From most to least transparent

Just as candidates run for different levels of offices, they are also subject to different levels of scrutiny.

The federal government has more resources than states or local governments to collect data and enforce campaign regulations.

The Federal Election Commission has a site where anyone can search contributions to campaigns for federal offices, like the presidency or Congress. The Pennsylvania Department of State has a search tool built with older technology to research donations in state-level races. At the local level, it’s up to cities and counties to decide how to make that data available to the public.

“When you go down the various levels of government, from the FEC down to state level down to local level, it just gets harder and harder,” said Stephen Medvic, a political science professor at Franklin and Marshall College.

Pittsburgh has a searchable database, and Montgomery County scans and catalogs finance reports. Most counties keep the records on paper in a filing cabinet, though they are available for public viewing.

“It’s very, very difficult for individual citizens to track that,” Medvic said. “So we really have to rely either on good government groups that keep track of this sort of thing or, obviously, journalists.”

How to keep tabs on a politician’s tab

The United States likely has the most transparency around campaign financing in the world, according to Kolodny. That’s even with organizations that support candidates but don’t have to disclose who their donors are. The practice is commonly called “dark money.”

The country also runs some of the world’s most expensive campaigns.

In addition to government-run websites, groups like the nonpartisan OpenSecrets help monitor money going into campaigns.

The site aggregates federal data and draws connections, allowing users to look up federal candidates and officeholders, donors or outside spending. It also operates a site for tracking candidates and officeholders at the state level, called FollowTheMoney. For people who are very curious about money in politics, OpenSecrets created a tipsheet to help with investigations.

It’s important for people not to jump to conclusions when looking at contributions, Kolodny said.

A person may see a contribution by a local business to a candidate, but that doesn’t necessarily describe the business’ political affiliation. Large employers tend to give money to incumbent candidates in the local area, she said, and that often happens without partisan consideration.

Looking at donations by partisan groups might be more useful to the average, and especially, the undecided voter.

Voters can also compare how much money is coming from small-dollar donations versus major donors or Political Action Committees. The amount of money in a race is also an indication of both how competitive the election will be and how important the seat is.

But for all the money in U.S. elections, money is not political destiny.

“Nothing will counter a well-orchestrated grassroots movement,” Kolodny said.

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This story is part of an explanatory series focused on Pennsylvania elections produced collaboratively by WITF in Harrisburg and The Associated Press.

In this article, we will look at the 8 Cheap Penny Stocks to Buy Right Now. Let’s look at where Lument Finance Trust, Inc. (LFT) stands against other cheap penny stocks.

The economy of the United States has stabilized, with inflation continuously cooling down and the risk of recession overruled. The Federal Reserve cut interest rates on September 18, slashing them by half a point as a start to its first easing cycle in four years. The Federal Reserve statement said:

However, Fed Chair Jerome Powell announced on September 30 that the recent aggressive half-percentage point interest rate cuts should not be interpreted as a sign that future rate cuts would also be as aggressive. Instead, they are likely to be smaller. Talking to the National Association for Business Economics, he said:

Powell expressed confidence in the country’s economic strength, claiming that inflation is expected to continue cooling. He also indicated that if the economic data shows consistency in the coming days, two more rate cuts would likely materialize in 2024. These, however, are expected to come in smaller quarter percentage point increments. This trend goes against market expectations for more aggressive cuts and easing.

During a Q&A session after his speech in Nashville, Tennessee, he said that:

Sustainable Growth Expected in Small Caps Amidst Market Shifts

On July 26, Nathan Moser, Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager at Impax Asset Management, discussed some long-term possibilities for small-cap stocks on Schwab Network. Talking about the recent changes in small stocks, he discussed the positive shift and noted that the recent rise in small caps appears more sustainable after years of struggle. This trend is primarily driven by strong inflows into ETFs and passive investment vehicles.

Despite short-term volatility, Mooser believes the market’s current move could last for years. He thus encouraged buying on market dips, while highlighting the need to focus on profitable, high-quality companies due to the potential risks typically associated with lower-quality stocks in small caps.

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Our Methodology

We first consulted stock screeners from Finviz and Yahoo Finance to create an initial list of 15 publicly traded penny stocks with forward P/E ratios of less than 15 as of October 1, 2024. From this list, we selected the 8 stocks with the highest number of hedge funds holders as of Q2 2024, and used that as our ranking metric. The stocks we identified are profitable, have positive EPS growth, and are expected to remain profitable in the future as well.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).

8 Cheap Penny Stocks to Buy Right Now

Lument Finance Trust, Inc. (NYSE:LFT)

Share Price: $2.52

Forward P/E: 6.33

EPS Growth This Year: 53.80%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 5

Lument Finance Trust (NYSE:LFT) is a real estate investment trust that invests in, originates, finances, and manages a commercial real estate debt investment portfolio. Its primary focus is transitional floating-rate CRE mortgage loans while emphasizing middle-market multifamily assets. It also invests in other CRE-related investments, including preferred equity, mezzanine loans, commercial mortgage-backed securities, construction loans, fixed-rate loans, and other CRE debt instruments.

