Editor’s note: “How to Build Wealth in a Volatile Stock Market” was previously published in March 2025 with the title, “Beyond the Ups and Downs: Building Wealth in a Volatile Stock Market.” It has since been updated to include the most relevant information available.
The stock market has been anything but steady in early 2025. Since Donald Trump took office as the 47th President of the United States in late January, investors have endured a dizzying ride.
At first, markets stayed quiet—flat for about a month. But that calm quickly turned into chaos.
From mid-February to mid-March, the S&P 500 plunged 10% in just 20 trading days. Analysts blamed growing fears that Trump would ignite a global trade war. Those fears were realized on April 2, when Trump launched his “Liberation Day” tariffs. The move triggered a historic two-day, 10% drop in the index—marking the fifth-worst two-day crash on record.
Then came the snapback.
One week later, Trump announced a 90-day pause on those same tariffs. The market roared back. The S&P 500 surged 9.5% in a single session—the start of a massive 20% rebound over the next month.
In just 90 days, stocks had crashed 20%, then fully rebounded. That kind of volatility hasn’t been seen since the pandemic era, and it’s reshaping how investors think about political risk and policy shockwaves in 2025.
This has been arguably the most volatile and violent stock market ever. And given that Trump has been the trigger – and that he will be in the White House for the next four years – investors are naturally asking themselves:
Is this intense volatility Wall Street’s ‘new normal’?
A Bumpy Ride Higher: Why We Expect Stock Market Uncertainty to Continue
Don’t get me wrong. I think stocks are going higher over the next few years.
We’re somewhere in the middle of the AI Boom. Tech booms like these tend to last five to six years or longer. Just look at the Dot Com Boom, which started in 1995 and lasted through 1999 – five years of strong gains. The Nasdaq Composite rose about 582% during that time, while the S&P nearly tripled.
This AI Boom started in 2023. I think we have another two to three years of exceptional growth left in AI stocks. And that growth should drive the whole market higher.
However… I don’t think it’ll be a smooth ride higher…
Largely because of U.S. President Donald Trump, who promises to change a lot of things.
He wants to renegotiate trade deals and restructure global trade, rethink America’s global military presence, and cut federal spending. He wants to reduce taxes, expand America’s borders, and reshore manufacturing activity, among other things.
Clearly, he aims to change a lot.
Now, I won’t offer an argument as to whether these proposed changes are good, bad, or neutral.
But I will state the obvious: It’s a lot of change. And change is uncomfortable – especially for investors…
Because change equals uncertainty. That doesn’t mean this policy shakeup won’t push stocks higher in the long term. It may.
It simply means that, along the way, stocks will continue to be volatile – just like they’ve been over the past few months.
Stock Market Volatility by the Numbers: Record-Breaking Swings Under Trump
Since Trump was inaugurated earlier this year, we’ve seen:
One of the fastest 10% drops
Following the announcement of the “Liberation Day” tariffs on April 2, the S&P sharply declined, dropping over 12.1% in the subsequent four sessions.
One of the worst two-day crashes
On April 3-4, the market suffered a 10.5% setback, marking the fourth-worst two-day stretch since 1950.
One of the best single-day rallies
Following President Trump’s announcement of a 90-day pause on recently implemented tariffs, the S&P surged 9.5% on April 9, marking its strongest one-day performance since October 2008.
One of the best win streaks
On May 2, the S&P locked in its ninth straight day of gains – the longest winning streak in more than 20 years – rising roughly 10% over that stretch
One of the highest readings for the volatility index
The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), often referred to as the market’s “fear gauge,” nearly doubled over six months, reaching a reading of 27.86.
This has been a three-month stretch for the record books.
If you think things will “mellow out” over the next 45 months, we think you’re sadly mistaken.
The Strategy for Surviving and Thriving in Today’s Market
Clearly, Trump isn’t playing around in his second term. He means business and intends to execute his vision, regardless of the short-term pain it may cause. That means that the volatility we’ve seen so far will likely persist throughout his tenure.
If you’re a buy-and-hold investor, that might sound scary. But that’s why I think you must become more than a buy-and-hold investor…
All these huge and violent swings in the market are giving traders lots of opportunities to buy low and sell high.
Of course, short-term trading can be risky – and notoriously hard to execute correctly. But what if you had a quant-powered system to help de-risk and simplify such a daunting endeavor?
That’s exactly what we’ve worked to build.
Meet Auspex, a quantitative, machine-driven screener that helps you get in, get out, and get paid month after month in this Age of Chaos.
It scans the market for the rarest type of opportunity – stocks that are simultaneously:
Growing earnings, revenues, and margins
Trending up across short- and long-term technicals
Getting attention from both analysts and traders
These are the strongest stocks in the entire market at any given moment.
And all it takes is about 30 minutes a month to make sure your portfolio is positioned for gains. It’s very easy to execute – and potentially very profitable.
We’re confident this is the system you need to survive – and even thrive – in today’s volatile markets.
You may not realize it yet, but the smartphone is on its way out.
That sleek, glowing rectangle that’s been glued to your hand for over a decade—the symbol of the Mobile Internet Era—is heading for obsolescence.
Why? Because we’re entering the Age of Artificial Intelligence—and AI doesn’t want your thumbs or your screen.
It wants your eyes, your ears, and your intent.
And to deliver on that vision, it needs a new device.
The iPhone’s Successor: Smart Glasses
The next dominant tech form factor won’t live in your pocket. It’ll sit on your face.
This isn’t some futuristic prediction—it’s already happening.
Here’s what went down just this week:
Alphabet (GOOGL) announced a $150 million partnership with Warby Parker to launch AI-powered smart glasses by 2026.
OpenAI acquired Jony Ive’s AI hardware startup for $6.4 billion. (Ive designed the original iPhone.)
Ive will lead OpenAI’s hardware efforts to create a new generation of AI-native devices.
Meanwhile, Meta Platforms (META) is pushing its Ray-Ban smart glasses hard—sales tripled this year. It’s also developing Orion, a stealth project for finger-controlled AI eyewear.
Amazon (AMZN) is still shipping Echo Frames, leveraging Alexa as its voice-first interface for ambient computing.
And yes, Apple (AAPL) is reportedly extending Vision Pro into a lightweight, consumer-grade smart glasses format.
This isn’t a product cycle. It’s a platform shift.
And Big Tech knows: the company that replaces the smartphone wins the next 20 years.
Why AI Demands a New Interface
The smartphone ruled the 2010s because it matched the needs of the mobile internet: apps, touchscreens, scrolling, notifications.
But AI isn’t built for that.
AI thrives on real-time interaction, not manual input. It listens. It observes. It acts on your behalf. It’s ambient, proactive, and often invisible.
That’s why AI needs a screenless interface.
Smart glasses—equipped with cameras, microphones, displays, and context-aware AI—are the ideal interface for the ambient computing era.
They don’t require unlocking. They don’t pull you out of your world. They layer intelligence on top of your reality.
This is the leap from tap to presence. From input to interaction.
How to Invest in the AI Glasses Boom
Back in 2007, Apple didn’t just launch the iPhone—it created a $10 trillion mobile ecosystem.
Ambarella (AMBA): Known for computer vision chips critical to spatial computing.
Corning (GLW): Already supplies Apple—well-positioned for smart glass and optics.
SoundHound AI (SOUN) and Twilio (TWLO): Voice interfaces and AI communication layers.
Unity Software (U): Provides real-time 3D rendering engines for AR overlays and spatial OS.
Okta (OKTA): Identity and security management for AI-native platforms.
The Big Picture
The AI glasses movement is about more than convenience. It’s a new computing paradigm—ambient, hands-free, always-on.
And it’s not science fiction.
With billions flowing into R&D and major players making their move, AI glasses could become the new standard interface for computing—just as smartphones once were.
The companies that help build, power, and scale this ecosystem could lead the next wave of generational tech gains.
Bottom Line
The smartphone changed how we accessed the internet.
AI glasses will change how we experience reality.
And just like last time, the biggest winners may not be the device makers—but the ecosystem builders.
The Mobile Internet Era is ending. The Ambient AI Era is beginning.
On the date of publication, Luke Lango did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.
P.S. You can stay up to speed with Luke’s latest market analysis by reading our Daily Notes! Check out the latest issue on your Innovation Investor or Early Stage Investor subscriber site.
It’s been a long day at work. Your meeting ran long and your boss was a jerk. Traffic was brutal and now you’re finally home.
Tired and hungry, you open the refrigerator, trying to drum up something for dinner.
You stand there with the door open and stare blankly.
Maybe you can cobble something together … maybe there’s some leftover chicken … a few vegetables (if they haven’t gone bad). Make some rice?
But sometimes, it feels like too much. So, you do what millions of Americans do every night: you pick up your phone and order fast food.
You know this isn’t the healthy choice, but you’re hungry and this is the most convenient option. With DoorDash, Uber Eats and other services, it’s the easiest, fastest route to dinner.
