Mike Sakuraba graduated with double major of English and Economics. Part time writer, part time investor, full time dad. Mike loves writing about technology, sports, and investing.

2024-01-06 11:30

2 Stocks to Buy the Early 2024 Dip On

A modest pullback is not only expected but it’s healthy. Are we headed back up from here? Nobody really knows, we can only just take our best guesses.

What do I look for in a market downtrend? I love to look at which stocks drop the most and which show relative strength. You’ve probably noticed that some of the stocks with the biggest losses are the ones that had the highest gains last year. Stocks like Coinbase ($236.32|5.68%) and Block (NYSE: SQ) come to mind.

So, with this early year dip, are there any stocks I’m eyeing? I always have a watchlist, but here are two early laggards that have my attention.

Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL)

It’s always funny to call a mega-cap tech stock a laggard but here we are. It hasn’t been a great start to the year for Alphabet’s stock. It’s down about 3.0% over the past week, but even when other tech stocks have been flat or green, it seems like GOOGL has been trading even lower. Why has this tech giant been lagging its peers? I think it’s because Alphabet has become a name synonymous with AI and that’s the bubble that is losing some of its air so far in 2024.

There has also been discussion about the governments cracking down on big tech companies. But I think Alphabet’s pull back is just about over. We are now below a couple of the key moving averages including the 20-day SMA and the 20-day EMA. We are fast approaching the 50-day moving average which is a strong short-term support. A drop below that would see us looking for support at the 200-day moving average.

Alphabet evidently has a new deluxe version of its AI platform Bard coming out with a premium paid subscription. This, and I also believe that Google gets punished for past management decisions. It could very well be knocking AI out of the park but it won’t get the credit until it happens. I like to buy stocks that are great companies and are retesting their averages for the next move up. I think Alphabet falls into this category and after a tough start to the year, I think it’s worth a look.

The Trade Desk (NASDAQ: TTD)

Ah, the Trade Desk. A very polarizing stock. Some people love the company, others think it’s overvalued. I think both things can be true but you are paying the higher multiple for a well-run company. So far in 2024, the stock has fallen nearly 8.0% and has lost a lot of its key support levels. The chart doesn’t look great now to be honest, and it lost it’s long-term support at the 200-day moving average. But TTD is resilient and always seems to find a way to rebound after a losing streak. Have faith in a well-run company and keep an eye on it for further downside. It still has a massive price multiple, but it’s a stock I would like to hold for the next few decades. You don’t have to buy it, but any further downside could make this an attractive entry for the rest of 2024.