Looking toward the end of 2014, Oppenheimer believes that equities are, in fact, still well positioned to climb. With the Federal Reserve holding its rates down well into 2015, the firm believes that concerns should be traded in for a more bullish sentiment. Health care and technology remain the favorite sectors for Oppenheimer, and at the industry level, key indicators favor health care providers, semiconductors, specialty retail and commercial banks.
Fears of the Fed regarding rates at the moment are unfounded after Fed Chair Janet Yellen announced at the FOMC meeting that rates would continue to stay low for the time being. An important question to ask when evaluating Fed rates is at what point a stronger labor market begins to exert upward pressure on wages, salaries and overall levels of inflation. The next point to address would be balancing labor market stack against potential wage and price pressures. At the same time, corporate profit growth-expectations for the third quarter in 2014 are expected to be manageable.
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Considering that the Fed is maintaining rates for now, Oppenheimer had this to say in its portfolio strategy report in regards to the equity market:
Large-cap US equities recently notched another record close. So what does the remainder of 2014 hold for stocks and where can investors look for outperformance? In our view there isn’t an overabundance of sectors and industries clearly positioned for breakout performances over the next three months, but there are a few that do look well positioned to outperform through year-end as the broader market likely grinds higher given the backdrop of an uneven economic recovery with few inflationary pressures evident. Our equity risk model has been giving bullish signals for stocks all year and remains positive.
The eight stocks Oppenheimer believes will have a bullish end to 2014 are as follows:
GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) has recently been trading at $42.61. It has a consensus price target of $50.20 and a 52-week trading range of $33.10 to $57.74. It has a market cap of $4.81 billion. GameStop has what seems to be a very high 3.2% dividend yield.
Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) recently was trading at $34.57. The company has a consensus price target of $33.91 and a 52-week trading range of $22.48 to $35.56. Its market cap is $171.53 billion. Despite being a top Dow stock in 2014, Intel still offers just a 2.6% dividend yield.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) was trading recently at $61.15. The bank has a consensus price target of $67.25 and a 52-week trading range of $50.06 to $61.85. It has a market cap of $230.78 billion. J.P. Morgan yields roughly 2.8%.
Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA) has recently been trading at $51.34. The company has a consensus price target of $51.46 and a 52-week trading range of $38.56 to $53.50. Its market cap is $9.3 billion. Comerica’s dividend yield is near 1.6%.
Air Methods Corp. (NASDAQ: AIRM) was recently trading at $54.74. It has a consensus price target of $66.00 and its 52-week trading range is $40.93 to $60.74. It has a market cap of $2.15 billion. Air Methods pays no dividend.
Avago Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: AVGO) was recently trading at $87.36. The company has a consensus price target of $92.48 and a 52-week trading range of $41.42 to $90.88. It has a market cap of $22.1 billion. Avago has a 1.6% dividend yield.
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Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) has recently been trading at $96.27. The company has a consensus price target of $108.86 and a 52-week trading range of $73.63 to $105.66. It has a market cap of $12.48 billion. Tiffany shares have backed off of highs by almost $10, and now its yield is around 1.6%.
UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) has recently been trading at $86.92. The company has a consensus price target of $92.38 and a 52-week trading range of $66.72 to $88.85. It has a market cap of $84.6 billion and pays a dividend that yields about 1.8%.
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