Millennials have been dealt a tough hand. Many in the cohort graduated into the worst recession since the Great Depression, only to be hit with the socio-economic nightmare that is the COVID-19 crisis just a dozen years later.
While Canadian unemployment is showing signs of recovery, with nearly one million jobs added in June, it’s far too early to tell whether employment is on a sustained path to recovery or if it’s just a one-off. The answer ultimately depends on what’s to happen next with the COVID-19 crisis and whether we’re due for a second wave in fall.
Although there are a tonne of uncertainties today, millennials would be wise to continue staying the course with their Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs), because timing this ridiculously volatile market is and will likely continue to be a foolish (that’s a lower-case f) endeavour. Right when you think Mr. Market is going to zig, he’ll zag. And vice-versa. As such, millennials should continue to putting money to work with their TFSAs, rather than waiting for a retest of the March market lows or a correction that’ll cut the froth right off the top of this market, which some pundits believe is starting to look a tad expensive.
If you’ve got cash just sitting in your TFSA and are a young millennial with a decades-long time horizon, the following two names can help you reach your retirement on schedule, despite the fact that your cohort had more than its fair share of crises to deal with.
Docebo: A white-hot tech stock to grow your TFSA wealth at a rampant rate
What’s been working amid the recent relief rally isn’t working nearly as well this week. Shares of Docebo (TSX: DCBO) pulled back 13% in just two trading sessions following its unprecedented rally, nearly quadrupling up from its March lows. The learning management solutions (LMS) technology play has been quietly building a small moat around its AI-leveraging product.
COVID-19-induced quarantines and the rise of the work-from-home trend have accelerating adoption of Docebo’s compelling e-learning product. As enterprises opt to continue working from home, instead of heading back to the office after this pandemic is over, the demand for Docebo’s platform will continue to remain robust, allowing the firm to rise out of this pandemic much better than it entered it.
Indeed, Docebo is riding high on COVID-19 pandemic tailwinds. The company boasts an impressive roster of clientele that’ll only continue growing over the coming months, as firms (and other organizations) look to invest more in work-from-home infrastructure.
While I’m reluctant to recommend a stock that’s surged nearly 300% in just a few months, I think millennials with excess TFSA cash may want to add the name to their radars today and maybe get a tiny bit of skin in the game after the latest dip, as they seek to scale into a position gradually over time.
Shaw Communications: A cheap, “Steady Eddie” dividend stock millennials should buy in a recession
For millennials who’d prefer a wide margin of safety rather than taking a chance on a ridiculously volatile growth stock, there’s Shaw Communications (TSX: SJR.B)(NYSE: SJR), an underrated Canadian telecom that I believe looks in best shape amid this crisis.
Shaw rid itself of its media assets years ago and is investing heavily in its mobile platform Freedom Mobile. While Freedom is known as an “inferior” network in terms of quality relative to its bigger brothers in the Big Three, I think that the network quality gap is in a spot to continue shrinking over the next few years, as next-gen telecom tech continues to be rolled out across the nation.
Moreover, this pandemic could leave a severe recession behind. If the recession lasts years, I expect subscribers to look to the lower-cost mobile carrier Freedom Mobile, as Canadians look to trim their budgets. Freedom arguably has the best value proposition in the industry, and in a recession, Shaw looks like the most defensive play in an already defensive industry.
If you’re looking to hedge yourself from a potentially severe economic downturn without paying a premium to do so, Shaw ought to be at the top of millennials’ TFSA shopping list.
