At first, a few bright bursts light up the night sky. A shower of sparks. A streak of color. A golden burst that crackles for a moment before fading back into the dark.

Then the pace picks up.

The bursts come faster. The colors get brighter. The crowd gets a little quieter because everyone can feel what’s coming next.

The grand finale.

That’s when the whole sky seems to explode at once – and everyone stops talking, looks up and watches.

NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) often plays that role during earnings season. That’s why I often refer to it as the grand finale.

That’s because NVIDIA is no longer just another semiconductor company. It has become one of the clearest gauges for the health of the artificial intelligence boom.

Investors aren’t just looking for a simple earnings beat. They want proof that AI chip demand is still strong, that data center spending is still climbing and that management still sees more growth ahead. And as an added bonus, any clues about where the AI boom is headed next are always nice, too.

NVIDIA reported after the closing bell yesterday, making it this week’s must-watch earnings event.

So, in today’s Market 360, we’ll take a closer look at what NVIDIA’s latest numbers tell us about the AI boom. I’ll also discuss why the biggest fireworks show may still be ahead – and what you can do to profit.

NVIDIA Lights Up Wall Street

NVIDIA did exactly what investors were hoping it would do: It delivered another record quarter.

For its first quarter in fiscal year 2027, NVIDIA achieved record revenue of $81.6 billion, up 85% year-over-year and above analysts’ estimates for $79.12 billion. The big driver was once again its data center business, which saw revenue jump 92% year-over-year to a record $75.2 billion.

Earnings were also impressive. First-quarter earnings surged 140% year-over-year to $1.87 per share. Analysts were looking for earnings of $1.77 per share, so NVIDIA posted a 5.6% earnings surprise.

But expectations for NVIDIA are sky-high. That helps explain why the stock’s initial reaction was muted, even after such strong results.

Looking ahead to the second quarter, NVIDIA expects revenue of about $91 billion. That would represent about 95% year-over-year growth. Importantly, that forecast does not include any revenue from China, where export restrictions have continued to weigh on sales.

NVIDIA Is Putting Its Money Where Its Mouth Is…

The company said it invested $18.6 billion in private companies and infrastructure funds during its fiscal first quarter.

That continues a much larger strategy.

Over the past few years, NVIDIA has used its cash to deepen ties across the AI ecosystem. That includes investments or strategic partnerships in companies like OpenAI, CoreWeave, Nebius, Intel Corporation (INTC), Corning, Inc. (GLW) and IREN Ltd. (IREN).

Now, the company has been criticized for making “circular” investments like this, but I don’t see it that way.

These types of investments are not out of the ordinary. In fact, they touch the key pressure points in the AI buildout – and it tells me NVIDIA is using its cash to strengthen the supply chain.

And to me, that does not look like a company preparing for AI demand to cool off, either.

It looks like a company making sure the next phase gets built with NVIDIA at the center of it.

The company also announced that it added $80 billion to its share-repurchase authorization and raised its quarterly dividend from $0.01 per share to $0.25 per share.

Now, some folks may look at a bigger dividend and a massive buyback and assume NVIDIA is running out of ideas.

I do not see it that way.

Investors made that mistake with Apple, Inc. (AAPL) back in 2012, when it announced its first dividend since the 1990s and authorized a $10 billion share-buyback program. Plenty of skeptics assumed the company’s best growth days were over.

They were wrong.

In NVIDIA’s case, this also looks more like a sign of strength.

Think about it this way…

The company is generating so much cash from the AI boom that it can do multiple things at once:

• Invest aggressively in its next-generation platforms
• Push into new markets like CPUs
• Make strategic investments into private companies
• And still return more capital to shareholders.

That is not what a company does when it is running out of room to grow.

That is what a company does when it is printing cash and still sees a massive opportunity ahead.

NVIDIA’s Next Phase

For example, the most important takeaway might have come from NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang. On the earnings call, Huang said demand has “gone parabolic,” adding that “Agentic AI has arrived.”

That’s a powerful statement. And it helps explain why NVIDIA’s results matter far beyond the company itself.

“Agentic AI” refers to AI systems that can do more than answer questions. These systems can reason, make plans, use tools and carry out multi-step tasks with less human input.

That is the shift investors need to understand.

The first phase of AI was about training models to generate text, images, code and research.

The next phase is about giving those models more independence – and putting them to work across science, energy, manufacturing, robotics, defense, health care and our everyday lives.

That is why Huang’s comment matters.

It tells me NVIDIA is not just seeing demand for more chips – it’s seeing demand for an entirely new kind of AI infrastructure.

That also helps explain another important development from NVIDIA’s earnings call.

NVIDIA is no longer content to dominate the GPU (graphics processing unit) market. Now it wants to become a major player in CPUs (central processing units), too.

That is a big deal.

For years, NVIDIA’s GPUs have powered the AI boom because they are very good at the parallel math needed to train large models. But agentic AI changes the computing needs. These systems need to reason, plan, use tools and manage more complicated workflows.

That brings CPUs back into the spotlight.

On the earnings call, NVIDIA Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress said the company is aiming to become the “world’s leading CPU supplier.” She said NVIDIA’s new Vera CPU opens a “brand new $200 billion” opportunity for the company and could generate $20 billion in CPU revenue this year.

That puts NVIDIA directly into a market long dominated by Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (91����).

So, the key point is this: NVIDIA is no longer just selling the chips that train AI models. It is building more of the full computing platform needed for the next phase of AI.

This tells us that AI infrastructure demand remains incredibly strong.

NVIDIA’s results also confirmed that the AI buildout is still moving fast. Data centers are driving growth, advanced chips remain in high demand and management’s outlook suggests the trend still has room to run.

The Biggest Fireworks Show May Still Be Ahead

NVIDIA may have lit up the sky as this week’s grand finale of earnings season.

But when it comes to AI, I believe the biggest fireworks show may still be ahead. That’s the point investors should take from Huang’s comments.

If agentic AI has truly arrived, then the AI boom is entering a new phase. And this next phase will require far more than advanced chips.

It will require data centers, power, cooling, advanced manufacturing, automation, networking and the critical components that keep the entire AI buildout moving.

That is why NVIDIA’s latest results matter far beyond NVIDIA itself.

The company is telling us demand remains incredibly strong. It is pushing into CPUs. It is investing across the AI ecosystem. It is returning more cash to shareholders. And it is still positioning itself for what comes next.

To me, the real message from NVIDIA this quarter is: The AI boom is not over. It’s just getting started…

That’s why I recently put together a special presentation about what I call the AI Reset of 2026.

In it, I explain why a new government-backed AI buildout could reshape the market far beyond NVIDIA – and why some of today’s obvious AI winners may not be the biggest winners of the next phase.

I also show you where investors should look as the next wave of AI winners starts to take shape.

Click here to watch it now.

Sincerely,

91����

Editor, Market 360

The Editor hereby discloses that as of the date of this email, the Editor, directly or indirectly, owns the following securities that are the subject of the commentary, analysis, opinions, advice, or recommendations in, or which are otherwise mentioned in, the essay set forth below:

NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA)

The post NVIDIA’s Earnings Show “Parabolic” Demand. Here’s What Comes Next… appeared first on InvestorPlace.

To explain how to navigate periods like this, I’ve invited my colleague Jonathan Rose to discuss the two specific market signals investors should watch out for — and why he believes they may already be pointing toward another major opportunity in oil and refinery stocks.

Jonathan has spent decades trading volatile markets, from the futures pits in Chicago to the options floor at the CBOE. Now, he’s teaming up with Wall Street veteran Marc Chaikin for a special event on May 28 at 8 p.m. Eastern to discuss their new “Convergence” system designed to track institutional money flow and volatility together.

You can reserve your free seat right here.

Take it away, Jonathan…

In October 1973, the world learned just how fragile the global oil order really was.

A coalition of Arab states attacked Israel on Yom Kippur. The U.S. responded by sending aid. And within days, OPEC issued an oil embargo against the United States.

The result was immediate and brutal. Oil went from $2.90 a barrel to $11.65 in three months. At the pump, Americans watched prices jump 36% practically overnight. Drivers sat in gas lines for hours, and some stations ran dry before noon. Rationing kicked in.

Credit: JudiLen

Americans watched gas prices explode almost overnight while Washington imposed a national speed limit of 55 miles per hour and urged citizens to conserve fuel as a patriotic duty.

The shock eventually eased. But before the decade was out, the Iranian Revolution triggered a second supply disruption that sent prices even higher. By 1981, oil had hit $35 a barrel — nearly 12 times what it cost before the OPEC embargo.

What those two crises revealed wasn’t just how much the world ran on oil. They also revealed how fast the entire system could crack when the geopolitical order shifted underneath it.

Fifty years later, it’s shifting again.

And this time, the cracks are deeper.

In this piece, I want to give you something more useful than a prediction.

I want to show you exactly how I read an oil market under stress — the two specific signals I watch, how they work together, and how they already handed us one of our best trades of the year.

If you understand these signals, you’ll never look at an oil headline the same way again. And you’ll know what to do with your money – and make a profit – before Wall Street figures it out.

This Could Be Bigger Than 1973

Earlier this year, the U.S. entered a conflict with Iran that put a lockdown on the Strait of Hormuz – the narrow waterway through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply passes every single day.

When it’s under pressure, we all feel it.

Oil responded immediately. West Texas Intermediate crude ran from $66 a barrel to over $100. Brent — the global benchmark — climbed from $71 to $119. In three months, crude prices nearly doubled.

But the bigger story wasn’t the price move. It was what happened inside OPEC.

After nearly 60 years, the United Arab Emirates announced it was leaving the cartel.

This is not a minor development.

The UAE is one of the world’s top five oil producers. Its exit isn’t a diplomatic footnote — it’s a fracture in the architecture that has governed global oil supply since 1960.

The timing made it worse. The announcement came right before a scheduled OPEC meeting, in the middle of an active regional conflict, with the Strait of Hormuz already under pressure.

In 1973, the crisis came from outside OPEC — Arab states using oil as a weapon against the West. What we’re watching now is that alliance coming apart. That instability may end up being deeper and harder to reverse than in 1973.

The question isn’t whether energy market volatility will stay elevated. It will.

The question is how to position yourself to profit from the volatility that is becoming a long-term feature of the energy markets.

That starts with understanding two signals.

The Two Signals I Watch When Oil Gets Volatile

I’ve been trading energy markets for nearly 30 years — from the futures pits in Chicago to the options floor at the CBOE. And in all that time, I’ve found that the most reliable way to profit from oil volatility isn’t to predict where prices are going. It’s to read what the market is already telling you.

Two signals do most of that work. These aren’t predictions. They’re instruments that help the pros profit.

The first is the crack spread. That’s basically the profit margin for oil refiners. Think of it like owning a bakery. Your input cost is flour — that’s crude oil. Your output is bread — that’s gasoline and diesel. The spread is the difference between what you paid for the ingredients and what you sold the finished product for. That difference is your profit margin.

When the crack spread expands — meaning refiners are making more money per barrel they process — refiner stocks tend to follow. When it compresses, they struggle.

Source

Right now, the crack spread is expanding. Refiners bought crude weeks ago at lower prices. They’re selling gasoline and diesel today at prices implied by $106 crude. That gap — old crude, new prices — is pure margin. And it’s showing up directly in refiner earnings.

That’s Signal 1.

The second signal is backwardation in the futures. This one sounds technical. It isn’t. Here’s all you need to know.

When the oil futures curve is in backwardation, it means near-term contracts are trading above longer-dated ones. In plain English, buyers are paying a premium to get oil now rather than later. That tells you immediately that the market believes supply is too tight to absorb a shock.

That’s exactly what the WTI futures is showing us today. Front-month contracts have surged as refiners, hedgers, and institutions pay up for prompt delivery. Contracts further out into late 2026 flatten considerably.

Source

In short, the market sees near-term supply strain but expects conditions to ease over time.

That distinction matters because it tells us where capital is flowing right now — into assets tied to near-term scarcity and pricing power. Refiners. Select producers. Names with direct exposure to U.S. domestic supply chains.

When the crack spread is expanding and the futures curve is in backwardation at the same time, the market is sending a clear two-part message: refiners are making serious money right now, and institutional energy traders are paying a premium to secure supply immediately.

That combination — margin expansion plus supply urgency — is historically when refiner stocks and energy names make their biggest moves to the upside.

It’s the setup for a bullish trade on oil and refiner stocks.

Here’s how that trade looked in practice earlier this year.

The Trade That Proves the Signals Work

Back in April, both signals fired at the same time.

The crack spread was expanding. The WTI futures curve was moving into backwardation. And one name kept showing up on my radar: CVR Energy Inc. (CVI). It’s a midsized independent refiner with direct exposure to exactly the kind of margin environment the signals were pointing to.

On April 20, I got my members into a bullish position on CVR at the beginning of the month. The setup was clean. The signals were clear. The risk was defined.

In just a single week, we locked in an 80% return on the lagging refiner.

That’s not luck. That’s what happens when you stop trying to predict where oil is going and start reading what the market is already telling you. The crack spread said refiners were making serious money. Backwardation said supply was too tight to absorb a shock. CVR was the most direct way to express that opinion with defined risk.

Catalyst. Signal. Trade. That’s the whole model.

And right now, both signals are firing again.

The crack spread is expanding faster than it has in months. The WTI futures curve is deep in backwardation. The UAE’s exit from OPEC has added a layer of structural uncertainty that isn’t going away quickly. And the Strait of Hormuz remains under pressure.

The setup that handed us CVR is back. The names that benefit most from this environment are the same ones I’ve been watching since the conflict began — refiners, select producers, and companies with direct exposure to U.S. domestic supply chains.

The question now isn’t whether the opportunity is there. It’s whether you have the tools to find it before Wall Street does.

What I’m Doing 91���� It — and How You Can Too

Here’s something I tell my members all the time: Know what you’re good at… and know where you need help.

I’m good at reading volatility. Finding the setup. Identifying the signal before the crowd sees it. What’s harder — for every floor trader I’ve ever known — and for me is direction. Not whether volatility is coming. But whether the next big move breaks up or breaks down.

That’s where Marc Chaikin comes in. Marc spent decades building the quantitative tools Wall Street’s biggest institutions use to forecast market direction. He designed his Money Flow system to answer a different question than mine. I focus on where volatility is building. Marc focuses on whether institutional money flow confirms the direction.

My expertise is finding where volatility creates opportunity.

Marc’s expertise is in knowing which way it breaks.

Together, we’ve built something that combines both. We’re calling it The Convergence, and on May 28 at 8 p.m. Eastern, we’re going live with it for the first time. (You can reserve a seat for that free event right now.)

The global oil order is cracking. The two signals I’ve shown you today are already firing simultaneously. And the window to position before Wall Street catches up is, as always, shorter than it looks.

This event is free. And it’s the first time we’re combining these two systems in front of an audience.

Reserve your spot right here. Don’t miss it.

The creative trader always wins,

Jonathan Rose

Founder, Masters in Trading

P.S. Jonathan makes an important point in today’s piece: Major market moves often begin long before the headlines fully explain them. That’s a big part of what he and Marc Chaikin plan to discuss during their free Convergence Summit event on May 28. They’ll explain how they combine volatility analysis with institutional money-flow signals to spot potential opportunities early. If you haven’t already reserved your seat, you can do that right here.

The post Here’s How to Profit From the Oil Signals Most Traders Miss appeared first on InvestorPlace.

Tilly’s (TLYS) was trading at a single-digit P/E. So was Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF). American Eagle (AEO). The Buckle (BKE).

A whole shelf of mall-based apparel names had been bludgeoned by Amazon (AMZN), and bargain hunters were lining up to scoop them out of the discount bin.

The pitch wrote itself. Real revenue. Real stores. Real dividends. And a multiple that left almost nothing to the downside.

And guess what? For a few of them, it worked out. Abercrombie (ANF) had its day in the sun a decade later.

But for most of that cohort, the cheap multiple did not mark a bottom. It marked the slow grinding middle of an existential transition the income statement had not caught up to yet. The customers were already gone. The leases were the last to know.

Now, what I’ve been calling SaaSmageddon is not a forecast anymore. It’s happening in real time. Platforms like Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini are absorbing the workflows that used to live inside dedicated SaaS applications, and ServiceNow (NOW), Salesforce (CRM), Adobe (ADBE), Intuit (INTU).. the once-untouchable enterprise stalwarts… have all been touched. Hard. Now they’re bouncing, and the headlines are framing it as a recovery.

I’m not so sure.

This week’s episode of Being Exponential walks through five stocks that draw the line between the AI Boom’s beneficiaries and its casualties. And we’ll get into why the most dangerous bargains in 2026 might be the ones that look cheapest on a screener:

The Picks-and-Shovels Side of the Boom

Lumen Technologies (LUMN) is the first name on my list, and it captures the picks-and-shovels logic cleanly. On paper, Lumen is an old telecom. In practice, it’s becoming a fiber backbone for the AI infrastructure buildout. The company has roughly $13 billion in signed hyperscaler contracts, with Microsoft (MSFT) among them, and is laying down a major new data center connectivity pipeline in the Northwest, on a route I believe runs from Seattle toward Denver.

The historical headwind here has been balance sheet risk… a heavy debt load with looming maturities. That overhang is clearing. Lumen has been paying down debt and pushing maturities out to 2029, which gives the revenue ramp from those new contracts time to materialize before any refinancing pressure returns.

Technically, the stock just put in a clean bounce off its 200-day moving average. I think it takes out $12 soon. And from there, it goes meaningfully higher.

CoreWeave (CRWV) is the larger and more aggressive bet on the same trend. The NeoCloud thesis — that compute capacity will remain structurally undersupplied for years — has gained fresh momentum, and CoreWeave is the most levered name in the category.

It’s also the biggest.

Its OpenAI exposure, recently treated as a headwind during OpenAI’s perceived market-share losses to Anthropic, looks more like a tailwind again now that ChatGPT 5.5 has put some pep back in OpenAI’s step and the IPO calendar is coming into focus. CoreWeave is riskier than most AI infrastructure plays. It also has more torque.

Redwire (RDW) is my favorite of the five. The pitch is straightforward…

Of the four space stocks I’ve championed in this franchise, three of them — AST SpaceMobile (ASTS), Rocket Lab (RKLB), and Planet Labs (PL) — have gone parabolic, with our recommendations on all three up more than 1,000%. Redwire (RDW) has not. Yet.

The reason, in my view, is timing. Redwire’s specialty is outer-space solar panels… the Rosa solar arrays that power the International Space Station.

Demand for outer-space solar has been steady but not explosive. That changes the moment Elon Musk takes the $75 billion he expects to raise in the SpaceX IPO and routes a meaningful chunk of it into orbital compute. Data centers in space need outer-space solar. Outer-space solar means Redwire. I see a path to $50-plus over the next 6 to 12 months as the SpaceX IPO catalyst arrives.

The Other Side of the Line

ServiceNow (NOW) is the cautionary tale. After getting destroyed during the spring’s AI-disruption sell-off, ServiceNow has led the bounce-back in enterprise software. Headlines have noted insider buying, including reports that Donald Trump took a position. None of it changes my read.

My call? This is the dead-cat bounce, not the recovery. AI-native platforms are going to absorb 80% to 90% of what NOW does. The remaining 10% to 20% will face heavy pricing pressure, which means lower revenues, lower margins, and lower profits all compounding into a multiple that has nowhere good to go. The single-digit P/E thesis is the same one that lured investors into Tilly’s a decade ago. And most of those investors did not end up where they thought they would.

POET Technologies (POET) is the speculative wild card, and I’m passing on it. The optics buildout is real, and POET could absolutely run if it lands a hyperscaler order. But it hasn’t landed one yet. Its proof of concept is a small win with Lumalens — a name no one is going to recognize — and it recently lost a Marvell (MRVL) opportunity after a credibility-damaging CFO disclosure. The stock oscillates wildly between $10 and $20 with no fundamental anchor. In the small-cap optics bucket, I prefer Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI), which has the hyperscaler orders POET is still trying to win.

The Bottom Line

The through-line across all five names is the same question, asked five different ways. Which side of the AI Boom does this business sit on?

LUMN, CRWV, and RDW are infrastructure plays… picks-and-shovels exposure that benefits as the buildout accelerates. NOW is on the disrupted side. POET is the speculative ticket that needs proof of concept before it earns a seat. The framework is more important than any single ticker, because the same logic that made the 2010s retail trade a value trap is the logic now running through software.

The cheap multiple is the lure. The structural disruption is the trap. Knowing the difference is the whole job in the back half of 2026.

Tap in to this week’s episode of Being Exponential for the full breakdown — including the technical setup on Lumen, the SpaceX IPO timing on Redwire, and why I think ServiceNow’s bounce ends the same way the 2010s retail bounces did. Also, be sure to subscribe to Being Exponential on X (formerly Twitter) for more exclusive content.

The post Why the Cheapest Software Stocks May Be the Most Dangerous Bargain in 2026 appeared first on InvestorPlace.

Michael Burry has a message for investors who’ve been riding this bull market…

The end of… this… is nigh.

Last week, Burry – the investor made famous by the movie “The Big Short” – went on to say that “the market has jumped the shark,” and investors should “reject greed” while considering cutting their exposure to red-hot AI chip stocks “almost entirely.”

Here’s Burry’s overall sum-up:

Anyone lucky enough to be riding these parabolic moves, by not selling, is betting on one’s own ability to jump off at or near the top…

This, all of it, is the scene of the bloody car crash, minutes before it happens.

Now, Burry is an intelligent guy. But that doesn’t mean he’s right.

He’s made some famously wrong calls in recent years:

• His short bet against Tesla in 2021, which is highly likely to have resulted in a loss…
• His single-word post on X (formerly Twitter) in January of 2023 simply stated “SELL” – right before the market surged about 19% that year…
• His puts against the S&P in August of 2023 that he had to close out because the market kept climbing…

Still, it would be foolish to dismiss outright his claim that we’re “minutes” before the crash. After all, despite the “up” day in the market as I write on Wednesday morning, many of the hottest AI names that were setting all-time highs a week ago are now down double digits from those highs.

Are we already nanoseconds into the collision?

Another famous investor has a different read on today – 91����.

Let’s go to his Growth Investor Special Market Podcast from yesterday:

Yields have been meandering higher, and that is weighing on stocks.

We’re seeing inflation ripple through the economy, especially from higher shipping and travel costs.

So, the concern now is stagflation – slower growth with inflation pressures still bubbling through.

Burry would likely agree with this. But whereas Burry would go on to predict an imminent market meltdown, here’s Louis’ take:

I don’t want you to confuse today’s gyrations with a change in the bigger story. Earnings season has been stunning, and the AI boom remains intact…

This is just what happens as earnings season winds down – the profit-taking kicks in.

There’s no narrative out there or news to cause these selloffs…

The root question for bears predicting a bust: “why now?”

Here’s the thing about market crashes: they almost never happen simply because stocks are expensive.

Valuations can stay stretched for months – sometimes years. “Expensive” has a way of getting more expensive before the reckoning arrives – often long after when the crash was predicted to happen.

Older investors will recall 1996, when Alan Greenspan famously warned of “irrational exuberance” in the stock market. But from that warning, the S&P 500 nearly doubled over the next four years before the dot-com bubble finally burst.

Or consider 2017, when Burry himself and a chorus of other sharp minds called U.S. equities dangerously overpriced. The market climbed another 20% before so much as a serious correction.

The point isn’t that warnings and elevated valuations don’t matter. But something must trigger the AI trade’s unraveling.

Lofty P/E ratios set the kindling – but you need a match.

“Jeff, there are a zillion matches out there – Iran, oil prices, a Fed that won’t cut rates, tariffs, bond yields, you name it.”

Fair.

But let’s look zero in on the driver of today’s bull market – the AI trade – and then look at some of these matches through the lens of AI capex spending.

From this perspective, most of today’s macro concerns look more manageable than the headlines suggest

The reason is straightforward…

The hyperscalers have already collectively pledged hundreds of billions in AI infrastructure spending over the next 18 to 24 months. That capital doesn’t get pulled because oil prices rise or the Fed holds rates an extra quarter or two.

The spending is baked into budgets, construction timelines, and supplier contracts. So, for the companies sitting in the path of that spending – the chip designers, the data center builders, the power providers – there’s a known earnings pipeline that most macro shocks simply can’t derail.

Iran?

Painful for energy-intensive industries, for consumers at the pump, for airlines. But a Riyadh-Tehran conflict doesn’t make Microsoft cancel its next data center.

Oil with a new home above $90?

A headwind for broad corporate margins, absolutely – but not for the hyperscaler capex cycle driving AI earnings.

A hawkish Fed holding rates higher for longer?

It slows rate-sensitive sectors, squeezes housing, pressures smaller borrowers. It doesn’t alter the competitive calculus pushing every major tech company to spend aggressively on AI infrastructure or risk falling behind.

There is, however, one macro variable that cuts differently…

Bond yields.

When rising yields become a problem

Bond yields are a different animal.

When the 10-year Treasury climbs, it doesn’t just raise borrowing costs – it mechanically compresses the valuations of long-duration growth stocks by making their future earnings worth less in today’s dollars.

It also hands investors a genuine risk-free alternative to risky stocks. The higher yields go, the harder the math gets for AI names trading at premium multiples.

And bond yields that climb too high could eventually hurt the math behind data center loans, kneecapping the AI rollout.

So, where does the pain actually start?

Our technology expert, Luke Lango, editor of Innovation Investor, just presented his readers with a yield roadmap.

At current levels – above 4.5% – Luke sees “some small, short-term turbulence in markets, but nothing more.” The AI trade remains intact.

A push toward 4.8% to 5% would bring “more significant disruption” – Luke suggests a 5% to 10% pullback, but still nothing that breaks the uptrend.

Things get more serious with a 10-year interest rate above 5%.

Luke believes that a 10% to 20% correction is on the table in that case. He says the AI trade gets “hit hard, then rebounds the fastest on the recovery.”

Here’s Luke with what comes beyond that:

A break above 5.25% would start to short-circuit things.

The economy starts to crack. EPS estimates fall. Stocks fall into a bear market. The AI trade gets hit hard.

And a break above 5.5% would pretty much kill everything. A 30%-plus stock market crash. 

As I write on Wednesday, the 10-year yield sits at 4.58% – in Luke’s “slightly uncomfortable but manageable” zone.

So, Burry may be right that the kindling is dry, but so far, the lightning strikes remain far off on the horizon.

The foil to the risk of higher bond yields – earnings growth

One more piece of this picture tends to get lost in the valuation debate.

Most valuation metrics are backward-looking by design. They measure today’s prices against yesterday’s earnings, revenues, or what have you.

But in a high-growth environment, such a comparison brings blind spots. You miss what’s actually happening now as well as what’s likely to come tomorrow – and for a meaningful slice of this market, “what’s happening” is a surge in earnings.

Consider Powell Industries (POWL) – a stock I own that makes specialized electrical switchgear and power systems. It’s squarely in the path of the AI data center buildout.

As you can see below, POWL is up more than 300% over the last year, even after the recent profit taking.

Given this price surge, a nosebleed valuation seems like a safe assumption. But it’s more complicated than that.

Depending on which financial website you visit and which earnings period it uses, POWL’s trailing P/E ranges from the low 30s to the mid-50s. That’s an unusually wide spread for a single stock.

What this spread reveals is that earnings have been growing so fast that even a slight discrepancy in the chosen earnings period can produce a dramatically different picture.

Neither number is wrong. They’re just measuring different versions of the same rapidly transforming business, though the 33 P/E is more accurate today.

And here’s the part that doesn’t show up in any trailing P/E calculation yet…

New orders last quarter totaled $490 million, up 97% year over year. Then, after the quarter closed, came a single “mega order” from an AI data center project worth $400 million. That revenue hasn’t yet appeared on the income statement. When it does, it will compress the multiple further.

The backward-looking metrics can’t capture a business being transformed in real time. That’s the point.

Now, detractors might say, “That’s just one company.” But zoom out, and the broader picture looks similar.

This is the story that bears won’t tell you today

According to FactSet’s latest Earnings Insight report, the S&P 500 just posted its highest earnings growth rate since Q4 2021 – 27.7% year-over-year, with 84% of companies beating estimates.

That beat rate is the highest since Q2 2021. Even more striking, companies are reporting earnings 17.9% above expectations – nearly two-and-a-half times the five-year average surprise of 7.3%.

And the S&P 500’s net profit margin just hit 14.7% – a record high since at least 2009, surpassing the prior record set just last quarter.

That’s not a market running on fumes and hope. That’s a market where earnings are legitimately catching up with – and in many cases outrunning – prices.

Yes, beware surging bond yields. But equally, yes, factor your stocks’ earnings growth into your market decisions.

So, what’s the verdict on Burry’s bearishness?

Burry may be right. But let’s complete our analysis with two missing pieces.

Regular Digest readers will recall – and for newer readers, it’s worth noting – a story we covered last November in which Burry closed his fund and returned capital to shareholders.

Why?

Because over the prior two years, while Burry had expected and positioned for dramatic pullbacks, the Nasdaq returned almost 70%.

From Burry to his investors:

My estimate of value in securities is not now, and has not been for some time, in sync with the markets. 

This seems an appropriate time to remember the wise words of the legendary fund manager Peter Lynch:

Far more money has been lost by investors preparing for corrections, or trying to anticipate corrections, than has been lost in corrections themselves.

Burry could be right. Eventually, some bear always is.

But a warning about stretched valuations, without a credible near-term catalyst to trigger the unraveling, is not a timing call – it’s a market disposition. And dispositions don’t tell you when to sell.

What does tell us something is the 10-year yield, the earnings trajectory of the specific companies you own, and the durability of the capex cycle underneath them.

That’s the framework worth watching right now – and it’s exactly what Louis and Luke are tracking for their readers every week.

So, while Burry is bearish, here’s Louis’ message to investors:

You basically want to buy good stocks on dips. Period.

For the latest “good stocks” that he’s recommending investors buy on dips, you can access his recent market briefing here.

As for Luke, here’s his bottom line:

Overall, we remain very bullish on the AI trade despite recent inflation/oil/rate jitters. The inflation/oil/rate jitters are creating just another run-of-the-mill pullback in a still-very-much-alive AI bull market. 

Stick with the AI trade. Patience and resolve are the name of the game right now.

For what has Luke excited today – what he believes could be Elon Musk’s most ambitious project yet (it has nothing to do with Tesla or SpaceX) – click here for his full presentation.

Have a good evening,

Jeff Remsburg

The post The End of the Bull Market Is Nigh appeared first on InvestorPlace.

Casey, Illinois, is home to the world’s largest rocking chair, standing in at 56 ft. and 1 in. tall.

Source

The United Kingdom houses the world’s largest cardboard structure, 55 ft. long and 25 ft. tall, depicting a Trojan horse.

Source

And Italy made the world’s largest pizza, measuring 13,957.77 square feet. Mangia!

Source

A new record was created this week. This time, on Wall Street.

On Monday, NextEra Energy Inc. (NEE) – the largest renewable energy developer in the U.S. – announced that it will acquire Dominion Energy Inc. (DE) – which helps power the world’s largest concentration of AI data centers – for almost $67 billion.

And create the world’s largest regulated electricity utility in the process.

Hear that, Guinness World Records?

This proposed merger shows that Wall Street increasingly views electricity as one of the most important foundations of the AI boom. Investors are starting to see power companies not just as utilities, but as critical infrastructure needed to support the next generation of technology.

In today’s Smart Money, I’ll explain the details of this merger, and what it represents:

AI is turning electricity into a high-growth industry. And that is pushing electricity companies to scale like tech infrastructure firms.

That means energy investing can grow alongside energy expansion. So, I’ll share how to find the best plays to make.

The Merger That Proves AI’s Energy Crisis Is Real

To start, the NextEra-Dominion merger is aimed at meeting the massive electricity demands of AI infrastructure.

AI requires staggering amounts of electricity, with the International Energy Agency finding that the global energy consumption for data centers is projected to reach around 945 Terawatt-hours (TWh) by 2030. That’s more than double the 415 TWh that data centers consumed globally in 2024.

Those figures help explain this week’s landmark merger.

The all-stock deal would have NextEra exchange 0.8138 of its stock for each outstanding Dominion share, valuing Dominion at $75.97 per share.

NextEra currently has a market cap of more than $190 billion to Dominion’s $50 billion. The combined utility giant will have a market cap of $249 billion, with an enterprise value of $420 billion.

Here’s what the merger means for future energy production: Dominion is the primary electric utility that powers Virginia’s “Data Center Alley,” the largest concentration of data centers in the world. So, the company already resides in a key hotspot. NextEra brings scale, capital, and renewable energy development strength.

Together, they aim to become a dominant “power backbone” for AI infrastructure.

The combined company would serve roughly 10 million customers, and massively expand generation capacity.

Dominion’s stock rose over 14%, while NE fell more than 4% after the announcement. This type of reaction is common in mergers: The target company rises sharply, while the acquiring company temporarily declines as investors digest the costs and risks of the deal.

Simply put, investors viewed the deal as far more beneficial for Dominion shareholders than for NextEra’s.

Despite the initial drop, the market may still like the long-term story because it creates a utility giant well-positioned to benefit from growing AI-driven electricity demand.

The merger adds to NextEra’s current initiatives to keep pace with AI electricity demands:

• Last year, it partnered with Alphabet to reopen the Duane Arnold nuclear power plant in Iowa by 2029.
• In March, the renewable energy company received approval from the current administration to develop up to 10 gigawatts (GW) of natural gas power generation in Texas and Pennsylvania.

The funding for those projects includes the $7 billion investment by Alphabet in Iowa in May 2025 and Japan’s $550 billion investment commitment from last year’s Japan-U.S. trade deal, which will help NextEra’s initiatives in natural gas power generation.

It’s safe to say that a significant amount of money is already at stake. That capital will continue to grow as NextEra will also acquire Dominion’s nearly 51 GW of contracted data center capacity – which serves customers such as Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL), Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), CoreWeave Inc. (CRWV), CyrusOne, Equinix Inc. (EQIX), Meta Platforms Inc. (META), and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT).

In all, this merger signals that electricity is becoming one of the biggest opportunities in the AI economy. It’s a bet that AI growth will turn power companies into core infrastructure plays for the AI era.

Energy companies will increasingly take center stage in the AI production. So, I want to show you how to safeguard and enhance your portfolio as its growth unfolds…

Don’t Just Watch History – Position For It

Navigating the AI energy landscape is complicated.

For major energy companies, it requires strategic, expensive mergers.

For us investors, it involves a strategic, “all of the above” investing approach.

That’s because all energy sources are necessary to sustain AI. We’re talking nuclear power, renewable energy sources, and the abundant opportunities presented by natural gas.

To help you choose the smartest investments, I’ve put together a report called Sell This, Buy That: Energy’s Swan Song, where I reveal three of my favorite legacy energy plays –plus one coal miner to sell immediately.

You can learn how to access this report in my Sell This, Buy That presentation.

In the special video, I also explain why investors should be cautious about relying on household names that have already peaked and instead focus on undervalued, high-growth AI companies… and give away seven carefully selected “Buys” and “Sells,” completely free.

Click here for all the details.

Regards,

91����

The post AI Forced Two Utilities to Merge… Here’s How to Profit appeared first on InvestorPlace.

The last time capital flooded into technology at the pace we’re seeing today, the Nasdaq lost 78% of its value. It didn’t recover for 15 years.

That was the Dot Com Boom. This is the AI Boom. And right now, it looks identical.

Nvidia (NVDA) is minting money. Jensen Huang believes Blackwell chips are a “one-trillion-dollar” opportunity. Broadcom (AVGO) and Marvell (MRVL) are printing records. Oracle (ORCL) just reported $553 billion in remaining performance obligations. The hyperscalers — Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL), Meta (META) — are spending more than half a trillion dollars this year alone on AI infrastructure. Both OpenAI and Anthropic are eyeing $1 trillion IPOs. SpaceX is approaching a $2 trillion IPO.

This boom is unstoppable. Generational.

That’s what they said in 1999, too.

What ends the AI Boom — and how much time do we have? 

We think we know the answer. 

The Real Risk to the AI Boom 

Rather than a technological failure, demand collapse, or even a recession, politics will derail the AI Boom — specifically, a populist backlash against AI that is already building momentum, fueled by the growing economic pain hitting American households right now. And it’s on a trajectory to reach full force right around the 2028 presidential election cycle.

The evidence is already stacking up in ways that are hard to ignore.

Rising Energy Costs Are Fueling the AI Backlash 

Every time a hyperscaler announces another gigawatt of data center capacity, somewhere in America, a family’s electricity bill goes up.

A recent CBS News investigation found that Georgia Power — the state’s largest utility — imposed six rate hikes in just three years. The average monthly bill jumped 50%. And this is not just a Georgia problem. According to a Bloomberg analysis, Americans living near data centers are paying as much as 267% more per month for electricity than they were five years ago. This is now affecting at least 13 states — and spreading.

The AI infrastructure buildout requires staggering amounts of power. A single large data center can consume as much electricity as a small city. The companies building them — Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Meta — negotiate discounted power rates with utilities. Residential customers make up the difference. The woman CBS News interviewed in Atlanta is now living in a ski suit inside her own home because she can’t afford heating — all because she’s forced to subsidize data center customers.

That story has a face now. And faces win elections.

The resistance is already showing up in project pipelines. A record number of proposed data centers were canceled in the first quarter of 2026 as communities pushed back against construction, according to data from Heatmap Pro. Morgan Stanley flagged the cancellations to clients as “a binding constraint, particularly around data center buildout.” Jefferies warned investors the setbacks were already “sapping confidence” in AI infrastructure. The backlash is a physical limit on the boom, happening right now.

And it’s not stopping at the construction site.

Public Opinion Is Turning Against AI 

Pew Research Center’s latest data also tells a story the industry doesn’t want to hear. 

Among American adults, those concerned about AI outnumber those excited by 5 to 1.  And concern has been rising steadily since 2021.

The numbers get even worse when you focus on specific applications. Only 23% of Americans believe AI will have a positive impact on how people do their jobs. Only 24% think it will be good for education. More than half say AI will worsen people’s ability to think creatively and form meaningful relationships. And — critically — more than half of Americans say they want more control over AI in their lives.

That last number is a mandate waiting to be written into law. Any politician who runs on “you should be in charge of this technology, not them” will already have majority support before they’ve said another word. And the fact that Republicans and Democrats are now equally concerned makes this doubly dangerous for the AI industry. 

This is a bipartisan pressure cooker.

AI-Driven Layoffs Are Accelerating

If rising energy costs are a slow burn, layoffs are an accelerant.

The AI-driven job cut announcements of the past 12 months have been extraordinary — not just in scale, but in the brazenness with which executives are attributing them directly to artificial intelligence:

• Block (XYZ) CEO Jack Dorsey cut 40% of the company’s workforce (4,000 people) in February 2026. His justification? “Intelligence tools have changed what it means to build and run a company.” 
• Amazon eliminated 14,000 corporate jobs — the largest layoff in the company’s history — with AI explicitly cited as enabling “leaner structures and faster innovation.”
• Meta cut 8,000 jobs in April 2026, on top of the 25,000 already eliminated since 2022. 
• Oracle has erased up to 30,000 positions. 
• Salesforce (CRM) dismissed 4,000 customer support roles, with CEO Marc Benioff declaring “I need less heads.” 

AI was explicitly cited for nearly 55,000 U.S. layoffs in 2025 alone, out of a total 1.17 million job cuts — the highest annual total since the pandemic. In 2026, the pace has accelerated to over 860 tech layoffs per day.

Meta Shows How the Narrative Is Forming 

No single company compressed the anti-AI narrative into a tighter window than Meta did over three weeks this spring. 

In early March, Mark Zuckerberg purchased a $170 million mansion on Miami’s “Billionaire Bunker” — Indian Creek Island, a private, guarded enclave with its own 24-hour armed marine patrol, a few doors down from Jeff Bezos. It set the all-time record for the most expensive home sale in Miami-Dade County history.

In late April, Meta announced it would lay off 10% of its workforce — 8,000 people — starting May 20.

Then in the same week, Meta disclosed a new internal program called the Model Capability Initiative (MCI), which installs tracking software on all U.S. employees’ work computers, recording their mouse movements, keystrokes, clicks, and periodic screenshots. The purpose: to harvest their behavioral data to train AI agents designed to perform white-collar tasks autonomously. Workers cannot opt out. (Note: Meta’s European employees are exempt, because GDPR would require their explicit consent. American workers get no such protection.)

One bucket of Meta employees is being fired. A second is being surveilled — their daily work habits harvested as training data for the bots that will eventually replace them. 

All this while the CEO and his peers are buying $170 million compounds on private islands with private police forces.

This is the story that will be told — in campaign ads, union halls, and congressional hearings — because it is true and devastating. 

