U.S. equity markets have had a good year. The prices of the indices themselves sit at all-time highs while year-to-date returns have given investors reason to celebrate. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 10.5%, the S&P 500 better than 9% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq is up nearly 17%. However, unless you were smart enough to take the passive index-following route or stick with the much hyped FAANG (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google) names, you may be among the frustrated. In previous articles, I’ve called out some of those frustrated investors moaning about the lack of quality bargains in stocks. Again,… Read More
U.S. equity markets have had a good year. The prices of the indices themselves sit at all-time highs while year-to-date returns have given investors reason to celebrate. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 10.5%, the S&P 500 better than 9% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq is up nearly 17%. However, unless you were smart enough to take the passive index-following route or stick with the much hyped FAANG (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google) names, you may be among the frustrated. In previous articles, I’ve called out some of those frustrated investors moaning about the lack of quality bargains in stocks. Again, I will say that they’re just not looking hard enough. Using a screen for large-cap stocks based on forward price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) discounts and dividend yields greater than 2%, I’ve uncovered a list of high-quality, big-name, franchise stocks that are trading at deep discounts to the market. Here are three of the strongest. The Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) With a market cap of nearly $40 billion, Blackstone is the undisputed heavyweight champ of what we in the wealth management business refer to as alternative asset management. Alternative assets run the spectrum from long-short, hedge-fund style products to real estate… Read More