Category Penny Stocks

Editor’s note: “This Advanced Stock Picking Tool Uncovers Tomorrow’s Profits” was previously published in December 2024. It has since been updated to include the most relevant information available.

“Americans Cut Spending at Most Drastic Level in Four Years”…

“Stocks Bounce Back, But Head for Down Week, Month”…

“Homebuyers in U.S. Canceled Contracts at Record Rate for January”…

“Bitcoin Down 25% From All-Time High as Crypto Rout Worsens”…

No matter where you look, it’s clear that Americans are feeling the pain. We’re living through turbulent times. And for investors, that volatility is on full display in the stock market.

But what if I told you there was a better way to invest, avoiding the rollercoaster while still achieving enormous returns? 

That is, in response to recent market volatility, my team and I have turned to data and analytics to create a smart stock-picking model that only invests in the best stocks at the best times, maximizing upside potential while mitigating downside risk.

This screener analyzes thousands of stocks each month to find those best positioned to rise over the next 30 days. I’m talking stocks with a strong fundamental, technical, and sentimental basis. 

We’ve dubbed this advanced tool Auspex – in recognition of the ancient Roman officials who interpreted omens to guide their decisions. 

As I mentioned, each month, Auspex runs a comprehensive scan of the market, examining many thousands of data points to find the few stocks that are strong across the board. 

But what exactly does that entail? 

Today, we’ll start by reviewing the fundamental aspect of Auspex’s stock picking.

There are a lot of fundamental factors to consider. And that means there are a lot of ways for a stock to be fundamentally strong. 

Trained to Seek Only the Best Fundamental Setups

In our experience, three things matter most when it comes to stock fundamentals: sales, earnings, and profit margins.

Are sales rising? What about earnings? Is the trend of that growth picking up or slowing down? And how about profits? Are margins compressing or expanding? 

When looking for the market’s top performers, we want to find stocks that are growing sales and earnings. Moreover, we want to see sales growth acceleration, meaning the business is seeing underlying sales momentum. The same goes for earnings growth. 

Additionally, we want to see profit margin expansion, too. That means we’re hoping to uncover businesses whose profit margins are higher today than where they were last year. 

When a stock meets all those criteria, Auspex deems it fundamentally strong. 

And not many meet such strict criteria. 

That is, very few stocks have rising and accelerating sales and earnings growth, as well as profit margin expansion, all at the same time.

When we have Auspex scan the markets, it analyzes a universe of roughly 14,000 stocks.

In a recent scan we conducted, only about 300 of those 14,000 stocks were deemed fundamentally strong, with accelerating sales and earnings growth and swelling profit margins. 

That is just about 2% of all possible picks. 

Yet, the complete list of the most promising stocks Auspex flags is even narrower.

Editor’s Note: Geopolitical uncertainty, tariffs, mixed earnings results, and stalled-out price action have been throwing a wrench into the works this year. But our partners at TradeSmith couldn’t be more certain about what’s coming. And what’s coming is the continuation of an epic melt-up that officially began in April of last year… and will likely only accelerate over the next 12 months.

Today, TradeSmith CEO Keith Kaplan is joining us today to brief you on exactly how this Mega Melt-Up can set you up for one of the biggest moneymaking opportunities of your lifetime, and why you shouldn’t fear this week’s down market.

Take it away, Keith…

The market has taken us on a wild ride in 2025.

Between Chinese AI breakthroughs, radical shifts in trade policy, the Federal Reserve’s rate-cutting cycle, and now a surge in inflation expectations, the headlines have been all over the place.

Stocks are acting as you’d expect — soaring one week, shaking out weak hands the next.

All this wild price action has ultimately not taken us far. As I write, the Nasdaq-100 is down 1.8% from the start of the year…

And that’s especially painful, considering the 5.7% year-to-date gain we were looking at just last week.

All this chaos can’t help but make you wonder, “Are we heading for a crash?”

If you google that question, you’ll probably find a bunch of mainstream media headlines urging you to stay scared.

But I’m here to tell you something quite different:

This isn’t the beginning of a bear market.

On the contrary, it’s the setup for one of the biggest opportunities of your lifetime.

We’re smack in the middle of what my team has taken to calling a Mega Melt-Up.

We’ve gone through history and quantified the price action of the past few years. And what we found, shocking as it was, tells us that there’s only been two previous market environments like this one: the 1990s and the 1920s. And both were periods where individual companies rose thousands of percent in very short order.

If our research is correct, and I’m confident it is, the volatility we’ve seen this year isn’t a warning sign.

Instead, it’s even more evidence that we’re in a Mega Melt-Up… the kind that only comes around once or twice in a lifetime.

Three Bear Markets to a 1,000% Gain

Yes, the volatility we’re seeing right now actually supports the case for a Mega Melt-Up.

Let’s take a quick trip back in time.

Like what we’ve seen so far in the 2020s, the 1990s were a boom decade.

From 1995 to 2000, the Nasdaq-100 went up 1,000%.

But it wasn’t a straight shot up. In fact, there were more than two dozen major pullbacks in those five years…

Several of which you could consider an “official” bear market…

And each of which would prove a buying opportunity.

Let’s look at 1995-1996.

Starting in 1995, the Nasdaq-100 started to become a lot more volatile. From July 1995 to August 1996, the Nasdaq-100 posted drawdowns of 9.1%… 10.5%… 14%… 8.2%… and 14.4%. All in the span of one year:

What else happened back then? Well, in 1995 the Nasdaq-100 rose almost 40%. And the next year, it rose 22.7%.

Let’s skip ahead a bit to 1997-1998. We see the exact same thing.

Not only did the Nasdaq-100 retreat 20% in late 1997, creating a short-lived bear market… it saw two separate drawdowns of -22.2% and -19.1% within six months in 1998:

Yet once again, the index went up 21.6% in 1997 and 39.6% in 1998.

