In which direction? Well, that’s open to debate.

Next

Reporting early next month is clothing and home retailer Next (LSE: NXT).

The fact that it scores consistently well on quality metrics suggests the £6bn cap is one of the best retailers in the entire UK market. Unfortunately, this is easily forgotten in a period of market malaise such as the one we’re in. The shares were down 41% year-to-date by the end of Friday.

This isn’t hard to fathom. As a general rule, any company that relies on discretionary spending tends to do badly during recessions. I don’t see Next being the exception here. And if sales have been even worse than anticipated, there could be more pain to come for existing holders. Full-year profit guidance was already reduced by £20m to £840m in September.

On the flip side, even a slightly better-than-expected statement on 2 November could be warmly received by a market desperate for something to smile about.

I’m content to watch rather than buy Next shares for now.

Taylor Wimpey

Top league housebuilder Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW) delivers its latest update on 9 November. After halving in value in 2022, investors will be hoping for something, anything, to stabilise the share price.

I think they may be disappointed, at least as far as the outlook for trading is concerned. While completions may have been fairly steady over the summer, the recent rise in interest rates is likely to be impacting demand for new homes.

How much of all this is priced in? I suspect a fair bit. The stock already changes hands on a seriously low price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of five. What’s more, it yields a forecast 11%, at least for now.

That last bit is important. While earnings should cover the payout, I’m wary of relying too much on Taylor Wimpey for generating passive income going forward.

Again, I’m keeping my powder dry until after that statement.

Halma

Last on today’s list of FTSE 100 stocks that I’ll be watching is Halma (LSE: HLMA). Of the three I’ve highlighted today, I’d say this company is the least cyclical. Halma specialises in life-saving technologies across three market areas: Safety, Environment and Health– not the sort of things that employers can afford to ignore thanks to increasing regulation.

Notwithstanding this, 2022 hasn’t been a vintage year for those already holding. The company’s valuation has sunk 35%.

Despite this fall, Halma shares still change hands at a P/E of 29. That’s still high, at least relative to many/most other UK-listed shares. While I do think this premium can be justified to some extent (Halma has an unbroken record of increasing its dividend by 5% or more for the last 43 years!), it’s still not ideal in the current climate. There’s a risk we could see a big move in the price if the half-year numbers on 17 November disappoint.

There is, however, something to be positive about here. Unlike Next, Halma retained its full-year guidance in September. Perhaps the worst is over.

Regardless, I still remain very interested in opening a position here.

I’m also conscious of Warren Buffett’s advice, though. According to the Oracle of Omaha, any business can be a bad investment at a high price, but not every business can be a good investment at a low price.

With that in mind, here’s one FTSE 100 stock down 36% that I’m looking to buy for my portfolio and one FTSE 250 stock down 82% that I’m avoiding at all costs.

Halma

I think that Halma is one of the best stocks in the FTSE 100. The company is consistently profitable and has a strong balance sheet.

Over the last 12 months, Halma generated £279m in operating income. And with only £194m of tangible assets to maintain, around 71% of that operating income became free cash.

The company also has its debt well under control. Interest payments on Halma’s debt account for around 3% of its operating income.

Net income has grown at around 13% per year over the last few years, which is good but not great. That means that there’s a risk that Halma’s best days might be behind it.

I wouldn’t count this one out yet, though. One way that Halma grows is by buying other businesses, and with interest rates rising, I think that it should get some opportunities to do this at attractive prices.

With the stock down 36% since the beginning of the year, I think that shares are a bargain right now. The share price is currently £19.59 and I’m expecting to buy more shares in the near future for my own portfolio.

Aston Martin Lagonda

Shares in Aston Martin Lagonda (LSE:AML) have fallen by 82% since the beginning of the year. But I still don’t think that it’s a bargain.

Halma is a consistently profitable business with a strong balance sheet. Aston Martin is neither of those things.

The company is currently unprofitable and funded by a combination of debt and equity. To me, this looks like a big problem.

Since 2018, the amount of debt has increased from £704m to £1.4bn. As a result, where Halma spends 3% of its operating income on interest payments, this accounts for around 15% of Aston Martin’s revenue.

When it’s not raising money by taking on debt, Aston Martin raises money by issuing shares. The number of shares outstanding has gone from 85m to 311m over the last four years.

That’s an increase of 265%. In other words, if I owned 10% of Aston Martin at the end of 2018, my ownership stake would have decreased to around 2.7%.

