Investors know there’s always opportunities, perhaps especially, when markets seem volatile.
And things have scarcely been more volatile than right now…
- Experts like Warren Buffett and Ray Dalio backing Chinese stocks to beat the U.S. (expected to slump) 🇨🇳
- War involving major powers 🇷🇺
- Crypto getting the E.U.’s knickers in a twist
Telling apart real opportunities from fear is tricky, but to help you out with suggestions, we’ve made a guide of top shares to buy now.
Table of Contents:
- How We Choose our Platforms
- The Best Shares to Buy Now in the UK
- 1. Long-Term Unbeatable Stock: Amazon
- 2. Winning Aggressive Stock: Alibaba 🚀
- 3. Best Safe Stock (Today): Apple
- 4. Top Time-Tested Stock: Google
- 5. Top Moonshot Stock: Appian (APPN) 🌙
- 6. Next-Best Moonshot Stock: Cryomass Technologies (CRYM)
- 7. Third-Best Moonshot Stock: Allegiant Gold (AUXXF)
- Best Stocks to Buy Now: Buying Guide
- FAQs
How We Choose our Platforms
Interesting fact: were you aware that the U.S. stock market makes up 46% of the entire world’s stock market value, in 2023? But that is expected to change.
So in this guide we’ll give a mixture of reliable bets, merging market risers for long-term large growth, and moonshot stocks… sometimes referred to as “meme stocks”.
Returns obviously can’t be guaranteed. Overall, the larger the corporation (large-cap companies), the more resilient it is to market slumps, economic recessions, and even national turmoil.
So most of the recommendations in this guide are tailored for maximising growth without squandering safety. Let’s begin!
The Best Shares to Buy Now in the UK (2023)
1. Amazon (AMZN)
Key Features:
- Stock Abbreviation: (AMZN)
- Exchange: NASDAQ
- Net Profit: £104.4B
- Gross Market Cap: £1.68 trillion
PROS
CONS
📓 Reputation
Amazon doubled profits for itself and is growing at a faster rate than Apple (AAPL), which in a sense makes AMZN a better stock than the largest stock currently in the world.
And we’re not talking about the best stock for the next few months, but the best long-term hold over multiple years. How so?
To begin with, Amazon’s mission statement is among one of the most growth-centric and realised that exists. AMZN has an inherent focus on leadership (Bezos was renowned for sniffing out opportunities and waiting out competition), good culture, care of employees, and data-driven clarity & efficiency of operations.
These are some of the tenants to look for when choosing a long-term hold for what will last once the hype has settled.
Google is also a phenomenal example of this, with Sergey founding the search engine due to growing up under Soviet rule, and deciding (after visiting a convention in Poland that went against many of his brainwashed convictions about America), to make information as widely accessible to the world as possible.
Indeed, Apple’s dedication to user interface and experience ranks high on the list of mission statements; however, they are arguably slightly less fun essential than Amazon.
At any rate, both Amazon and Apple are mainstays in the portfolio of most long investors. But whereas Apple can be a one trick pony, Amazon has feelers and just about every sector, and was not only immune to the pandemic of 2020, but saw accelerated growth as a result, with an overall higher diversification in its range of offerings.
It’s currently the cheapest price it’s ever been on a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio… Which makes this one of the best shares to Buy Now!! 🔥
2. Alibaba (BABA)
Key Features:
- Stock Abbreviation: (BABA)
- Exchange: NYSE
- Net Profit: £14.98 billion
- Gross Market Cap: £239 billion
PROS
CONS
📓 Reputation
Warren Buffett, Ray Dario, and Charlie Munger can’t be all wrong about BABA stock, can they? Probably not… Alibaba has of course seen dramatic hits (a 25% plunge and record-low) to their market value in the face of 2021 mounting regulatory obstacles. So holders of Alibaba stock need to be fully prepared for volatility in the short-term, with big upside potential years into the future.
Indeed, since this turmoil that involved billions of dollars been wiped out from portfolios, investment masters like Ray Dario and his Bridgwater investment firm have treated this as even more reason to further invest in Chinese stocks such as Alibaba (boosting its investments by 29% in the fourth quarter of 2021), JD.com (a whopping increase in their stake of 33%), Pinduoduo (38%), BIDU (23%), and NIO (by 8%).
This return of investment funds is also, in part, owed to efforts made by Chinese corporations to tighten up regulatory practices across the economy, after hits from 2021. But there is no telling how great future growth will be (they’re tiny right now, compared to Amazon…but that only means aggressive upsides are more possible).
