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Mismatch in Main Street & Wall Street? 4 Quality Picks

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Despite the acute coronavirus scare and global lockdowns, Wall Street ripped higher on the unprecedented U.S. central bank and government stimulus in recent times. After hitting the bottom on Mar 23, the S&P 500 skyrocketed more than 42% till Jun 10.

However, the stupendous rally halted on Jun 11 as another 1.542 million Americans claimed unemployment benefits amid Covid-19 crisis, as well as on signs of rising coronavirus cases with easing lockdowns and the Fed’s cautious outlook for the economy. Key U.S. indexes fell in the range of 5% to 6.9% on Jun 11.

Many have hoped for a V-shaped recovery, especially after the surprisingly upbeat May jobs report and some better-than-expected economic data points. However, in the latest policy meeting, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell poured some cold water on the extra-euphoric Wall Street bulls, saying “millions” of people will not be able to resume work for some time because of the aftershocks to businesses from the COVID-19 crisis.

The Fed now expects the U.S. unemployment rate to hit 9.3% this year, dropping to 6.5% in 2021 and declining further to 5.5% in 2022. The unemployment rate in May dropped to 13.3% from 14.7% in April. Before the pandemic, the U.S. unemployment rate was hovering near the 50-year lows of around 3.6%.

The Fed sees American GDP falling 6.5% in 2020 before rising 5.0% in 2021 and 3.5% in 2022. The projections and Fed comments hint that the coronavirus-led economic crisis is far from over. In short, there is a “disconnect between Main Street and Wall Street,” per analysts. The U.S. economy is in recession, but investors are still enjoying cheap money.

Why You Should Focus on High-Quality Stocks

With rising uncertainty and a global recessionary environment, investors may consider parking money in quality stocks. These stocks with excellent earnings records, strong balance sheets and high return on equity are likely to weather market downturns well.

CFRA’s Sam Stovall said the market has been highly overbought and the sell-off on Thursday could mark the beginning of a bigger pullback. Stovall said stocks could decline 5% to 10% from the Jun 8 peak. So, investors may consider investing in these high-quality stocks to fight what some believe is the start of a bigger decline in Wall Street.

Stock Picks

Against this backdrop, below we highlight a few top-ranked stocks that have a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy). The stocks are rich with quality characteristics. These stocks too lost on Jun 11 selloffs, but could be bought on the dip.

Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT - Free Report)
Zacks Rank #2
Current ROE (TTM): 37.13%
Debt/Equity Ratio: 0.69X
5-Yr Historical Sales Growth: 13.61%
5-Yr Historical EPS Growth: 31.78%
Dividend Yield: 1.47%

TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation (AMTD - Free Report)
Zacks Rank #2
Current ROE (TTM): 23.05%
Debt/Equity Ratio: 0.54X
5-Yr Historical Sales Growth: 17.99%
5-Yr Historical EPS Growth: 30.56%
Dividend Yield: 3.01%

BristolMyers Squibb Company (BMY - Free Report)
Zacks Rank #2
Current ROE (TTM): 30.06%
Debt/Equity Ratio: 0.86X
5-Yr Historical Sales Growth: 11.55%
5-Yr Historical EPS Growth: 21.90%
Dividend Yield: 2.99%

MEDIFAST Inc (MED - Free Report)
Zacks Rank #1
Current ROE (TTM): 65.66%
Debt/Equity Ratio: 0.00X
5-Yr Historical Sales Growth: 26.51%
5-Yr Historical EPS Growth: 38.34%
Dividend Yield: 4.12%

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