Aston Martin did turn a profit in 2017, so it can be done. But I don’t see how it can become a viable investment proposition, so I’m staying well away from this stock.

[Just beginning your investing journey? Check out our guide on how to start investing in the UK.]

ASOS

What it does: ASOS is an online fashion retail firm, comprising 17 different brands. It operates around the globe.

By Andrew Woods. My growth stock pick for October is ASOS (LSE:ASC). For the years ended August, between 2017 and 2021, earnings per share (EPS) rose from 77.2p to 128.9p. Over this period, the company had a compound annual EPS growth rate of 10.8%. I consider that to be consistent and strong.

However, ASOS has been operating in a challenging environment for the retail sector more generally. As the cost-of-living crisis has hit, customers have had less disposable income to spend on clothes. Inflation has also led to shrinking profit margins, as wages and costs increase. The share price reflects these problems, having fallen 82% in the past year.

Despite this, sales improved during the summer and the business expects full-year profits to be within the initial guidance range. Another indication that the company is in decent financial shape is its low levels of debt. This means it’s potentially well placed to work on expansion as we emerge from the pandemic.

Andrew Woods has no position in ASOS.

Kainos Group

What it does: Kainos is an IT support services business that helps companies, organisations and governments digitalise operations.

By Zaven Boyrazian. Kainos Group (LSE:KNOS) helps its clients digitalise operations and deploy Human Capital Management solutions through its partnership with Workday. The group serves the public and private sectors, with its most prominent collaboration being with the National Health Service.

Despite record double-digit organic sales growth, the stock has lost nearly a third of its market capitalisation in the last 12 months. It seems the recent drop in profit margins has spooked some investors. And given that the stock trades at a lofty premium of 47 times earnings, this volatility isn’t surprising.

The drop in profitability comes from the steady decline of pandemic tailwinds rather than internal issues. Meanwhile, demand for Kainos’ services continues to grow with a record level of bookings at £349.8m.

While it’s frustrating to see profitability wobble, the underlying business remains uncompromised. And with an impressive amount of potential, I believe the recent downward trajectory presents an attractive buying opportunity, even if the stock still looks expensive.

Zaven Boyrazian does not own shares in Kainos or Workday.

Halma

What it does: Halma is a collection of businesses focused on industrial safety, environmental monitoring, and life sciences.

By Stephen Wright. I’ve been buying shares in Halma (LSE:HLMA) over the last month. So I’m putting my money where my mouth is on this one. 

The reason I’ve started investing in this stock is that I think that it’s finally trading at an attractive price. The company has always looked great but expensive to me.

Halma has a straightforward business strategy. It attempts to acquire businesses and use the cash they generate to buy more businesses.

The company also has a decentralised corporate culture. In other words, it leaves individual businesses to get on with what they do well. 

Halma’s share price fell below £20 per share recently. At those prices, I think that it’s a terrific buy.

If the stock reaches that price again in October, I’ll be looking to increase my investment significantly. But I think Halma is a great company that I’m happy owning shares in.

Stephen Wright owns shares in Halma.

Spire Healthcare 

What it does: Spire Healthcare provides private healthcare services in the UK through 39 hospitals and eight clinics. 

By Royston Wild. The resilience of healthcare-related spending means stocks like Spire Healthcare (LSE: SPI) are popular picks during tough economic times like these.

Theoretically, Spire’s turnover might suffer as Britons start to feel the pinch. As times get tough, people could be tempted to wait that bit longer for treatment and get it for free on the NHS. 

But the size of NHS waiting lists today means that demand for private care continues to rise strongly. At Spire, revenues rose 7% in the six months to June as private revenues jumped almost 22% year on year.

A record 6.8m people were on NHS waiting lists in September. And the Institute for Fiscal Studies thinks the number will get worse before it gets better, possibly even hitting 10.8m people in 2024 before slowly falling. 

This explains why City analysts think Spire will report healthy earnings growth over the short-to-medium term. It’s expected to flip from losses of 7.1p per share in 2021 to earnings of 4.4p this year. And in 2023 earnings are tipped to double to 8.8p. 

Royston Wild owns shares in Spire Healthcare. 

Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust

What it does: Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust is one of the world’s biggest and most famous trust funds. The Baillie Gifford & Co fund invests globally and looks for strong businesses with above-average returns.

By John Choong. While Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust (LSE: SMT) has performed atrociously thus far this year, investors are told to expect a five-year return. As such, the current drop could pave way for a monumental recovery when the global economy eventually recovers.

