What are the best stocks to invest in right now?
With the market teetering on the edge of a technical breakdown, it’s not exactly an easy question to answer. The Q1’s earnings season has gone quite well, but traders just aren’t feeling it. There’s just the innate sense that stocks still need to pay the proverbial toll for 2017’s unfettered rally — which in retrospect clearly lasted too long without a normal, even healthy corrective move.
Regardless, the question is, are any stocks positioned to push through the headwind — or at least the malaise — and dish out some gains in an environment that isn’t exactly hospitable? There is a handful of prospects.
Here are the market’s 4 best stocks to buy right now:
The Market’s Best Stocks to Buy Right Now:
Duke Energy (DUK)
If you look closely, you’ll see that not every sector is being beaten down right now. Aside from the relentless strength of large-cap technology stocks, the utilities sector has been an impressive performer of late. They’re up about 1% for the past month, ahead of all but the basic materials and services sector for the timeframe. Though they are at risk of rising rates, to an even greater degree they’re being seen as a safe-haven.
So, owning Duke Energy Corp (NYSE:DUK) right now is as much about the sector as it is about the company. The dividend yield of 4.5% will be important when the market offers few other ways of making any money, and the shares are coming out of a steep December/February pullback quite nicely.
It’s probably not a going to become a long-term holding for most, but it’s not a bad strategic bet.
The Market’s Best Stocks to Buy Right Now:
Crispr Therapeutics (CRSP)
Crispr Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) is another one of those names that may not be something you get married to, but might want to hold until further notice because of what it is, and what it is not.
What it is: A biotech company. Specifically, Crispr Therapeutics is a gene-editing play that uses the unique “CRISPR” attribute (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) of human DNA to affect its self-repair. Biotech stocks tend to trade independently of the rest of the market, and the Crispr story is one many traders have already fallen in love with.
What it is not: An American company. Although most of the world’s stocks ebb and flow together, the U.S. equity market is a little more overbought than others. Crispr is based in Switzerland. So there’s at least a little bit of built-in resistance to the tide that’s nagging at U.S. stocks. Indeed, CRSP stock is up more 100% since the end of last year, and continues to knock on the door of higher highs.
The Market’s Best Stocks to Buy Right Now:
Delek US Holdings (DK)
Delek US Holdings Inc (NYSE:DK) is neither a biotech nor a foreign company. And it’s not a household name. DK stock is an equity that’s persistently making forward progress even when other names aren’t, however, earning it a spot on a list of the best stocks to invest in right now.
Delek is in the energy business. It’s a downstream service provider, operating seven refineries, several terminals, multiple pipelines… and a few hundred 7-11 convenience stores. It also offers some logistics services to other outfits in the oil and gas business.
It’s a risk to be sure, as the stock’s climb is linked crude oil’s climb, and crude oil prices seem a bit stretched right now. Crude prices were also a bit stretched a month and a half ago though, and that’s not slowed them down.
The Market’s Best Stocks to Buy Right Now:
Amazon.com (AMZN)
Last but not least, from a relatively unfamiliar Delek we go to the other end of the spectrum and find that a very familiar Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is also one of the market’s best stocks to invest in right now.
Make no mistake though — this isn’t an ‘investment,’ per se. This is a trade intended to capitalize on the fact enough investors always love the Amazon.com story enough to keep buying it no matter what’s going on around them.
That said, it’s not as if it’s particularly tough story to sell. Last quarter’s revenue was up 43% year-over-year, driving more than a doubling of net income, largely on the heels of Amazon Web Services’ smashing success. That’s par for the course here, however. The company’s momentum just can’t be stopped.
As of this writing, James Brumley did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. You can follow him on Twitter, at @jbrumley.
