Aashish Somaiyaa

For those who spend a lot of time trying to understand how the markets work, seemingly there is something ironic that played out in the last few weeks. After making a peak near 12,430 on January 20, 2020, we again saw over 12,300 around February 12, 2020, we were still over 11,300 till March 5 and then suddenly we saw a low of 7,583 on March 23, 2020. A collapse of about 40 percent from the peak in a matter of few weeks. And of course all of this attributed to the panic in global markets created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

But by March 23, 2020 our lockdown hadn't even commenced and we had barely 500 cases of COVID-19 infection and negligible fatalities.

In fact after the lockdown started and COVID-19 became a serious issue in India, we have seen markets stage a very sharp rally of over 20 percent from the bottom.

Clearly, this can't be about India.

The chart presented herewith clearly shows that in 2008, irrespective of which country you were in, every market fell 50-60 percent and in 2020 irrespective of whether you are Korea or Taiwan which has some control on the virus, or you are Europe or USA which is seemingly out of control or you are India which is not as good as Korea and Taiwan but certainly not as out of control as USA and Europe, it doesn't matter; at the lowest point every market was 25-35 percent down.

Whenever such instances occur it sets us thinking are we in the right funds, are we with the right sectors and stocks, did our advisors give us the right advice? Well, fortunately or unfortunately, depends how you look at it, this is not only or not even directly about your portfolio or mine, this is not about the right sectors or stocks! So the right question is not whether we are in the right fund or portfolio or sector or stocks. Probably the right question is are we on the right planet, in the right asset class?

It's not like someone woke up one fine morning and decided, India is a bad market, let me sell India. If the global equity markets see a withdrawal of $100 billion in March and April, it's not unlikely that we in India would have $8-9 billion of withdrawal from our markets.

2. Don't sell because foreigners are selling

The message still stays avoid panic and remain invested. On the other hand, if you intend to take benefit of the current panic, do not jump in all at one go. Any top-up in equity or a rebalance of your asset allocation from debt into equity should be done systematically step by step between now and September 2020.

The author is MD & CEO at Motilal Oswal Asset Management Company.

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment expert on Moneycontrol.com are his own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

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Any investment in equity should be done systematically between now and September - Moneycontrol.com

It takes guts to be a value investor these days. But the top-performing investment newsletters have no shortage of courage. By value, Im referring to stocks that are out of favor, trading for relatively low ratios of price-to-earnings, book value, sales, and so forth. Values opposite is growth: Stocks in this latter category typically trade for high valuation ratios.

Im not kidding when I say that value investing takes guts. According to a recent analysis from Research Affiliates, value has lagged growth now for more than 13 years the longest stretch in recorded U.S. market history. This has led to a seemingly-endless series of pronouncements in recent years that value investing is dead.

Read: Whats happened to value stocks?

Try telling that to the top performing investment newsletters tracked by my Hulbert Financial Digest performance-auditing firm. These four stocks are tied for being the most recommended right now by those newsletters:

Walt Disney DIS, +0.47%

FedEx FDX, -0.45%

IBM IBM, +0.29%

JPMorgan Chase JPM, -2.55%

Notice the absence of any of the so-called FAANG stocks that have been leading the market in recent weeks.

All four of these stocks are instead solidly in the value category: Their average trailing 12-month PE ratio, for example, is 35% lower than the S&P 500s SPX, +0.48% . Their average price/book ratio is 26% lower, and their average price/sales ratio is 10% lower. (See chart below.) And given their status as value stocks, it is not a surprise that they have been lagging of late.

The newsletters recommending these four stocks have excellent long-term performance. I calculate that, over the last 20 years (through April 2020) they have outperformed the S&P 500 by 3.2 percentage points annualized. (These figures take dividends and transaction costs into account.)

A chance to buy good-quality stocks at a discount.

The newsletters rationales for buying these stocks are the same in all cases: Despite shorter-term disruptions because of the coronavirus pandemic, each of the four companies have excellent long-term prospects. Their current struggles give investors a chance to buy good-quality stocks at a discount.

This is, and always has been, the classic refrain of the value investor, of course. Is there reason to believe that the newsletters faith in these stocks will be rewarded, even though value has lagged for the last 13+ years? Yes, and one reason is these newsletters excellent long-term records.

