Best Stocks to Buy Now: A Money Morning Weekly Roundup
By Diane Alter, Contributing Writer, Money Morning•
Optimism returned to Wall Street last week, as Syria attack talk subsided and the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note slipped.
Triple-digit gains Monday through Wednesday last week added 401.10 to the Dow. Stocks closed with modest losses Thursday, with the S&P 500 Index snapping a seven-day winning streak. But the bulls were back in force Friday, helping the Dow log its best week in nine months.
Yet, the market pendulum continues to swing between risk-off and risk-on trading, leaving investors cautious.
Money Morning's updated list of the best stocks to buy - and some to avoid - address today's biggest market concerns and find the smartest opportunities for your money now.
In case you missed anything last week, here's a recap:
For those in the know, the tech sector provides a rush of opportunities. History shows that when deciding which stocks to bet on in the sector, it's best to avoid overly hyped names. The most lucrative tech investments are often overlooked simply because they haven't made headlines. But Money Morning Defense & Tech Specialist Michael A. Robinson never misses a thing. One under-the-radar tech deal that caught Robinson's eye was ARM Holdings PLC's (Nasdaq: ARMH) recent purchase of a small Finnish startup, Sensinode Oy. ARM, one of the world's most dominant mobile device chipmakers, views the Sensinode deal as critical to its aim of becoming a major "Internet of Everything" player. Robinson gives readers the scoop on why ARM will be a profitable play in an emerging $14 billion segment of the tech industry...
There is an old adage on Wall Street that goes "those who get in on great opportunities early make the most money." Frontier markets offer savvy investors a chance to get in early on a nearly untapped market and to reap some sizable rewards. Not to be confused with emerging markets like China, India, and Mexico, frontier markets include places like Croatia, Ghana, and Vietnam. While riskier than the former, they can be far more rewarding. Reward yourself by reading the rest here.
Just as important as knowing the best stocks and sectors to buy is knowing those to steer clear of. Year to date, markets have experienced a number of rotations. In the first half of the year we saw a shift out of precious metals into equities. We also witnessed sharp outflows from bond holdings into cash. So what now?
Money Morning Global Investing & Income Strategist Robert Hsu tells readers how they can hold on to their retirement funds and grow them at a hearty 10% pace simply by making a few adjustments. Hsu says it's time to sell your "dead money" investments, and he shares his best places for profitable returns here.
Oil investing is favorite theme at Money Morning, and with the Syrian crisis still a heated topic, we've had a lot to say about the commodity. Among questions asked and answered are whether oil prices will continue to go up and how long they will stay elevated. Those pressing issues have kept in-house global energy expert Dr. Kent Moors busy. He says the Syrian oil premium is not temporary and tells investors how they can play the Syrian situation with the right trades now.
Opportunities in the shale industry continue to grow. The most lucrative opportunities to date involve companies with interests in North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Texas. Recently added to the exclusive "fracking club" is Ohio. You see, the Buckeye State is sitting on the Utica Shale formation, a sweet source of unconventionally derived oil and natural gas. The Ohio Geological Survey says there could be upward of 8.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent in the Utica Shale expanse. Making the area a particular hot spot for the next best energy investment is that energy maverick Aubrey McClendon has entered the picture. Money Morning featured the best plays in this up-and-coming area. They're all here.
Master limited partnerships (MLPs) are popular among investors looking for maximum dividend payouts with a distinct tax advantage. Barron's reports MLPs will grow from a $5 billion asset class in the early 1990s to a trillion dollar one over the next 20 years. Key in choosing the best MLPs are a low probability of distributions being trimmed and identifying mediums that will drive future growth. The sector that fits that bill is energy. Money Morning Global Energy Strategist Dr. Kent Moors favors the midstream MLP segment. In The Best MLP Investments You Can Make Today, Money Morning highlights several of the best diversified plays in this rewarding arena.
Change is good - that's the thinking regarding the component shake-up in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Out are Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA), Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ), and Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC). In are Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS), Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE), and Visa Corp. (NYSE: V). Money Morning explains what the changes mean for investors and why getting the boot is sometimes a blessing in disguise.
Buoyed by a robust stock market, initial public offerings (IPOs) are staging a comeback. Thursday's announcement that Twitter will go public had investors chirping. The IPO market is on track for its busiest year since the financial crisis. IPO research firm Renaissance Capital estimates at least 70 companies are set to debut by the end of 2013. That would bring IPO activity back to the healthy 200-deal level last seen in 2007. Money Morning shared three promising companies preparing to go public here.