The stock market offers several kinds of stocks with one of the most popular being penny stocks. It is difficult to discuss all of the types of stocks in just one article, but we will address several including penny stocks and small caps as well as others.

The type of stock an investor invests in depends on their risk tolerance. Some investors prefer individual stocks, some prefer mutual funds. Some investors prefer Dow stocks. Penny stocks can be risky and each investor has to decide on their risk tolerance level.

Value stocks are a popular type of stock category for investors to screen. Value stocks are those stocks that trade at a low price relative to its fundamentals and considered undervalued by value investors. Some characteristics of a value stocks include a low price-to-book ratio, high dividend yield, and/or low price-to-earnings ratio. Fundamentals include dividends, earnings, revenue, balance sheet items and other. Benjamin Graham and David Dodd are credited with pioneering value investing. Value investing is one type of stock investing for those looking for bargain stocks and cheap stocks.

Penny stocks are common stocks that trade for less than $5.00 a share and are traded over the counter (OTC) through quotation services such as the OTCBB or the Pink Sheets. Penny stocks generally have market caps under $500M, trade under $5.00 per share and are considered speculative, particularly those that trade on low volumes over the counter. There are several stocks that trade on the NASDAQ and AMEX that trade under the $5 level as well. Other terms to describe a penny stock include nano caps, microcap stocks, and small caps. Investors considering penny stocks have to evaluate their risk tolerance. Many consider penny stocks risky and speculative.
Growth stocks are stocks that increase in value (earnings growth, market capitalization, price) and yield a high return on equity, known as ROE. To calculate ROE, divide the company’s net income by the company’s equity. During some years growth stocks do well, in other years value stocks perform better. Generally, for a stock to be in the growth stock category, analysts expect to see at least 15 percent return on equity.

Small cap stocks are known popularly as small caps. These stocks are a popular stock market segment for stock research by investors. Small cap stocks are stocks of companies with a market capitalization of less than $1 billion. Microcap stocks are stock of companies with a market capitalization of less than $250 million.
It is important to understand market capitalization. Most new investors look at the stock price, but the important number to look at is market cap. Market cap is a measurement of corporate or economic size. It is calculated by multiplying the number of shares outstanding times the share price of a public company.

Technology stocks are generally traded on the NASDAQ exchange, but can be traded on several other exchanges. There are several technology stock sectors including the Internet, Cable & Satellite, Computers & Chips and others.