The stock market is taking huge hits right now because of many factors. There may be some good stock investments out there, even in this environment. Here are some of the potential winners that I have heard analysts talk about recently.
Let me give you the landscape of what’s going on. The economy is softening, to the point that people are talking about a possible double dip recession. The jobs numbers have been down as well as the housing market.
A good stock that I have heard a few times on places like CNBC is Caterpillar, INC (CAT). They are a US based company that builds heavy equipment for construction and big projects like that. The new investments and expansion in emerging markets is driving the demand for Caterpillar’s equipment and machinery.
There have been rumors of a slow-down coming because of some of the economic indicators not being positive recently. They are even talking about the emerging markets possibly seeing some softening as well. I don’t really think this is the case. One analyst pointed out that the price of iron ore has been going up. This is actually not really a speculative commodity. That means prices are being driven by real demand, not just hedge funds trying to make a profit.
It is assumed that countries like China, Vietnam, India, Brazil and other emerging market countries need things like iron ore for their expansion efforts. Well, the need for raw materials like this commodity will create a need and demand for equipment that companies like Caterpillar provide.
Another stock people are talking about it Juniper Networks. They sell routers and switches, which is the core business of Cisco. They are a small company and they have been essentially taking business away from Cisco in this core business. They have been growing and have momentum on their side.