Finally, let’s look at 1999. Four major pullbacks in the double-digit range, and one final flush of nearly 9% before stocks took off into the end of the year:

What was the Nasdaq-100’s return in 1999? 101.95%… the highest ever.

The big takeaway from this is simple. You can’t have a Mega Melt-Up without massive price swings along the way.

This is exactly what we found in our research. Both the ’90s Mega Melt-Up and the 1920s Mega Melt-Up were marked by a ton of volatility.

It’s the price you pay for the kind of extraordinary gains markets deliver in these times.

And, when you zoom out, it’s clear that it’s a small price to pay.

Now, by comparison, what we’re seeing in stocks right now isn’t anything like what I just showed you. The S&P 500 is 3% off its highs and the Nasdaq-100 is 5% off its highs.

They can absolutely go lower from here, and that would not change my thinking on this Mega Melt-Up one bit.

In fact, there’s an argument that the Melt-Up we’re about to see could be even bigger than the one in the ‘90s.

Why This Melt-Up Could Be Bigger Than the 1990s

The 1990s had three powerful forces fueling stocks:

1. The birth of the internet (what we’ve been calling a General Purpose Technology) and the associated new companies taking advantage of the trend.
2. The rise of online trading, making stocks more accessible than ever.
3. Easier monetary policy, where the Fed’s interest-rate cuts fueled a consumer credit boom.

These three forces are what we call Melt-Up Multipliers. For a Melt-Up to be truly powerful, it must have these specific three factors.

The 1920s saw the same thing, with electrification being the major technological breakthrough… margin lending making it possible for investors to own more stocks than they could buy… and a consumer credit boom powering the economy.

Today, we have these same three melt-up multipliers… and one more.

1. Artificial Intelligence: AI is today’s Internet moment — a technology that’s changing everything, from medicine to finance.
2. Zero-Commission Trading & Apps Like Robinhood: More retail money is flooding into the markets than ever before.
3. The Fed’s Rate Cuts: The Federal Reserve is slashing rates again, just like it did in the mid-90s.

Oh, and there’s a “wild card” fourth factor… President Donald Trump. Like him or not, his policies are market-friendly… And the last time he took office in 2017, the Nasdaq-100 surged 31.5%.

This is the perfect storm for a Mega Melt-Up.

But there’s a tricky thing to understand about melt-ups… and especially Mega Melt-Ups…

All melt-ups end the same way—in a meltdown.

Ride the Melt-Up and Avoid the Meltdown

The 1990s Melt-Up ended with the 2000 crash. The Roaring ’20s Melt-Up ended in the 1929 crash… and, even worse, the Great Depression.

And yes, this melt-up will end in a crash, too.

But that doesn’t mean you should sit on the sidelines. It means you need the right tools to capture the upside — and know exactly when to get out.

That’s why we built Trade360, our all-in-one software suite that’s designed to help you make the most out of every market environment.

And we recently made two big upgrades specifically to make it the perfect trading tool for a Mega Melt-Up period like we’re seeing now.

One is a tool that clearly identifies whether markets are in Melt-Up mode or not… and alerts you when that condition changes.

With this, you don’t have to second-guess whether or not we’ve seen a major top. You’ll get an alert that tells you when it’s time to get out before stocks crash.

The other is an advanced trading strategy that’s perfectly suited to melt-up environments.

Remember all those drawdowns in the Nasdaq-100 I showed you earlier?

If we’re seeing all that selling in the benchmark, you better believe we’re seeing it in individual stocks, too.

So, we designed a strategy that takes advantage of these short-term, extreme pullbacks in otherwise quality stocks.

When prices fall by a certain amount and at a certain pace, the strategy buys in… and sells the stock 21 trading days later.

This simple strategy has a near 80% win rate and average gains of around 16% — counting winners and losers.

And it works whether stocks are in a bull market, or a bear market… as it targets those rare occurrences where prices reach irrational extremes.

I discussed the full details on our Mega Melt-Up thesis and the full breakdown of this new strategy in a recent free research presentation.

Not only that, but I also let viewers in on 10 stocks to buy and 10 to avoid during the melt-up period… completely free. Click here to watch the replay.

All the best, 

Keith Kaplan

CEO, TradeSmith

Last week, I (Tom Yeung) introduced you to two cyclical stocks to buy immediately. 

These promising firms couldn’t have been more different, at least from a business perspective: 

1. Digital Realty Trust Inc. (DLR) is a $50 billion data center company leasing millions of square feet to AI cloud computing customers.  
2. Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN) packs chicken and beef into grocery store containers. 

Yet, these two companies are both riding cyclical waves. The AI Boom is driving Digital Realty’s business to new heights, while a turnaround in cattle production is powering Tyson to a strong recovery. 

That pair joins another eight recommendations from January that also focused on riding cyclical trends. These 10 high-quality firms have now risen 7% on average – outperforming the weighted S&P 500 return (-3%) and trouncing the -6% decline in the Nasdaq Composite over the same period. 

That’s because cyclical effects can often overwhelm broader market negativity. Commodity prices surged during the 2008 financial crisis while everything else was plummeting… airline stocks boomed in the mid-2010s as oil prices collapsed… and chipmaking stocks surged in 2020 on a global shortage despite the broader Covid-19 selloff. 

Today, the cycle is pointing upward for power-producing companies… financial exchanges… meatpackers… and more. That’s happening even as the rest of the market goes in reverse. 

Nevertheless, these wonderful up-cycles are incredibly short to Keith Kaplan, CEO of TradeSmith. He’s helping his software firm’s investor customers find cycles across decades… if not longer. 

That’s why I encourage you to watch Keith’s latest presentation while it’s still available. During this free broadcast, he reveals what he calls “the pattern,” a cyclical effect that’s only happened every 49.5 years on average. 

