Penny stocks can be tempting. Trading at less than $1 per share, big jumps always seem to be right around the corner. Low-priced stocks do tend to make big moves at a speedy clip, and even master investors like Fool founder David Gardner will admit to being swept up in the promise of penny stocks -- as a young and untrained investor.
But volatile penny stocks are usually found in Wall Street's bargain bin for a reason. They could be unproven upstarts, still looking for a first big break. Some are fallen giants, struggling to adapt to ever-changing market conditions. Either way, penny stocks often stoke dreams of big returns only to drop all the way to zero in the end.
Experienced investors will prefer a more substantial company over penny stocks, 999 times out of 1,000. On that note, here are three higher-priced stocks that look so tempting right now that I actually bought some of each last week.