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Zacks.com featured highlights include: ArcBest, EnLink, American Airlines, Avis Budget and California Resources

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – December 3, 2018 - Stocks in this week’s article are ArcBest Corp. (ARCB - Free Report) , EnLink Midstream (ENLC - Free Report) , American Airlines Group (AAL - Free Report) , Avis Budget Group (CAR - Free Report) and California Resources Corp. (CRC - Free Report) .

5 Broker-Friendly Stocks to Tide Over Market Volatility

The Q3 earnings season, which is over for most of the 16 Zacks sectors, has unveiled a rosy picture with many companies reporting better-than-expected earnings. According to the latest Earnings Outlook, 78.7% of the 488 S&P 500 companies that have reported thus far having outperformed earnings estimates.

This is highly encouraging as an earnings beat generally leads to stock price appreciation. Investors like to add outperformers to their portfolios, which can fetch them handsome returns

Market Volatility on the Rise

Despite the impressive Q3 performance, the U.S. equity market has been witnessing a roller coaster ride over the past two months. While trade-related tensions with China continue to be a source of worry, expectations of higher interest rates in the near future and plunging crude oil prices have also increased investors’ concern. Moreover, the decline in technology stocks has further added to concerns.

The heightened volatility is reflected in the significant increase in the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX).

Proper Guidance - A Must in this Scenario

With market participants gripped by fears on the one hand and robust earnings numbers on the other, selecting potential winning stocks is a difficult task.

Furthermore, with a huge number of stocks available in the market at any point of time, spotting potential outperformers is by no means an easy task for individual investors. In the absence of proper guidance, identifying a winning stock is akin to searching for ‘a needle in a haystack’.

Additionally, with time at a premium these days, it is next to impossible for investors to go through the extensive process. Given this backdrop, it is in the best interest of investors to seek guidance from “experts in the field." The concerned experts are brokers.

Broker Advice to the Rescue

To avoid such confusion, investors, more often than not rely on guidance provided by brokers who are deemed to be experts in the field. The opinion of brokers is highly sought after by investors as they have a clear insight into the nitty gritty of the investment world. Individual investors, more often than not, do not have access to such detailed and well-researched information.

Out of the three types of brokers (sell-side, buy-side and independent) present, sell-side analysts are the most common. They are employed by various brokerage firms to provide unbiased opinion on stocks. Meanwhile, buy-side analysts are employed by hedge funds, mutual funds and others while independent analysts directly sell their reports to investors.

Brokers revise their earnings estimates after carefully examining the pros and cons of an event for the concerned stock. Naturally, their stock related actions (upgrade or downgrade) serve as an invaluable guide as far as fixing target price of stock (s) is concerned.

For the rest of this Screen of the Week article please visit Zacks.com at: https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/340376/5-brokerfriendly-stocks-to-tide-over-market-volatility

Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.

About Screen of the Week

Zacks.com created the first and best screening system on the web earning the distinction as the "#1 site for screening stocks" by Money Magazine.  But powerful screening tools is just the start. That is why Zacks created the Screen of the Week to highlight profitable stock picking strategies that investors can actively use.

Strong Stocks that Should Be in the News

Many are little publicized and fly under the Wall Street radar. They're virtually unknown to the general public. Yet today's 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buys" were generated by the stock-picking system that has more than doubled the market from 1988 through 2016. Its average gain has been a stellar +25% per year. See these high-potential stocks free >>.

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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

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