Three Off-the-Radar Plays to Look at Today
Robert Ross|September 21, 2023
2023 has been a year of haves and have-nots in the stock market.
If you were long AI winners – like Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN) and Nvidia (NVDA) – going into the year (as I was), you had a great first half.
This handful of stocks has accounted for nearly all of the S&P 500’s gains in 2023…
But even the AI winners have taken a breather in the last few months. That’s a key reason the S&P 500 has been flat since mid-June.
So that raises a question: Where are the most profitable opportunities in the market today?
I have a few on my radar.
Opportunity No. 1: Uranium Stocks
I’ve long had my eye on the uranium market.
The main fuel source for nuclear reactors has a few tailwinds at its back. First, nuclear energy generates electricity without emitting greenhouse gases or air pollutants. It also produces minimal CO2 emissions.
Nuclear energy also has an incredibly high energy density. A small amount of nuclear fuel can produce a significant amount of energy. This is in contrast with renewable sources like wind and solar, which depend on weather conditions and require larger land areas to generate similar energy outputs.
As governments around the world invest heavily into green technology and oil and gas prices surge, uranium will be a clear winner.
I opened a position in Canadian uranium miner Cameco (CCJ) last month…
Suffice it to say I’ve been happy with the trade.
And I won’t be surprised if uranium prices retest their previous highs (25% higher from here).
Opportunity No. 2: Bitcoin Miners
Crypto has been a roller coaster for the last few months.
And it all comes back to one thing: the creation of a Bitcoin ETF.
The SEC and institutional investors like BlackRock, Franklin Templeton and others have been playing “will they or won’t they” with a long-awaited Bitcoin ETF.
But the wait may soon be over. Last month, a federal judge ruled the SEC must reconsider applications for Bitcoin ETFs. At this point, it’s a matter of when rather than if a Bitcoin ETF gets approved.
And when it happens, it will open the floodgates for institutional investors. Many of them cannot invest in cryptocurrencies directly due to regulatory and custodial issues.
In addition, the upcoming Bitcoin “halving” – that’s when the reward for mining a Bitcoin is cut in half – is slated for April 2024. That should put upward pressure on prices as the supply of newly mined Bitcoins is cut in half.
Bitcoin mining stocks act as a leveraged play on the cryptocurrency market. For investors looking for a high-risk, high-reward way to play this market, I’d take a look at companies like Riot Platforms (RIOT) and Marathon Digital (MARA).
Opportunity No. 3: Argentine Banks
I tend to look for opportunities others miss.
And one opportunity flying under many investors’ radars right now is the political change happening in Argentina.
I spent many months in Buenos Aires back in 2019. Once the “Paris of South America,” years of poor governance – including socialist reforms like price controls, the nationalization of key industries and currency manipulation – have weighed on the country’s economy.
This gross government mismanagement created a population starving for political reform, as a 100% inflation rate and sky-high government debt have driven 40% of the country into poverty.
But things could be changing. Leading presidential candidate Javier Milei has pledged to adopt the U.S. dollar as the country’s currency, shrink the size of the government and remove the long-standing Peronist political class.
Those are big moves. If they all happen, Argentine stocks – particularly banks – will continue the rally they’ve staged in 2023. That’s why bank stocks like Banco BBVA Argentina (BBAR) and Grupo Financiero Galicia (GGAL) are worth a look.
Uranium companies, Bitcoin miners and Argentine banks are three of my favorite off-the-radar opportunities right now.
However, there is one opportunity that tops even these great investing themes.
I’ll tell you more about it soon… so stay tuned.
Robert Ross
Robert Ross’s unique style of clear and direct stock research helped him build a massive following in the investment research industry, starting his career at investment research company Mauldin Economics and quickly rising through the ranks to become one of the youngest chief analysts in the industry. Today, over a million investors turn to Ross every month for his take on investing, economics, and personal finance. He now shares his unique insights in Total Wealth and Manward Money Report.
