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Top 4 Blue-Chip Stocks to Buy on Renewed Stimulus Hopes

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The Dow, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq all climbed on Wednesday, the last day of September, on renewed hopes of another round of stimulus. The positivity comes as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he will talk to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi about coronavirus stimulus again and is “hopeful” about the prospects of a deal.

The earlier rounds of stimulus that helped millions of Americans who lost their jobs during the pandemic are already exhausted and hopes of a fresh round has once again come alive. A fresh round of stimulus will definitely please millions of Americans.

Stimulus Hopes Rise

The Treasury secretary added that he aims to find an “understanding” with Pelosi on a broad relief package by Thursday. Mnuchin said that an offer he expects to bring to the speaker — a counter to the $2.2 trillion aid bill the House could vote on this week — will resemble the roughly $1.5 trillion bipartisan House Problem Solvers caucus proposal put forward earlier this month. 

Pelosi had previously rejected that plan. The legislation included $450 per week in enhanced unemployment benefits during an eight-week transition period, another round of $1,200 direct payments and more Paycheck Protection Program small business loan funding, among other provisions.

Investors Confident About Stimulus

The Trump administration and Democratic leaders have failed to forge a consensus on what to include in a fifth coronavirus relief package as the outbreak ravages American lives and livelihoods. Before Mnuchin and Pelosi renewed talks in recent days, doubts had grown about Congress’ ability to pass a new aid before the Nov 3 election. 

Wall Street thinks that a fresh round of stimulus will further curb the coronavirus impact on the economy that saw more than 40 million workers losing jobs over the past few months, ending a decade-long job expansion.

4 Blue Chip Stocks to Buy

With hopes of a fresh round of stimulus in the pipeline, markets are widely expected to climb north.  And these companies are slated to gain in the near term as they have large market capitalization, strong balance sheet and solid cash flow. Hence, it makes sense to invest in solid blue-chip stocks that can make the most of the market rally. We have selected four such blue-chip stocks that have a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy).

Visa Inc. (V - Free Report) provides transaction processing services (primarily authorization, clearing and settlement) to financial institutions and merchant clients through VisaNet, its global processing platform.

The company’s expected earnings growth rate for next year is 16%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.6% over the past 60 days. Visa carries a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Walmart Inc. (WMT - Free Report) has evolved from just being a traditional brick-and-mortar retailer into an omnichannel player. Walmart’s offerings include almost everything from grocery to cosmetics, electronics to stationery, home furnishings to health and wellness products among others.

The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 8.5%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 8.5% over the past 60 days. Walmart carries a Zacks Rank #2 .

Salesforce.com, Inc. (CRM - Free Report) acquired Bonobo AI, a firm using automated analysis of customer phone calls, texts and chats to deliver actionable insights. This fits perfectly with Salesforce Einstein, the company's AI-powered software that uses data to identify previously unseen business patterns, deliver the hottest sales leads, predict which marketing copy will perform best and generally optimize how businesses operate and convert. 

The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 25.1%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 25.9% over the past 60 days. Salesforce has a Zacks Rank #1.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH - Free Report) is the largest health care services company in the world, serving over 50 million individuals in the United States as of 2019 and over 5 million internationally. The company provides a wide range of health care products and services, such as health maintenance organizations, point of service plans, preferred provider organizations, and managed fee-for-service programs.

The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 9.7%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.1% over the past 60 days.UnitedHealth carries a Zacks Rank #2.

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