When this patten appears, Keith says, it can send a specific class of stocks soaring. In fact, back-tests show the last time this pattern appeared under these conditions, it led to historic gains over the long haul, such as 9,731% from a leading software company… and 28,894% from a computer-driven hardware firm.  

For long-term investors, it’s an event you don’t want to miss.  

Click here to watch that presentation. 

And in the meantime, I’d like to introduce two final cyclical stocks to buy this year. 

Let’s Talk About the Weather 

In 2015, New England faced “Snowmageddon,” an epic winter season that dumped nearly 8 feet of snow in Boston alone. The city would spend over $40 million responding to the storms – more than twice its annual snow-removal budget. One massive snow pile in South Boston’s Seaport district took until mid-July to fully melt. 

Construction of Boston’s city monument to Winter ’15

The following period would prove a windfall for Douglas Dynamics Inc. (PLOW), America’s largest producer of snowplow attachments and ice management tools. Over the next three years, revenues would surge 56% as customers scrambled to replace their aging plows and salt-spreading equipment.  

PLOW’s stock more than doubled. 

A down-cycle then began in 2020 after a series of dry winters eviscerated demand. Northern regions from the Midwest to New England saw unusually low amounts of snow, and Douglas’s stock dropped to within striking distance of its pre-2015 levels. 

2025 could mark a turnaround year for the Wisconsin-based firm. 

In January, an unusual Gulf Coast snowstorm dumped as much as 10 inches of snow on parts of New Orleans. The city only had 14 rented plows to clear the streets. The same storm would also expose enormous snow-clearing equipment shortages from Texas to the Carolinas. 

Many parts of America are also seeing their first “average” winters in several years. That same month, Boston saw 4 inches or more of snow for the first time in 1,000 days. 

That should provide a new up-cycle for this high-quality firm. Douglas Dynamics owns some of the best-known brands in the business, including Fisher, Henderson, and SnowEx, and has a history of making solid bolt-on acquisitions. The company has generated positive cash flows every year since it began publishing records in 2006. 

In addition, shares trade at a significant discount. PLOW is currently valued at under 10 times earnings and eight times cash flow – less than half of historical levels. 

Please note that much of the Midwest is still seeing an unusually dry winter, so Douglas’s up-cycle could take until 2026 to fully play out. But given the Northeast’s sudden return to an “average” winter (and the South’s recent snowstorm), that should be enough to jumpstart a new upward cycle for PLOW’s beaten-down shares. 

The Tools of the Trade 

In January, I said CME Group Inc. (CME) and Cboe Global Markets Inc. (CBOE) were two wide-moat cyclical companies to buy. These firms have virtual monopolies in the options and futures markets, and profits tend to spike when volatility rises.  

Donald Trump’s second term in office is providing a compelling catalyst for gains. 

Shares of the two companies have since risen 7% each on a spike in the market’s VIX “fear” index (a ticker ironically owned by CBOE). Further gains are likely as the threat of tariffs materialize. 

This week, I’d like to add one more financial firm to our list of high-quality cyclical stocks: 

Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW). The world’s largest brokerage firmscores a solid “B” based on InvestorPlace Senior Analyst Louis Navellier’s proprietary Stock Grader scores, and has generated positive net income every year since going public in 1987. 

Schwab’s management has also been relatively quick to recognize trends in both institutional and retail trading. In 2019, the firm shocked the industry by offering zero-commission online trades, reasoning it could earn enough interest income from cash deposits to make up the difference. The following year, Schwab acquired TD Ameritrade, giving it a strong presence in the online trading boom.  

Together, that’s turned Schwab into a money-printing machine. The firm now supports over $8 trillion of client assets and generates $9 billion of net interest revenue annually – almost half of total revenues. 

Still, the trading business is highly cyclical. Trump’s first year in office in2017 saw a flurry of stock trading, boosting Schwab’s revenues by 17% and its share price by 35%. Rising interest rates the following year then created a down-cycle by causing customers to reduce cash balances and cutting into Schwab’s interest revenues. 

A similar cycle played out in the years following the Covid-19 pandemic. Retail traders flush with pandemic stimulus money powered Schwab’s business to record heights. Then, rising rates from 2022 through 2023 created a down-cycle for the blue-chip firm. Wall Street’s rollercoaster rides are even wilder for trading firms. 

2025 marks the beginning of a new cycle. Donald Trump is back in office, and according to Nasdaq data, trading in equity volumes surged 14% in January. Interest rates are also on the decline, making cash more attractive. 

Both should benefit Schwab greatly. Analysts now expect earnings per share to surge 34% this year and 26% in 2026. For conservative investors seeking a safer way to play the market, Schwab offers an incredible deal. 

The 49.5-Year Cycle 

I must emphasize that the 12 cyclical stocks I’ve shown you so far this year all have relatively short time horizons. Douglas Dynamics could reach its peak within two years. Kimberly-Clark Corp. (KMB), a cyclical firm I recommended in January, took just a month to come within 5% of its target price. 

That’s why I urge you to check out Keith’s free special briefing while it’s still available.  

During that event, he’ll demo his company’s new tech breakthrough that revealed “the pattern.” 

He’ll show you the pattern in full.   

Keith will even reveal the names and tickers for 10 tech stocks poised to soar as the pattern begins to play out in 2025.   

Based on what happened last time, the long-term gains could get legendary. 

Just go here to watch Keith’s free broadcast.    

I’ll see you back here next week, 

Regards, 

Thomas Yeung 

Markets Analyst, InvestorPlace 

Editor’s Note: As any investor knows, it can be difficult to know when to buy or sell a stock. That’s why I’m such an admirer of TradeSmith CEO Keith Kaplan.

To improve his own investing, Keith developed software to help him identify the best times to buy and sell a stock.

