Bank of America Corp.

Veteran value investor Bill Nygren has seen his share of ups and downs, but his long-term performance warrants patience. Here’s where he’s investing now. […]

The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: JPMorgan, Bank of America, PNC Financial and Zions […]

[Editor's note: "9 Hot Stocks to Buy Now" was previously published in October 2019. It has since been updated to include the most relevant information available.]In the wake of an apparent Phase 1 trade deal between the U.S. and China, the risks facing the stock market appear to have receded. So while there might still be reasons for caution overall now -- continued trade conflicts and political uncertainty -- there are many opportunities for investors.Here are nine stocks to buy that look particularly attractive.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips * These 7 S&P 500 Stocks Will Deliver a Repeat Performance in the Next Decade Hot Stocks to Buy Now: Exxon Mobil (XOM)Past year performance: -7%Source: Shutterstock I'm as surprised as anyone that Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) makes this list. I've long been skeptical toward XOM. The internal hedge between upstream and downstream operations makes Exxon stock a surprisingly poor play on higher oil prices. Overall, that leads XOM to stay relatively rangebound, as it has been for basically a decade now.With the dividend yield around 5% and a price-earnings (P/E) multiple of 20, Exxon Mobil stock looks like a value play. Meanwhile, management is forecasting that the company's earnings can double by 2025, adding a modest growth component to the story.Obviously, there's a risk that Exxon management is being too optimistic. Years of underperformance relative to peers like Chevron (NYSE:CVX) and even BP (NYSE:BP) have eroded the market's confidence. If Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) can lead a true electric car revolution, that, too, could impact demand and pricing going forward. Nathan's Famous (NATH)Past year performance: 6%Recommending a hot dog restaurant owner might seem silly at best. But there's a strong bull case for Nathan's Famous, Inc. (NASDAQ:NATH).Source: FlickrNATH has mostly seen a steady decline in the last few weeks. The stock touched a 52-week (and all-time) high just over $100 in July 2018. It's since come down about 28%, yet the story hasn't really changed all that much.Revenues grew by just about 8% in fiscal 2018. The company's agreement with John Morrell, who manufactures Nathan's product for retail sale and Sam's Club operations, offers huge margins, while its bottom line continues to grow. Food service sales similarly are increasing. * These 7 S&P 500 Stocks Will Deliver a Repeat Performance in the Next Decade The restaurant business has been choppier, but it remains profitable. The "mostly franchised" model there is similar to those of Domino's Pizza (NYSE:DPZ) and Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM), among others, all of whom are getting well above-market multiples.All told, Nathan's has an attractive licensing model, which leverages revenue growth across the operating businesses. And yet, at 13.15x EV/EBITDA, the stock trades at a significant discount to peers. Bank of America (BAC)Past year performance: 18%Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) is still below its 2018 high and has gained nearly 200% from its July 2016 lows.Source: Shutterstock But I've liked BAC stock for some time now, and, as I wrote previously, I don't see any reason to back off yet. Earnings growth should be solid for the foreseeable future.BofA itself has executed nicely over the past few years. The company's credit profile is solid and its stock has outperformed other big banks.And despite the big run, it's not as if BAC is expensive. The stock still trades at a P/E ratio of 13, excluding certain items Unless the economy turns south quickly, that seems too cheap. So it looks like the big run in Bank of America stock isn't over yet. Roku (ROKU)Past year performance: 154%Roku Inc (NASDAQ:ROKU) undoubtedly is the riskiest stock on this list, and there certainly is a case for caution. The company remains unprofitable and a 16.7x EV/revenue multiple isn't cheap.Source: Shutterstock But with more than 30 million active users, Roku is a fast-growing platform deserving of its high-ish multiple. This year, Roku looks to build a true content ecosystem, and from a subscriber standpoint, already has surpassed Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR) and trails only AT&T (NYSE:T) and Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA).Again, this is a high-risk play but it's also a high-reward opportunity. * These 7 S&P 500 Stocks Will Deliver a Repeat Performance in the Next Decade Margins in the platform segment are very attractive and should allow Roku to turn profitable relatively quickly. International markets remain largely untapped. There's a case for waiting for a better entry point, or selling puts. But I like ROKU at these levels for the growth/high-risk portion of an investor's portfolio. Brunswick (BC)Past year performance: 30%Brunswick Corporation (NYSE:BC) is due for a breakout. The boat, engine and fitness equipment manufacturer is trading around $61, and despite a boating sector that has roared of