BY Mark Sebastian
October 26th, 2025
It’s the day before our State of the Market Ticker Highlight show.
That’s when the crew gets together to narrow eight stock picks down to the ultimate option to trade.
You can see the track record by tapping this link.
It’s good.
We’ve already covered six stocks to love, and six to hate:
It’s time for Mark to give us his thoughts on the six picks and throw in two of his own.
One is a company that invented AI, but isn’t anywhere in the AI conversation.
The other just broke past a trillion dollar market cap but may have a tough time growing moving forward.
See what he says below…
The Stocks to Love
Andrew’s love affair with Apache (APA) caught my attention because of the recent Russian oil sanctions. Oil is already moving higher in response.
Also, it’s interesting timing for APA with Chevron and Exxon both reporting earnings Friday. That could be a real catalyst to push shares higher.
I think oil has bottomed. I like Andrew’s pick.
Licia is enamored with the QQQs (QQQ), but an upside move isn’t straightforward.
Five of the top seven names report earnings this week, so I’d probably stay away until we see what they say – though they’ll probably rip higher anyway.
I see where her head is when I look at the chart, but earnings season always seems to mess most plans.
Han’s choice of Tesla (TSLA) is solid. Tesla already reported earnings and revenue are growing again. Elon’s back in focus, and I like the long-term potential in its robotics division.
Not overly excited in the short-term, but it’s definitely a solid long-term play.
What drives me crazy: IBM (IBM).
It literally invented AI, yet everyone ignores them in the AI discussions. It’s embarrassing – it had Watson beat Ken Jennings in a game of Jeopardy 17 years ago, and yet IBM’s an afterthought.
Yet, it had a solid 3rd quarter earnings on the back of growing cloud and, you guessed it, AI demand.
IBM is finally getting a little recognition and is worth going long stock or buying LEAPs on.
The Stocks to Hate
Licia thinks Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) isn’t going anywhere. And I agree. Even in a rally like we’ve seen, boring stocks fall behind. While it is undervalued, over the long-term this stock
underperforms the S&P. There’s no reason to acquire it. There are better names out there.
And as Licia pointed out, the stock is hitting a resistance point that makes it solid to short or play a put on.
Andrew thinks Bloom Energy (BE) is cooked. And while it has had a nice run, there are better solar plays out there.
While overvalued, the reality is that energy stocks are getting bid as AI electricity demand continues to outpace the infrastructure in place. I’m hesitant to bet against Bloom, but think the basic premise Andrew has is right on.
It’s overvalued and there are better ways to play solar.
Han’s choice of Oklo (OKLO) as one to hate is wise.
Nuclear got way overdone after being so strong. OKLO is struggling to make revenues and relies on a process (getting permits from federal, state and local governments) that takes a long time to bear any fruit.
If a big market dip hits, companies like Oklo take the biggest hit.
When thinking of what stock I hate, I can’t help but think about tech.
NVIDIA looks like it’s heading to 200 bucks.
Intel reported solid earnings and AMD did too – but everyone’s starting to partner up with Intel .
With Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) building in the U.S. and the recent Intel partnerships, I’m wondering if Intel is becoming a real threat to Taiwan Semi.
TSM just hit a trillion dollar market cap, and I’m thinking it might be due for a breather.
I’d bet against Taiwan Semiconductor.
The big decision happens Monday at 10:00 a.m.
Click on the blue to get a reminder Monday morning to get it as soon as it goes live..
Take care,
Charles Delvalle
Managing Editor
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