In a guest essay today, Keith shares an amazing story about how the system he helped develop saved his portfolio before the Covid crash of 2020, and how it helped him to grow his wealth in the historic run that followed.

After you read this, you’ll want to sign up for Keith’s event on Thursday, February 27 at 8 p.m. Eastern. He’s calling it The Last Melt-Up – and in this special event, you’ll learn how Keith’s system works and why it’s so accurate. You’ll also learn why he’s got his eye on an ultra-rare pattern that has only appeared in the markets three times going back 125 years. You can click here to sign up for your free spot now.

In the meantime, I’ll let Keith share his story and tell you more about the alert that saved his portfolio…

It was one of the most difficult moments of my professional life … but I had saved my portfolio!

It was early 2020 and I had flown to Florida to meet with a group of 50 of my peers where each of us pitched our best and biggest investment ideas.

Person after person was pitching greedy parts of the market that they believed were ready to soar.

When it was my turn, I told them all “I sold almost all my stocks on Friday.”

As you would imagine, I was not the most popular person in the room.

I urged people to protect their investments and consider warning their subscribers that a bear market was rapidly approaching.

I even showed them proof of how I knew we were headed toward the fastest bear market in history — one that would catch everyone by surprise and destroy years of wealth building.

I showed them the alerts I received and then how accurate these alerts have been over the last 20 years.

I was laughed at and told not to panic. Not a single person in the room wanted to hear what I had to say. And I understand why; the CNN Fear and Greed Index at the time was nearing extreme greed levels.

Why would they want to hear a bearish alarm?

But anyone who acted on my systems advice saved their portfolio … and then made even more money when the system signaled it was time to get back in.

In the last 20 years, we’ve only made the system better…

And we are on the verge of another change in the market’s direction. One that you can be ahead of, while everyone else depends on outdated indicators.

The Alert That Saved My Portfolio

I remember it like yesterday.

On a Friday, Feb. 27, I had received a big, bearish alert from our system.

It basically said, “Run for the hills and sell your stocks.”

At the time I knew almost nothing about COVID-19 and I didn’t know how markets would react to what was coming.

But I did know that I trust our system, so the very next day, I sold nearly all my stocks.

Over the weekend, a quick stop into Target with my family gave us an early glimpse into the world of panic buying and hoarding we can all remember. We noticed a woman with a cart FULL of nothing but Clorox wipes.

Clearly, there was panic in the air, and we were just starting to see and feel it for the first time.

But I knew I didn’t have to panic about my portfolio.

Our system’s alerts are based on proprietary algorithms we created years ago and that routinely test and update. They’re based on momentum and short- and long-term trends. And they’re eerily accurate!

Here are the five most recent drawdowns prior to that day…

Obviously, a lot has changed since then. Indeed, we experienced the fastest bear market onset in history.

But we also experienced one of the fastest recoveries in the history of markets. We haven’t looked back, except for a few small setbacks.

The Alert That Lead to Profits

In 2020, my personal portfolio was saved a huge loss thanks to the indicators I got.

And, just a month later, our indicators did it again, alerting me to a bullish set up in the markets.

This signal has been almost always right over 40 years of use and testing:

By this time the CNN Fear and Greed Index had plummeted to extreme fear and people were nervous.

Heck, I was nervous!

But again, I trusted the math and these signals, and I took action. I started gobbling up stocks that had big pullbacks and were noted “healthy” in our system by their green designation.

Boy was that the right decision!

Look what the market did the rest of the year!

As you can tell, I love our products and can’t wait to reveal more to you over the next few days.

In fact, it all started for us years ago when we invented what I call the “single most important number in investing.” And next week, on Feb. 27 at 8 p.m. Eastern, I’ll be unveiling the prediction in TradeSmith’s 20-year history. You can register to hear this prediction for free right here.

Thank you and all the best.

Warm regards,

Keith Kaplan

CEO, TradeSmith

Long gone are the days when Elon Musk was merely ‘the Tesla guy.’

The billionaire entrepreneur has brought electric cars to the mainstream and reimagined rocket launches and space travel. He’s working to develop brain implant technology that allows humans to control devices with their thoughts. He aims to reinvent social media with X and introduce fully autonomous humanoid robots via Tesla’s (TSLA) Optimus.

And now Musk is taking on his boldest mission yet—tackling government waste as President Trump’s head of Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

As if he wasn’t already powerful enough, the world’s richest man has become infinitely more influential since Donald Trump won the White House. 

A lot of investors are saying that’s a good thing for Tesla stock. And it could be. But we think investors focused on TSLA are considering the wrong Musk company for 2025. 

Of all of his ventures, Tesla is not the one positioned for the most success this year. 

That would be xAI, his AI startup. 

xAI: A Brief Overview

Founded about two years ago, xAI was created to develop foundational AI models to rival that of OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. In that time, xAI has launched several models, the latest of which – Grok-3 – just debuted in late February. And from the looks of it, the AI is quite capable.

It was developed using over 10 times the computing resources of its predecessor, Grok-2, leveraging a massive data center equipped with approximately 200,000 GPUs. The model introduces sophisticated reasoning features, which allow it to deconstruct problems into manageable components and perform self-fact-checking to ensure accuracy before providing solutions. And it also includes a new Deep Search feature – an integrated AI-powered search engine designed to reduce the time users spend hunting for information by providing detailed explanations for its responses. 

According to xAI, Grok-3 outperforms other incumbent AI models like ChatGPT, Gemini, and DeepSeek in areas such as mathematics, science, and coding. 

It seems to be a new landmark model.

And thanks to this rapid success, xAI is currently in talks to raise up to $10 billion from multiple investors at a $75 billion valuation… 

Meaning that, less than two years after it was launched, xAI is already worth more than 70% of the companies in the S&P 500. 

But this may still be just the beginning for the startup. 

