4 Stocks on the MFM Team's Radar for a New Baby

At The Motley Fool, we recommend investing with a long time horizon -- our bias is toward stocks we think you should hold for decades. And for maximum time horizon, you just can't outplay a newborn. Frequent Motley Fool Money podcast participant Matt Argersinger just became a dad for the first time, so in his honor (and because he may not be quite as mentally focused on stocks for a bit), this week's "Stocks on Our Radar" segment will consist of all stocks that our analysts -- this time, Andy Cross, Ron Gross, and Jason Moser -- would recommend buying for a baby's portfolio.

Producer Steve Broido gets into the act with a recommendation of his own as well. Their picks: kids clothing leader Carter's (CRI -1.41%), payment processor Square, programatic advertising player The Trade Desk (TTD 2.54%), and tire company Titan International (TWI -1.87%).

A full transcript follows the video.

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This video was recorded on Feb. 1, 2019.

Chris Hill: I'm happy to share some news, really the best kind of news. Earlier this week, our friend and colleague Matt Argersinger became a father.

[all applaud]

Jason Moser: Hey, congratulations, Matty!

Hill: His wife gave birth to a healthy baby boy. I'm sure Matt did a great job standing next to her in the hospital while she did all the work. Everyone's doing well. We could not be happier in part because all of us around this table, and also behind the glass, we are all fathers. We all know just how sleep-deprived Matt's going to be for the next year or so.

With that in mind, we've got a very special stocks on our radar this week. It's stocks for baby Argersinger. Not that Matt is not a great investor. He is. But we're going to offer up some ideas for this baby boy. We'll be conservative in our timeline, because look, you know what this kid has ahead of him? Many more decades of investing than we have.

Andy Cross: A lot of time!

Hill: We'll put together some ideas for when he turns 20 years old. So, radar stocks for 2039. Steve Broido is not only going to suggest a stock of his own, but he's going to pick one for the baby to double-down. We're going to have a five-stock portfolio. Ron, you're up first.

Ron Gross: Alright. If little baby Argersinger is going to be a snappy dresser like his dad, I've got to go back to Carter's, CRI, the leading manufacturer of children's clothing in the U.S. under names like Carter's and OshKosh B'gosh. As I said, they're the dominant player here. They've performed well over multiple markets cycles. 2.2% dividend yield, buys back a ton of stock. They're digesting the Toys R Us bankruptcy, and there are some China trade issues here, so the stock has suffered, but that makes it awfully cheap.

Hill: Steve, question about Carter's?

Steve Broido: I know Carter's stores. Is Carter's merchandise available outside of Carter's stores?

Gross: They make specialty collections for folks like Target, Walmart. They have a specialty collection for Amazon. You can get them there.

Broido: I'm glad you knew the answer to that one.

Hill: Jason Moser.

Moser: I was thinking we could probably have a recommendation for Matty and Jean, too. They're going to have to set that coffee maker on stun, so why not buy a few extra shares of Starbucks?

But for the young man, I'm going to go back to my daughter's portfolio. The most recent addition for them, Santa brought them a few shares of Square. I think that's not a bad pick here, either. You know all about that business. They're building out the Square Financial Services side now as they've resubmitted their banking license application. I think that's going to be a really neat part of the business once they build it out. I'm really encouraged with the things that they're doing. They're opening up access to capital, new products and services for its customers. That'll help them build up a pretty enviable competitive position over time. So, hey, listen, man, if you're looking for the ultra-long-term, that's probably a good addition.

Hill: Steve, question about Square?

Broido: I hear the name Square all the time. I still don't really know what they do. Help me!

Moser: Oh, come on, Steve!

Broido: I know that you swipe your credit card on the little thing. Is that it?

Gross: It's like a circle, but...

Moser: [laughs] That's basically it. It's a hardware company that's developed a very robust ecosystem behind that hardware. They help businesses deal with payments, inventory management, all sorts of things.

Hill: Andy Cross?

Cross: I'm going to stick with the advertising theme for young Mr. Argersinger here and go with Trade Desk, TTD. One of the most impressive companies I've followed over the past year. They're the masters at programmatic trading, advertising matching with clients, and ad impressions. On average per day, their clients -- who are mostly advertising agencies -- have exposure to almost 600 billion ad impressions per day. They're really helping drive the automated programmatic trading, matching up buyers and platforms, publishers, with ad impressions. The growth has been 50% a year for the past year or so. Very profitable. Beautiful balance sheet. It's founder-run by Jeff Green, who's really impressed me. I like Trade Desk for the next 20 years.

Hill: Steve?

Broido: Does a company like Trade Desk work with people like Facebook? We talked about that earlier in the show.

Cross: Facebook and Twitter, those are closed, walled-off gardens. They're all on their own. Trade Desk helps all the publishers and ad buyers out there outside of some of those walled gardens.

Hill: So, that's three stocks for the portfolio. Steve, you get to essentially pick one to double down on. And then, if you have one of your own, that would be great!

Broido: I think Square. I'm hearing the war on cash. That'd be terrific.

Moser: Hey, now!

Broido: In terms of my stock, I see the future, Ron Gross, it is round, it is filled with tires. It is Titan International.

[all laugh]

Gross: Oh, my goodness!

Broido: Coming full circle.

Gross: Awesome!

Hill: I want to go back to something you mentioned.

Gross: TWI.

Hill: You mentioned Starbucks. I was looking at this -- and I'm a happy Starbucks shareholder -- the market cap of Starbucks is $85 billion, whereas Dunkin' Brands is $5 billion. So, just in terms of growth opportunities, Matt Argersinger, a proud son of Massachusetts, I kind of feel like maybe Dunkin' Brands, at least in terms of the next 20 years, a better growth opportunity.

Moser: Perhaps.

Hill: It doesn't really have the footprint right now, certainly not outside of New England.

Moser: Perhaps. But with all of his New England loyalties, I always see a Starbucks cup on his desk! Explain that!

Hill: That's fair! That's fair!

Gross: He's going to love watching that game this weekend with his boy. That'll be great!

Hill: As Jason said, hopefully he's got a lot of coffee.