These "Bear-Market Buys"Are Already Winning

Maybe it was my training as a reporter — which conditioned me to be skeptical and think critically …

Maybe it was my good fortune to have a top value-investing devotee — an experienced investor with Legg Mason take me on as a combination client and student right after I bought my first stock.

Maybe it was my subsequent connection with still another money manager — a Smith Barney advisor who ended up as my partner and co-author in our best-selling book Contrarian Investing.

Heck, maybe it was the stock market crash of 1987 — a single-day loss of 22.6% that still stands as an all-time record — which triggered my interest in investing in the first place (and which prompted my first stock purchase).

The reality is that I’m a dyed-in-the-wool Contrarian Investor.

I feel calm during widespread panic. I see brightness during the darkest of storms. I see opportunity where others see threats.

Like the $6.6 trillion, two-day wipeout from earlier this month — the worst two-trading day loss in stock-market history.

Days after — as I told you here — I bought stocks.

I wanted to circle back with a follow-up story.

I want to illustrate the power of what I did … to underscore the reasoning behind our “Accumulate” strategy.

And I’m doing this for a reason: I want to prepare you — to help you “get your mind right” — in case the ongoing geopolitical, financial and economic chaos we’re seeing right now deals us another market blow.

Or — and this is entirely possible — in case this messy whipsawing leads to a U.S. recession.

If that happens … you need to “flip the script” … to think opportunistically … and play the long game.

That’s what Wealth Builders like us do …

Let me show you what I did … and the surprising benefits my against-the-current moves have already delivered.

BEAR-MARKET “BUY” LIST

As I told you folks in my April 9 report, I bought stocks for myself — and for my son Joey.

Here’s what I snapped up — and why.

For Joey — who already owns shares of companies like Netflix Inc. $NFLX ( ▼ 0.24% ), Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.B), Apple Inc. $AAPL ( ▼ 1.38% ), Microsoft Inc. $MSFT ( ▼ 0.82% ) and more — we talked it over and decided to buy:

• Formula One Group Inc. $FWONK ( ▼ 0.73% ): It’s a hot global brand and is about to get hotter: In late June, the Brad Pitt-starring F1 hits theaters. Joey loves auto racing — both NASCAR and Formula One — and the opportunity to be an “owner” was too cool to pass up, especially at bargain prices. Joey builds models of F1 race cars, sets his alarm to watch overseas races during the overnight hours and binge-watched the hit Netflix series — linking two of his stocks.

• Amazon.com Inc. $AMZN ( ▼ 0.54% ): It’s everywhere. The Patalon family is as “Prime-addicted” as any American household. Over the next five years, sales are projected to grow at a 12% clip and profits at 17%, meaning Amazon’s bottom line would double in a bit more than four years. Since stock prices tend to follow earnings, that means Amazon’s shares could double, too. The stock’s down 30%. This will be a good one for my son.

• Zoetis Inc. $ZTS ( ▼ 2.66% ): Chase, our Border Collie, spends a lot of happy nights curled up on Joey’s bed — and escapes there during stormy days while my son is at school. We love our pets —a dog, a cat and a bunny rabbit. And we’re proactive when they’re ill. And Zoetis — our “Pet Biotech” stock — is an innovator: Its monoclonal antibody drugs are breakthroughs. And we’ve used Zoetis medicines to treat each of them. The stock is down 28% from its high.

• Nu Holdings $NU ( ▼ 0.83% ): This Brazil-based fintech is a play on my son’s Latin American heritage. Latin America is still massively “underbanked,” and its Nubank operating unit is finding ways to change that. A recent “vertical credit card” has become a fashion item. And the company has inked some interesting partnerships. Over the next five years, sales are projected to grow at an average annual clip of 25%, while profits will surge an-even faster 30%. At that rate, this stock could double in less than three years. Even if it takes twice that long, I’m fine with that.

• Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL ( ▼ 0.59% ): I’ve talked about this one a lot. It’s undervalued vis a vis its peers, just announced a big acquisition, has a powerful cloud-storage business, is a player in quantum computing and is getting positive feedback on its Gemini 2.0 AI model. The stock is down 30% from its peak. Before the current ugliness, the consensus target was $225 — 55% higher than its bashed-down price right now.

For myself, I bought:

• Eli Lilly & Co. $LLY ( ▲ 0.9% ):  I’ve covered biotech for a hefty slice of my professional career — as a nationally known business reporter and as an analyst, stock-picker and financial columnist. So I know the power of “The Blockbuster” drug. Lilly’s “Less-Is-More” biotech strategy — for its market-leading weight-loss drugs and more — positions it for a decade of growth. With the stock down 26% from its 52-week high, I like where I’m starting from.

• Nu Holdings: I grabbed this for myself for the same reasons I snagged it for Joey.

• MercadoLibre Inc. $MELI ( ▲ 0.13% ): It’s a stock I’ve followed for a decade — having recommended MercadoLibre shares to my other newsletter subscribers when the stock was trading at a tenth of its current price. If you combined Amazon with Paypal Inc. $PYPL ( ▼ 5.32% ) and Meta Inc. $META ( ▼ 1.51% ) and Alphabet — and you planted it in Latin America — you’d have MercadoLibre. That region is underserved by e-commerce — and it’s underbanked — which gives this company a sturdy long-term allure.

• Salesforce Inc. $CRM ( ▼ 3.19% ): So-called “AI Agents” are part of our future. And Salesforce is a leader in bringing those “agents” to businesses. The company’s Agentforce AI agent helps companies with scheduling, shipping, customer service and troubleshooting. The shares are down by a third. Earnings could double in less than five years.

• Hallador Energy Inc. $HNRG ( ▲ 0.12% ): I like what this “utility-in-the-making” is doing. I told folks to snag it when it dipped to $6 last year. It’s at $11 now, which still is down from its $14 peak last year. And The Coal Trader’s Joe Aldina put a “Buy” on the stock late last year, saying $16 is a reasonable initial target. Longer term, the upside could be double that — so call it a triple from here. I like the story. So I’ll tuck this one away for a few years as the company fulfills its new Prime Directive.

• And one other “special-situation” stock that’s part of our “Super 10” portfolio.

We’re big believers that if you “find the best storylines, you’ll find the best stocks.” And, if you look carefully, you’ll see that most of these stocks connect with storylines that we’re following here at Stock Picker’s Corner:

• Blockbuster Biotechs.

• The AI Era.

• And Special Situations.

I did this for both of us with an eye toward big gains over the next three, five or seven years — or longer.

But I was “gifted” some early gains. Take a look:

Stock (Ticker) April 8 Close (Buy Price) Friday Close. (*) Pct Gain (Loss)

$HNRG ( ▲ 0.12% ) $11.11 $14.91 34%

$GOOG ( ▼ 0.62% ) $144 $161.96. 12.5%

$LLY ( ▲ 0.9% ) $726. $887. 22%

$AMZN ( ▼ 0.54% ) $171 $189 10.5%

$MELI ( ▲ 0.13% ) $1826 $2230 22%

$NU ( ▼ 0.83% ) $9.97 $12.01 20.5%

$ZTS ( ▼ 2.66% ) $144 $153.50 6.7%

$FWONK ( ▼ 0.73% ) $79.34 $87.53 10.3%.

$CRM ( ▼ 3.19% ) $243.99 $270. 10.6%

(*) Includes after-hours action

(I also should note: Hallador is a stock I put on a “Pullback Watch List” last summer – and then told folks to consider grabbing it at $5.96 a share. Folks who did that would be sitting on a gain of 150%.)

I’ll be following up with a report on “recession investing” in the near future … to help you further prepare for that possibility.

And we’re working on some other fascinating concepts for you.

Until then;