☕ 3 Stocks to buy if you’re worried about the markets, and even if you’re not
Sep 23, 2024Happy Monday! 👋
Stocks are off to a decent start this morning for reasons I laid out in last evening’s short. (Watch)
Makes sense.
Inflation is coming down, earnings are going up, Unka Powell’s “put” is back in effect.
Here’s my playbook.
1 – Three stocks to buy if you’re worried about the markets, and even if you’re not
Anybody can find hot stocks, but great stocks that’ll help you grow your wealth through thick and thin are another matter entirely.
The super-savvy Stuart Varney asked me for my take this morning on the latter. (Watch)
Keith’s Investing Tip: People constantly ask me about “hot stocks” when they learn what I do for a living. Wrong question. What you want to focus on as an investor is stocks that will be there when you need ‘em. If that’s growth, excellent. If that’s income, also excellent. If you want both, even better! It’s a very short list.
2 – It’s official: Palantir takes a seat at the “big table”
Palantir has defied naysayers from the very beginning and continues to do so.
Yet here we are.
Palantir joins the S&P 500 today and, in doing so, sets the stage for another run higher.
Critics, of course, can’t let up.
Valuations they scream.
Oh yeah?
124% YTD investors scream.
492% off a low of $6.29 on December 23rd, 2022 OBAers giggle along with any investor who has been along for the ride since.
To paraphrase both 1920s jazz great Eddie Cantor and 1970s rock legend Bachman-Turnover Overdrive, “you ain’t seen nothing yet.”
- Palantir joins the S&P 500 today which will bring more institutional investors running
- Continues to land contract after contract like the $99M Project Maven expansion and the Nebraska Medicine multi-million-dollar contract for AIP and a new $6M/year deal with the National Institute of Health
- AIPCon 5, which Palantir holds to showcase client successes, was a rager most recently. You can watch the coverage here.
$50 within 12 months, perhaps sooner.
$85 within the next 36.
My only fear as I noted to Charles Payne when it was about $10 a share “is that I own enough shares.” (Watch)
Keith’s Investing Tip: Btw and contrary to what legions of investors have been taught as gospel, PE ratios have absolutely no predictive value whatsoever. Zippo. So, it makes no sense to apply ‘em in this instance.
OBAers, of course, know all about why that’s the case and which stocks to focus on as a result because I did a deep-dive sharing my latest research in the June issue. If you’ve got this covered, excellent. If you’d like to take your game to new levels and reform your understanding of today’s markets, I’m here.
3 - Intel might have a prayer after all
I didn’t make any friends when I said that we could be looking at the end of Intel as we know it a while back. And for a long time, it appeared that I was on to something as the stock continued to drop from nearly $70 a share to $22.64 where it’s trading as I write. (-55.48% over the past 5 years).
Now, there may be a prayer after all.
Reports suggest that Qualcomm has approached Intel for a takeover. (Read) Apollo Capital is also apparently interested according to the WSJ. (Read)
Intel has been dead money for a long time now and there are a lot of people thinking either deal could breathe a bit of life into things.
I’m not one of ‘em.
The equation doesn’t work... dead money + good money from a suitor = meh money.
I also have a hard time seeing how regulators would bless this absent a national security finding. Which, now that I think about it and if it happens, could open the door for similar moves with Boeing.
Maybe... just maybe... a LEAP call or two 🤷♂️
4 – TSMC and Samsung are eyeing up the Middle East
Global chip titans TSMC and Samsung are reportedly in talks with the UAE about building massive chip factories, with the UAE’s sovereign wealth fund, Mubadala, looking to throw down some cash to back these plans. (Read)
Coupla things stand out.
First, let’s see who denies it fastest... because that can often indicate which players have the most on the table. My guess is TSMC by the time you read this for reasons we’ll go into another time. Meanwhile, I could see the stock cresting $200 if so.
Should you buy TSM?
You could – there's a lot of good reasons to do that – but I think there are better players out there with far higher upside potential and considerably more stability.
My fav – and one of three key chip stocks I recommend - has returned 133.51% YTD versus TSM which has logged an impressive 69.51% over the same time frame. But that’s moot.
The thing you want to consider is why politicians don’t connect the dots.
Both TSMC and Samsung could have been engaged in discussions to build here in the US, in France or even Germany but the growing war on success in all three countries means their money won’t be treated well. So, like water, it’s flowing elsewhere.
Investing Implication: Semis won’t be the first or the last to bypass the US, the UK and the EU if business conditions don’t improve. I am already eyeballing a few choices that could make for an interesting opportunity in the months ahead.
5 - Nike is ‘just doing it’
Nike sends CEO John Donahoe packing brings Elliott Hill back from retirement. (Read)
Good.
Donahoe was never right for the job anyway, imho.
The big question is – Will Hill’s return bring experience like no other or will it lean too much into legacy and away from innovation?
He’s well liked which is good, but I think Nike will have a hard time keeping up in today’s markets.
Pass.
Adidas strikes me as a much stronger choice.
Nike is just doing it.... and not very well, I might add.
Bottom Line
Anybody can pick stocks.
Knowing how the game is played is what gives you the edge.
Learn, because that’s how you get ahead and stay there!
You got this – I promise!
Let’s start the week off STRONG.
Keith 😊
