Here’s an interesting exercise: compare this table, of the largest US companies by market capitalization, to this table, of the top stocks in 2007 by dollars traded. For instance, more money changed hands trading Apple shares than trading Exxon Mobil shares, despite the fact that Exxon Mobil is three times the size of Apple. Similarly, Goldman Sachs beat out Citigroup in trading volume despite having a significantly smaller market cap. And just look at Research in Motion: a market cap of just $21 billion, but more trading volume than General Electric, which has a market cap of $374 billion.
If you want safe equities, I’d look for stocks with high capitalizations but low trading volume. The classic example there, of course, is Berkshire Hathaway.
(HT: Kedrosky)