CEO Watchlist: Week In Review (5/17/26)

TOP NEWS AFFECTING THE STOCK MARKET THIS WEEK:

President Trump Just Bought A Bunch Of Tech Stocks ... Here's Our Top 5 Favorite Stocks He Bought (Source)

Stocks mentioned: $AAPL, $MSFT, $AXON, $CDNS, $SNPS, $AVGO, $JBL

This week, the U.S. Office of Government Ethics released President Donald Trump’s latest financial disclosure forms, revealing a massive flurry of stock market activity covering the first quarter of 2026. For people hearing this for the first time, the sheer scale of the trading, hundreds of millions of dollars deployed across a bunch of stocks, can be overwhelming. Predictably, the financial press fixated on the headline numbers and the obvious mega-cap tech names like Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT). But everyone knows about Apple and Microsoft. If we want to significantly beat the market, we need to look at names that aren't talked about as often. This is what led us to looking past the top headline news of what Trump bought, and dove a little bit deeper into the names that the media outlets aren't talking about.

We didn’t just skim the top of the filing, we dug deep into all the stocks Trump bought to analyze which names offered the best opportunity while minimizing risk. What we found was a fascinating alignment. We filtered for the companies where Trump placed his highest-conviction bets, AKA the ones he put the most money into, that also perfectly lined up with our core view of investing. When a portfolio of this size concentrates its heaviest bets into specific names, it signals undeniable conviction. Our thesis is simple: Trump is one of the most powerful people in the world so when he starts putting his own money into stocks, investors should pay attention. The office of the President has more access to information than any of us do, and they have the ability to act on that information.

That said, here are the top 5 conviction plays that bridge Trump's capital with our personal investment philosophy:

Axon Enterprise (AXON): The operating system for modern law enforcement, managing the sticky, recession-proof cloud databases built on essential public safety. This is the company that has a near monopoly on police bodycams, TASERs, and even has branched into cloud and drones! Also the nice thing is you're not buying it at 52 week highs as this name has been sold off extensively.
Cadence Design Systems (CDNS): The highly complex software used to design semiconductor chips; the ultimate pick-and-shovel play for AI. This stock is a duopoloy in the chip design market, which basically means they own a huge chunk of the market shares for this industry. This gives them pricing power, and when you compare them to the overall tech market, they have been consolidating, and we think they are poised for a breakout soon.
Synopsys (SNPS): The twin brother to Cadence, forming an indispensable duopoly architecting the entire semiconductor revolution. Not much else to add here, as the bull case on Synopsys is the same as Cadence.
Broadcom (AVGO): The massive networking highway system enabling thousands of computers in next-gen data centers to communicate at lightning speed. One of the leading chip companies in the world, that not only acts as a growth company, but also pays you a dividend to own it. If you want custom chips made, Broadcom is your "go-to", as they are a core supplier for Google's TPU chips.
Jabil (JBL): The behind-the-scenes muscle and advanced manufacturing construction crew physically building hardware for the world’s biggest brands. This name hasn't been as hyped up in the media, but is a "behind-the-scenes" winner for anyone who pays attention to the tech space. The stock's sitting at all time highs as they've taken advantage of the recent tech boom. This one is a bit more risky, but nobody can deny it's a phenomenal company.

The revelation of these multi-million dollar stock purchases by Trump isn’t just a political headline, it's a highly visible roadmap into where "big money" is betting on for the future. By stripping away the noise and focusing on where these massive investments overlap with a sound technological thesis, the signal becomes incredibly clear. Axon, Candence, Synopsys, Broadcom, and Jabil represent the foundational layers of our digital and physical future, security, silicon design, data networking, and advanced manufacturing. These aren't speculative bets, they are structural monopolies and essential infrastructure plays. The smart money has already moved aggressively into these names with high conviction, and for investors looking to position themselves on the right side of the next decade's economic shifts, the time to pay attention is right now.

Wall Street's Hot New Stock That Everybody Want To Own... (Source)

Stocks mentioned: $CBRS, $NVDA

The public markets just witnessed one of the most explosive tech debuts in recent history. Cerebras Systems (CBRS), a high-profile hardware pioneer in the artificial intelligence space, officially pulled off its Initial Public Offering (IPO) this week. For those that don't know, an IPO is simply the first time a private company rolls out the welcome mat to everyday investors, converting its private equity into shares that can be bought and sold on a public stock exchange like the Nasdaq. Think of it as a local, exclusive restaurant suddenly opening up franchises worldwide; anyone can now buy a seat at the table. For Cerebras, this wasn't just a routine listing; it was a moment that most tech companies dream of, but few get to experience. In this article, we're going to cover what Cerebras does, and why they're so much hype around them.

At the core of the excitement is what Cerebras actually builds and the unique competitive advantage AKA its "moat". Unlike conventional chipmakers that build small processors and stitch them together, Cerebras builds the Wafer-Scale Engine, an AI chip literally the size of a dinner plate. To use an analogy, if standard chips are like individual bricks being laid down to build a house, Cerebras manufactures the entire wall as a single, massive piece of solid concrete. This architectural breakthrough eliminates the slow, power-hungry bottlenecks that happen when data travels between thousands of smaller chips, making it incredibly efficient for running complex AI calculations. On the other hand, skeptics point out that manufacturing a giant chip is incredibly complex and costly, and if a single speck of dust ruins one part of the wafer, the financial loss is significantly higher than discarding a tiny, standard-sized processor.

