In financial markets, liquidity refers to how quickly an asset can be bought or sold in the market. It can also refer to how trading affects the security’s price.
Liquid stocks are more easily day-traded and tend to be more discounted than other stocks, making them cheaper. In addition, equity offered by corporations with higher market capitalizations is often more liquid than corporations with lower market caps. That’s because it’s easier to find buyers and sellers for the stock in question.
Stocks that exhibit more volatility lend themselves to day-trading strategies as well. So a stock may be volatile if its issuing corporation experiences more variance in its cash flows. While markets will anticipate these changes for the most part, when extenuating circumstances transpire, day traders can capitalize on asset mispricing. Uncertainty in the marketplace creates an ideal day trading situation.
Check out some of the online financial services, such as Yahoo Finance or Google Finance. These sites will regularly list highly liquid and highly volatile stocks during the day. You can also get this information from most online broker sites in real-time.