Revolutionary Minds, Revolutionary Companies

Of course, the thing about world-changing businesses is that they start with world-changing people. Those folks have revolutionary ideas. And when funded with billions of dollars, they turn those ideas into world-changing businesses.  

After all, Apple (AAPL) only became what it is today thanks to Steve Jobs, who came up with the idea of the iPhone. Jobs then leveraged the enormous amount of money Apple was making off its computers to create the iPhone. And voila… Apple became a trillion-dollar company.  

Similarly, Microsoft (MSFT) grew into a tech titan because of Bill Gates, who came up with the idea of Windows. Gates used the money Microsoft was making off its PCs to further develop Windows. And that allowed Microsoft to become a trillion-dollar company. 

World-changing people with ample resources create world-changing businesses. 

So… if you want to invest in world-changing businesses… start with the world-changing people gathering the resources necessary to bring their visions to life. 

That is exactly the situation we have with Musk and xAI today.

Hello, Reader.

“Am I future proof?”

That’s a question we should be asking both of our portfolios and of ourselves. 

And it’s all because of AI.

The risks that artificial intelligence imposes requires us to not only future-proof our portfolios – more on that below – but also future-proof our individual career paths, to whatever extent we can.

For example, which jobs are more future proof: Accountant or bartender? Software coder or yoga instructor? Graphic designer or river raft guide?

I am not certain I know the answer, but if I had to place a bet, I’d place it on the bartenders, yoga instructors, and river guides.

This is an aspect of AI that I call the “Revenge of the Bartender” – an honest job that I performed in my youth, and one that will probably last for as long as alcohol is legal.

By contrast, what will become of the high-paying “thinking” jobs – the kind that typically require college degrees? We already know the answer: They are going away… or at least not keeping pace with overall employment trends in the U.S.

The chart below shows the employment growth of four different industry groups during the last three years, relative to the overall employment growth of the U.S. Admittedly, three years is a brief sample from which to draw iron-clad conclusions, but that happens to be the span of time when AI has been infiltrating the world economy.

As you can see, “Leisure and Hospitality” (think: bartender) is the fastest-growing employment category in the chart – up 5% more than overall employment growth. “Construction” is the second strongest category – up 4% more than overall employment growth.

By contrast, the “thinking” industries that typically require a college degree are faring less well. “Information Technology” employment has grown 7% less than overall employment during the last three years, while “Professional Business Services” has grown 4% less.

These trends are not outliers. Employment in most professions that require human interaction, like bartending and construction, is growing at above-average rates, while most “thinking” professions are growing at below-average rates.

As I said, AI deserves part of the blame.

We already know that AI is trimming jobs from many industries, even the very industries that are creating AI. In 2023, Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) both laid off more than 10,000 employees. Following those high-profile reductions, U.S. tech companies laid off more than 150,000 employees last year.

AI is taking a bite out of employment in many other industries as well. Two weeks ago, Chevron Corp. (CVX) announced it would be trimming 15% to 20% of its workforce – or roughly 6,000 to 8,000 employees.

Chevron, like most of the other major oil companies, has developed increasingly sophisticated technologies that are incorporating AI to analyze hydrocarbon deposits, guide drilling decisions, and optimize recovery from each wellhead.

At every step of the way, these technologies replace human workers.

That’s why it’s so important to prepare for the shift to come. Because as much destruction as AI has and will continue to cause in the workforce, artificial general intelligence (AGI) could eliminate an unprecedented number of jobs.

AGI refers to AI technology that has reached human-like intelligence. It has yet to be achieved, but I believe the breakthrough is fast approaching. That is why I began my 1,000-Day Countdown to AGI back in September, which you can learn more about from my free, special broadcast.

And when AGI arrives, this time both blue-collar and white-collar workers are set to experience massive job losses and plummeting wages.

So, the need to future-proof your finances starts now. The good news is that there’s still time to take advantage of today’s “pre-AGI” stock market.

I’ve identified several stocks that are set to benefit from AGI as it radically changes the landscape. They can be found in my special reports: My 3 Top AGI Stocks for 1,000% Gains and The AI Dominators.

To learn how to access these reports, click here.

And while you future-proof your portfolio, let’s take a look back at what we covered here at Smart Money last week…

Smart Money Roundup

Elon Musk Touts His New AI Bot – but I’m Looking Elsewhere

Elon Musk and Sam Altman lead “AI Creator” companies that develop the LLMs powering tools like Grok and ChatGPT, driving the AI Revolution forward. While these deserve investment consideration, many overlook another critical AI category that could “future-proof” your portfolio.Let’s explore this under-the-radar opportunity beyond the headline-grabbing AI Creators.

Want to Snag a 30X Gain Like Louis Navellier Did With Nvidia? Here’s What It Takes

In Thursday’s issue, Louis Navellier explores Nvidia’s evolution from its gaming roots to AI dominance. While the company continues to have upside potential, the next phase of AI innovation lies elsewhere.Learn the seven fast-rising ways to play what Nvidia’s CEO is calling a $100 trillion opportunity.

Get in Place Now Before Solar Stocks Catch Fire Once Again

Solar stocks may be emerging from their dark period. Despite the selloff after Donald Trump’s reelection, history shows solar stocks actually performed better during Trump’s first term than under Joe Biden.I’ll explain why Trump’s return might brighten prospects for the solar industry – and how you can invest in this potential resurgence.

Here’s Exactly When to Buy and Sell!

In early 2020, TradeSmith CEO Keith Kaplan faced skepticism from peers after selling his stocks and warning of an incoming bear market. His software’s prediction proved correct, protecting portfolios of those who listened.Keith’s system now signals another market shift approaching – an opportunity to get ahead while others depend on outdated indicators.

Looking Ahead

Beyond the havoc that AI is wreaking, an ultra-rare pattern is forming in the markets right now, one that hasn’t been seen for 30 years.

