CEO Watchlist: Week In Review (5/11/25)

TOP NEWS AFFECTING THE STOCK MARKET THIS WEEK:

Amazon Updates Their Stock Portfolio: What They Bought, And What They Sold... (Source)

Stocks mentioned: $AMZN, $TWLO, $AMD, $NVDA, $RIVN, $TSLA, $ALAB

Many people don't know that companies like Amazon (AMZN) have their own stock portfolio, and some of the names that they rotate money in and out of are actually quite interesting. Therefore, when a giant like Amazon quietly shifts billions of dollars behind the scenes, we like to pay attention to which companies they are buying or selling. Let's talk about Amazon's stock portfolio, because there were some recent updates. Amazon just dumped its entire position in Twilio (TWLO), in which they held around ~1.7 million shares of the stock. Looks like Amazon lost confidence in Twilio’s direction, and they probably saw better potential elsewhere like the stocks we are about to get into. Using the profits, Amazon decided to start a brand-new position in a stock called Adanced Micro Devices (AMD), scooping up around $84.5 million worth. For those that don't know, AMD is the top competitor to Nvidia (NVDA) and they just reported a pretty strong earnings. As of March 31, AMD is now one of Amazon's top stock portfolio holdings alongside Rivian (RIVN), an EV competitor to Tesla (TSLA), and Astera Labs (ALAB), which makes computer chips that help AI and cloud systems move data faster and work more smoothly. Personally, we like Astera Labs as a higher-risk speculative play, especially after they just reported an incredibly strong earnings this past week. The stock is currently down over 50% from its all time high, which we believe presents an opportunity.

In other Amazon realted news, Amazon has unveiled "Vulcan", its first robot with a sense of touch, designed to safely and efficiently assist in picking and stowing items in crowded storage pods, especially in hard-to-reach areas of fulfillment centers. Using advanced physical AI, cameras, suction, and force feedback sensors, Vulcan can handle about 75% of stored products while adapting to each item's shape and weight. This has improved safety, efficiency, and ergonomics for workers. Amazon plans to scale this innovation across U.S. and European sites to further enhance logistics and reduce physically demanding tasks for employees. We at CEO Watchlist believe this will only help to improve margins for Amazon, which should improve their balance sheet over time, leading to a higher stock price. This is why Amazon is one our top positions in our personal portfolios. If you want to know all of our stock positions, make sure to sign up for the Investment Club by clicking "HERE" (we have automatically applied a 40% off discount code for you for Mother's Day). If you are already an Investment Club member, click here to sign in and see our updated portfolios for this week.

World War 3 or Peace? These 4 Nuclear-Armed Countries Are Currently Deciding Our Future This Week! (Source)

Stocks mentioned: $GS, $QQQ, $GLD

This past week, a lot has happened around the world. India and Pakistan, two nuclear-armed countries, are in the midst of a serious war, while China and the United States meet in Switzerland to try to find a resolution for their trade deal fiasco. These 4 nuclear-armed countries will more than likely have heavy impacts on the stock market so let's dive in and cover what is happening. India and Pakistan have been relentlessly firing missles, and attacking each other this past week, but as of yesterday, they have agreed to a full and immediate cease-fire. These negotiations for a cease-fire were led by the United States with the aim of de-escalating tensions after a deadly April 22 terrorist attack in Kashmir. President Trump announced the cease-fire on Truth Social, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirming that he and Vice President J.D. Vance had been directly involved in the talks with top officials from both countries. While Pakistan publicly thanked the U.S. for its role in the agreement, India’s official statement emphasized that the cease-fire was a bilateral decision. Despite the agreement, explosions were reported in Indian-administered Kashmir just hours after the cease-fire deal. Indian officials accused Pakistan of violating the cease-fire terms. We will continue to keep Investment Club members updated, so make sure to have your notifications turned on in the "Announcement Channel".