To explain this in layman’s terms, investors simply need to ignore short-term uncertainties and take into consideration the sweeping momentum that China has economically, and will have in the decades to come. In my way of thinking, this is the equivalent of betting on Bitcoin before it was well-known, to some degree or the other. Just be prepared to hold for five years or more
Seeing as the stock is closer to its all-time lows, than it’s been for a long time, this is obviously the time to buy now…
3. Apple (AAPL)
Key Features:
- Stock Abbreviation: (AAPL)
- Exchange: NASDAQ
- Revenue: £277 billion
- Net Profit: £71 billion
- Gross Market Cap: £2.2 trillion
PROS
CONS
📓 Reputation
It’s of little surprise that Apple took part in waging war with Russia, considering it has a larger market capitalisation than the country. In fact, it's larger than the vast majority (97%) of countries around the world, in terms of their gross domestic product averages.
Which makes Apple’s size equivalent to a G7 member country. Indeed, Apple is only slightly behind the GDP of the UK, which is £2.7 billion… Seeing as market cap is a key metric used to measure how safe a stock is, this makes Apple a worthy bet for long-term investment holds – with plenty room for steady conservative growth.
In terms of its actual operations, Apple does marketing, designing, manufacturing across a broad spectrum of consumer technology products and services, such as smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearable devices, home entertainment systems, and the list goes on.
Compared to something like Dropbox or Slack, their mission statement is innovation-centric (second to none other than the likes of Amazon and Google) – dedicated to: “bringing the best user experience to its customers through its innovative hardware, software, and services.”
The iPhone, of course, is its trademark mobile product, and the Mac for computers. That said, Apple has expanded massively across service-based revenue. For example, sufferings of cloud and payment services, media play stores, and the relatively recent addition Apple+ – for streaming on demand entertainment content.
All of this means there is strong room for robust future expansions. However, some investors may be alarmed by diminishing sales in China, and some backlash against Apple Store’s “Apple tax”, wherein companies affiliated like Netflix and Spotify are reducing Apple’s cut when customers are redirected to purchase software through the iOS App Store.
4. Google (GOOG)
Key Features:
- Stock Symbol: (GOOG)
- Exchange: NASDAQ
- Revenue: £181 billion
- Net Profits: £53.69 billion
- Market Cap: £1.52 trillion
PROS
CONS
📓 Reputation
The parent company of Google is Alphabet, which has been growing in revenue. Google obviously has the vast bulk of the worldwide search market. However, this is only its trademark product, and it has a breadbasket of high-value assets under its Alphabet incorporated corporation, covering the breadth of digital technology services – one reason GOOG should be considered a top time-tested stock… These include the following:
- YouTube, which itself is still continuing to grow in total number of worldwide users
- Android OS for smartphones and other devices
- Email (Gmail) and Chrome browser services, featuring Google Maps, Google photos, Google Cloud, and Google Drive cloud storage
- Google Play App Store
- (*But there’s still much more…)
*Google Cloud, for example, gives developers the ability to create and market applications. While the hardware focused part of the business, alphabet, is also increasing in revenue. Multiple alphabet led projects include the pixel phone, Fitbit, and nest home products services. Some of this is a little bit scatterbrained and doesn’t directly tie in with its original search engine and advertisement products…
But those who understand its mission statement (to make information as widely accessible as
possible) will understand that GOOG is readying itself for exponential increases in personal machine power, ranges of user experiences such as augmented reality, and various infrastructure and interfaces needed for these all talk to each other satisfactorily. Which makes Google a very interesting long bet.
Furthermore, these include a host of “moonshot” ventures that seek to procure surprising shareholder dividends through accelerated expansion. Some of these radical projects span across delivery drones, healthcare, self driving vehicles via Waymo, robots, and green energy. A fine mix for investors: conservative dependability with room for high upside.
5. Appian (APPN)
Key Features:
- Stock name: (APPN)
- Exchange: NASDAQ
- Revenue: £280.79 million
- Gross Profit: £201.64 million
- Market Cap: £3.35 billion
PROS
CONS
📓 Reputation
Lucky dip tech opportunity. Appian (NASDAQ:APPN) as an automation platform that is light on code, headquartered in Virginia. Despite revenue growth of nearly 1/5 across the last three quarters, there are troubling indicators for the stock’s continued growth.
One such indicator is marketing expenses that are going 40% bigger than revenues. This commonly means that a company is losing customers (the reverse pattern should be less marketing costs relative to the sales). Research and development expenses have also climbed which some think means the company is to focus on customising products, in order to attract prospective clients.
