When seeking out the best stocks, investors should be keeping an eye on at least several key traits in a company. That includes track records of success, prominent positioning in an important market, and long runways for future growth. These characteristics, combined with a long-term time horizon, should lead to positive investment returns. 

Fortunately, it doesn't take a lot of money to get started. With as little as $1,000, investors can consider the two stocks below. Tech giant (NASDAQ: MSFT) and up-and-comer Datadog (NASDAQ: DDOG) may be on opposite ends of the spectrum in size, but both show strong promise ahead. Let's dig in and see why investors should take a closer look at them.

The name Microsoft is likely familiar to all investors given its long and storied history as one of the most important companies in the world. While its Windows operating system and suite of productivity software are still driving business results, Microsoft has also become one of the big-three cloud infrastructure providers with its Azure Cloud business. Azure is part of the intelligent cloud segment, which is Microsoft's largest and fastest growing source of revenue.

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Source Fool.com