Pets Rule! My Top MoneyShow Pick for 2026

It happens every January, and every January, I love it. I am referring here to the report I receive, and am honored to contribute to, that contains the “Top Picks” for the coming year from what is quite possibly the best collection of market mavens in the world today. This publication, aptly named the MoneyShow 2026 Top Picks Report, just dropped, so I wanted to make sure The Deep Woods readers know all about it.

This report, compiled by my friend and MoneyShow Editor-in-Chief Mike Larson and the excellent MoneyShow team, is fantastic for generating stock ideas for the coming year.

This year’s report contains some 68 unique top picks provided by 39 different experts, including analysts, money managers, strategists, newsletter editors and other experts. And as mentioned, I am honored to be one of those experts. This issue of the MoneyShow 2026 Top Picks Report is their 45th, an amazing achievement from an amazing group of professionals that continue to impress through the decades.

Now, to give you a sense of the efficacy of some of the picks in this report, just last year the top-performing picks delivered tracked gains of 567.7%, 400%, 148.7%, 146.3% and 144.5%. Will there be more of the same this year? Well, time will tell, but you can find out right now what the experts say about what stocks are likely to outperform this year.

I strongly encourage you to download the MoneyShow 2026 Top Picks Report today, as it’s a great read full of great information from some great minds. Oh, and it’s completely free!

Now, of course, I don’t intend on keeping The Deep Woods readers hanging when it comes to a sample of my contribution to this report, so today, I am going to share with you one of my two picks you can find in the MoneyShow report. I hope it prompts you to download the free report today so you can receive the rest of the wisdom contained throughout its pages.

And so, without further delay, here is one of my MoneyShow 2026 Top Picks, one that I call, “Pets Rule!”

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There’s only one downside to owning pets, and that is their relatively brief lifespan. I’ve experienced the sadness accompanying this reality multiple times over the past several years, as I’ve had to bid farewell to my beloved 12-year-old chow chow, Hemingway, and my 20-year-old Persian cat, Danica. Both pets hung on bravely after their respective health diagnoses, and I am grateful they were able to make me smile even through their illnesses.

As pet owners know, caring for ailing fur babies involves multiple experiences at the veterinarian’s office, visits that often come with multiple batteries of diagnostic tests. Providing those tests is Idexx Laboratories (IDXX).

Idexx stock gapped to an all-time high in November 2025 after the company reported outstanding earnings that easily bested Wall Street estimates, a feat regularly accomplished by the Westbrook, ME-based firm. That quarter’s earnings beat also came complete with a raised outlook for the full year.

Interestingly, the bull case for IDXX and other companies in the vet diagnostics space is the aging needs of animals born during the 2020 pandemic puppy boom. As these cuties mature, they will require more and more veterinary care. And of course, pet lovers are always willing to spend more on their pets and own more and more animals. Why? Well, because life is more beautiful with pets.

Beautiful also are the financial metrics posted by Idexx, metrics that include earnings-per-share (EPS) growth over the past several quarters and several years in the top 10% of all companies per Investor’s Business Daily (as of December 12, 2025). As for share price performance, the stock’s 52-week gain of 60.4% (through December 12, 2025) also vaults it into the top 10% of all stocks on a relative price strength basis.

The combination of robust earnings growth and strong share price performance is the bullish cocktail I like to drink when adding a stock to my portfolio, and IDXX delivers on both ingredients.

In 2026, I say we drink to the love of pets, and the love of profits, with Idexx Laboratories (IDXX).

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Once again, for more picks like this, from 38 other stock picking pros, I strongly recommend you download the free report, MoneyShow 2026 Top Picks Report, today.

Oh, and always remember… Pets Rule!

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A Most Essential Command

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”

–George Orwell, “1984”

This quote from the most horrifying dystopian work of literature ever written has been circulating throughout the digital sphere this week, and rightly so, in my view. That’s because no matter how you feel about the events taking place in Minneapolis, there is one thing that is clear. That one thing is that the narratives from federal officials are NOT commensurate with the evidence of our eyes and ears.

This fact is not up for debate. Yes, issues of immigration enforcement, how to conduct it, what immigration policy should be and how best to achieve a safe society are all legitimate topics for debate, no doubt. But when a cabinet level member of the executive branch tells us that a man “arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement,” well, you know that’s a case of the Party wanting to you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears.

To this I say… don’t allow it! We know what we saw, and they know it, too. And that’s the reason for their essential command.

Wisdom about money, investing and life can be found anywhere. If you have a good quote that you’d like me to share with your fellow readers, send it to me, along with any comments, questions and suggestions you have about my newsletters, seminars or anything else. Click here to ask Jim.

In the name of the best within us,

Jim Woods