However, things have taken a swing in the other direction in recent weeks:
Firstly, hedge fund Abdiel Capital Management bought £5.63 million in stock. Indeed, in 2020, they bought over 600,000 shares at £36 each before selling them off at £184 two quarters later. Because of their great track record with timing trades, Abdiel has become ranked in 42nd place on Tipranks out of 86,640 names.
So why is this hedge fund heading back for a second dip?
Potential Massive Buyout
Appian’s financials suggest that, due to its low price, it may become a strong buyout candidate. The platform has been preened for over two decades, listed on the Gartner Customer’s Choice list of low-in-code automation platforms. Potential bidders include Microsoft and Accenture.
There may also be a new product on the line. However, any long holds should be tailored to the price; medium at around £34 per share, and smaller holds at £40 and over.
6. Cryomass Technologies (CRYM)
Key Features:
- Stock name: (CRYM)
- Exchange: OTCMKTS
- Revenue: £0
- Gross Profit: £0
- Market Cap: £44.68 million
PROS
CONS
📓 Reputation
This would classify as a moonshot penny stock, appropriate for investors who want a very aggressive opportunity in their breadbasket. Cryomass Technologies (OTCMKTS:CRYM) marijuana refining firm which merged with Adina Gold in order to go public in June 2021.
Its peak was around 48p per share in October which dropped to just over 20p. But in recent weeks, there’s been a lot of activity, including the CEO purchasing £100,000 worth of stocks, the CFO buying £40,000 worth of stocks, the general counsel buying around £10k.
Reason for the buzz? CRYM has been updating its refineries, including the ability to harvest product inside minutes. Part of this includes drying the plants using liquid nitrogen, while managing to preserve higher THC trichome content than would be possible through the usual practices.
For industry manufacturers, this is a clear efficiency boon, especially considering that under half of marijuana plants are smoked in the flowered form. Floors calligraphers and increasingly include discrete approaches such as edibles, concentrates, and vapes.
Which means that for the above, the large bulk (90%) of the plant itself in weight is useless. And only the THC, which is the psychoactive element, is required.
Cryomass’s executive team seems to think their new invention is dependable. The last test was carried out on January 22, there has not yet been a public update. But insider activity suggests that there are hidden extras ahead.
7. Allegiant Gold (AUXXF)
Key Features:
- Stock name: (AUXXF)
- Exchange: OTCMKTS
- Revenue: £616.28 million
- Gross Profit: £503.85 million
- Market Cap: £8.73 billion
PROS
CONS
📓 Reputation
Lastly, Allegiant Gold (OTCMKTS:AUXXF) is in mid-process of mining. Their mines cover ten acquisitions across broad swathes of south-western U.S.
Of note, their CEO recently caught just under £10k worth of stock. Which matters because this particular sector has a lot of asymmetry in terms of information channels and who is privy to them. For instance, geologists, who have mined for gold for our lifetime and achieved mastery at it, can often suss out a strong potential mine way ahead of public drilling results.
Which is where insider trading takes place. Legally speaking, the natural intuition a geologist classifies as not being “material nonpublic information,” which means they are perfectly free to invest based on these instincts, as long as this is done before official drilling results are revealed.
There have been other cases of mining CEOs and executives using this legal loophole to their own benefit. For instance, managers at Osisko Mining (OTCMKTS:OBNNF) were able to leave with a windfall earlier this year with gold drill holes at their appropriately named Windfall Gold Deposit produced some of the highest-quality materials Canada has seen.
This wash, no pun intended, of executive activity indicates that something similar may be happening with allegiant too.
Best Stocks to Buy Now: Buying Guide
Shares Explained 🥧
To begin with, what are shares? Shares are claims to a company – simply put, it represents how much you’ve invested in them. The actual money-value of your shares changes across time: it may go up, may hold, or may decline.
However, the company can use that revenue to fund its operations, in return for giving your stake or “share” in its future earnings. The nature of your stake could mean more benefits; for instance, a majority shareholder (ie. a stakeholder) owns 51% at least of shares and so can outvote everyone else on board decisions.
Typically, shareholders will have a mixture of legal and financial claims. They are considered part owners. One example of this is voting rights during shareholder meetings mentioned above – they technically speaking have some say, although the majority stakeholders will typically most influence executive decisions.
Many of the biggest firms and others also provision shareholders with surplus claims to residual earnings, which are shared proportionately across shareholders, allocated in a form called the dividends. But whether or not dividends are on the table, shareholders have a function of directly and indirectly encouraging market growth, via stock values, of the company.
