Where to invest $10,000 right now: the renaissance of real manufacturing

AI is a risky strategy, real production is a conservative one: Oninvest asked Astero Falcon portfolio manager Alena Nikolaeva where to invest $10,000 if the horizon is about a year and the goal is to increase capital. Two strategies include companies from the "old" economy.

This approach will suit those who value health - in every sense of the word. The peace of mind now will be helped by short US bonds - 26-week bonds, for example, yield 3.66% per annum and are almost immune to price fluctuations. If the Fed continues the cycle of rate cuts, these securities will even increase in value, says portfolio manager Astero Falcon. It is optimal to take short Treasury issues or an ETF that invests in investment grade corporate bonds - that is, with a high reliability rating, from BBB- and higher on the S&P scale. For example, iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF. In Alena Nikolaeva's opinion, this is the best option to "park" liquidity until riskier but attractive opportunities arise.

She recommends that part of the portfolio be placed in stocks of stable companies with strong margins and predictable demand. And that is medicine and pharma.

Abbott Laboratories is a global leader in medtech and diagnostics. Strong product line in cardiology and diabetes management, strong revenue growth(6.37% YoY inQ3 2025) and EBITDA margin of 26.51% as of 10/22/25. The company is an example of sustainable healthcare quality with stable demand and low debt burden.

Air Products & Chemicals provides industrial and hydrogen gas to businesses. The Company is a beneficiary of the renaissance of real production. The company is involved in major hydrogen projects in the Middle East and Asia, with an EBITDA margin of 36.24% as of 10/22/25. Nikolaeva sees this company as a good example of a real industrial story with growth potential in the new energy cycle.

Johnson & Johnson is a pharma giant with 63 consecutive years of uninterrupted dividend growth, EBITDA margin of 35.25%. The business is well diversified; the company is now preparing a spin-off of its DePuy Synthes unit to focus on more profitable areas - pharma and dermatology. "For investors, this is a potential unlocking of value: the business will become simpler, cleaner and more marginal," Nikolaeva says. - In the short horizon, volatility is possible, but strategically JNJ is a stable and defensive security."

To this we can also add some protection through hard assets. Gold was up nearly 60% YTD by mid-October, but the price had fallen by October 24 (+46% YTD). Nevertheless, it remains a barometer of confidence in the fiat system and the US budget, with industrial platinum and palladium further hedging inflation. These metals are benefiting from supply shortages and rising demand for electronics and electric vehicles.

The world is still betting on technology, but the next wave of growth is no longer just through chips, but through energy and the infrastructure that serves them, Nikolaeva notes. If an investor is looking for an optimal model to capitalize on the recovery cycle but is not ready for high volatility, the following companies are worth looking at.

Generac, a supplier of industrial generators and data center equipment, is one of the main beneficiaries of this trend. The world is building new data centers at a furious pace, and the demand for power supply exceeds the manufacturers' capabilities. The company controls about 70% of the U.S. backup power market, its stock has risen more than 20% from the beginning of the year to October 24, 2025, and the demand for power from data centers is only accelerating.

ITT Inc. - an engineering holding company producing pumps, shock absorbers and components for aerospace and defense. The company has a record EBITDA margin of 22.4%, and Debt/EBITDA is 1.41 - a conservative level and a strong argument for balance sheet strength. "A typical representative of the old economy in the new investment cycle," Nikolaeva says of it, "a business with real assets and stable cash flows.

Dycom Industries is the largest fiber network contractor in the US. The company is benefiting from the digitalization program in the Americas, with record 29.8% year-over-year Adjusted EBITDA growth in the second quarter and orders from carriers and data centers providing stable growth for years to come. Low debt (Debt / Equity 0.84 as of 10/22/25) and high capacity utilization make the company a solid mid-cap asset.

Marex Group is a new type of beneficiary of market volatility. The broker, which makes money from client flow, hedges and commodity trading, is now rapidly building profits thanks to a return of activity in derivatives markets. In the second quarter of 2025, Marex Group's revenue grew 18% year-over-year.

For balance, the S&P 500 Global Index (SPGI) and 10% of gold can be added here, Nikolaeva notes.

This is the approach Alena Nikolaeva would suggest to investors who are ready for volatility.

Amazon remains the favorite. The company is strengthening its position in online retail and logistics, and most importantly, it is preparing a new wave of products in AWS, where the race for leadership in artificial intelligence infrastructure begins. Amazon is adding AI to literally everything: AI-enabled smart glassesfor its drivers announced this week, new Echo speakers for Alexa that will go on sale next week, new Kindle speakers, new robots to improve warehouse operations - the parade of new products from Amazon seems endless. The recent AWS outage, which disrupted social networks, banks, airlines, showed just how dependent companies are on AWS. The upside potential in Amazon stock is not yet exhausted, especially if the Fed continues to cut rates, Nikolaeva said.

GitLab is one of the hidden beneficiaries of the AI revolution: the platform automates secure development and scales with market growth through its DevSecOps platform. Over the past five days, GitLab stock is up sharply by 10.18%, with second-quarter revenue growth of 29%. The more companies automate processes, the higher the demand for such systems.

NVR Inc. is representative of a different camp. It's a U.S. homebuilder, one of the best performers in terms of ROE and cash flow. On the one hand, the three quarters of 2025 showed a 20% year-over-year decline in net income , and NVR stock is down 18.57% over the past year. On the other hand, Nikolaeva believes that falling rates and tight supply are supporting housing demand, especially on the U.S. East Coast.

Nikolaeva recommends adding precious metals miners - Barrick Mining, Anglo American and Sibanye Stillwater - to these positions. Their profits are growing in line with gold and platinum prices, while the shares still look undervalued compared to historical levels.

For those looking for an option for something more, Alena Nikolaeva reminds about bitcoin. It is, of course, subject to serious drawdowns, but the bet on "digital gold", anti-fiat sentiment and limited supply enhanced by institutional flows make it a logical part of an aggressive portfolio: "It is just the right asset that can shoot up sharply in the phase of monetary weakening and return the risk premium for courage.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor