Today’s issue in preview:

• A unique inflation hedge you’ve probably never considered

• This Bitcoin catalyst could trigger soon and send it past $100,000

• Learn our Top Themes to buy now

A unique inflation hedge you’ve probably never considered

Credit: f9photos

For anyone looking to protect themselves against inflation, it’s worth knowing that it’s not just timberland on sale right now. World-class collections of gravel pits are also on sale.

Over the past six months, I’ve written a special series of research notes on publicly traded assets such as timberland giant Weyerhaeuser (WY) and construction aggregates firm Vulcan Materials (VMC) that can add a robust “inflation defense” component to your financial life.

You probably know why being vigilant against inflation is important: governments in most Western nations have promised far too many things to far too many people. They are spending far more on taxpayer benefits and wars than they collect in tax revenues.

The related debts and obligations governments have taken on cannot possibly be paid back with sound money. They can only be paid back with debased, devalued money… much of which is created out of thin air. This is driving inflation and significant currency debasement.

Prices are going up because the value of our money is going down.

Measured against a basket of widely used raw materials like crude oil, corn, copper, natural gas, sugar, and soybeans, the U.S. dollar has lost 53% of its value over the past eight years.

When I provide guidance on inflation defense, I urge people to keep my number one rule in mind: own in-demand, useful assets that cannot be easily replaced or replicated.

That is inflation defense in a nutshell. You want to own businesses and properties that produce in-demand, scarce resources, products, experiences, and services.

This group of assets includes quality farmland, beachfront real estate, timberland, mountain-view properties, great businesses, and oil and gas pipelines.

When a very difficult or impossible-to-replicate business or property produces in-demand, scarce resources, products, experiences, or services, it tends to hold its value no matter what the dollar is doing.

Its price will constantly “recalibrate” to accommodate an increase in currency units. It’s like the difference between slicing a pizza into 6 or 8 pieces. The number of slices changed, but the amount of pizza is the same.

In Monday’s issue, we detailed how timberland giant Weyerhaeuser was trading near one-year lows thanks to the rising interest rates and their depressive effects on the housing market.

Rising rates are also driving weakness in blue-chip construction aggregate producers Vulcan Materials and Martin Marietta Materials (MLM).

Together, Vulcan and Martin Marietta own and operate hundreds of mines across America that produce gravel, sand, and crushed stone – aka “construction aggregates.”

These raw materials are literally the foundation of highways, bridges, airports, offices, apartments, homes, and factories. You are virtually guaranteed to have driven on a road made possible by the construction aggregates produced by Vulcan or Martin Marietta. They are the giants of the industry.

Importantly, many of Vulcan and Martin Marietta’s mines are in coveted locations near America’s major metropolitan areas. This is key because construction aggregates are very heavy and therefore costly to transport over long distances. Transporting $5 million worth of gold and transporting $5 million worth of gravel are two very different things.

Given how difficult, expensive, and time-consuming it can be to permit and develop a large gravel mine, we can say both VMC and MLM own irreplaceable collections of scarce, in-demand resources. Again, these attributes are key to playing inflation defense. They’ve allowed the market values of VMC and MLM to rise and outpace dollar debasement over the past seven years.

VMC and MLM are also enjoying the U.S. factory and data center building boom we’ve been investing in with great success. As America grows, VMC and MLM grow with it.

We believe the attributes above are why master “quality” investor Chris Hohn is accumulating stakes in both firms.

Owning a collection of gravel pits and sand mines isn’t as exciting as owning SpaceX or AI stocks. However, if you want to play inflation defense by owning irreplaceable collections of scarce, in-demand assets whose prices can rise along with the rate of money creation, consider VMC and MLM.

This Bitcoin catalyst could trigger soon and send it past $100,000

Credit: Vertigo3d

Bitcoin owners and watchers take note: The world’s leading digital asset is poised to clear a critical price level… which could serve as a catalyst to send it past $100,000 per coin.

Back in March, we wrote a bullish research note on how we believed Bitcoin had reached an important bottom.

After reaching an all-time high of around $125,000 last October, Bitcoin entered a brutal bear market, declining by about 48% to the mid-$60,000 range.