The trust’s top holdings are mostly growth stocks, with the likes of Moderna and Tesla having plenty of upside to their earnings over the next decade, and could help boost the share price. Additionally, Scottish Mortgage has quite a healthy exposure to China. As the second largest economy in the world reopens from its Covid-19 lockdowns, Chinese equities are seeing steep rebounds, and Scottish Mortgage is expected to benefit from that to some extent.

Either way, with its share price down nearly 50% from its all-time high, this could be an opportune time for me to start a long-term position in a fund with historical success. That being said, investors should be wary that further lockdowns in China could prolong its road to recovery.

John Choong has no position in Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust.

Smithson Investment Trust

What it does: Smithson is a global investment trust run by Fundsmith. It invests in high-quality, small- and mid-cap growth stocks.

By Edward Sheldon, CFA. Smithson’s (LSE: SSON) share price has taken a big hit in 2022 as growth stocks have fallen out of favour and I think this has presented a buying opportunity. Currently, the investment trust is trading at a significant discount to its net asset value (NAV).

I like Smithson’s approach to investing. Like its big brother, Fundsmith Equity, it typically invests in companies that are highly profitable. Meanwhile, it avoids companies that are heavily leveraged, as well as those in industries that are rapidly changing. Names in the portfolio at the end of August included UK property website powerhouse Rightmove, medical technology company Masimo, and cybersecurity specialist Fortinet – all great companies.

It’s worth pointing out that the Smithson portfolio is quite concentrated. So, stock-specific risk is quite high. If a handful of stocks in the portfolio were to underperform, overall performance could be impacted significantly. I’m comfortable with this risk, however. I think Smithson is a good way to get exposure to smaller growth companies listed internationally.

Edward Sheldon has positions in Smithson Investment Trust, Rightmove, and Fundsmith Equity.

Hargreaves Lansdown

What it does: Hargreaves Lansdown is a United Kingdom-based digital wealth management service administering company.

By Paul Summers: The share price of Hargreaves Lansdown (LSE: HL) has been in awful form in 2022 and it isn’t hard to fathom why. 

At a time when most people are just trying to pay their energy bills, it was inevitable that revenue at the company would suffer. Combine this with a reduction in new business and assets under administration and the 35% fall, while severe, makes some sense. 

Even so, I do think this is shaping up to be an attractive contrarian play. A price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 17 isn’t screamingly cheap but it does seem a very enticing price for a company that generates some of the highest margins in the FTSE 100. Moreover, the desire of many to take more control over their finances will surely prove a decent growth driver for years to come. 

In the meantime, there’s a 4.7% forecast yield in the offing.

Paul Summers has no position in Hargreaves Lansdown

I’m looking for two things. The first is a high-quality business and the second is a price that is currently too high but might fall to a level that interests me.

There are two companies on my radar at the moment that meet these conditions. The first is a UK industrial company, the second is a US tech stock.

Halma

The first of my stocks to buy in a market sell-off is Halma (LSE:HLMA). This is a FTSE 100 stock that I’ve had an eye on for some time, but I’ve never seen it at a price that I thought was attractive.

Over the last five years, Halma has been one of the best-performing stocks in the index. Its share price has increased by 95% since 2017.

The stock has had something of a reversal of fortunes this year, though. Halma shares are down 31% since January.

I think that the underlying business is terrific, though. When Halma reported earnings in June, income was up 15% from the previous year and revenues were 17% higher.

A lot of Halma’s growth comes from acquiring other businesses. This brings risk in the form of the possibility of overpaying for acquisitions.

As a result, I’m looking for a price below £20 per share before I buy the stock for my own portfolio. That price implies an earnings yield above 3%, which is what I’d be looking for in this type of stock.

Apple

My other stock to buy in a stock market downturn is Apple (NYSE:AAPL). At $167 per share, the stock is a bit expensive in my view, but I’d buy shares for my portfolio if the price came a bit lower.

I think Apple is an outstanding business. The company generates around $118bn in cash and uses less than 10% of this on capital expenditures.

The risk with Apple is that its growth is somewhat slow. With earnings forecast to grow around 10% annually over the next five years, the stock looks expensive.

I don’t think this is a sign that the company has hit a ceiling, though. Apple currently accounts for around 18% of the smartphone market, which leaves plenty of room for further growth.

A couple of months ago, the stock was trading at around $130 per share, which I think is an attractive price. But a strong recovery has moved Apple shares beyond the price I’d be willing to pay for them.

