Finding great investments can be tough. Especially in a volatile market like this one.
Luckily, Chief Income Strategist Marc Lichtenfeld is one of the best investment experts out there.
Keep scrolling to read his guest article…
– Nicole Labra, Senior Managing Editor
Years ago, a friend of mine asked me for a stock recommendation or two. “I need to make some money,” he said.
I told him I really liked Texas Instruments (Nasdaq: TXN). “The calculator company?!” he exclaimed. “Yes, the calculator company,” I replied, rolling my eyes.
I explained that while there are still calculators out there with Texas Instruments’ name on them, the company is one of the world’s leading semiconductor manufacturers. And it pays a nice dividend.
He snored loudly, pretending to be asleep.
I then told him about Raytheon Technologies (NYSE: RTX). The government never gets tired of spending money on new toys for the military.
“C’mon, Marc… give me something exciting,” he demanded.
“Okay, how about Digital Realty Trust (NYSE: DLR)?” I said.
I explained that this company is a real estate investment trust that rents out shelf space to household-name companies to store their servers. It generates a ton of cash and also pays a solid dividend.
“Booorrrring!!!” he cried.
Had he invested in those companies, he wouldn’t have thought they were boring at all. My newsletter subscribers certainly don’t. Texas Instruments is up 531% since I recommended it to them. Raytheon is up 458%. And I recently advised them to sell Digital Realty Trust for a gain of more than 180%.
But my friend wanted something tiny that could really move.
There’s a misperception in the market that low-priced stocks move faster than high-priced stocks.
Tell that to anyone who bought Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) for $100 in 2020 or anyone who bought MercadoLibre (Nasdaq: MELI) for $500. They’ll laugh in your face. Tesla quadrupled just two years later, and MercadoLibre traded as high as $2,020 less than a year later.
Still, there is something exciting about owning a lot of shares of a low-priced, very small company. And when tiny companies move, they can move fast.
Look at Rigel Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: RIGL). It was trading at $0.64 on June 13, 2022. Nine days later, the stock had doubled.
Tiny Blue Dolphin Energy (OTC: BDCO) was trading at $0.39 on May 10, 2022. Less than a month later, it hit $2.38.
And Trevi Therapeutics (Nasdaq: TRVI) was at $0.46 in February 2022. Less than two months later, it tagged a high of $3.73.
That’s the kind of action most people who get involved in microcap stocks are looking for.
And there’s nothing wrong with that as long as you know the risks and position size accordingly.
Many investors don’t know this, but you can also find microcaps that pay dividends.
For example, Kimbell Royalty Partners (NYSE: KRP) has a market cap of just $1 billion and yields more than 12%.
And Crown Crafts (Nasdaq: CRWS), which has a market cap of just $58 million, sports a 5.6% yield.
Microcaps don’t have to be companies that have recently gone public or are involved in Bitcoin or some other speculative technology.
Crown Crafts makes baby furniture and has been around for 66 years.
I tell investors that when you’re creating a portfolio, you should diversify by sector, geography and market cap. There are times when large cap companies outperform, and there are times when small cap or microcap companies outperform.
No doubt, my buddy was looking for one of the microcaps about to take off. Everybody is. And it’s okay to invest in those types of companies.
In fact, I recommend that investors include microcaps in their portfolios. That way you can get exposure to these small companies that can double or triple in a short period of time in some cases – and fly under the radar in others.
Just be sure you know why you’re buying a stock and have an exit plan, like a stop, set up ahead of time. This ensures that you will sell if things go south or it’s time to grab profits.
These small stocks can be volatile, and you don’t want to be wondering what to do if the stock starts bouncing all around.