Crypto specialists attributed this decline to the U.S. government withdrawing liquidity from financial markets, as well as to gold and AI trades drawing money flows that could have been directed toward Bitcoin.

Most long-term Bitcoin believers see it as a “store of value” that should maintain its purchasing power like gold and beachfront homes do. It should be a digital form of “hard money.” Sounds great.

However, from October 2025 to February 2026, Bitcoin traded more like a failing technology company than anything you’d call strong and stable.

In March, Bitcoin’s trading behavior underwent a significant change. It formed a bottom and gained 9.5% in one month, while technology stocks dropped and gold gained just 3.2%.

Importantly, Bitcoin outperformed stocks and gold as Operation Epic Fury created tremendous market volatility and hammered many sectors of the stock market. It was a “port in the storm.”

Importantly, Bitcoin recently rallied above its long-term 200-day moving average. This is a good sign of an improving health trend.

Remember what we say about the 200-day moving average around here: Securities below their 200-day moving average are on the wrong side of the tracks. It’s the ugly part of town. All the really bad things happen below the 200-day moving average. Bitcoin has broken above it.

So, after a year of disappointing believers, has Bitcoin regained its place as a “store of value”? Is it ready to be a “port in the storm” and a stabilizing component of serious portfolios?

I hope so.

The world is a better place when Bitcoin is rising, and we have not one but two forms of hard money to own.

Bitcoin is currently trading for around $79,000. You can see in the chart below that a break above $82,500 would mark Bitcoin’s highest level in over six months.

This break could signal to the market that Bitcoin is back in a bull market… which could attract billions in new buying and send it north of $100,000 per coin. This would, in turn, drive adjacent bull markets in blockchain-based stablecoin and tokenization trends.

We’re bullish… and we’ll keep you updated on this potential catalyst.

Market Notes

• The tokenization trend we’ve been writing about picked up momentum today. Ethereum reached a six-month high.

• The VanEck Oil Refiners ETF (CRAK) hit a new high today. Individual refining giants Valero Energy (VLO) and Marathon Petroleum (MPC) reached highs, too.

• Japanese banking giant Mizuho Financial Group (MFG) hit new highs along with Bancolombia (CIB), Colombia’s largest bank. International banks continue their momentum.

• Our November 17 recommendation to own biotech is doing well. 10X Genomics (TXG) hit new highs today, which puts it up 191% since our recommendation.

• Our February 3rd recommendation to own space bottleneck play Frequency Electronics (FEIM) just surged 35% post stellar earnings. It’s now up 54% since our February recommendation.

• Our March 20th recommendation to invest into scandium with Sunrise Energy Metals (SREMF) has performed extremely well. The stock is now up 22% in the last month and 211% since our March recommendation.

Regards,

Brian Hunt
Editor, Money & Megatrends

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Issue#153, Volume#3

Most Investors Still Don’t Understand Bitcoin – Here’s What They’re Missing

How To Value Bitcoin

Presented By: TradeSmith

What Happens on the 9th Trading Day?

Coming up on the 9th trading day of this month, you buy five specific blue-chip stocks. Then you could potentially watch your money grow like clockwork — all without using leverage or options. Click here to see why just five stocks, and why this one day each month is the only day that really matters.

Editor’s Note: Keep in mind, we only accept advertising from publishers we know to offer well-researched ideas vetted by a legal team, excellent customer service, and reasonable refund policies. TradeSmith is one such partner. We do not, however, under any circumstances make any representations about their investment ideas or strategies, nor will we warrant them as equal to our own. We do recognize that the markets are tempestuous and, at times, ideas that we may not endorse prove valuable.

3 Things To Know Before We Go…

1. The Atlanta Fed says the economy is growing at a 4.7% annual rate this quarter. That September 3 reading from GDPNow is a “real” figure, meaning it has already subtracted inflation. Add prices back, and nominal growth is running near 8%. The gap with Wall Street is wide: when GDPNow touched 6.2% in early August, economists’ consensus was just 2.2%. At this pace, the October 29 GDP release could show real growth of 6.5% to 7%, five days before the midterms.