Apple is Warren Buffett’s largest stock investment and I have some indirect ownership of the business by owning Berkshire Hathaway shares, but in a market sell off, I’d buy the stock directly.

For the last 19 years, Halma’s management team have consistently delivered record profits in each successive year. And if that wasn’t enough to catch my attention, then the fact that for 43 years in a row Halma has continued to increase its dividend payments by more than 5% is even more impressive.

Over the last 10 years, the FTSE 100 index has delivered total shareholders returns of 91%. However, over the same period Halma has delivered an impressive total shareholder return of 655%.  It is an exemplar of consistent and reliable value generation that Warren Buffett, the great Sage of Omaha, would be proud of.

Having reviewed the upside, now let me explore what the market thinks of Halma. Surprisingly, given its previous track record, it is not such a positive outlook, with the shares having lost almost 30% of their value in the year to date. Having ended 2021 on a high of 3,200p per share, they have since had a rough-and-tumble journey into 2022, having bottomed out at 1,876p in June, before recovering some ground in recent times to 2,289p. 

So has the market overreacted in its recent re-rating of Halma? Does this in turn present me with an opportunity to buy an undervalued stock, or does the current market price offer a fair and equitable reflection of the value presented by Halma shares?

To be honest, my investment analysis of Halma isn’t compelling either way. On one hand, Halma’s performance over the years has been the model of consistency on which investors can genuinely rely. On the other hand, however, it feels like that consistency and reliability of delivering shareholder returns has already been baked into the current share price. 

Whilst Halma has delivered remarkable returns over decades, as a prospective investor today I am being asked to pay a high price for such consistent performance, which is amplified by the current price-to-earnings ratio of 35. As an investor who is trying to uncover value opportunities, I feel like these shares are already trading at a high premium and don’t therefore offer the margin of safety that I normally look for in an investment.  

When assessing the opportunity to own part of a company that for decades has continuously demonstrated the ability to deliver consistent and reliable returns of shareholder value, my heart is willing me to invest. But I know from bitter experience that when I make investment decisions based on emotion, they very rarely work out for me.

So, for the moment my investing brain is going to overrule my heart and instead focus on investment fundamentals, which indicate that the current Halma share price is one that I am simply unwilling to pay.

Always in demand

Founded over 100 years ago, not many companies come more established than Tesco (LSE: TSCO). And since we all need to eat regardless of rising prices, the grocery sector is highly defensive. I reckon this makes the supermarket an excellent choice for me if I were starting to invest today.

Despite operating in a competitive space, Tesco has been the clear market leader for many years now. Supported by its highly popular Clubcard scheme, it made almost £55bn in sales in 2021.

With inflation going higher and higher, any business offering to pay me dividends for holding its shares looks attractive. Tesco comes up trumps here too. Based on what the city’s analysts are saying, I’d receive almost 11p this year for every share I owned. That doesn’t sound like much but it can really add up if I’m able to buy more shares every month.

Naturally, this income can never be guaranteed. Dividends can end up being reduced or cut completely if profits dip. Even so, I suspect that won’t be the case here.

Growth area

With half of my cash left to splash, I’d also buy shares in FTSE 100 member Halma (LSE: HLMA). It may not be as familiar to new investors as Tesco but it still operates in a very defensive space.

Halma is actually a collection of companies specialising in life-saving technology. These are things that its clients can’t do without if they are to abide by legislation and protect their workers. As a result, trading is usually robust and only likely to get better over time.

Another reason for buying the stock is that Halma operates in a completely different market to Tesco. Spreading my cash around the market in this way might reduce the damage from being wrong about the supermarket. This is called diversification and it’s something all new investors must grasp.

One issue with Halma shares is that they are expensive. However, much of this is based on its track record of consistently increasing revenue and profits. It’s also hiked its dividend by 5% or more every year… for the last 43 years!

This makes the price worth paying, in my opinion.

No guarantees

Having said I’d buy both of the above, you might be tempted to believe I think their share prices are due to rise. Truth is, I don’t know what will happen next. No one does.

Near-term uncertainty is something all investors — new and experienced — must accept. In the short term, the valuations of companies are driven primarily by emotion. It’s over the long term that things tend to be based on whether they are actually good businesses or not.

Having grown investors’ money well over time (via a combination of capital gains and dividends), I think Tesco and Halma are examples of the former.

I’m convinced that buying their shares would be a great start to my time as an investor.