Another is what was found by the Research Affiliates study mentioned above, which was authored by Rob Arnott, the firms founder; Campbell Harvey, a finance professor at Duke University; Vitali Kalesnik, a senior member of Research Affiliates investment team, and Juhani Linnainmaa, a finance professor at Dartmouth College. They subjected to statistical scrutiny all the explanations they were aware of for why value has lagged growth for so long, including:

Its beyond the scope of this column to review the statistical tests that the authors used in analyzing each of these explanations, but you should read their report if interested. They rejected those hypotheses that would imply that value is permanently dead and concluded instead that the stage is set for potentially historic outperformance of value relative to growth over the coming decade.

If so, the top-performing investment newsletters will have every right to say I told you so.

(Full disclosure: All the newsletters tracked by my performance tracking firm pay a flat fee to have their returns audited. Note that because all newsletters pay the same fee, my firm had no incentive to report that services recommending value stocks had better long-term performance than those that are recommending growth stocks.)

Mark Hulbert is a regular contributor to MarketWatch. His Hulbert Ratings tracks investment newsletters that pay a flat fee to be audited. He can be reached at mark@hulbertratings.com

More: Dud stock picks, bad industry bets, vast underperformance its the end of the Warren Buffett era

Plus: Warren Buffett hasnt lost his touch and Berkshire Hathaways critics as usual are short-sighted

Original post:
These 4 stocks are investment pros favorites and not one is a FAANG stock - MarketWatch

Where to invest?. Where is the next good thing as the world starts to look to opportunities and new business models? Looking around the world, and perusing stock markets, there continues to be some traditional businesses failing but others thriving during the Covid-19 era.

Investors look to countries with economical and political stability when choosing to invest money and unveil new businesses. Whilst global depression, drops in GDP, bankruptcy, and a realignment of trade and supply chains swirls around us, there will be emerging opportunities too. According to London Post, CEO World Magazine and the World Trade Group, some countries are very fortified to withstand an economic crash.

They have a lot of internal growth drivers with minimal affiliation with global markets. They will be the least affected. The best countries to invest in 2020 are these fortified countries.

Their report lists four unique factors motivate an individual or a business entity to invest in a country. These are the countrys natural resources, markets, efficiency, and strategic assets.

The London Post has used this information and parameters to compile The 2020 Best Countries to Invest In ranking based on a broad list of ten equally weighted attributes: corruption index, tax environment, economical stability, entrepreneurial freedom, innovativeness, skilled labor force and technological expertise, infrastructure, investor protection, red tape, and quality of life.

Somehow, and perhaps surprisingly to people who run businesses in Thailand, the Land of Smiles has scraped into the Number 2 position. 4 of the recommended Top 10 countries are in south east Asia.

The countrys growth is amazing because in 2019, it was ranked 25 positions lower in this list. The European countrys stable economy, coupled with an entrepreneurial and innovative population, has made foreign investors very optimistic about the progressive business environment. In the first quarter of 2019, Croatia had a whooping foreign direct investment of more than $389 million.

Thailand occupies the second position on the 2020 Best Countries to Invest In ranking. The country has been able to capitalise on trade tension between the US and China. In the first nine months of 2019, the country received a 69% increase in the total value of Foreign Direct Investment applications, as compared to 2018. 65% of these applications were led by the automotive, electronics and electrical, and digital sectors. The growth of the Thai market and momentum indicators remain strong. Forbes listed the country as the 8th best-emerging market of 2020.

The UK is economically stable and has a skilled labour force and technological expertise. It is the sixth country attracting inflow of foreign direct investment. In the first 7 months of 2019, the US and Asian tech firms invested $3.7 billion in tech companies in the country, thus surpassing the $2.9 billion invested in the previous year.

Despite Brexit, the UK remains the fifth largest economy in the world and has an industrialised and competitive market.

With about 650 listed equities and a market cap exceeding $500 billion, Indonesia boasts of one of the largest Asian stock markets. The report claims the Indonesian consumer market is largely undiscovered, hence its huge potentials.

The robust economy and heavy investment in transportation and infrastructure make this country worthy of your investment. The only downside is that non-citizens are limited to only leasehold properties.

According to the UN, India was one of the top 10 countries with the highest inflow of foreign direct investment. India has been in the top 5 of the best countries to invest in since 2019.

