The Top Five Stocks to Buy for 2023
By the Stansberry Research Editorial Staff
Opportunity #1: Microsoft (MSFT)
For decades, Microsoft has dominated consumer PCs, productivity software, and servers for business. Microsoft sells its software programs, games, applications, devices, and platforms to billions of people in more than 190 countries.
Among the most widely used are its Windows operating system and its Office suite of productivity software like Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and Outlook.
New CEO Satya Nadella has revitalized the culture at Microsoft. The company is now cranking out intriguing products and reversing out-of-date policies that held the company back in prior years.
Microsoft is dominating the infrastructure-as-a-service cloud-computing era.
This business is highly capital efficient. Once the software is developed, it's not expensive to grow it to a large customer base.
And today, Microsoft has turned out to be that rarest of beasts – an old legacy tech company that has rediscovered its roots as a creative force.
The company is not just growing and innovating... It's proving it's still one of the smartest technology companies in Silicon Valley.
Now, Microsoft is embarking on a new journey, entering into health care.
Microsoft has realized that the health care industry is one of the last and largest remaining industries that has yet to be truly revolutionized by modern technologies.
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated investments in the life-sciences industry.
This will be the biggest technology story the world has ever seen. And it's likely just getting started.
Action to take: Microsoft is a great buy for your portfolio in 2023. It has soared as much as 1,162% after it was recommended in the Retirement Millionaire portfolio... and has since pulled back from its all-time highs to a strong buy point.
More important, the man responsible for that massive investing win – a true market legend – recently released an even bigger top idea.
He has exposed corruption on Wall Street and throughout the American medical system. And today, he's stepping forward with a new major warning. He says this will impact your money more than inflation... the war... or anything happening in Washington, D.C. And it's already starting to play out. See what's coming and how you need to prepare immediately, right here.
Opportunity #2: Amazon (AMZN)
When you think of Amazon, you probably think of the ubiquitous delivery trucks careening through your neighborhood and of the boxes piling up in your garage. Amazon's online business brings in nearly half of all e-commerce sales in the nation.
It has booked insane growth and pervaded the U.S. economy by having a fundamentally different approach than any other company we know. It focuses on the long-term view.
Amazon is always fun to watch during market downturns. Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos loves to invest in off-the-wall pivots while the rest of the world is reeling in economic turmoil.
As we embark on what is likely a recession, Amazon is once again investing in what could be a transformation that might feasibly unleash unfathomable wealth.
Amazon recently acquired a primary care company named One Medical in a $3.9 billion all-cash deal. Amazon has a vision to reinvent health care. I assure you, folks are not deploying billions, amid an economic crisis and likely recession, out of charity.
They're simply on the leading edge of a revolution.
A study of 49 industry groups – dating back to 1926 – found that health care stocks are the single best hedge against inflation anywhere in the markets. That's because demand for health care doesn't change much, no matter the economic environment... and providers have unlimited pricing power. It is also recession-proof, for the same reason.
The Nasdaq has fallen as much as 30% from its peak. And neither cryptos, gold, nor any other supposed hedge remained stable. But health care stocks have barely budged.
Amazon is poised to win big in this revolution. Our aging population is using more care. And our growing lifespans mean we're using health care for longer.
If ever there were a fortress built to withstand whatever the world will throw at it, it's Amazon.
The dominance of Amazon today is a clear part of something we call "The Transition." Just like Amazon took over retail, digital technology, and more, Amazon could soon be a frontrunner in the health care sector as well.
Action to take: Now is a great time to establish a position in Amazon. Because right now, little by little... in all sorts of clever, stealthy ways... the U.S. government and Wall Street have made it harder and harder for you to enjoy the retirement you've always imagined.
As a result, today's American retiree is now paddling upstream against:
- Soaring taxes (rumored to get even higher)
- An overvalued and crashing stock market
- Crippling adviser and portfolio fees
- Historic inflation and food prices
- A left-for-dead bond market
- Skyrocketing medical bills
In other words, you – the American retiree or future retiree – are now facing a crisis like never before.