We know so much now about nutrition and how important it is for a long and healthy life… and yet, we often won’t make nutritious choices.
More than 40% of American adults are now classified as obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The cause of that isn’t ignorance of what’s healthy.
In fact, some of the rules are easy: eat more real food, avoid processed food, don’t drink soda. But because it takes a daily discipline, we have a hard time doing what we know is right.
Investing can be like that too.
Today I’m going to try to make it a little easier.
Investing Isn’t Difficult
The basic principles of good investing are widely accepted and not a secret: buy low and sell high.
Sounds easy.
The hard part is the execution.
The truth is that the average American puts nearly zero effort into their personal finances.
In 2024, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released survey data on how Americans spend their time. After “sleeping,” and “working,” “watching TV” came in as the most time-intensive activity for survey respondents.
That clocked in at 2.67 hours per day.
And how much time, on average, was allocated to personal financial management?
0.08 hours per days…or less than five minutes.
In other words, the average person spends more time enjoying their coffee each morning than they do preparing for their financial future.
I’m as guilty as anyone.
We’ve all failed the same way. We want to get rich on stocks to we try to capitalize on an investing fad. We hear about a hot stock and go chase the crowd.
What does the company do? What are its earnings and sales?
Doesn’t matter. Can we get in now and catch the uptrend?
That’s investing junk food. It may appeal right now, but it’s probably not good for you.
It’s easy to understand why people do this. The world moves a lot faster now, and volatility feels much greater than in past years.
Profits From a Diet of Healthy Stocks
In Accelerated Profits, investing legend Louis Navellier only trades the elite 1% of all stocks on the market today.
This isn’t “fast food.” He uses strict fundamental principles and highly selective quantitative analysis.
But here is the “easy” part: he zeroes in on the top stocks just about to hit their stride. These are great stocks, and Louis’ system says they’re on the launch pad and about to take off.
Some stocks are domestic; others will come from overseas. But they will all have one thing in common: the ability to hand investors double- or triple-digit profits in a matter of weeks and months.
And the service only focuses on stocks. There’s also no minimum investment required, so you only invest whatever you feel comfortable with.
It’s as easy as that.
A great example of how this strategy pays off comes from a pick Louis made earlier this year.
A Superior Stock on the Upswing Today
Back in March, Louis recommended Robinhood (HOOD) to his Accelerated Profits subscribers. You probably know the name… it became a media darling during the Covid pandemic when everyone was in lockdown and chasing stock profits.
Here is what Louis wrote about Robinhood and the opportunity today.
Today’s Robinhood is a registered broker-dealer enabling users to trade stocks, ETFs, ADRs, options, gold and even cryptocurrencies.
The latter is particularly interesting – and a big opportunity for the company.
You may know that the Trump administration is determined to make the U.S. the cryptocurrency trading leader. The SEC was openly hostile to cryptocurrencies under the Biden administration. But under Trump, the SEC is no longer regulating crypto tokens, and it is suddenly more proactive in establishing a positive regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies.
Robinhood’s platform allows its users to trade crypto – all of the popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Dogecoin –at the lowest cost on average in the U.S.
Given the popularity and easily accessible platform to all investors and traders, Robinhood boasts stunning forecasted earnings and revenue growth. In the fourth quarter, revenue soared 115% year-over-year to $1.01 billion and earnings surged 3,266.7% year-over-year to $1.01 per share. Analysts expected earnings of $0.52 per share, so Robinhood posted a 94.2% earnings surprise.
In the wake of its big earnings beat, analysts have doubled first-quarter earnings estimates in the past three months. First-quarter earnings are now forecast to increase 83.3% year-over-year to $0.44 per share, while revenue is expected to jump 48.4% year-over-year to $916.77 million. As you know, positive analyst revisions typically precede future earnings surprises.
Here is HOOD’s performance since that recommendation.
Trading around $64 as I write, the stock is still below Louis’ “buy below” price.
And Louis believes there are plenty of healthy stocks about to experience a similar growth trajectory.
He’s tracking a $10 trillion tidal wave that’s about to hit three specific sectors of the market.
He believes that if you position yourself correctly today, you’ll have the chance to see massive payouts in the months ahead.
Earlier this month, I wrote about AI agents and made a point worth repeating…
Agentic AI is here, and it’s moving fast.
Well, it turns out I was right on the money. Just a few days after publishing that Smart Money, Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) announced its new Gemini-powered coding agent, AlphaEvolve – a development that confirms what I’ve been tracking in the sector.
Then, this week, Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google’s DeepMind division, explained more about this new agentic AI tool in a New York Times interview.
To refresh, AI agents are systems that can autonomously make decisions and take action. These AI agents can handle the sort of tasks performed by personal assistants or customer service agents… and they can do so without constant human oversight.
AlphaEvolve isn’t like the typical AI agents that we’ve talked about. It doesn’t just regurgitate what it learns from training data.
The system creates and evolves computer programs using what Google calls “evolutionary programming” – essentially natural selection for code.
So, I’d like to dive into more about Google’s new AI agent tool today… and explain why this advancement is such a pivotal moment – not just for the AI Revolution, but for your investment portfolio as well.
What we’re witnessing is just one component of a larger framework that my colleague Louis Navellier has been tracking for months. It’s part of an agenda the current administration has set in motion, and it could deliver life-changing wealth to investors who position themselves correctly.
So, I’ll also share how you can learn about the technological transformation that Louis has been tracking.
Let’s jump in…
AI That Evolves Code
While AI agents like Amazon.com Inc.’s (AMZN) Nova Act or OpenAI’s Operator handle assistance tasks well and represent significant advancements for AI, AlphaEvolve operates on an entirely different level.
Here’s how it works…
As Hassabis explained in his interview, AlphaEvolve uses two different Gemini large language models (LLMs) working in tandem. An efficient model generates new programming ideas and mathematical hypotheses, while a pro model acts as the critic – evaluating which solutions show the most promise and selecting them for the next round of evolution.
This combination “evolutionary method” lets the system venture into uncharted territory, discovering unique solutions that go far beyond what the individual models would know form their original training.
The results are staggering.
AlphaEvolve has already been deployed across Google’s entire computing ecosystem for more than a year. In their data centers, the system discovered effective scheduling solutions that continuously recover 0.7% of Google’s worldwide computing resources.
The system has also improved hardware design, by using standard programming language that chip engineers actually use – a collaborative approach that speeds up the design of future specialized chips.
So, AlphaEvolve is speeding up AI development itself.
And mathematical breakthroughs that AlphaEvolve can achieve show this system’s creative potential. It tackled over 50 open problems across multiple mathematical fields, rediscovering state-of-the-art solutions in 75% of cases, and improving upon the best-known solutions in 20% of them.
Most remarkably, it advanced a 300-year-old “kissing number problem” in geometry, a problem that Isaac Newton himself argued over.
What we’re looking at here is a massive achievement for Google and even a crucial step toward artificial general intelligence – that’s when AI will operate all on its own.
AlphaEvolve demonstrates genuine creative problem-solving that goes beyond programmed instructions, venturing into unexplored mathematical and computational territory to discover entirely new solutions.
And this breakthrough fits perfectly into what Louis Navellier has been tracking – a large, unprecedented shift he’s calling Liberation Day 2.0.
A New Economic Era
AlphaEvolve isn’t a one-off breakthrough. It’s part of a massive technological transformation that’s gaining momentum under the Trump administration – and smart investors are positioning themselves to capitalize on it.
According to Louis’s research, Liberation Day 2.0 could unleash up to $10 trillion in new stimulus, create millions of high-paying jobs, and spark the next phase of a generational bull market. But only if you know where to look.
This opportunity is fueled by a national three-pronged strategy, each one designed to jolt different corners of the U.S. economy.…
The “Tech Liberation” component in particular shows massive momentum. Since Trump announced his executive order on AI, we’ve seen…
Apple Inc. (AAPL) pledging $500 billion to build out U.S. data centers.
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) committing another $500 billion to go toward AI infrastructure.
Saudi Arabia committing $600 billion to build out American tech, energy and healthcare.
In short, this could be the largest reshoring of American industry in history. And Louis’s Stock Grader system has pinpointed the companies best positioned to ride this $10 trillion wave. This is the same system that helped him spot Amazon, Nvidia, and Netflix Inc. (NFLX) before they all soared 5,000%.
You can get the details about Louis’s system, and his No. 1 Liberation Day 2.0 stock, in his free special presentation.
Have you ever read a headline that made you want to throw your phone across the room? Not out of anger, but frustration for your own bad investing decisions?
You know the headlines I mean.
“NVIDIA up 3,000% since 2019…” “Palantir up 65% in 2025…”
And all you can think is:
“I saw that. I knew that. Louis told me about it. Why didn’t I act? I missed it!”
We’ve all been there.
You hear about a new megatrend… or maybe a little-known company with a big new technological innovation… or a bold prediction about a company or sector…
And you think, “Interesting. I’ll keep an eye on it and see if I find anything I like to buy.”
