2 Stocks to Hold for the Next 5 Years

Motley Fool contributors Jason Hall and Tyler Crowe recommend holding SoFi Technologies (NASDAQ: SOFI) and Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE: EPD) for at least five years, based on a video using Jan. 28, 2026 stock prices published Jan. 30, 2026. Disclosures state Hall holds positions in both companies and has short December 2026 $40 covered calls on SOFI, and The Motley Fool formally recommends EPD; the piece offers opinion-based, long-term endorsement without presenting company revenue or earnings figures.

Analysis

Market structure: EPD (midstream MLP) is a direct beneficiary of steady crude/NGL flows and fee-based throughput; winners include integrated producers and petrochemical customers that rely on take-or-pay capacity, losers are spot-exposed oil services and tanker arbitrageurs. SOFI benefits from low-cost deposit funding and scale in lending/payments; traditional regional banks and high-cost consumer lenders face pricing pressure if SoFi sustains >10% YoY deposit growth. Cross-asset: stronger EPD cash yields tend to compress credit spreads and act as a bond proxy (supporting long-duration equity-to-credit trades); SOFI volatility lifts single-name equity IV and can widen regional bank CDS if consumer credit weakens.

Risk assessment: Tail risks include a CFPB/SEC regulatory shock to fintech product mix (probability 10–20% over 12–24 months) that could force product delistings or higher capital requirements for SOFI, and a 30–40% oil-demand shock from a global slowdown that would cut EPD volumes materially. Immediate (days) risk is headline-driven IV spikes; short-term (months) risk centers on quarterly loan-loss trends and distribution coverage metrics; long-term (years) risk is secular competition/tech disruption and energy transition policies. Hidden dependencies: SOFI’s profitability hinges on securitization markets and wholesale funding access; EPD depends on producer capex and LNG export ramps — monitor coverage ratios and FCF-to-distribution >1.2 as a health metric.

Trade implications: Direct play — overweight EPD as a 3–5% portfolio position bought in 2 tranches over 30–60 days, scale in on any >10% pullback; target risk-adjusted yield entry when implied distribution yield ≥6.5% and coverage ratio >1.2. For SOFI take a tactical 1–2% position via a 12–18 month call spread (buy LEAP, sell 1.5–2.0x OTM call) to cap cost; avoid long calls if IV >60% or if securitization spreads widen >200bp. Pair trade — long EPD / short regional bank ETF (KRE) sized to equal dollar exposure for 6–12 months to hedge cyclical credit risk; size at 1–2% gross each.

Contrarian angles: The market underestimates EPD’s optionality from incremental fee-based contracts (LNG, fractionation) which could add 5–10% to distributable cash over 24–36 months if volumes normalize; conversely SOFI may be overvalued if net charge-off rates increase by +200–300bp in a recession. Historical parallel: midstream outperformance after 2016 restructuring shows distributions can re-rate higher once coverage stabilizes — watch that pattern. Unintended consequence: broad investor chase into fintech can tighten funding spreads short-term but amplify downside on regulatory headlines; set stop-losses and monitor two data triggers (SOFI net charge-offs and EPD coverage ratio) before increasing exposure.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Establish a 3–5% portfolio allocation to EPD over 30–60 days in two equal tranches; add a second tranche only if unit price falls >10% or distributable cash coverage stays >1.2x; set tactical stop-loss/trim if coverage ratio falls below 1.0 or management signals distribution change.
• Initiate a 1–2% directional position in SOFI using a 12–18 month call spread (buy LEAP, sell 1.5–2.0x OTM call) to limit cash outlay; only execute if SOFI implied volatility <60% and securitization spreads (benchmark ABS spread) are stable within +200bp of current levels.