Additionally, because of the great protection afforded to preferred stockholders, preferred stock tends to rise and fall in value much more slowly than the common stock of the associated company. A case in point would be Molycorp (MCP). While the common stock of the premier rare earth miner in the western hemisphere has fallen from $30 a share about a year ago to around $5 today, the preferred stock has only fallen from $65 to $20 or so. While this is still a terrible stock decline, it is a lot better than it could have been. And for those who believe in the long-term prospects of Molycorp, the preferred stock pays an enormous 28% dividend. This is of course a very speculative stock play, but if one was going to speculate for the long run, it seems like the preferred stock would be the way to go.