There’s action … and there’s reaction.
And one thing that separates Wealth Builders from everyday investors is that they use the first to plan for the second.
In other words, if you think ahead, you position yourself to win.
Near the end of July, Chief Stock Picker Bill Patalon shared a special “Watch List” — five companies to start buying (or to “accumulate” more of) in case of a stock-market pullback.
That’s what we mean by planning for future action.
Those five stocks include:
Apple Inc. AAPL 0.00%↑
Blackstone Inc. BX 0.00%↑
Broadcom Inc. AVGO 0.00%↑
Goldman Sachs Group GS 0.00%↑
Hallador Energy Co. HNRG 0.00%↑
Since we’re in the middle of the historically poor-performing month of September AND have a rate-cut decision this week, plus a November election still ahead, we thought it would be ideal timing for a quick “catch-up” on all of those companies mentioned to keep them fresh on your radar if we see stock prices start to dip.
Apple
Apple is one of those stocks that are so “obvious” that it often gets overlooked as folks look for “more exciting” opportunities.
But how’s this for “excitement?” Apple’s stock price has skyrocketed nearly 300% over the past five years.
Making that kind of money is never boring.
And from its Apple Vision Pro headset to its health forays through the Apple Watch and AirPods to its Apple Intelligence deployment, this 48-year-old innovator is building an impressive new head of steam.
We also have plenty of additional research to dive into:
You can see what else to expect with this near-term and long-term outlook here.
💵Blackstone
Blackstone is living, breathing proof that “money never sleeps.” This private-equity (PE) giant is a dealmaking force.
1️⃣ Blackstone is teaming up with PE-sector peer Vista Equity Partners to acquire Smartsheet Inc. SMAR 0.00%↑ for $8 billion ($56 per share). At first glance, Smartsheet looks like a Microsoft Excel clone, but the truth is that it’s used by nearly every Fortune 500 company — thanks to advanced features that include tracking, managing, and automating workflows.
2️⃣It is snagging the data center group AirTrunk — reportedly the largest data center operation in the Asia-Pacific region — for $16.1 billion. AirTrunk has 11 sites in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, and Singapore.
3️⃣And Bill shared last week with SPC Premium members that Blackstone was one of a handful of PE firms that received approval to acquire up to 10% of an NFL team — part of a broader storyline that’ll have the “private markets” play a bigger role in our economy … and our lives.
⭕Broadcom
It’s been a choppy month when it comes to Broadcom’s trading pattern.
Despite delivering what Bill calls a “triple beat” in its last earnings report (beating expectations for revenue, guidance, and hiking full-year revenue guidance), it was the third-quarter guidance of $14 billion compared to expectations of $14.04 billion to $14.11 billion that sent shares lower.
The company will also get hit with a $4.5 billion, one-time tax provision (estimated amount of income tax) this quarter because of a transfer of intellectual property rights.
But just as quickly, we saw a rebound.
In a Monday interview on CNBC, CEO Hock Tan was adamant that the “AI boom” is just getting started and that Big Tech is on a “very urgent journey” that will require Broadcom’s chips.
“We are in a segment of the market in AI where we are addressing several hyperscalers (large-scale data centers),” he said in that CNBC interview. “And these hyperscalers have very strong incentive, ambition towards building continually, investing in large language models to basically create models that are smarter and smarter.”
🏦Goldman
Circling back to private equity, Goldman is ramping up its lending services to PE firms and asset managers.
Over the next five years, the Goldman Sachs Asset Management division plans to expand its private credit (lending outside of the traditional banking system) portfolio from $130 billion to $300 billion.
That’s to take advantage of the private credit market’s expected value leap from $1.5 trillion now to $2.8 trillion by 2028.
Bill likes that the earnings growth estimates over the next five years sit at 23% each year, as stock prices tend to follow earnings that march higher.
On top of that, Goldman will put more money in shareholders’ pockets with the 9.1% dividend increase announcement from June taking effect soon.
⚡Hallador
Bill listed this Indiana-based company as one of the riskiest on his watch list, as it’s in the midst of a makeover.
It began as an oil-and-gas explorer, evolved into a coal firm that generates electricity for the Midwest and Southeastern United States and is expanding its offerings to include renewable energy solutions. Additionally, it’s also working on a cryptocurrency mining project.
But this “makeover” can also offer a “profit window” as the change in the business model is misunderstood.
Bill said that if the stock dipped to $6 (closing at $8.41 the day of the original report), it was worth considering a foundational position in the company.
Shares opened at $5.85 on Aug. 7 and then bounced their way back to $6.55 as of this writing.
If you want to catch up on the seven “special-situation triggers” he sees for this company, his follow-up report is available below.
Take care,