Our “penny stocks worth a look” list isn’t quite as long as usual as we kick off the week, though there are still some interesting ideas on the table.

As always, these penny stocks come to our attention though a variety of proprietary scans designed to pinpoint the most trade-worthy or investment-worthy stocks, while disregarding the mediocre ideas. Though no stock-selection process is perfect, we have found our strategy to be a very efficient ways to find trading ideas for you to review further.

Note: Our penny stock ‘picks’ are generally a longer-term idea, while our penny stock ‘trades’ are likely to have a shorter holding period. There’s crossover from time to time though, so don’t get too rigid in your trading plan.

Also, if you’re going to act on any of these ideas, do so intelligently. Use tight stops, take profits at peaks, etc.  This is still a speculative game, and it’s your money on the line. We may or may not revisit any of these tickers in the future, so it’s up to you to handle them.

We’ve added the most meaningful pieces of information for each of today’s four penny stocks.

BBVA Banco Frances S.A. (BFR)

We’ve now seen two unexplained volume surges over the last three days, made as part of a pretty reliable uptrend. In other words, we think the volume was buying volume, as the stock didn’t falter. There was no news behind the volume surge either.

BBVA is just one of those undiscovered penny stocks that the market is slowly - very slowly - finding. The P/E of 5.64 is attractive, and the company has made a habit of topping analyst’s expectations. This year’s and next year’s bar may still be set too low to boot. It could just be one of those micro companies (foreign, no less) that quietly makes its owners a fortune while nobody’s looking.

MGMT Energy, Inc. (MGEG)

Slow and steady wins the race, and we’ve seen just that from MGMT Energy. Support has been made pretty consistently while the stock has moved from the low $3’s to the high $3’s. It was today’s high-volume break above the ceiling at $3.75 that got our attention though….on no news (that we could find anyway). It could be the beginning of another bullish wave, with the news behind it all to be announced later.

Omnicity, Corp. (OMCY)

This is a tough one. The trend is bullish, and today’s volume is bullish. However, we’re actually thinking this thing could turn BEARISH in a hurry.

What gives? The stock has made little to no progress despite a massive increase in volume of late. Perhaps for every buyer, there’s a willing seller. If potential buyers see the stall and back of from their ask price, the bottom could drop out. Or, OMCY could break through resistance at 73 cents (fueled by lots of volume) and explode to the upside.

We think there’s tons of ’swing’ opportunity here….it’s just not clear in which direction yet. Keep it on your radar, but be ready to move quickly.

China Distance Education Holdings Limited (DL)

This is a bearish play (a shorting idea, if your broker allows you to short stocks under $5.00).

Basically, we find it a little ironic that the same day the company provided a firm date for last quarter’s earnings conference call is the same day the stock started to fall apart. The 7.6% dip is the worst daily showing in months; plenty of technical damage was inflicted too. We can’t help but wonder if earnings numbers were leaked, and it turns out that China’s for-profit schools are starting to experience the same problems U.S. distance-learning and for-profit schools are. Today’s not a good omen for the bulls.

This is just a small sample of the kinds of great penny stock and small cap trading ideas you can get by subscribing to our free newsletter. Don’t miss your next chance to make some serious money. Sign up today and start profiting tomorrow.