The 2028 Election Could Trigger AI Regulation 

Add it all up, and the narrative nearly writes itself. The only question left is when it reaches Washington — and what happens to your portfolio when it does. 

Over the next 12 to 18 months, the three pressure points — rising energy costs, accelerating layoffs, and widening wealth inequality — will continue to compound. Public concern about AI will keep rising. More states will see legislative battles over data center construction. And more CEOs will cite AI for why they’re cutting headcount.

We expect that by 2027, this is a dominant political narrative. Candidates in both parties — facing a presidential election year in 2028 — will begin incorporating anti-AI messaging into their platforms. The China counter-argument (“we can’t fall behind Beijing”) will likely provide some suppression, but it won’t be sufficient to contain what has become a kitchen-table economic issue for tens of millions of Americans.

In November 2028, some of those candidates win. In 2029, proposed legislation arrives: an AI tax, restrictions on data center construction, energy cost regulation, labor displacement provisions. The market prices this risk before the bills are even introduced. AI infrastructure stocks — which by then have had a spectacular multi-year run — begin to roll over.

That is the scenario that ends the AI Boom. And it is not a remote tail risk. It is the base case if current trajectories hold.

The Final Word

Make your money now.

The window for transformational wealth creation in this AI cycle is the next two to three years. The fundamental thesis — AI infrastructure buildout, semiconductor supercycle, power and cooling demand — remains intact and powerful. 

But be clear-eyed about what’s to come. 

Every boom creates its own backlash.

We know what could end this one. The question is what comes next.

The last phase of a boom is always about extraction.

Not just who builds the technology… but who controls the flow of money around it.

That’s why we’re tracking a separate story most investors haven’t connected yet — what Elon Musk is building inside X, and how it could determine how money actually moves in the next cycle.

If you want to get ahead of that shift, you can dive into it right here.

The post Wall Street Is Pricing AI’s Upside. Nobody Is Pricing This. appeared first on InvestorPlace.

The calendar flips to May, and the financial media starts trotting out the same tired advice: Sell your stocks and go away until fall.

I’ve never been a fan of this. And this year, I think following that advice could be one of the most expensive mistakes you could make.

In today’s Market 360, I want to explain why I think “sell in May” is exactly the wrong call this year. Then, I’ll make the case for what I believe could be what I call “the Summer of Small Caps.”

I’ll also tell you how to get your hands on an exclusive watchlist of small-cap stocks I’ve got my eye on, as well as how to gain access to my highest-conviction small-cap picks in Breakthrough Stocks. I shared all the details at my recent 10X Fed Shock event last week – and tonight at midnight is the last chance to view it. So, let’s not waste any time – let’s dive right in.  

Where “Sell in May” Comes From

First, a little history – because I think it’s worth understanding where “sell in May” actually originated.

It didn’t start on Wall Street. It started in London in the 19th century. Back then, wealthy British financiers and stockbrokers would leave the city’s sweltering streets every summer for extended vacations in the countryside.

That means trading volumes dropped. Markets went quiet. And stocks tended to drift sideways or lower until the money men returned in the fall.

The full saying was actually: “Sell in May and go away, come back on St. Leger’s Day.”

The St. Leger Stakes is a famous fall horse race, the final leg of the British Triple Crown, dating back to 1776. So essentially, wealthy bankers were telling each other to check out of the market until the horse races in September.

When this phenomenon was imported to Wall Street, it stuck. And for a while, it actually worked. From 1950 to about 2003, the data more or less supported it.

But here’s the problem with that. Once everyone knows a system, it stops working. That’s true of trading strategies, market adages and everything in between.

What the Data Actually Shows

Now, I’ll be fair. The summer months are not uniformly strong.

August and September remain two of the weakest months on record. In the past 20 years, the S&P 500 has produced an average return of just 0.05% in August and negative 0.67% in September. They’re positive only about half the time.

Frankly, if I were in charge, I’d close the market for the entire month of August every year. That’s when the “A-team” heads to the Hamptons or jets off to Europe for vacation. The “B-team” gets left in charge, and the markets tend to drift without the pros at the helm.

But here’s where the conventional wisdom breaks down. If you narrow the May through October window and look at the past 20 years, July has actually been the market’s best month overall – rising 2.54%. Not November. Not April. July.

So “sell in May and go away” doesn’t just leave you on the sidelines during the weak months. It leaves you sitting out some of the best trading days of the year.

The Summer of Small Caps

Now, here’s where you could really go wrong if you follow the “sell in May” crowd this year.

Remember, the S&P 500 only tracks large-cap companies.

But right now, the small-cap Russell 2000 index is on fire. And I think this summer is going to be one of the best periods we’ve seen for smaller stocks in years.

See, while everyone was focused on the Magnificent Seven and the AI mega-cap trade, a quiet rotation has been playing out in smaller companies.

Over the past year, the Russell 2000 is up 31%, compared to 23% for the S&P 500. And year to date, small caps are continuing to lead, up 11% versus the S&P 500’s 7.7%.

What makes small-cap companies interesting right now is that they are predominantly domestic. They don’t have the global exposure that makes large caps vulnerable to currency swings, geopolitical turbulence and foreign economic slowdowns.

When the U.S. economy is growing, and right now it is, small caps tend to feel it most directly.

But here’s what makes me even more excited. Small caps are still cheap relative to history. They currently represent just 4.6% of the total Russell 3000 market cap, well below the historical average of 7.6%. The valuation gap between small caps and large caps remains significant even after this rally.

In other words, the move has started. But it’s nowhere near over.

After years of playing second fiddle to the mega-cap tech trade, capital is rotating toward smaller, domestically focused companies with real earnings growth and real exposure to the U.S. economy.

And if you want to talk about seasonality, just look at the chart below. It shows that July has been the second-strongest month for small caps over the past 20 years, producing a 2.36% return.

That’s right around the corner, folks.

The Best Place to Find the Next Winners

Bottom line: This is not the summer to be sitting on the sidelines.

The small-cap opportunity is real. But you can’t just buy the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) and walk away.

You need to find the right ones.

My Stock Grader system was built to do exactly that. It evaluates roughly 6,000 stocks every week on two signals: the health of the underlying business and whether institutional money is beginning to move in quietly ahead of the headlines.

When both signals fire together and keep firing month after month, I pay close attention – because the gains usually follow.

By incorporating Stock Grader into my Breakthrough Stocks service, where I focus on small- and mid-cap companies, my subscribers are sitting on 11 triple-digit gains out of 29 holdings.

Every one of these was a smaller, underfollowed company when my system flagged it. Every one was too small for the biggest Wall Street funds to touch. And every one showed the same early combination of strong fundamentals and buying pressure before the crowd showed up.

The next group is already out there. In fact, my system has flagged 53 stocks showing those same early signals…

Last week, I hosted my 10X Fed Shock event, where I laid out the full case for why I believe this is the most significant small-cap opportunity I’ve seen in decades. I shared my highest-conviction picks from those 53 stocks. And I gave away one name for free just for attending.

Your chance to watch a replay closes at midnight tonight.

Go here to watch the replay now.

Sincerely,

91����

Editor, Market 360

The post Forget “Sell in May” – This Could Be the Summer of Small Caps appeared first on InvestorPlace.

Two weeks ago, the University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index sank to 48.2 – the lowest reading in the survey’s 74-year history.

That’s a lower consumer sentiment reading than during the Great Financial Crisis. Lower than the Dot-Com Crash. And lower than every recession in modern American history.

Meanwhile, last week, the AI semiconductor company Cerebras Systems went public at a $100 billion valuation after being 20 times oversubscribed.

Contrasting this massive IPO against the glum sentiment report, our technology expert Luke Lango, editor of Innovation Investor, put it plainly in his Daily Notes:

This [Cerebras IPO] is America Two. It has no idea America One exists.

He’s right.

But for AI investors, understanding why he’s right – and exactly when it’ll stop being true – is the most important portfolio question of the next three years.

America One: The diagnostics

Let’s start with the data…

Regular Digest readers are familiar with our K-shaped economy, where lower-income households face a fundamentally different financial reality than their asset-owning counterparts. That picture has gotten materially worse since we last covered it here.

According to the New York Fed’s quarterly household debt report, in Q4 2025, overall household debt delinquency rates hit 4.8% – the highest level since 2017. The stress is concentrated almost entirely in lower-income borrowers.

Meanwhile, the subprime auto market – one of the most reliable canaries in what we call the Lower-K economy – related to what Luke is calling “America One” – sounds a little quiet these days.

More than 6% of subprime auto loans are at least 60 days past due, the highest rate ever recorded in Fitch data going back to 1993. Vehicle repossessions hit 1.73 million last year, the most since 2009.

Meanwhile, a PYMNTS Intelligence survey from early 2026 found that need-driven paycheck-to-paycheck living has overtaken choice-driven for the first time – meaning financial pressure, not lifestyle, is now the dominant explanation.

This is not a soft patch – it’s a structural squeeze.

America Two: Why Wall Street is largely unbothered

Here’s where most coverage of the K-shaped economy goes wrong…

The typical framing is that Wall Street is ignoring the Lower-K data. That’s not quite right.

The more accurate read is that Wall Street is accurately pricing an economy in which the Lower-K consumer has become structurally less relevant to corporate earnings. It’s less “callousness” and more “arithmetic.”

The AI multi-billion-dollar capex loop that I highlight regularly – the engine powering the Upper-K/“America Two” economy – doesn’t run through a fast-food customer or a subprime auto borrower. It runs through enterprise contracts, sovereign AI deals, and hyperscaler balance sheets.

So, what’s the status of that tsunami of money flow?

Bloomberg Intelligence projects cumulative AI capex of $5 trillion over five years. For context, that’s more than the entire GDP of the United Kingdom.

Back to Luke:

The AI economy has achieved a complete structural decoupling from the consumer economy. The Iran War didn’t slow it. The all-time low consumer sentiment doesn’t slow it.

The only economic variable that affects the AI buildout is whether Nvidia can manufacture enough chips and whether the grid can supply enough power.

Everything else is noise.

So, for now, if your portfolio is positioned in the right layer of the AI trade, this flagging Lower-K/ “America One” is largely just background noise.

But the thing about structural decouplings is that they don’t last forever. History suggests that economic equilibria that become this far out of balance don’t stay that way.

And what brings that back into alignment isn’t always markets…

Sometimes it’s politics.

What could end the AI trade

So far, the much-predicted wave of AI-driven mass unemployment hasn’t materialized.

That may yet change – my hunch is that it will. But it doesn’t have to – at least not to generate the political backlash that eventually threatens the AI trade. It just requires enough people feeling enough economic pain and then connecting that pain to AI.

Enter your power bill…

According to the nonprofit PowerLines, electric and piped natural gas bills were among the largest drivers of inflation last year, rising 7% and 11%, respectively. Utilities requested a record $31 billion in rate hikes in 2025 – more than twice the amount requested in 2024.

Here’s Charles Hua, executive director of PowerLines:

There are millions of Americans who are paying 10% to 20% of their incomes just on their utilities, which would be unfathomable for the vast majority of Americans.

This is turning data centers into a kitchen-table political issue.

Take Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro – a 2028 presidential hopeful. He initially embraced the data center boom in his state. Then the public pushback mounted.

In his February state budget address, he reversed course:

We need to be selective about the projects that get built here.

I know Pennsylvanians have real concerns about these data centers and the impact they could have on our communities, our utility bills, and our environment.

And so do I.

It won’t stop with Shapiro in Pennsylvania.

Here’s Hua, speaking to Fortune:

You could argue utility bills will play the most prominent role in a national election this year that perhaps at any other election in American history.

The AI boom is being partially subsidized, on a monthly billing cycle, by the same Lower-K households already squeezed by gas prices, negative real wages, and rising delinquencies.

That generates a specific, personal grievance. And specific, personal grievances often become votes.

The backlash is moving from grumbling to legislation

This morning brought the following headline from The Wall Street Journal:

And here’s the subhead:

Back in February, Axios surveyed the landscape and found that only 7% of Americans believe AI will increase jobs – statistically unchanged from the prior fall, meaning the boom’s rising visibility has done nothing to ease displacement fears.

But sentiment – while critically important – is no longer the main story. It’s what the sentiment becomes when crystalized…

Legislation.

In the first six weeks of 2026, over 300 data center bills were filed across 30+ states – a clear shift from incentive-focused policies to regulatory oversight.

No state has yet enacted a statewide data center moratorium, though Maine came closest, passing one through both chambers before the governor vetoed it in April.

But the movement is finding its footing at the local level. Seattle announced a 365-day emergency moratorium last week, resulting in this headline from the Seattle Times:

Denver and Minneapolis vote on their own moratoriums this week. Camden County, Georgia, passed a nine-month ban on May 5.

And according to Good Jobs First, grassroots opposition has already blocked or delayed $156 billion in data center projects across 40 states in just over a year.

The direction of travel is clear.

Since we’ve mentioned AI and “jobs,” let’s address that too…

The California Labor Federation has pledged to support more than two dozen AI-related worker protection bills this year.

California’s SB 951 would amend the state’s WARN Act to cover AI-driven displacement, requiring 90 days’ advance notice before automation-related layoffs plus disclosure of the specific AI system used.

And California’s AB 2027 would prohibit employers from using worker data to train AI systems designed to replace those same workers.

This last bill is, in legislative form, a direct response to the “train your replacement” dynamic I highlighted in our May 5 Digest – the deliberate workflow documentation programs that preceded Oracle’s 30,000 layoffs and Meta’s 8,000 cuts this spring.

Put it all together, and here’s Luke with where this backlash takes us:

The force that will derail the AI Boom is not a technological failure, demand collapse, or even a recession.

It is politics – specifically, a populist backlash against AI that is already building momentum, fueled by the growing economic pain hitting American households right now.

So, when does all this hit your portfolio?

Luke projects right around the 2028 presidential election cycle.

His case rests on three compounding pressure points: rising energy costs from data center construction landing directly on residential electricity bills… accelerating AI-attributed layoffs across major employers… and widening wealth inequality that is visible, measurable and personal to the households experiencing it.

Luke says that by 2027, anti-AI messaging will have become a dominant political narrative. That will result in AI-curbing legislation – taxes, restrictions on data center construction, and labor displacement provisions.

And that, according to Luke, is when the curtain falls:

That is the scenario that ends the AI Boom. And it is not a remote tail risk.

Make your money now.

The window for transformational wealth creation in this AI cycle is the next two to three years.

This isn’t a bear call. It’s the opposite – an urgent bull call with a specific expiration date. As Luke put it:

This trade will not last forever. Like everything, it has an expiration date.

For how Luke is playing the AI trade while the window is open – including his latest research on what he believes could be Elon Musk’s most ambitious project yet (it has nothing to do with Tesla or SpaceX) – click here for his full presentation.

As we begin to wrap up, two things to consider

The first could accelerate this trade, while the second could slow it considerably.

The visibility of Luke’s political clock – the fact that sophisticated investors can now see the 2028 timeline coming – may actually pull capital and returns forward.

If the window closes in two to three years, the rational response is to accelerate into it now, not retreat from it. That’s part of what you’re seeing in the Cerebras oversubscription, the SpaceX IPO queue, and the latest Tesla-related opportunity Luke has found: capital racing to get positioned before the friction arrives.

The clock’s visibility doesn’t slow the trade. It intensifies it – right up until it doesn’t.

Meanwhile, the other issue is a wildcard – or perhaps we’ll call a “Trump” card…

In March 2026, the White House published a National AI Legislative Framework calling on Congress to preempt state AI laws that “impose undue burdens” – a direct attempt to neutralize the California bills, the data center moratoriums, and the entire state-level wave before it reaches critical mass.

If that federal preemption push succeeds, Luke’s political clock extends considerably.

We’ll keep tracking both.

So, what does all this mean for your portfolio today?

The AI trade – taking a breather now – is working. The capex loop is intact and growing. What Luke has called “the Summer of AI” appears to be underway.

But this isn’t a forever trade…

The Lower-K’s deteriorating financial health isn’t a risk to the AI trade today. But it is the kindling for tomorrow.

Meanwhile, rising electricity bills, stagnant wages, record delinquencies, and all-time low sentiment – none of that threatens Anthropic’s Google Cloud deal or Cerebras’ IPO. But it creates the conditions for when the spark of political anger strikes and ignites that kindling.

Luke’s bet: that happens right around 2028.

Two Americas. One trade. And a clock that’s ticking.

Have a good evening,

Jeff Remsburg

P.S. While the political clock ticks on the AI trade, 91���� is focused on what’s happening right now…

And he believes a rare window is opening in a corner of the market most investors are overlooking entirely thanks to the Fed and new chair Kevin Warsh.

In his latest research presentation, Louis walks through exactly what his system is seeing and why the timing matters, and he even shares a free stock pick tied to this opportunity.

We’re taking Louis’ research video offline tomorrow, so if you want to catch it before it comes down here’s your chance.

The post When the AI Backlash Will Hit Your Portfolio appeared first on InvestorPlace.

Editor’s Note: By the time a stock feels “safe” to buy, the biggest gains are usually gone.

That’s one of the biggest lessons from Nvidia’s historic run.

Back in 2019, before AI dominated headlines, Nvidia was still just another underfollowed growth stock to most of Wall Street. But 91����’s system was already flagging the company’s accelerating fundamentals and rising institutional demand.

Today, Louis shares how his system identified the trade early enough to generate gains of more than 5,000% for some investors… and why he believes another group of potential breakout stocks is emerging right now.

He just shared all his insight at his Fed Shock event — including the names of 53 small caps that could be ready to run. Catch the replay to get those details.

Here’s Louis…

Imagine making 5,000% on a stock.

I’ll give you a moment with that number.

In real terms, a $10,000 investment becomes $500,000. A $20,000 investment becomes $1 million. A $50,000 investment — money that might otherwise be sitting in a savings account earning almost nothing — becomes $2.5 million.

Now, think of what you could do with that.

Pay off the house. Wipe out your kids’ student loans. Retire a few years early. Take the trip you’ve been putting off for a decade. Set up the grandkids with a heck of a graduation present. 

Whatever it is that would change your life, or the lives of the people around you, that number could do it.

Sound impossible? I understand why you might think so.

But I want to introduce you to some people for whom it wasn’t.

See, last week, we crossed the 5,000% mark with one of my Growth Investor recommendations. 

The stock? Nvidia Corp. (NVDA). 

It was a big deal, so when I sent the news to my subscribers, I asked them to write in and share what the ride had meant for them.

I was blown away by the responses. What they told me reminded me why I do this.

So, in this piece, I want to share a few of their stories. I’ll tell you how this recommendation came about, what I think happens next with NVIDIA – and, most importantly, what to do next. 

Then, I’ll wrap things up by telling you why I believe the next generation of stories like these is already taking shape. That’s one of the reasons I hosted my 10X Fed Shock event earlier this week. If you haven’t had a chance to watch the replay yet, I think what I’m about to share will make you want to. 

How Nvidia Stock Created Life-Changing Gains 

“NVDA has made me wealthy — some people call it rich. I am sitting on over $2.1 million in unrealized gains on a basis of $42,000. But it’s better than that. I’ve been a Navellier subscriber since the 1990s, and it’s that which has really made me wealthy. Louis’s recommendations have done that for me. Hands down the best ROI of any investment product or manager I’ve ever seen or used. When I started investing with Louis, my trade size was $1,000. It grew to $5,000, then $10,000, $25,000, $50,000 and now $100,000 as I reinvest my gains.”

— Jeff S.

“Louie, I can’t thank you enough for your recommendation of NVDA. I invested about $9,000 a few years ago and now it is worth about $340,000. I worked in a factory for over 40 years and never made over $35,000 a year. Thanks to you, I learned how to save and invest. We have gone on trips, given money to charity, and given shares to family for Christmas and other occasions. We are now worth over $3,000,000. The system works every time if you just stick to it and don’t quit when there is a correction.”

— Tom S.

“I’ve been following your Growth Investor advice for many years and recently upgraded to Omnia member. I purchased NVDA in June 2019 on your advice for $3.73 and added to it at $7.34 in February 2020. What a fantastic win. But my portfolio looked terribly unbalanced at this point. It occurred to me to gift each of my four nephews and nieces 100 shares of NVDA. Thanks to you, I’ve become their Favorite Aunt. For a couple of them, it was their first exposure to owning stocks. I hope I’ve opened their eyes to new possibilities for building wealth.”

— Sue M.

Stock Grader Found Nvidia Before the AI Boom 

Oddly, Nvidia started out as what I’d call a “story stock” for me. I originally recommended it in May 2016 after visiting my son at Stanford. The school debuted a self-driving race car named Shelley, built using chips from a company most investors hadn’t paid much attention to yet. The name on those chips was Nvidia.

I’ll be transparent with you. I sold the stock after locking in a solid gain. At the time, it felt like the right call.

But I re-added it to our Buy List over at Growth Investor in May 2019. Back then, the AI buildout we’re living through today was not on anyone’s radar. But my Stock Grader system flagged it the way it flags every stock: strong earnings revisions, phenomenal surprise history, accelerating sales.

The model doesn’t care about stories. It cares about numbers. And Nvidia’s numbers were extraordinary.

They still are.

Why Nvidia Stock Still Scores Strong Today 

I want to be honest with you. I’ve been at this for nearly 50 years, and I’ve never seen anything quite like this. Not in terms of speed or scale. Not in terms of how completely one company has become the backbone of a technological revolution that is still, by my estimation, in the early innings. 

Jensen Huang’s team recently reported sales up over 100% year over year. Again. The order backlog keeps growing. The data center business keeps expanding. Every major hyperscaler on Earth is lining up to buy more Nvidia silicon. And the replacement cycle for Blackwell chips hasn’t even started in earnest.

So what do we do now?

We hold.

I know that might sound anticlimactic after a 5,000% gain. But when a stock scores this high in my fundamental model, when the earnings revisions keep moving in the right direction and the order backlog keeps getting bigger, I don’t look for the exit. I keep my head down and I stick with it.

What’s clear to me is that Nvidia isn’t resting on its success. The company has plans for robotics, self-driving, quantum computing, and more. 

Add it all up, and I believe NVDA will hit $300 per share by the end of 2026 and $500 per share by the end of the decade.

To put it simply: this is a stock that could make you rich, folks. If it hasn’t already.

The Secret to Finding the Next Nvidia Stock

I’m not sharing these stories to brag. 

I’m sharing them because I want you to understand something important about how wealth like this actually gets built.

Nvidia was not a household name when I recommended it. It’s easy to forget that, because today everyone, everywhere in the financial media talks about it… all the time. 

But back in 2019, only video game enthusiasts knew about Nvidia chips for their superior graphics. It was just a smaller company doing some interesting stuff. 

But it showed up in my Stock Grader system with exactly the right combination of signals: strong and improving fundamentals… and institutional money beginning to move in quietly ahead of the headlines.

That’s it. That’s the whole secret.

The next Nvidia won’t announce itself either. It won’t be a name you already know. It won’t be a stock your neighbor is talking about at a barbecue. 

By the time a company reaches the kind of size and visibility that makes it feel “safe” to buy, the window for the biggest gains has usually already begun to close.

The investors who built the kind of wealth you just read about got there by being early. 

Not reckless. Not speculative. Early. Positioned before the crowd figured it out.

And here’s the thing about being early. You can’t do it by gut feel or by following the news. 

You need a machine that is scanning thousands of stocks every single week, looking for the specific combination of signals that tend to show up before the price starts to take off.

That’s what Stock Grader does. That’s what it did with Nvidia. And that’s what it’s doing right now…

53 Stocks Flashing Early Winner Signals 

Right now, my system has flagged 53 stocks showing those same early signals. Strong fundamentals. Building institutional buying pressure. Consistent top rankings month after month. 

Most of them are names you’ve probably never heard of. They’re too small for the big Wall Street funds to touch. But they’re not too small for my system, and they’re not too small for you.

Small-cap stocks – like the ones I recommend in my Breakthrough Stocks service – are already on fire. The Russell 2000 is up 38% over the past year. And I believe we are at the beginning of a sustained tailwind for exactly this corner of the market.

I lay out the full case in my new 10X Fed Shock video. And I include my highest-conviction picks from that list. 

If you haven’t watched the replay yet, I’d encourage you to do it today. 

The next group of winners is already showing up in my system. If even one of these stocks does a fraction of what Nvidia has done, the stories that come out of it could look a lot like the ones you just read.

Here’s that link again to watch the replay.

The post Looking for the Next Nvidia Stock? Start Here appeared first on InvestorPlace.

That’s when the grand finale of earnings season will take place.

Of course, that’s when NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) will announce its first-quarter results.

Personally, I’m expecting fireworks.

The analyst community is expecting another blowout quarter, with earnings estimates revised higher in the past three months. First-quarter earnings are now forecast to surge 119.8% year-over-year to $1.78 per share.

Wall Street will also be keen to hear about the progress on the rollout of the Vera Rubin platform – which is NVIDIA’s latest GPU chip.

Now, many of you are big fans of NVIDIA, like I am.

And why wouldn’t we be? This is a stock that has guided my subscribers and I to gains of over 5,000%.

This is a stock that should continue to make us rich. The company has some big things in the works, and I expect it to continue to dominate the AI space for the foreseeable future.

But what if I told you that there is an AI stock that has even more stunning sales and earnings than NVIDIA?

I’ll share what that stock is in this week’s Navellier Market Buzz, including why investors believe it could outperform NVIDIA. Believe it or not, President Trump just bought it, too.

In fact, we’ll discuss how he just gave a big vote of confidence to many of our fundamentally superior stocks. Plus, we get into the exploding AI infrastructure demand and last week’s inflation data.

Click the image below to watch now.

To see more of my videos, click here to subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Plus, the grades in Stock Grader (subscription required) have been updated this week! Click here to plug in your own stocks and see how they’re rated.

Could the Next NVIDIA Already Be Emerging?

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m a big fan of NVIDIA, and I don’t plan on selling it any time soon.

But here’s the thing…

Whether you were early or not on NVIDIA, the good news is that the next big winner is always right around the corner. So, you should always be on the lookout for the next NVIDIA.

The trouble is, the next market leaders probably aren’t household names yet.

And that’s why you need a proven system like Stock Grader, which screens more than 6,000 stocks to identify the ones with the best fundamentals, backed by growing buying pressure.  

And right now, Stock Grader is telling me that the next big winners could be on what I’m calling my “Exclusion List.”

This is a list of 53 companies currently earning some of the strongest grades in my system.

Currently, they’re too small for most of the “whales” on the market – the big institutions and hedge funds.

But that’s your advantage.

Some of the companies on my Exclusion List are tied to AI. Others are benefiting from entirely different trends. But all 53 are companies you should be paying close attention to right now.

In my latest presentation, I explain everything you need to know about these stocks, including the one major catalyst that could power them even higher over the next few months.

I encourage you to watch it soon, because this presentation will be taken down this Wednesday at midnight.

Click here to watch now.

Sincerely,

91����

Editor, Market 360

The Editor hereby discloses that as of the date of this email, the Editor, directly or indirectly, owns the following securities that are the subject of the commentary, analysis, opinions, advice, or recommendations in, or which are otherwise mentioned in, the essay set forth below:

NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA)

The post This AI Stock Has Even Faster Growth Than NVIDIA appeared first on InvestorPlace.

This morning, the 10-year Treasury yield hit a 52-week high – 4.6%.

That alone has important consequences for your portfolio, but there’s another angle on this that could be even more impactful.

First, to make sure we’re all on the same page, the 10-year Treasury yield is the most important number in the global economy. It sets the tone for borrowing costs – mortgages, business loans, and credit markets. It determines the discount rate investors use to value future earnings, meaning higher yields compress stock valuations. And it competes directly with stocks: when “risk-free” yields rise, money rotates out of equities.

Basically, when the 10-year moves, everything feels it.

This 52-week high comes as mounting inflationary pressures tied to the Iran war strengthen expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike later this year.

But in the chart below, you’ll see a setup brewing that could be even more challenging for millions of portfolios.

What you’re looking at is the 10-year Treasury yield dating back to mid-2021. The trendlines reveal a textbook symmetrical triangle – a compression pattern in which higher lows and lower highs converge toward a decision point. History suggests that when these trendlines meet, a big move follows.

The question is “which direction?”

A significant breakout from here would open the door for a move to at least 18-year highs in yields just above 5% – potentially even higher if market confidence is truly shaken.

On the other hand, a break below the rising lower trendline – around 4.0% – would signal a return toward much lower yields, and with it, the rate-cut environment that much of the market was expecting at the start of this year.

Right now, the bond market is signaling an upside break.

What’s the case for each move?

Proponents of a yield breakout point toward the Federal Reserve’s dual mandate: keeping inflation under control while supporting employment.

Right now, they argue, inflation pressures tied to energy and the Iran conflict are reaccelerating faster than the labor market is weakening. In other words, rising inflation is strengthening the case for higher rates – or at least keeping rates elevated – while employment conditions still aren’t weak enough to justify cuts.

That’s why some economists now believe the Fed could find itself boxed in. Even if growth slows, persistent inflation may prevent policymakers from easing monetary policy anytime soon.

Here’s Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi laying out the case last week:

I just don’t see how [new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh] is going to get any kind of support for cutting interest rates in the current environment.

If [inflation expectations continue] to move higher – and they are drifting higher – it’s going to be tough.

Not only will cutting rates be off the table, but even holding rates where they are is going to be pretty tough.

On the “break lower” side, let’s go to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Speaking to CNBC last week, he said:

I firmly believe that nothing is more transient than a supply shock, and we can look through that, because before the Iranian conflict began, core inflation was coming down.

So, I think core inflation will continue coming down.

In strengthening his case, he added:

I was never on team transitory during Covid.

We’ll get to the other side of this, and I don’t know whether it’s a few days or a few weeks, and energy inflation will come back down.

The mention of “transitory” points us toward the crux of the issue

Will Iran-related inflation remain a temporary supply shock – or will it harden into the structural, embedded kind?

Zandi appears to be leaning toward embedded. Bessent continues to argue transitory, drawing a careful distinction between energy-shock inflation – which has a natural ceiling – and the demand-driven variety that proved so stubborn after Covid.

As we’ve covered in recent Digests, legendary investor 91���� has been making the same argument as Bessent. His read: the market is misreading a temporary shock as a structural problem, and he’s been positioning his subscribers accordingly – ahead of what he believes will be an eventual rate-cut cycle.

The wildcard in all this is the new Fed Chair, Kevin Warsh. While Warsh has held hawkish views on monetary policy in the past, he has also called for “regime change” at the central bank and, last fall, wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that AI is a “significant disinflationary force.”

Which Warsh shows up to his first FOMC meeting on June 16-17 matters enormously for how this wedge resolves.

Louis has already made his call: transitory wins, the wedge breaks lower, and rate cuts are coming. For the specific companies he’s positioning in ahead of that outcome – and the historical playbook he’s drawing from – check out the replay of his 10X Fed Shock event from last week right here.

Switching gears, Jonathan Rose just gave his viewers a chance to pocket 140% in two days – here’s how…

While the market wrestles with inflation data and Fed uncertainty, veteran trader Jonathan Rose, editor of Masters in Trading Live, is doing what he does best: finding high-conviction short-term trades and putting his subscribers in position to profit regardless of market direction.

In last Monday’s free Masters in Trading Live episode, Jonathan highlighted opportunities in Chinese stocks. His logic was straightforward:

China stocks are going to rally into Trump going to China. Trump is going to come out of China with some kind of good news because that’s how these things work…

He’s not going there to come back and say, “I got bad news. Let’s wreck the market.” No, he wants to support the market. 

He recommended buying the JD.com Inc. (JD) June 18 $32 calls, paying up to $1.25 per contract.

By Wednesday, JD had ripped more than 8% higher, causing Jonathan’s recommended option to jump to around $3.00.

Anyone who watched the free Masters in Trading Live episode and pulled the trigger turned every $125 risked into roughly $280 in two sessions – a better than 140% return on premium.

And the trade isn’t over…

The calls still have roughly 30 days to expiration. Jonathan says that this gives traders a variety of ways to play it: ride the position longer, take partial profits, or roll up to lock in gains and stay in the game.

This is the kind of setup Jonathan regularly delivers in his free episodes. To be there when he flags the next one for his viewers, click here to join him in Masters in Trading Live.

Now, Jonathan’s primary trading edge isn’t chasing what’s hot. It’s following institutional footprints before the crowd arrives – and often selling to the retail crowd when they arrive late.

That’s all the more important today because as Tom Yeung explains below, once speculative trades become too crowded – especially in AI – the risks can rise fast.

The AI trade everyone loves is starting to look dangerous

Tom, lead analyst for our global macro expert 91���� in Fry’s Investment Report, published a piece last week that every investor riding the AI wave should read carefully.

It opens with a story about a Canadian hydrologist – someone with a Ph.D. in Arctic environmental science who has never traded anything in his life. He recently built an AI trading platform in six days using Anthropic’s Claude Code.

The platform scrapes news feeds, Reddit and Twitter, and trades that information across three financial exchanges. It has reportedly worked well.

Now, while Tom applauds the initiative and success, his overall take isn’t positive:

I’m alarmed because I know how these algorithms work.

I’ve built several of them myself, and the success of Eythorsson’s specific approach means we’re entering a manic phase of stock markets where hype and attention matter more than the fundamentals.

Tom cites numbers that back this up.

Semiconductor stocks, as measured by the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX), rose as much as 70% over just six weeks. Shares of Intel Corp. (INTC) now trade at roughly 100 times forward earnings – higher than during the dot-com peak. And one chipmaker that lost $54 million last year is trading at 60 times forward earnings.

Even if you’re in the AI trade and not yet ready to sell, Tom’s take here must be wrestled with:

We’re seeing valuations where it is possible for stocks to lose 50% or more on sentiment alone.

To be clear, Tom and Eric aren’t telling investors to avoid AI entirely – their advice is to avoid the crowded, momentum-driven trade and focus instead on what Eric calls “AI Survivors.”

These are companies producing goods and services that AI cannot replicate or replace, in industries like agriculture, energy, mining and hospitality.

For Eric’s full thinking on where to be positioned – and what to avoid – check out his “Sell This, Buy That” research reports, where he gives away a handful of specific stocks to sell and buy.

As for Tom, I’ll let him take us out today:

We all know that 1999 and 2021 both ended poorly for speculators. Momentum alone cannot justify sky-high prices, and “silly” prices have a habit of coming back down hard…

When a reckoning comes – and it will – the results will wipe out years of performance…

It’s essential to stay away from stocks with large downside.

Have a good evening,

Jeff Remsburg

The post The Bond Market Just Flashed Red appeared first on InvestorPlace.

This Week’s Ratings Changes:

Upgraded: Strong to Very Strong

Downgraded: Very Strong to Strong

Upgraded: Neutral to Strong

Downgraded: Strong to Neutral

Upgraded: Weak to Neutral

Downgraded: Neutral to Weak

Upgraded: Very Weak to Weak

Downgraded: Weak to Very Weak

To stay on top of my latest stock ratings, plug your holdings into Stock Grader, my proprietary stock screening tool. But, you must be a subscriber to one of my premium services.

To learn more about my premium service, Growth Investor, and get my latest picks, go here. Or, if you are a member of one of my premium services, you can go here to get started.

Sincerely,

91����

Editor, Market 360

The post Target Upgraded, Pfizer Downgraded: Updated Rankings on Top Blue-Chip Stocks appeared first on InvestorPlace.

Google says it’s preparing to “define the agentic AI era.”

That’s the message from Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) heading into this week’s massive I/O conference. (I/O stands for Input/Output, a foundational computer science term referencing communication between a computing system and the outside world.)

But if history is any guide, investors chasing the companies building AI may eventually make the same mistake investors made during the dot-com boom: confusing the technology itself with the businesses that profit most from using it.

In the leadup to this year’s I/O, Google is heavily signaling that its next wave of AI announcements will focus on agentic AI.

Agentic systems are the “next generation” of AI technologies that can make decisions by themselves and adapt to changes. They are essentially like the brain behind a smart assistant or AI robot, able to perceive their environment and act accordingly.

Previews of I/O 2026 point to upgrades around Project Astra, more capable Gemini agents, AI agents inside Search and Chrome, and developer tools for agentic workflows.

Now, new products announced at I/O can shift sentiment around AI. And the market is increasingly rewarding companies perceived as leaders in autonomous AI systems.

That’s because agentic AI is seen as the hottest next technological step after generative AI.

But when most people think about agentic AI, they think about the companies building it – like Google, Anthropic, OpenAI, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT). They think about developer conferences and headline-grabbing announcements.

But the most interesting agentic AI stories are not unfolding in these spaces.

They are in the operations of seemingly ordinary companies.

History has a name for these companies. We call them the “Appliers,” and if history is any guide, many of them will thrive over the next few years.

They are quieter than the “Builders.” They generate fewer headlines and less spectacle, but they often generate surprising success.

Consider what happened during the birth of commercial radio. In the 1920s, a new technology called the “radio” was becoming the hottest technology of the early 20th century. More than 600 companies rushed into the radio manufacturing business during the boom. By 1934, only 18 remained.

The companies that survived – and eventually thrived – were not the radio-builders. They were the radio Appliers: the advertisers who used the airwaves to reach millions of consumers for the first time, the retailers who built national brands through radio sponsorships, the entertainment companies that turned programming into profit.

The Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) invented the soap opera – literally – to sell soap to the housewives who were listening. The technology itself was only as valuable as what people chose to do with it.

History suggests that the greatest returns of the AI era will go not to the companies that build the technology, but the companies that figure out what to do with it, profitably.

All else being equal, I trust history.

So, while Google says it will define the agentic AI era, I believe it will be the Appliers that actually do.

But not all Appliers are created equal. Not every company using AI has an advantage. We’ve reached the stage in the technological cycle where execution matters more than adoption.

I’ll share how to find Applier stocks that are being made stronger by agentic AI below. But first, let’s take a look back at what we covered here at Smart Money last week.

Smart Money Roundup

Missed This 5,000% Gain With Nvidia? Here’s What to Do Next…

May 17, 2026

For nearly 50 years, 91���� has built his reputation around finding fundamentally strong growth stocks before Wall Street catches on. Few examples are bigger than Nvidia, which recently crossed the 5,000% mark for his long-term subscribers. He believes a new group of smaller companies may now be showing similar early signals.

While Everyone Chases AI, Pharma Keeps Getting Cheaper

May 16, 2026

The hype surrounding the AI trade is diverting attention from potentially lucrative pharmaceutical stocks. That disconnect, along with several promising developments, could now make it the right time to take another look at the sector.

The AI Trade Everyone Loves Is 91���� to Get Dangerous

May 14, 2026

Tom Yeung considers the dangers of the latest AI mania – and the safer investing path to follow instead. The best AI investment opportunities may come from companies outside of tech that use AI to improve efficiency, automate operations, and increase profits, rather than from the firms building the AI infrastructure itself. Click here to read more.

The Fed Is 91���� to Change Everything. Are You Ready?

May 13, 2026

Louis joins us to explain why two men connected to one of the most famous trades in financial history – the 1992 collapse of the British pound – may soon play a major role in shaping the next phase of U.S. monetary policy. This shift could create a rare opportunity in small-cap stocks.

Defining the Age of Agentic AI

The investing landscape of the last two years – where you could buy almost anything connected to AI and make money. That landscape no longer exists.

My stock-picking system is built to help me find those companies at the most promising moment. That includes Applier companies set to soar in the growing age of agentic AI.

And it is flagging several right now.

My system uses a host of proprietary indicators to unearth incredible opportunities. It scans over 14,000 stocks and crunches more than 120 billion data points a day. More than 3 trillion a month. It runs on the same underlying technology platform used by Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan.

My system not only helps me identify winning Applier stocks, but it also helps me identify when to get in at a massive discount.

Agentic AI is about to create the kind of setup I’ve spent my career waiting for. You don’t have to wait for hyperscalers like Google to “define the agentic AI era.” Now is your chance to get in early and define it for yourself.

Click here to learn more about the specific stocks my system is flagging right now.

Regards,

91����

The post Google May Define Agentic AI… but These Stocks Will Make Investors Richer appeared first on InvestorPlace.

Betting on the winning website was hard. Owning the infrastructure every website needed was easier.

Amazon (AMZN) survived. Pets.com disappeared. AOL rose, then faded. Dozens of internet companies burned through hundreds of millions of dollars and left investors with nothing. But Cisco (CSCO) made money through it all because every byte of internet traffic needed its routers and switches to move across the web.

The stock rose about 3,400% in five years.

Cisco didn’t have to pick the winning website because it sold the equipment that made the internet work.

The same dynamic is starting to play out in AI right now — but with one important twist.

The market already understands that AI needs infrastructure. What it still underestimates is how much more infrastructure AI consumes when it stops answering questions and starts completing work.

