Today's 3 Best Stocks

It was all about jobs once again today, as the broad-based S&P 500 vaulted to its sixth consecutive gain, tacking on 6.92 points (0.45%), to close at 1,551.18.

Economists had been anticipating a strong employment report after the ADP employment report on Wednesday. The results released today were stronger than many had expected, with a 246,000 jump in non-farm payrolls, and the unemployment level ticking down 0.2%, to 7.7%, its lowest level in four years. Continued improvement in the unemployment rate could signal to the Federal Reserve that it's safe to end its $85 billion monthly Treasury and mortgage bond purchases, and potentially even consider raising lending target rates.

Today's top performer was tax specialist H&R Block , which reported its third-quarter results after the bell last night. Oddly enough, the $0.22 per-share loss was considerably worse than the $0.03 loss that Wall Street was expecting; but it was comments made by CEO Bill Cobb that tax filings should grow by 1%-2% this year that got investors excited. Part of H&R Block's woes relate to the late start to this year's tax season, but I still remain more concerned about whether or not it can bite into Intuit's TurboTax market share. Intuit beat H&R Block to the do-it-yourself tax market years ago, and H&R Block has been playing catch-up ever since. Despite H&R Block's 9.2% rise today, I'm not impressed.

Big box retailer Best Buy continued to annoy short-sellers, by ascending an additional 4.7%, and topping $20 per share for the first time since the summer. Best Buy's aggressive price-matching initiatives, as well as its focus on mobile technologies, are beginning to see an immediate impact with regard to increased traffic in its stores. Best Buy further cemented itself as a retail stronghold by keeping its quarterly dividend unchanged at $0.17, calming investors' fears that a dividend cut might have been on the way. As long as Best Buy's management team remains focused, it could head even higher.

Finally, life insurance provider MetLife advanced 4.9%, leading the insurance sector higher, as 10-year Treasury yields hit an 11-month high. As I noted earlier, a four-year low in unemployment has interesting consequences for what the Fed may do next. With a rise in rates seeming like a certainty to come sooner rather than later if employment figures keep heading in the right direction, insurers like MetLife, which have huge exposure to Treasury bonds ($370 billion in MetLife's case according to Bloomberg), are bound to benefit. At less than seven times forward earnings, MetLife shareholders have definitely discounted the potential for future rate increases, and now could still provide a good opportunity for long-term investors.

Is Best Buy really a best buy?
The brick-and-mortar versus e-commerce battle wages on, with Best Buy caught in the middle. After what might have been its most tumultuous year in history, there are now even more unanswered questions about the future for the big-box electronics retailer. How will new leadership perform? Will old leadership take the company private? Will a smaller store format work out for both the company and its brave investors? Should you be one such brave investor? To help answer all these questions, The Motley Fool has released a new premium research report detailing the opportunities -- and the risks -- in store for Best Buy. Simply click here now to claim your comprehensive report today.

The article Today's 3 Best Stocks originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Sean Williams has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name TMFUltraLong, track every pick he makes under the screen name TrackUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle @TMFUltraLong.The Motley Fool owns shares of Intuit. The Motley Fool recommends Automatic Data Processing and Intuit. The Motley Fool owns shares of Intuit. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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