The Asian giant has invested so much in research and development and, and she is among the top countries having a comparatively skilled workforce.

Italy is one of the top countries attracting investors in 2020. This level of economical stability, its robust manufacturing sector, and the countrys stable political environment make it a good choice for investment.

Australia boasts of more than 25 years of continued economic growth. It is the 9th country with the most direct foreign investment in 2020. Australia has been in the top 10 for ten years now.

Like Thailand, Vietnam has capitalised on the trade tension between China and the US.In recent years Chinas southern neighbour has gradually risen to become a formidable manufacturing hub. This growth became even more evident when multinational corporations like Samsung began relocating are from China into Vietnam.

Latvia boasts of macroeconomic and political stability as well as good accessibility to large markets and a very business-friendly environment, according to the report. The government encourages investors by offering them a wide variety of advantages. Investors are offered significant cost advantages, including real estate expenses, competitive tax rates, and competitive labor.

Aside from being the 10th best country to invest in 2020, Singapore is also the 10th country attracting the most foreign investments. Singapores strong economic outlook has made many investors very optimistic. The countrys world-class business-friendly environment is one major attribute attracting investors.

SOURCE: London Post

Excerpt from:
Top 10 countries for investment in Covid era World Trade Group - The Thaiger

A decade is a long time. In a world where everything is changing in a matter of weeks, talking about what could happen in the next 10-year stretch, when both the novel coronavirus and the economic lockdown meant to bring it to heel are still wreaking havoc, may seem premature.

But thinking in terms of years rather than weeks and months is key to being a successful investor. Hindsight is 20/20, of course. We can look back on the 2010s and see that mobile tech, cloud computing, and subscription business models were some of the best investment motifs. Many of those trends will continue to build momentum in the 2020s, though, and the COVID-19 pandemic has cemented them and adjacent industries into place -- increasingly less disruptors of the status quo, but rather the new status quo.

To that end, here are four investing themes that are quickly becoming well-established movements for the decade ahead.

Thanks to advances in cloud computing and communications, technology has come to the point where reaching consumers directly at home is now possible. Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) proved the viability of the business model -- based on a recurring subscription and consumed via a high-speed internet connection -- as well as demonstrated the massive demand lurking among households.

Many businesses are now tapping into the movement for themselves. Some notable examples are Nike (NYSE:NKE), which has a complete direct-to-consumer ecosystem built out that is increasingly bypassing retailers completely. The sneaker king's operations span its workout app to a shoe subscription service for kids. Another is Disney (NYSE:DIS), which has taken a cue from Netflix and is off to the races with its own direct-to-consumer streaming services Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+.

The ability to reach customers at home -- or wherever they happen to be -- is set to expand beyond the world of retail and entertainment, though. Healthcare is in the early stages of turning into a consumer-driven industry. Teladoc Health (NYSE:TDOC) has gotten a big boost from shelter-in-place orders, with quarterly virtual visits with one of its healthcare professionals accelerating 92% year over year to two million in the first quarter of 2020.

Pairing ongoing fear of the pandemic and the convenience of new communications tools, businesses across many industries that can tap into the direct-to-consumer trend should do well in the years ahead.

Image source: Getty Images.

When recession strikes, small businesses are among the hardest hit from contracting economic activity. This go around has been no different, with restaurants, gyms, and other establishments reliant on in-person interaction taking it on the chin. However, while the effects of the lockdown to halt the spread of coronavirus are only just beginning to be understood, it hasn't been a total disaster for small business.

In fact, with many households stuck at home, e-commerce has surged higher -- up some 22% year over year in April alone, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's numbers. And with job losses mounting, many are looking for new ways to make money via their own venture based on the internet. Younger generations of shoppers have also been demanding variety for years, and the internet (and the myriad new businesses on it) has helped satisfy that desire. That has been a boon for website-building and online store management platforms Shopify (NYSE:SHOP) and Wix.com (NASDAQ:WIX), as well as craft and homemade goods marketplace Etsy (NASDAQ:ETSY).

While some customers are indeed struggling under the weight of the current crisis, Shopify's overall numbers in Q1 2020 illustrate the power of small business in the digital age. Total revenue increased 47% to $470 million, and new stores built on its platform surged 62% higher during the six weeks from March 12 to April 24. Whether the elevated numbers are sustainable or not, the data shows that shopping is moving online at an even faster rate than before, and small businesses are looking for ways to adapt.

