What are Jim Lebenthal's latest trade ideas?

The market is telling investors to get in, as it is near all-time highs and stocks that should be doing poorly are performing well, indicating underlying strength and a bullish outlook.

SPY HIGH CNBC Apr 14, 18:16

Jim Lebenthal

Investment Committee Member

▶ YouTube How to navigate the market rebound

Delta's fundamentals justify holding.

Delta Airlines has a strong balance sheet and positive earnings report, suggesting that macro concerns may be overstated, making it a worthwhile holding.

DAL HIGH CNBC Apr 14, 18:16

Jim Lebenthal

Investment Committee Member

▶ YouTube How to trade the market amid the Iran war and earnings season

Buy BlackRock on market confidence.

Added meaningfully to BlackRock because he feels good about the market and doesn't think things are worrisome, indicating confidence in further gains.

BLK HIGH CNBC Apr 13, 18:11

Jim Lebenthal

Investment Committee Member

▶ YouTube Final Trades: Cisco, Digital Realty and Ciena

Farmer stated "CISCO SYSTEMS CONTINUES TO OUTPERFORM." This indicates that Cisco has demonstrated strong performance and is expected to sustain this trend. LONG due to the expectation of continued outperformance based on historical strength. A reversal in performance drivers or deterioration in market conditions for networking equipment.

CSCO CNBC Apr 02, 19:26

Jim Lebenthal

Investment Committee Member

▶ YouTube Stocks rise and oil falls on cautious optimism for a resolution to the Iran War

The speaker explicitly stated, "I added to equities on Monday. I bought EBAY," while describing himself as "optimistic" but with "caution" due to ongoing geopolitical risks. The purchase was made as a tactical equity addition during a period of market optimism fueled by hopes for a geopolitical resolution, which was lowering oil and boosting stocks. The explicit action of buying the stock, coupled with the stated optimism, indicates a LONG view as a tactical setup within a cautious overall stance. The "caution" is rooted in the potential for the conflict to escalate ("We're not through this yet"), which could reverse the optimistic price action in equities.

EBAY CNBC Mar 25, 18:31

Jim Lebenthal

Investment Committee Member

▶ YouTube Stocks surge on reported Iran talks: How to trade it

The speaker bought eBay as a way to play the discretionary consumer sector, believing it benefits from both luxury and secondhand/refurbished goods markets. He highlighted collectibles as a major, underappreciated growth channel and noted the stock trades cheaply (low teens forward P/E), has very little debt, good free cash flow, and aggressively shrinks its share count. If geopolitical tensions ease and oil/gasoline prices decline, discretionary consumer spending should recover. eBay's platform is uniquely positioned to capture spending across the economic spectrum (K-shaped recovery). LONG because it is a growing company at an attractive valuation with multiple catalysts (broad discretionary recovery, niche growth in collectibles, shareholder-friendly capital allocation). A failure to de-escalate in the Middle East, keeping energy prices high and crushing discretionary spending.

EBAY CNBC Mar 23, 17:06

Jim Lebenthal

Investment Committee Member

▶ YouTube Are We in a Bear Market?

Lebenthal calls Citigroup the "easy button," citing its valuation (trades at book value), profitability improvements, a ~2.5% dividend yield, and the pending Banamex Mexico IPO/spin-off as the "final piece of the puzzle." CEO Jane Fraser's restructuring is bearing fruit, and the removal of the Banamex overhang will simplify the story. The stock's discount to book value offers a margin of safety. A straightforward value play with multiple near-term catalysts (profitability, divestiture) that should lead to a re-rating. A broader economic slowdown impacting credit quality could offset operational improvements.

C The Compound News Mar 20, 13:01

Jim Lebenthal

Investment Committee Member

▶ YouTube Are We in a Bear Market?

Lebenthal describes Oracle as a "coiled spring" for AI believers, down ~50% from highs. He acknowledges the market doubts OpenAI can pay its large contract with Oracle but argues "they just have to be good for some of it." OpenAI's recent massive fundraising ($110B) and incoming customer contracts provide credibility that at least partial payment will flow through to Oracle's earnings, which the market is not pricing in. The extreme sell-off on OpenAI solvency fears is overdone, creating a high-risk/high-reward long opportunity if AI spending remains robust. OpenAI faces financial or operational difficulties, jeopardizing its contract payments to Oracle.

ORCL The Compound News Mar 20, 13:01

Jim Lebenthal

Investment Committee Member

▶ YouTube Are We in a Bear Market?

Lebenthal states Microsoft is a "great company" and at ~22x forward earnings with >20% growth (PEG <1), it's a "steal." He explicitly says, "this is a price that I think two years from now I'm going to look back and say man that was a steal" and that he is loading up. The recent downdraft is attributed to general market selling (QQQ/SPY outflows), not company-specific news. Its RSI is at multi-year lows (~36), indicating extreme technical weakness. The combination of a low valuation metric (PEG) for a dominant, profitable franchise in AI (Azure, OpenAI) and a washed-out technical setup presents a high-conviction long opportunity. The stock could become more oversold (RSI 25) if market sentiment on tech/AI spending worsens further.

MSFT The Compound News Mar 20, 13:01

Jim Lebenthal

Investment Committee Member

▶ YouTube Trading strategies as volatility rises amid the war in Iran and rising oil

It comes down to the Straits of Hormuz. It really is that simple... When the market feels that the Straits of Hormuz are open, it is likely that the markets will go much higher. The entire equity market's near-term trajectory is inversely correlated to oil prices, which are artificially inflated by the geopolitical blockade. Monitoring oil proxies is the most direct way to front-run the eventual market relief rally or prepare for further stagflationary downside. WATCH. Use oil as the primary leading indicator for broader equity exposure. If oil breaks down, it signals a geopolitical resolution and a green light to buy equities. The conflict extends past March, embedding higher energy costs into corporate margins and triggering a prolonged stagflationary environment that hurts both equities and consumer demand.

USO CNBC Mar 13, 18:06

Jim Lebenthal

Investment Committee Member

▶ YouTube How the war is impacting the markets

"Retail sales have been good. Look at Costco. Look at Dick's look at Walmart." Despite fears of war and rising oil prices, underlying consumer spending remains robust. Strong economic data (Atlanta Fed GDP tracker at 2.7%) and high productivity mean these specific large-cap retailers will continue to capture consumer dollars and defend their earnings against macro volatility. LONG because domestic consumer staples and dominant retailers offer a safe haven with proven fundamental strength during geopolitical uncertainty. If oil prices remain elevated for months, it will eventually cause demand destruction at the consumer level, hurting retail margins.

COST WMT DKS CNBC Mar 12, 20:07

Jim Lebenthal

Investment Committee Member

▶ YouTube Navigating the market as crude oil tops $90 per barrel

Lebenthal notes the market has had a rough week and traders are facing a weekend with active conflict zones. "It's hard to make big bets over the weekend... likely to look at the final hours of trading and say, maybe it's time to take a little risk off." Uncertainty regarding the Strait of Hormuz and potential war escalation creates a "Friday risk-off" dynamic. Investors are unwilling to hold exposure over a 2-3 day period where "anything can happen." Avoid entering new long positions until geopolitical clarity improves (specifically watching tanker flows). Positive news over the weekend sparks a relief rally on Monday.

SPY CNBC Mar 06, 19:17

Jim Lebenthal

Investment Committee Member