2. August hiring puts a September rate hike back in play. U.S. employers added 162,000 workers to payrolls, roughly three times the 53,000 economists had forecast, and the Labor Department revised June and July up by a combined 55,000, turning a reported July job loss into a gain. Unemployment held at 4.1%. With inflation still above the Fed’s 2% target, Chair Kevin Warsh might push to raise rates. Futures pricing for a quarter-point hike on September 16 moved to 59% from 52% before the release. The two-year Treasury yield, the maturity most sensitive to Fed policy, hit its highest level since January 2025.

3. Diesel shortage sends prices to new high. The U.S. national average price of diesel fuel has reached a record $5.62 per gallon, surpassing the prior high of June 2022. The market is grappling with an unprecedented shortage driven by the supply-chain disruptions from the war with Iran, with inventories at the lowest seasonal levels on record. Given diesel’s role as a critical transportation fuel, this will likely push prices higher throughout the economy, leading to sticky inflation in the months ahead.

Chart Of The Day… Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust (MSBT)

The Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust (MSBT) has rallied nearly 27% since we re-recommended Bitcoin in the June 20 issue of Complete Investor.

Please note: The investments in our “Porter & Co. Top Positions” should not be considered current recommendations. These positions are the best performers across our publications – and the securities listed may (or may not) be above the current buy-up-to price. To learn more, visit the current recommendations page of the relevant service, here| New Window. To gain access or to learn more about our current recommendations, call our Customer Care team at 888-610-8895 or internationally at +1 443-815-4447.

The post You Probably Don’t Own Bitcoin And That’s A HUGE Mistake appeared first on Porter & Co..

Today’s issue in preview:

• AI is about to revolutionize money and banking. Here’s how to profit

• This giant trend is creating more stock market winners than any other

• One of the world’s most important infrastructure firms just reached an all-time high. That’s good for you.

• Learn our Top Themes to buy now

AI is about to revolutionize money and banking. Here’s how to profit

Credit: jroballo

Over the past two weeks, we have written a special series of research notes on the coming revolution in money, finance, and investing.

In short, the confluence of AI and blockchain technology is about to revolutionize how we save, spend, transfer, and invest our money. This revolution is poised to generate enormous gains in the stock market and cryptocurrency markets.

For example, we’ve singled out cryptocurrency exchange and infrastructure firm Coinbase (COIN) and stablecoin firm Circle Internet Group (CRCL) as companies poised to benefit from the coming revolution.

But as you review the investment landscape here, don’t forget about the foundation much of it runs on: Ethereum.

Ethereum is the foundation on which stablecoins run. It’s where most tokenized assets are held. It’s the global infrastructure layer for this revolution in money.

Ethereum is not a company or a stock. Instead, it is a blockchain network that enables developers to build applications and execute smart contracts – programs that automatically execute transactions when certain conditions are met. Its native cryptocurrency, Ether (ETH), is used to pay transaction fees.

Think of Ethereum as a computer that everyone can use… one with powerful financial utility.

Right now, when you send money or buy a stock, there are middlemen: banks, brokers, clearing houses, agents, etc. They’re the recordkeepers, and they maintain the ledger that says who owns what.

Ethereum replaces those middlemen with something called a blockchain. This is a shared, tamper-proof record book maintained by thousands of computers simultaneously around the world. No single bank or government can control it.

But Ethereum didn’t stop at just being the recordkeeper. Its founders built it to be programmable, so developers can run code on top of it. This means that:

• Money can be sent when certain conditions are met

• Issuance of digital versions of stock can be given

• A loan can be created that manages itself

This programmability and adaptability make Ethereum the key blockchain above all other blockchains.

And this is why the majority of stablecoins – the “dollars that computers use” as we’ve described them – run on Ethereum.

USDC, the stablecoin issued by Circle, settles on Ethereum. Most of the stablecoin volume processed by Visa runs through Ethereum.

In fact, Ethereum currently holds a 53% share of all decentralized finance activity globally.

Here’s a key part to understand: ETH is not a stock in a company. There is no corporate balance sheet, no earnings calls, and no claims on anyone’s profits.