While the recession is sure to lower overall economic activity for an unknown period of time, as that activity comes back, small businesses operating in a digital format are all set to capture the lion's share of the spending.

Digital transaction stocks were huge winners in the 2010s. The world is slowly moving away from cash as the de facto method of exchanging goods and services, but many corners of the globe still rely heavily on the old way of doing business. Thus, digital transactions should continue to benefit in the next decade, especially with e-commerce continuing to gobble up market share.

However, digital transactions are more than just credit card and e-commerce enablers. They can also help businesses reach and sell to new audiences they may not otherwise have physical contact with. PayPal Holdings (NASDAQ:PYPL), which also owns peer-to-peer payments app Venmo, is demonstrating this with its most recent acquisition of Honey Science. The digital coupon and deal finder reportedly had a 180% increase in new accounts in April as social distancing took hold. Paired with PayPal's approval to accept federal stimulus payments to individuals and businesses, it's a powerful combination that is helping rewrite what it means to provide banking services.

Square (NYSE:SQ) is another non-bank provider that was approved to process federal stimulus payments. It too is stitching together all of a banking consumer's financial needs in one place with its small business services via its namesake segment and Cash App for individuals. As for Cash App, it combines a digital wallet (kind of like an online checking account) that can receive and make payments to peers and businesses, a debit card linked to the online account for physical transactions, and investing in individual stocks and cryptocurrency.

What started as a disruptive movement against cash is now tackling the banking world at large and combining it with features of digital commerce. Bringing that kind of simplicity through a single point of financial management is picking up steam during the coronavirus crisis.

Over the last decade, growth in faster telecommunications networks and cloud services helped foster an age of mobility dominated by the smartphone. The cloud should continue to be a high-growth industry in the next 10 years as well, but an explosion of data that needs to be processed closer to the source is leading to the opposite of the cloud: Edge networks.

Data processed at "the edge" of a network rather than in a centralized data center is an easy enough concept. A smartphone that computes information and makes requests via a mobile network for a user is an example of a device operating at a network edge. However, new 5G mobile networks could open the door to new use cases. For businesses, making use of AI is an example. A data center will be responsible for training an AI system, but a device needs to receive and execute those instructions. An example of this could be a manufacturing operation. AI that manages functions of the manufacturing line is trained in the cloud, delivered to the devices and robotics at the facility, and managed via an internal 5G wireless network within the factory.

Image source: NVIDIA.

Verizon (NYSE:VZ) is leading the charge in this iteration of 5G here in the U.S., but one of the most profitable ways to bet on new mobile communications tech are hardware and software providers. NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) has emerged as a leader in this department, steadilyreleasing a slew of devices and software addressing data centers and cloud computing, networking, and edge devices themselves. NVIDIA calls this the "smart everything" movement and thinks that in the next decade, there will be billions of new devices -- from cars to whole manufacturing plants -- that make use of mobile networks and have need of computing data at the network edge.

Effects from the coronavirus crisis will likely be dealt with for some time, but technology is helping bridge the gap and emerging once again as the dominant investment trend of the decade ahead. Social distancing and related practices could be a lingering aftereffect for organizations and individuals to adapt to, but the digital world is well suited to help. Thus, I think direct-to-consumer services, e-commerce for small businesses, digital payments, and new mobile networks will be high-growth areas to invest in in the decade ahead.

Read the original:
4 Investing Themes for the 2020s - The Motley Fool

While we dont have targets, we are looking to invest in 40-50 startups this year, Vinay Bansal, co-founder of IPV told Business Insider.

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, they are happy to invest in startups. We are not moved by greed or fear. In fact, we see this as a great opportunity to invest in startups where we might not have got the opportunity to invest otherwise, he said.

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IPV was founded just 18 months ago by Vinay Bansal, Ankur Mittal & Mitesh Shah. From 283 investors on their platform in 2018, today they have over 1700 investors who are all CXOs from different companies. Some of the investors on its platform are Amit Dalmia (Blackstone), Prakash Iyer (Haldiram Group), Dhianu Das (Alfa Ventures), Anirudh Damani (Artha Ventures), Deepak Chandran (Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting), Rahul Bothra (Swiggy ), among others.