Then life happens.
The market goes through its gyrations, and things look more unsteady.
And six months later, that “little idea” has pushed select stocks skyward and made investors rich… and you never acted.
I bet many of you had one of those moments last week with quantum computing stocks. Over the past week or so, a slew of headlines like the following one appeared about IonQ Inc. (IONQ).
In case you missed it, even with Friday’s down day, QBTS and IONQ were up 56% and 31%, respectively, last week.
Quantum computing and both companies started hitting investors’ radars in late 2021 and early 2022. That’s when a combination of scientific breakthroughs, increased corporate investment and early commercialization started making it impossible to ignore quantum computing. And that’s when IONQ and QBTS went public.
Yet most of us did nothing about it.
But here’s the good news: The market always gives you another shot.
I gave my paid members another shot on quantum earlier this year when I released two special reports focused on quantum computing and investments to make – including these two stocks.
Since publishing my second report on March 13, IONQ and QBTS are up 115% and 204%, respectively.
And while quantum stocks are now overheated – I’m still long on the technology, but not necessarily the stocks at the moment – I believe a different “next shot” is unfolding right now.
Headlines Shouldn’t Drive Your Investing
Just because the headlines scream about a trend or set of stocks, that shouldn’t drive your investing decisions. Think of the recent market sell-off after President Donald Trump’s Liberation Day press conference.
The market plunged, and many investors sold to get out of the market’s downward path. Indeed, investors did what they always do when the headlines become bearish.
They chase the safety of the crowd. Selling low. Waiting for permission from the media to feel bullish again. Or worse, they load up on whatever trend or stock had the biggest bounce … yesterday.
This is a bias called crowd-seeking.
It’s been hardcoded into us for tens of thousands of years.
Imagine you and your hunter-gatherer tribe are out and about… moving to a place with more freshwater.
On your way, you see three dozen terrified members of your neighboring tribe running for their lives in a human stampede.
Your instincts will tell you to run as fast as you can. There’s a good reason three dozen people are running for their lives, and it doesn’t matter if you can’t see any danger… you just know it’s time to run.
This reason – survival – is the core reason why humans seek crowds. To this day, we know having your own crowd – your family, friends, and coworkers – leads to longer, better lives.
But this instinct won’t help make you rich in the stock market.
How to Overcome Your Biases
My Stock Grader quantitative system doesn’t read the news.
It doesn’t care who is president.
It doesn’t get scared on down days or too excited on up days.
It just scans more than 6,000 stocks every week… analyzes fundamentals… tracks price action… investigates big money buying… and seeks out the stocks with the highest probability of explosive, near-term gains.
That’s how I’ve been able to identify over 175 stocks that went on to make 1,000%+ gains.
Let’s go back to a similar down-market moment…
In 2022, the S&P 500 was in a bear market. Meanwhile, Stock Grader was weeding through the thousands of options to identify which stocks were going to be the rare winners.
And one of the stocks it flagged was Vista Energy (VIST).
At the time, VIST was a little-known Latin American oil and gas company. But my Stock Grader gave it an “A” rating based on strong earnings growth, rising cash flow, and a surge in institutional buying.
I did my own deep dive… found the stock to my liking… and recommended it to my Accelerated Profitsreaders in February 2022.
VIST went on to post a 117% gain in under three months while the broader market kept falling.
And now… in the middle of what feels like political and economic chaos, my system is doing what it always does – finding winners.
Many of these winners are popping up because President Trump’s bold new economic agenda – which I call “Liberation Day 2.0” – is sending shockwaves through the market. Unfortunately, too many investors are only seeing the fear on the surface.
But under the surface, my system and I are tracking:
A rare divergence in consumer spending vs. sentiment
A sudden uptick in institutional accumulation
And massive “money rotation” into unloved sectors primed to surge under new policies
This isn’t just a gut feeling or sentiment driven by press conferences or screaming headlines.
It’s data.
And the data is saying: It’s time to act.
Too many investors will likely miss this moment because they let emotions lead.
They’re waiting. Waiting for the all-clear or listening to fear-driven headlines.
But here is what I see…
The stocks with the best fundamentals are already rising—quietly, efficiently, and predictably. These are the stocks that will lead the charge when Trump’s full economic plan rolls out over the next 12 months.
Why this new economic era is nothing like the past four years
The three sectors positioned for a breakout under Trump’s three-part Liberation agenda
And the name of my #1 stock pick for the next 90 days, completely free
Now, a repeat of this special presentation is still available to watch – but only for a little while. What’s more, I’ll detail how I plan to generate repeatable payouts—$2,500, $4,800, even $45,000 or more in cash—again and again, using one of the most battle-tested tools in the history of American investing.
The markets are wild. Your emotions are loud.
But profits belong to the calm, the rational, and the system-driven.
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:
PCE inflation comes in soft – will it prompt a rate cut? … Trump jabs at China … don’t poke the bear … an entry point for going long gold … not enough industrial workers
Inflation barely moved in April despite President Trump’s tariffs.
This morning, we learned that the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index climbed just 0.1% on the month, putting the yearly rate at 2.1%. The forecasts were for 0.1% and 2.2%, respectively.
Core PCE inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, and is the Fed’s favorite inflation gauge, climbed 0.1% on the month and 2.5% on the year. Expectations were for growth of 0.1% and 2.6%.
While these are good numbers, the unpredictability of trade policy suggests we shouldn’t be too quick to assume they’ll prompt the Fed to action. Yesterday, Chair Powell met with President Trump. According to the Fed’s official statement on the meeting:
Chair Powell did not discuss his expectations for monetary policy, except to stress that the path of policy will depend entirely on incoming economic information and what that means for the outlook.
Despite this hedging, the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool now shows that traders are putting the heaviest odds (39.9%) on two quarter-point cuts by the December FOMC meeting. And the probability of at least one quarter-point cut in September now clocks in at 70%.
Bottom line: It was a good PCE report. But it’s unclear if it will be enough for the Fed to start cutting. We’ll be tracking this with you.
As we were going to press yesterday, we got another twist in the trade war
A federal appeals court agreed to temporarily halt the U.S. Court of International Trade’s ruling from Wednesday that blocked President Trump’s tariffs.
As we covered in yesterday’s Digest, Wednesday’s ruling struck down the tariffs, saying the President lacked the authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA) to impose his “Liberation Day” levies.
The delay gives the Trump administration time to build its case for suspending the trade court’s decision during the appeal.
Here’s more from CNBC:
Trump officials maintain that they have other options for imposing tariffs, even if they do not prevail in the case.
“Even if we lose, we will do it another way,” Trump trade advisor Peter Navarro told reporters at the White House on Thursday afternoon.
Wall Street – mostly the media – should tread carefully
In yesterday’s Digest, we explained why the trade war may be winding down – even without need for court intervention. But we need to be careful…
In the last 48 hours, the financial press has been relentless with its use of the Wall Street acronym “TACO,” short for Trump Always Chickens Out on tariffs.
As we noted yesterday, this moniker reflects the belief that Trump ultimately backs off from aggressive tariff policy. The President hates the term, calling it “nasty” and telling a reporter asking about the topic, “Don’t ever say what you said.”
If the goal is to see the President soften his stance, branding him as weak on trade is not the wisest strategy – a vicious backfiring could be the unintended consequence.
On that note, this morning, President Trump came out swinging against China, claiming it “totally violated” its preliminary trade agreement with the U.S.
From Trump on Truth Social:
The bad news is that China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US.
So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!
It’s not clear what no more “Mr. Nice Guy” will mean for tariff policy, but it certainly leans toward tariffs ratcheting up, not down. How much of this is a reaction to TACO?
History buffs will recall the lead-up to World War I, when nations rushed into conflict not just out of obligation, but to preserve prestige and avoid appearing weak. What began as a regional dispute spiraled into global war because leaders felt they couldn’t back down without losing face.
A trade war is hardly a world war, but the underlying dynamic – escalation driven by the need to project strength – remains relevant.
Poking a bear is rarely a wise decision.
As it stands now, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent admitted that trade talks with China “are a bit stalled.” But he went on to say that there will be additional talks over the next few weeks.
We’ll keep you updated.
If you’ve been looking for a buying opportunity in gold, today’s set-up is looking increasingly attractive
As you can see below, since setting a new all-time high in recent weeks, the yellow metal has been moving sideways/lower.
Source: TradingView
Behind the breather has been renewed investor optimism about stocks, fueled by perceived progress in trade and tariff negotiations.
As market anxieties have eased (whether justified or not), investors have felt more confident rotating out of the “safe haven” of gold, and back into riskier stocks.
Now, if you’re a shorter-term trader, this makes sense. But for longer-term investors, remember: Even if we get beyond trade war chaos, a federal spending/debt crisis still looms.