It is the asset that makes this shared computer run – the fuel for every stablecoin transfer, every tokenized share, and every self-executing loan built on top of it. You are not buying equity in Ethereum.

You can purchase ETH directly through crypto exchanges such as Coinbase, but it does not sit inside a standard brokerage account the way a stock does.

For many investors, particularly those who prefer to stay within their existing brokerage and don’t want to manage crypto wallets… buying ETH can be outside their comfort zone.

This is where Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) can come in handy.

BMNR is a publicly traded company on the NYSE that gives you a leveraged bet on the Ethereum trade. The company has adopted an aggressive Ethereum treasury strategy. Rather than holding cash or bonds, BMNR has accumulated ETH at an incredible scale. It holds approximately 5.9 million ETH tokens. It is the largest corporate owner of ETH in the world.

It’s a similar strategy to what Michael Saylor has employed at Strategy (MSTR) (formerly MicroStrategy), raising capital to accumulate Bitcoin. Bitmine is pursuing the same playbook to buy more ETH.

BMNR has performed poorly during this crypto pullback, but over the last month, it has risen 37%, reaching fresh three-month highs. This makes it a stock to watch for a continued breakout.

Ethereum isn’t just part of the AI-native finance revolution we have been detailing in Money & Megatrends. In many respects, it is the revolution.

This giant trend is creating more stock market winners than any other

Credit: Pixelbizz

The bull market in “Boomer healthcare” we’ve been writing so much about got even stronger yesterday.

Pharmaceutical giants Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY) reached new all-time highs.

J&J is one of the world’s largest healthcare companies. It focuses on prescription drugs and medical devices, such as orthopedic implants and cardiovascular devices. The company’s blood cancer treatment, Darzalex, is one of the top-selling drugs in the world, with annual sales over $14 billion.

For years, J&J had a large consumer product division that sold Tylenol, Band-Aids, and Listerine, but that business was spun off in 2023 into a company called Kenvue (KVUE).

Bristol Myers Squibb is a major pharmaceutical company concentrated in oncology, hematology, cardiovascular disease and immunology. Its biggest products include Eliquis (blood thinner), Opdivo (cancer immunotherapy) and Revlimid (multiple myeloma).

For more than three years, I’ve made “Boomer health care” one of my highest conviction long-term investment themes. This means I’ve been bullish on biotech, genomics, and healthcare in general. In more than 20 Money & Megatrends research notes over the past year, we’ve been very bullish on stocks and ETFs related to this trend.

Regular readers are familiar with the bull case here. More than 10,000 Americans reach retirement age every day. The U.S. population aged 80 and older is projected to roughly double, from 14.7 million in 2025 to 29.4 million by 2045.

This is the enormous Baby Boom generation entering the phase of life where health care and longevity spending skyrocket. For many boomers, a typical month involves going to see at least one doctor to have something looked at, removed, or treated.

This means many health care businesses are experiencing huge demand now – and will for at least the next decade. It means boom times ahead for many “ology” businesses, stocks, and careers. Dermatology. Cardiology. Radiology. Oncology. Anesthesiology. Ophthalmology. The list goes on.

Investing in many healthcare businesses over the next decade will be investing with a gale-force tailwind at your back. If you’re a parent and worried about your child getting a job, just point them to the booming healthcare industry. The new highs generated by two of the largest leaders show this bull market is alive and well.

The strong demographic tailwinds described above are driving powerful revenue and profit growth for companies like Johnson & Johnson and Bristol Myers Squibb. Given the very long-term nature of this trend, we expect to see many more new highs in the healthcare sector.

One of the world’s most important infrastructure firms just reached an all-time high. That’s good for you.

Credit: Maudib

If you’re looking for a reason to feel optimistic about the global economy over the weekend, look no further:

The world’s largest public steelmaker by production – ArcelorMittal (MT) – just reached an all-time high.

That’s a bullish economic signal. And it’s a great signal for your 401(k).

ArcelorMittal is one of the most important companies that most people have never heard of. MT was created in 2006 through the merger of European steel giant Arcelor and Indian steel giant Mittal Steel.