The minimum ticket size for an angel to start investing has been kept at a low entry point of 250,000.

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Due to the large group of investors, they dont have an investment thesis and are sector agnostic. However, here are the three pillars of evaluation

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Originally posted here:
This Indian angel investment platform has invested in eight cos in 60 days and plans to fund startups every we - Business Insider India

SINGAPORE - A total of $13 billion in investment commitments has been secured in the first four months of 2020 - among the highest in recent years, which will create thousands of jobs in areas such as tech and e-commerce over the next few years.

They include tech firm Micron, which intends to add 1,500 jobs here over the next few years, and online retailers Shopee and Lazada.

The investment commitment secured by the Economic Development Board (EDB) is higher than the yearly amount secured from 2013 to 2018, and exceeds the $8 billionto $10 billion initially projected for the whole of 2020. EDB secured $15.2 billion in investment commitments over the whole of last year.

Announcing the figures at a virtual press briefing on Saturday, Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing also outlineda roadmap for how the Government intends to generate investments and jobs to manage the fallout of the pandemic as the economy is forecast to shrink by as much as 7 per cent.

This ranges from helping companies hire ahead of demand, to initiating projects to encourage innovation.

He said: "Now that we have gotten a grip on the infection curve, the next few months' priority is to flatten the unemployment and recession curves."

The minister noted that unemployment here had risen to 3 per cent - a rate which is "much better" than initially feared, and is lower than the 10 per cent unemployment spike in some other countries.

However, Singapore cannot afford to be complacent. Mr Chan said: "If we can't get back to the pre-Covid world, and we can't get to the post-Covid world quickly, then chances are that we will have to learn to live and make a living in the Covid world."

He said that the $13 billion attracted by EDB reflects the confidence major investors and businesses have in Singapore's economy.

Asked what incentives were given to woo the companies, he said that such details are not revealed but added that what is far more important are factors such as Singapore's skills, trade policies and connectivity.

"Throughout the crisis, we have been known as a safe harbour for talent, intellectual property, we have remained open and connected, we have not put up export restrictions - all these attractive features for people to want to continue to put their investment in Singapore."

Lazada Singapore's chief executive James Chang told The Straits Times that his company had recently hired 500 full-time and temporary staff in response to a surge in online orders.

He added that there are over 100 roles for positions based here, and that Lazada is looking for people with skill sets in data analysis, machine learning, logistics planning and account servicing. "E-commerce adoption has accelerated during this period among customers and retailers, and the right talent is important to drive Lazada's business as the future has been brought forward," he added.

Shopee said it was hiring in departments such as business development, software engineering and marketing, but did not say how many new jobs it expects to create.

However,the head of its regional operations and people teamLim Teck Yong said that the company is "committed to bringing on board talent ahead of demand".

Mr Lim said: "As a local tech company, we seek to broaden and deepen our technology capabilities in Singapore. This reaffirms our long-term commitment to Singapore and to elevate Singapore's attractiveness as the Silicon Valley of South-east Asia."

Going ahead, said Mr Chan, not every job from the old economy will be preserved but the Government is determined to help every Singaporean and businesses here make the transition.

One key prong is helping companies hire ahead of demand. He noted that businesses cannot predict future demand due to the uncertainty of the outbreak, and so are hesitant about hiring new workers. To counter this, the Government will partner companies and trade associations and chambers (TACs) to help them hire and train workers, so that they can seize the opportunities when demand resumes.

On how the Government intended to incentivise this, he said that more details will be announced in the coming weeks.

Concurrently, the number of apprenticeships in various sectors will be significantly ramped up, both for fresh graduates and those making mid-career transitions.

"We hope that through such apprenticeships, the workers will be able to pick up skills ahead of time," said Mr Chan, adding that the Government will work with the TACsand NTUC on this. It will also encourage workers to step up training, particularly in the area of digitisation.

The Government itself will invest to create new opportunities, while encouraging innovation that can address Singapore's long-term challenges, he said. Enterprise Singapore and the Infocomm Media Development Authority will spearhead this effort.

One such project is by JTC Corporation, which will launch in mid-June a $4 million effort to digitalise the construction and facilities management sector to improve productivity and reduce reliance on foreign manpower, as well as sustainable construction methods and materials to lower the carbon footprint.

