Investors: 2022 has been a total market re-education. But we’ve got a cheat sheet right here.
Truth is, we can’t just blindly invest the way it felt like we could in 2021. As kids head back to school, let’s take a page from some of the most successful investors in the world using InvestingPro+ to see how to find hidden opportunities hiding in plain sight.
Picking Only the Best Of The Best
The place to find the best investors and their most profitable ideas is the Ideas tool on InvestingPro+. This tool imports data directly from investors’ 13F forms, which investors with large portfolios are required to file with the SEC. But taking it a step further, InvestingPro+ then tracks the performance of those holdings (based on what’s in the filings, so it won’t 100% match a given investor or fund’s results) and provides additional data on the stocks themselves. Data we can use to find inspiration for our own portfolio.
At the top of the list is Warren Buffett, the legendary CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, whose stocks have returned +11.9%. Quite impressive given the year’s volatility. Here’s a quick look at Buffett’s largest buys covering his last two 13F forms:
And now let’s focus in on Buffett’s single biggest buy for the last quarter:
Occidental Petroleum
Occidental has obviously benefited from the rise in oil prices, beating earnings estimates six straight quarters and posting record revenue and earnings numbers over the last 12 months. That’s also allowed it to reduce net debt by $24 billion in the last three years, solidifying its future outlook.
Occidental’s success is still dependent on the future path of oil, but investors might also get an added upside if Buffett decides he wants more than his current 50% of Occidental and makes a buyout play.
Verifying Potential Winners For You
We can use a few other tools in InvestingPro+’s arsenal to dig deeper into Occidental and truly see if it’s worth the price tag. Right off the bat we can see the company has a strong financial health score:
And a solid Fair Value upside:
None of these are guarantees, of course. But it’s reassuring to see when fundamentals line up with the expertise of someone who’s thrived in bear markets the way Buffett has.
Adapt Your Portfolio to 2022 Before it’s Too Late
It’s the final quarter of the year. Time is precious if you’re going to make 2022 a profitable one. And while the challenges of record high inflation, unpredictable volatility, bear market rallies and the constant risk of recession have seemingly made this harder than ever, the truth is that pros like Buffett have learned from experience and found hidden opportunities even during tough market times.
It’s time you did, too.
What’s the Best Way to Evaluate Stocks Under Current Market Conditions?
Step 1: Pick a stock below, or search for one in InvestingPro+’s database
Step 2: Analyze its financial data using the steps above to quickly see if it’s a winner
