Buying a stock is easy, but buying the right stock without a time-tested strategy is incredibly hard.So what are the best stocks to buy now or put on a watchlist? Apple ( AAPL ), Raytheon Technologies ( RTX ), Shell ( SHEL ), Cheniere Energy ( LNG ) and Marriott International ( MAR ) are prime candidates.
X With inflation worries growing, and the Federal Reserve taking a more hawkish approach to interest rates and bond purchase tapering, market action has been challenging so far in 2022.The Russian invasion of Ukraine continues to weigh on markets.
Best Stocks To Buy: The Crucial Ingredients Remember, there are thousands of stocks trading on the NYSE and Nasdaq.But you want to find the very best stocks right now to generate massive gains.
The CAN SLIM system offers clear guidelines on what you should be looking for.Invest in stocks with recent quarterly and annual earnings growth of at least 25%.Look for companies that have new, game-changing products and services.Also consider not-yet-profitable companies, often recent IPOs, that are generating tremendous revenue growth.
IBD’s CAN SLIM Investing System has a proven track record of significantly outperforming the S&P 500.
Outdoing this industry benchmark is key to generating exceptional returns over the long term.
In addition, keep an eye on supply and demand for the stock itself, focus on leading stocks in top industry groups, and aim for stocks with strong institutional support.
Once you have found a stock that fits the criteria, it is then time to turn to stock charts to plot a good entry point .You should wait for a stock to form a base , and then buy once it reaches a buy point , ideally in heavy volume.In many cases, a stock reaches a proper buy point when it breaks above the original high on the left side of the base.More information on what a base is, and how charts can be used to win big on the stock market, can be found here .
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x Thank You! You will now receive IBD Newsletters ALL DONE! Something Went Wrong! Please contact customer service CLOSE Don’t Forget The M When Buying Stocks A key part of the CAN SLIM formula is the M, which stands for market .
Most stocks, even the very best, follow the market direction.Invest when the stock market is in a confirmed uptrend and move to cash when the stock market goes into a correction.
A stock market rally that kicked off 2022 soon fell on its face.
The market tried to rally but has just fallen back into correction territory.The S&P 500 has undercuts its April lows and the Nasdaq is back near its lows for the year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average has also fallen below the key 200-day and 50-day moving averages.
The market is in bad shape.This means you should avoid buying stocks altogether.Instead, it is a good time to start raising cash – start by selling your weakest performing stocks first.
If you have great conviction about a stock and have a profit cushion, consider holding through the correction.You also move entirely off margin.
But you should stay engaged with the market and get to work on building a robust watchlist.Looks for stocks contracting less than others or less than the main indexes.
These will tend to have rising relative strength lines .The names below are good candidates.
Remember, there is still significant headline risk going forward.Inflation remains a key issue while the Russia-Ukraine conflict is a wild card that has proved its ability to shake the market.
But remember, things can quickly change when it comes to the stock market.Make sure you keep a close eye on the market trend page here .
Best Stocks To Buy Or Watch Apple Raytheon Shell Cheniere Energy Marriott International Now let’s look at Apple stock, Raytheon stock, Shell stock, Cheniere Energy stock and Marriott stock in more detail.
An important consideration is that these stocks all boast impressive relative strength.
Apple Stock AAPL stock is trading below a handle buy point in a double-bottom base .The ideal buy point here is 179.71.
Retaking its 50-day line will be crucial.
It previously broke through this level after rebounding from its 200-day moving average.The relative strength line is near highs.A protracted upwards spike could propel AAPL higher once again.
Apple stock has performed better than most stocks, especially techs, during the market pullback.
Apple has seen its Composite Rating shoot up to a strong 92 out of 99.Apple became the first company to reach a market capitalization of $3 trillion earlier this year, though it has now backed off this level.
Investors should resist the urge to buy until it reports earnings.Apple will be looking to maintain good earnings performance when it reports its latest results on Thursday.
An approach highlighted by Investor’s Business Daily is to use options as a strategy to reduce risk around earnings .
It’s a way to capitalize on the upside potential of a stock’s move around earnings, while reducing the downside risk.
The IBD Stock Checkup tool shows earnings growth is bouncing back in recent quarters following the Covid-19 pandemic.Apple stock got a boost after reporting earnings for Q1 of fiscal 2022.
It was the firm’s best-ever quarter for revenue, with all categories excluding iPads coming in above views.Apple did not give guidance for the current quarter, though executives were relatively upbeat.The firm has not given specific quarterly guidance since the Covid-19 pandemic began.
