Forget Bitcoin: You’re Better Off Buying These 2 Fundamentally Sound Stocks

I?ll admit it. As Bitcoin trades above $10,000, I am struggling to make sense of it.

What is the value of a Bitcoin? And how did it soar from $1,000 at the beginning of the year to current levels above $10,000?

There may be a valid use for Bitcoin as a private electronic currency that ensures security, but the argument that this cryptocurrency is the currency of the future seems farfetched to me.

For one thing, a currency should be stable and consistent. Bitcoin has been erratic, to say the least, making it an unreliable currency.

So, let me present to you two investments that have massive upside potential without as mush risk as Bitcoin, because protecting the downside is just as important as capturing upside.

Here are some real, fundamentally sound investments with massive return potential to invest your money in instead.

I will focus on high-growth/potential-return companies, as investors interested in Bitcoin surely have a higher risk tolerance than the average investor.

Ballard Power Systems Inc. (TSX:BLDP)(NASDAQ:BLDP) may be one for you. It is a higher-risk play in that things are still in the relatively early stages at the company and its industry, but there are some key attributes that actually make the stock a good risk/reward proposition.

In 2016, revenue increased 51% to $85 million. And in the first nine months of 2017, revenue increased 48% (54% in the third quarter), and the gross margin was 36% versus 27% in 2016. In 2015, the gross margin was 18%.

And as the world shows more interest and investment in cleaner energy, Ballard?s fuel cell technology is getting the attention of large corporations and governments from China to Europe to California.

Baytex Energy Corp. (TSX:BTE)(NYSE:BTE), the $1 billion market capitalization oil and gas producer, has not been immune to really tough times and stock price weakness.

But going forward, with oil closing in on $60 and the company?s free cash flow ramping up accordingly, the stock will be rid of the overhang that its heavily indebted balance sheet has put on it.

In the latest quarter, with a 7% reduction in its debt relative to last year, Baytex has shown some good progress, and as oil prices remain at these levels, the shares will continue to rally, as investors will shift focus off the debt load and on to the cash flow the company is able to generate from its high-quality assets.

The stock has declined almost 40% year to date, but the upside is even bigger as the company gets its balance sheet in order.

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Fool contributor Karen Thomas owns shares of Ballard Power.