Warren Buffett says that risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing and I think that Halma’s business is very complicated. But there are five reasons why I’m looking at Halma as the best opportunity in the FTSE 100 at the moment.

Cash generation

The first – and most important – reason is that Halma is a really excellent business when it comes to generating cash. At the end of the day, a business being able to generate cash for shareholders is what matters to me most.

Halma is extremely impressive in this regard. The company has £194m in fixed assets and generates just under £279m in operating income.

That’s a return on fixed assets of just under 144%. For context, Halma’s return here stacks up impressively against Google (74.5%), Meta (62.75%), and Starbucks (33.24%).

Scale

Halma’s businesses operate in highly specialised industries. That makes it difficult to understand, but it also brings an important advantage.

Operating in niche markets means that Halma’s businesses have few competitors. This protects the company’s impressive cash generation capacity.

Disrupting a dominant player in a small sector, such as Halma, would be expensive and ultimately unrewarding. As a result, Halma’s operations are protected by high barriers to entry for competitors.

Decentralised culture

One of the keys to Warren Buffett’s success at Berkshire Hathaway is its decentralised culture. Individual subsidiaries make their own decisions, rather than taking orders from a central office.

Halma is organised in a similar way. Its businesses are separate from one another and make their own decisions, empowering their management and encouraging an entrepreneurial spirit.

In my view, the structure of Halma’s business model is another strength of the company.

Financial position

Halma also has an impressive financial position. Its capital structure looks good to me, with around £713m in cash and £794m in total liabilities on its balance sheet, I think that it’s highly unlikely that the company will have any bankruptcy problems.

The organisation is also well in control of its debt. At the moment, Halma’s interest payments on its debt account for less than 3% of its operating income, which tells me that the company is unlikely to have any problems around its debt.

Lastly, the company has good financial liquidity. The company has twice as much cash as it had in 2019, which should allow it to respond well to opportunities that it sees in the future.

Increasing dividend

The final reason I think Halma shares might be a great investment for me is its dividend. The company is a dividend aristocrat and has been increasing its payouts to shareholders for the last 43 years.

By itself, an increasing dividend isn’t always a sure indicator of a good investment opportunity. But I think that Halma’s steady increases show stability over time, which makes the company attractive to me as an investor.

Ashtead

Ashtead (LSE: AHT) is a British industrial equipment rental company. It has networks in the UK, US, and Canada. It also trades under the name of Sunbelt Rentals. The industrial firm is expected to report earnings for its financial year 2022 on Tuesday, 14 June 2022. The earnings preview indicates a positive trend in both its top and bottom lines as it recovers from its pandemic woes.

• Market cap: £17.5bn
• Price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio: 18
• Dividend yield: 1.1%

• Earnings per share estimate (FY 2022): £2.47
• Earnings per share (FY 2021): £1.56
• Total revenue estimate (FY 2022): £6.47bn
• Total revenue (FY 2021): £5.0bn

Halma

Halma (LSE: HLMA) is a British global group consisting of safety equipment companies. These firms make products for hazard detection and life protection. The FTSE 100 group is expected to report earnings for its financial year 2022 on Thursday, 16 June 2022. The earnings preview indicates slight growth from the previous year.

• Market cap: £8.0bn
• P/E ratio: 30
• Dividend yield: 0.9%

• Earnings per share estimate (FY 2022): 63.1p
• Earnings per share (FY 2021): 58.7p
• Total revenue estimate (FY 2022): £1.5bn
• Total revenue (FY 2021): £1.3bn

FirstGroup

FirstGroup (LSE: SSE) is a British multi-national transport group. The company operates transport services in the UK. The transport company is expected to report earnings for its financial year 2022 on Tuesday, 14 June 2022. Earnings preview indicates a drop in revenue and a return to unprofitability.

• Market cap: £1.0bn
• P/E ratio: 2
• Dividend yield: –

• Earnings per share estimate (FY 2022): -0.4p
• Earnings per share (FY 2021): 2.4p
• Total revenue estimate (FY 2022): £4.52bn
• Total revenue (FY 2021): £6.8bn

I think some of these heavy fallers already look like they might be ‘no-brainer’ buys for my portfolio.

Halma

FTSE 100 health & safety tech firm Halma (LSE: HLMA) continues to appeal. Having lost 31% in 2022 so far, it leaves the share near its 52-week low. For a company whose products and services are deemed “essential“, thanks to increasing environmental and health legislation, that smacks of an opportunity to me.

