The past year has been exciting, if not a little stomach-churning. A raucous 25% rally to start the year unwound a miserable last few months of 2018, but that big advance has been chopped by one-third just since the beginning of May.

Thus, when picking the best stocks to buy for the rest of 2019, you have to approach your selections with volatility - namely, avoiding it - in mind.

Maybe the year's second act will be a little less exciting and a little more consistent for investors than the first. But with Chinese trade relations in limbo, Brexit still in the air and uncertainty about the Federal Reserve's future plans for interest rates, calm is far from a guarantee.

To that end, here are the best stocks to buy for the rest of 2019. Not only are these stock picks a little less vulnerable to the volatility we've seen of late, but they each have solid backstories and/or fundamentals that should prove attractive if the hazy backdrop remains.

Alphabet

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Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL, $1,086.30) has a full plate. Not only is the search market maturing and becoming saturated, but Alphabet repeatedly is brought up as an example of what happens when tech companies know too much about consumers.

Alphabet's shares were upended earlier in June on mere rumors of an antitrust probe. That added to a post-earnings loss fueled by revenues that missed analyst estimates. All told, GOOGL is down more than 16% from its April peak.

But one key detail has been glossed over amid the stock's volatility: Only once in the past 10 years has Alphabet reported a year-over-year decline in quarterly revenue. The same can't be said of profits, to be fair, particularly of late. The broader slowdown in smartphone sales (now that most everyone who wants one has one) has stymied its Android operating system as a profit center, and desktop/laptop search has seen "cost per click" prices slide for years now. It was only a matter of time before GOOGL ran into a fiscal headwind.

Nevertheless, betting against Google's parent has proven to be ill-advised for the long haul. Alphabet has its finger on the pulse of the internet, and the tech giant rarely fails to find ways to muster more growth. Thus, this current dip might be one to buy.

Amgen

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This year has been tough on owners of biopharma name Amgen (AMGN, $176.08) - typically among the lower-risk stocks to buy in the biotech space. Shares are down roughly 10% year-to-date, while Standard & Poor's 500-stock index is up more than 15%.

That disparity also is an overlooked opportunity, however, according to Smead Capital Management CEO Bill