An Update On Our Top Stock And ETF Picks For 2024

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In today’s Trackstar top five, we filtered out the Magnificent Seven stocks to determine where The Juice’s top stock and ETF picks for 2024 rank among investor searches across the platforms of our 100+ financial media partners. 

Even if you leave Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon.com (AMZN), Nvidia (NVDA), Tesla (TSLA), and Meta Platforms (META) in, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and Invesco QQQ ETF (QQQ) still penetrate the top 15 of overall searches. 

SPY comes in at #6. QQQ at #14. 

This makes us feel good because, as we often say, SPY, QQQ and maybe a little love is all you need. If you invested in those two ETFs for the long term, you could very well be good to go. A financial advisor we follow on LinkedIn recently said it best:

More mutual funds and/or ETF’s in your investment portfolio does not equal more diversification. It equals more unnecessary complexity.

Exactly. 

So, as we gauge investor sentiment in Trackstar, it’s nice to see ETFs generate meaningful interest, particularly broad market, not-too-fancy ETFs. 

With this as the backdrop, let’s consider how the broad market approach is doing so far in 2024, alongside a look at some of the individual stock picks we made for the year (some carried over from 2022 and 2023) and a couple specific dividend ETFs. 

For reference, see The Juice’s Top Stock Picks For 2024, published at the end of December. Yes, time does fly when you’re having fun and kicking ass. We have already moved the clocks ahead. We’re already about to hit the second half of March. 

So, SPY and QQQ. Year to date, they’re up roughly 8% and 9%, respectively. 

Not bad. But nothing to write home about. At least not relative to some of the other gains we’re about to show you. But still nothing to be ashamed of at all. 

Here’s how we look at it. If you can generate 8% to 9% every single year in your portfolio and you invest a decent amount of money regularly, you’ll be sitting pretty in retirement, which is the focus of these discussions in 2024.

Here’s how things look, over time, if you start with $10,000, invest $500 every month and achieve an 8% rate of return: 

• After 10 years: $113,669
• After 20 years: $343,778
• After 30 years: $854,537
• After 40 years: $1,988,237

The power of compounding. It’s a wonderful thing. 

But, of course, we know you want to go beyond SPY and QQQ, looking for things like dividend income and winning individual stock picks. We do, too. 

So, in that late December installment, we predicted a return to dividend stocks in anticipation of interest rates coming down. It’s too early to say if we were right or wrong, as the Fed has yet to actually make a cut, but here’s where we stand now with our two main dividend ETF picks. The ones we like if you decide to expand from SPY and QQQ. 

So, neither are #5 on our Trackstar list, but we’ll include that one (because we also like it) in our review of approximate YTD returns:

• SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 High Dividend ETF (SPYD): +1.0%
• ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL): +3.1%
• Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD): +2.3%

It might take a minute for the dividend thesis to kick in, but we still like it. Here’s part of our rationale from December. It still stands. 

With a nice and low expense ratio of 0.07%, SPYD is a passive ETF that mimics the returns of the S&P 500 High Dividend Index. So, we’re talking 80 high dividend-yield names from the larger S&P 500 Index, including SPYD’s top ten holdings:

• Seagate Technology (STX)
• NRG Energy (NRG)
• Phillips 66 (PSX)
• KeyCorp (KEY)
• Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB)
• Amgen (AMGN)
• Zions Bancorp (ZION)
• Packaging Corp of America (PKG)
• IBM (IBM)
• Simon Property Group (SPG)

While these stocks haven’t all been dogs in 2023 (the only two that were actually down on the year were KEY and ZION), most haven’t performed nearly as well as our top selections. Plus, this ETF can help further diversify your portfolio. 

To further broaden your scope, NOBL, which tracks the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index, which is composed of companies that have increased their dividend payment for at least 25 consecutive years. Most have 40-year plus track records. With NOBL, which is up just 5% in 2023, you’ll broaden your industry exposure, which includes a position in big consumer and/or legacy names, such as Target (TGT), Lowe’s (LOW) and Clorox (CLX).

From there, we have our three favorite story stocks. Two appear on today’s Trackstar list, the other does not. 

Here’s the YTD update:

• Uber (UBER): +34.8%
• Starbucks (SBUX): -2.8%
• DoorDash (DASH): +36.6%

The only bummer there is Starbucks. But we still like the stock over the long haul and consider it a buy-on-dips play with a nice, growing dividend. Starbucks has increased its payout for 14 consecutive years. The long-term narrative, even though longstanding, remains intact. 

That said, we love the long-term narratives of UBER and DASH more. They still have a long way to go. We’ll update our thoughts on both names later in the year, but if you read The Juice regularly, you know we believe in the comprehensive ecosystems both companies are developing. 

The Bottom Line: Keep it simple with broad, index-tracking ETFs. If you go beyond those products, keep keeping it simple with leading stocks. Names that are well-established in their spaces, like those in the Magnificent Seven, and names establishing themselves with early innings, long-term stories. 

Where do you have your money right now? 

Use the feedback link at the end of this page to tell The Juice. We might include your thoughts in a future edition of the newsletter.

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