, and use of the publication, after modifications to the Disclaimer will constitute your acceptance of the terms and conditions of use of the publication, as modified. If, at any time, you do not wish to accept the content of this Disclaimer, you may not access, or use the publication. Any terms and conditions proposed by you which are in addition to or which conflict with this Disclaimer are expressly rejected by CFC and shall be of no force or effect.
No information as given herein by CFC in this publication should be construed as an offer, recommendation or solicitation to purchase or dispose of any securities/financial instruments/products or to enter in any transaction or adopt any hedging, trading or investment strategy. Neither this publication nor anything contained herein shall form the basis of any contract or commitment whatsoever. Distribution of this publication does not oblige CFC to enter into any transaction.
The content of this publication should not be considered legal, regulatory, credit, tax or accounting advice. Anyone proposing to rely on or use the information contained in the publication should independently verify and check the accuracy, completeness, reliability and suitability of the information and should obtain independent and specific advice from appropriate professionals or experts regarding information contained in this publication. CFC cannot be held responsible for the impact of any transactional costs or any taxes as may be applicable on transactions.
Information contained herein is based on various sources, including but not limited to public information, annual reports and statistical data that CFC considers reliable. However, CFC makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of any report or statistical data made in or in connection with this publication and accepts no responsibility whatsoever for any loss or damage caused by any act or omission taken as a result of the information contained in this publication. The articles does not take into account the investment objectives, financial situations and specific needs of recipients. The recipient of this publication must make its own independent decisions regarding whether this communication and any securities or financial instruments mentioned herein, is appropriate in the light of its existing portfolio holdings and/or investment needs.
This document is a marketing material and has been prepared by individual(s), marketing and/or research personnel of CFC. It has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is purely a marketing communication. In this publication, any opinions, news, research, analysis, prices, or other information constitute is a general market commentary, and do not constitute the opinion or advice of CFC or any form of personal or investment advice. CFC neither endorses nor guarantees offerings of third party, nor is CFC responsible for the content, veracity or opinions of third-party speakers, presenters, participants or providers. CFC will not accept liability for any loss or damage, including without limitation to, any loss of profit, which may arise directly or indirectly from use of or reliance on such information.
Charts, graphs and related data or information provided in this publication are intended to serve for illustrative purposes only. The information contained in this publication is prepared as of a particular date and time and will not reflect subsequent changes in the market or changes in any other factors relevant to their determination. All statements as to future matters are not guaranteed to be accurate. CFC expressly disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, events or circumstances after the date of this publication or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
Staff members/employees of CFC may provide/present oral or written market commentary or analysis to you that reflect opinions that are contrary to the opinions expressed in this research and may contain insights and reports that are inconsistent with the views expressed in this publication. Neither CFC nor any of its affiliates, group companies, directors, employees, agents or representatives assume any liability nor shall they be made liable for any damages whether direct, indirect, special or consequential including loss of revenue or profits that may arise from or in connection with the use of the information provided in this publication.
Information or data provided by means in this publication may have many inherent limitations, like module errors or lack accuracy in its historical data. Data included in the publication may rely on models that do not reflect or take into account all potentially significant factors such as market risk, liquidity risk, credit risk etc.
The use of our information, products and services should be on your own due diligence and you agree that CFC is not liable for any failure to achieve desired return on investment that is in any manner related to availing of services or products of CFC and use of our information, products and services. You acknowledge and agree that past investment performance is not indicative of the future performance results of any investment and that the information contained herein is not to be used as an indication for the future performance of any investment activity.
This publication is being furnished to you solely for your information and neither it nor any part of it may be used, forwarded, disclosed, distributed or delivered to anyone else. You may not copy, reproduce, display, modify or create derivative works from any data or information contained in this publication.
Services offered by CFC include products that are traded on margin and can result in losses that exceed deposits. Before deciding to trade on margin products, you should consider your investment objectives, risk tolerance and your level of experience on these products. Trading with leverage carries significant risk of losses and as such margin products are not suitable for every investor and you should ensure that you understand the risks involved and should seek independent advice from professionals or experts if necessary.
Ready to Invest?
Explore a new trading experience with
Century Trader App
Losses can exceed your deposits
Ready to Invest?
Explore a new trading experience with
Century Trader App
Losses can exceed your deposits