Another 3.8 trillion reasons to own gold
President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” is currently making its way through Congress, and it’s a cannonball into the “big government” pool. The Congressional Budget Office estimates it could increase the deficit by about $3.8 trillion over the next ten years.
Of course, it’s just the latest in a long history of spending/debt bonanzas from our government that’s speeding our nation toward an eventual reckoning.
For perspective on this, let’s go to Tom Yeung, Eric Fry’s lead analyst in Fry’s Investment Report.
From Tom’s Weekly Update:
America’s government has a spending problem.
In 2024, the federal government spent $6.8 trillion while collecting just $4.9 trillion in tax revenues – or $1.39 for every dollar collected.
The latest tax bill, coming out of a Republican-led Congress, will widen that figure to roughly $1.42…
America itself is on an unstainable fiscal path. Borrowing 39 cents to fund every dollar spent is bananas, to use a highly technical term.
Forty-two cents is even wilder. And if something is unsustainable, it someday must stop.
It will stop – the question is “how?”
Will it stop due to painful and prolonged austerity measures from politicians, loathed by millions of Americans because it means a reduction (or elimination) of various benefits and programs they rely on?
Not a chance. The masses will vote out any politician who dares touch their entitlements.
My money is on an eventual rebellion by the markets and our government’s creditors that finally explodes the $36.9 trillion debt bomb lodged beneath the foundation of our economy.
Either way, you’re going to want to own gold.
Tom notes “bullion has typically outperformed during economic stress, and miners can do even better thanks to operating leverage and solid management.”
For a specific miner to consider, check out Westgold Resources (WGXRF). Tom and Eric recommended it to their Investment Report subscribers in January.
They’re now sitting on 54% returns. But far greater gains are likely on the way as our government goes full “Thelma and Louise” over the fiscal cliff.
Beyond gold, recognize how our government’s financial challenges point toward one investment sector
Let’s put some of the biggest pieces on the board.
We have…
The national debt, barreling toward $40 trillion… Federal interest payments climbing so fast they rival the cost of our entire defense budget… Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” which tacks on another few trillion to our debt … Trump’s massive push for domestic industrial revival… a big demographic slowdown… and a labor shortage.
That last one might take you by surprise.
A labor shortage? Aren’t we at greater risk of a recession and losing jobs?
Not for our industrial base.
Let’s go to NPR from earlier this month:
Last year, the Manufacturing Institute, a nonprofit aimed at developing America’s manufacturing workforce, and Deloitte, a consultancy firm, surveyed more than 200 manufacturing companies. More than 65% of the firms said recruiting and retaining workers was their No. 1 business challenge.
Part of the story has been a tight labor market. There have been similar worker recruitment and retention issues in other sectors, like construction and transportation.
But the shortfall of manufacturing workers is about more than just that — and with both major political parties pushing to reshore manufacturing, analysts expect the industry’s workforce issues to get even more challenging…
The average manufacturing worker is also relatively old, and the industry expects a tidal wave of retirements in the coming decade.
The Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte projected that the industry will need 3.8 million additional workers by 2033 and that as many as “1.9 million of these jobs could go unfilled if workforce challenges are not addressed.”
These estimates, mind you, were calculated before Trump’s recent tariffs, which, at least theoretically, are supposed to compel even more manufacturers to build factories in America.
If things go to plan, we may need even more Americans to start working in manufacturing in the coming years.
These labor shortages aren’t just a hiccup – they’re a structural reality.
The U.S. workforce is aging. Birth rates are falling. And the younger generations aren’t exactly lining up for repetitive manual labor in manufacturing hubs.
So, if we’re bringing back the factory floor, it means one thing…
Rise of robotics/AI/humanoids.
This isn’t science fiction anymore
Tesla, Nvidia, Amazon, and the rest of the “Mag 7” aren’t experimenting with robots, they’re betting the future of their companies on them.
Look at Tesla’s Optimus project. Watch Amazon’s warehouse bots replacing human pickers. Check Nvidia’s pivot from gaming chips to powering every AI model and robot brain on the planet.
It’s all converging at once:
A labor crisis
Exploding federal deficits
A geopolitical tech race with China
Corporate America going all-in on automation
And an AI boom unlike anything we’ve ever seen
We need productivity like never before – fast, scalable, exponential productivity.
Our politicians can’t (or won’t) “cut” our way out of our financial mess. Instead, we’ll have to grow our way out. More productivity is a must to offset our soaring government expenses.
But that growth won’t come from humans anymore. It will come from bots. Machines that don’t sleep, unionize, or clock out. Machines that can redline our nation’s GDP without adding to payrolls or pension plans.
Bottom line: Yes, we’re about to have an industrial revolution, but not with steam or steel. This time, it’ll be a revolution of silicon, sensors, and software.
I’m going to continue beating this horse long past death: Please get your portfolio ready for what’s barreling toward us.
On that note, if you missed legendary investor Louis Navellier in his “Liberation Day 2.0” presentation on Wednesday…
He addressed how he’s playing this tech boom.
“Liberation Day 2.0” is Louis’ name for a series of new moves from President Trump with radical implications for taxes, domestic energy, and technology.
According to Louis, Trump’s $10 trillion economic blueprint could unleash a tidal wave of capital – a fantastic opportunity for investors who get ahead of it.
We’ll keep you updated on all these stories here in the Digest.
The real engine now is artificial intelligence. Nvidia just reminded us why.
All year long, one thing — Trump’s global trade war — has driven the stock market. But this week made one thing abundantly clear: that won’t be true for much longer.
Wall Street is moving on. The trade war is becoming “old news.”
Yes, the drama will continue. Trump’s tariff agenda will generate plenty of twists, turns, and TV headlines over the coming weeks. It’ll still come up at family dinners.
But on Wall Street, it’s fading into background noise — and that’s good news for investors.
Here’s why:
Earlier this week, the U.S. International Trade Court ruled that most of the Trump administration’s 2025 tariffs were improperly enacted. The decision specifically targeted tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), including:
The fentanyl-linked import duties
The 10% baseline reciprocal tariff
The “Liberation Day” tariffs
As a result, most of those tariffs are now dead in the water.
The immediate impact? Huge.
With those tariffs gone, the average effective U.S. tariff rate plunges from 13% to 6% — a stunning reversal that takes us right back to where we were in early 2024, before the tariff war began.
Tariff Fears Fade, Economic Headwinds Recede
Let that sink in. Just two months ago, the average tariff rate was nearly 30%. That triggered fears of soaring inflation, collapsing trade flows, supply chain meltdowns, and a full-blown economic slowdown.
Now, after a flurry of pauses, delays, exemptions, deals — and a bombshell court ruling — we’re back to a manageable 6%.
It’s like waking up from a nightmare and realizing the monster under the bed was just a coat.
Sure, the Trump administration can — and likely will — try to reimpose some tariffs under other frameworks, like Section 301, Section 232, or Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. But those paths are slower, narrower, and more constrained by legal caps and political optics. The White House is expected to appeal the ruling, but most legal experts expect it to hold.
So here’s where we are: plenty of trade war drama in the headlines — but a lot less real-world bite. And that’s what markets care about. Not the noise. Not the politics. Just the numbers: earnings, inflation, GDP.
According to the Federal Reserve, every 1-point increase in the average tariff rate:
Drags GDP by 0.14%
Lifts inflation by 0.09%
So a move from 3% to 30% implied nearly a 4-point GDP hit and a 2.5-point inflation surge — major economic damage.
At 6%, that impact drops to:
A 0.4-point drag on GDP
A 0.3-point bump in inflation
In other words, a rounding error.
The economy can absorb that, especially with:
Surging investment in tech infrastructure
Strong labor market growth
Resilient consumer demand
Even if tariffs edge back to 8% or 10%, the macro hit will be modest. More importantly, thanks to new legal constraints, any changes will be incremental, not sudden. That’s the predictability Wall Street needed — and now has.
So while the trade war narrative might linger on cable news, its power to rattle markets is gone. That’s a green light for stocks.
And just look at where investors are turning…
The real engine now is artificial intelligence. Nvidia (NVDA) just reminded us why.
AI Is the New Market Driver — Not Tariffs
The chip giant crushed earnings expectations again, showing demand for AI compute is still on fire. The company is guiding for $45 billion in next-quarter revenue. According to Wedbush, that could unlock $360 billion to $450 billion in downstream economic impact across the AI stack — thanks to an 8x to 10x multiplier on AI chip spending.
That’s the action. That’s the opportunity. That’s where smart money is flowing.
Because let’s face it: what’s more lucrative — worrying about tariff litigation or investing in agentic AI, humanoid robotics, self-driving cars, and enterprise software automation?
The answer is obvious.
Bottom line: the trade war story isn’t over, but it’s no longer the main event. The court ruling changed the game. Tariff risk is now slower, narrower, and more predictable — and the market likes that.
In 2025, growth means AI. Nvidia made that clear. So while headlines keep spinning the tariff story, savvy investors are already chasing the real growth story: technological transformation.
