Stock Market Projections in Wake of a Sleepy President

Welcome to the most valuable article from the Minnesota Republic. Some people are trying to make friends, I’m just trying to make some money. We can all agree these past few weeks for the stock market have been hectic. We are starting to see a recovery due to hopes of a coronavirus vaccine. Airlines are making a comeback as well as other entertainment and travel stocks that were hit hard by the pandemic. I’m still not interested in these. Until a vaccine gets approved by the FDA these guys still have a long way to go. As coronavirus cases go up, the hope for these stocks goes down. That being said, a good spec play may be to buy these stocks while they are down if you are planning to hold on for over a year ($DAL, $CCL, $WYNN). It’s hard to believe this pandemic will continue through all of 2021 so spec plays like this are something to be watching, granted I am not a doctor and have little knowledge about the state of this pandemic. 

My stock of the week is recently IPO’d Palantir Technologies ($PLTR). Founded in 2003 by tech guru Alexander Karp, who is referred to by some as ‘the next Elon Musk’. Currently trading at 17.85 with a market cap of 33.51 billion as of market close 11/17. Palantir’s stock has seen an 80% growth in the past month since their IPO. This company deals with cybersecurity and surveillance for many government agencies around the world as well as other companies such as Morgan Stanley, Fiat Chrysler, and Airbus. Their largest clients are the FBI, CIA, and ICE who use Palantir’s platforms to inspect and monitor potential terrorists and other threats to the United States. Although their first earnings report fell short of expectations, I still see this company being worth over 100 billion by the end of 2021 given their growing clientele and revenue streams growing quarter after quarter. If you haven’t bought Palantir yet, you’re missing out on what may be the next big tech stock. 

As many of you know by now, electric vehicle (EV) companies are taking over the market. The EV sector is currently led by Tesla ($TSLA), but there are many small players who are starting to intrude on this market. A few companies I am watching are NIO, Xpeng, Ayro, and Fisker. A big Chinese EV startup, NIO ($NIO), has been seeing a lot of hype lately as their funding continues to grow and their CEO’s claims hold true. Aside from the vehicle makers themselves are the charging companies that will fuel these vehicles in the future. 

Blink Charging ($BLNK) is a company I believe will take over the EV charging sector due to its innovative strategy to roll out numerous charging stations in the near future. I was also impressed by their earnings from the past quarter as their revenue grew 18%. Over the past nine months, Blink’s revenue has grown 84%, and their product sales have grown 74% year over year. Even though these are very impressive numbers, I believe we haven’t even seen the best from Blink. If Blink continues this growth (which they will) they are en route to being one of the top EV charging companies in the states. 

It may be time to move away from the natural resource industry, particularly oil and gas companies. Partly due to the election results, I believe these guys will be ruled out by the new current administration. It’s hard to see many of them sticking through the next 4 years as Biden plans to make a push for a greener America. There will be some short term growth for energy holding companies, but don’t let this fool you. Their downfall is just around the corner. Expect the dip to occur in quarter one of 2021, possibly holding off till quarter two.

As of a few weeks ago, I was planning on moving away from household consumer stocks and into the restaurant sector since we started to see a little bit of the world we all remember. But as corona lockdowns make a comeback, restaurants will take another hit and household companies will see some growth. A solid spec play would be to buy into restaurants after they dip. If you choose to buy the dip, plan on holding these until mid to late 2021. After all, this virus has to end at some point.