James Glassman’s 10 Stock Market Picks for 2021

Since 1993, I have offered an annual list of 10 stocks. Nine are culled from the choices of experts I trust, and I include one of my own. For the fifth year in a row, those annual selections beat the S&P 500 index. This kind of streak isn’t supposed to happen, and readers should be warned that there’s no guarantee it will continue. Still, allow me to celebrate a bit. The 2020 results again illustrate the importance of diversification. Four of the 10 stocks fell in value (including one that went bankrupt), but five rose more than 25% each (including two that more than doubled). Overall, my selections returned an average of 28.8% over the past 12 months, compared with 16.3% for the S&P 500. (Prices and returns are as of November 6.)