That is the next phase of the boom. And it creates what we call the Invisible AI Tax.

From Chatbots to Agents: Why the Infrastructure Bill Just Got 20x Bigger

A chatbot answers a prompt. An agent pursues a goal.

Those two consume very different amounts of infrastructure.

A simple chatbot exchange might process a few hundred tokens — the chunks of text a model reads and generates to complete a response. You ask a question, the model answers, and the interaction ends.

But an agentic workflow is different.

Tell a chatbot, “Write me a marketing plan,” and it gives you a response. Tell an agent, “Grow our market share by 15% this quarter,” and it starts working. It researches competitors, pulls internal data, drafts campaigns, tests messages, coordinates with other agents, revises, reports, and keeps going until the task is done.

What begins as a few hundred tokens can become tens of thousands as the system plans, executes, checks its own work, calls tools, communicates with databases, and iterates. That is the part most investors still have not fully processed.

AI agents can consume 20 to 30 times more physical infrastructure per task than a simple chatbot exchange.

Not 20% more — 20 to 30 times more.

More compute, more memory, more networking, more cooling, more power, more data center capacity.

And this is not some distant scenario. More than half of major enterprises already have AI agents running in production, and adoption is projected to rise sharply over the next year.

That means the AI boom is moving from experimentation to persistent infrastructure consumption.

(And if persistent infrastructure consumption is the theme you’re most focused on right now, I’d point you toward one story I think the market is almost entirely missing — it has nothing to do with AI, but the investment logic is identical. More on that here.)

The question is where, exactly, all that additional demand lands. 

The Six Tollbooths Every Agentic AI Workload Must Pay 

Think of the AI economy as a superhighway.

Every model query and agentic task has to travel across physical infrastructure. And along the way, it passes through six tollbooths: compute, memory, networking, thermal management, power, and real estate.

We’ve covered parts of this system before — the custom silicon shift, the data center networking bottleneck, and the physical limits around power and cooling. But this piece is about the next layer of the thesis: agents consume that infrastructure — and then some.

Compute is the most visible. Every AI model needs specialized chips to run — GPUs, custom accelerators, and inference chips built to handle enormous amounts of parallel processing. Nvidia still sits at the center of this layer, but custom silicon designers are increasingly important as hyperscalers build cheaper, optimized chips for their own AI workloads.

Memory is the next toll. Agents need context; to remember what they have done, what they are doing, and what comes next. The longer and more complex the task, the larger the context window — and the more high-performance memory the system needs to keep everything moving.

Networking may be the least appreciated tollbooth. Agents communicate with databases, tools, APIs, external services, and other agents. That traffic has to move between chips, racks, servers, and data centers at extraordinary speed. As agentic AI spreads, switches, interconnects, cables, optics, and networking silicon become even more important.

Then comes thermal management. Dense AI racks generate extreme heat. And because agentic workloads run longer and more persistently than simple chatbot requests, thermal production only rises. Liquid cooling, coolant distribution units, and precision thermal systems are now core infrastructure for keeping AI systems online.

Power is the fifth toll. AI agents do not sleep. They can run constantly, across thousands of enterprises, performing tasks in the background around the clock. That persistence requires grid upgrades, onsite power, long-term electricity contracts, and reliable baseload energy.

Finally, there is real estate. Every server, chip, cooling unit, power system, and networking rack has to live somewhere. That means specialized data center buildings with access to land, electricity, cooling, and fiber.

A chatbot taps all six. An agent pounds them.

That is the Invisible AI Tax. And the bigger the agent economy gets, the more every transaction pays it.

The Numbers Are Already Showing Up In Earnings 

The tollbooths are already collecting.

At Google Cloud Next, CEO Sundar Pichai disclosed that Google’s AI models are processing more than 16 billion tokens per minute. That number was up about 60% from the prior quarter. And hundreds of Google customers each consumed more than one trillion tokens over the past year.

One trillion tokens each.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has said the amount of inference compute needed is already 100 times more than initially expected — and that this is just the beginning.

Hyperscaler AI infrastructure spending is exploding. AI-related memory demand is surging. Networking targets are moving higher. Cooling backlogs are expanding. Power companies are signing long-term agreements with cloud giants. Data center landlords are leasing capacity as fast as they can build it.

The tollbooth companies are not hoping this demand shows up. They are reporting it quarter after quarter.

And the agentic multiplier is only starting to hit.

What This Means for Agentic AI Stocks 

The AI model war will produce winners and losers.

OpenAI. Google. Anthropic. Meta. xAI. Chinese competitors. Open-source models. Proprietary models. Some will win. Some will fade. 

Trying to pick the ultimate winner is hard, and even the smartest technology investors can get it wrong.

But whichever model wins, the infrastructure bill stays the same.

Every model needs compute. Every agent needs memory. Every workflow needs networking. Every rack needs cooling. Every data center needs power. Every server needs a building.

That is why the Invisible AI Tax matters so much.

The best-positioned infrastructure companies get paid as AI usage intensifies.

And agents are the multiplier.

The first phase of this boom was about proving AI worked. The next is about paying to run it at scale.

That is where the tollbooth companies sit.

The Real Risks (This Isn’t a Free Lunch)

None of this makes these stocks risk-free.

Many already trade at premium valuations. A pause in hyperscaler capex would hit the group as a whole. Some companies have heavy customer concentration. And some emerging infrastructure plays — especially in next-generation power, cooling, and optical networking — still carry real execution risk.

But those are timing and sizing risks. They do not break the core thesis.

The shift from chatbots to agents increases infrastructure consumption per task. And a narrow set of companies collects revenue as that consumption rises.

The Infrastructure Always Gets Paid

Most investors are watching the AI race and trying to pick the winner. That is the wrong game.

The winner of a race still has to run the road. And the AI road has a toll.

The companies collecting that toll get paid regardless of who crosses the finish line first. 

I’ve spent years hunting for the companies that sit at the center of inevitable, unstoppable trends — the Ciscos of their era, not the Pets.coms.

Right now, I’m more excited about one particular opportunity than anything else I’m watching in this market.

It has nothing to do with AI infrastructure. But the logic is identical: find the tollbooth, not the traffic.

Money is the oldest and largest market in the world, measuring $480 trillion globally. And for the first time in a generation, the infrastructure underneath it is being rebuilt from scratch. I believe Elon Musk is at the center of it, and the window to get positioned early is closing fast.

I’ve put together a full briefing on exactly what’s happening, which stocks I think are best positioned to profit, and why I think this could be the biggest wealth-building story of the decade.

Here’s everything I know.

The post Why the Smartest AI Investors Are Ignoring the Model Race appeared first on InvestorPlace.

Few examples are bigger than Nvidia, which recently crossed the 5,000% mark for his long-term subscribers.

In today’s issue, I invited Louis to explain how his Stock Grader system identified Nvidia years before AI became Wall Street’s favorite story — and why he believes a new group of smaller companies may now be showing similar early signals.

He also shares several remarkable stories from subscribers whose lives were changed by Nvidia’s rise, along with details from his recent 10X Fed Shock video, where he outlines 53 of the small-cap stocks his system is flagging right now. You can watch the replay here.

Here’s Louis…

Imagine making 5,000% on a stock.

I’ll give you a moment with that number.

In real terms, a $10,000 investment becomes $500,000. A $20,000 investment becomes $1 million. A $50,000 investment — money that might otherwise be sitting in a savings account earning almost nothing — becomes $2.5 million.

Now, think of what you could do with that.

Pay off the house. Wipe out your kids’ student loans. Retire a few years early. Take the trip you’ve been putting off for a decade. Set up the grandkids with a heck of a graduation present.

Whatever it is that would change your life, or the lives of the people around you, that number could do it.

Sound impossible? I understand why you might think so.

But I want to introduce you to some people for whom it wasn’t.

See, last week, we crossed the 5,000% mark with one of my Growth Investor recommendations.

The stock? Nvidia Corp. (NVDA).

It was a big deal, so when I sent the news to my subscribers, I asked them to write in and share what the ride had meant for them.

I was blown away by the responses. What they told me reminded me why I do this.

So, in this piece, I want to share a few of their stories. I’ll tell you how this recommendation came about, what I think happens next with NVIDIA – and, most importantly, what to do next.

Then, I’ll wrap things up by telling you why I believe the next generation of stories like these is already taking shape. That’s one of the reasons I hosted my 10X Fed Shock event earlier this week. If you haven’t had a chance to watch the replay yet, I think what I’m about to share will make you want to.

Nvidia Made These People Rich

“NVDA has made me wealthy — some people call it rich. I am sitting on over $2.1 million in unrealized gains on a basis of $42,000. But it’s better than that. I’ve been a Navellier subscriber since the 1990s, and it’s that which has really made me wealthy. Louis’s recommendations have done that for me. Hands down the best ROI of any investment product or manager I’ve ever seen or used. When I started investing with Louis, my trade size was $1,000. It grew to $5,000, then $10,000, $25,000, $50,000 and now $100,000 as I reinvest my gains.”

— Jeff S.

“Louie, I can’t thank you enough for your recommendation of NVDA. I invested about $9,000 a few years ago and now it is worth about $340,000. I worked in a factory for over 40 years and never made over $35,000 a year. Thanks to you, I learned how to save and invest. We have gone on trips, given money to charity, and given shares to family for Christmas and other occasions. We are now worth over $3,000,000. The system works every time if you just stick to it and don’t quit when there is a correction.”

— Tom S.

“I’ve been following your Growth Investor advice for many years and recently upgraded to Omnia member. I purchased NVDA in June 2019 on your advice for $3.73 and added to it at $7.34 in February 2020. What a fantastic win. But my portfolio looked terribly unbalanced at this point. It occurred to me to gift each of my four nephews and nieces 100 shares of NVDA. Thanks to you, I’ve become their Favorite Aunt. For a couple of them, it was their first exposure to owning stocks. I hope I’ve opened their eyes to new possibilities for building wealth.”

— Sue M.

How It Started

Oddly, Nvidia started out as what I’d call a “story stock” for me. I originally recommended it in May 2016 after visiting my son at Stanford. The school debuted a self-driving race car named Shelley, built using chips from a company most investors hadn’t paid much attention to yet. The name on those chips was Nvidia.

I’ll be transparent with you. I sold the stock after locking in a solid gain. At the time, it felt like the right call.

But I re-added it to our Buy List over at Growth Investor in May 2019. Back then, the AI buildout we’re living through today was not on anyone’s radar. But my Stock Grader system flagged it the way it flags every stock: strong earnings revisions, phenomenal surprise history, accelerating sales.

The model doesn’t care about stories. It cares about numbers. And Nvidia’s numbers were extraordinary.

They still are.

What the Numbers Say Now

I want to be honest with you. I’ve been at this for nearly 50 years, and I’ve never seen anything quite like this. Not in terms of speed. Not in terms of scale. Not in terms of how completely one company has become the backbone of a technological revolution that is still, by my estimation, in the early innings.

Jensen Huang’s team recently reported sales up over 100% year over year. Again. The order backlog keeps growing. The data center business keeps expanding. Every major hyperscaler on Earth is lining up to buy more Nvidia silicon. And the replacement cycle for Blackwell chips hasn’t even started in earnest.

So what do we do now?

We hold.

I know that might sound anticlimactic after a 5,000% gain. But when a stock scores this high in my fundamental model, when the earnings revisions keep moving in the right direction and the order backlog keeps getting bigger, I don’t look for the exit. I keep my head down and I stick with it.

What’s clear to me is that Nvidia isn’t resting on its success. The company has plans for robotics, self-driving, quantum computing, and more.

Add it all up, and I believe NVDA will hit $300 per share by the end of 2026 and $500 per share by the end of the decade.

To put it simply: this is a stock that could make you rich, folks. If it hasn’t already.

The Secret to Life-Changing Gains

I’m not sharing these stories to brag.

I’m sharing them because I want you to understand something important about how wealth like this actually gets built.

Nvidia was not a household name when I recommended it. It’s easy to forget that, because today everyone, everywhere in the financial media talks about it… all the time.

But back in 2019, only video game enthusiasts knew about Nvidia chips for their superior graphics. It was just a smaller company doing some interesting stuff.

But it showed up in my Stock Grader system with exactly the right combination of signals: strong and improving fundamentals… and institutional money beginning to move in quietly ahead of the headlines.

That’s it. That’s the whole secret.

The next Nvidia won’t announce itself either. It won’t be a name you already know. It won’t be a stock your neighbor is talking about at a barbecue.

By the time a company reaches the kind of size and visibility that makes it feel “safe” to buy, the window for the biggest gains has usually already begun to close.

The investors who built the kind of wealth you just read about got there by being early.

Not reckless. Not speculative. Early. Positioned before the crowd figured it out.

And here’s the thing about being early. You can’t do it by gut feel. You can’t do it by following the news.

You need a machine that is scanning thousands of stocks every single week, looking for the specific combination of signals that tend to show up before the price starts to take off.

That’s what Stock Grader does. That’s what it did with Nvidia. And that’s what it’s doing right now…

What Comes Next

Right now, my system has flagged 53 stocks showing those same early signals. Strong fundamentals. Building institutional buying pressure. Consistent top rankings month after month.

Most of them are names you’ve probably never heard of. They’re too small for the big Wall Street funds to touch. But they’re not too small for my system, and they’re not too small for you.

Small-cap stocks – like the ones I recommend in my Breakthrough Stocks service – are already on fire. The Russell 2000 is up 38% over the past year. And I believe we are at the beginning of a sustained tailwind for exactly this corner of the market.

I lay out the full case in my new 10X Fed Shock video. And I include my highest-conviction picks from that list.

If you haven’t watched the replay yet, I’d encourage you to do it today.

The next group of winners is already showing up in my system. If even one of these stocks does a fraction of what Nvidia has done, the stories that come out of it could look a lot like the ones you just read.

Here’s that link again to watch the replay.

Sincerely,

91����

P.S. The subscriber stories Louis shares in today’s issue are genuinely remarkable — but what stood out to me most is how often the same theme comes up: These investors got positioned early, before Nvidia became a household name. That’s exactly what Louis believes may be happening again right now in a new group of smaller stocks his system is flagging. If you haven’t watched the replay of his 10X Fed Shock video yet, I’d encourage you to do that here.

The Editor hereby discloses that as of the date of this email, the Editor, directly or indirectly, owns the following securities that are the subject of the commentary, analysis, opinions, advice, or recommendations in, or which are otherwise mentioned in, the essay set forth below:

NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA)

The post Missed This 5,000% Gain With Nvidia? Here’s What to Do Next… appeared first on InvestorPlace.

Right now, Wall Street is crowding into the same handful of stocks. Everyone owns the same mega-caps and semiconductor names. Everyone is chasing the same returns. And everyone assumes interest rates are staying higher for longer.

That’s exactly why I think smaller stocks may be one of the most interesting opportunities in the market today.

Last week, I introduced three small-cap stocks from InvestorPlace Senior Analyst 91����’s “Exclusion List” — a group of 53 smaller companies his system has flagged as unusually well positioned for the next phase of the market.

The timing was important. Last Wednesday, the Senate confirmed Kevin Warsh as the 17th chairman of the Federal Reserve. Warsh has historically favored lower interest rates, and Louis believes the market may still be underestimating the odds of lower rates later this year.

Now, to be clear, there’s still plenty of uncertainty here. Gasoline and food prices are rising fast, and most investors believe that inflation could force the Fed to keep rates higher for longer – or even hike rates.

But that’s exactly the point.

When “everyone knows” the same thing, opportunities tend to emerge elsewhere — especially in smaller companies that Wall Street often ignores.

Today, I want to introduce you to three more small-cap stocks from Louis’ Exclusion List.

And if you’d like to see the full list of 53 stocks — along with Louis’ full case for why he believes we may be entering one of the most important small-cap opportunities in years — you can watch the limited-time replay of his presentation right here.

Exclusion List Small-Cap Stock to Buy No. 1: Data Centers… and Oil?

It’s been an excellent several quarters for our first company. AI data center construction has caused shortages throughout the construction supply chain, and shares of this Houston-based firm have risen 130% since 2025:

Perma-Pipe International Holdings Inc. (PPIH).

Perma-Pipe is a manufacturer of specialty piping systems – the insulated, layered pipes that go into everything from heating and cooling systems to oil and gas pipelines. The company also sells leak-detection systems.

These products have caught on with data centers. Roughly 30% to 40% of an AI data center’s total energy usage goes into cooling, so better-insulated piping quickly becomes a cost advantage.

Conveniently, Perma-Pipe sells arguably the world’s widest range of these insulated pipes. Its XTRU-THERM product line, for instance, can operate as low as -320°F, while its TRACE-THERM goes up to 1,200°F. They also offer corrosion-resistant pipes, budget pipes, fire-retardant pipes, and so on.

Demand for Perma-Pipe’s products has proved insatiable. In March 2026, management announced it would add a new production facility in Ohio specifically for AI data centers. Revenues were up 33% last year.

Even better, Perma-Pipe is an oil and gas play hiding in plain sight.

In the early 2020s, the company began expanding into the Middle East. Governments in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and beyond were seeking suppliers for their district cooling projects (centralized air conditioning at enormous scale), and Perma-Pipe turned out to be a convenient “one-stop-shop” for these megaprojects. Not only did the American firm offer a wide variety of pipes for municipal cooling, but they could also supply oil and gas pipelines crucial to the region’s economy. This vastly simplified the approvals process and led to the construction of multiple Perma-Pipe factories in the region.

In fact, Perma-Pipe’s expansion was so successful that the company eventually promoted the head of its Middle East operations, Saleh Sagr, to CEO in 2025.

The near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz has now put pipeline megaprojects back on the table. Over the past several months, the Saudi government has floated the idea of expanding its East-West pipeline to avoid the blockade of the Persian Gulf. The United Arab Emirates is exploring a second pipeline to increase current capacity to the Gulf of Oman. Syria and Israel have both suggested building pipelines through to the Mediterranean to bypass the contested region entirely.

Any of these projects could provide a windfall for Perma-Pipe, which generated roughly half of its sales from the Middle East in 2025. Oil and gas pipelines require far more piping than single data center projects, and even repairing the damage from Iranian strikes could cost billions.

And so, AI data centers and the need for new infrastructure in the Middle East give Perma-Pipe two distinct catalysts beyond interest rates. Analysts are projecting only an 8% increase in revenues this year (and zero earnings growth), which I believe understates the opportunity the firm has ahead of it.

And if investors do pivot toward smaller-cap stocks as rates get cut, then PPIH’s strong run may still have room to keep going.

Exclusion List Small-Cap Stock to Buy No. 2: Backup to the Future

The second pick today is a battery maker that’s also quickly turning itself into an AI data center supplier:

Electrovaya Inc. (ELVA).

This Canadian small-cap built its business around high-end lithium-ion batteries for electric forklifts and other warehouse equipment. This core market helped drive 43% sales growth last year and helped flip the firm from negative profits to positive.

It’s important to note that Electrovaya uses a proprietary ceramic composite separator (CCS) called SEPARION in its products. This allows batteries to last three to five times longer than normal and charge up far faster – making them less likely to catch fire. (Meanwhile, normal lithium-ion batteries use a thinner plastic-like membrane that’s prone to softening and shrinking.)

These are extremely important features for forklifts for warehouses (where fires can be devastating) and have allowed ELVA to land major customers like Walmart Inc. (WMT) and Home Depot Inc. (HD).

But the more compelling story is where Electrovaya is going next: robotics, automation, defense, and (most importantly) AI data center energy storage.

In April 2025, the company began battery system assembly at its new 52-acre “gigafactory” in Jamestown, New York. The company plans to begin lithium-ion cell and module production in mid-2026, and much of this is aimed at powering the next generation of robots, drones, and AI data centers.

For AI data centers, Electrovaya is developing an 800-volt DC battery system specifically to meet a new standard set by Nvidia Corp. (NVDA). AI chips require far more energy than before (so higher voltages are ideal), and batteries are needed to supply energy during the crucial minutes it takes to start up diesel generators or switch power sources. As every high schooler with a writing project knows, even a split-second power outage can prove catastrophic for data recovery. Electrovaya’s SEPARION technology is particularly well suited for high voltages, where fire risks are high.

The firm expects commercial deliveries to start in 2027.

Meanwhile, Electrovaya’s energy-dense 48V batteries should prove essential for robots and drones, where batteries are constantly charged and discharged. Revenues are expected to rise another 35% this year before accelerating to a 50% growth rate in fiscal 2027 as its Jamestown gigafactory reaches full scale.

Exclusion List Small-Cap Stock to Buy No. 3: The Toyo Alternative

Last week, I flagged Toyo Corp. (TOYO) as a stock to buy. The company recently acquired a 1-gigawatt solar manufacturing plant in Texas and plans to expand it to 2.5GW this year. Import tariffs and rising electricity prices mean that Toyo should see strong demand for its highly efficient solar panels.

However, Toyo’s fraud risk is quite high due to its complex holding structure – somewhat typical of Japanese companies – and numerous related-party transactions. Its auditor also has a long history of failing regulatory inspections. And so, I’d like to flag an alternative solar maker this week:

Tigo Energy Inc. (TYGO).

The Silicon Valley-based company has a far simpler corporate structure and a more reputable auditor, Deloitte & Touche.

It also has a similar growth profile, with revenues expected to compound 26% annually through 2028. Profits are expected to flip positive this year, a historically bullish sign.

Tigo’s “secret sauce” is its flagship product, the TS4 Module-Level Power Electronics (MLPE) optimizer.

Ordinarily, solar arrays are limited by their weakest panel. Uneven aging or passing clouds create bottlenecks, reducing the output of the whole system. TS4 MLPE optimizers solve this problem with some electrical engineering, allowing every panel to run closer to its maximum output. And unlike rivals like SolarEdge Technologies Inc. (SEDG) and Enphase Energy Inc. (ENPH), Tigo’s products do not rely on proprietary inverters.

That makes Tigo’s products popular among the “repowering” market. Homeowners can add Tigo’s TS4 optimizers to old systems without tearing existing pieces out, and revenues from this segment have jumped to 20% of total U.S. sales. The systems are also popular among utilities, wary of locking themselves into SolarEdge’s or Enphase’s proprietary systems.

The company also does quite well in foreign markets, especially Europe and Australia. Both regions are seeing higher electricity prices, and I expect solar installations to rise as utilities seek alternatives to fossil fuels.

And so, shares look highly reasonable at $4 today. Demand for solar energy is rising, and Tigo provides an essential piece of that puzzle.

Investing Away from the Crowd

Earlier on, I pointed out that most investors see near-zero chance of a rate cut this year. “Everyone knows” rates are staying high.

Yet, six months ago, everyone also “knew” it was Kevin Hassett (not Kevin Warsh) who would be the next Federal Reserve Chair. Futures markets “knew” that oil would trade at $56 by the end of 2026.

That’s why investing against the crowd sometimes works so well. You’re getting into trades before anyone realizes what’s going on. And even if rates aren’t cut this year, these three picks should still perform well.

• PPIH is growing revenues 33% annually and sits at the center of both the AI data center buildout and a potential Middle East pipeline boom.
• ELVA is ramping a gigafactory to supply batteries for robots, drones, and Nvidia-spec data centers.
• TYGO is riding a global solar surge with a product that works with any existing system.

These three picks – and the other three from last week — are just a starting point.

Louis has identified 53 small caps positioned to benefit if the new Fed begins cutting rates, and he explains exactly why he believes those cuts are coming in his brand-new, free presentation.

This broadcast is only available for a limited time, so I urge you to watch it now before it goes offline.

Until next week,

Thomas Yeung, CFA

Market Analyst, InvestorPlace

Thomas Yeung is a market analyst and portfolio manager of the Omnia Portfolio, the highest-tier subscription at InvestorPlace. He is the former editor of Tom Yeung’s Profit & Protection, a free e-letter about investing to profit in good times and protecting gains during the bad.

The post 3 More Small-Cap Stocks to Buy appeared first on InvestorPlace.

Yes, he found and refined more oil than his competitors. But that wasn’t the key to his success.

Rockefeller ultimately built his legacy by owning the pipeline, not the oil — the infrastructure that every barrel had to flow through to get from the ground to the market. 

Once he controlled that layer, the game changed. Competitors could find all the oil they wanted. They still had to move it through him. 

That is the infrastructure rule: whoever owns the bottleneck owns the economics.  

Amazon (AMZN) didn’t win the internet age by selling books better than Barnes & Noble. It built AWS — the cloud infrastructure that much of the startup, tech, and enterprise world now runs on top of. AWS has often generated the majority of Amazon’s operating income, despite being a much smaller share of total revenue. 

Apple (AAPL) didn’t win the smartphone age by building the best phone. It built the App Store — the distribution layer iPhone developers had to pass through — and collected a commission on the commerce that flowed across it. 

The pipeline, not the product, is the real prize.

Now that same logic is starting to show up in artificial intelligence.

Data. Compute. Models. Robots. Distribution.

Elon Musk is assembling pieces across all of them — and taken together, they look less like separate businesses than the early architecture of a vertically integrated AI empire.

We call it Elon Co.

What Is Elon Co.? The Four Layers of Musk’s AI Stack 

From what we can tell,X, SpaceX, xAI, and Tesla (TSLA) are four layers of a single machine.

Layer One: X Gives xAI a Proprietary Data Moat 

Every AI model needs training data. And many frontier AI models still rely heavily on overlapping public-web data: scraped pages, forum posts, Wikipedia archives, code repositories, and licensed text. Essentially, everyone is drinking from the same data lake, and then claiming their model is meaningfully different.

Grok — xAI’s AI model — is different. And the reason is X.

Musk has claimed that X generates roughly 500 billion tokens of human language every day — actual thoughts, arguments, jokes, fears, and observations from hundreds of millions of real people, in real time. 

OpenAI has ChatGPT. Google has Search and YouTube. Meta (META) has Facebook and Instagram. But X gives xAI something different: a live, text-heavy feed of human reaction as it happens. Arguments, jokes, panic, politics, markets, culture — all of it, constantly refreshing. 

Musk’s data moat is proprietary, constantly refreshing, and difficult for competitors to replicate at the same scale. 

That’s the fuel.

And X may not stop at fueling Grok. The same platform that gives xAI a live stream of human behavior could also become the distribution layer for Musk’s financial ambitions through X Money — a something we’ve been tracking closely. If X becomes not just where people talk, but where they transact, invest, and manage money, the infrastructure implications get even larger.

Layer Two: SpaceX and the Orbital Data Center Thesis

Meanwhile, the global AI industry is running into a growing physical constraint.

Tech companies plan to spend trillions building AI data centers by 2030. But the bottleneck is no longer just chips or capital. It is the physical infrastructure required to run them: grid connections, power availability, cooling capacity, and land with the right utility footprint. 

AI is extraordinarily energy hungry, and today’s grid infrastructure is struggling to keep up. 

Musk’s longer-term solution is to move some data centers into space.

In January 2026, SpaceX filed with the Federal Communications Commission to “launch and operate a new NGSO satellite system of up to one million satellites to operate as the ‘SpaceX Orbital Data Center system’.”

The physics here are compelling, even if the engineering is tricky. Solar arrays in low Earth orbit receive stronger and more consistent sunlight than panels on Earth because there is no atmosphere or weather. Heat can be radiated into space through dedicated thermal systems rather than managed with water-intensive cooling. And the bandwidth of laser inter-satellite links exceeds what any fiber optic cable can carry.

An orbital supercomputer, powered by persistent solar exposure, cooled through space-based thermal systems, and connected by laser links.

But here’s the critical point that separates this from science fiction: SpaceX already operates 8,000 satellites in orbit right now through its Starlink network. SpaceX is not trying to build an orbital network from scratch. It already has thousands of powered, connected machines circling the planet. Orbital compute would be an expansion of that infrastructure, not a cold start. 

And no one else has the same launch economics. Others have rockets. SpaceX has Starship — the vehicle designed to make orbital infrastructure economics viable at scale. 

Layer Three: Grok Could Turn Cheaper Compute Into AI Advantage

With proprietary training data and potentially cheaper compute on the horizon, Grok could develop a structural advantage that most rivals would struggle to match.

If your compute costs are a fraction of what everyone else pays — because you are harvesting solar power in orbit instead of buying grid electricity and paying to cool a terrestrial data center  — you can train longer, run more experiments, serve more users, and iterate faster than any rival whose economics are tethered to a power utility.

The Memphis supercomputer that xAI built in 2025 — 100,000 Nvidia (NVDA) GPUs, assembled in a fraction of the time many expected — was the proof of concept. It demonstrated that Musk can execute at speed that defies conventional expectation. The orbital compute layer is the second act.

Sam Altman — CEO of OpenAI, arguably Grok’s most direct competitor — has said that orbital data centers “might be the long-term solution.” Altman is right. Orbital compute is probably where this ends up. And right now, SpaceX is the only company with a rocket business capable of making the math work. 

Layer Four: Tesla Optimus Puts AI Into the Physical World

This is the layer that makes Elon Co. categorically different from the rest of the AI industry.

Most AI companies are still building intelligence that primarily lives inside a screen. It answers your questions, writes your emails, generates images. All of that is useful and valuable. But it doesn’t reach through the screen. It can’t load the dishwasher, work in a factory, or build a house.

Tesla’s humanoid robot Optimus — now in early production at the Gigafactory in Austin — is designed to take the intelligence produced by the Fuel, Engine, and Brain layers and put it to work in the physical world. At $20,000-$25,000 per unit at scale (Musk’s stated cost target), Optimus operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. It learns from every task it performs, updates via software, and becomes more capable over time.

Optimus is designed to be produced at automotive scale, using Tesla’s existing manufacturing infrastructure, supply chain relationships, and production engineering excellence — the same infrastructure that proved it could build the Model 3 at volume when everyone said it couldn’t.

The market is still pricing Tesla as an electric vehicle company with margin pressure and Chinese competition. That framing may prove as wrong as pricing Amazon as an online bookstore in 2006. 

If Tesla proves Optimus can scale, the market will have to stop valuing it like an EV company and start valuing it like a physical AI platform. That would be a very different stock. 

How to Invest Around Elon Musk’s AI Empire 

Musk is building something rare: a vertically integrated AI stack that stretches from data to compute to models to physical deployment. 

Most of that stack is either private, partially inaccessible, or misunderstood by public markets. That is why the investable angle is not just Musk himself — it is the suppliers enabling the system: those building the components, infrastructure, and services that make Elon Co. possible.

That means looking for companies that are: 

• Building the cloud infrastructure and developer platforms that process X’s data and host applications built on Grok
• Manufacturing satellite hardware, space-grade chips, solar arrays, and laser communication systems for orbital compute
• Designing custom AI silicon, high-bandwidth memory, and connectivity semiconductors for Grok’s training and inference workloads
• Supplying vision systems, motion-control hardware, edge AI chips, and test equipment that could go into Optimus units

Many supply chain names are still underfollowed. That may change if the SpaceX IPO forces Wall Street to take orbital AI infrastructure seriously. The gap between what these companies enable and how the market currently values them is where the most interesting returns may come from. 

The Bottom Line: Own the Bottlenecks Behind Elon Co. 

During the California Gold Rush, the miners weren’t the folks who got rich. The people who sold picks, shovels, denim, and banking services were. 

The miners took the risk. The infrastructure suppliers took the margin.

The history of wealth creation is ultimately the history of infrastructure.

Pipelines. Railroads. Cloud networks. App stores.

The people who controlled the flow captured the economics.

That’s why Elon Co. matters.

And it’s why the single most important piece of the puzzle may not be rockets, robots, or AI models — but what’s beginning to form inside X itself.

Because if Musk turns X into the financial backbone for this new ecosystem, the implications won’t stop at technology.

They’ll extend into money. And that could create a generational investment opportunity.

See our full thesis here.

The post The One Musk Advantage No AI Rival Can Copy appeared first on InvestorPlace.

If your family includes millennials and Gen Z-ers, you’ve probably heard one word thrown around a lot: “hype.” They use it to talk about something exciting, energetic, or highly anticipated.

But between the 1910s and 1920s, long before it entered the lexicon of youthful enthusiasm, hype referred to the grift a con man might use to swindle or overcharge customers.

And by 1967, the meaning had evolved to signify “excessive or misleading publicity or advertising.”

These past definitions all express forms of deception, which is exactly how hype operates in the stock market. It tempts investors to “chase stocks” that are already wildly popular.

For brief periods of time, hype-chasing can produce huge gains. But hanging onto this gains is not easy. Once they hype dies out, stocks usually plummet quickly. During the last three years of the dot-com boom, for example, Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) soared more than 1,300%! But just one year after that peak, the stock had collapsed more than 80%…and did not regain its peak price until this year, 26 years later.

Today, artificial intelligence is unquestionably the most “hype” topic in the stock market…which is why investors are climbing over one another to throw money at “AI darlings.” Even Cisco is on that list again!

Many investors have abandoned previously held sectors to chase the AI gold rush, leaving behind one particularly “underhyped” sector:

Healthcare.

In today’s Smart Money, I’ll explain how the hype surrounding the AI trade is diverting attention from potentially lucrative pharmaceutical stocks.

And why that disconnect, along with several promising developments, could make now the right time to take another look at the sector.

Let’s dive in…

How the AI Trade Left Healthcare Behind

Popular ways to profit from the rise of AI include investing in its infrastructure, data centers, and the energy and semiconductors needed to power them.

Nvidia Corp. (NVDA), the most popularly held chip company,has leaped 1,255% since November 30, 2022, when ChatGPT first hit the scene and forever changed how we use technology and AI…

Vertiv Holdings Inc. (VRT), which brings computing services and cooling solutions to data centers, has surged 2,579% since then…

Lumentum Holdings, Inc. (LITE), which supplies photonic solutions to data centers, has jumped 1,658%.

All while the iShares Pharmaceuticals ETF (IHE) has grown just 43% during that same stretch. Compared to AI and mega-cap tech stocks, that doesn’t look so hype.

Pharma stocks haven’t participated in the same speculative excitement as their AI counterparts. The NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index is trading for just 16 times forward earnings, which is barely half the valuation of the Nasdaq Composite Index of 29 times.

Healthcare has historically commanded a premium or near-market valuation, driven by steady demand, consistent cash flows, aging demographics, and resilience during recessions.

However, Barron’s noted last summer that those stocks were trading at some of their cheapest relative valuations versus the broader market in roughly 30 years.

And they still are today… because investors have been selling them to buy AI-related stocks instead.

But healthcare stocks‘ earnings remain quite steady, while valuation multiples experienced a significant squeeze. As a result, they didn’t perform as well, even though profits stayed strong.

This change has led healthcare stocks to trade at a discount – making them more appealing given their growth potential.

However, where you invest in the sector is still important…

Where AI Is Actually Helping Healthcare

It’s important to note that cheap valuations do not automatically make for good investments.

There are several other reasons why pharmaceutical stocks are trading at discount levels right now, including ongoing uncertainty around government policy and healthcare regulation.

The current environment at the Department of Health and Human Services, combined with broader debates over vaccine policy, drug pricing, and Medicare reform, has made investors cautious.

At the same time, however, AI has helped create powerful new growth for select healthcare companies – particularly those using AI to accelerate and optimize the drug-discovery process.

An article from the World Economic Forum published earlier this year explains how AI is transforming three key stages in drug discovery:

The pharmaceutical industry has officially entered the Age of AI, and no major drug company wants to be left behind. Collectively, it recognizes AI’s potential to revolutionize the drug-discovery process.

This is especially true as agentic AI further transforms the healthcare space.

Just this week, Owkin, an agentic AI company that develops AI tools for drug discovery and pharmaceutical research, said that it’s expanding its partnership with pharma giant AstraZeneca PLC (AZN) to build specialized AI agents for AstraZeneca’s research teams.

The push toward semiautonomous AI agents running parts of the pharmaceutical workflow is still in its early stages, but I expect the trend to grow significantly.

This transformational technology could both improve the plight of humanity and enrich forward-looking investors.

But betting on a hit-or-miss biotech company driven by unchecked AI hype may not be the best way to capitalize…

The Risk-Reward Play Worth Watching Now

Instead, at this stage of the opportunity, select large-cap drug companies may offer better risk-reward profiles.

I want investors to focus not just on growth, but on profitable companies with more defensive characteristics – especially as the hype around agentic AI grows.

That’s why I have my eye on one particular pharmaceutical trade.

You can find information for this healthcare play inside my Three Accelerator Trades for the Agentic Reckoning report, where I outline a total of three trades designed to accelerate gains from companies successfully leveraging agentic AI.

Learn how to access this report by clicking here.

You’ll be taken to an important presentation where I explain some of the best ways to navigate the current AI landscape, especially as agentic AI gains prominence and the excitement surrounding it clouds investors’ judgment.

During my presentation, I also give away my No. 1 stock pick for free – a company that is widely applying AI across a wide range of industries, including automation, the service business – and even healthcare.

Click here for all the information.

Regards,

91����

The post While Everyone Chases AI, Pharma Keeps Getting Cheaper appeared first on InvestorPlace.

Have you ever dreamt of winning the lottery?

You see the billboards or signs in stores advertising the size of the jackpot, and it’s easy to get lost in your imagination.

What if…?

Well, a 56-year-old Michigan man recently won a $1 million Powerball prize. That isn’t so unusual except for how he picked the numbers.

According to Michigan Lottery Connect, the winning numbers were generated by a Zoltar machine in Las Vegas 30 years ago. You’re probably familiar with these machines that have sat in arcades all over the country for decades.

Credit: Kirk Fisher

The lucky lottery winner used the same set of numbers for nearly three decades.

And Zoltar finally paid off!

With his winnings, the Michigan man plans to pay off his house and car, take a vacation, and save for retirement. All the things you might have thought about when daydreaming about winning the lottery.

Stories like that capture our imagination because they speak to something universal: the belief that life can change in an instant.

But while many people spend their lives, or at least 30 years of it, hoping for a lucky break, a small group of investors quietly builds wealth differently.

Putting Yourself Ahead of Winners

Some investors position themselves ahead of major shifts before those shifts become obvious to everyone else.

That’s how fortunes were made in:

• the early internet
• smartphones
• digital payments
• Tesla
• and already – and increasingly – AI

It may be happening again right now – in the financial system itself.

One investor who believes we may be approaching that kind of moment is our technology expert, Luke Lango, editor of Innovation Investor. Luke has spent much of his career studying disruptive innovations before they go mainstream.

Long before AI became a household obsession, Luke was urging investors to pay attention to companies like Nvidia and Palantir.

Years before that, he identified 91���� as a major opportunity before the stock soared thousands of percent.

His specialty has long been recognizing the repeating pattern that can help build wealth.

A new technology emerges, and many people dismiss it early…

Then suddenly, the world changes around it.

A good example is Luke’s recommendation of Seagate Technology Holdings (STX). Here is Luke’s description of STX from when he recommended it in August 2024:

Seagate is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of data storage solutions.

The widespread rollout of AI applications over the next few years will require a significant buildout of high-performance data storage solutions, meaning we are likely sitting on the cusp of a massive boom in the data storage market.

For the first six months after that pick, the stock mostly moved sideways.

But since then, the need for greater data storage solutions has only become more desperate. And STX’s early sideways chop?

As you can see below, it turned into the “massive boom” that Luke predicted.

Since Luke’s initial recommendation, the stock is now up around 800%.

Despite this return, the numbers suggest there are more gains ahead. Here is Luke’s summary from STX’s recent quarterly earnings report in late April:

Monster quarter from Seagate Technology (STX) strongly suggests that this AI memory boom cycle has legs and therefore that STX stock has lots more upside left. 

Big Q3 beat+raise report. Revs +44%. Datacenter revs +55%. Gross margins +11 points. Operating margins +14 points. EPS +116%. Q4 guide calls for 40%+ revenue growth and 90%+ EPS growth next quarter.

AI is driving a memory demand boom. And it is showing no signs of slowing down. Management said they have exabyte-scale supply agreements with nearly all major cloud and hyperscale customers, nearline capacity is almost fully allocated through calendar 2027, and discussions are starting for 2028. Those are not signals of a one-quarter AI sugar high, but rather, a durable AI memory demand boom.  

Finding the Next Winners

According to Luke, the next major shift may not center on AI, electric vehicles, or even space technology.

It may center on something far bigger, and more significant for every person, regardless of whether they have ever invested a dollar:

The system that moves money itself.

For decades, the financial system changed little.

We moved from cash to credit cards, and we replaced bank branches with mobile apps…

But the underlying system stayed largely the same.

• Banks held your money.
• Brokerages handled your investments.
• Payment companies moved money between them.

Now, according to Luke, that entire structure may be on the verge of a massive transformation.

And one of the people pushing hardest to reshape it is one of the greatest technology and financial minds of our era, Elon Musk.

