It's tough out there for a value investor. The market has shrugged off worries of a Greek bond default, and the major stock market indices remain near peak levels. A clear sign of robust markets: The S&P trades for more than 20 times trailing earnings.
Luckily, the market aphorism, "It's not a stock market, it's a market of stocks" holds true. There are bargains out there waiting to be found, especially in one key sector. The uncertainty about interest rates has pushed the prices of real estate down, but one of the most consistently profitable real estate companies has fallen too far, and a golden opportunity for long-term investors has emerged.
A True Blue-Chip Company
Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:
VTR
) is a large healthcare-focused real estate investment trust (REIT), and with a market value of $21 billion, it is one of the largest REITs in the healthcare industry. The company is extremely well diversified, owning a broad portfolio of senior housing facilities, medical office buildings and hospitals. This company's funds from operations (FFO) have grown 10% annually since 2004, and that has made shareholders rich along the way.
Despite the announcement of a strong 8% increase in FFO in its first quarter earnings report, shares of Ventas have fallen nearly 20% since early February, a much steeper drop than most other REITs, as characterized by Vanguard's REIT ETF (
VNQ
).
Read more:
http://www.nasdaq.com/article/buy-th...#ixzz3f5c9zzsTBuy This Blue Chip While It's Cheap
Fellow Investor,
If you know me from my Small Cap Gems or The Turnaround Stock Report newsletters, what I’m about to say may shock you…
Blue chip stocks are the bedrock of my portfolio. And they should be the foundation of yours, too.
Don’t get me wrong…I love investing in small caps and turnaround stocks and they’ll always play a major role in my portfolio. I am excited about the tremendous profit opportunities in those areas and I think every investor should have some of these stocks in their portfolio.
But those stocks should NOT make up the majority of your holdings–especially in today’s market!
That’s why I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve started a new service devoted exclusively to helping you invest in the best blue chip growth stocks.
Today I want to tell you why now is the perfect time to buy blue chips, give you the 5 stocks at the top of my buy list and warn you about 9 widely touted blue chips to avoid at all costs.
Plus, I’ll share the details on how you can take me up on this special invitation to try my brand new service with absolutely zero risk or obligation for the next 60 days.
Let’s start by talking about some big changes that make blue chip stocks…
The Perfect Investment for Today’s Market
Since the market bottom in March 2009, the S&P 500 has soared an incredible 212%.
But we’re six long years into this bull market, and as you’ve probably noticed, this market is beginning to change.
Volatility is ramping up. We’ve had 100+ point market swings on 25 out of 46 trading days so far this year!
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Market breadth is shrinking with fewer and fewer stocks leading the market higher. The number of S&P 500 stocks hitting new 52-week highs is at a two year low even as the market trades near record levels.
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Earnings growth is slowing. While 4Q 2014 earnings were mostly in line with expectation, a slew of companies warned Wall Street to lower expectations for 2015 results. 85% of companies issued negative guidance for the 1Q 2015 earnings!
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The dollar is soaring. Its massive surge continues, with the dollar recently hitting a 12-year high against the euro. That’s bad news for commodities and multinational companies that get a significant portion of their profits overseas. And it’s starting to spook the market.
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A Very Important Warning
But before we go any further, let’s be clear about one thing…
Not all blue chip stocks are created equal. Far from it.
In fact, some have been down right terrible investments.
Take Ford. Had you bought the stock on November 1, 2010 you would have paid $16.21. But almost five years later, you would actually have lost money with the stock sitting at $16.03 on April 3, 2015 despite the huge rebound in car sales.
The S&P 500 delivered a 75% return in that same period.
And it’s not the only blue chip that’s gone absolutely nowhere. Caterpillar was trading at $83.64 on November 1, 2010 and at $81.49 on April 3rd.
Even worse, Alcoa is down a whopping 71% in this same time frame. And plenty of other well-known blue chips like Staples, Avon, JDS Uniphase, First Horizon, SuperValu, Cliffs Natural Resources, Unisys have all lost money or gone nowhere. I could go on but you get the point.
Despite their safe and solid reputation, putting your money in the wrong blue chip stock can cost you a fortune.
That’s where I come in.
Announcing My New Service: Blue Chip Gems
I?m thrilled to announce the launch of my brand new service, Blue Chip Gems.
I started Blue Chip Gems to help investors like you uncover the very best blue chip stocks for your money and avoid the dogs that are going nowhere.
I have a proven track record of identifying blue chip stocks that we can buy at a reasonable valuation that deliver long-term profits. I?m talking about winners like:
273% gain in Jazz Pharmaceuticals. This off-the-radar name has tripled since I recommended it in August of 2012. This stock got my attention when I saw that despite announcing rising earnings estimates and big revenue growth it was trading in bottom third of five year valuation range.
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87% gain in Hewlett-Packard. I recommend Hewlett-Packard in June 2012 when Wall Street hated the stock. But I saw something different? 3 positive earnings surprises in a row, $400 million in insider buying and a stock that was a huge value?selling at the very bottom of its five year valuation range. So we snapped it up at $22 and rode it to $40 for a big gain.
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29% gain in Microsoft in just 8 months. Ditto for Microsoft. Wall Street wrote this blue chip off as dead, but with dynamic new leadership and a major business shift to embrace cloud computing, I saw the makings of a breakout. Sure enough we got on board in January 2014 and the stock jumped, handing us a handsome double-digit profit in less than a year.
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116% gain (and counting) in Xerox. When I recommended this stock in November 2012, it was extremely beaten down?trading at the very bottom of its five year range at a dirt cheap 6x forward earnings. But I saw clear signs that the stock was ready to make a move. The company was making the shift from hardware to software?which is less cyclical and has a higher profit margin. Plus it was raising dividends and initiating a stock buyback program. Sure enough the stock surged to $13.49 from $6.23 and is still going!
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I share these winners not to brag, but to show you the types of profits you can pocket when you invest in undervalued blue chips. These winners also all share some common themes that are key to how I continue to rack up market-beating profits.
So before I tell you about a few of the blue chip gems at the top of my buy list today, let me pull back the curtain and reveal a few of the criteria I use to identify my top stocks so you understand how I can be so confident in my research.