And yet, even in the middle of a crashing market... war... and the pandemic... one analyst is totally focused on something else completely: the unfolding of a series of events that will completely change life in America. Click here to learn the details.
Opportunity #3: Hershey (HSY)
Inflation is everywhere in the headlines today...
And the fact is, so long as we have more money, we'll have inflation. It is a major fear for anyone who saves and generates income for their nest egg. For example, if you're saving for retirement and you have planned to earn a certain amount per year from investments, inflation means that same amount is now worth less.
Even small increases in inflation add up. And the expectations for inflation will drive investment returns. When you expect inflation, you position yourself differently than you would if you expect deflation. And other investors doing the same thing will drive some investments to lead and others to lag.
So, what do you want to own during periods of higher inflation?
Own stocks of good companies that have pricing power.
What that means is that if inflation strikes, a good business can raise prices. Not all of them can. But businesses with in-demand products and happy customers can charge a bit more to pass on rising costs like wages or materials.
And Hershey fits that bill perfectly.
Hershey is the largest chocolate confection maker in the United States. The company makes the iconic chocolate "kisses." And it sells sweets under about 100 other brands, including Reese's, Twizzlers, Milk Duds, Jolly Rancher, and Whoppers.
While mostly based in the U.S., the company also has operations in 80 countries around the world. But very little about the business has changed in over 100 years.
Hershey sells food products that people buy in good times and bad. That makes it relatively resistant to economic downturns.
Hershey is also one of the most capital-efficient businesses in the world. The beauty of running a capital-efficient business: As sales and profits grow, capital investments don't. Thus, the amount of money that's available to return to shareholders not only grows in nominal dollars, it also grows as a percentage of sales.
Hershey loves to reward shareholders through dividends and buybacks. With a solid and predictable profit growth, the company's brands and products are resilient and should stand the test of time.
Action to take: Add Hershey and other capital-efficient businesses to your portfolio in 2023.
Because right now, the stock market has reached a critical juncture.
Yes, it is much like what happened in 2008... 2000... and 1929.
Except the bubble this time is much, much bigger. And investors could be in for a decade or more of negative returns from here.
The time to prepare is right now.
And in one of his biggest ever public warnings, one market expert has laid out a simple, ONE-STEP plan... using only regular U.S. stocks... and this very specific group is practically designed to skyrocket in periods of crisis and inflation.
This man was among the few analysts to accurately describe the breadth and depth of the coming financial crisis in April 2008.
And today, after the biggest and longest bull market in history, culminating in the biggest asset bubble in history – you need to prepare yourself for what might become one of the most brutal bear markets in history. Learn the full details and how to get access by clicking here.
Opportunity #4: VanEck Oil Services Fund (OIH)
Most Americans don't realize that diesel fuel is the workhorse of the economy. It's used everywhere to keep trucks, tractors, ships, freight trains, and factories moving.
Everything moves by container ship and truck... and almost every ship and truck runs on diesel. So, when diesel fuel stops coming, ships stop sailing, trucks stop rolling, goods stop arriving – food, medicine, building materials... everything.
The new governmental policy that mandates the transformation of our economy (at any cost) to end fossil-fuel use, to take carbon emissions to zero, and to establish renewable energy for all future economic activity, is likely to threaten America's entire power grid.
And while everyone wants a better environment and less pollution, battery technology, wind power, and solar will probably become efficient enough to make up a meaningful portion of the electric grid – but not now. And not within the next 20 or 30 years.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration says wind and solar combined last year made up just 12% of the power grid. And looking forward, it expects that even by 2050, renewable energy will still make up only 38% of the U.S. grid.
The VanEck Oil Services Fund is the main exchange-traded fund ("ETF") for the oil-services industry.
While the oil-services sector falls harder than the broad energy market, it also experiences bigger booms. When energy stocks take off, oil-services stocks roar even higher.