People think of Musk as the man behind Tesla, SpaceX, or AI.

But Luke believes Musk’s most ambitious project yet may involve something even bigger:

Rebuilding the way money moves through the economy itself.

It’s a vision Musk has reportedly pursued for decades — one that could eventually combine payments, banking, investing, and digital commerce into a single financial ecosystem.

And if Luke is right, the companies positioned at the center of that shift could see enormous gains as the trend accelerates.

That’s why Luke recently released a special presentation explaining:

• why he believes the financial system is entering a historic turning point,
• how Elon Musk fits into the story,
• and which stocks he believes could benefit most if this transformation unfolds the way he expects.

Because while some people spend decades waiting for the right lottery numbers…

Others build wealth by recognizing where the world is heading before everyone else catches on.

You can watch Luke’s full presentation here.

Enjoy your weekend,

Luis Hernandez

Editor in Chief, InvestorPlace

The post Elon Musk’s Next Big Idea May Change Money Forever appeared first on InvestorPlace.

In a couple of weeks, it will be Memorial Day weekend. You’re in the backyard. The grill is fired up. Someone hands you a cold one. The smell of burgers is in the air, and the afternoon is off to a great, sunny start.

Inevitably, somebody brings up the market.

Maybe it’s your brother-in-law. Maybe it’s your neighbor from two doors down. But somebody always does.

The same names always get brought up. NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA). Tesla Inc. (TSLA). Apple Inc. (AAPL). The same household names that have dominated the financial headlines for the past three years.

There’s nothing wrong with any of those names, necessarily.

It’s just that the big money has already been made.

But here’s what nobody at that barbecue is going to be talking about.

A company that helped build the Space Shuttle. That supplies high-strength alloys to the U.S. military for fighter jets, submarines and missile defense systems. One that is now quietly becoming one of the most important materials suppliers for the AI buildout.

Sounds pretty interesting, right?

My Stock Grader system flagged this company in August 2023, back when it had a $2.8 billion market cap and nobody was paying attention.

Today, that company is worth more than $20 billion. The subscribers who were with me from the beginning are sitting on gains of roughly 600%.

In today’s Market 360, I want to tell you how my system found this company before Wall Street did, what it actually does – and why I believe we are now entering an environment where investors could have the chance to land multiple winners exactly like this.

All you have to do is know where to look.

I recently explained all the details in my 10X Fed Shock event. And if you haven’t watched the replay, what I’m about to share will make you want to…

How My System Found a 600% Winner

Let me tell you exactly how this happened. Because the story of how I found this company is just as important as the company itself.

In August 2023, my Stock Grader system started flagging Carpenter Technology Corporation (CRS) – a specialty metals and materials company based in Philadelphia that most investors had never heard of.

It wasn’t making headlines. It wasn’t showing up on any must-own lists. The financial media wasn’t writing about it.

But my system doesn’t care about headlines. It cares about two things: the health of the underlying business and whether institutional money is beginning to move in quietly ahead of the crowd.

And on both counts, Carpenter Technology was lighting up – in fact, Stock Grader gave it a Total Grade of A (Very Strong).

But here’s the thing. In this case, the real heavy hitters weren’t accumulating yet. They couldn’t, really – this was a $2.8 billion company.

If they tried to buy shares of this company in any way that would move the needle for them, they’d send it through the roof – and kneecap themselves in the process.

This meant we were early.

So, I recommended it to my Breakthrough Stocks subscribers that August. Those subscribers are up roughly 600% today.

I should also add that I recommended it to my Growth Investor subscribers in November 2024.

In that service, we typically focus on large-cap stocks. Those subscribers are sitting at about a 127% gain as of this writing.

Now, 127% is nothing to scoff at. But in Growth Investor, we typically stay away from any company with a market cap of less than $10 billion.

But the difference between 127% and 650% on the exact same stock tells you everything you need to know about the power of finding a company before the crowd does.

Same company, but drastically different returns. In fact, we saw this pattern before with Bloom Energy Corporation (BE), the server company I talked about last week.

I recommended it in Breakthrough Stocks in March 2025, then in Growth Investor six months later. The latter is raking in gains of about 310%, while the former is bringing in a 1,160% gain as I’m writing this.

That’s a huge difference.

But what exactly made Carpenter Technology such a compelling opportunity in the first place?

What Makes Carpenter Technology So Compelling

Carpenter Technology isn’t a flashy company. It doesn’t make products you’ll find at the mall. It makes are the materials that make everything else possible.

The company develops high-performance alloys, specialty stainless steels and titanium products designed for conditions where failure simply isn’t an option.

Its materials went into NASA’s Space Shuttle and the Mars Rover. It’s a major supplier to the U.S. military – fighter jets, submarines, missile defense systems, you name it.

And now it’s expanding into AI-driven manufacturing, producing precision components and cooling infrastructure for the physical buildout of the AI boom.

Picks and shovels. Backbone. Pick whatever descriptor you want – Carpenter fits the bill.

The numbers back it up. Third-quarter revenue grew 11.6% year-over-year to $811.5 million, beating estimates. Adjusted earnings jumped 47.3% to $2.77 per share, topping expectations of $2.64. The company raised full-year operating income guidance to between $700 million and $705 million – roughly 33% growth year-over-year.

Most importantly, management noted that aerospace and defense demand is still at the “beginning of the growth cycle.” In other words, this is a company that’s potentially still in the early innings of its best run.

The Next Big Winners Are Around the Corner

Carpenter Technology was hiding in plain sight in August 2023. A $2.8 billion company doing some interesting things that Wall Street was too big to bother with.

My system found it. My subscribers got in early. And the results speak for themselves.

But here’s what I really want you to understand.

This isn’t a one-time story. This is how my system works – and right now, it’s working overtime.

Aside from Carpenter, I’ve already told you about Bloom Energy– up 1,100% in 14 months.

But there’s also:

• Celestica Inc. (CLS): +525% in 22 months
• Argan Inc. (AGX): +500% in 13 months
• Idaho Strategic Resources Inc. (IDR): +430% in 11 months
• TTM Technologies Inc. (TTMI): +270% in 9 months

And more.

Every one of these was a smaller, underfollowed company when my system flagged it. Every one of them was too small for the biggest Wall Street funds to touch in any meaningful way. And every one of them showed the same early combination of strong fundamentals and building institutional buying pressure before the crowd showed up.

That’s not luck. That’s a system doing what it’s supposed to do. And right now, I believe we are entering one of the rarest market windows I’ve seen in nearly 50 years.

At my recent 10X Fed Shock event, I explained why I’ve seen this play out four times in my career: 1995, 2001, 2008 and 2020.

Each time, a specific group of smaller stocks delivered extraordinary gains before the crowd figured out what was happening.

I believe we are at the beginning of window number five.

That’s one reason why my system is flagging 53 stocks showing the same early signals as Carpenter.

I gave away one of those names for free – and laid out exactly why I believe this window is opening right now.

If you haven’t watched the replay yet, I’d encourage you to do so now. The investors who get positioned before the crowd figures out what’s happening are the ones who capture the biggest gains.

That’s always been true. I believe it’s especially true right now.

You can watch the full 10X Fed Shock replay here.

Sincerely,

91����

Editor, Market 360

The Editor hereby discloses that as of the date of this email, the Editor, directly or indirectly, owns the following securities that are the subject of the commentary, analysis, opinions, advice, or recommendations in, or which are otherwise mentioned in, the essay set forth below:

Argan Inc. (AGX), Bloom Energy Corporation (BE), Carpenter Technology Corporation (CRS), Celestica Inc. (CLS), Idaho Strategic Resources Inc. (IDR), NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) and TTM Technologies Inc. (TTMI)

The post How I Found a 600% Winner Before Wall Street Caught On appeared first on InvestorPlace.

91���� thinks that leadership cycle may be starting to change. The legendary growth investor believes a new Fed backdrop — combined with improving liquidity and falling rates over time — could create a powerful setup for smaller growth stocks.

In the essay below, Louis explains why two men linked to George Soros’ legendary British pound trade may soon play a major role in shaping that environment. More importantly, he explains why his Stock Grader system is already seeing early signs of rotation beneath the surface.

You can learn more — including the stocks Louis is watching most closely — in his Fed Shock replay here.

Here’s Louis…

On September 16, 1992, the British government was fighting for its financial life.

For months, currency traders had been circling the British pound. The pound was pegged to European currencies at a rate most believed was indefensible. The U.K. economy was weakening. Inflation was high due to economic growth in Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall. 

The math didn’t work. And one man – George Soros – decided to bet on it.

What followed was one of the most spectacular days in the history of global finance.

Soros shorted $10 billion worth of the British pound. 

The Bank of England fought back by buying pounds by the billions. It raised interest rates twice – from 10% to 12%, then to 15% – in a single day in a desperate attempt to defend the currency. 

But it didn’t work. By the evening, it was over. 

The British government surrendered. It unpegged the pound from Europe and later began a series of cuts, bringing its interest rate down to 6% by early 1993, leading to an economic recovery.

As for Soros, he made more than a billion dollars in a single day. The date went down in history as Black Wednesday.

I’m sure a lot of you folks know that story. But I bet not all of you know who else was in the room.

You see, two of the men connected to that trade are about to be in charge of American monetary and fiscal policy simultaneously. And I don’t think most investors have connected those dots yet.

I’m talking about Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Kevin Warsh, the incoming Federal Reserve Chair.

I’ve been at this for nearly five decades. I’ve seen every market cycle and every Fed regime come and go. And I want to tell you directly: I think this combination is very good news for your portfolio.

In this piece, I’ll explain the connection between Bessent and Warsh – and why I think it’s good news for investors. I’ll also give you my prediction for the Fed’s next move and how to be positioned before everyone else catches on. 

I went deeper at my Fed Shock event earlier this week, where I shared my highest-conviction picks and a free stock recommendation just for attending. (Check out the replay.)

The Warsh-Bessent Fed Pivot Investors Should Watch 

Our Treasury Secretary – Scott Bessent – was part of the team that pulled off the Bank of England trade for Soros. 

Kevin Warsh comes from the same world. After leaving the Fed in 2011, he went to work with Stanley Druckenmiller, the trader who actually executed the Black Wednesday trade. Druckenmiller and Bessent have remained close ever since.

These two men know each other, they trust each other, and they are operating from a shared playbook. And that playbook calls for lower rates.

Warsh has been a big critic of the Fed for years. He doesn’t like quantitative easing – the money printing that has ballooned the Fed’s balance sheet to nearly $7 trillion. But he also believes AI-driven productivity gains are fundamentally deflationary (meaning they’ll lower prices). 

Bessent, meanwhile, is one of the most capable economic minds in Washington. He has publicly called for 150 basis points in reductions — that’s 1.5% — and he is fully aware of the mounting debt burden the country carries. 

I believe he and Warsh are going to work together, and I believe they are going to move faster than the market expects.

How Fed Rate Cuts Could Lift Small-Cap Stocks

I’ve seen this movie before. Four times, to be precise.

Every time the Fed opens a sustained rate-cut cycle, the same dynamic plays out: smaller, domestically focused companies — the ones most sensitive to borrowing costs and most leveraged to U.S. economic growth — become the biggest winners. Not immediately. But consistently, and dramatically.

Here’s what happened the last four times:

• 1995 Fed pivot: Cisco +2,062%. Ascend +2,800%. AOL +2,900%.
• 2001 rate cuts: Frontline +1,513%. Hansen Natural +1,125%.
• 2008 rate cuts: Lithia Motors +475%. IPG Photonics +665%.
• 2020 COVID cuts: MARA Holdings +1,800%. Moderna +1,200%.

Different stocks. Different sectors. Same dynamic every time.

Now, I’m not naive about what we’re dealing with. There’s a war on. Inflation is still a factor. The Fed moves more slowly than anyone wants, and Warsh will need to build consensus on a 12-person committee. 

This isn’t going to happen overnight.

But the direction is clear. The players are in place. And history says this is how it plays out.

The Exclusion List: 53 Small-Cap Stocks Flashing Early Signals 

My Stock Grader system has already been running throughout this early phase of the cutting cycle – and it has flagged 53 stocks showing the same early signals I’ve described in every prior window. 

Strong fundamentals. Building institutional buying pressure. Consistent top rankings in my eight-factor model month after month.

I call it the Exclusion List. These are stocks that are too small for the big Wall Street funds to touch — but not too small for you.

I just shared my highest-conviction picks from that list at my Fed Shock event. They are the names I believe are best positioned for what’s coming. I also gave away a free stock recommendation just for attending. 

Get locked in here.

The post The Men Who Broke the Pound May Now Break Interest Rates Lower appeared first on InvestorPlace.

In today’s Friday Digest takeover, the legendary investor shares several remarkable stories from his readers who turned relatively modest Nvidia investments into six- and even seven-figure gains – including one subscriber whose original $42,000 position grew to more than $2 million.

But Louis says there’s a bigger lesson…

Long before AI dominated headlines, his Stock Grader system flagged NVDA for the same traits it always looks for: accelerating fundamentals, strong earnings revisions, and quiet institutional buying pressure building beneath the surface.

That’s the framework Louis still uses today – and now, he says, his system is identifying 53 smaller stocks showing similar early-stage signals.

Below, Louis explains why he believes the next generation of big AI winners may already be taking shape – and why the biggest gains often go to investors willing to get positioned before the crowd catches on.

He dove deeper into this setup during Wednesday’s 10X Fed Shock presentation, including several of the stocks his system is flagging right now. You can watch the replay right here.

If even one of these stocks delivers a fraction of Nvidia’s run, the upside could be extraordinary.

I’ll let Louis take it from here.

Imagine making 5,000% on a stock.

I’ll give you a moment with that number.

In real terms, a $10,000 investment becomes $500,000. A $20,000 investment becomes $1 million. A $50,000 investment — money that might otherwise be sitting in a savings account earning almost nothing — becomes $2.5 million.

Now, think of what you could do with that.

Pay off the house. Wipe out your kids’ student loans. Retire a few years early. Take the trip you’ve been putting off for a decade. Set up the grandkids with a heck of a graduation present.

Whatever it is that would change your life, or the lives of the people around you, that number could do it.

Sound impossible? I understand why you might think so.

But I want to introduce you to some people for whom it wasn’t.

See, last week, we crossed the 5,000% mark with one of my Growth Investor recommendations.

The stock? Nvidia Corp. (NVDA).

It was a big deal, so when I sent the news to my subscribers, I asked them to write in and share what the ride had meant for them.

I was blown away by the responses. What they told me reminded me why I do this.

So, in this piece, I want to share a few of their stories. I’ll tell you how this recommendation came about, what I think happens next with NVIDIA – and, most importantly, what to do next.

Then, I’ll wrap things up by telling you why I believe the next generation of stories like these is already taking shape. That’s one of the reasons I hosted my 10X Fed Shock event earlier this week. If you haven’t had a chance to watch the replay yet, I think what I’m about to share will make you want to.

Nvidia Made These People Rich

“NVDA has made me wealthy — some people call it rich. I am sitting on over $2.1 million in unrealized gains on a basis of $42,000. But it’s better than that. I’ve been a Navellier subscriber since the 1990s, and it’s that which has really made me wealthy. Louis’s recommendations have done that for me. Hands down the best ROI of any investment product or manager I’ve ever seen or used. When I started investing with Louis, my trade size was $1,000. It grew to $5,000, then $10,000, $25,000, $50,000 and now $100,000 as I reinvest my gains.”

— Jeff S.

“Louie, I can’t thank you enough for your recommendation of NVDA. I invested about $9,000 a few years ago and now it is worth about $340,000. I worked in a factory for over 40 years and never made over $35,000 a year. Thanks to you, I learned how to save and invest. We have gone on trips, given money to charity, and given shares to family for Christmas and other occasions. We are now worth over $3,000,000. The system works every time if you just stick to it and don’t quit when there is a correction.”

— Tom S.

“I’ve been following your Growth Investor advice for many years and recently upgraded to Omnia member. I purchased NVDA in June 2019 on your advice for $3.73 and added to it at $7.34 in February 2020. What a fantastic win. But my portfolio looked terribly unbalanced at this point. It occurred to me to gift each of my four nephews and nieces 100 shares of NVDA. Thanks to you, I’ve become their Favorite Aunt. For a couple of them, it was their first exposure to owning stocks. I hope I’ve opened their eyes to new possibilities for building wealth.”

— Sue M.

How It Started

Oddly, Nvidia started out as what I’d call a “story stock” for me. I originally recommended it in May 2016 after visiting my son at Stanford. The school debuted a self-driving race car named Shelley, built using chips from a company most investors hadn’t paid much attention to yet. The name on those chips was Nvidia.

I’ll be transparent with you. I sold the stock after locking in a solid gain. At the time, it felt like the right call.

But I re-added it to our Buy List over at Growth Investor in May 2019. Back then, the AI buildout we’re living through today was not on anyone’s radar. But my Stock Grader system flagged it the way it flags every stock: strong earnings revisions, phenomenal surprise history, accelerating sales.

The model doesn’t care about stories. It cares about numbers. And Nvidia’s numbers were extraordinary.

They still are.

What the Numbers Say Now

I want to be honest with you. I’ve been at this for nearly 50 years, and I’ve never seen anything quite like this. Not in terms of speed. Not in terms of scale. Not in terms of how completely one company has become the backbone of a technological revolution that is still, by my estimation, in the early innings.

Jensen Huang’s team recently reported sales up over 100% year over year. Again. The order backlog keeps growing. The data center business keeps expanding. Every major hyperscaler on Earth is lining up to buy more Nvidia silicon. And the replacement cycle for Blackwell chips hasn’t even started in earnest.

So what do we do now?

We hold.

I know that might sound anticlimactic after a 5,000% gain. But when a stock scores this high in my fundamental model, when the earnings revisions keep moving in the right direction and the order backlog keeps getting bigger, I don’t look for the exit. I keep my head down and I stick with it.

What’s clear to me is that Nvidia isn’t resting on its success. The company has plans for robotics, self-driving, quantum computing, and more.

Add it all up, and I believe NVDA will hit $300 per share by the end of 2026 and $500 per share by the end of the decade.

To put it simply: this is a stock that could make you rich, folks. If it hasn’t already.

The Secret to Life-Changing Gains

I’m not sharing these stories to brag.

I’m sharing them because I want you to understand something important about how wealth like this actually gets built.

Nvidia was not a household name when I recommended it. It’s easy to forget that, because today everyone, everywhere in the financial media talks about it… all the time.

But back in 2019, only video game enthusiasts knew about Nvidia chips for their superior graphics. It was just a smaller company doing some interesting stuff.

But it showed up in my Stock Grader system with exactly the right combination of signals: strong and improving fundamentals… and institutional money beginning to move in quietly ahead of the headlines.

That’s it. That’s the whole secret.

The next Nvidia won’t announce itself either. It won’t be a name you already know. It won’t be a stock your neighbor is talking about at a barbecue.

By the time a company reaches the kind of size and visibility that makes it feel “safe” to buy, the window for the biggest gains has usually already begun to close.

The investors who built the kind of wealth you just read about got there by being early.

Not reckless. Not speculative. Early. Positioned before the crowd figured it out.

And here’s the thing about being early. You can’t do it by gut feel. You can’t do it by following the news.

You need a machine that is scanning thousands of stocks every single week, looking for the specific combination of signals that tend to show up before the price starts to take off.

That’s what Stock Grader does. That’s what it did with Nvidia. And that’s what it’s doing right now…

What Comes Next

Right now, my system has flagged 53 stocks showing those same early signals. Strong fundamentals. Building institutional buying pressure. Consistent top rankings month after month.

Most of them are names you’ve probably never heard of. They’re too small for the big Wall Street funds to touch. But they’re not too small for my system, and they’re not too small for you.

Small-cap stocks – like the ones I recommend in my Breakthrough Stocks service – are already on fire. The Russell 2000 is up 38% over the past year. And I believe we are at the beginning of a sustained tailwind for exactly this corner of the market.

I lay out the full case in my new 10X Fed Shock video. And I include my highest-conviction picks from that list.

If you haven’t watched the replay yet, I’d encourage you to do it today.

The next group of winners is already showing up in my system. If even one of these stocks does a fraction of what Nvidia has done, the stories that come out of it could look a lot like the ones you just read.

Here’s that link again to watch the replay.

P.S. The subscriber stories Louis shares in today’s issue are genuinely remarkable — but what stood out to me most is how often the same theme comes up: These investors got positioned early, before Nvidia became a household name. That’s exactly what Louis believes may be happening again right now in a new group of smaller stocks his system is flagging. If you haven’t watched the replay of his 10X Fed Shock video yet, I’d encourage you to do that here.

The Editor hereby discloses that as of the date of this email, the Editor, directly or indirectly, owns the following securities that are the subject of the commentary, analysis, opinions, advice, or recommendations in, or which are otherwise mentioned in, the essay set forth below:

NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA)

The post Nvidia Made His Members Millionaires, and Now Louis Is Looking for the Next One appeared first on InvestorPlace.

A disaster.

And Kevin Warsh is walking right into the middle of it. Warsh was confirmed as the new Federal Reserve Chair in a 54-45 Senate vote earlier this week, and I hope he packed a lunch – because he has his work cut out for him.

But there’s something about these stories that most people are missing right now…

In this piece, I want to break down what the latest inflation reports are really telling us and what Warsh’s confirmation actually means for markets.

I’ll also explain why – despite all the noise – I believe we are entering one of the rarest and potentially most lucrative market windows I’ve seen in decades. I explain all the details in my 10X Fed Shock event – so be sure and catch it if you haven’t already.

Let’s dive in.

Inflation Pressures Are Still Building

Let’s start with the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

April’s headline number came in at 3.8% year-over-year – the highest level in nearly three years.

A big driver was energy. Energy prices jumped 17.9% from a year ago, while gasoline prices surged 28.4%. Electricity prices climbed 6.1%.

Here’s the detail worth paying attention to. Core prices – which strip out food and energy – rose 0.4% in April. That’s nearly double the 0.2% pace reported in both February and March.

We need energy for everything. And when core prices start accelerating like that, it means energy inflation isn’t contained anymore. It’s spilling over into the broader economy.

Then came the Producer Price Index (PPI) – and that was the one I was talking about when I said it was “a disaster.”

The PPI is now up 6% over the past 12 months. Six percent!

Remember, the PPI tells us what “producers” are paying. You think they’ll eat those costs?

Not on your life. They’re going to pass them on to you, me and your cousin in Albuquerque.

That’s why the PPI is considered a leading indicator of consumer inflation.

Looking deeper, wholesale inflation jumped 1.4% in April. Wholesale goods costs rose 2%. Wholesale service costs rose 1.2%.

This tells me inflation is increasingly embedded at the wholesale level – and that means it will likely persist for a while.

The bottom line: Treasury yields are moving higher. The yield curve is flattening. And all hope for near-term rate cuts is off the table.

But wait, there’s still a glimmer of hope, folks.

Warsh Isn’t Operating Alone

Here’s the key: Kevin Warsh isn’t operating alone. And this is where the story gets really interesting.

Many investors are treating Warsh like a traditional inflation hawk, but they’re missing the bigger picture.

This is someone who served on the Fed’s Board of Governors during the 2008 financial crisis. He worked directly alongside Ben Bernanke during one of the most chaotic periods in modern financial history.

He knows what the system looks like when it’s under stress. And he knows how to respond.

More importantly, Warsh appears to understand that AI-driven productivity gains are helping grow the economy without creating the same inflationary pressures we’ve seen in past cycles.

And that gives the Fed a lot more flexibility.

Just as notable, Warsh has an ally in Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

These two guys know each other from the private sector. Bessent built his career on identifying big market shifts before Wall Street figured them out. He helped George Soros make a billion bucks by breaking the Bank of England.

Warsh later partnered with Stanley Druckenmiller, the man who executed that trade. The point is, these are not career bureaucrats or academics who live in an ivory tower. These are seasoned, market-tested professionals who’ll be trying to steer policy in the same direction.

That direction?

• Stabilize the Treasury market without choking off growth.
• Fix the broken housing market – homes are too expensive, borrowing rates are too high and young people can’t afford to buy.
• Harness the AI revolution to unleash a new era of American prosperity.
• Get a handle on America’s growing debt burden.

Now, Bessent has publicly called for 150 basis points in rate cuts. Of course, Warsh still has to build consensus within the Fed, and rising energy prices tied to Middle East tensions could slow the timeline.

Now, I still believe rate cuts later this year remain very possible.

But even if I’m wrong, here’s what you need to understand…

What Most People Are Missing

Yes, inflation was worse than investors hoped. I’m not dismissing that.

But let’s take a step back for a moment.

The S&P 500 is on track for nearly 20% earnings growth this quarter. Earnings are forecasted to remain strong for the remainder of the year.

And here’s something else worth remembering: Stocks are a great inflation hedge. The same forces that are rattling investors at the headline level are showing up as pricing power and profit growth inside the companies we own.

The reality is we are in a very good environment. One of the best I’ve seen in nearly five decades in this business, in fact.

Despite the noise, the underlying fundamentals are strong.

And when rate cuts do come – and I believe they will – it will be like pouring gasoline on the fire.

The companies that stand to benefit the most are not the mega-cap names everyone already owns. They are the sort of smaller, domestically focused companies that are the most sensitive to borrowing costs and most leveraged to U.S. economic growth.

Small caps are already starting to wake up. The Russell 2000, which tracks smaller companies, is up 38% over the past year.

The other thing about small-cap stocks? When they move, they move big – and fast.

Last week, I told my readers how we found a 1,100% gain with Bloom Energy Corp. (BE) over at Breakthrough Stocks, my premium small-cap advisory.

Right now, if you take a look at our Buy List, you’ll see gains of:

• 640% in 21 months.
• 557% in 10 months.
• 508% in 13 months.
• 407% in 11 months.

And more…

Again, I believe this is just the beginning.

One of the Rarest Windows I’ve Seen in Decades

Here’s what I want you to understand about this moment.

The Fed has already begun cutting rates under Jerome Powell.

If I am right and the Fed does cut rates later this year, then that means we are entering one of the rarest and potentially most lucrative market setups I’ve seen in nearly 50 years.

I’m talking about a window of consistent, sustained key interest rate cuts.

I’ve only seen this a handful of times in my career: 1995, 2001, 2008 and 2020. Each time, a specific group of smaller stocks went on to deliver extraordinary gains – before the crowd figured out what was happening.

I believe we are at the beginning of window number five.

I already have my eye on 53 stocks that my Stock Grader system is flagging right now. Each one is showing the same early signals I’ve tracked before every major bull run of my career: strong fundamentals and institutional money beginning to move in quietly ahead of the headlines.

And at Wednesday’s 10X Fed Shock event, I gave away one of them for free.

If you haven’t watched the replay yet, I’d strongly encourage you to do it today. Because opportunities like this don’t stay hidden forever. The investors who are positioned before the crowd figure out what’s happening are the ones who capture the biggest gains.

Watch the replay here.

Sincerely,

91����

Editor, Market 360

The Editor hereby discloses that as of the date of this email, the Editor, directly or indirectly, owns the following securities that are the subject of the commentary, analysis, opinions, advice, or recommendations in, or which are otherwise mentioned in, the essay set forth below:

Bloom Energy Corp. (BE)

The post The Inflation Numbers Were a Disaster. Here’s the Silver Lining… appeared first on InvestorPlace.

We often build these assumptions from our first experiences when learning something new — keeping your hands at “two and ten” while driving or leaving the house three hours before a flight so you don’t miss your plane.

These habits become little safety mechanisms we build into our routines. Over time, they turn into rules we follow without ever asking whether they still make sense.

This same pattern shows up when people enter the world of investing and trading.

Most traders stick to the tools and rules they learn first. Because most people start with stocks, they naturally inherit stock-trader rules.

Things like cutting losers quickly, avoiding any kind of averaging down, and using stops to protect yourself from downside risk all feel like universal truths. They work in the stock world, especially when you’re new, because stocks can have significant and unlimited downside.

But just like those habits I mentioned at the top, stock-trading rules don’t automatically translate when you step into a completely different environment. And nowhere is that more obvious than in options trading.

Different Trade, Different Rules

Options operate on a different foundation than stocks. The mechanics are different, the pricing is different, and most importantly, the risk structure is different. The “safety net” that feels comforting inside a stock-trader’s toolbox simply doesn’t fit a defined-risk vehicle like options. 

And when traders carry old habits into new territory, those habits often work against them.

Because here’s the truth — and I say this knowing it goes against most mainstream trading advice: I do not use stop-loss orders with options. At all. And I believe avoiding stops is not only safer — it’s more conservative. 

That may sound counterintuitive if you come from a stock-trading background. It might even sound reckless.

But for options? For volatility? For the asymmetric opportunities they create? For risk-defined trading?

Stops aren’t a safety net. Stops are a trap.

And today, I want to walk you through why stops sabotage options traders and why the market structure itself works against them. I’ll show you the simple, systematic framework I use instead that gives me more control, more consistency, and more durability in my trades.

What Professional Options Traders Actually Do

Professionals in the options world don’t lean on stop-loss orders the way stock traders do. This is something I emphasize whenever I talk about risk. 

When I was a market maker, we never used stops to manage exposure because stops introduce uncertainty into a product that already gives you perfect clarity about your maximum loss. 

Our job was to size positions properly, price volatility correctly, and let the trade play out unless something in the underlying thesis materially changed. 

That structure — predetermined risk, clear thesis, and no reactive exits — is the backbone of professional options trading.

So when I teach traders not to use stops, it’s not a contrarian stance or a personal quirk. It’s the same framework I learned on the floor, where the only way to survive was to control your own risk and never let normal volatility eject you from a position. 

Market makers don’t get shaken out by beta moves, widening spreads, or morning flushes, and they certainly don’t hand that control over to the market. They build trades with fixed risk and stay in them until the thesis breaks — and that’s the structure I bring into every strategy I teach.

The Advantage of Defined Risk

I know that trading can feel fast when you’re just getting started. Until you get your sea legs, it’s hard to know what’s normal market noise and what actually matters. 

One of the most important lessons you can learn about trading options is that sometimes options expire worthless, even when your thesis is right. That’s not a personal failure — that’s the nature of defined-risk trading.

According to a Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) study, more than two-thirds of all options expire out of the money. That sounds scary, but like any risk worth taking, it becomes far less scary once we understand how to manage it.

That’s exactly why I hammer on the importance of deciding how much you’re willing to risk before you ever enter a trade. When the risk is predetermined, nothing the market does can take you out of the game early unless you let it.

When you buy an option, your maximum possible loss is defined the moment you enter the trade. If you pay $300 for a contract, the worst-case scenario is losing $300. 

There’s no scenario where that loss expands because of a fast-market fill, a gap down, or a liquidity vacuum. Options offer fixed, non-expandable risk.

That alone makes stop-loss orders unnecessary.

But more importantly, stops get traders into trouble because they respond to the price alone and not the thesis.

When we enter a trade, it’s because we have conviction about the idea, the catalyst, and the story behind the move — not because we expect the price to march in a straight line the next morning.

A price drop doesn’t mean your idea is wrong — more often than not it means the market is doing what markets do. 

Stops don’t know the difference, and they kick you out anyway.

This is where many just starting out stumble — they confuse motion with meaning. Markets wiggle, shake, lurch, and breathe. Stocks get dragged down because the index sells off. Volatility widens bid/ask spreads. Beta pushes everything lower at once. 

These events aren’t a referendum on all of the hard work that went into your research.

Why Stops Get You Out of Trades for the Wrong Reasons

When we’re trading options, we’re not trading one tick or two ticks of price action. We’re trading an idea — a shift in a business model, a long-term catalyst, a value disconnect, or a wave of unusual options activity from big money. 

If AMC is transitioning to a subscription model, or if a UOA spike signals institutional conviction, that thesis doesn’t vanish because the S&P dropped for a day. 

The idea is still valid, even if the price stumbles for reasons unrelated to the trade.

But this is exactly where stops work against you. They respond to short-term movement, not long-term logic. 

They treat every pullback as a verdict on your research, even when the move is just beta dragging everything down together. The result is that you can get stopped out of a strong, well-reasoned position for no reason other than market noise.

In the case of our AMC trade, the stock dipped right after we entered. But the drop had nothing to do with AMC’s story — it was simply the index pulling names down in unison.

Once the market stabilized, AMC stabilized. And the trade continued to follow the thesis we outlined from there. A stop-loss would have thrown you out of a perfectly valid idea long before it had a chance to work.

This is why I underline this lesson so strongly: stops allow the market to dictate your decisions. 

My approach — the approach I learned as a market maker — asks traders to control their own decisions. When the thesis drives the exit instead of the volatility, you trade with discipline and conviction instead of emotion.

Fixing Our Risk, One Slice at a Time

But just because we’re not using stops doesn’t mean we’re ignoring our risk — far from it.

Instead of stops, I use a structure that is far more predictable: a fixed risk budget and laddered entries. 

Allow me to explain.

Before I enter a trade, I decide exactly how much I’m willing to risk on the entire idea. If the number is $1,000, then $1,000 is the most I can lose — not a penny more. That decision is made ahead of time, calmly and logically.

Once that number is set, I divide it into three equal pieces — so a $1000 trade would be broken up into tranches (that’s French for “slice”) of about $333 each. 

We enter the first tranche at our initial price. If the stock moves against us, we add the second tranche. If the pullback continues, we add the third. Some traders refer to this as “laddering.” 

This creates a lower average cost, giving us more time in the trade, and eliminates the frantic feeling of being “wrong” on our timing simply because the price moved. 

Laddering doesn’t mean we’re averaging down blindly. It’s a structured way of deploying a predetermined risk amount. We’re not adding risk — we’re allocating our predetermined risk.

Instead of feeling threatened when a trade moves against us, we see pullbacks as an opportunity to improve our position.

This isn’t a reaction, but rather following a plan we built ahead of time. And because options cap our risk, the plan cannot expand beyond what you approved.

Conclusion: Structure, Conviction, and the Path Forward

Everything we’ve covered in this piece leads to a simple truth: success in options trading doesn’t come from reacting to every wiggle in the market. It comes from structure. It comes from discipline. And it comes from the confidence to stick to a plan we built long before the volatility tried to shake us out.

Options give us a rare advantage in the trading world — the ability to define our maximum risk on day one and keep total control over our decisions. When we choose our size intentionally, ladder our entries, and commit to our thesis instead of the noise, we stop handing the steering wheel to the market. We trade with clarity instead of fear, patience instead of panic, and logic instead of emotion.

This approach isn’t about perfection. It’s about staying in the game long enough for our edge to play out. Some trades will expire worthless — that’s part of it. Some trades will feel uncomfortable before they work.

But when we keep our size appropriate, honor our plan, and stay focused on the bigger opportunity rather than the minute-to-minute fluctuations, we put ourselves in the best possible position to succeed.

If this way of thinking feels different from what you’ve been taught — good. It should feel different. Most traders never get the chance to unlearn the habits that hold them back.

They never get exposed to a risk-defined system. They never get taught how professionals actually build trades, manage exposure, and survive volatility.

And that’s exactly why I created the Masters in Trading Options Challenge.

The Challenge is where we take everything you’ve learned in this piece — fixed risk, thesis-driven exits, laddered entries, defined-duration trades, and emotional discipline — and put it into practice in a structured, step-by-step environment. For two weeks, we walk through the foundations of real options trading the way I learned them on the trading floor. You’ll learn exactly how I think, exactly how I build trades, and exactly how I manage both the winners and the losers.

If you’ve ever wanted to trade options with more clarity…
If you’ve ever wanted a system that keeps you calm when the market isn’t…
If you’ve ever wanted to stop guessing and start understanding…

…then the Challenge is the perfect next step.

I’d love to see you inside. Let’s trade with intention.

Let’s trade with structure. And let’s do it together — the right way.

Join the Masters in Trading Options Challenge and take the next step in becoming a disciplined, risk-defined trader.

Remember, the creative trade wins,

Jonathan Rose

Founder, Masters in Trading

The post Why I Don’t Use Stop-Loss Trading Options — And Neither Should You appeared first on InvestorPlace.

America has bet everything on winning artificial intelligence, but it’s China who has cornered the four technologies that are necessary to convert electricity into profitable outcomes.

These include lithium-ion batteries, magnets and electric motors, power electronics, and embedded compute. 

It’s the whole electric stack, if you will. And the cost of this stack has fallen 99% since 1990. China makes 75% of the world’s lithium-ion batteries and 90% of its neodymium magnets, which means it controls the means of production for EVs and robotics. 

Why does that matter for an AI investor in May 2026?

Because it explains why the AI trade keeps grinding higher even as Main Street bleeds out. 

In an essay by Packy McCormick, he quotes economist Joel Spolsky’s old line: “Smart companies try to commoditize their products’ complements.” China is happy to commoditize intelligence because they own action. Translated to Wall Street: whoever owns the complement to the hot new thing captures the profits.

Right now, the hot new thing is AI compute. And the complements are in short supply.

Memory is in shortage. Optical interconnects are in shortage. Power delivery is in shortage. Networking equipment is in shortage. Every hyperscaler capex announcement makes the shortages worse. And the market has finally noticed, which is why Home Depot Inc. (HD) and Lululemon Athletica Inc. (LULU) are sitting at 52-week lows while SanDisk Corp. (SNDK), Applied Optoelectronics Inc. (AAOI), and Bloom Energy Corp. (BE) are up more than 400% year to date, and even higher over the past year:

The bottlenecks are not random, despite what you may hear. They are tradeable, they are predictable, and we now have a line on where the next one will be.

Let me show you where the chokepoints are, and how to position before the rest of the Street figures it out.

Click the video below to watch now:

The Consumer Is Bleeding Out. Why Are AI Stocks Ripping?

Because of the bottleneck.

Bloomberg Intelligence now projects AI capital expenditures growing at a 10% compounded annual rate through 2030, with peak annual spend hitting roughly $1.1 trillion. 

Within that wave, the highest-growth slice, networking equipment and memory, compounds at 24%. The dot-com comparisons are real, by the way. There will be a bust eventually. But the dot-com boom was hopes and dreams. This one is hopes and dreams plus real revenue, real earnings, and a buildout that hasn’t peaked. We’re in the eighth inning, not the ninth.

And the smart money is doing exactly what Rockefeller did. It’s hunting bottlenecks.

That’s the entire investment thesis right now. Let me break down where they are.

Memory: The hate trade. Doubters have called the top five times and been wrong five times. They’ll eventually be right, but only when supply exceeds demand, and based on the capex curve above, that’s years away. SanDisk is my favorite single name. Micron Technology Inc. (MU) is my second. For diversified exposure, the VanEck Fabless Semiconductor ETF (SMHX) and the dedicated memory-focused DRAM-themed ETFs give you the basket without single-stock risk. Strategy here is simple: do not chase. These names go up 100% and pull back 40%. Wait for the flush.

Optics: This is where Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) just tipped its hand. Nvidia’s deal with Corning Inc. (GLW) tells you exactly where the next supply chokepoint is. Optical interconnects are the new tank cars. Nvidia isn’t building its own custom silicon to fight off the hyperscalers. It’s deploying its cash hoard to lock up the parts of the AI stack everyone else needs. That’s why I’m not bearish on Nvidia. I’m just more bullish on Corning, Coherent Corp. (COHR), Lumentum Holdings Inc. (LITE), Broadcom Inc. (AVGO), Marvell Technology Inc. (MRVL), and Fabrinet (FN). For the high-torque small cap, I like Applied Optoelectronics. Real orders, real hyperscaler scaling, no execution fairy dust.

The IPO signal: Cerebras Systems Inc. (CBRS) just priced its initial public offering at $185, well above its marketed range, after an order book oversubscribed by more than 20 times. A year ago, the same company pulled its filing. Two fears killed it: peak AI capex and Nvidia eating the entire chip market. Both fears are now demonstrably wrong. That’s why the IPO came back upsized rather than downsized. It’s a sentiment thermometer, and it’s reading hot.

The setup right now: technicals are stretched, earnings season is behind us, and a short-term pullback is the most likely next move. That pullback is your entry point, not something to chase.

This week’s full Being Exponential episode goes deeper on the memory rotation, the specific optics names worth front-running, and how to position for the back half of 2026 without getting flattened by a normal 10% correction. Watch the full episode of Being Exponential on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. Also, be sure to subscribe to Being Exponential on X (formerly Twitter) for more exclusive content.

The post The AI Boom’s Best-Kept Secret appeared first on InvestorPlace.

At the start of the year, the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool showed traders pricing in two interest rate cuts for the year, with the first expected as early as April.

As I write on Thursday morning, expectations have shifted…

The FedWatch tool now shows a nearly 34% probability of a rate hike.

And that’s just the forecast for December. If we look out to April 2027, the odds of a hike surge to roughly 53%.

