It’s officially a bear market, and high inflation and recession fears bring opportunities as stock prices drop, allowing investors an opportunity to purchase high-quality stocks at lower prices.
If you’re new to investing, building your own stock portfolio may not be the best move, according to the experts at US News. There are other places to get started in the stock market that have a relatively low risk.
Instead, they recommend buying into a low-cost, diversified S&P 500 exchange-traded fund, such as the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (ticker: SPY).
In fact, world-renowned investor Warren Buffett offers similar advice for your investing budget: “Invest 10 percent … in short-term government bonds and the other 90 percent in a low-cost index fund tracking the Standard & Poor’s 500 index.” He recommends Vanguard as an index fund.
Blue-chip stocks refer to large companies that are well-established, financially sound, and have an excellent reputation. Typically, they have operated for many years and have dependable earnings, often paying out dividends to investors, according to Investopedia.
Warren Buffett has said stocks are the cheapest when fear is running high, as he’s taken advantage of this by buying stock from quality companies when markets are crashing and riding out the highs and lows by holding on to stock from quality companies.
That said, here are the top 5 blue-chip companies you may want to buy stocks from.
Strategy: Although you could spend your $1000 purchasing stock all from a single company, you could also diversify your portfolio by purchasing shares from 2-5 companies listed below.
Bank of America stock is currently at a bargain price. The stock value of Bank of America is climbing slightly, which is a good sign.
B of A is one of the largest financial holding companies and diversified banks in the US. According to Compton: “Investors should anticipate rapid net interest income growth in 2022 and industry-leading revenue growth in the years ahead.”
Having become the “go to” shopping choice for many Americans during the pandemic, Amazon saw its fortunes soar. Amazon not only leads the world in shopping, but also in cloud computing services. The company took a slight hit with inflation, and that opens up a buy-in opportunity for investors. Many investors expect the company to see improvements in the second half of the year.
As one of the world’s largest banks and financial service companies, and as interest rates are expected to rise, JPMorgan Chase presents an excellent buying opportunity for investors who act fast. Once interest rates rise, so too will this company’s profitability and the value of its stock.
Meta Platforms is the relatively new name for the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. It’s a perfect buy-in opportunity as its shares are down 42 percent year to date. However, as the Metaverse expands online, Meta Platforms is projected to be an industry leader.
The world’s largest software company, owner of the Windows operating system and office business software suite, Microsoft is a great buying opportunity, with its price down slightly from two weeks ago, but trending upward once again. Microsoft also is reporting strong numbers from its Azure cloud computing service which is poised to ink larger and longer deals and continue to grow. The company also recently acquired Nuance, the world’s leader in voice-recognition software.
