stocks

Money manager: Here's where the real momentum lies

'Squawk Platinum Portfolio': VIPS, MTDR & ACT
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'Squawk Platinum Portfolio': VIPS, MTDR & ACT

Last week's selloff targeted big-name stocks with seemingly unending momentum—with Tesla Motors, Netflix and Priceline among the victims. But Louis Navellier, a Nevada-based money manager, says he has a new crop of "explosive," yet lesser known, momentum plays.

"Growth managers like me live quarter to quarter," Navellier said Monday on CNBC's "." "We got a great buying opportunity now because of the profit-taking that happened here recently."

Navellier chose Chinese online retailer Vipshop, oil and gas producer Matador Resources and pharmaceutical company Actavis as his best stock picks for short-term gains. The stock picks were part of "Squawk Box"s Platinum Portfolio contest, a running feature that pits top investors and their strategies against each other.

Vipshop has seen share prices skyrocket more than 300 percent in the past year. Navellier said he predicts "explosive" sales growth at the retailer, despite worries over China's financial system and slowing growth.

"Trust me, it's a great buy near term," Navellier said.

Matador Resources has a presence in the Eagle Ford shale formation in West Texas, and its price has more than tripled in the past year. Navellier called Actavis the safest stock he recommends, after two "aggressive" choices in Vipshop and Matador.

'Squawk Platinum Portfolio': COSWF, VIV & EC
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'Squawk Platinum Portfolio': COSWF, VIV & EC

Money manager Jim O'Shaughnessy had almost the exact opposite stock-picking strategy than Navellier. Instead of chasing momentum, O'Shaughnessy said he's after dividend growth.

With the prospect of higher interest rates looming, O'Shaughnessy said he was forced to look outside the U.S. for stocks with good dividend potential. He said his firm, O'Shaughnessy Asset Management, conducted a study that found U.S. stocks become more expensive under higher rates compared to options abroad.

He named Canadian Oil Sands Trust, telecom company Telefonica Brasil and Colombian oil and gas company Ecopetrol as his best stock picks.

"We see a world in which the baby boomers are getting older and older and they're not getting any return from 10-year Treasurys," O'Shaughnessy said. "They're not getting returns from most of the conventional places."

After a selloff in emerging markets earlier this year, investors must remain vigilant about events that could cause pullbacks in those markets, O'Shaughnessy said.

—By CNBC's Jeff Morganteen.

Disclosure: O'Shaughnessy owns all three stocks, and his fund holds long positions on all three.Navellier and his family own shares in his three stock picks.