but for many in the U.S., there exists two types of stocks, those that appear in their daily newspaper, and those that do not. An assumption is usually made that all of the stocks listed in the newspaper are the most widely held and the most active available. A second assumption would follow that Unlisted stocks are the most thinly traded with no transparency and are the hardest to get in and out of, especially out. Both of these assumptions would be false, especially if we consider the facts. Each day, 1000’s of unlisted stocks see more dollar volume than 1000’s of listed stocks. In fact, the similarities between listed and unlisted stocks are those that provide security and transparency, such as real time level II quotes and SEC filings. The differences are minimal, and include several positives for the average retail investor. The most observable difference between listed and unlisted stocks is in and of itself a very big positive for traders, and is the idea that unlisted stocks do not have any threat of being delisted, as listed stocks do, and their only goal is to become listed, which is always constructive for shareholders as opposed to becoming delisted. Nevertheless, this carefree, anything goes environment can be similar in nature to the Wild West, and one will definitely need to be well prepared. Every assortment of possible ranges of compliance with respect to timely reports to shareholders and the SEC can be witnessed in the unlisted world. You will find that the most heavily traded stocks will usually be the ones filing the most complete reports. This is no different than in the listed world, there are just a lot more people willing to cover listed stocks, which is exactly why their rules are a lot more stringent. You may not have ten different analysts initiating buy and sell coverage on your stock in an unlisted environment, and you may not have a special congressional investigative committee to audit your companies financial documents, however, making your own independent decisions in this setting becomes a lot easier. Light coverage and lack of man power are aspects that one needs to keep in perspective when deciding how much of their overall portfolio to allocate towards Penny Stocks and the unlisted world. With every bit of added risk, however, comes added reward potential. Without dissecting the different components of the unlisted world, one clear difference is the lack of early morning and after hours trading opportunities. You simply cannot trade OTC BB or Pink Sheet stocks before 9:30AM EST or after 4:00PM EST unless you are a market maker. Liquidity providing firms will sometimes trade shares between themselves just before or after market hours, and these stocks will often be big movers throughout the regular trading day. The actuality that these stocks will not budge for more than thirty-two and a half hours a week is a blessing in disguise, considering how much attention they should receive in ones portfolio. Checking the price of your stocks several times throughout the trading session is essential as this is not the place to practice buying and holding, but at least when the bell rings there is a definitive end until the next trading session begins. All in all, trading unlisted stocks requires a little extra effort, however, every tool that you need is available, you just have to be willing to look a little further than your daily newspaper. |
PSW Staff |
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