Example of buying stocks
Suppose you invest £40 in Amazon, and you become a shareholder who doesn’t have dividend claims as part of the contract.
In that case, you won’t receive residual profits.
But if Amazon stock rises in price across the incoming months, you’ll also gain that appreciation in capital based of the number of shares in AMZN stocks you own; ie. the more shares you own (units of stock), the more you’ll profit from the rising market value.
In short, dividends are direct stakes in company earnings. By comparison, non-dividend shares are speculation based, wholly powered by conditions of that stock on the stock market. Here are the three main ways of approaching shares as a beginner:
- ☑️ Making capital gains by selling shares (no dividends) – Which means traders profit whenever the value of their share rises compared to what they pay for it, without dividends earnings attached. “Capital gains” is an economic model describing making earnings by selling an asset that has appreciated in value because of owning it across time. Assets don’t have to be stocks, they can also be things like cars, businesses, or property.
- ☑️ Dividends in cash – Shouldn’t be mistaken for capital gains as it behaves differently. Cash dividends get evenly distributed to the stockholders once a company profits and is taxed. Which makes cash dividends an intermittent stream of income. This benefits long-term stockholders who want to stay invested in a corporation but still receive benefits: which is why this is often an approach that retirees use to support living costs.
- ☑️ Dividends based on share buybacks – A more unusual process, where a company buy their own shares from stockholders, in order to reduce the gross number of outstanding shares. Rates offered are higher than the market rate, encouraging more investors to participate. Companies sometimes do this when they believe their stock to be undervalued, needing encouragement. It’s also a way to redistribute extra cash to shareholders tax efficiently.
Stock Types: Blue versus White Chip
Blue Chip Explained
Blue-chip stocks date back to the early 1900s when a Dow Jones employee, Oliver Gingold, noticed the pattern of stock trading for stocks that were priced at, or higher than, 200 bucks a share. Knowing something about poker, Oliver knew that – in poker – players used red, blue and white chips; with blue chips having more value than to white and red chips.
Today, blue chips designate the stock of high reputation, well established, large, national brand-names with a track-history of reliable earnings. These stocks therefore show potential for growth and returns stably. They are also known to preserve profitability during economic slumps.
A few examples of blue-chip companies include Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola, Disney, Amazon, IBM, McDonald’s and General Electric.
Features of blue-chip stocks:
- ☑️ Immense liquidity because there is lots of buying and selling between individual traders, investors, institutions
- ☑️ Reduced volatile
- ☑️ Substantial return on investment over time
- ☑️ Dependable use assets and equity
- ☑️ Very healthy equity-to-debt balance
- ☑️ Regular and growing dividends
- ☑️ Listed on a blue-chip index: these indexes double up in use-case as a way of getting a sense of industrial and national economic vitality as well as tracking the growth of blue-chip stocks.
White Chip Explained
These are low quality stocks, usually with lower values and lower returns. Features include less liquidity, less ROI, and less trusted use of equity and assets, including volatile debt-to-equity ratios and falling or static dividends.
The stocks are often either struggling companies, those for emerging markets, or those with poor growth outlook.
FAQs
Are MEME Stocks Worthwhile?
Meme stocks are high risk. These are suitable for traders who want aggressive growth potential and who are comfortable with volatile markets – where there is lots of room for high upside – but this requires a sound know-how of managing risks.
What MEME Stocks Are Hot in 2023?
Yahoo Finance suggests that the following, or listed on the NYSE (other than the final two, who are on the NASDAQ), are solid meme-stock worthy candidates:
- 🔥 Bakkt Holdings (BKKT)
- 🔥 Cassava Sciences (SAVA)
- 🔥 Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF)
- 🔥 Nokia (NOK)
- 🔥 Tilray (TLRY)
- 🔥 Virgin Galactic (SPCE)
- 🔥 PubMatic (PUBM)
What Stocks to Avoid in 2023?
During Netflix’s (NASDAQ:NFLX) plummet by 30% after publishing poor Q4 revenue, its CEO Reed Hastings bought £15 million in the firm.
Netflix still has a lot of good faith. However, a few others are not so lucky. The list includes work-from-home streaming service Zoom (NASDAQ:ZM) and vaccine manufacturer Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) who saw billions lost in market capitalization across the last few months. But backers aren’t jumping in to catch these at record-lows.
Facebook (Meta) also dropped 30%, with speculators not buying into its metaverse ambitions, which could take a long time to realise – and that it can stay ahead of competition.
