Update - October 10, 2023

The World Changes Again

October 7, 2023.

Add it to the long list of days that changed the world.

The attack by Hamas on Israel over the weekend has renewed tensions in the region, and with intensifying geopolitical tensions… come lots of questions.

Will Iran get drawn into the conflict? How about the U.S.? Could China take advantage of the situation and invade Taiwan?

We can only hope that peace can be won.

In the meantime, the market is responding as we’d expect: Volatility is rising… the price of oil is ticking up… and defense stocks are exploding.

It’s difficult to argue with a chart like that. While we can all agree that war is tragic, in the words of the decorated Maj. Gen. Smedley D. Butler, it’s also a racket.

But we’re in the business of making money… so let’s take a look at some good news in the portfolio.

Since Andy recommended them in the March issue of Manward Letter, our shares of CCC Intelligent Solutions (CCCS) have seen a couple of strong surges in buying momentum.

That’s great to see. It’s a surefire signal that demand is strong for the stock.

Plus, private equity firm Bain Capital has recently expressed an interest in buying out the business. And it’s not the only one. There are several firms that have said they’re thinking about a potential takeover bid right now.

Our shares are up over 40%.

Meanwhile, Sun Life Financial (SLF) recently finished its buyout of Canadian virtual healthcare and wellness platform Dialogue Health Technologies.

Dialogue provides low-cost 24/7 telemedicine services to nearly 3 million people and 50,000 organizations worldwide. The acquisition was made based on the premise that Dialogue’s healthcare services naturally complement Sun Life’s financial services.

While Dialogue will continue to operate independently, the acquisition allows Sun Life to bring faster access to healthcare to its clients.

Finally, Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest is buying the dip on our latest recommendation – Recursion Pharmaceuticals (RXRX) – adding nearly 452,000 shares of Recursion to the firm’s Ark Genomic Revolution ETF (ARKG).

The roughly $3 million buy from Wood’s future-focused firm reinforces our conviction that Recursion’s shares are undervalued given the company’s immense long-term potential.

We’ll continue to keep a close eye out on the market – and the world – as things develop.