Blog : Review: Penny Stocks for Dummies

by Ed Zwirn on May 10th, 2013

Alright, so maybe I don't consider myself a "dummy." On the other hand, the recently published Penny Stocks for Dummies by Peter Leeds showed me how much I still had to learn and taught me a thing or two I didn't even know that I didn't even know.

Peter's latest contribution to the world of penny stock literature offers a comprehensive guide to anybody who might be interested in either trading penny stocks or just learning about the stock market in general and/or penny stocks in particular.

Like his previous book, Invest in Penny Stocks, which I reviewed for this blog in March, Penny Stocks for Dummies offers the reader a wealth of detail and insight into some of the rewards (and pitfalls) involved with this risky (and potentially rewarding) type of asset and, as its title implies, does so in a manner that will keep readers with all degrees of expertise reading through all of its 278 pages.

In addition, Peter's latest book should also prove useful even to those who have read the earlier book. Particularly helpful to me in this regard is the section dealing with the major stock exchanges and the significance of a company's being listed in any one of them. As closely as I have followed financial markets over the years, the book's "who's who of stock exchanges" taught me a thing or two by describing the New York and American stock exchanges, the NASDAQ and the Over the Counter Bulletin Board.

Call me a dummy, but I didn't know, for example, that the Over the Counter Bulletin Board (OTC-BB) is actually owned by the NASDAQ and is a legitimate exchange constituting a great place to look for penny stocks in which to invest, as opposed to truly over-the-counter markets, which aren't actually bona fide stock markets. On the other hand, as Peter points out, true over-the-counter venues not only represent a very inefficient way of trading shares, whether you're talking Pink Sheets or other so-called "markets" like the OTCQB or OTCQX, but mostly have very loose financial reporting requirements if they have any at all.

If you are at all interested in penny stock investing, which I guess you are considering you are reading this penny stock blog, you owe it to yourself (and your wallet) to check out this interesting and informative book. You may be even less of a dummy than I think I am, but you stand to learn a lot from this one.