Supply constraints meant supply could not keep up with demand.Another bright spot was sales in China, which grew 21% in the quarter.
Apple ‘s EPS growth has averaged 65% over the past three quarters.
This is comfortably clear of the 25% earnings growth sought by the CAN SLIM cognoscenti .
Analysts see earnings growth of 10% in fiscal 2022 and 7% growth in 2023.Investors will want to see CEO Tim Cook squeeze out more impressive gains.
With its iPhone business maturing, investors are looking for a new big growth driver for Apple stock .
Services and wearables are seen as two key drivers.
In the September quarter, Apple’s services revenue rose 26% year over year to $18.3 billion.Services include the App Store, AppleCare, iCloud, Apple Pay, Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade and other offerings.
One reason to be bullish on Apple is it continues to produce new products, which is a major success factor in the CAN SLIM system .
Earlier this month Apple hosted its latest product launch.The event, broadcast live online from Apple Park headquarters in Cupertino, California, saw a slew of products unveiled.
Perhaps most notable was a new low-cost 5G iPhone SE.It will retail for $429 and will hit store shelves on March 18.
Speculation continues that Apple is looking to make a self-driving electric car .In November Bloomberg reported Apple is aiming to launch self-driving EVs in 2025.
Looking For The Next Big Stock Market Winners? Start With These 3 Steps
Raytheon Technologies Stock The stock is just below its buy zone after breaking out of a flat base with a 104.44 buy point .It’s finding support at its 10-week line.
Given current market conditions, investors looking for an early entry might be better off waiting for RTX stock to clear its March 25 high of 125.97.It hit resistance just shy of that key level at the end of last week.
The relative strength line is near its highs on its weekly chart, an encouraging sign.
The current global security situation a continued period of ascent would be no great surprise.
At the moment Raytheon stock holds a good-not-great IBD Composite Rating of 82 out of 99.
Earnings are something of an Achilles heel, with its EPS Rating coming in at 71.
However this appears to be on the upswing, with earnings growing by an average of 112% over the past three quarters.Investors will want to see the momentum continues when the firms posts results on Tuesday.
Recent reports have been a significant improvement on its longer term performance.Over the past three years EPS has shrunk by 25%.
Raytheon makes missile defense systems, aircraft engines and communications technology.Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sent defense stocks higher, on anticipation of more demand for artillery as the conflict continues.
The U.S.has been sending missiles and other equipment to Ukraine.That includes the Javelin anti-tank missile, made by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin ( LMT ).
The U.S.is sending Raytheon’s advanced Patriot Missile defense system to some NATO allies.
Some NATO countries in turn are sending Ukraine older anti-aircraft defense systems.
Raytheon, Lockheed, General Dynamics ( GD ) and Northrop Grumman ( NOC ) are all just off highs, consolidating after surging near the start of Russia’s Ukraine invasion.
Raytheon earnings are due Tuesday.General Dynamics and Northrop also report this week.
Shell Stock Shell stock just below its buy zone from a 56.23 entry after rebounding from its 21-day line.It has built a bullish base-on-base formation due to firm support at the 50-day line.
The stock has bounded away from its 10-week line of late.And while the RS line has been choppy in recent weeks it is still in the midst of a general uptrend since the start of the year.
Stock market performance is a key strength for Shell stock.It is the top 6% of stocks in terms of price performance over the last 12 months, with shares popping 48% during that period.
Earnings are also solid, though its EPS Rating of 78 out of 99 is nowhere near as impressive.Nevertheless, analysts expect the company’s earnings to jump this year.They see EPS surging 78% to $8.86.
They also see sales jumping 40% to $365.5 billion.
The recent IBD Stock Of The Day has been attracting investment from Big Money of late.This is reflected in its Accumulation/Distribution Rating of A.It also boasts a low P-E rating of 11, which is about half that of the broader S&P 500.
SHEL stock is gaining after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drove energy costs higher and, after some early missteps, Shell joined other energy leaders in exiting all of its operations in Russia.
But questions remain about the impact from China’s recent Covid lockdowns, efforts to lower gas prices and whether those efforts can effectively provide any relief for consumers.
Oil prices tumbled 13% last week to $99.76 per barrel, as the U.S.
led many nations in releasing emergency oil reserves
Shell executives are among of a group of six big oil names set to testify before a House hearing this coming week, looking into allegedly disproportionate increases in gasoline prices..