CEO Watchlist: Week In Review

March 30, 2025

TOP NEWS AFFECTING THE STOCK MARKET THIS WEEK:

Can These Stocks Protect Investors From Trump's Tariff Day? (Source)

Stocks mentioned: $TLT, $GLD, $SLV

President Trump plans to announce a sweeping set of new tariffs on April 2, which has been dubbed “Liberation Day”, as part of his push for “reciprocal” trade policies aimed at reducing the U.S. trade deficit and reviving domestic manufacturing. Economists warn the tariffs could increase consumer prices, worsen inflation, and create uncertainty that may slow business investment. While Trump hopes these measures will encourage companies to relocate manufacturing to the U.S., experts argue that modest tariff increases may not be enough to offset the cost advantages of overseas production.

These tariffs are certainly affecting the stock market too, which is why we're seeing sectors like autos and retail struggle so much. But the tariffs aren't necessarily bad for all stocks. In fact, certain sectors could actually benefit from what's going on. For example, investors seem more interested in risk-off assets like bonds and gold right now. That's why we're tracking popular ETFs such as the 20-Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) and the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD). But another area that seems to be gaining momentum is silver, which is why we're watching the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) as well. All of these names have something in common: they are holding steady or moving higher while the rest of the market fluctuates day by day. As you can see below, assets like gold are acutally outperforming the stock market, and this can certainly hold up if there is more volatility in the risk-on names.

The Future Of Tesla In Question... Or Is It? (Source)

Stocks mentioned: $TSLA, $GOOG, $AMZN, $UBER, $NVDA

Over 200 “Tesla Takedown” protests erupted across the U.S. and abroad, targeting Elon Musk for his role in slashing federal jobs and budgets as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under the Trump administration. Demonstrators called for people to sell their Tesla (TSLA) vehicles and stock, citing concerns over healthcare, research funding, and foreign aid cuts, while distancing themselves from the rising acts of vandalism against Tesla properties. In response to the violence, the FBI launched a task force to investigate anti-Tesla attacks, as Musk claimed his government role has hurt Tesla’s sales and image.

As we mentioned in last week's newsletter, Tesla has been struggling with these protests as well as insiders selling their stock, including Elon's own brother! Despite the recent negative news headlines, what Musk is doing with robotics and full self driving (FSD) vehicles is nothing short of astounding and still gives us hope that Tesla stock will rebound in the future. In the meanwhile, like we discussed last week, there are many competitors right now to Tesla's FSD such as Google's (GOOG) Waymo, or even Amazon's (AMZN) Zoox, but we see Uber (UBER) as a winner nonetheless. Uber we believe will be an aggregator of all companies FSD vehicles even if Tesla does not want to partner with them. As we've seen, Nvidia (NVDA) has even come forward and partnered with Uber, seeing their potential in the ride-sharing business. With Uber's growth and low multiple it's currently trading for, we view Uber as one of the best growth stories over the next couple years. Short-term, we do expect volatility in the markets in almost ALL growth names, but we are looking out further than the next 3-6 months. With all that being said, we have a multi-year outlook and believe Tesla will do just fine over the next few years. Tesla may even become the strongest growing company in the stock market if they can execute on their FSD and robotics division.

The A.I. Bubble Is Popping? Time To Rotate Sectors? (Source)

Stocks mentioned: $CRWV, $MSFT, $NVDA, $PG, $JNJ, $NEE, $DUK

Last week, a new company called CoreWeave (CRWV) had their initial public offering (IPO), which is when a company decides to go public and becomes tradable within the stock market. This IPO really made the market reconsider the A.I. trade. Although A.I. is taking over and is clearly the future for companies, it seems as if some of the steam has run out on this trade in the short term. Coreweave is a company that is backed heavily by Microsoft (MSFT) and Nvidia (NVDA), two leaders in the A.I. space, and so their IPO had a lot of attention in the months leading up to it. But the CoreWeave IPO was somewhat of a flop as CoreWeave decided to lower their price going into the IPO. Despite lowering their offering price, the stock still struggled when launched. As a result, investors are closely watching this IPO as a potential turning point for sentiment across the entire AI sector.

With a disappointing IPO along with CoreWeave's lack of profitability and concentration between two customers, Nvidia and Microsoft, we believe CoreWeave is too high risk in this current market. Personally if I want to make a bet on A.I., I'm going with Nvidia over CoreWeave. But, with uncertainty in the entire A.I. space, in the short-term, it might be better to look at other sectors besides tech. Defensive stocks such as Procter & Gamble (PG), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), as well as utility companies like NextEra Energy (NEE) and Duke Energy (DUK), are worth watching for their stability and steady dividends while the market reassesses what’s real and what’s just hype.

INSIDER TRADES FROM THE WEEK:

1. MicroStrategy (MSTR) - Andrew Kang, CFO and EVP, bought ~$127,000 of MSTR stock on March 20, 2025, but it was reported to the public on March 24, 2025. (Source)

2. Victoria's Secret (VSCO) - BBRC International Pte LTD, a 10% owner of the company, bought ~$4 million of Victoria's Secret stock between March 26-27, 2025, but it was reported to the public on March 28, 2025. (Source)

3. Airbnb (ABNB) - Rob Bresnahan, a House Rep. In Pennsylvania, bought between ~$1,001-$15,000 worth of ABNB stock on February 25, 2025, but it was reported to the public on March 28, 2025. (Source)