That’s the story. That’s the opportunity. That’s where we’re focused.
Jensen Huang is the epitome of the American Dream.
Although he is now the most influential voice in artificial intelligence and leads the most valuable company in the world, he was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
Instead, Huang came from very humble beginnings…
Born in Thailand, Huang immigrated to the U.S. at nine years old to live with his uncle in Washington. Then, his family mistakenly enrolled him in a reform school in Kentucky, where he cleaned toilets and shared a dorm room with his brother.
As a teen, Huang worked at Denny’s as a dishwasher, busboy and waiter – roles he still proudly lists on his LinkedIn profile today.
Fast-forward to his college years, Huang earned his engineering degree from Oregon State University. From there, Huang took a job at Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD), specializing in chip and memory design.
Then, in 1993, in a full-circle moment, Huang found himself sitting in a Denny’s booth with two fellow engineers, Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem. Together, the three of them sketched out a plan for the company that would eventually become NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA).
What started as a vision to improve PC gaming by designing better graphic processing units (GPUs) has grown into a $3 trillion tech juggernaut – and the leader of the AI Revolution.
That’s the kind of tenacity that built NVIDIA from the ground up – and it’s the same spirit that helped the company defy earnings expectations this week, even with a $5.5 billion China export ban looming.
While Wall Street was panicked over what NVIDIA couldn’t ship, I focused on what it could deliver… the Blackwell GPU, one of the most profitable chips ever created. Because of this, I never doubted that NVIDIA would surprise Wall Street with its earnings results on Wednesday.
So, in today’s Market360, let’s unpack NVIDIA’s latest earnings. We’ll consider the growth in its AI chips, and the moves it’s making to stay ahead of its competitors. Then, I’ll show you how this ties directly into President Trump’s tech policies and what I call Liberation Day 2.0… and what it means for tech stocks and investors.
The Numbers Are In…
Now, there was some initial confusion surrounding NVIDIA’s earnings, as several headlines claimed that it missed analysts’ earnings estimates. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. The company topped earnings estimates and achieved record revenue in the latest quarter.
Digging into the numbers…
During the first quarter of fiscal 2026, NVIDIA’s revenue jumped 69% year-over-year to $44.06 billion – up from $26.04 billion in the same quarter last year. Analysts expected total revenue of $43.25 billion.
The company’s data center business was the star again. Revenue from that segment soared 73% to $39.1 billion.
Earnings also came in strong, rising 31% year-over-year to $19.89 billion, or $0.81 per share, compared to $15.24 billion, or $0.61 per share, in the same quarter a year ago. That was an 8% surprise over the $0.75 analysts had forecast.
NVIDIA noted that the Trump administration’s ban on its H20 products to China cost the company $4.5 billion in the quarter. Before the ban, NVIDIA sold $4.6 billion worth of H20 chips to China, but couldn’t fulfill an additional $2.5 billion in shipments when the ban took effect. Without the $4.5 billion charge related to H20 shipments, NVIDIA said it would have earned $0.96 per share.
Still, NVIDIA remained optimistic. CEO Jensen Huang stated in the earnings press release, “Global demand for NVIDIA’s AI infrastructure is incredibly strong … Countries around the world are recognizing AI as essential infrastructure – just like electricity and the internet – and NVIDIA stands at the center of this profound transformation.”
Looking ahead to the second quarter, NVIDIA expects total revenue of about $45 billion, which represents about 50% year-over-year growth. The company noted that the outlook takes the H20 ban into consideration, as it anticipates an $8 billion loss in H20 revenue.
NVIDIA’s Next Focus: Quantum Computing, Robotaxi Wars and Robotics
Now, by the end of the decade, NVIDIA will be unable to put more transistors on a chip. The fact is NVIDIA’s 208 billion transistors on its Blackwell GPU are already approaching the “atomic” level and are very tiny. So, after this decade, it will be all about quantum computing.
NVIDIA is already preparing itself for this change. During its earnings call on Wednesday, the company announced it is opening in research center in Japan that hosts the world’s largest quantum research supercomputer.
In addition, on May 18 it was reported that the company was is in advanced talks to invest in a quantum computing startup, called PsiQuantum.
Also, NVIDIA already has its own quantum cloud simulator – a tool that helps researchers test and run quantum programs. What’s more, the company recently sponsored a contest to find the best way to design quantum computing software.
The winner, for the record, was D-Wave Quantum Inc. (QBTS) – a company that builds quantum computers and provides the software and services to go with them.
Now, I’ve profiled D-Wave Quantum before to my premium readers. And while it does have strong sales, it still has operating losses, so I wouldn’t buy it just yet. I only like to buy companies that make money.
Given this, NVIDIA remains a safer play for both regenerative AI and quantum computing.
So, I believe that NVIDIA will make an orderly transition to quantum computing, and that should allow the company to continue to reign supreme as the AI king.
Now, NVIDIA isn’t just focusing on quantum computing, it’s also making a name for itself in the self-driving industry and robotics.
NVIDIA is helping innovate self-driving technology with a suite of powerful tools – including NVIDIA DGX, NVIDIA Omniverse, Cosmos, NVIDIA DRIVE AGX, and NVIDIA Halos. Together, these platforms make self-driving vehicles smarter and safer.
That’s important now more than ever, with the robotaxi race heating up. Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) has Waymo, which is already operating in Phoenix, Austin, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Tesla Inc. (TSLA) is getting ready to launch its own robotaxi service in Austin using the Model Y. And Uber Technologies Inc. (UBER) plans to roll out robotaxis next year using ID.Buzz vans made by Volkswagen AG (VWAGY) next year.
Regarding robotics, NVIDIA offers the Jetson, Xavier and Orin AI chips, its Isaac Platform software and deep learning. It also has its own AI-driven robotic system – Isaac GROOT N1.5 – which can help robots “talk” to each other and share information faster and more smoothly.
Bottom line: NVIDIA is a stock to hold to the end of the decade, because its monopoly on regenerative AI chips is going to continue.
No one competes with their Blackwell chip. And the company has two new improvements coming. One is called the Rubin GPU – coming in the second half of 2026. And then in 2028, NVIDIA will have the Feynman GPU – and then they’re probably done. They can’t make their chips faster. That’s where quantum computing will come in, so it’s very smart of NVIDIA to jump into the quantum computing space now.
And soon enough, robotics are going to leave the factory floor and enter our daily lives. That’s when we’ll enter the era of so-called “physical AI.”
And that means these robots are going to be moving around and learning. We’ll either train them, or they’ll train us. Either way, it’s going to be a brave new world of machines. It’s coming and we can’t stop it. But again, since NVIDIA can provide the software and AI chips to power the robots, it’s sure to be a winner in this space, too.
What NVIDIA’s Blowout Earnings Confirm
NVIDIA’s blowout earnings confirm two things: First, the AI Revolution is still alive and well. And second, President Trump’s Liberation Day 2.0 is supporting its stunning growth.
Liberation Day 2.0 is President Trump’s three-pronged plan to revive the American economy. And it starts with Tech Liberation.
We’re already seeing it play out…
A softening of regulations around AI, crypto and cloud infrastructure
A renewed focus on onshoring and reshoring chip production
A surge in global dealmaking – including NVIDIA’s Middle East expansion (which I covered in last Friday’s Market 360)
And more than $2 trillion in private capital already committed to U.S.-based tech projects
In fact, Jensen Huang commented in NVIDIA’s earnings call that, “President Trump wants U.S. tech to lead.”
He also expressed confidence in NVIDIA’s strategic alignment with the Trump administration’s initiatives, saying “President Trump has outlined a bold vision to reshore advanced manufacturing, create jobs, and strengthen national security,” and affirmed that “we share this vision.”
Simply put, innovation-first policy is back on the table. And that could create a massive tailwind for not only NVIDIA – but a handful of well-positioned tech stocks.
To fully explain this economic shift, I hosted a special Liberation Day 2.0 Summit. During this event, I also revealed the name and ticker symbol of one company for free.
I believe could be among the biggest winners from these Liberation Day-driven economic changes.
Because in the markets, there are no rewinds. Only those who act early, and act smart, reap the full rewards.
Sincerely,
Louis Navellier
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:
What the ruling means, where Trump’s trade agenda goes from here, and what’s coming next…
We had a flurry of big news yesterday, folks. And since the market is moving on this news, we need to talk about it.
First, a U.S. court blocked former President Donald Trump’s latest tariffs – the so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs – ruling that he misused emergency powers. That’s thrown a wrench into the trade picture, even as Trump’s administration prepares to appeal.
At the same time, NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) blew past earnings expectations and delivered another bullish outlook, with CEO Jensen Huang saying, “Global demand for NVIDIA’s AI infrastructure is incredibly strong.”
Now, a lot of investors are wondering what’s next for the Trump agenda, the AI boom, the broader market – and how they should respond.
