Summary: Penny stocks trading refers to companies that trade for less than a dollar, but investors must be careful when trading penny stocks because of fraud. Find out how to contact the manager or trader of a specific fund when buying penny stocks with help from a portfolio manager in this free video on penny stocks and investments.

At Leeds Penny Stock, we’ve found that the big 50% and 200% price climbs (and collapses for that matter) often happen in a matter of days or weeks, while the same stock may trade within a narrow range for months at a time, before and after the move.

This is especially true when a penny stock is reacting to significant news. Even the most volatile shares may have a trading range that varies 40% to 100% from high to low, but when that news breaks, the price of the shares also break out of the range and soar higher (or lower) within a matter of days… or hours!

To make the most of your money, you should try to anticipate the gains that these windows provide, rather than holding the shares over the longer term.

There are four ways that we’ve identified to increase your chances of holding shares just before they make their moves.

1. Technical Analysis Indicators for Penny Stock

As detailed in the section in Leeds Analysis on Technical Analysis, some trading patterns help you anticipate a break-out or strong upside price move. Penny stocks often bounce off of Support Levels, reverse their trends, explode out of Consolidation Patterns, or Bottom Out. Each of these technical analysis patterns can potentially identify an upcoming penny stock price move.

2. Type of Penny Stock Company

Different penny stocks are prone to different trading activity based on the industry or sector they’re involved in, or the type of business they operate.

For example, retail stores have a certain predictability of earnings and revenues which doesn’t allow for sudden explosions of price. Instead, they are more susceptible to longer, less dramatic price trends.

Meanwhile, a biotechnology company can see its share price suddenly double or cut in half based on news, rumors, or even rampant speculation. FDA approval? Law-suit from side-effects of their primary drug? Even small sparks can ignite (or kill) a biotech penny stock.

Other penny stocks that are subject to spiking higher include:

• research and development corporations

• companies with inventions that require patent approvals

• businesses that operate on a contract basis, where one major client or job could represent a significant portion of their total revenues (for example, defense industry suppliers often see their share price thrown around suddenly, based on government contracts won or lost)

• latest “in-the-media” hot stocks (some past examples of such industries include nanotech, dot com and internet, blue tooth, uranium mining, and any business poised to conquer the Chinese market)

• resource exploration companies (not producers)

Some examples of companies that aren’t necessarily subject to the same sudden price moves include:

• restaurants

• retail

• entertainment

• mining and resource producers (not exploration companies)

• furniture makers

Most companies, however, fall somewhere in between the examples given above. Such stocks are subject to price moves if the driving forces of their industries suddenly factor in. For example, a war in the Middle East will affect oil production stocks, or a company making clean energy technology suddenly benefits from a new government policy.

3. Volatility

Some stocks are naturally more volatile than others, for any of a number of reasons. You can get a feel for the propensity the shares have to move, simply by looking at a trading chart. What’s the difference between the year high price and year low price? How many times did the shares change direction, and how quickly did the price ramp up or fall off? How long did major price moves last?

There is a numerical indicator known as “beta,” which is simply a calculation of a stock’s volatility. You can see the beta for any stock on various financial sites, such as Yahoo Finance. A company with a beta of 1.0 will be no more or less volatile than the overall market. A beta of 3.0 means the company is three times more volatile, while 0.5 would mean that the company is half as volatile. Using beta, you can quickly see what to expect from the activity of the underlying shares.

To get the most out of these volatile penny stocks, try to accumulate at the bottom of the volatility as detailed in the section on Support Levels in Leeds Analysis. Then the price swings can become your friend, as they send shares higher, and quickly.

4. Anticipation

It is possible to predict the approximate time when most companies will release their financials (or you could just e-mail their public relations contact and ask). If you expect the details to surprise the street and you get involved before the release, you may be in for a good price ride.

If you can anticipate other types of releases, you may be able to benefit even further. For example, many biotechs will delineate their time line for product development, FDA applications, expected approvals, and product sales. Sometimes it’s just a matter of reviewing their previous annual report.

By having this information ahead of time, you could locate key buying opportunities just before the company has several upcoming landmark dates. If the price is right, load up on shares several weeks before they are expected to finish the development of their latest product. Certainly a news release can be anticipated, and in many cases it will probably affect the stock price, even when it doesn’t include any material changes or surprises from the company.

From another perspective, anticipating the biotech’s time line can help you develop exit opportunities if you are hoping to sell shares, and want to liquidate into a potential price pop to get a better profit.

The same concepts can be applied to stocks from different industries. Just be aware of the timelines, potential effect of releases, and expected results.

About the Author:

Peter Leeds is the Penny Stock Professional. Along with his team at Leeds Penny Stocks they publish picks, buy and sell prices, daily updates, and special feature reports.