5 Cheap “Diamond in the Rough” Stocks to Buy

Cheap stocks are few and far between. Goldman Sachs' bear market indicator - which analyzes trends in unemployment, manufacturing, core inflation, the yield curve and stock valuations - is at its highest levels since the late 1960s and early 1970s. By some metrics, such as the price-to-sales ratio, U.S. stocks are at their most expensive levels in history, even more expensive than at the top of the 1990s tech bubble.

"It is particularly scary this time around," says John Del Vecchio, co-manager of the AdvisorShares Ranger Equity Beat ETF (HDGE), "because we're dealing with a historical bull market. This means that the coming bear market - and there will be a bear market again - is likely to overshoot to the downside too. There's a lot of excess to work off."

Meanwhile, the Fed and other major central banks are draining excess liquidity out of the system, and growth in most overseas markets is slowing. But perhaps worst of all is that we're now coming up on the one-year anniversary of the tax cuts.