Companies will be also encouraged to innovate and adopt solutions in areas such as big data, process enhancements, and resource sharing, under a Trade and Connectivity Challenge 2020. Winners will receive a prize of up to $70,000, and those eligible will also receive a grant.

More details will be given in the coming week.

Read more:
Thousands of jobs to be created from $13b in investment commitments secured in first 4 months of 2020: Chan Chun Sing - The Straits Times

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Technavio has been monitoring the crude oil market and it is poised to grow by $ 146.92 bn during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of about 1% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment.

Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Request for Technavio's latest reports on directly and indirectly impacted markets. Market estimates include pre- and post-COVID-19 impact on the Crude Oil Market. Download free sample report

The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. BP Plc, Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips Co., Exxon Mobil Corp., PetroChina Co. Ltd., Petrleo Brasileiro SA, Qatar Petroleum, Rosneft Oil Co., Royal Dutch Shell Plc, and Saudi Arabian Oil Co. are some of the major market participants. The increasing upstream investments will offer immense growth opportunities. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments.

Increasing upstream investments has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market.

Technavio's custom research reports offer detailed insights on the impact of COVID-19 at an industry level, a regional level, and subsequent supply chain operations. This customized report will also help clients keep up with new product launches in direct & indirect COVID-19 related markets, upcoming vaccines and pipeline analysis, and significant developments in vendor operations and government regulations. https://www.technavio.com/report/global-crude-oil-market-industry-analysis

Crude Oil Market 2020-2024: Segmentation

Crude Oil Market is segmented as below:

To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR40237

Crude Oil Market 2020-2024: Scope

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our crude oil market report covers the following areas:

This study identifies technological developments in hydraulic fracturing process as one of the prime reasons driving the crude oil market growth during the next few years.

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Crude Oil Market 2020-2024 : Key Highlights

Table of Contents:

PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT

PART 03: MARKET LANDSCAPE

PART 04: MARKET SIZING

PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS

PART 06: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE

PART 07: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE

PART 08: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY PRODUCTION AREA

PART 09: DECISION FRAMEWORK

PART 10: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES

PART 11: MARKET TRENDS

PART 12: VENDOR LANDSCAPE

PART 13: VENDOR ANALYSIS

PART 14: APPENDIX

PART 15: EXPLORE TECHNAVIO

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Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavios report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavios comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

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Crude Oil Market 2020-2024 | Increasing Upstream Investments to Boost Growth | Technavio - Business Wire

There are lots of stocks that will rise a lot over your lifetime. Invest in these stocks at an early enough age, and there's a good chance you'll get rich. You'll just get rich slowly.

But not everyone is still a spring chicken with a really long investing timeline. And many investors simply don't want to wait 30 years or more to make a lot of money from their investments. If you fit into one of these categories, I have good news and bad news for you.

First, the bad news. You won't find very many stocks that can deliver tremendous returns in a short period of time, say, over the next decade. Now for the good news. There are a few fantastic growth stocks that you can buy right now that have a good shot at making you a lot of money relatively quickly. I think that investing $5,000 in these three stocks could make you a fortune over the next 10 years.

Image source: Getty Images.

David Gardner, co-founder of The Motley Fool, thinks that investors should "make your portfolio reflect your best vision for our future." One really positive vision for the future is a world where most cases of cancer can be detected early enough to be successfully treated.Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) is on track to make that future a reality.

The company is a pioneer in developing liquid biopsies that detect cancer by finding fragments of DNA broken off from tumor cells in the blood. What's revolutionary about this approach is that it could make possible the detection of cancer at really early stages -- even before people notice any symptoms -- using only a blood test.

Admittedly, Guardant Health's first liquid biopsy products don't achieve this goal. Guardant360matches people who have advanced-stage cancer with the best therapy, while GuardantOMNIhelps drugmakers select patients for clinical trials evaluating experimental cancer drugs. But sales are skyrocketing for these products with year-over-year revenue growth of 84% in the first quarter of 2020 despite a negative impact from the COVID-19 pandemic late in the quarter.

Guardant Health's LUNAR program, though, includes two assays in clinical testing that could enable the early detection of cancer and monitoring for cancer recurrence. The company has an addressable market of more than $50 billion annually in the U.S. alone for its current and experimental products. With Guardant Health's market cap currently well under $10 billion, this stock holds the potential to deliver ginormous returns over the next decade.