late, the industry leader has been mostly left out.Source: Shutterstock Efforts to build out a fitness business have had mixed results and may support some of the market's skepticism toward the stock. But Brunswick now is spinning that business off, returning to be a boating pure-play. * These 7 S&P 500 Stocks Will Deliver a Repeat Performance in the Next Decade Cyclical risk is worth noting, and there are questions as to whether millennials will have the same fervor for boating as their parents. But at ten times forward EPS, BC is easily worth those risks.And if the stock finally can break through resistance, a breakout toward $70-plus seems likely. Pfizer (PFE)Past year performance: -12%Few investors like the pharmaceutical space at this point or even healthcare as a whole. But amidst that negativity, Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) looks forgotten.Source: Shutterstock This still is the most valuable drug manufacturer in the world. It trades at a P/E ratio of just 13.5, a multiple that suggests profits will stay basically flat in perpetuity. To top it off, PFE offers a 3.74% dividend yield.Obviously, there are risks here. Drug pricing continues to be subject to political scrutiny (though the spotlight seems to have dimmed of late). Revenue growth has flattened out of late.But Pfizer still is growing its top line. Tom Taulli previously cited three reasons to buy Pfizer stock -- and I think he's got it about right. Valmont Industries (VMI)Past year performance: 29%Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI) offers a diversified portfolio business and has been relatively weak across the board of late. The irrigation business has been hit by years of declining farm income. Support structures manufactured for utilities and highways have seen choppy demand due to uneven government spending. Mining weakness has had an impact on Valmont's smaller businesses as well.Source: Shutterstock Valmont is a cyclical business where the cycles simply haven't been much in the company's favor. Yet that should start to change. 5G and increasing wireless usage should help the company's business with cellular phone companies.Irrigation demand almost has to return at some point. * These 7 S&P 500 Stocks Will Deliver a Repeat Performance in the Next Decade Concerns about the tariffs on steel likely have hit VMI. But many of Valmont's contracts are "pass-through," which limits the direct impact of those higher costs on the company itself. Despite uneven demand, EPS has been growing steadily and should do so in 2020 as well. American Eagle Outfitters (AEO)Past year performance: -18.4%American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) is one of the, if not the, best stocks in retail, and that's kind of the problem. Mall retailing, in particular, has been a very tough space over the past few years, and it's not just the impact of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and other online retailers. Traffic continues to decline, which pressures sales and has led to intense competition on price, hurting margins.Source: Mike Mozart via Flickr (Modified)But American Eagle has survived rather well so far, keeping comps positive and earnings stable. And yet this stock, too, trades at around 9.7x EPS,. And American Eagle has an ace in the hole: its aerie line, which continues to grow at a breakneck pace.The company's bralettes and other products clearly are taking share from L Brands Inc (NYSE:LB) unit Victoria's Secret. And the e-commerce growth in that business, and for American Eagle as a whole, suggests an ability to dodge the intense pressure on mall-based retailers.In short, American Eagle isn't going anywhere. There's enough here to suggest American Eagle can eke out some growth, and a 3.7% dividend provides income in the meantime.The stock already is recovering, being one of the only on this list with a positive chart over the past year, and AEO stock should continue to perform well. Longer-term, there's still room for consistent growth and more upside. United Parcel Service (UPS)Past year performance: 18.5% United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) is going to have to spend to add capacity, and in this space, too, there's the ever-present threat of Amazon.Source: Shutterstock But UPS is an entrenched leader, along with rival FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX), and it at worst can co-exist with Amazon. Ecommerce growth overall should continue to increase demand; there's enough room for multiple players in the global market. * These 7 S&P 500 Stocks Will Deliver a Repeat Performance in the Next Decade Meanwhile, the selloff and benefits from tax reform mean that UPS now is trading at a P/E ratio of just 21. And the stock yields a healthy 3.3%. Investors clearly see a risk that growth will decelerate, but UPS stock is priced as if that deceleration is guaranteed.As of this writing, Vince Martin is long shares of Exxon Mobil. He has no positions in any other securities mentioned. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * These 7 S&P 500 Stocks Will Deliver a Repeat Performance in the Next Decade * 7 Tech Stocks to Stuff Your Stocking With * 7 Sinfully Good Casino Stocks That Could Win the Jackpot in 2020 The post 9 Hot Stocks to Buy Now appeared first on InvestorPlace. […]

