Maybe you are sick of hearing this, but it doesn't make it any less true: it's a turbulent time for ASX shares at the moment.
With much of the world still struggling with both high inflation and steep interest rate rises, it's touch-and-go whether some of the largest economies will fall into recession.
In such a time, Bell Potter market analyst Grady Wulff suggests targeting three specific ASX sectors to buy into: energy, retail and healthcare.
"For energy, there is one specific stock in there that we have a really high outlook on," Wulff said at the Australian Shareholders Association conference this week.
"Investors have fled retail stocks… but there's value in this space when you look for value shopping."
Healthcare has outperformed the market over the last decade, she added, but there are still "quite a few opportunities" right now.
So here are three ASX shares from those industries that Wulff and the Bell Potter team rate as buys:
The three best buys in the three best ASX sectors
From the retail sector, Wulff's team likes the look of Accent Group Ltd (ASX: AX1), which is best known for operating the ubiquitous shoe chain The Athlete's Foot.
The share price has already done pretty well. It's risen 74% over the past five years, a whopping 266% since the COVID-19 market crash, and it has doubled since September.
Wulff told investors to not let that put them off.
"This company continues to go from strength to strength. There's no reason not to consider it for your portfolio."
She noted how sales are still growing year-on-year, even though customers are now grappling with interest rates that are 3.75 percentage points higher.
"The fact that they're able to weather tougher economic conditions says they're up to something really special."
In the health space, Bell Potter's current darling is Telix Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: TLX), which produces cancer diagnostic and treatment products.
The company entered into a revenue-making phase last year after its diagnostic imaging tracer Illucix started selling commercially.
Wulff told the Sydney audience that while diagnostic products bring some money in, the real margins are still coming in the treatment products that are currently jumping through bureaucratic hoops.
"Imaging agents make around US$5,000 revenue… per dose," she said.
"The therapy drug for prostate cancer and kidney cancer is US$250,000 per dose per patient."
So Telix has these potentially massive catalysts coming, all while the diagnostic products are bringing in revenue to keep its research and development running without needing to raise capital.
Telix shares have rocketed 62% year to date.
Wulff's pick in the energy sector is uranium producer Boss Energy Ltd (ASX: BOE).
Uranium prices were at rock bottom over the 2010s after nuclear power generation went out of fashion following the Fukushima disaster.
But Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year and the subsequent global energy crisis have prompted many countries to reactivate their reactors.
"The company's project is the Honeymoon mine, which has been in care-and-maintenance since 2013… because uranium prices have been so low," said Wulff.
"We've now seen the price of uranium come off the low last year."
She recently spoke to the Boss Energy managing director Duncan Craib, who is confident of digging up the nuclear fuel very soon.
"He's very optimistic that they're on track, on time and on budget for first production in December 2023, first sales in 2024, and sales to double by 2025."
The Boss Energy share price has already climbed 35% so far this year.