Thirty-three U.S. states have legalized medical cannabis with more probably on the way to doing so. There's now a big medical cannabis market in the country. And Innovative Industrial Properties (NYSE:IIPR) ranks as one of the top companies positioned to profit in this market.

IIP is the leading real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on the medical cannabis industry. It buys properties from medical cannabis operators then leases the properties back to operators. These sale-leaseback deals provide cash to the medical cannabis operators while giving IIP a nice long-term revenue stream.

As a REIT, IIP must distribute at least 90% of taxable income to shareholders in the form of dividends. Because its revenue and earnings have soared, so has its dividend payout -- up a whopping 567% in the last three years. IIP's dividend yield currently tops 5%.

By my calculations, IIP would need to buy and lease between six and eight new properties each year while keeping its dividend payout at least at current levels to double an initial investment within the next five years. The company has completed eight sale-leaseback deals so far this year. I don't think it's out of the question at all for IIP to turn a $5,000 investment into $30,000 or more over the next 10 years.

Advertising is going high-tech. Instead of back-and-forth negotiations, ad agencies are turning to software to buy ad spots from media companies. And those ads are increasingly digital instead of on billboards or in print. One company dominates the buy-side digital and programmatic advertising market: The Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD).

The Trade Desk's software platform helps ad agencies pick from over 500 billion digital ad opportunities each day. Its applications enable these agencies to get the best bang for the buck for their clients by targeting specific audiences most likely to be interested in their clients' products and services.

The company's revenue and profits have grown significantly as the advertising world has shifted to digital and programmatic advertising. In the first quarter, The Trade Desk reported year-over-year revenue growth of 33% and adjusted earnings growth of 84%. This growth could slow somewhat with the COVID-19 pandemic as companies trim their ad budgets, but the long-term prospects for The Trade Desk remain very strong.

Just how great are those prospects? The global advertising market is expected to reach $1 trillion by 2025. Programmatic advertising currently is a $34 billion slice of this market but is growing rapidly. It wouldn't be surprising if digital video makes up close to half of the total ad market by the end of the decade. The Trade Desk is in an excellent position to profit from the growth of digital and programmatic advertising.

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Investing $5,000 in These 3 Stocks Could Make You a Fortune Over the Next 10 Years - Motley Fool

Fintech investment in the UK has risen by 500% in the last three years, compared to 170% for the USA and 133% for Europe, research from recruitment firm Robert Walters has revealed.

Since 2018 the UK fintech market has outstripped the USA and Europe for investment deals.

Tom Chambers, senior manager technology (London) at Robert Walters, said: Fintechs were not initially seen as direct competition to traditional banks with their products and services differing vastly.

However, over the past 12-18 months weve seen fintechs apply for banking licenses which means they can now expand their offering to include overdrafts, guarantee deposits, and the ability to set-up direct debits.

Perhaps the most drastic change was governments swift action to shake-up traditional lending and allow fintech companies to be an official loan provider for the government COVID-19 bailout scheme introducing fintechs to the masses.

As fintechs creep into traditional banking territory, and financial services continue to embed technology into their processes, the sectors stand to become indistinguishable in the next year.

In Q1 of this this year, London fintechs have generated almost as much investment ($114m) as they did for the entire year of 2017 ($148m) highlighting the significance of 2020 for the sector.

Fintech remains London-centric.

In 2019, the number of investments into UK fintechs nearly doubled to 96, however only eight were into regional businesses (under 10%).

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London outstrips the US and Europe for fintech investment - Property Wire

You could ask 100 different analysts what they think about buying and selling stocks during COVID-19, and you might just get 100 different opinions. That's what's great about tracking hedge funds. You can see where the smart money is being put, and you can see if managers put their money where their mouth is. If you have $1,000 to invest, now could be a great opportunity to start a new position, and billion-dollar hedge fund managers have been scooping up shares of IDEXX Laboratories (NASDAQ:IDXX), Goodyear Tire (NASDAQ:GT) and Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX).