Source: CME Group

This is a staggering swing in market expectations in just five months. And it raises an obvious question for investors…

Is the market right?

Legendary investor 91����, editor of Breakthrough Stocks, doesn’t think so.

I’ll get to Louis’ argument in a moment. It has direct implications for how you should be positioned right now.

But first, let’s make sure we’re looking at the same chessboard.

How we got here

As a quick recap, Tuesday’s Consumer Price Index came in at 3.8% year-over-year – a three-year high. Wednesday’s Producer Price Index – the wholesale inflation reading – landed at 6.0%, the largest 12-month jump since December 2022.

In the wake of these red-hot prints, rate-cut expectations didn’t just fade – they collapsed. A rate hike has become the market’s expected next move.  

This makes sense. Hot inflation data means the Fed can’t cut rates. And the longer that the data remain hot – and potentially, get hotter – the more logical the question becomes…

Is a hike the likelier next move?

The futures market is now responding “yes.”

But here’s Louis’ take from yesterday’s Breakthrough Stocks Flash Alert:

We should just take a step back and realize that we have 20% earnings growth with the S&P this quarter. Earnings are forecasted to be good for the remainder of the year.

Stocks are a great inflation hedge.

So, despite this news that has rattled the market with inflation – the CPI [on Tuesday] and especially the PPI [yesterday] – we are in a very good environment.

That’s not a denial of the hot prints. As I’ll show you, it’s just a conclusion based on a different reading of the same data and headlines.

Why Louis thinks the market is misreading the inflation picture

Those who are betting on rate hikes are treating this week’s inflation prints as evidence of a structural problem.

Louis is treating them as evidence of a temporary shock layered on top of a more manageable underlying trend – a critical distinction.

Let’s start with Louis on the source of the inflation:

We had this inflationary bubble from energy. We also have higher trucking costs and shipping costs from high diesel costs and jet fuel, et cetera.

That’s going to be rippling through all the costs of goods and services, and that’s apparently what showed up in the PPI [yesterday].

This is an important point that the rate-hike narrative glosses over…

The 6% PPI print isn’t a story about wages soaring or consumer demand running too hot. It’s a story about an oil shock triggered by the Iran conflict flowing through the supply chain – through diesel, jet fuel, trucking, shipping – and showing up in wholesale prices.

Energy-driven inflation is qualitatively different from the embedded kind. It has a ceiling – a potential resolution that the embedded variety doesn’t. And that resolution, as Louis noted yesterday, may be closer than the market thinks, in part given Iran’s own well-capping problem.

Here’s Louis:

[Iran] can’t really pump oil right now because the wells are backing up.

If they cap the wells, they won’t be able to restart them for months.

There was slick spotted in the Persian Gulf. We hope they’re not pumping the oil into the water because again, if you cap the well, you won’t be able to restart it for several months.

So, hopefully they’ll come to their senses and they’ll do a deal.

To Louis’ point, Iran has a big incentive to end this. The longer the conflict continues, the greater, and maybe permanent, damage it does to their own oil infrastructure – the very asset their economy depends on. That’s a huge motivation to find an offramp behind the saber-rattling.

Now, Louis isn’t dismissing the inflation risk entirely. He flagged that wholesale services costs rose 1.2%. And as I noted in yesterday’s Digest, once services inflation embeds, it can be sticky.

Where Louis diverges from the rate-hike crowd isn’t on that risk – it’s on what offsets it. He argues that AI-driven productivity gains are a structural deflationary force that current data haven’t yet captured.

So, the question isn’t whether service inflation is real. It’s whether the productivity story is big enough to counteract it over time.

Louis believes it is. The futures market, right now, does not.

The structural argument the rate-hike crowd is missing

Let’s bring the policymakers and their forecasts for what’s coming into the mix…

Back to Louis:

Kevin Hassett, who is the head of the Council of Economic Advisers, on Sunday made it clear we will be hitting 6% GDP growth this year.

That GDP growth is coming from AI-led productivity gains, which are not inflationary. It’s coming from record energy exports, which helps put downward pressure on the trade deficit that adds to GDP.

Our consumer’s pretty healthy. We realize there’s higher prices at the pump, but the consumer by and large is pretty healthy.

Now, don’t miss this: The Fed’s job is to manage inflation without killing growth – that’s the tightrope…

But if the growth we’re seeing is driven, in great part, by AI – real productivity, not just borrowed from the future via cheap money – then hiking rates to kill inflation risks destroying the very engine that’s doing the deflationary work.

The Fed knows this – that’s why the hike scenario may be more bark than bite. That’s part of Louis’ argument.

Therefore, while the timing of a rate cut is uncertain, the direction, he believes, is not. So, banking on a rate hike is a long shot.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has been making the same productivity argument

At the Semafor World Economy Conference in April – with the Iran conflict already driving energy prices higher – Bessent was clear about what he was seeing:

If ever there was “Team Transitory,” it’s this.

I don’t believe this is going to get embedded into inflation expectations.

He added that the Fed “will need to cut rates,” while acknowledging that waiting for more clarity was reasonable.

In the wake of this week’s hot prints, it’s fair to believe that Bessent’s timeline may have shifted, though not his destination.

Meanwhile, the Treasury Secretary and the incoming Fed Chair, Kevin Warsh, are working from the same playbook.

Warsh – like Louis – believes AI is doing something the inflation data can’t yet see: making businesses dramatically more efficient, which puts downward pressure on prices over time. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed last fall, he wrote that AI is a “significant disinflationary force”.

Think of it as a slow-moving counterweight to the energy shock. It doesn’t show up in this month’s CPI. But it’s building.

We covered Warsh’s full framework in our April 29 Digest. In short, he intends to cut the fed funds rate while simultaneously shrinking the Fed’s $6.7 trillion balance sheet – a coordinated strategy designed to normalize policy without abandoning the direction of travel.

Overall, here’s Louis’ take on what to expect and when:

Obviously, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is going to have his hands full, and incoming Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh will have to work on his FOMC colleagues before we can even consider rate cuts. But we might get some later in the year.

Now, while the timeline of cuts is uncertain, Louis isn’t waiting for certainty to act…

What this means for your portfolio

Louis has seen this movie before. Four times, to be precise.

Every time the Fed has opened a sustained rate-cut cycle, the same playbook has unfolded. Smaller, domestically focused companies – the ones most sensitive to borrowing costs and most leveraged to U.S. economic growth – become the biggest winners.

It’s not immediate, but it’s consistent.

Here’s Louis highlighting some of the smaller-cap winners from prior cycles:

• 1995 Fed pivot: Cisco +2,062%. Ascend +2,800%. AOL +2,900%.
• 2001 rate cuts: Frontline +1,513%. Hansen Natural +1,125%.
• 2008 rate cuts: Lithia Motors +475%. IPG Photonics +665%.
• 2020 COVID cuts: MARA Holdings +1,800%. Moderna +1,200%.

Different stocks. Different sectors. Same dynamic every time.

Louis’s Stock Grader system has been running throughout this early phase of the cycle. It has flagged 53 stocks showing the early signals he’s identified in every prior window – strong fundamentals, building institutional buying pressure, and consistent top rankings in his eight-factor model.

He calls it the Exclusion List: companies too small for the big Wall Street funds to touch, but not too small for you.

He went live yesterday at his Fed Shock event to walk through his highest-conviction picks from that list – and gave away a free stock recommendation just for attending. If you missed it, the replay is available here.

Coming full circle…

The market is now pricing in a hike. Louis is positioning for cuts.

One of them is reading the chessboard correctly.

History suggests it’s Louis.

Have a good evening,

Jeff Remsburg

The post The Market Now Expects a Rate Hike. Louis Disagrees appeared first on InvestorPlace.

I’ll give you a moment with that number.

In real terms, a $10,000 investment becomes $500,000. A $20,000 investment becomes $1 million. A $50,000 investment – money that might otherwise be sitting in a savings account earning almost nothing – becomes $2.5 million.

Now, think of what you could do with that.

Pay off the house. Wipe out your kids’ student loans. Retire a few years early. Take the trip you’ve been putting off for a decade. Set up the grandkids with a heck of a graduation present.

Whatever it is that would change your life, or the lives of the people around you, that number could do it.

Sound impossible? I understand why you might think so.

But I want to introduce you to some people for whom it wasn’t.

See, last week, we crossed the 5,000% mark with one of my Growth Investor recommendations.

The stock? NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA).

It was a big deal, so when I sent the news to my subscribers, I asked them to write in and share what the ride had meant for them.

I was blown away by the responses. What they told me reminded me why I do this.

So, in today’s Market 360, I want to share a few of their stories. I’ll tell you how this recommendation came about, what I think happens next with NVIDIA – and, most importantly, what to do next.

Then, I’ll wrap things up by telling you why I believe the next generation of stories like these is already taking shape. That’s one of the reasons I hosted my 10X Fed Shock event earlier this week. If you haven’t had a chance to watch the replay yet, I think what I’m about to share will make you want to.

NVIDIA Made These People Rich

“NVDA has made me wealthy – some people call it rich. I am sitting on over $2.1 million in unrealized gains on a basis of $42,000. But it’s better than that. I’ve been a Navellier subscriber since the 1990s, and it’s that which has really made me wealthy. Louis’s recommendations have done that for me. Hands down the best ROI of any investment product or manager I’ve ever seen or used. When I started investing with Louis, my trade size was $1,000. It grew to $5,000, then $10,000, $25,000, $50,000 and now $100,000 as I reinvest my gains.”

— Jeff S.

“Louie, I can’t thank you enough for your recommendation of NVDA. I invested about $9,000 a few years ago and now it is worth about $340,000. I worked in a factory for over 40 years and never made over $35,000 a year. Thanks to you, I learned how to save and invest. We have gone on trips, given money to charity, and given shares to family for Christmas and other occasions. We are now worth over $3,000,000. The system works every time if you just stick to it and don’t quit when there is a correction.”

— Tom S.

“I’ve been following your Growth Investor advice for many years and recently upgraded to Omnia member. I purchased NVDA in June 2019 on your advice for $3.73 and added to it at $7.34 in February 2020. What a fantastic win. But my portfolio looked terribly unbalanced at this point. It occurred to me to gift each of my four nephews and nieces 100 shares of NVDA. Thanks to you, I’ve become their Favorite Aunt. For a couple of them, it was their first exposure to owning stocks. I hope I’ve opened their eyes to new possibilities for building wealth.”

— Sue M.

How It Started

Oddly, NVIDIA started out as what I’d call a “story stock” for me. I originally recommended it in May 2016 after visiting my son at Stanford. The school debuted a self-driving race car named Shelley, built using chips from a company most investors hadn’t paid much attention to yet. The name on those chips was NVIDIA.

I’ll be transparent with you. I sold the stock after locking in a solid gain. At the time, it felt like the right call.

But I re-added it to our Buy List over at Growth Investor in May 2019. Back then, the AI buildout we’re living through today was not on anyone’s radar. But my Stock Grader system flagged it the way it flags every stock: strong earnings revisions, phenomenal surprise history, accelerating sales.

The model doesn’t care about stories. It cares about numbers. And NVIDIA’s numbers were extraordinary.

They still are.

What the Numbers Say Now

I want to be honest with you. I’ve been at this for nearly 50 years, and I’ve never seen anything quite like this. Not in terms of speed. Not in terms of scale. Not in terms of how completely one company has become the backbone of a technological revolution that is still, by my estimation, in the early innings.

Jensen Huang’s team recently reported sales up over 100% year over year. Again. The order backlog keeps growing. The data center business keeps expanding. Every major hyperscaler on Earth is lining up to buy more NVIDIA silicon. And the replacement cycle for Blackwell chips hasn’t even started in earnest.

So what do we do now?

We hold.

I know that might sound anticlimactic after a 5,000% gain. But when a stock scores this high in my fundamental model, when the earnings revisions keep moving in the right direction and the order backlog keeps getting bigger, I don’t look for the exit. I keep my head down and I stick with it.

What’s clear to me is that NVIDIA isn’t resting on its success. The company has plans for robotics, self-driving, quantum computing, and more.

Add it all up, and I believe NVIDIA will hit $300 per share by the end of 2026 and $500 per share by the end of the decade.

To put it simply: this is a stock that could make you rich, folks. If it hasn’t already.

The Secret to Life-Changing Gains

I’m not sharing these stories to brag.

I’m sharing them because I want you to understand something important about how wealth like this actually gets built.

NVIDIA was not a household name when I recommended it. It’s easy to forget that, because today everyone, everywhere in the financial media talks about it… all the time.

But back in 2019, only video game enthusiasts knew about NVIDIA chips for their superior graphics. It was just a smaller company doing some interesting stuff.

But it showed up in my Stock Grader system with exactly the right combination of signals: strong and improving fundamentals… and institutional money beginning to move in quietly ahead of the headlines.

That’s it. That’s the whole secret.

The next NVIDIA won’t announce itself either. It won’t be a name you already know. It won’t be a stock your neighbor is talking about at a barbecue.

By the time a company reaches the kind of size and visibility that makes it feel “safe” to buy, the window for the biggest gains has usually already begun to close.

The investors who built the kind of wealth you just read about got there by being early.

Not reckless. Not speculative. Early. Positioned before the crowd figured it out.

And here’s the thing about being early. You can’t do it by gut feel. You can’t do it by following the news.

You need a machine that is scanning thousands of stocks every single week, looking for the specific combination of signals that tend to show up before the price starts to take off.

That’s what Stock Grader does. That’s what it did with NVIDIA. And that’s what it’s doing right now…

What Comes Next

Right now, my system has flagged 53 stocks showing those same early signals. Strong fundamentals. Building institutional buying pressure. Consistent top rankings month after month.

Here’s a peek at it.

Most of them are names you’ve probably never heard of. They’re too small for the big Wall Street funds to touch. But they’re not too small for my system, and they’re not too small for you.

Small-cap stocks – like the ones I recommend in my Breakthrough Stocks service – are already on fire. The Russell 2000 is up 38% over the past year, more than any major index. And I believe we are at the beginning of a sustained tailwind for exactly this corner of the market.

I lay out the full case in my new 10X Fed Shock video. And I include my highest-conviction picks from that list.

If you haven’t watched the replay yet, I’d encourage you to do it today.

The next group of winners is already showing up in my system. If even one of these stocks does a fraction of what NVIDIA has done, the stories that come out of it could look a lot like the ones you just read.

Here’s that link again to watch the replay.

Sincerely,

91����

Editor, Market 360

The Editor hereby discloses that as of the date of this email, the Editor, directly or indirectly, owns the following securities that are the subject of the commentary, analysis, opinions, advice, or recommendations in, or which are otherwise mentioned in, the essay set forth below:

NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA)

The post NVIDIA Made My Followers Millionaires. Now I’m Looking for the Next One. appeared first on InvestorPlace.

Tom Yeung here with today’s Smart Money.

Two weeks ago, Canadian hydrologist Darri Eythorsson reported that he had built an AI trading platform in just six days.

“I am telling you this because it terrifies me,” he wrote in a widely viewed opinion piece on Bloomberg. “I have a Ph.D. in Arctic environmental science. I have never traded anything in my life.”

By using Anthropic’s Claude Code, Eythorsson had vibe-coded a system that “five years ago, would have been the core intellectual property of a funded fintech startup with a team of eight.” The platform takes news from RSS feeds, web searches, Reddit, and Twitter, and then trades that information on three financial exchanges.

Now, I do believe his algorithm is very successful. News and social media often predict stock market returns. In fact, I hope he continues making money; Ph.D.s don’t get paid nearly enough for the work they do.

But I am worried, too… for an entirely different reason.

You see, Eythorsson was concerned about how easy it was to throw together an AI trading platform. If he could do it, then what stops others from doing the same? He fretted that trading bots like his could soon take over financial markets.

Meanwhile, I’m alarmed because I know how these algorithms work.

I’ve built several of them myself, and the success of Eythorsson’s specific approach means we’re entering a manic phase of stock markets where hype and attention matter more than the fundamentals.

That’s why, today, I’d like to consider the dangers of the latest AI mania – and the smarter investing path to follow instead.

AI’s Hottest Trade Is Overheating

It’s been a wild two months for semiconductor stocks – the companies at one bottleneck of the AI Revolution. Data centers require immense numbers of chips, and global production is simply not enough to meet demand.

To illustrate, on the left is a picture of Manhattan, a 23-square-mile island and home to 1.66 million people, around half the population of Utah. And on the right is an overlay of Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary’s “Stratos” proposal, a 9-gigawatt AI data center planned for Box Elder County, Utah.

The roughly 62-square-mile project would be almost three times the size of Manhattan and consume four times more power than its residents currently use.

More shockingly, Stratos is only one of several hyperscale data centers planned over the next several years. Meta Platforms Inc. (META) is currently constructing a 5-GW data center called Hyperion in Louisiana, while SoftBank Group Corp. (SFTBY) and the Department of Energy recently co-announced a 10-GW site in Ohio.

Each of these ambitious projects will need miles of server racks, stacked with thousands of chips each. And those chips will need to be replaced almost as soon as they’re installed, because GPUs only have a lifespan of five to seven years.

Imagine filling every square foot of your house with computers… then doing that another 968,000 times… and then doing it all over again every time your smoke alarm is due for replacement.

That’s proved a bonanza for chipmakers and memory makers, where supply simply cannot keep up with demand. It’s also turned Wall Street into a casino where anyone betting on chipmakers seems to win.

Over the past six weeks, prices of the semiconductor stocks, as measured by the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX), rose as much as 70% before this week’s earlier selloff. That rise has included both solid players like Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) and wildly inconsistent ones like Macom Technology Solutions Holdings Inc. (MTSI), a firm that managed to lose $54 million in 2025 despite roaring demand.

We know this trend has been increasingly driven by retail investors.

That’s why it doesn’t surprise me that hydrologist Eythorsson’s algorithms have reportedly worked so well. Research has shown that investor sentiment can help predict next-day stock moves, especially during retail trading frenzies like the one in January 2021 that sent GameStop Corp. (GME) and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (AMC) soaring into the spotlight.

The same forces are now pushing prices of semiconductor stocks to mad heights…

AI Mania Is Starting to Look Dangerous

Shares of Intel Corp. (INTC) now trade at roughly 100X forward earnings and 10X price-to-sales – higher even than during the dot-com peak. Macom (the one that lost $54 million last year) now trades at roughly 60X forward earnings.

“Semis are getting silly and are now in some cases as or more extreme than 1999,” Chris Verrone, head of technical and macro strategy at Strategas Securities, said in a note to clients. “Parabolic charts can take a life of their own and we don’t pretend to know the day or the hour fortunes reverse.”

However, we all know that 1999 and 2021 both ended poorly for speculators. Momentum alone cannot justify sky-high prices, and “silly” prices have a habit of coming back down hard.

GameStop’s stock nose-dived after hitting its all-time high in late January 2021, and shares remain 80% below that. Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) took 25 years to re-achieve its dot-com peak.

That’s why it’s essential to stay away from stocks with large downside. And why both Eric and I are hesitant about jumping in on the semiconductor craze. We’re seeing valuations where it is possible for stocks to lose 50% or more on sentiment alone.

Instead, Eric recommends a category of AI investing called “AI Survivors.” These “future-proof” enterprises produce goods and services that AI cannot replicate or replace.

Examples would include companies that operate in major industries like…

• Agriculture
• Energy in its various forms
• Mining
• Hospitality and travel

They are about as far as you can get from the AI mania. Therefore, they provide a margin of safety that’s becoming increasingly important in this frothy market.

Artificial intelligence also continues to consume far more resources than anyone anticipated. Chips remain in short supply, and industries like memory and hard drives are now controlled by only a few companies after years of industry ups and downs. The manufacturing process is now simply too complex for new competitors to enter the market.

So, when a reckoning comes – and it will – the results will wipe out years of performance.

The smarter play on AI isn’t chasing the stocks everyone already owns. Find out what Eric is recommending instead — at Fry’s Investment Report.

Click here to learn more.

Until next time,

Thomas Yeung, CFA

Market Analyst, InvestorPlace

The post The AI Trade Everyone Loves Is 91���� to Get Dangerous appeared first on InvestorPlace.

Christopher Nolan’s younger brother Jonathan once revealed something that peeked behind the curtain on his older brother’s entire filmography: “Chris doesn’t make movies about time. He makes movies about anxiety… about how to survive when time runs out.”

When you think of a Nolan film, it’s the execution that often grabs the headline. Memento was a story told in reverse. Inception was folded inside of dreams. Interstellar bended across time and galaxies. Dunkirk‘s narrative spread across three increasingly compressed timelines. Tenet was quite literally inverted. On the surface, these look like five completely different films… a thriller, a heist, a space epic, a war movie, a spy puzzle. But underneath, they’re all about racing the clock.

The best investors think the same way.

Here’s the problem with how most people are playing the AI boom right now: they see five different stocks and assume they’re five different trades. Quantum computing over here. Food delivery over there. Infrastructure silicon. CPUs and GPUs. Social media data.

But they’re not separate. They’re chapters of the same story… and the story is about who owns the infrastructure, the data, the compute, and the physical world before the AI buildout fully prices in.

The proof is sitting in last week’s first-quarter 2026 earnings reports. Hyperscaler capex is ramping up, not slowing down. Inferencing workloads are exploding. Quantum computing just crossed from science lab to commercial reality with triple-digit revenue growth. And the companies selling into all of it are putting up numbers that should be impossible at this scale.

Here’s the provocation: the market is still mispricing several of the best risk/reward setups in the entire AI complex… and one of them isn’t even an AI stock. It’s the anti-AI AI trade.

Below are the five names we covered on this week’s Being Exponential podcast. Click the video below to watch now:

IonQ Inc. (IONQ): The Commercial Quantum Leader

IonQ (IONQ) just delivered $64.7 million in Q1 revenues, up 755% year-over-year, and boosted 2026 guidance to $260 million to $270 million. That’s 102% growth this year — and the forward curve calls for 40% to 45%-plus compounded growth through 2030. With gross margins headed from 43% today toward 70% to 80% over time, this looks like a future Nvidia of quantum computing. The chart confirms the thesis: IONQ reclaimed its 200-day moving average, lost it briefly, and retook it… classic follow-through behavior. I’m a long-term bull.

DoorDash Inc. (DASH): The Anti-AI Trade

Wait, DoorDash (DASH)? Hear me out. The market has punished DoorDash on fears that AI will disintermediate it. I disagree. AI disrupts software-native businesses; DoorDash’s moat is physical… drivers, logistics, vendor relationships across restaurants, grocery, convenience, alcohol, medicine, and retail. Total orders rose 27% year-over-year last quarter, with marketplace gross order volume up 37%. The stock trades at 16 times forward EBITDA — basically a 5-year low — for a high-teens revenue grower with expanding margins. Dirt cheap. The chart hasn’t confirmed the rebound yet, but the valuation is too compelling to sell.

Astera Labs Inc. (ALAB): The AI Toll Collector

Astera Labs’ (ALAB) Q1 revenue grew 14% sequentially and 93% year-over-year, with gross margins of 76.4%. Management projects silicon dollar content rising above $1,000 per XPU within AI racks. As we shift from training to inferencing, complexity increases exponentially… more switches, more retimers, more memory bottlenecks, more opportunities for Astera to sell into. At 57 times forward earnings on 79% growth this year and 42% next year, this is one of the best pick-and-shovel plays in the entire AI infrastructure trade.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (91����): The Catch-Up Trade That Caught Up

Advanced Micro Devices (91����) has been on a tear, and I’d wait for a 20% to 25% pullback toward the $300 to $350 range before adding. But the long-term setup is exceptional: 42% revenue growth this year, accelerating to 51% next year. Nobody else in the AI complex is accelerating. The GPU story is real, but the CPU story — controlling the inferencing layer — is the bigger one.

Reddit Inc. (RDDT): The Humanpowered AI Data Goldmine

Reddit (RDDT) is the exception to my “I hate software stocks” rule. Its unique trove of human-generated content is becoming critical training data for the world’s best LLMs. The advertising business is doing well, but the AI data licensing deals will be the long-run kahuna. Chart is basing; ready for an upside breakout.

For my full breakdown on each name — including the technical setups, margin trajectories, and the exact valuation multiples that make these setups so attractive — watch the full episode of Being Exponential on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. Also, be sure to subscribe to Being Exponential on X (formerly Twitter) for more exclusive content.

The Gold Rush is on. Make sure you own the right picks and shovels.

The post 5 Tech Stocks Powering the Next Leg of the AI Boom appeared first on InvestorPlace.

A disaster.

That’s how legendary investor 91���� described this morning’s Producer Price Index (PPI) report in his Breakthrough Stocks Flash Alert update.

The headline figure jumped 1.4% for the month, crushing the 0.5% forecast, and doubling the revised 0.7% March number.

On a year-over-year basis, the index climbed 6% – the biggest jump since December of 2022.

Let’s go to Louis for what’s behind the numbers:

Here’s the problem: Wholesale goods costs rose 2%. Wholesale service costs rose 1.2%.

That means inflation is increasingly being embedded on the wholesale level and will likely persist.

So, we have Treasury yields going higher this morning. We have the yield curve flattening a bit, and that means all hope for rate cuts are off until we get Treasury yields a little lower.

We need to keep an eye on the services inflation that Louis highlighted – it doesn’t respond quickly to ceasefire agreements or reopened shipping lanes. Once it’s embedded, it takes time to work back out.

It appears that we’re at risk of that happening today.

Despite the hot print, Louis remains bullish – for one simple reason

Earnings.

Back to his update to subscribers:

We should just take a step back and realize that we have 20% earnings growth with the S&P this quarter.

Earnings are forecasted to be good for the remainder of the year. Stocks are a great inflation hedge.

So, despite this news that has rattled the market with inflation, we are in a very good environment.

In all candor, we made too much money too fast, so we are going to have to back and fill here just a bit.

Overall, while hotter inflation may delay rate cuts, Louis doesn’t see it derailing the broader bull market.

He expanded on his outlook during a live event this afternoon, detailing why he believes we’ve entered one of the rarest – and potentially, most lucrative – market windows in decades. This has only happened a handful of times in recent history: 1995, 2001, 2008, 2020 – and now, today.

Louis says it’s the kind of setup that historically produces massive stock winners – and he’s already tracking 53 names showing early signals. Better still, he gave away one of them this afternoon.

If you missed it, you can catch a free replay right here.

Now, let’s shift gears to a story from earlier this week that largely flew under the radar – cybersecurity experts may have just prevented a nightmare scenario…

The massive hack we barely sidestepped

Sometime in the past few months, a group of criminals sat down with an AI model and asked it to break into millions of computers at once.

The AI obliged.

It found a hidden flaw in a piece of software used by businesses worldwide – one that no human researcher had found, and that no traditional security scanner had flagged. Then it wrote the attack code. Clean, methodical, ready to deploy.

This isn’t a hypothetical.

Google’s Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) confirmed this occurrence on Monday in a report that’s genuinely alarming.

The hacker’s plan was to launch a mass exploitation campaign. Translation – hit as many targets as possible, all at once, before anyone knew what was happening.

Fortunately, Google’s threat intelligence team caught it first, worked with the software maker to patch the hole, and shut the operation down before it launched.

But the next hackers may not make the same mistakes.

What actually happened – in plain English

Without getting too deep in the weeds, the AI-enhanced attack allowed hackers to bypass two-factor authentication. That’s the “enter the code we texted you” step that most of us rely on as our last line of defense. With this exploit, that protection was gone.

What made this different from every previous attack of its kind was how the “skeleton key” that enabled the hack was made. Not by a team of elite hackers working for months, but by an AI model, working for hours.

The GTIG report explained how they knew AI was involved. The attack code had telltale fingerprints – the kind of hyper-organized, over-documented, textbook-perfect formatting that AI models produce when they write code.

From the GTIG report released on Monday:

The script contains an abundance of educational docstrings, including a hallucinated CVSS score, and uses a structured, textbook Pythonic format highly characteristic of LLMs training data (e.g., detailed help menus and the clean _C ANSI color class).

In other words: the AI was so thorough, organized, and eager to explain itself that it gave itself away.

This time.

We’ve entered a new era

For years, this type of sophisticated attack required time and expertise.

It meant months of painstaking work by some of the most skilled people in the world. Nation-states could do it. Elite criminal organizations, occasionally. Everyone else was locked out.

AI has suddenly changed that.

Here’s Ryan Dewhurst, Head of Threat Intelligence at cybersecurity firm watchTowr, in The Hacker News:

AI is already accelerating vulnerability discovery, reducing the effort needed to identify, validate, and weaponize flaws.

This is today’s reality: discovery, weaponization, and exploitation are faster. We’re not heading toward compressed timelines; we’ve been watching the timelines compress for years.

There is no mercy from attackers, and defenders don’t get to opt out.

And it’s not just criminals. The GTIG report documented a sweeping picture of state-sponsored actors already deeply engaged in AI-assisted hacking – China, North Korea, and Russia, all using AI models to accelerate their operations.

We’re talking about attacks that are industrialized, systematic, and happening right now – as you’re reading this.

John Hultquist, chief analyst at GTIG, spoke to The Register about what Monday’s report really represents:

There’s a misconception that the AI vulnerability race is imminent. The reality is that it’s already begun.

For every zero-day we can trace back to AI, there are probably many more out there.

The “Prisoner’s Dilemma” strikes again

There’s a concept we explored in our April 6 Digest that applies directly here – what we called the “Prisoner’s Dilemma” of AI adoption.

The idea is simple…

Every CEO knows that racing to implement AI carries some degree of risk. But if a competitor implements AI and increases efficiency/profitability while that CEO doesn’t, his/her company loses.

So, everyone races – despite the risks. But recognize what this means…

Every time a business wires AI into its operations – connecting its data, its customers, its internal systems to an AI provider – it runs new digital plumbing. But all that plumbing presents a new sea of opportunities for AI-equipped attackers.

The GTIG report provided an example of this…

Earlier this year, a criminal group called TeamPCP snuck malicious code into LiteLLM – a popular piece of software that businesses use to connect their systems to AI providers like Anthropic, Google and OpenAI. Because so many companies had installed LiteLLM, that hidden code quietly stole the digital keys those companies used to access their AI accounts – without anyone noticing.

Think of it like a locksmith who, instead of just making you a key, also made a secret copy for himself. Every customer who came to him for a key got robbed without ever knowing he’d been there.

Nobody at those companies did anything wrong. They were just doing what every company is doing right now – racing to connect to AI before their competitors do.

But the faster these companies race, the more exposed they become to this risk.

This is the Prisoner’s Dilemma in action.

What are the investment implications?

When stories like this break, many investors panic-sell cybersecurity stocks.

In fact, we’ve seen two examples this year – once after Anthropic’s Claude Code Security announcement in February, and again after the Claude Mythos panic in March/April. The market feared that AI would render cybersecurity companies irrelevant.

That’s wrong – AI-powered attacks create more demand for security, not less. But that doesn’t mean every cybersecurity company benefits equally. And that’s where we need to clarify what’s really happening today.

Imagine two home alarm companies…

One built its system from scratch, knowing that thieves would one day use sophisticated technology to case houses. Its sensors don’t just watch for broken windows – they look for unusual patterns of behavior, things that feel wrong even when nothing is technically broken.

The other company took an alarm system from the 1990s – perfectly good at the time – and added a software update to keep up with today’s systems.

When AI-powered burglars arrive, which company’s customers are better protected? And which company gets the new contracts?

Obviously, the companies that were built with AI at their core are structurally better equipped for a world where attackers use AI. The companies that bolted AI onto legacy architectures are scrambling.

So, how should investors respond?

The kneejerk reaction is to reach for a cybersecurity ETF – you get broad exposure with no single-stock risk.

The two most widely held are the First Trust NASDAQ Cybersecurity ETF (CIBR) and the WisdomTree Cybersecurity Fund (WCBR).

While that’s not necessarily wrong, be aware of what this means…

Both ETFs hold a broad basket of cybersecurity names – so, they include plenty of the legacy, bolt-on players we just described. You’d be buying the whole industry at a moment when the industry itself is splitting into winners and losers.

Now, that’s not necessarily a dealbreaker. Wedbush’s channel checks, published earlier this year, found that cybersecurity vendors have set 2026 sales targets up to 30% higher than the typical 12% global spending growth baseline.

So, for now, even bolt-on companies could benefit from a “rising tide” environment as Corporate America spends more on security.

But go in with your eyes open: broad exposure here means, well, broad exposure, which includes the companies least equipped for what’s coming.

For investors who want to avoid this, two of biggest AI-native platforms are CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD) and SentinelOne (S).

Do your own homework – but start with these two.

We’ve passed the Rubicon

Let’s be candid about what Monday’s GTIG report reveals…

The barrier to launching a sophisticated cyberattack just fell. It won’t go back up.

The companies that understand this – and the investors who see it early – are the ones who will end up on the right side of what’s coming.

We’ll keep you updated as our experts weigh in.

Have a good evening,

Jeff Remsburg

The post A “Disaster” Inflation Report appeared first on InvestorPlace.

Right now, Louis believes Wall Street may be underestimating what’s developing behind the scenes at the Fed.

I’ve invited him here today to explain why two men connected to one of the most famous trades in financial history — the 1992 collapse of the British pound — may soon play a major role in shaping the next phase of U.S. monetary policy. Louis also explains why he believes this shift could create a rare opportunity in small-cap stocks, and why he’s preparing to discuss it in much greater detail in just a few hours during his free event, where he’ll also share one stock recommendation with attendees.

This is your last chance to sign up. You can do so by clicking here.

Here’s Louis…

On September 16, 1992, the British government was fighting for its financial life.

For months, currency traders had been circling the British pound. The pound was pegged to European currencies at a rate most believed was indefensible. The U.K. economy was weakening. Inflation was high due to economic growth in Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The math didn’t work. And one man – George Soros – decided to bet on it.

What followed was one of the most spectacular days in the history of global finance.

Soros shorted $10 billion worth of the British pound.

The Bank of England fought back by buying pounds by the billions. It raised interest rates twice – from 10% to 12%, then to 15% – in a single day in a desperate attempt to defend the currency.

But it didn’t work. By the evening, it was over.

The British government surrendered. It unpegged the pound from Europe and later began a series of cuts, bringing its interest rate down to 6% by early 1993, leading to an economic recovery.

As for Soros, he made more than a billion dollars in a single day. The date went down in history as Black Wednesday.

I’m sure a lot of you folks know that story. But I bet not all of you know who else was in the room.

You see, two of the men connected to that trade are about to be in charge of American monetary and fiscal policy simultaneously. And I don’t think most investors have connected those dots yet.

I’m talking about Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Kevin Warsh, the incoming Federal Reserve Chair.

I’ve been at this for nearly five decades. I’ve seen every market cycle and every Fed regime come and go. And I want to tell you directly: I think this combination is very good news for your portfolio.

In this piece, I’ll explain the connection between Bessent and Warsh – and why I think it’s good news for investors. I’ll also give you my prediction for the Fed’s next move and how to be positioned before everyone else catches on.

I’ll also be going deeper at my Fed Shock event later today at 1 p.m. Eastern, where I’ll share my highest-conviction picks and a free stock recommendation just for attending. (It’s only a few hours away. Click here to reserve your spot now.)

What the Market Is Missing

Our Treasury Secretary – Scott Bessent – was part of the team that pulled off the Bank of England trade for Soros.

Kevin Warsh comes from the same world. After leaving the Fed in 2011, he went to work with Stanley Druckenmiller, the trader who actually executed the Black Wednesday trade. Druckenmiller and Bessent have remained close ever since.

These two men know each other, they trust each other, and they are operating from a shared playbook. And that playbook calls for lower rates.

Warsh has been a big critic of the Fed for years. He doesn’t like quantitative easing – the money printing that has ballooned the Fed’s balance sheet to nearly $7 trillion. But he also believes AI-driven productivity gains are fundamentally deflationary (meaning they’ll lower prices).

Bessent, meanwhile, is one of the most capable economic minds in Washington. He has publicly called for 150 basis points in reductions — that’s 1.5% — and he is fully aware of the mounting debt burden the country carries.

I believe he and Warsh are going to work together, and I believe they are going to move faster than the market expects.

How We Can Profit From the New Fed Regime

I’ve seen this movie before. Four times, to be precise.

Every time the Fed opens a sustained rate-cut cycle, the same dynamic plays out: smaller, domestically focused companies — the ones most sensitive to borrowing costs and most leveraged to U.S. economic growth — become the biggest winners. Not immediately. But consistently, and dramatically.

Here’s what happened the last four times:

• 1995 Fed pivot: Cisco +2,062%. Ascend +2,800%. AOL +2,900%.
• 2001 rate cuts: Frontline +1,513%. Hansen Natural +1,125%.
• 2008 rate cuts: Lithia Motors +475%. IPG Photonics +665%.
• 2020 COVID cuts: MARA Holdings +1,800%. Moderna +1,200%.

Different stocks. Different sectors. Same dynamic every time.

Now, I’m not naive about what we’re dealing with. There’s a war on. Inflation is still a factor. The Fed moves more slowly than anyone wants, and Warsh will need to build consensus on a 12-person committee.

This isn’t going to happen overnight.

But the direction is clear. The players are in place. And history says this is how it plays out.

The Exclusion List

My Stock Grader system has already been running throughout this early phase of the cutting cycle – and it has flagged 53 stocks showing the same early signals I’ve described in every prior window.

Strong fundamentals. Building institutional buying pressure. Consistent top rankings in my eight-factor model month after month.

I call it the Exclusion List. These are stocks that are too small for the big Wall Street funds to touch — but not too small for you.

Today at 1 p.m. Eastern, I’m going live to share my highest-conviction picks from that list. The are the names I believe are best positioned for what’s coming. I’ll also give away a free stock recommendation just for attending.

Get locked in.

Click here to reserve your spot now. Remember the event is only a few hours away, so this is your last chance to sign up.

I’ll see you there.

Sincerely,

91����

Senior Analyst, InvestorPlace

The post The Fed Is 91���� to Change Everything. Are You Ready? appeared first on InvestorPlace.

Today, it’s a sizable commuter town, just about four miles outside of Leicester. But for much of Wigston’s history, the place was a much more unassuming agricultural community.

For centuries, subsistence farming was the dominant way of life there. Farmers grazed animals on shared pasture, grew food on shared fields, and gathered lumber from shared forests. Those working the land weren’t wealthy, but they were free.

Then in 1764, parliament passed the Wigston Magna Enclosure Act. 

The act appointed commissioners — drawn from the same landowning class as those seeking enclosure — who surveyed the parish, reallocated strips into consolidated private holdings, and formally extinguished the common rights that had governed life in Wigston for centuries. Smallholders who couldn’t prove legal title to their land received nothing. Those who could were compensated in smaller, inferior plots they often couldn’t afford to farm. 

This was not an isolated incident. Between 1750 and 1830, acts like this were passed more than 4,000 times across England. Roughly 6.8 million acres of common land — about one-fifth of the country — were enclosed. 

A way of life that had existed for centuries was systematically dismantled via deliberate political action by people who stood to benefit enormously from it.

A Modern-Day Enclosure

Economist Robert Allen calls what followed “Engels’ Pause” — a 60-year period during which England’s GDP grew while wages remained flat. The Industrial Revolution was generating enormous wealth. And almost none of it was reaching the people doing the actual work. The productivity gains flowed to the people who owned the new infrastructure, while the newly landless working class absorbed the disruption.

Right now, the stock market is at all-time highs. Corporate profits are booming. AI is supposedly going to make everyone richer, more productive — possibly immortal. And yet, ask almost anyone outside a coastal zip code how they’re doing economically, and they’ll paint a very different picture. 

Grocery bills up more than 30% since 2019. High mortgage rates turned a starter home into a luxury purchase. Health insurance premiums are up 25% since 2020. Childcare costs now exceed rent in most major cities. The median age of a first-time homebuyer is at an all-time high. Real wage growth, after inflation, is hovering just above zero. 

As in the 18th century, the game is changing because the rules are being rewritten.

The Three Fences of the AI Enclosure 

The commons are being fenced again — this time with lines of code, capital concentration, and executive orders rather than parliamentary acts. 

The Labor Fence: AI Comes for White-Collar Work

Goldman Sachs Research estimates that 300 million jobs globally are exposed to AI automation. Stanford’s CodeX lab found that GPT-4 now passes the Uniform Bar Exam at roughly the 90th percentile — a feat impossible for any AI just two years prior. 

In a February 2026 interview, Mustafa Suleyman — CEO of Microsoft AI, one of the architects of the modern AI industry — told the Financial Times that AI will likely replace most tasks in white-collar professions within the next year and a half. 

“White-collar work, where you’re sitting down at a computer, either being a lawyer or an accountant or a project manager or a marketing person — most of those tasks will be fully automated by an AI within the next 12 to 18 months.”

