Salesforce, L3 & First Solar Will Shine in Second Half

The second half does not look promising for stocks as a whole in this increasingly expensive market, but investors still have a chance to earn sizable returns in individual stories.

The second half does not look promising for stocks as a whole in this increasingly expensive market, but investors still have a chance to earn sizable returns in individual stories like Salesforce.com (CRM) , L3 Communications (LLL) and First Solar (FSLR) , said James Abate, CIO of Centre Funds. 'The market is trading at its most expensive level that it has in a very long time, going back to the 2000 peak,' said Abate. 'In fact, it's at 17 times EBITDA when even private equity deal multiples are going around 11 times EBITDA. That's well in excess of what we have seen in the past.' The Centre American Select Equity (DHAMX) Fund is up 2.7 percent thus far in 2016, according to Morningstar. 'The $160 million fund has returned an average of 8.4% annually over the past three years, putting it in the 81st percentile in Morningstar's large-cap growth category. Over the past 12 months the fund has returned 4.2%, putting it in the top 2% in Morningstar's large-cap growth category.' The fund sports a trailing twelve month yield of 19 basis points, according to Morningstar. Shares of Salesforce.com (CRM) traded down on news of Microsoft's (MSFT) purchase of LinkedIn (LNKD) because it eliminated Microsoft as a short-term suitor for the cloud computing company. Still, Abate is bullish on Salesforce.com, up four percent year-to-date, saying the company will improve its top line both organically and through acquisitions.