For example, after the dot-com bust crashed the economy, energy stocks soared 390% from mid-2002 to their eventual peak in 2008. But oil-services stocks did even better... rallying 516% from their bottom in late 2001 to their peak in 2008.
We are currently coming off the worst bust in decades for this sector. It has soared from its bottom in 2020, and with over 300 rigs open, the oil-services companies have plenty of work to do.
Action to take: Oil-services stocks are a bold way to profit from today's oil boom.
The fact is that millions of people have suffered massive losses to their savings and retirement accounts over the last 10 months.
But not the smart money.
The smart money has moved into ONE sector: oil and gas.
- JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon says you should "brace yourself" for an economic hurricane. And he warns the price of oil "almost has to go up" from here.
- Jeremy Weir, the CEO at Trafigura, one of the world's largest commodity traders, says oil could go "parabolic" and put the global economy in a "critical situation."
- And Goldman Sachs believes "oil prices need to rally [because of the] low levels of global oil inventories."
Sadly, many countries will soon be scrambling to find ways to keep their citizens warm this winter, their factories open, and their economies running.
But what this is creating, for people in the know, is possibly the greatest investing opportunity I've ever seen in the energy sector...
And one company, that you can buy a stake in for $20, is at the center of it all. Click here to learn the details.
Opportunity #5: SPDR Gold Shares (GLD)
After what feels like nearly a decade of disappointing performance, we believe gold is on the cusp of a major bull market.
So far this year, gold has outperformed every major investment class, including stocks, bonds, and even cryptos.
The conditions are in place for a historic move.
Between increased market volatility, economic and political pressures, inflation, and personal debt in the U.S. reaching more than $30 trillion... the evidence is overwhelming for this historic shift in the gold markets.
Investors have been flocking to gold for its integral role as a hedge against inflation and market chaos.
Some of the world's smartest investors are jumping in, too.
David Einhorn, founder of Greenlight Capital, just added a gold position worth more than $45 million.
Billionaire bond king Jeffrey Gundlach told Yahoo Finance:
Gold is going to go a lot higher.
Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris says a QUARTER of your portfolio should be in gold as inflation creeps higher...
Meanwhile, legendary hedge-fund manager John Paulson recently bought more than $150 million worth of gold – just this year alone.
But perhaps the most surprising to us was when we saw that real estate billionaire Sam Zell, who spent his career arguing AGAINST gold... is now buying gold as a hedge against inflation.
But it doesn't stop there...
Billionaire hedge-fund founder Ray Dalio told readers not long ago he sees a paradigm shift happening in the gold market. He compared today's price movements with historical turning points like:
- Gold's historic 2,300% leap in the 1970s from $35 to $850 per ounce after President Nixon took the U.S. off the gold standard...
- And in the early 2000s, when gold tripled in value – soaring from under $300 per ounce in 2000 to $1,000 by 2008.
Today, many of the most powerful, well-connected, and smartest investors in the world are loading up on gold in unprecedented ways.
Action to take: SPDR Gold Shares provide nearly direct exposure to the price of gold. It owns more than 20 million ounces of gold in a secured bullion. GLD is a fine way to get exposure to the gold trend.
This may well end up as the greatest precious metals bull market of the past 100 years. The evidence is everywhere...
- Market volatility is rising, with stocks off to the worst start since 2009.
- Inflation is at its highest level in 40 years.
- Economic and political pressures are reaching a boiling point.
Not to mention, nearly every country is devaluing their currencies, one by one, with money-printing... engaging in what looks like a disastrous race to the bottom.
And there's one precious metals investment that may be one of the world's most profitable and low-risk investments – yet it's still virtually unknown.
Anyone can use it. It's as simple as buying a stock in your ordinary brokerage account.
So if you plan to buy gold today, you owe it to yourself to find out more about this small stock. It's not a mining stock, ETF, or bullion – but this virtually unknown investment could hand you a small fortune as gold soars higher. Learn more by clicking here.
