Adding $100 to These 7 Stocks Would Be a Genius Move Right Now

You don’t need a mountain of cash to build wealth on Wall Street — especially with deals like these.

It’s been a long time since Wall Street and everyday investors contended with such a challenging year. The growth-centric Nasdaq Composite , which was largely responsible for pushing the broader market to new heights, has lost around a third of its value. Meanwhile, the widely followed S&P 500 produced its worst first-half return in over a half-century.

While it’s never any fun watching short-term, unrealized losses pile up, history has also shown that bear-market declines are the ideal opportunity for long-term investors to put their money to work. Image source: Getty Images. Thanks to most online brokerages doing away with commission fees and minimum deposit requirements, you don’t need a mountain of cash to take advantage of significant market downturns. If you have $100 in cash that’s ready to invest right now, which won’t be needed to cover bills or emergencies, then putting that money to work in the following seven stocks would be a genius move. 1. Walt Disney

The first exceptionally smart buy as the stock market plunges is the “House of Mouse” — Walt Disney ( DIS -1.39%). Despite bringing joy to families, shares of Disney have brought pain to its shareholders, with a decline of roughly 45% since hitting its all-time high.

While things might seem a bit “Goofy” at the moment, Walt Disney brings a competitive edge to the table that can’t be matched by other content providers. Namely, it can traverse generational gaps with ease to connect with users. Whether it’s Disney’s massive content library that allows grandparents and grandchildren to find common ground, or the company’s theme parks, which bring friends and families together on a daily basis, the Walt Disney brand is a beast that continues to grow in value and command incredible pricing power.

Walt Disney’s streaming platform, Disney+, is also on track to be a serious, long-term growth driver. As of July 2, 2022, Disney+ had 152.1 million subscribers . It’s taken less than three years for Disney to reach subscriber totals that took Netflix more than a decade to amass. 2. AstraZeneca

The beauty of healthcare stocks is that they’re highly defensive. Since we don’t get to choose when we get sick or what ailment(s) we develop, there’s always demand for prescription drugs, medical devices, and healthcare services. That’s what makes pharmaceutical stock AstraZeneca ( AZN -2.86%) such a genius buy right now.

After more than a decade of seemingly running in place, AstraZeneca has numerous areas of focus that are firing on all cylinders. For instance, oncology sales rose 18% on a constant-currency basis during the first half of 2022, thanks in large part to sustained, double-digit sales growth from blockbuster drugs Tagrisso, Imfinzi, and Lynparza. Cardiovascular (CV) therapies have excelled, too, with next-generation type 2 diabetes drug Farxiga growing its year-over-year sales by 63% on a constant-currency basis.

AstraZeneca has also benefited immensely from its acquisition of rare-disease drugmaker Alexion Pharmaceuticals. Although developing drugs for a small pool of patients can be risky, the reward for success tends to be a high list price with little or no pushback from insurers, as well as minimal or nonexistent competition. A sustainably higher oil price could encourage more drilling. WTI Crude Oil Spot Price data by YCharts. 3. Enterprise Products Partners

Although the memory of oil and natural gas demand falling off a cliff during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic is still fresh in the minds of investors, midstream oil and gas company Enterprise Products Partners ( EPD -3.01%) can put these concerns to bed.

Midstream companies like Enterprise Products Partners are effectively energy middlemen. They move, store, and occasionally process crude oil and natural gas. What’s important is that midstream providers lean on fixed-fee and volume-based contracts with drilling companies. This leads to highly predictable operating cash flow, and makes oil and natural gas spot-price volatility a moot point. Being able to accurately forecast its cash flow is what allows Enterprise Products Partners to pay a juicy 8% yield.

What’s more, global energy supply chain disruptions are liable to keep oil and gas prices elevated for some time. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, coupled with reduced capital investment by energy majors during the pandemic, will make it difficult to ramp up supply anytime soon. Higher energy commodity prices should encourage drillers to eventually increase their long-term spending plans. Image source: Getty Images. 4. Fiverr International

Another genius way to put $100 to work right […]

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