Microguy, do appreciate your research for viable coins to invest/trade in.
From my time investigating and trading in alt coins, here is some wisdom I can forward to your readers:
-- try to trade in alt coins that have had fair distribution, i.e. no or little premine/instamine. Dont get caught on the losing end of pump and dump. Research the coins mining origins, read the coins announcement page, ask questions.
-- choose coins that have relatively high volume, that are actively traded. This is easy to do: just sort the coinmarketcap page by 24hr volume column. This is a much more valid criteria than the market cap, if you are looking to actively trade.
-- look at a coin's price chart for 3 months, 6 months, 1 year... does the coin show consistent up and down movement, rallies that were profitable within a reasonable time frame? If so, you can trade on that coins historical data, because history repeats itself.
-- once you find coins with the above criteria, invest in them, looking for historical buy-in lows and wait and be patient. Wait for the coin to rise and take moderate profit. Don't be greedy, be happy with 10%, 20%, 30%...anything more is just greedy gravy.
-- repeat the trading with same or different alt coins
-- never keep coins in a trading exchange, keep them safe in your coin wallet.
-- while holding your profits to reinvest, try to save back to something non volatile...fiat, or if very short term, use bitcoin.
-- most importantly, never invest anything more than play money. You cannot emotionally be attached to trading funds, if you hope to profit.
Hope this helps some alt coin traders.
H.