The cascade has already begun. On Feb. 26, 2026, Jack Dorsey’s fintech company, Block (XYZ) eliminated 4,000 positions: 40% of its workforce. Block’s stock rose 24% in response. In a statement, Dorsey was candid: 

“Intelligence tools have changed what it means to build and run a company… the majority of companies will reach the same conclusion within the next year.” 

A 12-month timeline for mass professional-class displacement, from one of the most prominent technologists in America.

What followed was swift: Amazon (AMZN) cut 30,000 corporate employees. Meta (META), which had already shed 25,000 jobs since 2022, began tying performance reviews directly to AI usage. Total tech sector job losses in Q1 2026 alone reached 91,600. And the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in its annual benchmark revision, revised down job creation for the year ending March 2025 by 862,000 positions.

AI is coming for the office first, not the factory floor.

The Capital Fence: Why Only Giants Can Compete 

Capital is the second fence and, in some ways, the most durable. 

The hyperscalers — Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon, Meta, and Oracle (ORCL) — are spending nearly $700 billion on AI infrastructure in 2026 alone.

That kind of capital requirement changes who gets to participate. A small company can build an app on top of AI. It cannot easily build the model, secure the GPUs, sign the power contracts, or finance the data centers required to compete at the foundation layer.

Then come the choke points. Nvidia (NVDA) controls the overwhelming majority of the AI accelerator market, with gross margins above 70%. Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) is the indispensable manufacturer of advanced AI chips. The result is a market where the productive infrastructure of the next economy is concentrated in a handful of balance sheets, fabs, and supply chains.

That is the capital fence: not a law saying others cannot enter, but an economic structure that makes entry nearly impossible except for those already inside the enclosure.

The Political Fence: Regulation Gets Reframed as a Threat 

The final fence is political.

On Jan. 23, 2025 — Day 3 of the new administration — President Trump signed Executive Order 14179, “Removing Barriers to American Leadership in AI.” The language matters. AI was not framed primarily as a labor-market shock, a consumer-protection issue, or a public utility that might require democratic oversight. It became a matter of national competitiveness.

Once AI leadership becomes a national-security and economic-growth priority, anything that slows deployment can be treated as an obstacle. Labor protections, state-level rules, liability standards, environmental reviews, data restrictions — all can be recast as barriers to American leadership.

Then, on Dec. 11, 2025, Trump signed a second executive order directing the Department of Justice to establish an AI Litigation Task Force with a mandate to sue states that attempt to regulate AI. Federal broadband grants were also conditioned on states avoiding what the administration deemed “onerous” AI laws.

That is the enclosure mechanism. The commons being fenced off is not physical land. It is the public’s ability to set local rules around a technology that will reshape work, energy use, privacy, education, and wages. State governments try to build gates; the federal government threatens to remove them. Communities ask for conditions; Washington tells them speed comes first.

The Architects of the AI Enclosure Are In the Room 

The architects of this enclosure are not hiding from political power. They are sitting next to it. 

After the 2024 election, the procession to Mar-a-Lago began almost immediately: Zuckerberg on Nov. 7; Bezos on Nov. 19; Pichai and Brin in December; Cook in December; Altman in January 2025. All had front-row seats on Inauguration Day. Each of their respective companies donated $1 million to the inaugural fund. 

The worldview behind this alignment has been visible for years.

Back in 2014, Peter Thiel wrote “Competition Is for Losers” in the Wall Street Journal. His thesis: the goal of business is to escape competition entirely — to build monopolies so dominant they become permanent. He put $15 million behind J.D. Vance’s Senate campaign — the largest individual Senate donation of its time. Vance later called Thiel’s lecture “the most significant intellectual experience” of his life.

Marc Andreessen published his “Techno-Optimist Manifesto” in October 2023, listing his enemies explicitly. Among them: “Trustworthy AI. Responsible AI. Tech ethics. Safety culture.” It is a statement of intent from someone who helps decide which companies get funded and which ideas get built.

This is a conspiracy theory you can verify because it was done out in the open. 

The people building the new AI order have described the world they want, funded the politicians most sympathetic to it, and moved directly into the rooms where policy gets shaped. 

History’s Most Important Lesson for Investors

The English land enclosures didn’t just destroy one economic model — they created a new one. And the investors positioned correctly inside that new model compounded wealth across generations.

The landlords who usurped the land; the merchants who supplied the new industrial towns; the builders who financed the canals and roads that connected them; the early industrialists who built factories in cities swelling with ex-farmers looking for work…

All became extraordinarily wealthy.

The Great AI Enclosure follows the same structure. It has its own three-layer investment framework.

The Power Layer: Energy Is the New Land

AI is a massive energy consumer. Goldman Sachs projects that data center power demand will increase 165- to 175% by 2030. The IEA estimates data centers will reach 945 terawatt-hours of consumption by 2030. Microsoft has an $80 billion Azure backlog limited not by demand but by available power. 

The utilities and nuclear operators sitting at this choke point are the landlords of the new economy. Constellation Energy (CEG) — the largest nuclear operator in the United States, supplying roughly 10% of the country’s carbon-free electricity — signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Microsoft, restarting Three Mile Island to fuel AI data centers. Google, Amazon, and Meta have followed with their own nuclear deals. The energy gate is real, and it is being monetized.

The Semiconductor Layer: Toll Roads on Toll Roads

Nvidia’s GPU monopoly is well-known. Less appreciated are the choke points further up the supply chain — the companies that make the tools that make the chips.

You cannot build an advanced AI accelerator without extreme ultraviolet lithography machines; and there is, essentially, one company on Earth that makes them: ASML (ASML), a Dutch firm whose EUV machines cost $200 million apiece and take a year to deliver.

You cannot build advanced nodes without the specialized gases, chemicals, and deposition equipment that a small number of companies supply — among Applied Materials (AMAT), whose deposition and etching tools are present in virtually every advanced chip facility on Earth.

These are toll roads on toll roads — and they’re even less correlated to which AI model ultimately wins.

The Data Center Layer: Owning the New Industrial Real Estate

Data center investment hit a record $61 billion in 2025. Goldman Sachs projects $5 trillion in cumulative global digital infrastructure spending through 2030. The companies that own the land, the buildings, and the power connections — and lease them to hyperscalers on long-term contracts — generate contracted cash flows that compound regardless of the AI race outcome. They don’t need to predict whether OpenAI or Anthropic or Google wins. They just need to own the real estate where the servers live.

The Bottom Line: Pick the Right Side of the Fence

In 1764, the farmers of Wigston Magna watched the commissioners arrive with their surveys and their seals. 

They could see what was happening. What they lacked was positioning. 

A similar enclosure is underway right now, in the Age of AI. The question isn’t whether to believe it. It’s which side of the fence you’re left standing on. 

By the time the fences appeared in Wigston, the ownership structure was already decided.

That’s the risk in every technological revolution: not missing the headline, but missing the infrastructure forming underneath it.

We think that process is happening again right now — across the financial layer forming around the new AI economy itself.

That’s why we’re watching what Elon Musk is building inside X so closely.

Click here to see why.

The post The AI Boom Is Building Fences Around the Economy appeared first on InvestorPlace.

This morning’s April Consumer Price Index (CPI) report revealed the hottest annual inflation rate since May 2023.

The figure came in at 3.8% – up from 3.3% in March, and above the 3.7% estimate.

The obvious culprit is energy. Costs have jumped almost 18% year over year, the steepest annual increase since September 2022. Gasoline is up 28.4%, and fuel oil has surged 54.3%.

But the higher prices aren’t limited to energy…

Shelter costs also ticked higher, rising 3.3% versus 3% in March. Food was up 2.3%. And airline fares jumped 2.8% for the month alone, putting the 12-month gain at 20.7% – a number that hits anyone planning a summer trip right in the wallet.

Overall, core inflation (which strips out food and energy) edged up to 2.8% year over year. That’s higher than the March reading of 2.6% as well as the 2.7% forecast. But it’s the monthly reading that really matters – core prices rose 0.4%, nearly double the 0.2% pace reported in both February and March.

That number is worth noting because when core starts accelerating, it means the energy shock isn’t staying in its lane – it’s bleeding into the broader economy.

For consumers, the math is troubling…

Wages aren’t keeping pace, credit card balances are near record highs, and now the monthly cost of just living – gas, groceries, rent – is climbing again. This morning’s data explains why last Friday’s University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey reported the lowest reading since it began tracking the data in 1952.

Bottom line: It looks like we’ve reached the inflection point where the Iran conflict broadens from being just a geopolitical story to a kitchen-table story.

Unfortunately, we shouldn’t expect any relief on oil prices soon

That’s the bottom line from legendary investor 91���� – a reality that’s weighing on cost-conscious drivers, inflation-worried investors, and businesses already grappling with elevated transportation and input costs.

Let’s jump to Louis’ latest issue of Breakthrough Stocks from last week:

I don’t anticipate any price relief in crude oil prices or at the pump until October, when worldwide demand naturally declines.

A peace deal and the full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz would also lead to a decline in energy prices, but even when that happens, it will take some time before prices drop back to pre-conflict levels.

How long could that take?

Here’s MarketPlace:

The general rule is it’s going to take as much time as the outage duration, Rystad Energy chief economist Claudio Galimberti said.

So, if it’s out two-and-a-half months, it will take another two-and-a-half months to get back to normal.

We’re still dealing with the supply disruption, so estimates are of little value. But we can say the market probably won’t see oil back in the $60s anytime soon.

That’s important because sustained high energy prices create problems for consumers and Wall Street alike. Which naturally raises the question Louis posed to readers:

So, what should investors do in this environment?

Follow the money

In Louis’ issue, he highlighted the acceleration in CapEx spending from Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), Meta Platforms (META) and Microsoft (MSFT) on their earnings calls two weeks ago:

Analysts expected these four hyperscalers to spend about $670 billion on AI in 2026.

After the reports, that estimate jumped to $725 billion. And spending is expected to accelerate further in the years ahead.

For Louis, the investment roadmap is straightforward:

Follow the money.

That leads to the companies positioned to benefit most from the wave of AI-driven spending and earnings growth.

That’s why AI infrastructure is on his radar. And one aspect of that buildout, in particular, looks especially compelling.

Here’s Louis:

As the AI Revolution heats up, there will be a massive surge in demand for storage solutions – specifically NAND flash storage.

NAND is the technology behind the solid-state drives and memory chips that store data in everything from smartphones to data centers. It’s fast, compact and energy efficient – which makes it the storage solution of choice for AI workloads.

Louis explains that training models, running inference, and powering machine learning applications all require enormous amounts of data to be stored quickly, reliably, and securely. That’s translating directly into soaring demand for NAND memory.

Importantly, supply isn’t keeping pace.

According to Commercial Times, demand for NAND is expected to grow more than 20% this year, yet supply is on pace to climb only 15%-17%. That imbalance is creating a powerful tailwind for leading memory players.

For example, SanDisk (SNDK) – the pure-play NAND provider that spun off from Western Digital in early 2025 – has risen more than 3,500% over the last 52 weeks.

Additional leading NAND stocks have also made big moves, leading to the question…

Is it too late?

Louis says no. With major new production capacity unlikely to arrive before 2027, supply elasticity remains constrained. That means NAND pricing could stay elevated for far longer than many investors expect.

So, while the momentum has certainly been explosive, Louis believes it’s being driven by a structural supply-demand imbalance with plenty of runway still ahead. This is why he just steered his Breakthrough Stocks subscribers into a new NAND position:

As the AI Revolution heats up, there will be a massive surge in demand for storage solutions – specifically NAND flash storage.

That’s why I’m adding a new stock to the Buy List this month.

I won’t reveal it today out of respect for Louis’ Breakthrough Stocks subscribers, but the investment legend will be giving away one of his favorite stocks for today’s market at his live event tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. Eastern.

As we’ve been highlighting here in the Digest, Louis remains especially bullish on small caps for several reasons – including what he believes will eventually become a much easier monetary policy environment under potential Fed Chair Kevin Warsh.

To be clear, Louis isn’t calling for immediate rate cuts – especially not after this morning’s hot CPI print. But he does believe the market is underestimating just how accommodative policy could become under Warsh, and how that could pour gasoline on leading small-cap and AI infrastructure names.

You can get the full story directly from Louis tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. Eastern.  Just click here to reserve your seat today.

Before we move on, one note…

Given everything we’ve covered so far today – hot inflation, record-low consumer sentiment, a Fed that’s boxed in – you might expect some defensive posture from Louis.

Not so much.

Consider what he wrote to subscribers in last week’s Breakthrough Stocks issue:

The last time I saw anything like this was 1999.

Back then, the internet boom drove stocks to extraordinary heights. Today, it’s the AI data center boom.

The similarities are striking. And if history is any guide, we are still in the early innings.

But this excitement doesn’t apply to all stocks…

In fact, we have a “tale of two markets” that’s only growing more pronounced.

We’ve been tracking this bifurcation for years now. But this earnings season is bringing it into even finer resolution.

There are effectively two stock markets operating simultaneously today. The AI market. And the “everything else” market.

To be clear, “everything else” hasn’t been bad. It’s just been getting lapped by AI.

Over the last month, the S&P 500 has climbed nearly 7%. But strip out AI stocks (by looking at the US 500 Excluding Artificial Intelligence Enablers Price Return Index, SPXXAI), and the index hasn’t even gained a full 1%.

Meanwhile, data from Jefferies shows AI companies have generated over 80% of the S&P 500’s year-to-date returns. Strip away the AI component, and the benchmark has advanced a mere 2%.

But here’s where things are changing during this earnings season…

Whereas “lagging but okay” was yesterday’s story for many non-AI stocks, we’re beginning to see some genuinely ugly numbers.

Our technology expert Luke Lango, editor of Innovation Investor, has been tracking this deterioration. And last Tuesday, he pointed to Whirlpool as a red flag worth noting:

Whirlpool effectively confirmed the underlying economic reality.

“War in Iran resulted in recession-level industry decline in the U.S. as consumer confidence collapsed in late February and March,” the company stated directly in its earnings filing.

U.S. appliance demand fell 7.4% in Q1, including a 10% decline in March alone. CEO Marc Bitzer compared the slowdown to conditions seen during the global financial crisis.

Now, as we’ve covered here in the Digest, Luke believes we’re entering the “Summer of AI.” But in keeping with the “tale of two markets” dynamic that we’re tracking, Luke also says that some companies are entering the “Summer of Stagflation”:

AI companies are reporting stellar earnings, and their stocks are mostly soaring.

Other companies are reporting worrisome earnings, and their stocks are mostly struggling. 

Welcome to the Summer of AI… as well as the Summer of Stagflation. 

This dynamic will persist. Which means it is our job to make sure you benefit from the Summer of AI – and avoid the Summer of Stagflation. 

Coming full circle, guess one of the corners of the market that Luke highlights as likely to outperform during the Summer of AI?

You guessed it – the “AI memory dogs” as he put it, specifically citing SNDK as well as other NAND-focused plays tied directly to the exploding demand for AI infrastructure.

That’s why both Louis and Luke continue circling back to the same core message…

Follow the AI spending wave.

Bottom line: while much of the market may continue struggling through slower growth and rising inflation, the companies powering the AI buildout could still be in the early stages of a massive multiyear run.

We’ll keep you updated on all these stories here in the Digest.

Have a good evening,

Jeff Remsburg

(Disclaimer: I own GOOGL, AMZN, and MSFT)

The post Inflation’s Back – Will It Crash the Market? appeared first on InvestorPlace.

Momentum swings happen fast. One bad bounce can change an entire game. And every now and then, you see something so bizarre you can hardly believe it happened.

That’s exactly what happened during a game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers recently.

Flyers defenseman Nick Seeler somehow managed to hit himself in the face with an opponent’s stick… and still drew a penalty against Pittsburgh.

You can’t make this stuff up.

But here’s the thing about hockey: Players know what they’re signing up for. And a puck to the face is sometimes part of the game.

Unfortunately, the same thing is happening in the economy right now.

Everyday Americans are feeling it every time they pull up to the pump. And for a lot of families, it’s starting to feel like taking a puck to the face.

Over the past several weeks, Wall Street has been consumed by headlines surrounding the conflict in the Middle East, rising oil prices and renewed inflation fears. The average price of gasoline recently surged above $4.50 per gallon – quickly approaching the record highs we saw in 2022. And in many parts of the country, prices are already well beyond that level.

And frankly, I don’t expect much relief anytime soon unless geopolitical tensions cool considerably.

So, the big question is… what should we do in this environment?

And that’s what I want to talk about in today’s Market 360.

Skate to Where the Puck Is Going

Wayne Gretzky didn’t become the greatest hockey player of all time by skating to where the puck was.

He skated to where the puck was going to be.

That’s exactly how I think about investing.

While the world has been focused on the chaos in the Middle East, something extraordinary has been happening on the other end of the ice.

Recently, four of the so-called “Magnificent Seven” companies – Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL), Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), Meta Platforms Inc. (META) and Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) – released better-than-expected quarterly results.

But what really captured Wall Street’s attention was what these companies said about AI spending.

Ahead of those reports, analysts expected these four hyperscalers to spend about $670 billion on AI in 2026. After the reports, that estimate jumped to roughly $725 billion.

And spending is expected to accelerate even further in the years ahead.

The puck is moving fast, folks. And the next big winners in AI probably won’t be the names everyone is already talking about.

Where I’m Skating Next…

As the AI Revolution shifts into the next phase, the opportunities aren’t just in the obvious names everyone already knows.

The biggest gains will come from the companies quietly solving the problems that make the whole boom possible – the picks-and-shovels plays that Wall Street hasn’t fully discovered yet.

How do I know? Because we’ve already found big winners like this before, thanks to Stock Grader (subscription required).

You see, Stock Grader scans through a universe of about 6,000 stocks. It then grades them based on a series of fundamental indicators – as well as institutional buying pressure.

This is what led me to winners like Bloom Energy Corporation (BE) – which has delivered my followers and me to a gain of roughly 1,100% in about 14 months.

Back when we found Bloom, it was a small, $5 billion company. Barely anyone knew about it.

So, if we want to find the next winners, chances are good that Stock Grader will point us in the right direction.  

And right now, it’s detecting something bigger than just the AI buildout.

Let me explain…

The Biggest Opportunity I’ve Seen in Decades

On May 15, a new era begins at the Federal Reserve.

And based on everything Stock Grader is showing me, I believe the investors who get positioned before the crowd figures out what it means are going to look back on this moment the way early internet investors look back on 1995.

Why 1995? If you remember, the internet boom was already underway. But that’s when the Fed began a significant campaign of key interest rate cuts.

We all know what happened next. The tech-heavy NASDAQ would soar 420% before the end of the dot-com era.

Now, think about where we are today. The parallels are there.

We have an AI boom that’s already in full swing. A new Fed regime. An administration publicly calling for 150 basis points in rate cuts.

It will take some time for those rate cuts to play out. Inflation is still a factor, and the Fed moves more slowly than anyone wants.

But rate cuts are coming, folks. And when they do, it’ll be like pouring gasoline on the fire.

That’s why, tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. Eastern, I’m going to explain everything at The 10X Fed Shock Event.

Not only will I tell you what I think the media is missing about this new Fed regime and its agenda for rate cuts, but I’ll also explain why I think a specific group of smaller, faster-moving stocks will lead the way higher.

In fact, some smaller stocks are already beginning to show the same early signals in Stock Grader that I’ve tracked before every major small-cap bull run of my career. That’s why I’ve also put together a list of 53 stocks that Stock Grader is flagging right now.

I call it the Exclusion List, and you can access it for free by signing up to attend tomorrow.

This list is how I intend to keep skating to where the puck is going.

If history is any guide, this list could be full of future big winners – so I encourage you to take full advantage.

Plus, if you join me tomorrow, I’ll also share my highest-conviction picks from that list and give away a free stock recommendation just for attending.

Click here to reserve your spot for Wednesday’s event while there’s still time.

Sincerely,

Louis

The Editor hereby discloses that as of the date of this email, the Editor, directly or indirectly, owns the following securities that are the subject of the commentary, analysis, opinions, advice, or recommendations in, or which are otherwise mentioned in, the essay set forth below:

Bloom Energy Corporation (BE)

The post Everyone Is Chasing the Puck. Here’s Where It’s Headed Next… appeared first on InvestorPlace.

This Week’s Ratings Changes:

Upgraded: Strong to Very Strong

Downgraded: Very Strong to Strong

Upgraded: Neutral to Strong

Downgraded: Strong to Neutral

Upgraded: Weak to Neutral

Downgraded: Neutral to Weak

Upgraded: Very Weak to Weak

Downgraded: Weak to Very Weak

To stay on top of my latest stock ratings, plug your holdings into Stock Grader, my proprietary stock screening tool. But, you must be a subscriber to one of my premium services.

To learn more about my premium service, Growth Investor, and get my latest picks, go here. Or, if you are a member of one of my premium services, you can go here to get started.

Sincerely,

91����

Editor, Market 360

The post Apple Upgraded, American Express Downgraded: Updated Rankings on Top Blue-Chip Stocks appeared first on InvestorPlace.

According to InvestorPlace’s legendary growth investor, the market is entering a rare new phase — one that could create enormous opportunities in smaller AI and growth stocks. 

He’ll explain why during his free May 13 Fed Shock event, where he’ll also reveal 53 smaller stocks his system says are already flashing early buy signals. You can reserve your spot here.

In today’s guest essay, Louis explains why this setup reminds him of some of the most profitable moments of his investing career.

I can be honest about something the financial media won’t ever say out loud.

The game is rigged.

Wall Street has advantages over you that are real, significant, and permanent. More analysts. More data. More computing power. More access. Faster execution. Better technology. In almost every corner of the market, the biggest funds win before you even sit down at the table.

But there’s one advantage they will never have over you. Not ever. No matter how much money they raise, how many analysts they hire, or how much technology they deploy.

And it’s so powerful that Warren Buffett — the greatest investor alive — has publicly said it’s the single biggest edge in the market.

You have it. He doesn’t. And that gap is never closing.

The unfortunate thing is that most investors never use it. Not because they can’t — but because of something else working against them. Something that has nothing to do with Wall Street and everything to do with what’s happening inside their own heads.

Today, I want to show you the one place where your permanent advantage over Wall Street is most powerful — and how I’ve spent nearly 50 years building a system designed to exploit it. 

I’ll also tell you why right now may be the most urgent version of this opportunity I’ve ever seen. I’ll be getting into all of it at my Fed Shock event next Wednesday, May 13, at 1 p.m. Eastern – including a free stock pick just for attending. (Click here to reserve your spot now.)

Warren Buffett’s Small-Cap Secret

In 1999, Warren Buffett said something that should have stopped the entire investment world in its tracks.

He said that if he were managing a million dollars instead of the billions he oversees at Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK), he could guarantee 50% annual returns.

Guarantee.

Fifty percent. Annually. From the greatest investor alive.

Let that sink in for a moment. The greatest investor alive – a man who has compounded wealth at roughly 20% a year for six decades – is telling you he performs worse because he has too much money. 

The opportunity he’s describing is completely out of his reach. Not because he doesn’t see it. He sees it perfectly. 

It’s just that, when Buffett sees a stock he likes, he needs to buy a lot to really move the needle for Berkshire. And if he does that, the price moves. At his scale, the act of investing destroys the return.

But you don’t have that problem.

Why Wall Street Is Too Big for the Best Small-Cap Stocks

When a $50 billion fund tries to buy a meaningful position in a small-cap stock, it’s like trying to drink from a fire hose with a coffee cup. Their own buying pressure starts moving the price against them before they’re even halfway done accumulating. 

Every share they purchase pushes the price higher. The market sees the volume. Other traders front-run them. By the time they’ve built any real position, they’ve already paid a significant premium — and in some cases moved the stock so much that the original opportunity no longer exists. 

So, they stay away. Not because the stocks aren’t attractive. Because they’re too big to play in the sandbox.

This isn’t temporary. It isn’t going to be solved by better technology or smarter analysts. It’s structural and permanent. The bigger a fund gets, the more locked out of this opportunity it becomes.

And that’s exactly where some of the biggest gains in the market are made. I’ve seen it for nearly 50 years. I’m seeing it right now.

The Other Thing Working Against You

Now for the second force I mentioned. This one isn’t Wall Street. 

It’s you.

I don’t say that to be harsh. I say it because I’ve watched it happen over and over again.

Our brains are not wired for investing. They’re wired for survival. Avoiding a loss feels twice as urgent as capturing a gain. And we live in a media environment that has learned exactly how to exploit that – fear gets clicks, bad news travels fast, and uncertainty keeps people frozen at exactly the moments when they should be acting.

But here’s what the doom and gloom crowd never shows you: the scoreboard.

The U.S. economy keeps growing. American companies keep innovating. The stock market – through crashes, recessions, wars, and pandemics – keeps making new highs. 

I’ve watched investors sit on the sidelines through some of the greatest bull runs in history because the headlines were too scary. I’ve watched people sell at the bottom of every major crash – 2001, 2008, 2020 – right before the market turned and handed massive gains to the people who stayed in.

You want to know what I’ve learned in nearly 50 years? It actually takes courage to be an optimist.

The long-term trend is clear. The S&P 500 is up about 7,300% over the past 50 years. 

The investors who build real wealth are the ones with the courage to act while others hesitate. Lock and load while everyone else is reading scary headlines. That’s the game.

And when you combine that with the structural edge I described above – the willingness to act in the corner of the market where Wall Street literally cannot follow – you have something genuinely powerful.

Why Small-Cap Stocks Could Lead

But the money won’t be made in large-cap stocks. The real wealth opportunity will be in small caps. 

They don’t always lead the market higher. In fact, for years they trailed behind the mega-cap tech giants. 

But something has shifted. Over the past year, the Russell 2000 is up nearly 45% — compared to the S&P 500’s 30%. 

The rotation is real, and there are good reasons to believe it has a long way to run.

Small-cap companies are predominantly domestic. They benefit directly from U.S. economic growth. They’re more sensitive to interest rates – which means when rates come down, their borrowing costs fall and their earnings power expands fast. And they’re still cheap. After years of trading at a steep discount to large caps, small caps are only now beginning to close that valuation gap.

As confidence in the economy builds and earnings momentum broadens, leadership tends to rotate toward smaller, faster-growing companies. That rotation appears to be underway. And what comes next could make what we’ve already seen look like a warm-up act.

Here’s the history.

Every time the Federal Reserve has opened a sustained rate-cut window, small caps have been the biggest winners. That’s because lower rates directly reduce borrowing costs for smaller companies that carry more debt. Lower borrowing costs help expand their margins and make their future earnings worth more today.

I’ve seen four other windows of major rate cuts in my career. The last four times, small-cap stocks delivered extraordinary gains:

• Ascend Communications: +2,866% (1995 Fed pivot)
• Frontline plc (FRO): +1,513% (2001 rate cuts)
• Lithia Motors Inc. (LAD): +475% (2008 rate cuts)
• MARA Holdings Inc. (MARA): +1,800% (2020 COVID cuts)

Now consider where we are today. The Fed has already begun cutting. On May 15, a new Fed Chairman takes over — one who has publicly argued for more aggressive easing and has the full backing of President Trump.

The administration wants major cuts. Small caps are already on fire. 

When it rains, it pours — and, folks, I think it’s about to pour.

The Exclusion List: 53 Small-Cap Stocks Wall Street Can’t Touch

I’m not saying buy small caps indiscriminately. That’s not how I operate. The key is finding the right ones – the ones where the fundamentals are already strong and the institutional money is already beginning to move.

That’s exactly what my Stock Grader system does. Every week, it scans thousands of stocks looking for those two signals firing together. 

I found Bloom Energy Corp. (BE) this way – Stock Grader flagged it when the market cap was $5 billion, nobody was talking about it. Today we’re up over 1,100% in about 14 months.

A $50 billion fund couldn’t have done that. But my subscribers did.

Right now, Stock Grader has flagged 53 smaller stocks that are flashing the same signals. 

I call it the Exclusion List – because that’s exactly what it is. These are stocks that are too small for Wall Street to touch. Too small for the big funds. Not too small for you..

Small caps are already running. The Fed is about to pour fuel on the fire. And these 53 stocks are the ones my eight-factor model says are among those best positioned when it does.

On Wednesday, May 13, at 1 p.m. Eastern, I’m going live to share my highest-conviction picks from this list – the names I think have the best shot at being the next small-cap 10-baggers. You’ll get that Exclusion List immediately just by signing up. I’ll also give away a free stock pick just for attending. 

Hang on, folks. The ride is just getting started.

Click here to reserve your spot now.

The post The One Market Edge Wall Street Can’t Steal From You appeared first on InvestorPlace.

Yesterday, Iran delivered its formal response to the latest U.S. peace proposal.

President Donald Trump’s reaction left zero room for misunderstanding:

I have just read the response from Iran’s so-called “Representatives.”

I don’t like it — TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!

Iran’s nuclear program remains the point of contention.

Tehran rejected dismantling its facilities and instead proposed separate negotiations on the issue, offering to dilute some of its highly enriched uranium and transfer the rest to a third country, with a provision that it be returned if Washington exits any eventual deal.

The U.S. has been demanding a 20-year moratorium on enrichment and a full end to the nuclear program as part of any peace framework. Tehran called the American position a demand for “surrender.”

Meanwhile, also yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the conflict with Iran was “not over,” adding:

There is still enrichment sites that have to be dismantled, there’s still proxies that Iran supports, there are ballistic missiles that they still want to produce … there’s work to be done. 

The lack of geopolitical progress is weighing on the oil patch. As I write on Monday morning, West Texas Intermediate Crude has rebounded to $97 while Brent trades above $103.

However, stocks are brushing off the saber-rattling, continuing to focus on AI and a strong earnings season.

At least for now, Wall Street’s message is clear: as long as corporate profits continue to wow and the AI trade keeps delivering, geopolitical risk is a secondary concern – even with higher oil prices and unresolved risk in the Middle East.

Just over a week ago, legendary investor Warren Buffett sat down with CNBC at the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting

He wasn’t exactly bullish…

Here are select quotes from the “Oracle of Omaha”:

• I’ve compared the markets to a church with a casino attached. And people can move between the church and casino. And I would say…the casino has gotten very attractive to people. 
• We’ve never had people in a more gambling mood than now. But that doesn’t mean that investing is terrible. It does mean that prices for an awful lot of things will look very silly.
• It isn’t our ideal environment, I should say, in terms of deploying cash for Berkshire.

Meanwhile, another legendary investor has been deploying plenty of cash – and helping his readers generate returns that are multiples higher than the market here in 2026.

That would be 91����, editor of Breakthrough Stocks. While Buffett heads into retirement having amassed a massive cash pile for Berkshire Hathaway over the last handful of quarters, Louis has been making moves that have resulted in this portfolio climbing an average of 28% year-to-date, almost 4Xing the S&P 600.

So, which legendary investor is reading the market correctly?

Both of them.

Where Louis and Buffett align and diverge

In an interview with Bloomberg Business Week in 1999, Buffett said the following:

If I was running $1 million today, or $10 million for that matter, I’d be fully invested. Anyone who says that ‘size does not hurt investment performance’ is selling.

It’s a huge structural advantage not to have a lot of money. I think I could make you 50% a year on $1 million.

No, I know I could. I guarantee that.

The reason Buffett can’t act on that guarantee today?

Before his recent retirement, he was managing hundreds of billions of dollars. With a war chest that large, he can’t effectively invest in smaller, fast-moving companies anymore. He has to focus almost exclusively on massive “elephant-sized” opportunities.

And right now, he thinks the elephants are overpriced – “very silly” prices, as he put it.

But in Breakthrough Stocks – Louis’ small-cap focused service – he doesn’t have that problem.

Instead, Louis is focused on smaller, high-growth companies where he believes the opportunity set remains unusually attractive.

The numbers back that up…

His Buy List soared 15.5% in April alone, backed by companies with 123% average forecasted earnings growth and 69.8% average forecasted sales growth.

As of last week, eight of his holdings had reported earnings so far this season. All eight beat expectations, with an average earnings surprise of 68%.

Much of this outperformance comes from Louis’ quantitative algorithms, which are designed to identify fast-growing small-cap companies before Wall Street fully catches on. But Louis will be the first one to tell you that the market leadership has been shifting over the last year, with small-cap stocks responsible for a growing share of the market’s gains.

And Louis sees good reasons to believe this will continue.

Small-cap companies are predominantly domestic. They benefit directly from U.S. economic growth.

They’re more sensitive to interest rates – which means when rates come down, their borrowing costs fall and their earnings power expands fast. And they’re still cheap.

After years of trading at a steep discount to large caps, small caps are only now beginning to close that valuation gap.

Louis believes that when rates eventually come down under the new Federal Reserve Chairman, Kevin Warsh, small-cap borrowing costs will fall and their earnings power will expand fast.

It’s a tailwind he’s been tracking closely after seeing it play out for decades, and he’ll lay out the full case – including which specific stocks he thinks are best positioned to benefit – in a free event this Wednesday, May 13, at 1 p.m. Eastern. He’s also handing out a free stock pick to everyone who attends.

Bottom line: Buffett’s caution may be justified for mega-cap-focused professional money managers. But individual investors still have access to the small-cap corners of the market where growth opportunities remain abundant.

Are small-caps about to go on sale?

Louis isn’t the only one watching small caps closely right now. And the setup that Luke Lango, editor of Innovation Investor, is tracking, suggests that small caps – and perhaps even some mega-cap AI names – are about to get cheaper.

Luke believes that the “Summer of AI” – his term for the powerful rally he’s been forecasting in AI infrastructure stocks – has arrived. And it’s running hot.

Maybe a little too hot.

As evidence, last week, Luke highlighted a technical indicator called the Relative Strength Index, or RSI. Without getting too deep into the weeds, RSI measures how overbought or oversold a stock or index has become.

A reading above 70 generally signals overbought conditions – meaning a market has run up so far, so fast that a pause or pullback has become increasingly likely because prices have gotten ahead of themselves.

Right now, Luke sees warnings from a variety of RSI readings:

The S&P 500 RSI has hit 75. The Nasdaq RSI has hit 78. The semiconductor ETF SMH has an RSI of 82.

RSI 82 in SMH is the most overbought the semiconductor sector has been in years.

When three major market indicators are simultaneously in extreme overbought territory, mean reversion isn’t a risk to worry about. It’s a scheduled event.

Luke zeroes in on SMH, highlighting historical market data suggesting that the ETF is likely in for a 5%-8% pullback.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see a similar step backward in the broader market.

To be clear, this isn’t a crash or a bearish shift in Luke’s thesis. It’s just the normal, necessary breather after a red-hot market run:

[It will be a] clean, healthy, technical reset that works off the excess and creates a healthier base for the next sustained advance. 

Duration: typically two to four weeks of sideways-to-lower price action before the fundamental momentum reasserts.

Circling back to Louis, for investors looking to capitalize on small-cap opportunities, get your buy list ready. If we’re in for a healthy pullback, this would likely be the last good entry point before Luke’s Summer of AI kicks back into gear.

Here’s Luke bottom line:

Any short-term volatility we see over the next few weeks should pale in comparison to the gains that will follow over the subsequent few months.

Wrapping up

Today’s market looks to be demanding two things from investors at once: patience for near-term volatility and bullishness for the medium-term AI boom.

And that means Buffett’s caution, Louis’ small-cap optimism, and Luke’s expectation for a healthy pullback can all be true at the same time. The difference comes down to timing – and knowing where to look for opportunity once the market’s reset runs its course.

We’ll keep you updated on all these stories here in the Digest.

Have a good evening,

Jeff Remsburg

(Disclaimer: I own SMH)

The post Warren Buffett Is Nervous. 91���� Is Buying. appeared first on InvestorPlace.

Last week, the S&P 500 hit its 15th straight record high this year. And when things get this good, you can’t help but wonder if the market is overheated.

Consider this… CNBC recently reported that only 22% of S&P 500 stocks are outperforming the index right now, meaning that just a handful of large-cap stocks are doing most of the heavy lifting.

So, where does the market go from here?

On this week’s Navellier Market Buzz, we invited one of our favorite technical experts, Tammy Marshall, to help answer that question for us. We talk about why this market is extended, whether it could pull back (and by how much) – as well as key support levels to watch. Plus, we reveal our top five stocks to buy on a market dip.

Click the image below to watch now.

To see more of my videos, click here to subscribe to my YouTube channel. And if you’d like to learn more about Tammy, check out her website here.

Plus, the grades in Stock Grader (subscription required) have been updated this week! Click here to plug in your own stocks and see how they’re rated.

A Rare Market Window May Be Opening

While Tammy and I focused mostly on the technical side of this rally, there’s another reason I’m watching things so closely right now.

That’s because the Senate is expected to vote on Kevin Warsh’s confirmation as the new Chair of the Federal Reserve this week.

But personally, I think the mainstream financial media is getting the entire story wrong.

You see, most of the media coverage up to this point has been about court politics: The Trump-Powell feud – or whether Warsh will be a puppet for Trump.

What most of these folks are missing is the fact that Warsh has big plans for the Fed.

He wants to reform it. And yes, that does involve key interest rate cuts.

I want to be very clear. 

In my nearly 50 years of investing, I’ve only seen market conditions like this four times before: 1995, 2001, 2008 and 2020.

Each time, my Stock Grader system identified a group of smaller stocks showing unusually strong institutional buying activity before they made some of their biggest moves.

I believe we may be entering that kind of window again, on Friday, May 15.

If that window opens the way I expect, the biggest gains could come early – which is why I believe investors need to be paying attention right now.

To explain exactly what I’m seeing, I’ll be hosting a special presentation called The 10X Fed Shock Event on Wednesday, May 13, at 1 p.m. Eastern.

When you sign up, you’ll get access to my Exclusion List, 53 small-cap stocks that my system has flagged as especially well-positioned for this next window.

And during the event, I’ll reveal my single highest-conviction stock pick from the entire list for free.

Click here to reserve your seat now.

Sincerely,

91����

Editor, Market 360

The post 5 Dips to Buy as the Market Hits Record Highs appeared first on InvestorPlace.

Vines are often a visual symbol of overgrowth. They can wrap around a building’s exterior, growing and clinging to worn, cracked stone, creating fractures that let further destruction in.

In a similar way, AI is gradually weaving itself into daily life — reshaping how we research, how businesses operate, and ultimately how markets are structured.

That shift is accelerating with the rise of agentic AI, or what I call A-AI: systems capable of independently completing tasks, making decisions, and executing workflows with minimal human involvement.

We’re already seeing agentic AI’s vine-like tentacles reaching into critical areas, including financial institutions.

But overgrowth isn’t always destructive. Sometimes, it signals transformation.

Last week, both Anthropic and OpenAI announced plans to deploy agentic AI specifically for financial services.

OpenAI announced its collaboration with accounting firm PwC to build AI agents aimed at streamlining processes and meeting increasing demands in financial services. OpenAI says the goal is to build AI systems that can automate repetitive financial work, analyze information across multiple platforms, and help human teams make faster decisions.

By combining Codex and Workspace Agents with PwC’s finance expertise, OpenAI plans to roll out AI systems that can handle complex tasks across departments. The AI company presents this as a practical strategy for applying AI in real-world scenarios.

For its part, Anthropic announced the creation of 10 new AI agents specifically designed for banks and financial services companies. These agents will handle basic financial tasks like drafting credit memos and building pitchbooks.

Jonathan Pelosi, who leads Anthropic’s financial services division, says the company wants to narrow the gap between rapid AI development and the financial sector’s ability to adopt the technology effectively.

These finance-focused AI announcements came just before Anthropic partnered with Fidelity National Information Services to create AI-driven software that helps banks monitor accounts for any signs of financial crimes, making the process more efficient and secure.

We are witnessing AI become stronger, smarter, and faster. Its vines continue to creep along walls, reshaping entire business structures – this time, in financial services.

And I’ve identified one fintech company that’s already leveraging agentic AI to its advantage in the A-AI era, which I’ll share below.

But first, let’s take a look at what we covered here at Smart Money last week.

Smart Money Roundup

May 10, 2026

Warren Buffett Can’t Make This Trade. You Can.

For nearly 50 years, quant investing legend 91���� has built his reputation by identifying fast-growing companies before Wall Street fully catches on. Lately, Louis has been focused on one area of the market he believes could become especially important over the next several years: smaller-cap growth stocks positioned to benefit from a new Fed cycle and expanding AI-driven infrastructure spending.

May 9, 2026

3 AI Stocks to Buy Immediately

There are still a handful of companies that look like Nvidia in late 2022 and SK Hynix in mid-2025. These firms produce crucial AI data center components and are underpriced simply because Wall Street hasn’t yet realized what shortages are about to happen from AI data center demand. Click here to learn more.