It’s a strange category of market melt-up that creates hyper-exaggerated gains – and losses – compared to even normal market melt-ups.

That is why this Thursday, February 27, at 8 p.m. Eastern time, during his The Last Melt-Up special briefing, TradeSmith CEO Keith Kaplan will introduce a new tech breakthrough that is designed to mathematically detect and model market melt-ups. He will also reveal what the technology is saying about the market we’re in right now.

In addition, Keith will demonstrate his technology to show you 10 of the best stocks for riding this market event… and 10 “timebomb” stocks to avoid. You can click here to sign up for the event.

I will share more information from Keith later this week. Stay tuned.

Regards,

Eric Fry

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Hello, Reader.

Has Nvidia Corp.’s (NVDA) unbeatable, dazzling market performance created an Emerald City-like allure?

On Wednesday, Nvidia released its fourth-quarter earnings report. This came after a volatile start of the year, with the release of Chinese AI DeepSeek-R1 about a month ago causing Nvidia’s shares to decline nearly 17%.

The company’s shares have continued to struggle since then, with the stock dropping 9% over five trading sessions ending Tuesday this week.

Nevertheless, Nvidia reported earnings that topped Wall Street expectations… again. The company’s revenue for the fourth quarter came in at $39.33 billion, up 3.08% from estimates, while earnings per share reached $0.89 adjusted, beating Wall Street’s prediction by 5.22%.

But despite delivering earnings beat as well as strong first-quarter guidance, Nvidia’s shares fell 8% the next day.

Even so, Nvidia is undoubtedly today’s AI darling, but as Dorothy learned in Oz, even the most powerful wizards eventually step from behind the curtain. While the company’s recent numbers still have them on top, investors should start considering companies that will eventually inherit Nvidia’s momentum – the AI Appliers.

AI Appliers take foundational tech breakthroughs – like Nvidia AI chips – and profit off utilizing them. Some companies use AI to enhance businesses, while others provide the energy AI needs to run.

These are the companies now set to produce strong investment gains in the coming years.

In today’s Smart Money, I’ll show you a few under-the-radar AI Appliers on my list with near-future upside potential. That said, with the markets in distress this week, I suggest putting them on your watch list for consideration after this current bout of volatility calms. After all, the AI Revolution isn’t going anywhere.

Then, I’ll explain how investing in these companies is crucial for positioning yourself in this ever-evolving landscape…

The AI Appliers

Global X Uranium ETF (URA)

The data centers that power AI technologies require such prodigious – and reliable – volumes of electricity that tech giants like Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL), Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) have “rediscovered” nuclear power as an ideal energy source.

In October 2024, Amazon announced that Amazon Web Services (AWS) – its cloud computing platform – is set to invest more than $500 million in nuclear power.

AWS has signed an agreement with Dominion Energy Inc. (D), Virginia’s top utility company, to explore the development of a small modular reactor near Dominion’s North Anna Nuclear Generating Station (located about halfway between Washington and Richmond).

Around the same time, Google announced it will purchase power from Kairos Power, a small modular reactors developer. And in September, Microsoft made a deal with Constellation Energy Corp. (CEG) to restart a reactor at the infamous Three Mile Island nuclear facility near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

This unlikely marriage between Big Tech and nuclear power is the newest reason why the young bull market in uranium may last several more years.

To capitalize on that potential, I recommend putting the Global X Uranium ETF (URA) on your watchlist. This $3.3 billion ETF holds a broad portfolio of uranium companies – both those that are currently producing, and those that hope to begin producing in the future.

Coupang Inc. (CPNG)

Coupangmay not be a household name here in the United States, but the company is well known in every South Korean household. Coupang is South Korea’s go-to provider of Amazon-like services.

And they are investigating and testing ways to enhance its businesses with AI technologies.

As the company’s founder, Bom Suk Kim, explained on the company’s first quarter 2024 earnings call…

Machine-learning and AI continues to be – have been a core part of our strategy. We’ve deployed them in many facets of our business from supply chain management to same-day logistics.

We’re also seeing tremendous potential with large language models in a number of areas from search and ads to catalogue and operations among others. There is exciting potential for AI that we see and we see opportunities for it to contribute even more significantly to our business. But like any investment we make, we’ll test and iterate and then invest further only in the cases where we see the greatest potential for return.

Kim’s focus on AI and other cutting-edge technologies is not new. Coupang’s e-commerce platform already utilizes AI and advanced robotics. The company’s other patent-protected AI-related tech can predict future order volumes, alert product managers when prices fluctuate significantly, optimize Coupang Eats delivery, and enhance search accuracy.

Today, Coupang has more than 2,100 global patent registrations, and it serves customers in 190+ countries and territories.

As Coupang expands its empire, and its earnings continue ramping higher, I expect its share price to post solid market-beating gains for many years.

GE HealthCare Technologies Inc. (GEHC)

Despite being one of the oldest “new” healthcare stocks in the market, GE HealthCare is also leader in the field of AI-enabled medical devices. As of May 2024, of the more than 850 AI-enabled devices authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 72 are from GE HealthCare.

From an investment perspective, GE HealthCare is a two-part story. It is a solid, steadily growing medical imaging company that also includes considerable fast-growth potential from its AI product line and investments.

According to Grand View Research, artificial intelligence will become a key driver of medical device innovation over the coming decade. The research firm predicts the AI component of the healthcare market will skyrocket from $15.4 billion in annual sales in 2023 to more than $200 billion in 2030. That’s a compound annual growth rate of 37.5%.

Importantly, GEHC’s AI solutions do not replace medical professionals; they assist them. The company’s AI-enabled devices and services operate alongside traditional medical practitioners to support and optimize their efforts.

GE HealthCare is embracing this new paradigm with gusto.