You may not recognize IDEXX Laboratories, but if you're a pet owner there's a chance you've crossed paths with its products or services already. IDEXX is a leader in pet healthcare innovation, with a list of diagnostic products and services that enhance the ability of veterinarians. Here are some reasons why Bridgewater Associates, a fund with over $5 billion in portfolio value, might have scooped up shares during the first quarter.

IDEXX is one of a few stocks to outperform the S&P 500 over the past three months as COVID-19 swept the globe, but the company expects to feel some pain during the second quarter, as some people deferred animal care. That said, there is an intriguing trend taking place that could actually be a boost for IDEXX post-COVID-19. Animal adoption and fostering of shelter pets has increased during the pandemic, and these newer pet owners will almost certainly need to use pet healthcare. Already, Americans' spending on pets just hit a record high $95.7 billion in 2019, and at no point over the past 25 years has there been a year-over-year decline in U.S. pet industry expenditures.

Image source: Getty Images.

In addition to rising adoption and additional pet owners, IDEXX's intangible assets could improve as veterinarians across the U.S. turn to the company for helpful products and services to keep veterinarians and consumers safe during COVID-19. IDEXX boasts a cost advantage thanks to its network of reference labs, and has a competitive advantage from switching costs -- both advantages that will help weather the COVID-19 storm. Here's what we know to be true: Americans love their pets and they are spending more on them than ever. That means IDEXX has a long-term growth story that COVID-19 can only temporarily slow.

While IDEXX Laboratories outperformed the S&P 500 over the past three months, Goodyear Tire, a manufacturer of tires for automobiles, trucks, and aircraft, has spiraled lower with its Americas and Europe manufacturing temporarily suspended. Analysts are predicting double-digit drops in automotive production and sales for the full-year. As if that wasn't bad enough, more Americans stuck at home for social distancing means fewer tires on the road and fewer miles traveled -- bad news if you're a company selling tires. Perhaps buying when others are fearful is why Appaloosa Management's manager David Tepper started a position in Goodyear Tire during the first quarter.

With COVID-19 keeping cars off the road, and a plateauing North American auto manufacturing market, it's easy to be pessimistic about Goodyear Tire. However, the company could be oversold because many investors don't realize the majority of Goodyear's sales are from replacement tires, rather than from major automotive manufacturers. Furthermore, the company has also turned its focus to larger than 17-inch tires, which offer much larger profits than smaller tires. In fact, the industry estimates that the profit margin per tire for a consumer replacement larger than 17 inches is almost four times larger than consumer replacement tires smaller than 17 inches.

Goodyear Tire certainly hit a speed bump with COVID-19, and its second-quarter financial results will be rough. However, the company could be oversold considering the following: Its global manufacturing facilities will be coming online soon if they haven't already, it has a growing larger-than-17-inch tire business, it has $3.6 billion of cash and available liquidity to weather COVID-19, and it's seeing favorable trends in prices versus raw material costs.

Starbucks is certainly a household name in the U.S., and it's absolutely the leading specialty coffee retailer, but that doesn't mean the company is all out of growth stories -- far from it. Not only does it still have a growth story, the company will be far better positioned to survive COVID-19 than smaller competitors, and those two reasons could be why Ken Fisher and his Fisher Asset Management fund scooped up a chunk of shares during the first quarter.

Let's get back to the growth stories. Long-term, the king of coffee still has plenty of international growth potential in emerging markets and can even grow into new channels with new platforms and products. Heck, it still has a U.S. growth story, as it could build new store formats such as premium location, drive-thru only, and kiosks, among other ideas. There's also menu evolution with new cold beverages, health and wellness options, and even new delivery partnerships.

Image source: Getty Images.

What's also great about buying Starbucks at a time of uncertainty is simply the company's massive scale and liquidity to not only weather the COVID-19 storm, but to apply even more pressure to smaller competitors with more competitive prices. The stock markets will rebound, but not all companies will survive the near-term effects from COVID-19. However, you can invest in Starbucks and still sleep well at night.

COVID-19 has been a tragic development for the entire planet, and its financial effects will be heavily felt during the second quarter. With stock market volatility and an ample amount of uncertainty facing investors, if you have $1,000 to invest right now, IDEXX, Goodyear Tire, and Starbucks are being scooped up by billionaire hedge fund managers. It's not difficult to see why.

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Have $1,000 to Invest? Billionaires Are Buying These 3 Stocks - The Motley Fool