As you begin to trade penny stocks, you need to know that there are no short-cuts. You have to do your research and then do it over again every day. In order to escape this, some people take advantage of the free penny stock lists that some traders and companies are trying to offer.

This seems appealing, but is very risky. You're taking your investment life in your hands for a couple of reasons. For one thing, the free lists are often made up by people who don't know very much about penny stocks. They may know the regular stock market and how it works, but they don't understand the penny stocks work very differently. So they're offering you fool's advice because you really don't know very much at this point.

You think they know what they're talking about because you've seen their names in various places, but you don't realize that their names have been used in other trading contexts. The other reason not to take the free lists is that some of the stock companies pay those who compile the lists.

Of course, the compilers don't tell you that they're being paid for giving you suggestions on what to buy. They just take the money from the ones who want their stocks to rise in value and you never realize that there's a conflict of interest going on behind your back. This makes the whole operation of questionable value. You have to be dealing with people who are on the up and up when you're in the market.

You don't need people on the inside making money from your ignorance. If there's no trust, there's no reason to be listening to them. Don't rush into this kind of trading. Take your time. It's better to wait than to make foolish purchases and sales. In this economy none of us can afford to lose money.

Do your own research. If you're going to look at a list, make it a list that you purchase after you've ascertained that it's put out by a reliable compiler of such information. You can search the internet for free to learn about penny stocks. First get yourself familiar with the literature and the companies. Then you're in a position to decide whether a particular list will be helpful to you or not.