To break it all down, I sat down for a special video interview with Luis Hernandez, Editor-in-Chief of InvestorPlace. We discussed what this court decision really means, where the Trump trade agenda goes next, and how the latest earnings reports – especially from NVIDIA – should shape the outlook for investors going forward.
You can watch the full conversation by clicking here or on the screenshot below. You can also read the full transcript below.
The Bottom Line
As I said in the interview with Luis, we are in an environment of overreaction.
I don’t want you to get caught up in this, folks.
What matters is that America is still the economic oasis of the world. Inflation is falling. Earnings are rising. And the rest of the world is either shrinking or stuck.
That’s why I’m bullish right now. The dollar is coming back. Retailers are discounting. And fundamentally superior stocks are still powering ahead.
According to FactSet, 96% of S&P 500 companies have now reported their first-quarter results. So far, 78% of them have posted positive earnings surprises – and 63% have topped revenue estimates. That’s helped push the S&P 500’s earnings growth rate to 12.9% for the quarter.
If that number holds, it’ll mark the second-straight quarter of double-digit earnings growth. That’s very bullish, folks – and it shows just how resilient fundamentally superior companies continue to be in this environment.
That means there are plenty of opportunities for gains out there – you just have to know where to look.
For example, thanks to my proprietary system, my Accelerated Profits stocks have given my subscribers the chance for gains like…
Accelerated Profits is my fastest-moving stock trading service, designed to deliver quick gains regardless of what’s happening in the market.
That’s important because while the courts may have blocked one set of tariffs, others are still in place. And the reality is you can bet the administration will find more ways to push President Trump’s trade agenda forward.
What’s more, as I’ve said from the start, the tariffs are just one piece of a much bigger puzzle.
That’s why I just released a brand-new video briefing on what’s coming next – what I’m calling Liberation Day 2.0.
In it, I discuss:
The three stocks best positioned to soar in Trump’s “new economy”
The 10 stocks you need to avoid right now
The full playbook for navigating the next phase of the Trump Agenda
And our plan to use my system in Accelerated Profits to deliver quick profits
If you want to stay ahead of the market and protect your portfolio – while targeting major upside – I urge you to watch this special presentation now.
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:
Alamos Gold, Inc. (AGI), CECO Environmental Corp. (CECO), Celestica, Inc. (CLS), and NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA)
****************************
Luis Hernandez
Hi, I’m Luis Hernandez, Editor-in-Chief at InvestorPlace. Well, the market continues to be a rollercoaster as the news continues to come at us fast. On Wednesday, a U.S. court issued a ruling blocking President Donald Trump’s tariffs. The U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that Trump had misused the emergency powers granted in the International Emergency Economic Powers Act in imposing his Liberation Day tariffs on dozens of countries. The Trump administration immediately said it would appeal the ruling, but the appeals process could take months.
This was in the aftermath of the House passage of Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” that extends tax cuts, adds requirements for federal benefits eligibility, and increases the national debt ceiling. The bill also increases the deduction limit for state and local taxes from $10,000 to $40,000, changes requirements for receiving food stamps, and ends taxes on tips and overtime pay.
Some, including Elon Musk, are worried the bill increases spending too much and plunges our nation into further debt. The Big Beautiful Bill, which is more than a thousand pages, now heads to the Senate, where they will have their own chances to change or add to the bill’s requirements before it reaches Trump’s desk. We’ve also wound down this earnings season, where NVIDIA, the poster child for the artificial intelligence boom, reported an upbeat sales forecast with CEO Jensen Huang saying that the AI computing market is still poised for exponential growth.
Today I’m here with stock market legend Louis Navellier to talk about all that news and how he thinks investors should be reacting or not reacting to the wild news headlines. Louis, thanks for taking the time.
Louis Navellier
It’s an honor to be here.
Luis
This court ruling, it was such a surprise. It seemed to come out of the blue, really. And markets worldwide seem to respond positively at first, and now things have kind of evened out. What is your take on the ruling, and what’s going to happen?
Louis
Well, the media is reporting that there’s other ways the Trump administration can impose reciprocal tariffs without using that Emergency Powers Act. So they don’t think this is that important of a ruling, although it will suspend the 50% tariffs on the EU that were set to expire on July 9.
The other thing is the 10% baseline tariffs are still in place and they are generating quite a bit of income. Those tariffs were imposed largely to start taxing the underground economies in America, you know, the cash economy. And of course, they’re going to take that money to provide middle class tax cuts, no taxes on Social Security, no taxes on tips, no taxes on overtime.
The only thing that’s awkward with the baseline tariffs is that when Congress does their reconciliation, they’re not considering the tariff revenue. So Howard Lutnick, our Commerce Secretary, finds that to be a little odd, but it is what it is.
The other thing I do want to stress is that the reciprocal tariff should not be that high when everybody makes a deal with the Trump administration. You know, he’s trying to open up our agricultural markets to the entire world, you know.
The British media is very critical of Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, for doing that because he didn’t get anything in return. They’re obviously trying to do that now in Switzerland and open up their agricultural markets. And then, of course, the big one will be the EU, which is trying to protect farmers in 27 nations.
So, you know, if this all goes as planned, we’re going to have freer trade as a result. But it just depends on how the negotiations proceed. Obviously, we’re gonna have lots over 10 trillion has already been documented. So, we will have a boom in America.
I’m most interested in when German Chancellor [Friedrich] Merz meets with President Trump here in the upcoming weeks because Trump is trying to get the entire German auto industry to move their operations to America because our electricity is only 25% of their cost. We have five southern states that throw incentives at them. Trump’s already offered to give work visas to their workers to move them.
And the other reason they might want to do that is they have to be all electric by 2035, according to the EU. And Volkswagen actually passed Tesla in Europe, and their sales are up. But even though they’re doing great with EV sales, with ID buzz and things like that, the problem is they don’t make much money. So if they want to be profitable, they’re going to have to make real engines. And so that’s another reason to move to America.
Right now, the German economic minister is in Brussels begging for subsidies to lower the electric costs so they don’t lose their main industries. You know, chemical, steel, glass. Germany has outsourced to Slovakia, to Hungary, to Poland, to the Czech Republic. But when Ukraine cut off that natural gas supply to Slovakia and Hungary, they hurt them a lot.
So, the question is, you know, they tried to pass the higher electric costs from the Paris Climate Accord on to the consumers. And not only is there a pushback from them, there’s a huge pushback from industry. So there’s a lot of moving parts here. But if I was the German auto industry, I would just pick up and move everything to America.
Luis
Okay, hey, I’d like you to comment on this TACO trade thing that we’ve been seeing. TACO, of course, standing for “Trump always chickens out” on tariffs. He was asked about it and had quite an animated response. What do you make of that trend or that trade?
Louis
Well, yeah, obviously the media likes to make fun of Trump and that’s a nice way to insult him. The British media have been the worst there.
All the negative news on The Economist magazine, the Financial Times was all from the British media. And in fact, Ed Yardeni had four Economist covers about how dire it was in America. And then all that criticism abruptly stopped after they did the trade deal with Britain, which has no reciprocal tariffs, just the 10% baseline. And Britain opened up their agricultural markets.
The other interesting thing is the European media is much nastier than our media. I mean, there’s a Financial Times article now that calls him a moron. And so they like to hit below the belt. But you know the bottom line is, politics 101 is you don’t blame yourself, you blame somebody else, and Trump is gonna be blamed for all the world’s problems.
So sometimes you have to look within to fix things. But you know, he’s obviously made of Teflon. And if you back him into a corner, he comes out fighting. And I mean, look what he’s done. He’s got all the union vote now. He’s got the Teamsters. He’s got the Longshoremen. He’s got the UAW (United Auto Workers). And they might have pushed it too far, because UPS had to lay off 20,000 Teamsters. Because you pay all your workers $180 grand a year, apparently you’re not making as much money. So now that they lay off 20,000 people, they closed 73 distribution centers and no longer delivering for Amazon.
Luis
Wow. Let’s get back to the Big Beautiful Bill. Of course, folks are happy about extending the tax cuts and the other cuts that we mentioned. You know, people are really worried about the debt. Even Elon Musk had a quote about that just the other day. And folks are worried about higher interest rates. Folks are worried that there’s going to be continual dollar debasement.
What is your response to this? Because I think some people are now getting really worried about that and really worried about how it’s gonna affect their portfolios.
Louis
Okay, well, this is a compound-complex question and I’m gonna give you a very good answer. It’s gonna take a bit of time. So let’s start with the special meeting on April 9 with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. And the reason Howard was there is Cantor Fitzgerald dominates treasury trading, and so Howard’s an expert.
And Bessent and Lutnick told President Trump in the nicest way possible that he’s not in charge anymore. Somebody called the bond vigilantes are in charge. These are the big international investors that buy our Treasury securities. And apparently, they were selling the dollar because they didn’t like what he was doing. And Treasury yields were rising higher.
