10 Best Penny Stocks to Watch This Week (October 30 - November 3)

Our list of penny stocks to watch this week includes the best-performing companies of the month so far. These stocks have seen a minimum gain of 67.5% over the last four weeks.

But we know investors are looking for future gainers. After the list, we're going to show you a stock that Money Morning Small-Cap Specialist Sid Riggs recently recommended. Shares of this company could rocket higher in 2018 as the firm benefits from China's exploding auto industry...

Penny Stock to Watch Today's Price October 2017 Gain
Endocyte Inc.

(Nasdaq: ECYT)

$4.62 +227.7%
Neothetics Inc.

(Nasdaq: NEOT)

$1.31 +178.7%
Real Goods Solar Inc.

(Nasdaq: RGSE)

$2.27 +160.9%
Medical Transcription Billing Corp.

(Nasdaq: MTBC)

$2.89 +96.6%
Bon-Ton Stores Inc.

(Nasdaq: BONT)

$0.83 +93%
DryShips Inc.

(Nasdaq: DRYS)

$4.30 +74.8%
Infinity Pharmaceuticals Inc.

(Nasdaq: INFI)

$2.32 +74.4%
Repros Therapeutics Inc.

(Nasdaq: RPRX)

$0.54 +68.8%
Valhi Inc.

(NYSE: VHI)

$4.09 +68.3%
Leading Brands Inc.

(Nasdaq: LBIX)

$1.41 +67.9%

The top penny stock of October is Endocyte Inc., a pharma company co-developing the chemotherapy drug Vintafolide along with Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK). The ECYT stock price rallied 317% during just the first two sessions of the month after Endocyte announced it exclusively licensed a therapy for prostate cancer.

Must See: Marijuana stocks are seeing triple-digit gains, and the next wave of wealth is coming. Learn how you could turn a small $100 stake into a fortune. Read more...

penny stocks to watch this weekOn Oct. 2, the company licensed PSMA-617 - a radioactive treatment that targets antigens found in about 80% of patients with an advanced kind of prostate cancer called mCRPC. Endocyte also announced it would quickly move the drug into phase 3 development, and investors pushed the stock higher on hopes that the drug would be approved for phase 3 trials early next year.

While ECYT's 217% return this month makes it look like a tempting investment, we don't advise buying in right now. In fact, we don't recommend buying any of the top penny stocks above, since their gains don't guarantee they'll keep pushing higher. Also, buying shares at their inflated prices means you might not make much of a return right now.

But Sid Riggs - a prolific small-cap expert whose picks have handed readers profits as big as 567.5% - just found a car stock poised to bring you returns next year. It's a little-known company in the United States and isn't a recognizable brand like Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM).

Sid's pick only operates in China, which boasts one of the fastest-growing auto markets in the world.

The Chinese car market's expansion makes it a ripe place for your investment next year...

Auto sales in the Asian country rose 45% between 2013 and 2016. That was bigger than the U.S. and EU markets, which only increased 12.5% and 22.9%, respectively. China's car ownership even climbed to 172 million in 2015 - more than half the U.S. population of 320.9 million that year.

And Sid says this stock could surge as Chinese consumers start changing the way they buy cars...

Invest in This Small-Cap Auto Stock Before 2018

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The pick is Bitauto Holdings Ltd. (NYSE ADR: BITA), which provides marketing, Internet content, and other advertising services to Chinese automakers and automobile customers.

The company has its hands in three of the country's biggest non-manufacturing-related auto segments: advertising/subscriptions, transaction services, and digital marketing. All three sectors have been growing this year, rising 4.2%, 193.5%, and 4.3% year over year in Q1 2017, respectively.

Another catalyst is China's growing auto industry. The country sold 23.7 million automobiles last year, surpassing U.S. sales of 17.5 million by 35.4%.

And China's growing sales have been attributed to the rapid rise of the country's middle-class population.

"China's middle class is expected to reach 550 million people in five years," Sid said. "By comparison, the U.S. middle class clocks in at 120.8 million people."

"Just like you and me, they want everything we already have (and take for granted), especially automobiles, which are seen as a huge status symbol associated with success."

But the biggest catalyst for Bitauto stock in 2018 will be its financing operation...

You see, Chinese consumers have historically used cash to buy cars, real estate, and other properties. In 2014, then-Vice President of Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) David Schoch said in a conference call that about 80% of all Ford buyers in China used cash, and only 20% financed their cars. Similarly, the National Association of Realtors said Chinese buyers paid entirely in cash in 71% of all U.S. real estate deals.

However, these consumers have been shifting toward financing their cars in recent years. And according to Deloitte, 50% of all auto purchases in China will be financed by 2020.

This trend will be huge for Bitauto's transaction services business, which as we mentioned is already seeing explosive year-over-year growth of 193.5%. Not to mention, that particular business just received $1 billion in funding from three Chinese Internet companies. These include Tencent Holdings Ltd., JD.com Inc. (Nasdaq ADR: JD), and Baidu Inc. (Nasdaq ADR: BIDU).

"BITA's presence as a trusted company for car financing and transactions gives it a huge first-mover advantage over up-and-comers who have yet to build a loyal user base," Sid noted.

Stocks like Bitauto are a great way to "ride" China's growing car market higher without directly investing overseas. Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald has been researching even more aggressive income potential, too. He's found a special class of investments he calls "26(f) programs," which give investors the opportunity to tap into huge monthly income - $2,000... $5,000... or more - every month for the rest of their lives. Click here to learn how it works...

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