Arming Your Portfolio

While AI Appliers are sure to give your portfolio strength, a good portfolio has a mix of companies that fall into the three AI categories I’ve laid out before:

1. AI Creators: Companies like Nvidia that develop the foundational hardware and software powering the AI Revolution.
2. AI Appliers: Companies that either implement AI technologies to transform their business or provide the essential resources that power AI.
3. AI Survivors: Traditional sectors like agriculture and metals that are difficult for AI to disrupt.

This dynamic landscape is transforming rapidly, and strategically it is crucial to invest across these categories in order to not get left behind.

As we’re seeing right now, even dominant companies like Nvidia can see their shares struggle despite beating earnings estimates, proving that no one AI play is immune to volatility.

We have all our AI bases covered at Fry’s Investment Report. Our portfolio includes holdings across several sectors – from tech innovators to energy powerhouses, and healthcare companies to metals and mining operations.

So, no matter which way the market turns, our balanced approach has us prepared.

To learn more about how I’ve set my Fry’s Investment Report subscribers up for the AI Revolution – and to stay updated on my under-the-radar AI plays – simply click here.

Regards,

Eric Fry

Don’t Let Emotions Wreck Your Portfolio.

We’re on the verge of a market meltdown.

Or so you might believe based on the sentiment indicators.

The latest AAII Sentiment Survey showed only 19.4% of respondents are bullish. This was the sixth time in eight weeks the reading came in below the historical average of 37.5%.

Here are the results from the last four weeks:

Meanwhile, the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index showed a rise in consumer pessimism. The Expectations Index (based on consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions) dropped 9.3 points to 72.9. From their press release:

For the first time since June 2024, the Expectations Index was below the threshold of 80 that usually signals a recession ahead.

The survey also showed that 27% of consumers expect business conditions to worsen over the next six to 12 months, the highest since June 2022.

Looking at this data could spook any investor, leading to a classic investing mistake.

However, investors who can keep their heads can profit no matter what the crowd is doing, and I’m going to share an opportunity today.

Profiting by Separating Feelings from Data

Last week I wrote about the Iron Law of the Stock Market: If a company massively grows its sales and earnings, its stock price will grow, too.

Today, investor sentiment is low, but the earnings data tells a different story.

According to FactSet:

• 77% of S&P 500 companies exceeded earnings per share (EPS) estimates – equal to the five-year average of 77%.
• The S&P 500 reported growth in earnings of 17.8% – the highest growth since Q4 of 2021.

No wonder the market hit an all-time high just a week ago.

And amid all the concern about inflation reigniting, yesterday, we learned the Personal Consumer Expenditures Index is 2.5%, down from 2.6% in December.

Regardless of the numbers, herd mentality takes over when sentiment turns negative, causing investors to react without thinking.

Here is what legendary investor Louis Navellier, editor of Growth Investor, has written about this classic investing mistake.

A lot of you are probably fans of momentum investing. The truth is, I am, too. You always want to capitalize on a trend, and trends are made up of people.

But while following the crowd CAN result in great momentum plays… you don’t want to do so blindly.

The crowd-seeking I’m talking about – follow the herd, think later – is responsible for a lot of failed investments. It means you won’t pick up on a shift in the trend. Thus, you’ll get your timing all wrong. You’ll often end up buying near the highs and selling near the lows.

Taking our natural biases out of the equation is at the heart of Louis’ quantitative stock picking system.

A Quality Stock on Sale

When market fear is high, savvy investors start to look for superior stocks that are on sale. That doesn’t necessarily mean cheap stocks. It means great companies selling at reasonable prices, resulting in good value.

Warren Buffett once encapsulated this idea in his usual folksy way, saying:

It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.

In Louis’ system, that means stocks growing sales, operating margins, and especially earnings. When a stock like that experiences a sell-off… then that’s a great opportunity.

This week, one of Louis’ Growth Investor stocks, Vistra Corp. (VST), reported outstanding earnings…and still took a hit from the market.

Here is Louis’ summary of its earnings report.

Vistra Corp. (VST) noted that 2024 was not only a “record year but a transformational one” for the company. Full-year earnings soared 88.5% year-over-year to $2.81 billion, compared to $1.5 billion in fiscal year 2023. Revenue rose 16.5% year-over-year to $17.22 billion, topping estimates for $17.15 billion.

For the fourth quarter, Vistra reported earnings of $490.0 million, up from a loss of $184.0 million in the same quarter a year ago.

Below is a screenshot of how the stock rates in Louis’ system. Despite outstanding earnings, the stock took a hit at the end of the week.

But you can also see that the stock is still an “A” in Louis’ Stock Grader system.

As I write Friday morning, Vistra is up more than 140% since Louis recommended exactly one year ago.

And it’s still below his “buy below” price, and that means Louis believes there is a lot more room left for growth!

Click here to learn more about Louis system and how you can find other superior stocks that could be on sale this week!

More Ways to Use Data to Profit

Keith Kaplan, the CEO of our corporate partner TradeSmith also is a big fan of using data to invest wisely.

His own experience of allowing emotions to drive his investment decisions led him to develop computer systems that can pinpoint the right time to buy and sell any stock, and a set of indicators that can tell him when the market is headed for a rally or a plunge.

Despite widespread investor pessimism, Keith’s data suggests it could be a great time to grab stocks poised for profits. Here he is describing what he sees.

They say you should never try to catch a falling knife.

That’s certainly true… if you’re doing it without a plan.

But if you do it with the right stocks, buying into a downtrend and banking on a reversal can be quite lucrative.

A couple months back, we got the idea of designing a system that’s like catching a falling knife with Kevlar gloves on… where we minimize the risk and trade only the rarest setups with a strong track record of working.

We tested tons of different variables, and eventually we found one combination that produces a rare but quite reliable trading signal.

Keith and his team designed a system that helps investors take advantage of rare but reliable setups with a strong track record of success.