Back in March, the company said it expects to deliver “substantial revenue growth” when full-year results are announced in June. Adjusted pre-tax profit is also likely to be in line with analyst predictions.

Halma looks in great financial shape too. This should permit further acquisitions to help drive yet more growth, not to mention keep the run of 42 consecutive years of dividend growth going.

Of course, no investment case isn’t without a niggle or two. With Halma, it’s the valuation. A P/E of 34 is far from cheap (although it’s far better than it once was). Nevertheless, I’d be happy to start buying today.

Watches of Switzerland

Also on my list of potential ‘no-brainer’ buys is luxury timepiece seller Watches of Switzerland (LSE: WOSG). At the time of writing, WOSG’s valuation has tumbled 35% in 2022.

This isn’t completely illogical. After multi-bagging in value between 2020 and 2022, some profit-taking was always on the cards here. It might be argued that the dramatic rise in the cost of living and the subsequent hit to discretionary spending made selling a logical move.

Nevertheless, I reckon WOSG’s target group is unlikely to be feeling the pinch as much as others. What’s more, the company has already said trading has been “in line with expectations” in Q4. Another update is due tomorrow.

As such, I suspect more serious falls are unlikely, albeit not impossible. A forecast P/E of 18 already looks great value for a company whose share price should recover its positive momentum in time.

Polar Capital Technology Trust

The last stock for today is actually a fund rather than an individual company — Polar Capital Technology Trust (LSE: PCT).

Like the others mentioned, PCT’s value has crashed in the year to date. Personally, I see this fall as another chance to begin building a position in the FTSE 250 member that holds some of the biggest and best tech stocks in the world before sentiment changes for the better.

Naturally, no one knows when a recovery will kick in. Things could get even worse if interest rates rise at a faster clip than expected. However, the diversification offered by this investment trust helps mitigate this to some extent. A total of 104 company stocks are held in the portfolio.

Unless I think the likes of Microsoft, Apple and Alphabet are incapable of thriving again, I’m simply being given a chance to snap them up on sale. The only downside here is the inevitable management fees that come with investing in an actively managed fund.

Rentokil Initial

It may not be the most attractive sector to operate in, but I continue to like pest control and hygiene firm Rentokil Initial (LSE: RTO). That’s despite its shares falling 7% year-to-date.

That dip looks disappointing at face value. However, some FTSE 100 stocks have fared a lot worse. Moreover, this company has delivered stellar capital gains for investors over the last five years. That’s a far better period of time to gauge performance.

Naturally, Rentokil isn’t devoid of risk. The valuation of 27 times forecast earnings could come back to bite investors if current trading falls below expectations. Even if this weren’t the case, the ongoing rotation into value stocks could drag the RTO share price lower.

So long as I we’re happy to hold for years however, an investment here could prove lucrative. The post-pandemic drive toward keeping property and environments as squeaky clean as possible should prove a lasting tailwind.

Rightmove

Having used the property portal recently, I continue to believe Rightmove (LSE: RMV) is an excellent choice for a growth-focused ISA portfolio. The fact that I didn’t even contemplate looking elsewhere is evidence to me that this FTSE 100 company continues to have a dominant hold in its industry. Throw in its extraordinarily high operating margins and returns on capital and the investment case here looks as strong as the UK property market.

Of course, there’s always the potential for the latter to slide into reverse gear, especially given the galloping rise in the cost of living. Such a scenario could see the Rightmove share price tumble by association.

Still, a near-17% fall in the stock since the beginning of 2022 suggests some of this is already being priced in. Even if there is further selling pressure ahead, I’d use this as an opportunity to load up rather than steer clear.

As quality growth stocks go, Rightmove is hard to beat.

Halma

A final FTSE 100 stock I’d consider buying with my brand spanking new ISA allowance would be health & safety tech firm Halma (LSE: HLMA). I’ve banged on about this company for a few months now for the simple reason that I think the market mayhem in 2022 is giving me a great buying opportunity.

[fool-stock-chart ticker=LSE:RMV]

Like Rentokil, I actually think the £10bn-cap is a great defensive pick. The need to provide greater protection for workers is a boon for the company and one that, thanks to increased regulation, looks very sustainable.

One of my few ‘issues’ with Halma however, is the valuation. A P/E of 36 for FY23 is very rich. As such, I’d probably be inclined to buy in installments rather than all in one go. No one knows where the share price will go next, but this makes the process psychologically easier.

Owning a slice of Halma on top of Rentokil and Rightmove also adds a healthy dollop of diversification to my portfolio.