Many of Wall Street's greatest investors seem to agree: Now is a great time to buy stocks.
Warren Buffett has opined that stocks are a better buy than bonds these days. Legg Mason's Bill Miller, famous for the 15-year streak in which he beat the S&P 500, is also bullish, arguing that large caps now present the investment opportunity of a lifetime.
Now Bill Nygren, co-manager of several high-performing Oakmark mutual funds, has joined that chorus. His Oakmark I (OAKMX) fund has placed in the top 10% of funds in its category over the past three, five, and 10 years. Over the past decade, it ranks in the top 2%!
Growing dividends and buybacks
In his third-quarter commentary to shareholders, Nygren shook his head at investors plowing money into bonds while withdrawing from stock funds. "We continue to believe that equities are attractively priced," he wrote, "and are highly likely to dominate returns from more popular assets such as fixed income."
He goes on to explain that many investors look only at companies' income statements, and see sales grow too slowly, if at all. But they're missing all the mighty heaps of cash that many companies have been accumulating. Nygren expects to see rising dividend payments and heightened share repurchases, both of which can benefit shareholders significantly.
Meet Nygren's holdings
A peek into his Oakmark I fund reveals a few good examples for Nygren's argument. Fund holding Intel
Similarly, fellow holding Texas Instruments
If you're looking for compelling stock ideas, you could do a lot worse than considering the strategies pursued by great investors.
We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.
Longtime Fool contributor Selena Maranjian does not own shares of any companies mentioned in this article. Motley Fool Options has recommended buying calls on Intel, which is a Motley Fool Inside Value selection. The Fool has a bull call spread position on Cisco Systems. The Fool owns shares of Intel, Legg Mason, Oracle, and Texas Instruments. The Motley Fool is Fools writing for Fools.