And so when he put the 90-day suspension on reciprocal tariffs, which are probably going to be suspended further by these court rulings. We had the biggest one-day rally I will ever see in my lifetime. And I want to assure everybody, a week later, Devin Nunes, who runs Truth Social, where Trump posts everything. Then, they got into the money management business. They have actually four Trump-themed portfolios that are available through Schwab now. So Trump’s in the money management business. He has a vested interest to make the market go higher.
The other thing that’s going on is the bond vigilantes have also been attacking Japan, which deficit is much higher as a percent of GDP (gross domestic product). And unlike America, which has household formation and organic growth, Japan doesn’t have that because they got too old.
So the bond vigilante seem to be more biased towards Japan right now. I’ve noticed that Treasury yields have calmed down a bit. A lot of that is the skill of Scott Bessent. So we got to reiterate who Scott Bessent is.
He made a bet when he worked for George Soros that the Bank of England would have to unpeg their currency and he won that bet and he made Soros over a billion dollars on one trade. So the whole world is scared of Scott Bessent. This guy knows what he’s doing. If he could break the Bank of England, I think he needs to be respected no matter how nice he appears.
I call him the “do not worry, be happy” Treasury Secretary. He’s clearly doing a much better job than Janet Yellen. Just so everybody knows, Janet Yellen lost control of the long end of the Treasury yield curve. She had some bad Treasury bond auctions. She responded by just selling mostly short intermediate debt at even higher rates. And that’s why we had an inverted yield curve.
At least under Scott, we have a normal yield curve. And we had a 20-year auction that wasn’t perfect. The bid to cover ratio is 2.46 to 1. It doesn’t sound bad because 2.7 is normal, but it had a long tail and yields did meander higher. So Scott will be on top of all these things and basically make sure we don’t sell more Treasuries than the market can demand.
But the reason I’m still expecting four Fed rate cuts, there is a global interest rate collapse underway. And so now I have to explain to you why the dollar will get its mojo back and dominate the world.
So let’s look at where you can put your money, if you’re a big international investor. You can try China. What’s going on in China? Well, let’s see. They keep losing over 100 million people a year. They have a household problem. Households are shrinking. Their rates are below Japan, and the rates are probably gonna be low for 20-plus years and they might have to do a currency devaluation
By the way, you put your money in Chinese banks, you just can’t get them out. That’s why China dispatched tanks on the street and told the depositors that was an investment. So no one wants to put their money in China.
Obviously, Japan is starting to let their rates meander higher to appease the bond vigilantes, but they can’t raise rates either. And they still have ultra-low rates. Europe is going to have its eighth rate cut in June and they got more coming, because Europe is dying. They’re losing households left and right. They’re shrinking. The only countries that are really growing are Portugal and Spain and that’s
immigration and Spain is very pro-immigration. Even the legal kind.
The only problem is Spain might want to put some turbines on their electric grid. You know, they want all green energy, nothing wrong green energy, especially when it’s nice and sunny. The only problem is they can’t do it all on batteries and storage. So their grid collapsed and they’re going to have to add some turbines. The turbines can be controlled by hydroelectric or natural gas or just anything that makes the turbine spin. But they need to put some base load electricity on because obviously you can’t run your economy without electricity.
The other thing that’s interesting about Spain and other areas of Europe, they control your thermostat. So when there’s an electric problem, they actually raise the temperature in your home. I find that interesting in the summer months.
But Europe is dying and the EU is a mess. It was a monetary union, it was a trade union. But now it’s become extremely political. They took out Marine Le Pen, who was gonna be the next president of France. They disqualified her, they disqualified the guy that run the first runoff in Romania. They took off one of Giorgia Meloni’s associates. They closed down two media outlets in Poland. They’re trying to influence their election. They’re the first one, they’ll have a runoff shortly.
So if you’re anti-EU, they attack. So it’s no longer just a monetary trade union. It’s a big political machine and Trump despises the EU. That’s why he gave Britain a good deal. He’s going to give Switzerland a good deal. He’s going to tell them, just drop your trade barriers and you’ll get a good deal from America. So that would mean lowering the tax on American cars from 10% to 2.5%, lowering the tariff on SUVs from 25% down to 2.5%. We did have a 2.5% tax on imported vehicles and obviously it’s going up under Trump now.
So it’s let’s make a deal time. But the bottom line is America’s food and energy independent. We are growing. The only other country that’s really growing is India. We are pro-family in America. Just go to the South, go to the mountain West. It’s a very pro-family with great households. The reason Utah is the fastest growing state in America is because they have more kids than the rest of America.
We also assimilate our immigrants. If you go to Europe, they’re not assimilating them the way they used to. First of all, France never assimilated. That’s a French problem. Germany used to assimilate Turks and Syrians, but they got overrun and they don’t have to deal with the new wave, and so that’s causing problems. And of course, Britain used to assimilate, but they got overrun too. So that’s why they have 84 Sharia courts in Britain now. So it’s really interesting.
And one last thing. The EU, just so everybody knows how bad they are, they all want open-source software. They all want to spy on us. Part of the negotiations in Britain is Britain wanted to get access to the iCloud because they wanted to see who’s posting nasty things about the Labour Party. And if they found that, that person could go to prison for up to seven years. And you don’t have free speech in a lot of these countries. And Germany does a little of this too.
So, in America, we are an open platform. We assimilate our immigrants. We’re pro-family, and the entire world is shrinking. So if we just count the recessions now, you can’t trust the economic data in China, but clearly they’re sputtering. Japan’s in a recession. Mexico and Canada should be contracting here shortly if it’s not official yet. Britain’s definitely in a recession. Half the Brits can’t even pay their electric bill, they have to be subsidized. Keir Starmer has a big mess on his hands. France is in a recession. Germany’s in its third year of a recession.
And Germany did it to themselves. They shut down their nuclear plants, cost of electricity went nuts. Initially, they outsourced to Eastern Europe, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Poland. And now their electricity costs are going up. So now they got to outsource to America or somewhere else. They do outsource to Mexico, so like the Audi Q5 is made in Mexico, but it’s not part of USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement). So, its price is going to go up. But it’s just fascinating to watch what’s going on in the world. But when you step back, you’re just better off in America.
One last thing about food, because Trump’s pushing food big time. As big as we are, as productive as we are agriculturally, believe it not, we ran a deficit for three years in a row. And most of it was Mexico. They were making our tomatoes and berries and chilis and of course, the avocados. I’m sure everybody knows Mexico makes the most popular beer in America. So they’ve been very, very efficient at that. They put some reciprocal tariffs on that. But in the end, Trump just wants America to win and he’s happy to expand America.
The final reason I don’t worry about the tariffs is we have a lot of collateral and you know, we’re doing a promo on this, talking about all the collateral in various states but I do want to assure everybody that they can take Vandenberg Space Force Base which is where they launch missiles and they told Elon to go someplace so he doesn’t launch missiles there anymore.
We can take all that beautiful land and turn it to oceanfront lots overlooking the Pacific Ocean. El Toro Marine Base and turn that into oceanfront lots so they’ll have to get the ordinance out of the ground. Let’s see, what else do we own? We own the Presidio, we own Moffett Field.
Luis
You said the tariffs, but you mean the debt.
Louis
I mean the debt, yeah, I apologize. So we have a lot of collateral and we actually have a real estate president and I realize he is trying to acquire Canada and Greenland. He told Canada the cost of the new missile shield is $51 billion unless they become part of America.
I don’t know if you’re aware, the premiers of Alberta and Saskatchewan are preparing to leave. They may have referendums there. I think it’s a little early, but they’re ticked because Mark Carney, the new Prime Minister of Canada, is a net-zero guy. So that means no fossil fuels by 2050. So that hurts Alberta, and no chemical fertilizers. So that kills a Saskatchewan, which is potash. So those two provinces are preparing to move.
The other thing that’s so odd, even though Mark Carney is a net-zero guy, the Prime Minister, Canada’s 25% of global carbon emissions because of all the fires every summer.
So the lightning hits the ground and the peat burns. You know, it’s called a boreal fire. They have them in Siberia too. I don’t think anybody counts those fires very good in Siberia. But anyway, so Alberta’s on fire now and now Manitoba’s just evacuated town, 17,000 people. So, and of course, we get a lot of that smoke in America, you Chicago, New York gets it. So we’ll see what happens.
But, you know, if he’s so worried about, you know, carbon emissions, he might want to just do some forestry management. I know that peat fires are very hard to put out, but we do make a stock called Perimeter Solutions, Inc. (PRM) that makes the foam that’ll put it out.
Luis
Yeah, yeah. So, thanks. I mean, essentially, the United States is still the oasis. I mean, everybody else is…
Louis
Yeah, yeah, and the dollar is going to get its mojo back and when it does, it’s going to offset those 10% tariffs, because I bet the dollar goes up at least 10%.
And then our retailers are now burdened with all these excess goods because the imports went up 41.3% in the first quarter. So now they’ve got to discount them to sell them. And last I looked, we have deflation. CPI (Consumer Price Index) has been down for two of the last three months. The PPI (Producer Price Index) has been down sharply in the last two months. Wholesale inflation, a lot of it’s the lower energy prices from lower prices at the pump.