Here is one example from Keith’s back-testing.

One of the cleanest examples I’ve found – a case from 2022, in Caesars Entertainment (CZR).

The signal triggered at $32.36 on Sept. 30… and would’ve led to a 35.5% gain if you’d sold it 21 trading days later (on Oct. 31) for $43.73:

To be clear, there are losers too. No system is 100%.

But in Keith’s study, only one-fifth of the signals lost money, which makes for pretty good odds.

Recently, his system detected an ultra-rare bullish signal that only occurs every few decades!

Our data shows that we’re in a rare kind of market that we previously only saw in 1996… and then 70 years earlier, in 1926.

If your market history is sharp, you know those were the early stages of massive investment manias that went far further and lasted much longer than anyone expected.

Both were powered by technological breakthroughs… financial institutions lowering the barrier for smaller investors to participate… and a consumer credit revolution that spurred the economy higher.

These are all things we’re seeing the beginnings of today. And what we’ve found is that these specific conditions signal the start of a “mega melt-up.”

Keith prepared a free demo where he shows how to find 10 “melt-up stocks” for the historic market conditions TradeSmith is picking up now.

Click here to access that presentation and put market data on your side.

We all work hard for the money we invest, so it’s difficult to watch the market plunge. But staying with the data and not acting emotionally is going to lead to greater profits over time.

Enjoy your weekend,

Luis Hernandez

Editor in Chief, InvestorPlace

Editor’s Note: This week has been volatile to say the least…

But if anything, that has me and my friends at TradeSmith even more fired up about the market ahead.

The fact is, we’re in a Mega Melt-Up. All the signs are there.

And if you make the right moves today, you’ll be set for a bull market that rivals the internet boom… while avoiding the inevitable bust.

TradeSmith CEO Keith Kaplan has some thoughts below on this week’s volatility… including how it’s convincing us even more that the Mega Melt-Up is on.

Read it below. And be sure to watch his biggest forecast in 20 years, in this brand-new special research presentation. He’ll also share 20 recommendations just for checking it out.

**************************

The market has taken us on a wild ride in 2025.

Between Chinese AI breakthroughs, radical shifts in trade policy, the Federal Reserve’s rate-cutting cycle, and now a surge in inflation expectations, the headlines have been all over the place.

Stocks are acting as you’d expect – soaring one week, shaking out weak hands the next.

All this wild price action has ultimately not taken us far. As I write, the Nasdaq 100 is basically flat from the start of the year…

And that’s especially painful, considering the 5.7% year-to-date gain we were looking at just a week ago.

All this chaos can’t help but make you wonder, “Are we heading for a crash?”

If you google that question, you’ll probably find a bunch of mainstream media headlines urging you to stay scared.

But I’m here to tell you something quite different:

This isn’t the beginning of a bear market.

On the contrary, it’s the setup for one of the biggest opportunities of your lifetime.

We’re smack in the middle of what my team has taken to calling a Mega Melt-Up.

We’ve gone through history and quantified the price action of the past few years. And what we found, shocking as it was, tells us that there’s only been two previous market environments like this one: the 1990s and the 1920s. And both were periods where individual companies rose thousands of percent in very short order.

If our research is correct, and I’m confident it is, the volatility we’ve seen this year isn’t a warning sign.

Instead, it’s even more evidence that we’re in a Mega Melt-Up… the kind that only comes around once or twice in a lifetime.

Thanks to a very disappointing University of Michigan consumer sentiment report last Friday, the markets ended the week on a sour note.

To review, the report showed a reading of 64.7, down from 71.7 in January – a 10% decline. The stock market sold off sharply in response, with the S&P 500 and Dow falling 1.7% and the NASDAQ sinking 2.2%.

So, in Sunday’s Market Buzz YouTube video, my friend and colleague Jason Bodner joins me to discuss the numbers and this week’s key economic reports. But first, we begin by previewing a few stocks’ upcoming earnings – including NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA), which will serve as the grand finale for earnings season. We take a closer look at the factors behind Palantir Technologies, Inc. (PLTR) 19% plunge and review Walmart, Inc.’s (WMT) cautious earnings guidance.

Plus, we share our thoughts on President Trump’s bold words on Ukraine and how they could impact peace talks with Russia, as well as the German election and what the outcome could mean for the global economic reports. 

You can click the play button below to watch now!

After you’ve watched the video, make sure to subscribe to my channel! Once you do, you’ll be able to click a small bell that will notify you once our videos become live.

To learn more about Jason and his Quantum Edge system, click here. His system has beat the S&P 500 7-to-1 over the last 30 years in independent testing and backtesting. I’m such a big fan of Jason that I included a few of his stories in my new book, The Sacred Truths of Investing.

And for my latest take on the stock market and big headlines, join me at Growth Investor. I released a Special Market Podcast this afternoon that covered today’s broader market pullback, the results of the German election and more.

Once you sign up, you’ll have full access to all my Special Market Podcasts, Weekly Updates and Monthly issues, as well as exclusive Growth Investor Buy Lists special reports (including three brand-new ones I published last week).

Click here for more details.

(Already a Growth Investor subscriber? Click here to log in to the members-only website.)

Sincerely,

Louis Navellier

Editor, Market 360

P.S. My friend Keith Kaplan recently called a “mission critical” meeting over at TradeSmith. Why? It all has to do with an ultra-rare pattern has emerged in the markets that has only appeared three times going back 125 years…

As CEO of TradeSmith, he’s pounding the table to get everyone to pay attention. Because one of their time-tested algorithms just flashed “green” on 10 off-the-radar tech stocks that could deliver generational wealth. So, on Thursday, February 27th, he’s holding a special briefing – and you’ll be blown away by what he reveals. Click here to grab your seat for Thursday’s big event.

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), Palantir Technologies, Inc. (PLTR) and Walmart, Inc. (WMT)