As primarily an emerging market investor and having updated the (always negative) rolling 10-year return for the S&P 500 for umpteen times over the past 6 months, readers of this missive probably think that there is not a single American stock that I like.

But, the fact is that there are a handful of domestic U.S. stocks I consider good buys. Not liking the S&P 500 is not the same as not liking solid American stocks (lost inside this problematic index) that indeed work hard for their shareholders.

The S&P 500 has done little for the people who bought the failed sales pitch of “stocks always go up 11% in the long term,” but some stocks in the index have done a lot. I don’t like many of the stocks that Warren Buffett holds in the portfolio of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.B). But, the only way to capitalize on the brilliant strategy of buying businesses with a lot of free cash flow, and then getting that pile of cash to buy more businesses with a lot of free cash flow in order to buy even more… you get the picture… is to buy Berkshire stock.

Buffett understands that some of his stocks will be dead money for years. Since he is a victim of his own success–his positions are so large that he cannot sell them–he has to keep pushing Berkshire to be more of an operating company. So, Berkshire is a great buy now and even greater buy on weakness. I am confident that with this strategy over time he and his handpicked successors will do much better than the S&P 500.

I have already mentioned many times in the past that I like Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX). Apple makes gadgets people want to use; Netflix delivers affordable and convenient entertainment. Both have the typical trading pattern of high-beta secular growth stocks–you keep waiting for pullbacks, but they always come from a much higher level and are smaller than you would have liked. My favorite China-based Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU) is another one that has the same problem, which is a nice problem to have if you have been a shareholder as long as we have been recommending the stock.

What do you do with Apple and Netflix right here? My gut feeling is that there are money managers that have to “make the quarter” and are chasing all the growth stocks that are unaffected by the otherwise slowing economy. The third quarter ends on September 30, so it would make sense for those to correct some after that classic performance-anxiety-driven rally is over.

Another performance anxiety stock is Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), which is also near all-time highs. The thing about Amazon is that it did great in the minds of a really bad recession last year. The company saves people money and has been a great innovator in the online commerce space–Kindle is only one such example–so more and more people become returning customers. Given the rollout of a new Kindle and the likelihood that people will again try to save money using their innovative commerce platform, I don’t see how Amazon won’t have another blowout shopping season. Consider buying the end-of-quarter pullbacks on the all-of-the-above high-growth stocks (and don’t blame me if they are too shallow).

I don’t smoke cigarettes and I don’t advocate the habit, but Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM) and Altria (NYSE: MO) are great buy-and-hold stocks for dividend seekers. PM is the higher-growth international part of the old Philip Morris, even though it still yields 4.5%. MO is the remaining part with the slower-growing U.S.-tobacco operations, which is why it yields a higher 6.5%. MO does have, however, a call option on beer–it owns 27.3% interest in SABMiller. Tobacco taxes get hiked regularly by the government, but tobacco companies in return increase prices and still manage to make a lot of money and pay fat dividends. How about that?

As you can see, the U.S. stock market is full of high-growth stocks and solid dividend-payers, which will make a lot of money for their shareholders over time. Not being bullish on the S&P 500 is not the same thing as not being bullish on American companies. But, do stay away from most large banks and index funds as they are just not worth the trouble.

Top 5 Stocks for the 4th Quarter Surge. Louis Navellier details five stocks set to deliver record earnings this October and jump 30%-50% in the next 90 days as the big money piles in. Get their names online here, including Louis’ buy-below and target prices.