Smart Wife

I purchased shares of a penny stock and then sold them on my wife's request. Lesson learned: Let your wife make her own investment decisions. I bought shares at 58 cents and 72 cents each. The current price? $1.44. I'll probably get back into this company, even though the price is higher.

— J.T., online

The Fool Responds: The stock is back around 80 cents now, having been as low as 44 cents and as high as $3.77 during the year. This is penny stock territory, where lots of tiny, unproven companies trade. It's often rather difficult to find sufficient information on them. Worse, they tend to be very volatile and easily manipulated, leading investors to get excited and pile on when a penny stock is rising, and then wiped out when it rapidly falls. Your wife's advice was sound: Consider steering clear of penny stocks. There are lots of bigger, more established companies trading at attractive prices — especially these days. Try our Motley Fool Stock Advisor newsletter free for 30 days, and you'll be able to get access to all past issues and lots of recommendations.

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