You Don’t Have to Wait for Inflation to ‘Cool’ to Take Advantage of These 2 Opportunities
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So there’s usually not much news and not much action during that snoozy June-to-August stretch.
And yet, two of the most important moments for stocks this year are taking place this summer.
Here in July, in fact.
One happened yesterday — when the newest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report told us the inflation rate fell to its lowest level in more than two years. Indeed, it was even lower than expected.
The other will happen late this month – on July 26, in fact — when the U.S. central bank’s policymaking Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting concludes. Armed with the lower-than-expected inflation data, some experts believe we could be looking at the last rate hike this year.
For many investors, that final rate hike would be the “all-clear” signal sounding. It would trigger confidence, bullishness — and would siphon the record stash of cash on the sidelines back into stocks.
That’s a classic example of how emotion drives investing — with folks searching for the “perfect time” to start buying stocks.
That’s not a great strategy. In fact, it guarantees lackluster — or even disastrous — results.
You’ll get sentenced to an investing fate worse than death.
You’ll get left behind.
The reality is that there are always opportunities to make money.
You might even say that the “perfect time” to invest is… always.
A Bank of America Corp. (BAC) study found that going all the way back to 1930, if an investor missed the S&P 500’s 10 best days each decade, your total return would be a wheezing 28%. But if you’d stuck it out through all the ups and downs — meaning you were “in the game” for those “best” trading days, your total return would instead be a mind-boggling 17,715%.
Let me repeat that.
If you were invested through thick and thin, your gains would be 17,715%.
When I recently caught up with Jason Bodner — the inventor of the Quantum Edge investing system — he echoed what this data revealed, sharing the importance of being a “proactive investor.”
He’s able to do that better than anyone, as he tracks which stocks Big Money players are clambering over one another to buy — because they see huge upsides and want to grab those shares before the investing masses spot the same opportunities.
And Jason has uncovered a brand-new batch of top-ranked stocks to put on your moneymaking radar for the second half of this year.
Here are the type of stocks making the most appearances in his Top 20 in 2023.
Beauty Equals Big Bucks
Minimalism extends beyond product and home design; ripple effects can be seen in makeup trends.People are embracing a more “natural” look — and e.l.f. Beauty Inc. (ELF) is winning over consumers with lip gloss, eyeshadow, and beauty balms.
And with its e.l.f Beauty Squad program — which offers “points” for each purchase made — the company has “gamified” customer loyalty, even granting personal consultations for folks who achieve “Icon” status.
But if buying makeup isn’t in your lane and you never heard of this company before, don’t worry.
I’m also more interested in the making money lane, and Jason told me that Big Money is all over this stock.
In the past six months, his system picked up 24 Big Money buys in ELF (versus zero sells):
Those Big Money buys were especially prevalent in the spring, and that’s no coincidence: These Wall Street players were snapping up ELF ahead of its earnings report.
And the bulls were rewarded on May 25 when e.l.f. Beauty shares leaped 20% when the company beat forecasts for both revenue and profits — and, unlike many better-known companies, it raised its forward guidance, too.
With a current Fundamental Score of 83.3 and a Technical Score of 82.3 in his Quantum Edge system, ELF has an overall “Quantum Score” of 82.8.
ELF is hitting the “upper end” of Jason’s preferred “buy zone.”
Measure What Matters
There are plenty of marketing agencies that will gladly take a company’s money and start creating advertising campaigns for it and pour out ads.Finding those companies isn’t difficult.
What can be difficult is finding a marketing company that can actually prove your ads are effective in connecting you with your target audience and measuring if those campaigns are a hit or miss.
Enter DoubleVerify Holdings Inc. (DV).
It used unbiased data analytics to get down to brass tack on the performance of a campaign, allowing a company to see the effectiveness and return on investment (ROI) of its advertising efforts.
One of its partners is Meta Platforms Inc. (META), where it provides the background support to enable media measurement and helps maximized advertiser performance on Facebook and Instagram Reels.
Meta will make the front page for headlines about its newly launched Threads or the “cage match” between Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Tesla Inc. (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, but what’s NOT on the front page are the companies behind the scenes, like DoubleVerify.
But that’s okay because it means we can keep enjoying having an investable edge with Jason.
Its stock has enjoyed plenty of Big Money buying, too — particularly in May and June — and is appearing frequently in his Top 20 list.
DoubleVerify is growing at double-digit rates and hasn’t taken on too much debt, earning it a Fundamental Score of 79.2.
The stock is also gaining Big Money fans on Wall Street to such a degree that it gets a blazing Technical Score of 94.1.
Altogether, DV stock rates 87.9 for its overall Quantum Score.
DV is also hitting the upper end of Jason’s preferred buy zone.