MW Why Meta is one of the most compelling tech stocks right now

By Philip van Doorn

Also: How investors might be overlooking recession warnings, a deeper look at Boeing and several stock screens

Laila Maidan made the investment case for Meta Platforms Inc. in two articles this week.

She shared three reasons investors should be bullish on Meta's stock and then dug into a possible unlocking of value for Meta's shareholders if a federal antitrust case forces the Facebook holding company to divest major business units.

More: Will Meta have to give up Instagram?

Here's a bit more information for investors - forward price-to-earnings ratios for the largest 10 stocks in the S&P 500 SPX:

   Company                      Ticker    Forward P/E  Market cap ($bil) 
   Apple Inc.                   AAPL             25.7             $2,959 
   Microsoft Corp.              MSFT             25.3             $2,734 
   Nvidia Corp.                 NVDA             21.6             $2,476 
   Amazon.com Inc.              AMZN             26.0             $1,832 
   Alphabet Inc. Class A        GOOGL            16.5             $1,725 
   Meta Platforms Inc. Class A  META             19.4             $1,098 
   Broadcom Inc.                AVGO             23.8               $804 
   Eli Lilly and Co.            LLY              33.7               $796 
   Tesla Inc.                   TSLA             83.3               $776 
   Walmart Inc.                 WMT              34.9               $747 
                                                         Source: FactSet 

These are Thursday's closing prices divided by consensus earnings estimates for the next 12 months among analysts polled by FactSet. By comparison, the full S&P 500 trades at a weighted forward P/E of 19.6.

Meta $(META)$ has the second-lowest forward P/E among the largest 10 components of the S&P 500. Only Alphabet Inc. $(GOOGL)$ trades lower. The Google holding company faces its own antitrust challenges, but its shareholders may not have much to worry about.

More tech stocks

The S&P 500 has declined 10.2% this year, while the tech-weighted Nasdaq Composite Index $(COMP)$ has dropped 15.7%. For bargain shoppers, Michael Brush listed seven tech stocks to consider buying now, while addressing investors' concerns about each of the companies.

More stock picks and screens:

-- Wall Street's 12 favorite stocks could soar as much as 54% over the next year, analysts say

-- Here's where top investment newsletters are finding the most undervalued stocks

-- 7 stock picks from a global fund manager as markets 'enforce discipline' on Trump

-- Were you interested in semiconductor stocks three months ago? Check them out now.

An economic warning

Financial markets have settled down a bit from the initial turmoil that followed President Donald Trump's slew of "liberation day" tariff announcements on April 2. But Joseph Adinolfi looked at the potential consequences of fluid trade policies that could cause a recession and further declines in the stock market.

Another warning, especially if you are new to investing

If you have not been investing for very long, you might have started off with great success during the bull market of 2023 and 2024. That might have led to a high level of confidence in your ability to select investments or to make short-term trades. And this year, you might have been tempted to try to time the stock market by avoiding turmoil and jumping back in after the dust has settled.

Gordon Gottsegen dug into the details to explain why market timing typically leads to lower investment returns.

Another market angle: Are small-cap stocks cheaper than large caps? Yes - if you ignore this one key fact.

Social Security timing and other decisions

After reaching eligibility at age 62, the longer you wait to begin receiving Social Security payments, the higher the monthly payouts will be. Take a look at your Social Security Statement and you will see the annual payouts increasing significantly for every year you wait until the benefits max out at age 70.

But your decision on when to claim Social Security benefits might be complicated. In the Help Me Retire column, Alessandra Malito answered questions from a reader who was originally planning to wait until he turned 70 to claim Social Security, but is now 66 - and his wife has died. Will claiming survivor benefits now affect his own Social Security payments later?

Social Security coverage:

-- Updated - Social Security rule reversals, office closures, cost cuts: Here's what's happening now

-- Why Schumer is calling on Trump to fire Social Security 'hatchet man' Leland Dudek

Don't wait until it is too late

Beth Pinsker writes the Fix My Portfolio column. She is a financial planner, meaning she is familiar with people's reluctance to set up estate plans or even appoint healthcare surrogates as they age. Here are the three main excuses for not setting up an estate plan and why all of them are wrong.

The Moneyist looks into a good problem to have

Quentin Fottrell - the Moneyist - often tackles painful conflicts over money between family members. This week, he addressed a bit of good news: A man has inherited $180,000, but he and his wife disagree over whether to invest the money or use it to reduce mortgage debt.

More from the Moneyist:

-- 'My house and car are paid off': I have $1 million in stocks - so where do I invest $100,000?

-- My late uncle's house is in foreclosure. A woman claims to be his daughter and my cousin is a squatter. What can we do?

Gold has been golden - what's next?

Here's a chart showing price movement for continuous front-month gold (GC00) contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange for the past two years through Thursday:

That's an incredible run for gold prices. But this is a trade that can require patience, as you see on the 15-year chart:

So what's next for Gold? This week in the Commodities Corner column, Myra P. Saefong shares information from State Street Global Advisors on five factors that might continue to push gold prices higher.

More from the Commodities Corner: Why it's nearly impossible for America to meet its rare-earth needs after China's export restrictions

Watch out for a return of predatory mortgage lending

The Trump administration has been working to pretty much shut down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was created under the Dodd-Frank banking reform legislation in 2010. One of the CFPB's roles has been to strengthen and standardize required disclosures to mortgage-loan applicants, in response to lending practices that helped lead to the financial crisis in 2008.

Aarthi Swaminathan detailed three types of aggressive mortgage-lending tactics that gave rise to such high foreclosure rates during the financial crisis and might make a comeback under reduced regulatory supervision.

More housing coverage:

-- Home prices are falling in these cities, as high mortgage rates weigh on buyers

-- Builders hit the brakes on home construction as tariffs and weak demand weigh on sales

MarketWatch called attention to Coinbase's accounting before regulators caught on

Back in July, Ciara Linnane reported on a comment letter sent by the Securities and Exchange Commission to Marathon Digital, asking the company not to use "individually tailored non-GAAP measures" in its financial reporting. At that time, she wrote that the odds had increased that Coinbase Global Inc. $(COIN)$ would receive a similar request.

This week, the SEC disclosed it had indeed sent a similar letter to Coinbase in October. Here are the details - this type of reporting rule can be important to investors in various industries.

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-Philip van Doorn

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April 18, 2025 11:49 ET (15:49 GMT)

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