May 7, 2026

This Tiny AI Stock Exploded Higher… Here’s How to Spot the Next One

The biggest future AI winners will likely be smaller, under-the-radar infrastructure companies solving real bottlenecks before Wall Street fully notices them – similar to how Bloom Energy quietly surged more than 1,100% as AI data-center power demand exploded.

91���� says the key is finding companies with improving fundamentals and early institutional buying before the broader market catches on to the next phase of the AI buildout. Read more here.

May 6, 2026

Xerox Is an AI Trap — This Company Is a Better “Match”

In this Wednesday Smart Money, we’re looking at a stock that highlights the limits of legacy tech companies struggling to adapt as A-AI accelerates. Then, I’ll break down an AI Applier that is successfully leveraging A-AI to strengthen its core business and gain a competitive advantage. Read on here.

How to Profit From A-AI

Block Inc. (XYZ) helps merchants transact over $200 billion annually. Its point-of-sale systems are found everywhere from farmers’ markets to national retail chains.

Thanks to Block’s sizable multi-year spending on both capital investments and acquisitions, the company has become one of the world’s leading fintech companies.

And the company has expanded to:

• Peer-to-peer payments
• Small business software
• Buy now, pay later
• E-commerce
• Crypto

And now, AI.

Block recently made a controversial decision to cut a large portion of its workforce while aggressively adopting AI tools internally

Three months after that high-profile layoff announcement, Block reported gross-profit growth accelerating to 27% from 24%. First-quarter gross profit reached $2.9 billion, topping Wall Street expectations of $2.8 billion.

Chief Financial Officer Amrita Ahuja said that growth was driven in part by the company’s ability to develop and launch products more quickly.

And its internal AI tools are speeding up this workflow. The company’s open-source AI agent framework, called Goose, helps employees automate work and workflows.

Block has been prepared for this agentic AI shift.

Back in December, Block, OpenAI, and Anthropic, along with several other big tech players, launched the Agentic AI Foundation (AAIF) under the Linux Foundation. The group was created to help companies build open-source AI agents that can work together using shared standards.

And the idea is for AI agents from different companies to work together using shared rules and protocols, similar to how the internet runs on open standards.

Anthropic contributed MCP (Model Context Protocol), which helps AI agents connect to tools and data. OpenAI contributed AGENTS.md, a format that tells coding agents how to behave inside software projects. And Block contributed Goose.

The next wave of AI winners will be the companies reorganizing themselves around AI agents.

Block is trying to position itself as one of the first major companies built around that model.

But it isn’t the only one I’ve identified. Click here to learn my No. 1 pick in the agentic AI era, free of charge.

Regards,

91����

P.S. A new Fed regime is taking shape, and on May 13 at 1 p.m. Eastern, 91���� will break down why this shift could trigger the next major wave of stock market winners. He’s identified 53 under-the-radar stocks already attracting institutional money… and when you sign up, you’ll get the full list, along with a free pick during his presentation. Save your spot here.

The post A New AI Gold Rush Is Starting in Finance appeared first on InvestorPlace.

Every quarter, Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT), and Meta (META) are writing enormous checks to the same address in Santa Clara, Calif.

For a while, they had no choice. Nvidia had built the dominant chip architecture now deeply embedded in the AI research ecosystem. Nvidia’s market share in AI accelerators peaked around 90% in 2022 — 90% in an industry where 20% makes you a power player.

And Nvidia knew it. Its gross margins on AI chips ran somewhere between 75% and 80%. In other words, for every $40,000 chip sold, approximately $30,000 was pure profit. The cost to manufacture? Somewhere around $3,000 to $5,000.

So the world’s most sophisticated technology companies were essentially paying a private tax, to one company, that they had little leverage over.

Until the economics became too obvious to ignore — and revealed the next great vertical in the AI supply chain. 

How the GPU Shortage Pushed Big Tech Toward Custom AI Chips 

The AI boom exploded faster than anyone, including Nvidia, had predicted. 

Demand for H100s rocketed. And Nvidia, constrained by Taiwan Semiconductor‘s (TSM) manufacturing capacity, simply could not build chips fast enough to meet it. 

The waitlists stretched for months. Amazon told investors it had “more demand than it could fulfill” because of chip supply constraints. Anthropic‘s ability to train Claude was throttled by how many Nvidia chips it could get its hands on.

The companies with the most capital, the best engineers, and the most urgent need in the most important technology race in the world were suddenly capacity-constrained by one supplier. 

But that constraint turned out to be one of the most important developments in the AI hardware market.

Because Google, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft don’t respond to problems by complaining about them. They build their way out.

(The “build around the bottleneck” impulse isn’t exclusive to chips — it’s why we’re also tracking X Money and what Elon Musk is attempting in financial infrastructure. But one disruption at a time.) 

The Custom Silicon Push Was Years In the Making 

The AI chip shortage of the past few years threw gasoline on Big Tech’s custom silicon fire. But it didn’t originate it. This move has been years in the making.

Google began developing its Tensor Processing Unit — a chip designed to run Google’s AI workloads with extraordinary efficiency — back in 2015. At the time, it was a ‘skunkworks’ project, barely mentioned externally for two years. And it has now become the foundation of the most mature custom AI chip program in the world.

Amazon followed with Inferentia (2019) and Trainium (2021). In 2023, Meta launched MTIA, and Microsoft announced Maia. By the end of that year, every major hyperscaler had at least one proprietary AI chip in production.

The breadcrumbs were hiding in plain sight. The financial press mostly missed them, focused instead on Nvidia’s stock price while its biggest customers were quietly spending billions to reduce their dependence.

Then came Project Rainier, Amazon’s internal AI computing cluster. It was built entirely from its own Trainium2 chips and contains 500,000 custom processors in a single system. For context, OpenAI used approximately 25,000 Nvidia GPUs to train GPT-4. Project Rainier is 20 times that, all on Amazon’s own custom silicon.

The April 2026 Custom AI Chip Deal Wave 

Rainier’s launch signaled a major stress fracture in the AI chip space. And six months later, in April 2026, the dam broke open.

• April 6: Broadcom (AVGO) files an 8-K with the SEC disclosing a new five-year TPU partnership with Google — extending through 2031 — plus a deal giving Anthropic access to 3.5 gigawatts of Google TPU computing capacity starting in 2027. That nearly quadrupled Anthropic’s compute footprint. 
• April 15: Meta and Broadcom jointly announce an extension of their custom chip partnership through 2029, with Meta committing to pay over $2 billion per year in design fees and deploy one full gigawatt of its own custom MTIA processors.
• April 19: The Information reports that Google is in active talks with Marvell Technology (MRVL) to develop two additional custom AI chips — a Memory Processing Unit and an inference-optimized TPU. Google, already in a five-year deal with Broadcom, is beginning a second design partnership for two more custom chips.
• April 20: Amazon announces an investment of up to $25 billion into Anthropic. In return, Anthropic commits to spend $100 billion on Amazon Web Services over the next 10 years — with Trainium custom chips at the center of that spend. Around the same time, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy says the company’s custom chip business has crossed a $20 billion annual revenue run rate, up from $10 billion earlier this year. 

Four deals, two weeks, over $200 billion in long-term commitments, all pointing in the same direction: custom silicon.

Nvidia’s data center compute share has already dropped from roughly 90% in 2022 to around 75% in late 2025. Over half of internal hyperscaler inference workloads now run on custom ASICs. Custom chip sales are growing at 45% annually — nearly three times the 16% growth rate for GPUs.

The shift is underway. The only question now is who’s positioned to benefit from it.

Where the Custom AI Chip Toll Roads Are Forming 

In any major technology transition, there are two kinds of companies worth owning. The destination companies — the ones competing to rule the new era — and the toll road companies — the ones collecting a fee at every step of the journey, regardless of who wins.

In the PC revolution, Apple (AAPL), Compaq, Dell (DELL), IBM (IBM), and hundreds of others all fought ferociously for market share. Intel (INTC) didn’t pick sides. It supplied the chips to all of them. 

Every PC sold, regardless of brand, had Intel inside. Intel collected its toll on each sale. From 1981 to its dominance peak, INTC delivered gains of over 10,000%.

The AI chip revolution has destination companies too. OpenAI versus Anthropic versus Google DeepMind. They make great headlines. And if you pick the right one, fantastic.

But the toll road play is more interesting. Because the toll road doesn’t need a prediction. It just needs the revolution to keep happening.

And as of April 2026, the revolution already has roughly $200 billion in signed commitments pushing it forward. 

So, where does the toll road money flow?

The Demand Engine: Hyperscalers and AI Labs 

Google, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic are the demand engine. Together, they’re spending more than $500 billion on AI infrastructure in 2026 alone. But these are still the Destination Companies, competing with one another for models, users, and market share. The more interesting layer sits underneath them — the companies getting paid no matter which hyperscaler wins.

The Architecture Toll Road: Arm 

Arm Holdings (ARM) supplies core architecture used across much of the modern computing world — and increasingly, across the systems surrounding custom AI silicon. Every time a hyperscaler deploys Arm-based CPUs, control processors, or AI-adjacent silicon inside these systems, Arm collects royalties on every chip shipped. 

The Designers: Synopsys and Cadence 

Before a chip can be built, it has to be designed. And every chip designer in the world relies on either Synopsys (SNPS) or Cadence Design Systems (CDNS). More custom chip programs means more licenses, more upgrades, more revenue. And because these platforms sit deep inside chip-design workflows, they are difficult to replace once engineering teams standardize around them. 

The Custom Silicon Builders: Broadcom and Marvell 

This is the center of the custom silicon trade: the companies translating hyperscaler demand into physical AI chips.

Broadcom dominates the layer. It designs custom AI accelerators and networking silicon for companies like Google and Meta, giving it direct exposure to the rapid expansion of proprietary AI infrastructure. Its AI-related revenue has surged from roughly $2 billion in 2023 to a run rate now measured in the tens of billions annually — with management projecting continued growth through the end of the decade.

Then there’s Marvell Technology — smaller, quieter, and increasingly difficult to ignore. Marvell helped develop Amazon’s Trainium chips and Microsoft’s Maia processors, while also supplying the data-infrastructure silicon those AI systems need to move information at speed. Several of its largest hyperscaler programs are expected to ramp simultaneously over the next few years.

As Big Tech moves away from off-the-shelf GPUs and toward proprietary silicon, Broadcom and Marvell are becoming two of the most important engineering partners in the AI infrastructure stack.

The Foundry Toll Road: Taiwan Semiconductor 

Every custom AI chip ultimately has to be fabricated somewhere — and at the bleeding edge of semiconductor manufacturing, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing is effectively the only game in town. Whether it’s Google’s TPU, Amazon’s Trainium, or Nvidia’s GPUs, nearly all advanced AI silicon eventually flows through TSM’s fabs. 

The Networking Layer: Arista, Credo, and Coherent 

The networking layer may be the least appreciated part of the AI stack. Companies like Arista Networks (ANET), Credo Technology (CRDO), and Coherent (COHR) build the optical interconnects, switches, and high-bandwidth networking infrastructure that make AI clusters function. As compute scales from thousands of chips to millions, the bottleneck shifts from raw compute to moving data between those chips fast enough to keep them useful.  

Why the Custom AI Chip Trade Deserves a Second Look 

Much of the AI trade in 2023 and 2024 was speculative — bets on revenue that had not yet materialized across the stack, capabilities that might or might not arrive, and a competitive landscape that nobody could map with confidence. 

The custom silicon trade of 2026 is different in an important way: it’s already in the numbers.

Broadcom has now delivered 11 consecutive quarters of AI revenue growth. Amazon’s custom chip business doubled in just months. More than half of hyperscaler inference workloads already run on custom ASICs. And over $200 billion in customer commitments has already been signed across the ecosystem.

This is not a bet on the future. It’s a bet on a structural shift that is already underway, already represented in earnings reports, and — based on the contract terms being signed — contractually committed through the end of the decade.

The toll roads are already being built. The contracts are already signed.

The only variable is whether you’re positioned on the right side of it.

The obvious toll roads in this cycle are semiconductors, networking, and compute infrastructure.

But if AI becomes the foundation of the next digital economy, a second layer of toll roads will emerge around payments, transactions, and financial coordination.

That’s why we’re paying close attention to what Elon Musk is building inside X.

You can dig into it here.

The post Don’t Miss the Next Turn In the AI Trade appeared first on InvestorPlace.

Lately, Louis has been focused on one area of the market he believes could become especially important over the next several years: smaller-cap growth stocks positioned to benefit from a new Fed cycle and expanding AI-driven infrastructure spending.

In today’s issue, Louis explains why he believes individual investors still possess one structural advantage Wall Street can never fully overcome — and why that advantage may matter more right now than it has in years.

He also shares details on his upcoming free May 13 Fed Shock event, where he’ll reveal the 53 smaller stocks currently showing the same early signals his system identified before some of his biggest winners. Reserve your spot for that event here.

Here’s Louis…

I can be honest about something the financial media won’t ever say out loud.

The game is rigged.

Wall Street has advantages over you that are real, significant, and permanent. More analysts. More data. More computing power. More access. Faster execution. Better technology. In almost every corner of the market, the biggest funds win before you even sit down at the table.

But there’s one advantage they will never have over you. Not ever. No matter how much money they raise, how many analysts they hire, or how much technology they deploy.

And it’s so powerful that Warren Buffett — the greatest investor alive — has publicly said it’s the single biggest edge in the market.

You have it. He doesn’t. And that gap is never closing.

The unfortunate thing is that most investors never use it. Not because they can’t — but because of something else working against them. Something that has nothing to do with Wall Street and everything to do with what’s happening inside their own heads.

Today, I want to show you the one place where your permanent advantage over Wall Street is most powerful — and how I’ve spent nearly 50 years building a system designed to exploit it.

I’ll also tell you why right now may be the most urgent version of this opportunity I’ve ever seen. I’ll be getting into all of it at my Fed Shock event next Wednesday, May 13, at 1 p.m. Eastern – including a free stock pick just for attending. (Click here to reserve your spot now.)

What Buffett Knows That Most Investors Don’t

In 1999, Warren Buffett said something that should have stopped the entire investment world in its tracks.

He said that if he were managing a million dollars instead of the billions he oversees at Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK), he could guarantee 50% annual returns.

Guarantee.

Fifty percent. Annually. From the greatest investor alive.

Let that sink in for a moment. The greatest investor alive – a man who has compounded wealth at roughly 20% a year for six decades – is telling you he performs worse because he has too much money.

The opportunity he’s describing is completely out of his reach. Not because he doesn’t see it. He sees it perfectly.

It’s just that, when Buffett sees a stock he likes, he needs to buy a lot to really move the needle for Berkshire. And if he does that, the price moves. At his scale, the act of investing destroys the return.

But you don’t have that problem.

Why Their Size Is Your Advantage

When a $50 billion fund tries to buy a meaningful position in a small-cap stock, it’s like trying to drink from a fire hose with a coffee cup. Their own buying pressure starts moving the price against them before they’re even halfway done accumulating.

Every share they purchase pushes the price higher. The market sees the volume. Other traders front-run them. By the time they’ve built any real position, they’ve already paid a significant premium — and in some cases moved the stock so much that the original opportunity no longer exists.

So, they stay away. Not because the stocks aren’t attractive. Because they’re too big to play in the sandbox.

This isn’t temporary. It isn’t going to be solved by better technology or smarter analysts. It’s structural and permanent. The bigger a fund gets, the more locked out of this opportunity it becomes.

And that’s exactly where some of the biggest gains in the market are made. I’ve seen it for nearly 50 years. I’m seeing it right now.

The Other Thing Working Against You

Now for the second force I mentioned. This one isn’t Wall Street.

It’s you.

I don’t say that to be harsh. I say it because I’ve watched it happen over and over again.

Our brains are not wired for investing. They’re wired for survival. Avoiding a loss feels twice as urgent as capturing a gain. And we live in a media environment that has learned exactly how to exploit that – fear gets clicks, bad news travels fast, and uncertainty keeps people frozen at exactly the moments when they should be acting.

But here’s what the doom and gloom crowd never shows you: the scoreboard.

The U.S. economy keeps growing. American companies keep innovating. The stock market – through crashes, recessions, wars, and pandemics – keeps making new highs.

I’ve watched investors sit on the sidelines through some of the greatest bull runs in history because the headlines were too scary. I’ve watched people sell at the bottom of every major crash – 2001, 2008, 2020 – right before the market turned and handed massive gains to the people who stayed in.

You want to know what I’ve learned in nearly 50 years? It actually takes courage to be an optimist.

The long-term trend is clear. The S&P 500 is up about 7,300% over the past 50 years.

The investors who build real wealth are the ones with the courage to act while others hesitate. Lock and load while everyone else is reading scary headlines. That’s the game.

And when you combine that with the structural edge I described above – the willingness to act in the corner of the market where Wall Street literally cannot follow – you have something genuinely powerful.

Why Small Caps? Why Now?

But the money won’t be made in large-cap stocks. The real wealth opportunity will be in small caps.

They don’t always lead the market higher. In fact, for years they trailed behind the mega-cap tech giants.

But something has shifted. Over the past year, the Russell 2000 is up nearly 45% — compared to the S&P 500’s 30%.

The rotation is real, and there are good reasons to believe it has a long way to run.

Small-cap companies are predominantly domestic. They benefit directly from U.S. economic growth. They’re more sensitive to interest rates – which means when rates come down, their borrowing costs fall and their earnings power expands fast. And they’re still cheap. After years of trading at a steep discount to large caps, small caps are only now beginning to close that valuation gap.

As confidence in the economy builds and earnings momentum broadens, leadership tends to rotate toward smaller, faster-growing companies. That rotation appears to be underway. And what comes next could make what we’ve already seen look like a warm-up act.

Here’s the history.

Every time the Federal Reserve has opened a sustained rate-cut window, small caps have been the biggest winners. That’s because lower rates directly reduce borrowing costs for smaller companies that carry more debt. Lower borrowing costs help expand their margins and make their future earnings worth more today.

I’ve seen four other windows of major rate cuts in my career. The last four times, small-cap stocks delivered extraordinary gains:

• Ascend Communications: +2,866% (1995 Fed pivot)
• Frontline plc (FRO): +1,513% (2001 rate cuts)
• Lithia Motors Inc. (LAD): +475% (2008 rate cuts)
• MARA Holdings Inc. (MARA): +1,800% (2020 COVID cuts)

Now consider where we are today. The Fed has already begun cutting. On May 15, a new Fed Chairman takes over — one who has publicly argued for more aggressive easing and has the full backing of President Trump.

The administration wants major cuts. Small caps are already on fire.

When it rains, it pours — and, folks, I think it’s about to pour.

The Exclusion List

I’m not saying buy small caps indiscriminately. That’s not how I operate. The key is finding the right ones – the ones where the fundamentals are already strong and the institutional money is already beginning to move.

That’s exactly what my Stock Grader system does. Every week, it scans thousands of stocks looking for those two signals firing together.

I found Bloom Energy Corp. (BE) this way – Stock Grader flagged it when the market cap was $5 billion, nobody was talking about it. Today we’re up over 1,100% in about 14 months.

A $50 billion fund couldn’t have done that. But my subscribers did.

Right now, Stock Grader has flagged 53 smaller stocks that are flashing the same signals.

I call it the Exclusion List – because that’s exactly what it is. These are stocks that are too small for Wall Street to touch. Too small for the big funds. Not too small for you..

Small caps are already running. The Fed is about to pour fuel on the fire. And these 53 stocks are the ones my eight-factor model says are among those best positioned when it does.

OnWednesday, May 13, at 1 p.m. Eastern, I’m going live to share my highest-conviction picks from this list – the names I think have the best shot at being the next small-cap 10-baggers. You’ll get that Exclusion List immediately just by signing up. I’ll also give away a free stock pick just for attending.

Hang on, folks. The ride is just getting started.

Click here to reserve your spot now.

Sincerely,

91����

Editor, Breakthrough Stocks

P.S. I’ve worked around financial publishing for a long time, and one thing I appreciate about Louis is that he stays focused on what’s actually happening underneath the surface of the market — not the daily noise on television.

His system has identified a number of major winners early over the years, including Bloom Energy well before its massive run. If you’d like to hear what Louis is seeing now — and get access to the 53-stock Exclusion List he discusses in today’s essay — I’d encourage you to reserve a spot for his free May 13 event here.

The post Warren Buffett Can’t Make This Trade. You Can. appeared first on InvestorPlace.

“Everyone knows” may be one of the most dangerous terms in investing: 

• “Everyone knows internet stocks don’t need profits”… 
• “Everyone knows real estate prices only go up”… 
• “Everyone knows Bitcoin will hit $1 million”… 

That’s because “everyone knows” means every investor collectively believes the same thing. Once that happens, there’s no one left on the opposite side of a trade. 

And there’s the problem. If there are only buyers and no sellers, you end up with speculative bubbles from Las Vegas real estate to meme coins that can end in disaster. 

A new “everyone knows” phenomenon is now gripping markets: that the U.S. Federal Reserve will not cut rates in 2026. In fact, The Wall Street Journal reported last week that regional bank presidents are starting to talk about potentially hiking rates.  

That’s driven investors into companies that do well when rates are high, namely cash-rich behemoths like Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL). These titans can fund their own growth without worrying about borrowing cash. In fact, the Magnificent Seven stocks now make up roughly 35% of the entire S&P 500, up from around 20% in early 2023. 

But what about the other side of that trade – those betting that rate cuts could still be on the table? 

InvestorPlace Senior Analyst 91���� is one of them.  

He rightly senses that the jobs market and American consumption are weaker than Wall Street believes. The Fed might be forced to reduce rates even as gasoline-led inflation persists. 

To capitalize on this trend, Louis has identified 53 small-cap stocks he calls his “Exclusion List” — companies that are simply too small for major Wall Street firms to buy aggressively. 

These are mostly high-growth companies that need cheap cash to fund further expansion… and he’s sharing this list free with folks who sign up to attend his May 13 presentation. During the presentation, Louis will highlight the stocks he believes have the highest conviction on that list. 

To give you a sense of these 53 companies, I’ve chosen three to share with you today.  

Let’s dive in… 

Small-Cap Stock to Buy No. 1: Watt Goes Up 

Rising global energy prices have put solar power back on the menu.  

Solar farms are quick to build, unaffected by high fossil fuel prices, and still benefit from federal programs like the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that aren’t due to expire for many more years. In fact, the U.S. Energy Information Administration expects that solar will make up 51% of all new electric generating capacity in 2026, led by states like Texas and Arizona. 

Many of solar’s “big boys” have already seen their stock prices shoot up. Hanwha Solutions Corp., a South Korean behemoth with a major solar division, has seen shares rise 420% since 2025. 

But the rush into mega-cap solar makers has left smaller players by the wayside. That brings us to our first small-cap candidate: 

TOYO Co. Ltd. (TOYO). 

TOYO is a vertically integrated solar manufacturer headquartered in Tokyo and listed on the Nasdaq. The company produces next-generation TOPCon (tunnel oxide passivated contact) cells, which deliver higher solar conversion rates than the older PERC standard that dominates installed capacity. 

The firm recently became the largest non-FEOC (foreign entity of concern) maker of these TOPCon cells after opening a 4 gigawatt cell factory in Ethiopia and acquiring a 1GW facility in Houston last year, which they plan to double in size. This designation matters because projects claiming IRA manufacturing tax credits must prove their supply chains are free of FEOC content. That gives TOYO an immense advantage over Chinese rivals like JinkoSolar Holding Co. Ltd. (JKS). 

That’s helped TOYO reach a growth inflection point. Revenues are expected to surge 95% to $832 million this year, and then rise another 33% in 2027 as U.S. manufacturing expands. Profits should rise even faster as the company reaches scale. 

Best of all, shares are remarkably cheap – and even more so if rates fall. Shares trade for below 5X forward earnings, demonstrating how many small-cap companies are mispriced simply because Wall Street doesn’t know they exist. 

Of course, investors should be aware of the risks in small-cap stocks, especially with a tightly held firm like TOYO. The company’s holding structure is opaque, and its balance sheet involves related-party vendor financing that looks to me like a house of cards. It’s a bit like Tesla Inc. (TSLA) in 2008 or 2017, where a firm makes a massive financial leap without any guarantee of landing on solid ground… all while “window dressing” their financial reports to calm investors. The stock could go to zero, especially if rates go up and financing evaporates. 

If TOYO’s bets pay off, however, the stock is worth multiples of what it is today. And according to Louis’ system, it’s a wager that could well pay off. 

Small-Cap Stock to Buy No. 2: Floating Along 

The Strait of Hormuz closure has been a disaster for global oil logistics. Roughly 1,600 ships are stuck in the Persian Gulf, including at least 50 massive carriers and hundreds of smaller tankers. 

A reopening of the Strait won’t bring normalcy for months. Shipping companies will hesitate to send new ships through the chokepoint – wary of hitting sea mines or trapping more of their fleet if the shooting resumes. Besides, damage to the Gulf’s oil terminals is so extensive that it could take until 2027 to get production back up to speed. 

However, that’s proven to be a near-bonanza for shipping companies. They have seen charter rates spike as remaining ships are forced to make longer voyages. Every extra day at sea worsens the shortage because ships are not available for new charters. 

That should benefit one of Louis’ small-cap tankers on his 53-stock Exclusion List: 

Ardmore Shipping Corp. (ASC).

Ardmore is a Bermuda-based shipping company specializing in transporting refined petroleum products. The firm owns 25 vessels (plus one chartered ship) and has a long history of positive cash flows. They have generated cash in 13 of the past 15 years. 

The recent spike in shipping rates will now create windfall profits for Ardmore. Analysts expect net income to rise 25% on average over the next two years, and this figure could be even higher if shipping rates remain this elevated. Below is the graph of the Baltic Clean Tanker Index – the most relevant one to Ardmore’s fleet. As you can see, charter rates have risen 3X since last year. 

The Baltic Clean Tanker Index

Source: L/S/E/G

Ardmore also stands to gain financially from lower American interest rates. Twenty of the company’s ships are mortgaged based on the Treasury’s secured overnight financing rate (SOFR), so lower rates instantly mean less interest payments. It will also decrease the cost of buying new ships. 

Fortunately, Wall Street hasn’t quite caught up yet.  

Shares of the shipping firm trade at just 12.5X forward earnings and 9.3X cash flows – within striking distance of long-term averages. The stock is also supported by a roughly $21-per-share of net asset value, using the company’s recent $35.5 million sale of an older vessel as a guide. (That means the company could theoretically sell its entire fleet, pay off debt, and still have roughly $21 per share in cash left over for shareholders).  

With the stock trading under $19 today, that seems a deal worth taking. 

Small-Cap Stock to Buy No. 3: The Moonshot Biotech 

The biotech industry is notoriously reliant on financing. New drugs can take years and billions of dollars to develop before they ever reach the commercial stage — making biotech one of the most interest-rate-sensitive corners of the market. 

Falling rates could present a real opportunity here. Not only do discount rates drop (making future cash flows more valuable today), but cash-hungry firms can borrow more cheaply to fund the growth they need. 

That brings us to our third pick: 

Nautilus Biotechnology Inc. (NAUT). 

Nautilus is a pre-revenue startup building what could become the standard platform for protein analysis. Management expects a commercial launch by late 2026, with installations beginning in early 2027. 

Here’s why that matters. Today’s standard approach — called mass spectrometry — requires researchers to chop proteins into fragments, and then try to reconstruct what they had. It’s slow, labor intensive, and prone to error with proteins it hasn’t seen before. 

Nautilus’s system works differently: It analyzes proteins intact, using fluorescent probes to map their structure without breaking anything apart. Think of it as reading a book rather than shredding it and guessing the plot from the scraps. 

The practical upside is significant. Diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and ALS involve subtle protein variations that current tools routinely miss. A better map means better drug development — and potentially faster answers to questions researchers have been stuck on for decades. 

The company is on track. A successful prototype was revealed in February 2026, and respected institutions like the Buck Institute are already testing the machines. Insiders have been buying — five purchases over the past year, including one as recently as March. That’s one of my favorite “Buy” signals in the biotech world. 

If rates fall and Nautilus hits its timeline, this is the kind of stock that can move dramatically. If they don’t, it carries real risk. But according to Louis’s system, the risk-reward here is worth taking seriously. 

Don’t Rule Out Rate Cuts Quite Yet 

Most people on Wall Street have given up hope for rate cuts this year. 

If March inflation jumped to 3.3% on high gas prices, surely the Fed must step in with higher rates? 

Betting markets have moved in the same direction. More than half of bettors now predict zero cuts this year. 

Still, December 2026 is a long way from now, and plenty can happen in seven months. In fact, we could see a downturn… or even a recession.  

On Thursday, Whirlpool Corp. (WHR) warned that the U.S.-Iran conflict had caused a “recession-level industry decline.” In prepared earnings call remarks, the appliance maker’s CEO said he no longer anticipates a full recovery in 2026. This comes days after the CEO of The Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) said that customers are “literally running out of money at the end of the month.” 

Friday’s “solid” jobs report numbers are also weaker than they seem. The chart below shows how employment additions have actually looked in broader historical context. 

Monthly non-farm U.S. jobs added

Source: St. Louis Federal Reserve

That’s why it’s crucial you tune in to 91����’s special broadcast on May 13, at 1 p.m. Eastern. During that free event, he’ll outline why he still believes rate cuts are on the table, and why small-cap stocks are some of the best places to invest right now. 

In addition, Louis will discuss the rest of his 53 small-cap “Exclusion List” picks and reveal the one stock – name and ticker – he believes is especially well positioned for the next phase of the market.                              

Sign up for the May 13 broadcast here.

Until next week, 

Thomas Yeung, CFA 

Market Analyst, InvestorPlace 

Thomas Yeung is a market analyst and portfolio manager of the Omnia Portfolio, the highest-tier subscription at InvestorPlace. He is the former editor of Tom Yeung’s Profit & Protection, a free e-letter about investing to profit in good times and protecting gains during the bad.

The post 3 Small-Cap Stocks to Buy Before May 15 appeared first on InvestorPlace.

I don’t — and neither does legendary growth investor 91����.

We think we’re watching the early innings of a much bigger market rotation — one where money starts moving beyond the obvious mega-cap winners and into a new class of smaller, faster-growing companies.

That tends to happen during major Fed pivots.

It happened after 1995, 2001, 2008, 2020…

And Louis believes it may be starting again right now.

He thinks Wall Street is underestimating how dramatically the next Fed regime could reshape the market over the next few years — especially for small-cap AI and growth stocks. More importantly, Louis says institutional money is already starting to rotate.

He’ll explain why during his free May 13 event, where he’ll also share the 53 stocks currently flashing those same early signals. You can reserve your spot here.

Here’s Louis on the signals he believes could define the market’s next big winners…

Every investor who has spent the last few years watching Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) climb 1,100% since ChatGPT’s kickoff in November 2022 has had the same thought at some point: 

I wish I had found it sooner – before everyone else did.

I understand that feeling. But everyone who experiences that feeling needs to understand one important thing. 

I’ve been at this for nearly 50 years. And I can say beyond a doubt that the next big winner is always right around the corner. 

And it rarely looks like the last one. 

It’s almost never a ticker symbol everyone already knows. 

It arrives quietly in the form of a smaller company that’s off the radar. 

It’s usually a small company solving a real problem at the exact moment that problem becomes urgent – before the rest of the market figures it out.

That is exactly what happened with a company I recommended to my followers back in the spring of 2025. My Stock Grader system found it before anyone was talking about it – and today, we’re sitting on a gain of 1,142% in about 14 months.

In today’s Market 360, I want to walk you through how I found this stock – and what my system was seeing before anyone else. 

Then, I’ll explain why I believe this setup could lead to one of the biggest market opportunities we’ve seen in decades. 

I’ll also show you how to access the full list of 53 stocks currently displaying those same early signals — including details on my special May 13 event, where I’ll share my highest-conviction picks and a free stock recommendation.

The AI Problem Most Investors Were Ignoring

Last year, there was something about the AI boom that just about everyone in the media missed.

They talked about the chips. The latest models. The software. 

But AI is not just a digital revolution. It is a physical one. Every query, every enterprise application, every automated system runs through an energy-intensive data center operating around the clock. 

Training advanced AI models consumes vast amounts of power. Deploying them at scale consumes even more.

According to Axios, there are nearly 3,000 data centers currently under construction or planned across the United States, on top of roughly 4,000 already in operation. Some forecasts suggest AI power demand is set to surge over the next several years — far faster than utilities can expand the grid.

In many regions, utilities simply cannot expand capacity fast enough. Transmission upgrades take years. Utilities are backed up with years of connection requests  Some new projects are facing delays simply because the grid cannot handle the additional load.

A single large-scale data center can consume as much electricity as twice the peak daily demand of a major city like New Orleans. These companies cannot afford to wait for the grid to catch up. They need power now, at the point of use, independent of broader grid constraints.

But one company has been quietly building that capability for years before most investors recognized power as the next AI bottleneck.

Helping Data Centers Break Free From the Grid

Bloom Energy Corp. (BE) makes the Bloom Energy Server — a transportable system that converts natural gas and other fuels into electricity right on-site, no grid required. 

For data center operators, that’s a game-changer. Here’s what it looks like…

Instead of waiting years for grid upgrades that may never come, they can plug in a Bloom Box and generate their own reliable power, right where they need it.

The demand has been enormous. Goldman Sachs forecasts global data center power demand will surge 220% by 2030 compared to 2023 levels. U.S. data centers already account for 7% of all American electricity consumption – and that number is climbing fast. 

Every major AI player – Google Inc. (GOOGL), Meta Platforms Inc. (META), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), and OpenAI – is aggressively spending on infrastructure. Big Tech is expected to spend roughly $725 billion on AI this year alone… nearly $2 billion a day.

And some experts think another $3 trillion of investment is in the pipeline. 

All of it needs power.

In November 2024, Stock Grader upgraded Bloom Energy to a strong rating. I kept an eye on it, and the stock put together an impressive streak of consecutive bullish ratings. 

That’s exactly what I’m looking for – so I recommended it to my subscribers in March 2025. 

The stock was trading around $23 a share. Its market cap was roughly $5 billion. There were no breathless headlines. No Wall Street analysts pounding the table. Nobody in the financial media was writing about AI power infrastructure yet.

What happened next was nothing short of incredible.

As of this writing, we’re sitting on a gain of 1,142% – and I think there’s still room to run…

What My System Saw – and Why it Matters for You

My Stock Grader system saw two things firing at the same time: strong and improving fundamentals, and institutional money beginning to move in quietly. That combination – both signals firing together, consistently – is exactly what my system is designed to detect. 

The rankings tend to change before the price does. By the time a story is on the front page of The Wall Street Journal, the smart money has usually already been accumulating for months.

Bloom Energy is rapidly becoming the standard, go-to choice for on-site power.

But a little over a year ago, I didn’t know Bloom would sign a landmark deal with American Electric Power for up to 1 gigawatt of fuel cell capacity. I didn’t know it would get a $502 million purchase order for on-site power systems to protect AI server manufacturing from grid outages and wildfires. 

My system didn’t need to know any of that. It saw the signals. That was enough.

The results speak for themselves.

Bloom’s most recent quarterly earnings on April 28 were extraordinary. 

First-quarter revenue surged 130.4% year-over-year to $751.1 million, nearly $211 million above what analysts expected. Product revenue alone jumped 208.4%. 

Earnings came in at $0.44 per share against analyst expectations of $0.13 – a stunning 238.5% earnings surprise. Management raised its full-year revenue outlook to $3.4 billion to $3.8 billion, up from $2.02 billion.

What This Is Really 91����

I’m not telling you the Bloom story to impress you. I’m telling you because it illustrates something important about how my system works—and why I think right now is one of the most significant moments in decades to pay attention to it.

Bloom was a mid-cap company solving a real problem almost nobody on Wall Street was paying attention to when my system found it. The market cap was roughly $5 billion when my system first flagged it. 

Now, it’s an $82 billion company. 

And if you want to find the next big winner – the next Bloom or Nvidia – I know exactly where to look…

Right now, my system has flagged 53 smaller stocks showing those same early signals – strong fundamentals, building institutional buying pressure, consistent top rankings in Stock Grader month after month. 

I call it the Exclusion List. Most are names you’ve probably never even looked at before. They’re completely off Wall Street’s radar. But one of them could be the next Bloom Energy story…

There’s a reason my system keeps finding stocks like Bloom before Wall Street does. It’s not about being smarter than the big funds. In fact, it has everything to do with something they simply cannot do – no matter how much money they have. I’ll explain why during my May 13 event.

That day at 1 p.m. Eastern, I’m going live to walk through one of the biggest opportunities I’ve seen in decades (sign up for that event here) – and to share my highest-conviction picks from this list. When you register, you’ll immediately receive the full 53-stock Exclusion List. During the event, I’ll also share one stock I believe is especially well-positioned for this next phase of the market.

Go here to reserve your spot now.

The post The AI Stock Nobody Was Talking 91���� Just Hit 1,142% appeared first on InvestorPlace.

When OpenAI launched ChatGPT in late 2022, shares of Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) did virtually nothing for several months. Like an old, lazy dog, the stock sat at a split-adjusted $17 even as millions of users downloaded the AI chatbot. 

But then, NVDA began to rise. 

$20… $50… $150… 

The old dog learned new tricks.  

By the time 2026 rolled around, the stock had risen past $190 – an 11X return in four short years. Investors had belatedly realized how many graphics processing units (GPUs) ChatGPT and its rivals would need, and how crucial Nvidia would become as a GPU supplier. 

Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) share price

Source: LSEG

The same happened with shares of SK Hynix Inc., one of the largest producers of memory chips. Investors showed only moderate interest in the South Korean company through 2025… and thenbought shares in late-2025 after memory chip prices began to surge from AI demand. 

SK Hynix share price

Source: LSEG

These two firms aren’t alone. Advanced Micro Devices (91����)… Intel Corp. (INTC)… Arm Holdings PLC (ARM)… almost all AI stocks have gone through a “hockey stick” moment. Shares moved sideways until some AI-related shortage hit Wall Street in the face. Then stocks shoot upwards, creating the classic hockey stick pattern we now see. 

Many investors owned these companies before their breakouts. Eric himself notched a triple-digit return on 91���� in his flagship stock-picking subscription service, Fry’s Investment Report. 

Others were less fortunate – either missing the AI boom entirely or only benefiting through broad-based retirement funds. 

Either way, everyone I know seems to ask themselves: “Why didn’t I buy more when I had the chance?” 

Fortunately, you still can.  

Today, there are still a handful of companies that look like Nvidia in late 2022 and SK Hynix in mid-2025. These firms produce crucial AI data center components, and are underpriced simply because Wall Street hasn’t yet realized what shortages are about to happen from AI data center demand. 

In today’s Smart Money, I’d like to highlight three of these companies. Then, I’ll share where you can find more of these overlooked picks. 

AI Stock to Buy No. 1: Powering the AI Revolution 

AI data centers are power hungry animals with rather inconsistent appetites. During the day, these AI hyperscalers are working full tilt to answer user queries and perform AI inference tasks. This draws immense amounts of electricity for computing and cooling. In the evenings, demand drops off. 

That brings me to my first AI recommendation: 

Fluence Energy Inc. (FLNC) 

Fluence was created in 2017 as a joint venture between Siemens and AES Corporation. The pitch was straightforward: The two firms realized that renewables were becoming a major part of grid output, and utilities needed to store power for when the wind didn’t blow and the sun didn’t shine. Fluence was created to sell massive batteries and specialized software at utility scale. 

The company is now at the forefront of AI data center power. 

Earlier this week, management announced that order intake doubled to $2.0 billion from a year earlier, largely thanks to data center demand. The company is now in discussions covering 36-gigawatt hours of projects – enough to supply more than two dozen AI hyperscale data centers with the backup power they typically need. More growth is likely on the way as AI data centers start building their own power plants to address grid shortages. (These smaller power plants often need even more load balancing from batteries because they are not connected to a larger grid.) 

That’s going to have an incredible impact on Fluence’s growth. Revenues should rise 47% this fiscal year and 23% the next, flipping the company’s $48 million loss in 2025 to a $30 million profit by 2027… and then to $100 million a year after that.  

Thankfully, Fluence’s recent rally only captures part of that upside. Shares still trade well below their original IPO price despite a 28% post earnings jump this week. For the growth-seeking investor, Fluence Energy is an appealing blend of growth potential and reasonable prices.. 

Fluence (FLNC) continues trading below its IPO price

Source: LSEG

AI Stock to Buy No. 2: The AI Conduit 

AI hyperscale data centers can require thousands of miles of cabling. A single Nvidia NVL72 rack uses nearly 5,000 NVLink copper cables – coiling several miles of the stuff into a medium-sized cabinet. There are also medium-voltage cables for powering servers… high-voltage cables for cooling systems… and more.  

That brings me to my next pick: 

Atkore Inc. (ATKR). 

