Stocks To Buy

During a gold rush, most prospectors won’t find much, if any, gold. The real winners are those who supply prospectors with tools that they need, such as picks and shovels. Today, these suppliers don’t even need to provide a physical tool. And they can profit from selling a service with a recurring revenue. That’s where cloud service companies come into play. Spending is slowing, even as it’s grown 19 percent over the past year. Pick and shovel plays in this market are ...
Read More

Analysts spent the first few months of 2023 warning about an earnings recession. And so far, the data suggests that it’s here. Companies are slowing down overall. The good news? Analysts may have been too dour, so many companies have beaten the low expectations going into their earnings report. Nevertheless, the next few months may see the market trade sideways and see a selloff as this latest earnings season starts to slow down. Investors can use such a pullback to buy industry ...
Read More

Many technologies and economies function best due to a network effect. The larger the number of users in a network, the stronger and more robust it is. It’s less likely to have a single point of failure. For investors, finding companies with a strong network effect can earn great returns. Especially when investors take advantage of a weak market to buy companies with a strong network. One type of network is in shipping and logistics. A small company may only be able ...
Read More

As an investment, companies with few competitors are better than companies with many competitors. That’s because competition tends to keep prices low and innovation high. That’s good for consumers, but not healthy for companies – or their shareholders. That’s why companies with a handful of competitors tend to be more consistently profitable. That can keep share prices generally rising over time, and with lower volatility. These companies also tend to make for attractive income plays. When it comes to the oligopoly space, ...
Read More

A great company can overcome any economic challenge. To be a great company, it’s necessary to have pricing power. That means avoiding having to cut prices during a slow period. And it means when inflation is running hot, prices can be raised over and above. Such companies are few and far between. But harnessing the power of a brand during a slow or sideways market can help lead to great returns over time, both from capital gains, and from growing dividend ...
Read More

While we’re coming up on the next Fed meeting, which could give a sign that the central bank’s interest rate hikes are finally over, we’re not out of the woods yet. Inflation has slowed over the past year, but it’s still running at 5 percent. That’s one of its highest levels in decades, and more than twice the central bank’s inflation target. Investors should still look for companies that can handle inflation by passing on the costs to their customers via ...
Read More

Investors often take a current trend and extrapolate it to extremes. That’s why the end of a bull market has a lot of valuations that seem ridiculous in hindsight. And why there are many bargains at the end of a bear market. That trend can also play out with quarterly earnings. A company’s growth may slow or stall out in a quarter, but markets may try and extend that trend out indefinitely. That can create short and long-term opportunities. For instance, last ...
Read More

Consumer spending may be slowing… but it’s also a huge chunk of the economy. And no matter how bad things slow down, there are still many goods that people will need to buy. That may be bad news for those who make higher-end goods. Ultra-wealthy consumer unaffected by the economy can only buy so much for themselves. That leaves companies that offer the best bargains for consumers as the top way to play current economic trends. For the apparel space, off-price retailers ...
Read More