The market, however, cared little about the manufacturing risks on debut day. The IPO was initially priced at $185 per share, which was already pushed well above its original expected range due to institutional demand. Yet, the moment the stock opened for public trading, it experienced an instantaneous, massive demand shock. Institutional buyers and retail investors scrambled into the name, causing the stock to skyrocket by nearly 110% out of the gate, hitting an intra-day peak of nearly $386 per share before cooling off slightly. This massive day-one "pop" was a classic display of basic economics: an immense wall of capital chasing a finite number of available shares, triggering an immediate upward price squeeze as investors fought to get a piece of the next big AI hardware narrative.

While the initial velocity of the move is breathtaking, chasing a stock that has practically doubled in a single afternoon can be a dangerous game. For patient capital, looking for dips in a name like this could present an incredibly attractive entry window. We like the fundamental story of Cerebras a lot, but dollar cost averaging may be the best strategy to stagger entries into this name, if you can handle the volatility. And there's only going to be more volatility ahead this week due to some major earnings, which could cause Cerebras' stock price to fluctuate up and down dramatically. Nvidia (NVDA) reports earnings this Wednesday evening (after the close), and that's going to have a major influence on the tech market overall, including Cerebras.

Ultimately, Cerebras has successfully captured the market's attention, proving that the appetite for AI infrastructure remains insatiable. By bypassing traditional chip boundaries with their wafer-scale technology, they have carved out a fascinating niche in a hyper-growth industry. The eye-popping jump from its $185 IPO price to a peak near $386 reflects an intense market demand, but savvy investors know that the best entries usually happen after the dust settles. With major chip sector earnings acting as a macro catalyst this week, we will be watching closely from the sidelines, ready to strike if a market pullback brings this high-flying AI contender down to a more fundamentally grounded valuation.

"Super Investor" Spotlight: Google (Source)

Stocks mentioned: $GOOG, $CME, $PL, $ASTS, $RVMD, $ARM, $FRSH, $PATH, $TEM, $PAYP, $GTLB

This week’s "Super Investor" Spotlight shifts to a corporate tech titan that quietly doubles as one of the most successful, market-crushing institutional investors on the planet: Alphabet (GOOG) aka Google. For those new to our Newsletter, a "Super Investor" is an elite capital allocator overseeing billions of dollars with a public, verifiable track record of outperformance. While retail investors look at hedge funds for inspiration, Google leverages its infinite balance sheet to make high-conviction strategic bets. Every quarter, they disclose their public equity portfolio via a mandatory 13F filing, revealing the exact stocks they believe are positioned to dominate the future.

If you think Wall Street’s top hedge funds are the only ones delivering massive returns, look at the data. Alphabet’s strategic investment portfolio has absolutely pulverized the broader market, locking in a staggering 132.7% return over the last three years compared to just 58.87% for the S&P 500, as you can see below:

Managing a hyper-focused multi-billion dollar public portfolio, Alphabet acts as the ultimate "Super Investor" by identifying and securing massive equity stakes in foundational infrastructure businesses long before the rest of the market catches up. Now obviously we want to look where they put the most capital, so without further ado, here is Alphabet's top 10 stock positions:

CME Group (CME) – 25.6%
Planet Labs (PL) – 24.5%
AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) – 18.5%
Revolution Medicines (RVMD) – 8.0%
ARM Holdings (ARM) – 7.4%
Freshworks (FRSH) – 3.2%
UI Path (PATH) – 1.9%
Tempus (TEM) – 1.8%
PayPay (PAYP) – 1.7%
GitLab (GTLB) – 1.5%

When looking at this portfolio, it's clear to see why Google is massively outperforming the overall market. Stocks like Planet Labs are up 959% just in the past year alone! And even ASTS is up over 200% in the past year. Needless to say, whatever Google touches turns to gold. Now the reason we bring up specifically Planet Labs and ASTS, is because they were the largest positions in the portfolio before this recent update. If you've been paying attention, there's clearly a new giant in their portfolio, and that stock is CME Group (CME). The reason CME is so interesting is that billionaire Larry Fink, founder and CEO of Blackrock, went on the air and made a bold claim that the next trillion dollar opportunity would be something called "compute futures". Within days of him saying this, CME announced that they were the first company in the world to offer compute derivatives. Then, shortly after, we find out that Google has a quarter of their entire portfolio in CME Group. So is all of this a coincidence? Probably not! That's why we think CME looks like an interesting stock to own here. As long as Alphabet's portfolio continues to comfortably double the performance of the S&P 500, we will keep a sharp eye on any new stock buys or sells they make, and report it to all of you first.

INSIDER STOCK TRADES FROM THE WEEK:

1. Republic Services (RSG) - Cascade Investment (Bill Gates' Family Office) bought over $100,000,000 worth of RSG at an average price of $201.40/share between May 11-13, 2026, and it was reported to the public on May 13, 2026. (Source)

2. Shift4 Payments (FOUR) - Jared Isaacman (10% owner) bought roughly $16,000,000 of FOUR at an average price of $41.04/share between May 11-12, 2026, but it wasn't reported until May 13, 2026. (Source)

3. Under Armour (UA) - Billionaire Prem Watsa (10% owner) bought roughly $6,000,000 of UA at an average price of $4.98/share between May 12-14, 2026, and it was reported to the public on May 14, 2026. (Source)

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