Atkore is an American manufacturer that builds power systems products. These include conduits, cable management products, metal framing, mechanical pipes and other “behind the wall” items that keep electricity and data flowing. 

The company enjoyed unusually strong profitability during the post-pandemic construction boom. Shares surged fivefold to nearly $200 between mid-2020 and early 2024 as revenues and profits ballooned. Homeowners and electricians were paying top dollar to complete home renovation projects. 

ATKR then came crashing back down in 2025 after construction demand dried up. Shares have now fallen back into the $70 range. 

That brings us an unusually well-priced opportunity. Management has forecasted that revenues should start growing again this year, thanks to double-digit growth in data center demand and a resurgence of solar projects. Profit growth should soon catch up in fiscal 2027. 

That’s makes Atkore a potential breakout hiding in plain sight. Analysts are still pricing the company as a cyclical housing play. In fact, it’s a company faced with rising demand as a multi-year buildout of AI data centers begins. 

Atkore (ATKR) shares remain depressed, even as AI demand rises

Source: LSEG

AI Stock to Buy No. 3: The “Eyes” of the AI Revolution 

Wall Street already knows that self-driving cars and robots are the next frontier of the AI revolution. Humanoid robot company Figure AI was valued at $39 billion in private markets last year, and Google’s self-driving unit, Waymo, was priced at roughly $126 billion in a 2026 funding round. 

But how do these cars and robots “see” the world? 

The answer here is my third pick: 

Hesai Group (HSAI). 

Hesai is the Chinese tech company that dominates the market for lidar systems – the devices that autonomous electronics use to sense the world around them. The company supplies over 60% of the global robotaxi market, all top 10 carmakers in China, and 40 other automotive brands across the world. They are also the primary lidar partner for Nvidia’s DRIVE Hyperion 10 platform – the autonomous driving system developed by the chipmaker. It’s a high-volume business that’s already turned Hesai into a profitable entity. 

The Chinese firm is also seeing growth from robotics – namely humanoid robots and self-driving lawnmowers. The firm shipped nearly 240,000 robotics lidar units in 2025 and expects that figure to “at least double” this year. 

That will add even more growth to Hesai’s already rapid rise. I expect revenue to increase at least 43% this year and 40% the next, which should almost double its earnings per share to $6.35 by 2027. 

In addition, American investors are relatively unaware of Hesai, given that it’s a Chinese stock that’s spent most of the past three years below its original IPO price. 

As SK Hynix shows, these mismatches don’t usually last forever. At some point, American investors will realize how consolidated the lidar market has become under Hesai. If the pace of self-driving vehicle deployment triggers a shortage of these devices, then those sitting on the sidelines will feel like it’s Nvidia in 2023 all over again. 

Hesai (HSAI) has remained range-bound since 2025

Source: LSEG

The Next Stage of the AI Revolution 

These three firms all have the same thing in common:  

They have largely traded sideways even as AI demand races ahead. 

The mismatch can last a while. Earnings can increase without stock prices going anywhere. This is called a “P/E compression.” 

But eventually, this compression turns into a coiled spring. 

One of the best examples of this is an AI-focused payments processor in Fry’s Investment Report. Since 2020, earnings of this high-quality firm have marched steadily higher, even as its share prices declined. 

The result is that shares now trade at below 9X forward earnings… down from 50X in 2021. And that’s happening even as this company expands in AI-related payments processing. You will soon be able to buy products through ChatGPT by using your “wallet” with this select firm. 

Another of Eric’s key picks is a company where AI is the business. The company has built what is arguably the world’s most sophisticated AI-powered system to grade electronics, and this rapidly growing business trades at just 12X forward earnings. 

Just yesterday, Eric released his monthly Fry’s Investment Report issue for May. In the issue, he explains how the next big AI winners may not be the companies building AI models, but the companies applying AI most effectively in the real economy. 

He also recommends one new buy to survive the AI age.  

Click here to learn more. 

Until next time,  

Thomas Yeung, CFA 

Market Analyst, InvestorPlace 

The post 3 AI Stocks to Buy Immediately  appeared first on InvestorPlace.

For years, we’ve all been warned that AI would replace translators, proofreaders, data entry clerks and customer service agents … to start. But many more jobs could be eliminated.

We’ve heard that AI can read scans better than radiologists. It can develop software faster and with higher quality. And that AI will even take on tasks at law firms that were previously handled by high-priced attorneys.

Eventually, AI could even replace stock pickers, portfolio managers… maybe even entire hedge funds.

After all, what human could possibly compete with a machine that can analyze millions of data points in seconds… scan every earnings report from every company… and monitor global markets 24 hours a day without needing time off … ever.

Credit: ilkercelik

Longtime Digest readers know how bullish we are on the AI Megatrend. We’ve tried hard to keep our readers in profitable trades involving semiconductors, AI power needs, AI infrastructure needs and everything in between.

But even we will be the first to say that – at least for now – there are some things where AI can’t outperform humans.

Apparently… investing is one of them.

This week, Bloomberg reported that many of the newest AI-powered trading bots being tested on Wall Street are struggling badly.

According to the article, some AI bots make irrational trades, while others are getting whipsawed by volatility. Several have failed to outperform even basic market benchmarks.

To be clear, AI will create some of the biggest fortunes of the next decade.

But there’s a big difference between investing in AI and letting AI invest for you.

Where AI Is Failing – and Why

Regardless of all its computational power, AI still struggles with one trait the stock market demands above all else:

Judgment.

Profitable investing isn’t just about access to data and speed.

History shows judgment matters, especially during major technological shifts.

Think back to the early days of the internet when the market environment wasn’t all that different from today. The biggest fortunes weren’t made by owning every tech stock under the sun.

The biggest gains went to those who could identify a small handful of transformational winners early… and had the discipline and conviction to stay with them while the rest of the market struggled to understand what was happening.

That’s incredibly difficult to do in real time. And not something AI can recreate.

Which is why so many investors depend on 91���� – and have done so for decades.

Long before Nvidia (NVDA) became the poster child for the AI boom… Louis had recommended the stock to his readers.

Long before Wall Street fully understood the scale of the internet revolution… Louis’ quantitative system was identifying companies like Cisco, AOL, and other massive winners during the early stages of the dot-com era.

A Huge Gain in Under Two Years

In July 2024, Louis recommended Celestica (CLS) to his Breakthrough Stocks subscribers. At the time, very few people associated Celestica with the AI boom.

Most still knew it more as a North American supply chain solutions provider. The company has experience and expertise in every aspect of product development, from the initial product idealization to full-scale production and after-market services.

But Louis saw something these investors missed. He noted it was set up to benefit from the AI boom. Here is his analysis from almost two years ago:

Celestica is also poised to benefit from the AI Boom. The company created Photonic Fabric, an optical compute and memory fabric solution that can help boost AI infrastructure. It has the ability to create, scale and sustain future AI models.

Since Louis recommended the stocks, shares have surged more than 560%.

Louis believes this stock still has room to run. It’s currently trading below his buy limit price of $413.

The important point here isn’t just that Louis found another winner. It’s that he’s still finding them as we may still be in the early innings of the AI investment boom – and yet many investors are missing them.

The companies dominating headlines today may not ultimately produce the biggest gains.

Historically, the largest fortunes are made in the second and third waves of a technological revolution… when capital begins flowing into smaller, lesser-known companies positioned to benefit from explosive growth.

And now, Louis believes we may be entering another rare market window… one that could create an entirely new generation of outsized stock winners over the next several years.

In fact, next week, Louis is holding a special online briefing where he plans to explain:

• Why he believes the market is entering a major new phase
• Why certain smaller AI-linked stocks could dramatically outperform from here
• And how individual investors may have a unique advantage over the big Wall Street players during this next stage of the AI boom

If you’re bullish on AI… but skeptical that a chatbot can successfully manage your portfolio…

You’ll want to pay close attention to what Louis has to say.

Right now, Louis’ quantitative stock picking system has flagged 53 smaller stocks showing early signals of rapid growth – strong fundamentals, elevated institutional buying pressure, and consistent top rankings in Stock Grader, month after month.

He calls it the Exclusion List. Most are names you’ve probably never even looked at before, and Wall Street can’t touch due to their smaller size.

It’s not about being smarter than the big funds. But it does have everything to do with something they simply cannot do – no matter how much money they have. Louis will explain why during his May 13 event, at 1 p.m. Eastern.

During the presentation, Louis will walk through what he is calling one of the biggest opportunities he’s seen in decades (sign up for that event here) – and he will share his highest-conviction picks from this list.

When you register, you’ll immediately receive the full 53-stock Exclusion List. During the event, Louis will share one stock he believes is well-positioned for the next phase of the market.

AI is creating fortunes … but humans are still the ones identifying the winners.

Click here now to sign up for Louis’ big event on May 13, at 1 p.m. Eastern, and to download the Exclusion List.

Enjoy your weekend,

Luis Hernandez

Editor in Chief, InvestorPlace

The post Wall Street Let AI Pick Stocks and Here Is What Happened appeared first on InvestorPlace.

For months, currency traders had been circling the British pound. The pound was pegged to European currencies at a rate most believed was indefensible. Britain’s economy was weakening. Inflation was high due to economic growth in Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The math didn’t work. And one man – George Soros – decided to bet on it.

What followed was one of the most spectacular days in the history of global finance.

Soros shorted $10 billion worth of the British pound. The Bank of England fought back – buying pounds by the billions, raising interest rates twice – from 10% to 12%, then to 15% – in a single day in a desperate attempt to defend the currency.

But it didn’t work. By the evening, it was over.

The British government surrendered. It unpegged the pound from Europe and later began a series of cuts, bringing its interest rate down to 6% by early 1993, leading to an economic recovery.

As for Soros, he made more than a billion dollars in a single day. The date went down in history as Black Wednesday.

Most people know that story. Fewer people know who was in the room.

You see, two of the men connected to that trade are about to be in charge of American monetary and fiscal policy simultaneously.

I’m talking, of course, about Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Kevin Warsh, the incoming Federal Reserve Chair.

I don’t think most investors understand what that means for their portfolios right now.

I do. I’ve been at this for nearly five decades. I’ve seen every market cycle and I’ve seen every Fed regime come and go.

In today’s Market 360, I’ll explain the connection between Bessent and Warsh – and why I think it’s good news for investors. I’ll also give you my prediction for the Fed’s next move and how to be positioned before everyone else catches on.

I’ll also be going deeper at my Fed Shock event this Wednesday, May 13, at 1 p.m. Eastern, where I’ll share my highest-conviction picks and a free stock recommendation just for attending. (Click here to reserve your spot now.)

What the Market Is Missing

Our Treasury Secretary – Scott Bessent – was part of the team that pulled off the Bank of England trade for Soros.

Kevin Warsh comes from the same world. After leaving the Fed in 2011, he went to work with Stanley Druckenmiller, the trader who actually executed the Black Wednesday trade. Druckenmiller and Bessent have remained close ever since.

These two men know each other, they trust each other, and they appear to be operating from a shared framework.

Warsh has been a big critic of the Fed for years. He doesn’t like quantitative easing – the money printing that has ballooned the Fed’s balance sheet to nearly $7 trillion. But he also believes AI-driven productivity gains are fundamentally deflationary (meaning they’ll lower prices).

This means he thinks the economy can absorb more aggressive rate cuts than the old models suggest.

Bessent, meanwhile, is one of the most capable economic minds in Washington. And he has publicly called for 150 basis points in reductions (1.5%).

He is also fully aware of the U.S.’s mounting debt problems. And I believe he and Warsh will work together to lower rates, unleash growth and tackle the debt.

How We Can Profit From the New Fed Regime

I believe the new Fed regime is going to cut rates more aggressively than the market expects.

I’ve seen this happen four times before.

The primary beneficiaries of rate cuts are going to be smaller, domestically focused companies – the ones that are most sensitive to borrowing costs and most leveraged to U.S. economic growth.

Each time the Fed opened a sustained cycle of rate cuts, a specific group of smaller stocks delivered extraordinary gains:

• 1995 Fed pivot: Cisco +2,062%. Ascend +2,800%. AOL +2,900%.
• 2001 rate cuts: Frontline +1,513%. Hansen Natural +1,125%.
• 2008 rate cuts: Lithia Motors +475%. IPG Photonics +665%.
• 2020 COVID cuts: MARA Holdings +1,800%. Moderna +1,200%.

Different stocks. Different sectors. Same dynamic every time.

Now, I realize there’s a war on. I know inflation is still a factor. I know the Fed moves more slowly than anyone wants. This isn’t going to happen overnight. Warsh will need to build consensus on a 12-person committee.

But the direction is clear. The players are in place. And history says this is how it plays out.

The Exclusion List

My Stock Grader system has already been running throughout this early phase of the cutting cycle – and it has flagged 53 stocks showing the same early signals I’ve described in every prior window.

Strong fundamentals. Building institutional buying pressure. Consistent top rankings month after month.

I call it the Exclusion List. These are stocks that are too small for Wall Street to touch. But not too small for my system – and not too small for you.

This Wednesday, May 13, at 1 p.m. Eastern, I’m going live to share my highest-conviction picks from that list. The are the names I believe are best positioned for what’s coming. I’ll also give away a free stock recommendation just for attending.

Click here to reserve your spot now. I’ll see you there.

Sincerely,

91����

Editor, Market 360

The post Here’s Why Everyone’s Wrong 91���� What’s 91���� to Happen at the Fed appeared first on InvestorPlace.

Tesla (TSLA) — the company that pulled off a 20,000% stock run and turned skeptical engineers into reluctant millionaires? SpaceX — the rocket company that went from a laughingstock to a $2-trillion juggernaut and is now the most anticipated IPO in history?

As impressive as those growth stories are, they may not be the endgame… 

Almost entirely outside the focus of mainstream financial media, Elon Musk is executing the most audacious move of his entire career — one he has been plotting for 27 years. It’s a move that targets not a single industry, but the foundation of how money itself flows through the global economy.

He calls it X Money.

Elon Musk’s 27-Year Battle to Reinvent Banking 

Back in 1999, Elon Musk — then 28 years old, flush with $22 million from selling his first company — poured nearly everything he had into a single idea: that the entire global financial system could live at a single web address.

Banking. Payments. Investments. Insurance. Loans. All of it. One platform. Instant transactions. No waiting for payments to clear. No middlemen skimming fees at every step.

He called it X.com, and within two months of launch, it had 200,000 users. 

Around the same time, another startup — Peter Thiel’s Confinity — was growing rapidly with its own digital payments product. The two companies were locked in a costly battle for users, burning cash to dominate the emerging online-payments market. In 2000, they merged under the X.com umbrella in an attempt to survive the dot-com crash and consolidate market share. But the merger quickly devolved into an internal civil war over leadership, strategy, and Musk’s vision for the company. 

Then came the coup.

Peter Thiel and his allies called an emergency board meeting while Elon and his new wife were mid-air on a honeymoon flight to Sydney. By the time the plane landed, Musk had been forced out of his own company. His partners hated the name X and changed it to PayPal (PYPL). The dream of a unified financial OS — dead on arrival.

Why Buying Twitter Was Never Really 91���� Social Media 

That was 27 years ago.

Elon Musk never forgot — and never stopped wanting to finish what he started.

In 2022, he saw his chance. He bought Twitter for $44 billion. The mainstream media mocked him relentlessly. ‘Classic Musk, overpaying for a failing social media company.’ 

But Musk didn’t buy Twitter because he wanted to own a social media company. He bought Twitter as a distribution layer, with a user base of hundreds of millions of people already using the platform daily.

He renamed it X, partnered with Visa (V) — the financial network that processes more electronic payments than any company in the world — and secured money-transmitter licenses in all 50 states. And he brought X into his broader empire, merging it with the AI firepower of xAI.

Suddenly, everything makes sense. The rebrand. The financial licenses. The Visa deal. The White House executive order directing the Treasury, State Department, HHS, Veterans Affairs, Education, and Homeland Security to modernize electronic payment rails. 

Musk didn’t just build a product. He built the regulatory infrastructure to go with it. In fact, as he’s said: “If done right, X would be half of the global financial system.”

Well, that system is worth $480 trillion. If Musk is right about X Money, it’s more than a startup chasing a billion-dollar market. 

It’s an attempt to transform one of the most deeply embedded systems in the global economy. 

Every Financial Infrastructure Shift Creates New Winners 

Every time technology fundamentally changes how money moves, entirely new financial giants emerge alongside it. 

Telegraphs Created Western Union 

By the 1850s, telegraph lines were rapidly connecting American cities, allowing information — and eventually money — to move across the country almost instantly. Western Union (WU) quickly realized that the same network transmitting information could also move money — and turned wire transfers into a national business. Western Union was one of the original 11 companies listed on the Dow Transportation Index in 1884. Technology met money. Fortunes were made.

Credit Cards Built Financial Giants 

In 1950, Frank McNamara launched the Diners Club card — the world’s first multipurpose charge card. It was designed to allow business travelers to pay at multiple restaurants without carrying cash. The card’s success gave birth to the ‘plastic money’ revolution. American Express (AXP) rode the wave to nearly 10,000% gains. Mastercard (MA) ultimately rose 14,000%. 

The Internet Birthed PayPal 

In 1998, PayPal set out to make sending money as easy as sending an email. Within four years, it had 20 million users and went public on Nasdaq. Early investors who got in at the IPO price of $13 saw the stock eventually reach $310 at its peak — a 2,300% gain. Those who bought in the months after the dot-com crash, when the stock briefly traded under $5, did even better.

Now the next chapter is being written. And if history is any guide, the investors who recognize it earliest will be the ones who benefit most.

What X Money Actually Is

Most people might hear “X Money” and think it’s just another glorified peer-to-peer payment app, like Venmo or CashApp.

But here’s why that take is fundamentally wrong.

X Money is being built to consolidate payments, banking, investing, and financial identity inside a single platform.  

The physical manifestation of this is a debit card — embedded with a sophisticated microchip — that Musk has already begun mailing to thousands of Americans. That chip contains technology capable of processing encrypted payments, identity verification, and account authentication almost instantaneously. 

But the card is just the consumer-facing layer of this OS. Beneath it sits an integrated financial platform that brings together:

• A digital wallet built into an app already used by over 1 billion people worldwide
• Instant peer-to-peer payments
• Direct bank account integration
• Brokerage and investment functionality, allowing users to buy stocks directly inside the app
• Portfolio management across all financial assets
• Social Security income, tax payments, paychecks — all managed in one place
• Yields between 4% and 6% APY — roughly 10x what most Americans earn at traditional banks

Musk has been explicit about his ambition here: “If it involves money, it’ll be on our platform. I’m talking about someone’s entire financial life.” 

And lest you think this is science fiction, just look to China. WeChat — which is also called “The Everything App” — launched its banking features in 2013. Within a few years, nearly 1 billion people were using that app to pay for groceries, invest in the market, split restaurant bills, and send money to family. Mobile payments now account for over 80% of all transactions in China. Tencent, WeChat’s parent company, rewarded investors with a 20x return when mobile banking took off.

X Money is the American version of that story. Except Elon Musk has significantly more users, significantly more political tailwind, and significantly more audacity.

The Investment Pattern Investors Keep Missing 

This is the pattern investors should be paying closest attention to. 

Elon Musk has a well-documented history of turning early partners and adjacent companies into massive multi-baggers. 

• Nvidia (NVDA) was trading at $15 when Jensen Huang personally delivered the first DGX-1 — an “AI supercomputer in a box” — to OpenAI, the then-small startup co-founded by Elon Musk and Sam Altman. That early relationship helped train the models that eventually became ChatGPT — and Nvidia never looked back. It’s now worth nearly $5 trillion and trades at more than $200/share. Early investors made 5,000%-plus.
• Modine Manufacturing (MOD) partnered with Tesla on battery cooling systems in 2012, when the stock was trading at $5. MOD recently hit an all-time high of $280 — a 5,500% gain.
• Carpenter Technology (CRS), a 135-year-old metals company, supplied SpaceX with superalloys for Starship. The stock surged 2,000%.

In each case, the gains were tied to companies supplying critical infrastructure to a rapidly scaling platform. 

And right now, X Money is creating a new set of partners, suppliers, infrastructure providers, and financial rails that could follow that exact same pattern.

The Bottom Line: X Money Is a Bet on Financial Consolidation 

Every major upgrade in the infrastructure of money has created a new class of winners. 

Telegraphs built Western Union. Credit cards built American Express and Mastercard. The internet built PayPal. 

X Money is the next great systematic upgrade. And it is underway right now, as you’re reading these words.

There is a set of stocks that I believe will be the direct beneficiaries of this rollout — companies positioned to provide the financial infrastructure, payment rails, technology integrations, and adjacent services that an endeavor of this scale requires. 

The same way Nvidia rode the AI build-out and Modine rode the Tesla production ramp, there are companies today that will ride the X Money megatrend.

I’ve spent months identifying them, running the same research process I used when I spotted 91���� (91����) before it exploded 13,500%, Palantir (PLTR) before it rose 1,200%, and Shopify (SHOP) before it jumped 1,700%.

I’ve detailed them all in a brand-new special report called How to Make 1,000% From the Bank of Elon.

Here’s everything I know — my complete research, model portfolio, and daily market intelligence — on this very topic.

The post Why X Money Could Be Bigger Than PayPal Ever Was appeared first on InvestorPlace.

Legendary investor 91���� has generated one of the most envied multi-decade track records in our industry by going a different route: looking where almost nobody else is paying attention.

In today’s Friday Digest takeover, Louis breaks down how his Stock Grader system identified a little-known AI infrastructure company long before Wall Street caught on – a stock that ultimately surged more than 1,100% in just over a year.

More importantly, he explains why his system flagged it early: a combination of improving fundamentals and quiet institutional buying tied to one of AI’s biggest emerging bottlenecks – power.

As Louis explains below, AI isn’t just a software story. It’s a massive physical infrastructure buildout — one that’s creating entirely new winners beneath the surface of the market. And now, he says his system has identified 53 additional stocks showing similar early-stage signals.

Louis will go much deeper into that setup during a free event next Wednesday, May 13, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern, during which he’ll also share his highest-conviction ideas for this next phase of the AI boom. You can reserve your spot right here.

Bottom line: If Louis is right, the next major AI winner probably isn’t a household name yet – but for investors who spot it early, the upside could be portfolio-changing, much like the 1,000%-plus winner you’re about to read about today.

I’ll let Louis take it from here.

Have a good evening,

Jeff Remsburg

Every investor who has spent the last few years watching Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) climb 1,100% since ChatGPT’s kickoff in November 2022 has had the same thought at some point:

I wish I had found it sooner – before everyone else did.

I understand that feeling. But everyone who experiences that feeling needs to understand one important thing.

I’ve been at this for nearly 50 years. And I can say beyond a doubt that the next big winner is always right around the corner.

And it rarely looks like the last one.

It’s almost never a ticker symbol everyone already knows.

It arrives quietly in the form of a smaller company that’s off the radar.

It’s usually a small company solving a real problem at the exact moment that problem becomes urgent – before the rest of the market figures it out.

That is exactly what happened with a company I recommended to my followers back in the spring of 2025. My Stock Grader system found it before anyone was talking about it – and today, we’re sitting on a gain of 1,142% in about 14 months.

In today’s Market 360, I want to walk you through how I found this stock – and what my system was seeing before anyone else.

Then, I’ll explain why I believe this setup could lead to one of the biggest market opportunities we’ve seen in decades.

I’ll also show you how to access the full list of 53 stocks currently displaying those same early signals — including details on my special May 13 event, where I’ll share my highest-conviction picks and a free stock recommendation.

The AI Problem Most Investors Were Ignoring

Last year, there was something about the AI boom that just about everyone in the media missed.

They talked about the chips. The latest models. The software.

But AI is not just a digital revolution. It is a physical one. Every query, every enterprise application, every automated system runs through an energy-intensive data center operating around the clock.

Training advanced AI models consumes vast amounts of power. Deploying them at scale consumes even more.

According to Axios, there are nearly 3,000 data centers currently under construction or planned across the United States, on top of roughly 4,000 already in operation. Some forecasts suggest AI power demand is set to surge over the next several years — far faster than utilities can expand the grid.

In many regions, utilities simply cannot expand capacity fast enough. Transmission upgrades take years. Utilities are backed up with years of connection requests  Some new projects are facing delays simply because the grid cannot handle the additional load.

A single large-scale data center can consume as much electricity as twice the peak daily demand of a major city like New Orleans. These companies cannot afford to wait for the grid to catch up. They need power now, at the point of use, independent of broader grid constraints.

But one company has been quietly building that capability for years before most investors recognized power as the next AI bottleneck.

Helping Data Centers Break Free From the Grid

Bloom Energy Corp. (BE) makes the Bloom Energy Server — a transportable system that converts natural gas and other fuels into electricity right on-site, no grid required.

For data center operators, that’s a game-changer. Here’s what it looks like…

Instead of waiting years for grid upgrades that may never come, they can plug in a Bloom Box and generate their own reliable power, right where they need it.

The demand has been enormous. Goldman Sachs forecasts global data center power demand will surge 220% by 2030 compared to 2023 levels. U.S. data centers already account for 7% of all American electricity consumption – and that number is climbing fast.

Every major AI player – Google Inc. (GOOGL), Meta Platforms Inc. (META), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), and OpenAI – is aggressively spending on infrastructure. Big Tech is expected to spend roughly $725 billion on AI this year alone… nearly $2 billion a day.

And some experts think another $3 trillion of investment is in the pipeline.

All of it needs power.

In November 2024, Stock Grader upgraded Bloom Energy to a strong rating. I kept an eye on it, and the stock put together an impressive streak of consecutive bullish ratings.

That’s exactly what I’m looking for – so I recommended it to my subscribers in March 2025.

The stock was trading around $23 a share. Its market cap was roughly $5 billion. There were no breathless headlines. No Wall Street analysts pounding the table. Nobody in the financial media was writing about AI power infrastructure yet.

What happened next was nothing short of incredible.

As of this writing, we’re sitting on a gain of 1,142% – and I think there’s still room to run…

What My System Saw – and Why it Matters for You

My Stock Grader system saw two things firing at the same time: strong and improving fundamentals, and institutional money beginning to move in quietly. That combination – both signals firing together, consistently – is exactly what my system is designed to detect.

The rankings tend to change before the price does. By the time a story is on the front page of The Wall Street Journal, the smart money has usually already been accumulating for months.

Bloom Energy is rapidly becoming the standard, go-to choice for on-site power.

But a little over a year ago, I didn’t know Bloom would sign a landmark deal with American Electric Power for up to 1 gigawatt of fuel cell capacity. I didn’t know it would get a $502 million purchase order for on-site power systems to protect AI server manufacturing from grid outages and wildfires.

My system didn’t need to know any of that. It saw the signals. That was enough.

The results speak for themselves.

Bloom’s most recent quarterly earnings on April 28 were extraordinary.

First-quarter revenue surged 130.4% year-over-year to $751.1 million, nearly $211 million above what analysts expected. Product revenue alone jumped 208.4%.

Earnings came in at $0.44 per share against analyst expectations of $0.13 – a stunning 238.5% earnings surprise. Management raised its full-year revenue outlook to $3.4 billion to $3.8 billion, up from $2.02 billion.

What This Is Really 91����

I’m not telling you the Bloom story to impress you. I’m telling you because it illustrates something important about how my system works—and why I think right now is one of the most significant moments in decades to pay attention to it.

Bloom was a mid-cap company solving a real problem almost nobody on Wall Street was paying attention to when my system found it. The market cap was roughly $5 billion when my system first flagged it.

Now, it’s an $82 billion company.

And if you want to find the next big winner – the next Bloom or Nvidia – I know exactly where to look…

Right now, my system has flagged 53 smaller stocks showing those same early signals – strong fundamentals, building institutional buying pressure, consistent top rankings in Stock Grader month after month.

I call it the Exclusion List. Most are names you’ve probably never even looked at before. They’re completely off Wall Street’s radar. But one of them could be the next Bloom Energy story…

There’s a reason my system keeps finding stocks like Bloom before Wall Street does. It’s not about being smarter than the big funds. In fact, it has everything to do with something they simply cannot do – no matter how much money they have. I’ll explain why during my May 13 event.

That day at 1 p.m. Eastern, I’m going live to walk through one of the biggest opportunities I’ve seen in decades (sign up for that event here)– and to share my highest-conviction picks from this list. When you register, you’ll immediately receive the full 53-stock Exclusion List. During the event, I’ll also share one stock I believe is especially well-positioned for this next phase of the market.

Go here to reserve your spot now.

P.S. I’ve worked with Louis for a long time, and one thing I’ve learned is that he pays very close attention to what’s happening beneath the surface of the market — especially when big institutional money starts quietly moving into smaller stocks before the headlines show up. What he lays out in today’s issue makes a great deal of sense to me, particularly given where we may be headed with the Fed and AI infrastructure spending. If you haven’t signed up for his May 13 event yet, I’d strongly encourage you to take a look here.

The Editor hereby discloses that as of the date of this email, the Editor, directly or indirectly, owns the following securities that are the subject of the commentary, analysis, opinions, advice, or recommendations in, or which are otherwise mentioned in, the essay set forth below:

Bloom Energy Corporation (BE) and NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA)

The post How Louis Found Bloom Energy Before Wall Street Did — and Where He’s Looking Now appeared first on InvestorPlace.

The game is rigged.

Wall Street has advantages over you that are real, significant, and permanent. More analysts. More data. More computing power. More access. Faster execution. Better technology. In almost every corner of the market, the biggest funds win before you even sit down at the table.

But there’s one advantage they will never have over you. Not ever. No matter how much money they raise, how many analysts they hire, or how much technology they deploy.

And it’s so powerful that Warren Buffett — the greatest investor alive — has publicly said it’s the single biggest edge in the market.

You have it. He doesn’t. And that gap is never closing.

The unfortunate thing is that most investors never use it. Not because they can’t — but because of something else working against them. Something that has nothing to do with Wall Street and everything to do with what’s happening inside their own heads.

Today, I want to show you the one place where your permanent advantage over Wall Street is most powerful — and how I’ve spent nearly 50 years building a system designed to exploit it.

I’ll also tell you why right now may be the most urgent version of this opportunity I’ve ever seen. I’ll be getting into all of it at my Fed Shock event next Wednesday, May 13, at 1 p.m. Eastern – including a free stock pick just for attending. (Click here to reserve your spot now.)

What Buffett Knows That Most Investors Don’t

In 1999, Warren Buffett said something that should have stopped the entire investment world in its tracks.

He said that if he were managing a million dollars instead of the billions he oversees at Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK), he could guarantee 50% annual returns.

Guarantee.

Fifty percent. Annually. From the greatest investor alive.

Let that sink in for a moment. The greatest investor alive – a man who has compounded wealth at roughly 20% a year for six decades – is telling you he performs worse because he has too much money.

The opportunity he’s describing is completely out of his reach. Not because he doesn’t see it. He sees it perfectly.

It’s just that, when Buffett sees a stock he likes, he needs to buy a lot to really move the needle for Berkshire. And if he does that, the price moves. At his scale, the act of investing destroys the return.

But you don’t have that problem.

Why Their Size Is Your Advantage

When a $50 billion fund tries to buy a meaningful position in a small-cap stock, it’s like trying to drink from a fire hose with a coffee cup. Their own buying pressure starts moving the price against them before they’re even halfway done accumulating.

Every share they purchase pushes the price higher. The market sees the volume. Other traders front-run them. By the time they’ve built any real position, they’ve already paid a significant premium — and in some cases moved the stock so much that the original opportunity no longer exists.

So, they stay away. Not because the stocks aren’t attractive. Because they’re too big to play in the sandbox.

This isn’t temporary. It isn’t going to be solved by better technology or smarter analysts. It’s structural and permanent. The bigger a fund gets, the more locked out of this opportunity it becomes.

And that’s exactly where some of the biggest gains in the market are made. I’ve seen it for nearly 50 years. I’m seeing it right now.

The Other Thing Working Against You

Now for the second force I mentioned. This one isn’t Wall Street.

It’s you.

I don’t say that to be harsh. I say it because I’ve watched it happen over and over again.

Our brains are not wired for investing. They’re wired for survival. Avoiding a loss feels twice as urgent as capturing a gain. And we live in a media environment that has learned exactly how to exploit that – fear gets clicks, bad news travels fast, and uncertainty keeps people frozen at exactly the moments when they should be acting.

But here’s what the doom and gloom crowd never shows you: the scoreboard.

The U.S. economy keeps growing. American companies keep innovating. The stock market – through crashes, recessions, wars, and pandemics – keeps making new highs.

I’ve watched investors sit on the sidelines through some of the greatest bull runs in history because the headlines were too scary. I’ve watched people sell at the bottom of every major crash – 2001, 2008, 2020 – right before the market turned and handed massive gains to the people who stayed in.

You want to know what I’ve learned in nearly 50 years? It actually takes courage to be an optimist.

The long-term trend is clear. The S&P 500 is up about 7,300% over the past 50 years.

The investors who build real wealth are the ones with the courage to act while others hesitate. Lock and load while everyone else is reading scary headlines. That’s the game.

And when you combine that with the structural edge I described above – the willingness to act in the corner of the market where Wall Street literally cannot follow – you have something genuinely powerful.

Why Small Caps? Why Now?

But the money won’t be made in large-cap stocks. The real wealth opportunity will be in small caps.

They don’t always lead the market higher. In fact, for years they trailed behind the mega-cap tech giants.

But something has shifted. Over the last year, the Russell 2000 is up nearly 45% — compared to the S&P 500’s 30%.

The rotation is real, and there are good reasons to believe it has a long way to run.

Small-cap companies are predominantly domestic. They benefit directly from U.S. economic growth. They’re more sensitive to interest rates – which means when rates come down, their borrowing costs fall and their earnings power expands fast. And they’re still cheap. After years of trading at a steep discount to large caps, small caps are only now beginning to close that valuation gap.

As confidence in the economy builds and earnings momentum broadens, leadership tends to rotate toward smaller, faster-growing companies. That rotation appears to be underway. And what comes next could make what we’ve already seen look like a warm-up act.

Here’s the history.

Every time the Federal Reserve has opened a sustained rate-cut window, small caps have been the biggest winners. That’s because lower rates directly reduce borrowing costs for smaller companies that carry more debt. Lower borrowing costs help expand their margins and make their future earnings worth more today.

I’ve seen four other windows of major rate cuts in my career. The last four times, small-cap stocks delivered extraordinary gains:

• Ascend Communications: +2,866% (1995 Fed pivot)
• Frontline plc (FRO): +1,513% (2001 rate cuts)
• Lithia Motors Inc. (LAD): +475% (2008 rate cuts)
• MARA Holdings Inc. (MARA): +1,800% (2020 COVID cuts)

Now consider where we are today. The Fed has already begun cutting. On May 15, a new Fed Chairman takes over — one who has publicly argued for more aggressive easing and has the full backing of President Trump.

The administration wants major cuts. Small caps are already on fire.

When it rains, it pours — and, folks, I think it’s about to pour.

The Exclusion List

I’m not saying buy small caps indiscriminately. That’s not how I operate. The key is finding the right ones – the ones where the fundamentals are already strong and the institutional money is already beginning to move.

That’s exactly what my Stock Grader system does. Every week, it scans thousands of stocks looking for those two signals firing together.

I found Bloom Energy Corporation (BE) this way – Stock Grader flagged it when the market cap was $5 billion, nobody was talking about it. Today we’re up over 1,100% in about 14 months.

A $50 billion fund couldn’t have done that. But my subscribers did.

Right now, Stock Grader has flagged 53 smaller stocks that are flashing the same signals.

I call it the Exclusion List – because that’s exactly what it is. These are stocks that are too small for Wall Street to touch. Too small for the big funds. Not too small for you..

Small caps are already running. The Fed is about to pour fuel on the fire. And these 53 stocks are the ones my eight-factor model says are among those best positioned when it does.

On Wednesday, May 13, at 1 p.m. Eastern, I’m going live to share my highest-conviction picks from this list – the names I think have the best shot at being the next small-cap 10-baggers. You’ll get that Exclusion List immediately just by signing up. I’ll also give away a free stock pick just for attending.

Hang on, folks. The ride is just getting started.

Click here to reserve your spot now.

Sincerely,

91����

Editor, Market 360

The Editor hereby discloses that as of the date of this email, the Editor, directly or indirectly, owns the following securities that are the subject of the commentary, analysis, opinions, advice, or recommendations in, or which are otherwise mentioned in, the essay set forth below:

Bloom Energy Corporation (BE)

The post The Wall Street Game Is Rigged – but This One Advantage Belongs to You appeared first on InvestorPlace.

Right now, Wall Street is having its Menlo Park moment.

The AI boom isn’t a story anymore… it’s a number. A very large, very specific, very inconvenient-for-skeptics number.

For two years, every rally has been dogged by the same whisper: what if it’s just hype? Every capex headline came with a “but where are the earnings?” footnote. Bears built entire theses on the gap between AI promises and AI profits.

With roughly 63% of S&P 500 companies reporting, the blended earnings growth rate sits at 27.1%, or more than double the 13% analysts penciled in heading into the season.

For context, the last time corporate America posted a number that big was the fourth quarter of 2021, and that was a recovery bounce off COVID-shuttered 2020 comps. Strip out the recession-rebound years (post-COVID, post-GFC, post-dot-com, post-early-90s) and you find that a 27% earnings print outside a recession has, essentially, never happened.

Every bear argument about “AI capex with no return” just got shredded in a single quarter. The companies driving this number are the AI names, including Nvidia (NVDA), Micron (MU), Alphabet (GOOGL), and Amazon (AMZN). Buckle up for the next leg of the AI Boom!

Below, we’ll unpack what 27.1% earnings growth tells you about positioning for the rest of 2026, why we think the rally has “very solid footing,” and the under-the-radar disruption story unfolding at Amazon that may quietly become the next AWS-sized win.

Click the video below to watch now:

Why This Earnings Season Breaks the Rulebook

Historically, 20%-plus blended earnings growth is something you only see when the S&P is climbing out of a hole. There’s no hole this time. There was no earnings recession in 2023, 2024, or 2025. Earnings have been growing all along… and yet here comes a quarter that prints like the economy just got off the canvas.

The magnitude of this growth, absent a recession base effect, points to AI infrastructure, chips, hyperscalers, memory, and cloud computing. The capex everyone has been wringing their hands about is showing up as revenue and earnings on the other side of the ledger.

For investors, the takeaway is: this is a momentum market driven by a fundamental engine, not a sentiment cycle.

The “is it a bubble?” debate doesn’t square with a 27% earnings print.

The Amazon Story Hiding Inside the AI Story

Beyond the headline AI names, Amazon just launched what it’s calling Amazon Supply Chain Services, arguably the single most important Amazon development since AWS. The pattern mirrors that of AWS’ development: Amazon builds an internal capability, perfects it for itself, then turns around and sells it to everyone else. AWS started as a back-office project and now prints the money that funds the rest of the business.

If supply chain follows that arc, the implications stretch well beyond AMZN. Traditional logistics names are already underperforming. United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) has gone essentially nowhere since 2015 while the S&P 500 has roughly tripled.

The market may have been pricing in the inevitable for a decade.

The Bottom Line: This Train Is Already Leaving the Station

Step back and look at what just happened…

A 27.1% blended earnings print (a number we historically only see clawing out of recessions) landed in the middle of an ongoing expansion. The biggest contributors are the same names that have been called overvalued for two straight years. The “show me the earnings” crowd just got shown the earnings.

And underneath the headline number, the disruption is widening, not narrowing. Amazon is moving from cloud dominance into logistics dominance. The hyperscalers are spending like it’s 1999… except this time, they’re booking the revenue to match. Memory, chips, networking, and power are all flashing the same supply-meets-demand-meets-pricing-power signal that defined the great supercycles of the past.

Could the market wobble? Of course. Iran flare-ups, dollar gyrations, a hot inflation print… any of these could shake out a few percent. But the core engine isn’t sentiment. It’s earnings. And earnings just told you, in language Wall Street can’t ignore, that the AI buildout is profitable and accelerating.

The investors who waited for “confirmation” before getting positioned just got it. The question is no longer whether the AI boom is happening. It’s which names compound the hardest from here… and whether you’re holding them before the rest of the market finishes catching up.

Get the Full Playbook

We walk you through everything in this week’s episode of Being Exponential, including the AI infrastructure names I’m most bullish on, why precious metals deserve a second look on this dip, and my “line in the sand” for Bitcoin’s (BTC/USD) next move.

If you’re trying to position for the next leg of this earnings boom, watch the full episode. The window between signal confirmed and consensus pricing is the window where the real money gets made… and that window is open right now.

The post The 27.1% Number That Just Killed the AI Bubble Debate appeared first on InvestorPlace.