See allLatest Trade Alerts

Brokerage Partners

10 Small-Cap Stocks Safe for Skittish Investors (Udate1)

Written by: Frank Byrt 03/23/12 - 2:30 PM EDT
Tickers in this article: FIRE FCFS ULTA IEX HLF CPRT TRAK INWK LIZ LTM
(Story updated to add that Copart recently announced a 2-for-1 stock split.)

BOSTON (TheStreet) -- The small-cap stock sector may be one of the most fertile fields to plow this spring as the economy heats up.

Although the S&P SmallCap 600 Growth Index is running right on par with the S&P 500's 12% gain this year, it's up 35% since early October when the markets' recovery began. According to S&P Capital IQ chief equity strategist Sam Stovall, small-cap stocks historically have, on average, risen 47% in the 12 months following a market bottom. That means it may not be too late to go small-cap-stock shopping.

The downside to investing in the small-cap sector is that it can be a rocky patch during periods of economic uncertainty, and its stocks can be highly volatile.

More Headlines

In light of that, S&P Capital IQ analyst Jim Corridore screened a large number of small-cap growth mutual funds to find those with the lowest beta, a measure of a stock's or a fund's performance in relation to the overall market, and is indicative of their volatility.