For those following the market which US stock would you be investing in today? Kimberly Clark that makes a number of disposable medical supplies, may be a good bet...What do those of you who follow stocks think? What is likely the best stock to invest in at this time?
There are some pretty decently priced ones out there. If you believe oil will bounce back then you have a lot of companies to look at. Apart from that, I grabbed a bit of JNJ earlier this week and T is also getting close to a price where I will look into buying some more.
I assume you have done your own due diligence on $KMB. With a P/E of ~61 it isn't for me. There is no "best" stock, rather it depends upon your time frame, risk tolerance and all those considerations discussed in other threads. Your post suggests to me that you do not follow the markets. Have you seen this http://www.bullmarketboard.com/threads/5967-How-do-you-follow-the-latest-news-on-the-markets thread?
In my pretty aggressive taxable accounts, I'm currently long a couple hundred companies via long stock positions or call options, and have shorts or puts on about a hundred or so. Plus some $ in a few alt investmens like commodities ETFs. I generally have no more than 5% of my money in any one company for any length of time, and most investments are smaller - generally the more risky an investment in a company is, the less of the stock I'll own for any length of time. And in my more conservative tax advantaged retirement accounts a real estate mutual fund and a handful of other mutual funds. If you've got a limited amount of money to play with, I'd suggest at least 5-6 stocks or an index fund. 10-20 stocks or more would be better if you're going to pick your own. I'd be wary of owning too much of any one sector or industry for any length of time. If you're buying 5 stocks, buy one from 5 distinctively different areas of the economy... You might have a few bucks in a tech superstar; maybe some in a company that sells lots of consumables on the retail level; maybe some in a company that produces/manufactures/refines essentials on a large scale; perhaps some in a company or 2 that provides a very valuable service such as banking or healthcare, etc. Many of us have talked about some of our investments and how we go about finding them. Of course that doesn't necessarily mean that because I have money in Apple, Google, Amerco, Sturm Ruger, Smith and Wesson, Berkshire Hathaway, Icahn Enterprises, LaJolla Pharma, Hologic, Nuance, and a bunch of others doesn't necessarily mean they'll all be what you're looking for to achieve your goals. Just because I bought a little bit of Immunogen and a few others yesterday doesn't necessarily mean I'll be right in the short term or even longterm, and it may be a bumpy ride. Read books Benjamin Graham, Peter Lynch, William O'Neill, and others, and learn to get familiar with a good stock screener. Follow what guys like Buffett, Icahn, Dalio, and others talk about. You can watch the financial news to get a good feel for things, but don't try to act on everything you hear, and certainly not right away. Sorry I can't give a short one stock solution.
JR, you do a hell of a job here. I learned a lot from your posts. And I agree with you, you can't give a short one stock solution and you shouldn't either. If that stock crashes for some reason or just go down, it will only be your fault.
Thanks, and I agree with your thoughts. I pretty much view everything from a big picture prospective as a financial/retirement planner who focuses on longterm success for myself and my clients (according to their own unique situations and goals), and on mid and short term successes to a lesser degree. Preserving capital, building wealth, minimizing risk, managing tax burdens, etc, etc. This is why I have a hard time taking anyone seriously who recommends a method of "investing" that has a very high probability of either going bust right away or whittling down one's capital to nothing over a period of months or a few years at best, despite promising quick riches or whatever.