Market Sell-Off: 2 Growth Stocks to Buy Right Now

Black Friday might be the day we associate with bargains on the shelves, but this year, prices were slashed in the stock market, too. 

A new COVID-19 variant has emerged in South Africa, and while we await more information about whether it’s more severe than prevalent strains, investors have opted to take shelter after governments in Europe immediately imposed travel restrictions. 

It can be unnerving seeing the broad S&P 500 market index down over 2% in a single day, but it’s not all bad news. Here’s one stock that actually does well during periods of market volatility, and another stock you should accumulate for the long term either way.

Image Source: Getty Images

1. The case for Interactive Brokers

Online broking giant Interactive Brokers (NASDAQ:IBKR) is no stranger to wild stock market swings. The company has been in business for 43 years, navigating events like the Black Monday market crash in 1987, the dot-com bust in 2000, and the Global Financial Crisis in 2008. 

But during the early parts of 2021, it experienced an unprecedented growth phase in its business amid the meme-stock frenzy driven by retail traders. In January 2021, it opened a record 116,100 new accounts, which was 689% more than it opened in January 2020. And since the start of 2020, it has more than doubled its client accounts overall to 1.58 million. 

Interactive Brokers’ client assets have also more than doubled since January 2020, from $176 billion to $380 billion today. It suggests investors are not only growing more comfortable with owning stocks, but might actually be enticed by periods of market volatility. When it comes to broking, the amount of financial assets in client accounts is key, because brokers typically earn fees based on the volume traded. More assets means more volume, which equals more revenue.

While overall growth has slowed down from the lofty levels of January this year, most metrics still remain elevated.

Data source: Interactive Brokers.

Analysts anticipate almost 33% growth in the company’s earnings for the full year 2021. Should it meet expectations, it will have delivered $3.31 in earnings per share, placing the stock at a price-to-earnings multiple of 22. By comparison, the S&P 500 trades at a multiple of 28, and the Nasdaq 100 a multiple of 35, so the stock is much cheaper than the overall market. 

However, the upside for investors could come in the form of prolonged market volatility caused by concerns about the new COVID-19 variant. That makes Interactive Brokers a great buy in uncertain times.

Image source: Getty Images.

2. The case for DocuSign

DocuSign (NASDAQ:DOCU) is a pandemic-market darling. As the leading digital…