Report Includes 6 Interviews with 2019 Corporate Governance Forum Speakers Bob Marese, Managing Director, Mackenzie Partners Lyndon Park, Managing Director and Head of Corporate Governance Solutions, ICR Lawrence Elbaum, Partner and Co-Head of Activism Defense, Vinson & Elkins LLP Harry Cendrowski, Managing Director, Cendrowski Corporate Advisors Kellie Huennekens, Head of Americas, Nasdaq Center for Corporate […]

(Bloomberg Opinion) -- It looks as if after all the talk, all the back-and-forth and all the market swings, the U.S. and China have finally reached the terms of a “phase-one” trade deal.The message from the world’s biggest bond market: Don’t get too excited about what that means for the economic outlook.For the first half of the U.S. trading session, long-term U.S. yields surged by 10 basis points, on pace for one of the three largest increases of 2019, on the news that U.S. negotiators were offering to cut existing tariffs on Chinese imports by 50% and also cancel the tariffs that were set to take effect on Dec. 15. But then the Treasury Department auctioned $16 billion of 30-year bonds at 1 p.m. New York time, which provided a reality check of what a small agreement between the world’s two largest economies would mean.Not only did the auction price at a yield 2 basis points lower than the market was indicating before the offering, but primary dealers, which are required to submit bids, took a record-low 15.5% share. That means investors who weren’t obligated to buy the longest-dated Treasuries rushed to take advantage of the trade-induced sell-off. Simply put, this sort of demand is rare. Yields ended the trading session off their highs.It’s perilous to read too much into a single Treasury auction. And last month’s 30-year bond sale also set a record for low primary-dealer takedown, at 20.7%, so Thursday’s result could just be continuing that trend.Still, if investors believed that this potential trade deal was truly a game-changer for markets and the global economy, I doubt they’d be so shortsighted to jump at a 10 basis-point move to the highest yield in a month. The effective duration of 30-year Treasuries is about 22 years, according to ICE Bank of America Merrill Lynch index data, meaning that another 10 basis-point increase would saddle owners of these new bonds with a 2.2% loss. If yields rose in the next six months to where they were as recently as April, bondholders would stand to lose more than 20%.I once called long-dated Treasuries one of the most dangerous parts of the bond market. And in July 2016, when yields hit record lows, it was for good reason: It takes a tiny shift in interest rates to cause huge gains or losses. There’s no credit spread to fall back on, as there is with corporate bonds. They’re not like two- or three-year notes, which are closely tethered to the Federal Reserve’s policy decisions. Rather, 30-year bonds are entirely subject to the whims of markets. Case in point: Recession fears reached a fever pitch in August, and long-bond yields tumbled to a record low. For a brief moment, 30-year Treasury bonds yielded less than three-month bills.Judging by the Fed’s confidence coming out of its meeting this week, the economic doomsday scenario appears to be in the rearview mirror. But the prospect of a somewhat stagnant economy is still the consensus. A Bloomberg survey shows analysts expect U.S. real gross domestic product to grow just 1.8% in 2020, the slowest pace since 2016. That could change with a trade agreement. Tom Orlik, chief economist at Bloomberg Economics, said “a deal that takes tariffs back to May 2019 levels, and provides certainty that the truce will hold, could deliver a 0.6% boost to global GDP.”For now, the deal seems to be that the U.S. will not introduce a new wave of tariffs on about $160 billion of consumer goods on Dec. 15 in exchange for a promise by China to buy more U.S. agricultural goods. Officials also apparently discussed possible reductions of existing duties on Chinese products. The bond market has already voiced its opinion: Not impressed.To contact the author of this story: Brian Chappatta at bchappatta1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Niemi at dniemi1@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Brian Chappatta is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering debt markets. He previously covered bonds for Bloomberg News. He is also a CFA charterholder.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P. […]