Investor Michael Farr is back with his top 10 stocks he's buying for 2024, and the tilt is defensive
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on the first day back since the Christmas holiday on December 26, 2023 in New York City.

In each of the past 16 Decembers I have selected and invested personally in 10 of the stocks we follow with the intention of holding for just one year.

These are companies that I find especially attractive in light of their valuations or their potential to benefit from economic developments. I hold an equal dollar amount in each of the positions for the following year, and then I reinvest in the new list.

This year's list is perhaps a bit more defensive than in years past, as seen by the number of medical device companies, and has a focus on earnings growth.

Results have been good in some years and not as good in others. I will sell my 2023 names on Friday and buy the following names that afternoon.

I will sell my 2023 Top Ten List at year-end and purchase the 2024 Top Ten on Jan. 2 to be sold at the beginning of trading in 2025. The following is my Top Ten for 2024, listed in random order:

Donaldson

Founded in 1915, Donaldson is a global manufacturer of filtration systems and replacement parts for engines, industrial plants, power generation and various life sciences applications. The company has dominant market share in many of its businesses, which are diverse by geography and end-market and have attractive long-term secular growth potential.

Valmont Industries

Valmont Industries is a relatively small company ($4.7 billion market cap) that manufactures engineered poles, towers and other structures for a number of different applications, including roads and highway safety, utilities, telecommunications, and access systems for construction sites.

We view the company as an investment in infrastructure development that should benefit from the long-term global secular trends of population growth, urbanization and water scarcity.

Goldman Sachs

The company's major business activities include debt and equity underwriting, M&A advisory, asset management, trading, lending and proprietary investing. The stock has been highly volatile over the past couple of years, due largely to an ill-conceived decision to more aggressively target the consumer lending market.