The company’s mortgage loan investment portfolio comprises around 88 senior secured floating rate loans with around $1.4 billion in aggregate unpaid principal balance. Lument Investment Management, LLC externally manages the company. Lument Finance Trust (NYSE:LFT) holds a competitive advantage due to its expertise in the origination, underwriting, and active asset management of multifamily mortgage investments. It also boasts strong sponsorships from the broader Lument and ORIX platforms, positioning it as a value proposition in today’s public markets. Despite the current challenging environment, the company raised its common dividend by $0.01 in June. This represents a 14% sequential increase over Q1.

It also fully deployed its capital into strong, predominantly multifamily credits by the end of 2023. Since then, it has focused on actively managing its loan investment portfolio.

The company has differentiated itself from its market peers by focusing on middle-market multifamily credit, allowing it to deliver a stable and sustainable dividend to its shareholders and preserve shareholder capital. According to the company, multifamily, particularly middle-market multifamily, is expected to remain a strong-performing asset class in the long term despite a modest softening of multifamily fundamentals.

Lument Finance (NYSE:LFT) continually maintains a strong liquidity position, with around $65 million in unrestricted cash on its balance sheet. Persistent elevated short-term rates have allowed the company to produce attractive returns on its cash balance. Intentionally adopting a defensive cash position, Lument Finance (NYSE:LFT) has gained the flexibility to manage the more challenging credits in its portfolio.

Overall, LFT ranks sixth among the 8 cheap penny stocks to buy right now. While we acknowledge the potential of LFT as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than LFT but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: $30 Trillion Opportunity: 15 Best Humanoid Robot Stocks to Buy According to Morgan Stanley and Jim Cramer Says NVIDIA ‘Has Become A Wasteland’.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.

The pound dropped by about 0.1% against the US dollar on Tuesday, at 1.30, the lowest value in more than three weeks. The slip reflects a shift in investor sentiment, with traders paring back their bets on sterling in favour of the safe-haven US currency.

This trend has been bolstered by robust US economic data and hawkish comments from the Federal Reserve, contrasting sharply with the dovish stance expressed by Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey.

Investor unease is further exacerbated by the upcoming government budget announcement later this month, raising concerns about potential tax hikes and spending cuts.

Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index (DX-Y.NYB), which gauges the dollar’s strength against six major currencies, has extended its winning streak for six consecutive trading days, surpassing the 102 mark.

Read more: FTSE 100 LIVE: Stocks decline across Europe as UK borrowing costs escalate

Looking ahead, investors will focus on the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for September, set to be released on Thursday. This inflation data is expected to shed light on the Federal Reserve’s potential interest rate decisions in November.

Sterling was also lower against the euro (GBPEUR=X) in early trading, slipping 0.1% to €1.19.

Gold prices have slipped for the fifth consecutive day, hitting an over one-week low during early European trading on Tuesday, edging closer to the critical $2,630 support level.

At the time of writing, spot gold was down 0.3% at $2,635.43 per ounce, while US gold futures slipped 0.4% to $2,656.50.

This downward trend is largely attributed to diminishing expectations for a substantial interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve in November, which has undermined demand for the non-yielding yellow metal.

Despite this decline, gold’s downside remains somewhat cushioned by a modest weakening of the US dollar, which typically supports USD-denominated commodities.

Read more: Chancellor Reeves urged to change fiscal rules in budget to unlock £57bn

Geopolitical tensions, particularly ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, may also provide some support for gold prices as investors seek safe-haven assets. However, many traders are likely to adopt a cautious stance, refraining from making aggressive directional bets ahead of the upcoming release of the FOMC meeting minutes on Wednesday.

In addition, key economic indicators such as the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the US Producer Price Index (PPI), scheduled for release on Thursday and Friday respectively, are expected to influence short-term dollar dynamics and offer new momentum for gold prices.

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Oil prices have slipped after hitting a six-week high but are still hovering around the $80 mark amid escalating fears over the conflict in the Middle East.

Brent crude futures dropped 1.5% to $76.69 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) crude fell 1.9% to $75.68 per barrel during early European trading.

Brent has been rising since Israel decided to take military actions against Hamas in Gaza, as well as tensions with Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, all of which are linked to Iran. Since the attack on Israel on October 7 2023, these developments have served as catalysts for rising oil prices.

However, in recent weeks, the market had experienced some stability amid concerns about weakened global demand, particularly from China, and the potential risks of further disruptions to shipping in the oil-rich region.

Read more: Stocks to watch ahead of the October budget

But further gains in crude were held back by the dollar, as expectations of smaller US interest rate cuts boosted the greenback.

Traders were also watching for the reopening of Chinese markets after a week-long holiday, as the world’s biggest oil importer announced a slew of major stimulus measures.

Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 (^FTSE) was lower at the open, losing 1.2%% to 8,202 points. For more details check our live coverage here.

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