The next all-American brand is the world's largest bookstore, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN). Actually, it's not quite correct to call Amazon just a bookstore anymore.
Relentless expansion has propelled Amazon in countless directions in the quest of bigger sales and profits. The company's main website now offers everything from books to auto parts to groceries!
Shoppers can also download digital content, such as games, MP3s, and movies to their computers or handheld devices -- including Amazon's innovative portable reader, the Kindle, which is on fire.
While the recession has cut into some retailers, Amazon has weathered the storm just fine. In fact, the recent success of Amazon is partly due to the fact that it allows shoppers to avoid sales tax. And on pricey items like plasma screen TVs, that's no small discount. AMZN has also captured a lot of market share from eBay, thanks to a suite of diverse and hard-to-find items, as well as the sale of cheaper used products alongside new items.
The stock is clearly catering to more frugal consumers, making it a great buy right now with tremendous growth potential as the recovery sweeps across the U.S. economy later this year. Earnings jumped 20% last quarter, and I'm looking forward to seeing another solid earnings report in late July.
I rate Amazon an A or Strong Buy.
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