Wall Street assures short-term volatility, one of few guarantees. The widely followed Dow Jones Industrial Average, broad-based S&P 500, and growth stock-powered Nasdaq Composite have switched off bear and bull markets since this decade began.
Patience pays paid on Wall Street. For long-term investors, every correction and bear market has ended in a roaring bull market, so it's always a good time to invest on Wall Street.
Another benefit is that most internet brokers have removed hurdles that held regular investors away. Many online brokers no longer charge for major U.S. exchange common stock trades and have eliminated minimum deposit requirements. That means even $200 is a good investment right now. If you have $200 ready to invest and are sure it won't be used for bills or emergencies, these three stocks are no-brainers.
AT&T AT&T is the first great stock opportunistic investors should buy for $200 right now. Three factors have caused AT&T's stock to underperform in recent years: Rapidly rising interest rates are bad for debt-laden telecom corporations. It could raise the cost of future deals and debt refinancing.
AT&T is a mature company with slow growth, making it less appealing than many tech firms. Legacy telecom businesses may face large replacement/cleanup costs due to lead-sheathed cables, The Wall Street Journal reported in July. Some of these headwinds are real, but others are overstated.
Lead-clad cable financial culpability would be established in the infamously delayed U.S. judicial system. AT&T says these legacy wires have no harmful lead levels, but any culpability is years away.
Rising interest rates aren't as bad as you think. Since divesting WarnerMedia in April 2022, which combined with Discovery to become Warner Bros. Discovery, AT&T has reduced its net debt by $40 billion to $128.9 billion as of Dec. 31, 2023. Over the past two years, AT&T's financial flexibility has greatly improved, while more work remains.
5G has also boosted AT&T's organic growth. Wireless consumers are using more high-margin data after upgrading its network to allow higher download rates. For six years, AT&T has recruited at least 1 million net broadband customers, with 5G speeds being the latest draw to attract users and encourage service bundling.
A 7.5 future P/E ratio and 6.5% dividend yield provide patient investors a tempting risk-versus-reward scenario.
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