There are many intriguing stocks out there, and that often makes it very difficult to choose just one or two. After all, most people can’t afford to buy every stock that looks attractive — just like you can’t afford to pick up every item you like on a trip to your favorite store. But that’s OK. It’s perfectly fine to select one or two fantastic stocks when you can. This small move should put you on the road to building a rock-solid portfolio. And eventually, this strategy will help you reach the goal of owning dozens of truly great companies that could help you grow wealth over the long term.

So, now, considering this, I’ll help you along this path by telling you about two of my favorite stocks to buy today. In fact, if I could only buy two stocks in the last half of this year, I’d pick these. That’s because they both trade for reasonable prices considering their future prospects, and they should benefit from an improving economic situation. Let’s check them out.

1. Amazon

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) has already established itself as a leader in two high-growth markets: e-commerce and cloud computing. As an e-commerce giant, the company sells essentials as well as mass merchandise and has built its Prime subscription program to more than 200 million members. This is key because members, paying for advantages like free same-day and one-day delivery, are likely to use the service as often as they can to get their money’s worth.

And Amazon is making sure they’ll want to stay by keeping prices low and making delivery faster than ever. High member-retention rates suggest these efforts are working. In the first three months of last year, 97% of Prime members renewed for a year, according to Statista. Moving forward, in an environment of lower interest rates, customers’ buying power should improve, and that’s great news for this e-commerce powerhouse.

On top of this, Amazon Web Services (AWS) continues to be the company’s profit driver, and its investment in artificial intelligence (AI) has helped AWS recently reach a more-than $105 billion annual-revenue run rate. And it’s important to remember Amazon as a whole brings in billions of dollars in revenue and profit annually.

All of this makes the stock look reasonably priced at 39 times forward-earnings estimates.

2. Carnival

Carnival (NYSE: CCL) (NYSE: CUK) struggled in the early days of the pandemic, as a temporary halt to cruising operations led to losses — and a widening of debt. But in recent years, the company has made tremendous progress in turning things around and has proven that cruising is still a vacation favorite.

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In the most recent quarter, the world’s biggest cruise operator announced record after record. Third-quarter revenue reached a high of $7.9 billion, while operating income hit a record $2.2 billion. To illustrate just how much travelers love cruising, the cumulative advanced-booked position for 2025 is ahead of the 2024 record — and this is at higher pricing levels.

Carnival has achieved these results by making many key moves, such as replacing older ships with new, fuel-efficient ones, reducing the number of new ship orders, and designing fuel-efficient routes. The company also has put a focus on paying down debt, and since the start of 2023 has prepaid more than $7 billion. All of this is helping Carnival sail toward its goal of investment-grade status by the end of 2026.

Demand for Carnival’s cruises already has taken off, but a lower interest rate environment — on the horizon thanks to a recent rate cut by the Federal Reserve — should support demand. And lower rates should also lower the cost of Carnival’s variable-rate borrowings.

Today, Carnival trades for about 15 times forward-earnings estimates, a fair price to pay for this market giant that’s showing it has what it takes not only to recover but to deliver significant growth.

Don’t miss this second chance at a potentially lucrative opportunity

Ever feel like you missed the boat in buying the most successful stocks? Then you’ll want to hear this.

On rare occasions, our expert team of analysts issues a “Double Down” stock recommendation for companies that they think are about to pop. If you’re worried you’ve already missed your chance to invest, now is the best time to buy before it’s too late. And the numbers speak for themselves:

• Amazon: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2010, you’d have $21,266!*

• Apple: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2008, you’d have $43,047!*

• Netflix: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2004, you’d have $389,794!*

Right now, we’re issuing “Double Down” alerts for three incredible companies, and there may not be another chance like this anytime soon.

See 3 “Double Down” stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of October 14, 2024

John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Adria Cimino has positions in Amazon. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon. The Motley Fool recommends Carnival Corp. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

If I Could Only Buy 2 Stocks in the Last Half of 2024, I’d Pick These was originally published by The Motley Fool