There’s a good deal of tension in the market. Tensions with China are at an all-time high. The novel coronavirus is still making its way around the world. There are protests raging throughout the U.S. Businesses are failing at a staggering pace. There’s a good deal of economic slowdown fear thanks to the pandemic. And there’s fear over the upcoming U.S. elections.
Yet, despite all of the chaos, markets have rocketed higher.
Over the last few months, the Dow Jones rallied from 18,212 to 26,546. The S&P 500 rocketed from 2,191 to 3,232, as the Nasdaq popped from 6,631 to 10,475.
At any time, the rally could give way with all of the tension and uncertainty, which could cause obscene damage to most stocks. However, some stocks should still do OK. In fact, if you have $1,000 to spare at the moment, some of the best stocks to consider include:
Invest $1,000: Newmont Mining (NEM)
What’s not to like about gold these days?
Last checked, the metal was up to $1,950 with its sights set on $2,000, maybe even $3,000 near-term. All thanks to global tensions, a weak dollar, central banks flooding economies with liquidity, economic slowdown fears, China, Iran and uncertainty over elections.
To date, shares of Newmont Mining have exploded from a March 2020 low of $32.86 to a recent high of $68.86. That’s happening as investors run to the safe haven of gold should all sorts of chaos begin to take down the market, and the economy.
In my opinion, NEM stock could run to $80 a share near term on uncertainty.
Plus, according to Barron’s contributor Andrew Bary, “There could be more room for the mining stocks to rally since their profits are leveraged to gold prices. Newmont’s free cash flow increases $400 million annually for each $100 move in gold prices with a base of $1 billion of free cash flow at $1,200 an ounce, according to a company presentation.”
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)
Advanced Micro Devices has been on fire this year, as it chips away at Intel’s (NASDAQ:INTC) market share. Not only did Intel just announce its delaying chips, AMD just announced new chips of its own.
Later this year, new gaming consoles from Sony (NYSE:SNE) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) will have AMD chips in them – another powerful catalyst for the stock.
However, one of the biggest reasons to get excited about the future of Advanced Micro Devices is its data center chips. With more people working or schooling from home, the video teleconferencing companies like Zoom Video Communications (NASDAQ:ZM) need “additional data center space in order to handle the surge in demand,” as highlighted by TipRanks.
In addition, as I noted on April 21, “Advanced Micro Devices is also benefiting from cloud-computing service demand. All as companies race to invest in infrastructure to handle the demand from every one staying at home, working from home, playing at home, gaming at home, and schooling from home.”
Teladoc Health (TDOC)
The global Covid-19 pandemic has only increased the need for virtual health visits.
All as physicians urge patients to reduce face-to-face exposure. However, even when the virus has hopefully been destroyed, virtual visits are likely to stick around for quite some time.
According to a Frost & Sullivan report – Telehealth: A Technology-Based Weapon in the War Against the Coronavirus, 2020, analysts say the pandemic will reshape healthcare delivery, creating big opportunities for virtual care going forward. The analysts also believe telehealth will see seven-fold growth in the next five years, as highlighted by Healthcare IT News.
Even after running from a low of $110 to $210 in recent weeks, the stock could easily rocket to $300 in the next few months on demand.
Ian Cooper, an InvestorPlace.com contributor, has been analyzing stocks and options for web-based advisories since 1999. As of this writing, Ian Cooper did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