What else do we have? We got the PCE (Personal Consumption Expenditures) coming out and it should be flat as a pancake or down. So consumer inflation is the lowest rate in four years, wholesale inflation, lowest rate in five years, and the Fed’s not looking at the data. Instead, they’re looking at an inflation boogeyman that doesn’t exist.
And now with the suspension of these reciprocal tariffs, I don’t know what they’re going to say at the next Fed meeting. Because they, again, they’re looking for something that hasn’t happened.
So I think everybody’s grossly overreacted and America’s the oasis. Again, I can’t say the immigration thing enough. We do assimilate our immigrants. I know Trump is deporting some people. If you’re a legal immigrant, he loves you. They’re happy to hand out work visas. They always have. He just wants everybody to pay in the system.
And there is a problem. I was at my daughter’s graduation ceremony at Columbia and it was unbelievably tense. They kept calling the president, I was in the president’s box, the acting president, because no one wants to be president of Columbia.
But they mentioned Tel Aviv University and all these boos came out and then there was other antisemitic things going on and it’s just like, where in the hell am I? You know what I mean? You know, some of these students shouldn’t be there. Some of the faculty shouldn’t be there, because we just don’t promote that in America.
Luis
So one last thing to cover here real quick. We’re just winding down earnings season. According to FactSet, both the percentage of S&P 500 companies reporting positive earnings surprises and the magnitude of earnings surprises are above their 10-year averages. When you look back, how did we do this earnings season and what do you expect going forward?
Louis
Yeah, we have Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) coming out. That’s the last one after NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA). That should be good. At least 6% same-store sales growth with falling gas prices. That’s pretty good.
But no, it’s stunning. It was absolutely stunning. And we’re going to have double-digit earnings growth the rest of the year. You know, it’s funny. You can do an average. You can do a weighted average. So if you do a weighted average, well, the NVIDIAs count more than, you know, the tail-end of the S&P. We’re well in double digits.
So basically, P/E ratios are falling because earnings are strong and I’m seeing positive analyst revisions. It’s just time to not worry and be happy. So I’m very happy with this announcement season. It’s never perfect. But by and large, the stocks came out and dropkicked and drove stocks higher.
It’s interesting, we have a stock called Brinker International, Inc. (EAT), a restaurant company that had beat big time and went down because everybody was worried about the consumer. Well, we just got in the retail sales report that spending at bars and restaurants was up 1.2% in April. And then we just had the new Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index that soared.
It’s the narrative that the consumer isn’t gonna be spending is false, okay? And in summertime, they have more money in their pockets, they’re gonna get a tax bill, it’s gonna put more money in their pockets. The velocity of money is gonna pick up. That’s how fast money changes hands. economic prosperity is gonna continue to drive many stocks higher. So I think things are gonna be fine.
Retail is tough. Retail is all about influencers and stuff. You know there’s a stock that we sold for a nice profit called e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. (ELF) because their margins came under compression. They just bought an influencer because that’s how things are being sold now, and so long as you’re just having the internet.
Luis
Yeah, a billion dollars. I saw that.
Louis
So, Luis, I don’t know what product you want to endorse, but we need to see you on the internet promoting it. And then maybe they’ll give you a billion bucks for whatever you’re promoting.
Luis
I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks for your insights, Louis. I always appreciate it.
Louis
Thank you.
Luis
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Editor’s Note: Will Agentic AI democratize labor, or concentrate power?
What happens when AI stops waiting for instructions… and starts acting on its own?
In this week’s thought-provoking edition of “Being Exponential,” we get a glimpse into the coming wave of Agentic AI — autonomous systems that don’t just answer prompts but actually plan, decide, and act on their own.
If large language models like ChatGPT were the ignition, Agentic AI is the rocket fuel. These systems could revolutionize industries by handling complex tasks like logistics, coding, and even decision-making — with zero human input.
But here’s the real question: Will this future be equitable for everyone?
Does Agentic AI create a new era of economic empowerment — or does it just replace workers, concentrate power, and leave the rest behind?
The proof is in the trendlines. We’ve already seen what happens when software eats the world: fewer jobs, fatter margins, bigger monopolies.
Now, AI is going for the main course — labor itself.
This video lays out what’s coming next. Autonomous systems. Intelligent agents. Machines that can write code, build businesses, and manage supply chains.
It’s incredible technology. But don’t just marvel — question it.
With the barriers of entry being removed, anyone can be anything with agentic AI. That’s one way to look at it. Another way to look at it: is the market really harnessing the potential of agentic AI at scale?
Because if the future of labor is up for grabs, we all have a stake in how it’s written.
We talk about this (and much more) in our latest podcast, available to watch now!
This wasn’t just another solid quarter. It was a mic-drop moment from the most important company in the AI boom — a thunderous reminder that demand for artificial intelligence chips isn’t slowing. If anything, it’s accelerating into a new (and potentially even stronger) chapter.
And if you’re an AI investor — which, let’s be honest, you should be — last night’s Nvidia earnings were your clarion call: This boom is just getting started.
Nvidia Earnings: Let’s Talk Numbers
First, the headline stats.
Nvidia reported 70% year-over-year revenue growth in Q1. That’s down from 78% in Q4 — but don’t panic. The dip is entirely due to U.S. export controls that blocked Nvidia from selling billions of dollars’ worth of chips to China.
Specifically, Nvidia estimated those restrictions cost it about $2.5 billion in Q1 and will cost $8 billion in Q2.
Pause and consider that for a second: Nvidia lost billions in sales because of government-imposed limits — and still posted 70% growth.
Now here’s where it gets wild: if you add back the lost Chinese sales, Nvidia’s Q1 revenue growth would’ve been 79%, and its Q2 guidance implies 76% growth.
That’s staggering. We’re talking about a $3 trillion company, generating more than $40 billion in quarterly revenue, still growing at a 75%-plus clip — and gaining speed.
Most mega-caps would kill for 10% growth at this size. Nvidia’s posting numbers like a startup.
This is what we call scale-proof demand — and it’s exactly what Nvidia’s leather-jacket-wearing CEO Jensen Huang emphasized last night.
His words?
“Demand for AI compute remains incredibly strong.”
Yeah, Jensen. We noticed.
Agentic AI. Physical AI. Big Waves Ahead.
Importantly, this isn’t just a one-quarter phenomenon.
This is a structural, secular, multi-year tidal wave of demand.
Right now, we’re still in Wave One of the AI boom: the LLM era. Models like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini are impressive — but from a compute perspective, they’re toddlers.
The next wave is Agentic AI — fully autonomous AI systems that can think, reason, and act. These systems will require far more compute than today’s models. Orders of magnitude more.
And then there’s Physical AI — robots, self-driving cars, AI glasses, smart drones, warehouse bots, automated grocery stores. You name it. Every one of them needs powerful chips to function — lots of them.
These next waves are already forming — and Nvidiais surfing them like Kelly Slater on Red Bull. This is why the company’s growth isn’t slowing. In fact, it may accelerate again once export controls get reworked or rerouted.
As Jensen Huang implied last night: AI compute demand isn’t peaking — it’s just beginning.
Not Just a Win for Nvidia — A Win for All AI Stocks
Now here’s the part you really need to understand: this is not just another “Nvidia wins again” story.
Because Nvidia sits at the very top of the AI supply chain. If you want to build any serious AI product — whether it’s an LLM, a virtual assistant, a robot butler, or an AI-powered search engine — step one is always the same: buy Nvidia chips.
Those chips go into data centers. Those data centers get powered by energy suppliers and maintained by hardware vendors. Then developers build software on top. Those tools get integrated into platforms. Those platforms get adopted by consumers.
It’s a massive domino chain — and Nvidia is the first domino.
Which means if the first domino is falling fast (and confidently), the rest of the chain is about to go, too.
In fact, Wedbush recently estimated that every $1 spent on Nvidia chips creates $8 to $10 of downstream tech spending. That’s not a ripple effect — that’s a tidal wave.
So when Nvidia says it expects to generate $45 billion in revenue next quarter, you can do the math: the broader AI ecosystem could be looking at $360 billion to $450 billion in incremental investment.
Chip infrastructure suppliers like ASML (ASML) and Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM)
Cloud providers like Microsoft (MSFT), Google (GOOGL), Oracle (ORCL), and Amazon (AMZN)
AI software players like Palantir (PLTR) and Intuit (INTU)
And yes, even more speculative plays like humanoid robot makers or AI hardware startups
If Nvidia’s on fire, the whole forest is about to light up.
So What’s Next?
Nvidia stock? It’s a buy — even at these levels.
The company just proved it isn’t slowing. If anything, it’s getting stronger — even with one hand tied behind its back (thanks, export controls). That makes NVDA’s modest 28x forward earnings multiple look like a bargain for the most foundational company of the AI era.