In other news, China and the United States met yesterday in Switzerland to carry out trade talks related to tariffs. These high-level trade talks between the U.S. and China are being led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, of the U.S., and Vice Premier He Lifeng, of China, marking a potential thaw in the tariff-driven trade war. The U.S. currently imposes tariffs of at least 145% on most Chinese imports, while China has tariffs of at least 125% on most U.S. goods, causing a steep decline in trade and pressuring inflation, with Goldman Sachs (GS) projecting inflation to double to 4% by year-end. Trump did suggest we could reduce tariffs to 80%, though Bessent cautioned that a major deal is unlikely from these early discussions. The good news is China and the U.S. are now talking to each other, where just a couple weeks ago they were refusing to communicate with one another. This may not seem major, but any progress on trade with China is huge for the stock market. These talks and potential lowering of tariffs, even to 80%, mark initial negotitation improvements, that can eventually lead to the removal of most, if not all, of the tariffs imposed.
In a surprising twist of events, earlier today, China and the United States both confirmed a potential trade deal that will be mutually beneficial. Since this news was just released, we don't have all the details yet, such as how close the deal is to becoming finalized as well as the specific details for trade/tariff percentages. More details should be announced over the coming days, but this is extremely positive news for the stock market. We continue to like big tech here, Nasdaq (QQQ), but if we grow more negative on the stock market, we could start to favor Gold (GLD) again BUT as Donald Trump said earlier this week to the media, "You better go out and buy stock now," and "Let me tell you, this country will be like a rocket ship that goes straight up." With the way things are going, it looks like this week there will be a lot of green in the markets.

Is This Unknown Stock A Potential Gold Mine?! (Source)

Stocks mentioned: $NBIS, $SHOP, $AMZN

It's very rare to find hidden gems in the stock market before Wall Street does, but we may have just found one! This stock in particular, we believe, has a lot of upside potential, BUT it is a high-risk speculative name as it only has a $7 billion market cap. The stock we are talking about is Nebius Group (NBIS), a tech company that provides cloud infrastructure and AI services to businesses around the world. NBIS owns stakes in multiple companies related to tech, AI, autonomous vehicles, and even robotics. Shares of NBIS were up over 10% on Wednesday, following news of a major investment into its AI data subsidiary, Toloka. Toloka is an Amsterdam-based AI data company that specializes in large language models and AI safety. Nebius owns a signficiant economic stake in Toloka, so if Toloka does well, then Nebius naturally does well. The shocking part, that most people don't realize, is that they work with major tech firms like Amazon, Microsoft, and Anthropic. The funding round that sparked this 10% move on Wednesday was led by Jeff Bezos, of Amazon (AMZN), and his investment firm, Bezos Expeditions. It was also supported by Shopify (SHOP) CTO Mikhail Parakhin, who will become Toloka’s executive chairman. Toloka, already working with major players like Amazon, Anthropic, and Microsoft, is positioning itself as a leader in AI development.

This wasn't the only bullish news for NBIS this past week. On Friday, after the close, one of NBIS's subsidiaries called "Clickhouse" was able to raise capital at a $6 billion valuation. Keep in mind this is just one subsidiary of NBIS being valued at $6 billion, while NBIS itself is roughly valued at $7 billion, which doesn't factor in their other AI, tech, autonomous driving, and robotics subsidiaries. It's not just us at CEO Watchlist that is impressed by this news released Friday; the markets clearly liked it as well because NBIS stock was up over 8% in the after-hours. Currently, we own a small stake in NBIS as we are impressed by its potential, but we want to reiterate we do believe this is a high-risk speculative play. We will continue to track this stock. All updates and any changes we make to our portfolios will be posted within the Investment Club under our portfolio trackers, which can be found by clicking HERE for our active Club Members.

INSIDER TRADES FROM THE WEEK:

1. KKR & Co. (KKR) - Robert Scully, Director, bought ~$1,500,000 worth of KKR & Co. stock on May 6, 2025, but it was reported to the public on May 8, 2025. (Source)

2. Hearland Express (HTLD) - Ann S. Gerdin, wife of the CEO, bought ~$3,000,000 of Heartland Express stock for their trust on May 6, 2025 but it was most recently reported to the public on May 8, 2025. (Source)

3. Church & Dwight (CHD) - Michael Read, EVP, bought ~$276,000 worth of Church & Dwight stock on May 9, 2025, and it was reported to the public that same day. (Source)