Headquartered in Luxembourg, ArcelorMittal produces roughly 55-60 million metric tons of steel annually, with major operations across Europe, North America, South America, and Africa. Its steel is used in automobiles, construction, infrastructure, machinery, appliances, and energy projects.

Unlike many steelmakers, ArcelorMittal is also vertically integrated, owning substantial iron ore and coal mining operations that supply raw materials to its mills. The company produces everything from automotive-grade sheet steel to heavy plate and structural products.

In today’s high-tech world of iPhones, ChatGPT, video streaming, and Instagram, it’s easy to forget our world is built on a low-tech foundation of steel, concrete, and lumber.

Steel is a major component of bridges, cars, trucks, electric grids, ships, pipes, factories, construction equipment, and skyscrapers. This makes the steel industry highly sensitive to the economy’s ups and downs. When the economy booms, the steel industry booms with it. When the economy busts, so does the steel business.

Over the past eight months, I’ve written over a dozen research notes analyzing the soaring share prices of similar highly economically sensitive industry groups, including trucking stocks, railroad stocks, regional banks, manufacturing stocks, shopping mall operators, and hotel chains.

At the end of each note, I pointed to their soaring stock prices and told readers that the U.S. economy is doing much better than most people think.

These economically sensitive firms are important “real world” indicators. They almost always do a better job of telling us what is happening in the economy than any media outlet or economist. And their uptrends are moving in a bullish upward direction for the global economy as a whole.

Driven by strong demand, MT’s latest earnings report detailed 5% annual revenue growth and 11% EBITDA growth. MT’s stock is up 138% over the past year and reached a new all-time high today.

Does the global economy have imbalances and big problems? Of course. It always does. But making money in stocks is never the result of a problem-free economic environment. It’s always about being in an environment where the big problems are overwhelmed by the even bigger positives.

Right now, these bigger positives are sending MT to new all-time highs. The world’s largest steelmaker does not do this when the economy is weak.

Market Notes

• The bull market in agriculture we’ve been detailing just drove farm equipment giant CNH Industrial (CNH) to a new one-year high.

• Apparel giant Lululemon (LULU) dropped 17% this morning to reach a new one-year low after reporting weak earnings and guidance.

• The WisdomTree Emerging Markets High Dividend Fund (DEM) reached a new all-time high today.

• The iShares Singapore ETF (EWS) reached a new all-time high today.

• Oil shipping giant Frontline (FRO) reached a new one-year high today.

Regards,

Brian Hunt
Editor, Money & Megatrends

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Today’s issue in preview:

• How to trade the world’s most important trend

• This chart shows why you should be bullish and buy stocks

• Why you should be bullish on Bitcoin right now

• Learn our Top Themes to buy now

How to trade the world’s most important trend

Credit: KanawatTH

The world’s most important trend just got a big boost from Nvidia (NVDA).

Last night, the world’s largest semiconductor firm reported extraordinary second-quarter results that came in well ahead of estimates.

Nvidia CFO Colette Kress said that the company expects revenue growth of 70% for fiscal 2028, which goes from February 2027 to January 2028. CEO Jensen Huang said demand “is much greater than 70%,” but Nvidia is constrained on how much product it can supply.

In response to this good news, Nvidia shares climbed 7.5% during the morning trading session. It also sent the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) up 2.17%.

Over the past month, we have published a special series of research notes analyzing the semiconductor trend, a key part of “the world’s most important trade.”

The status of this critical tech sector has become one of the great sagas of the business and investment world… a source of intense disagreement among industry bulls and bears.

The semiconductor industry has always been a critical part of our high-tech economy. Semiconductors are the “tiny engines” that power our computers. However, the proliferation of AI has turbocharged the industry’s revenues, stock prices, and importance to the global economy. It has also made industry leader Nvidia a $5+ trillion colossus. The stock is up more than 1,300% since Jan. 1, 2023.

In June 2025, semiconductor stocks broke out of a sideways consolidation pattern and began a rally for the ages. During this rally, the world’s largest semiconductor ETF – SMH – gained 147% in just under a year.

Individual semiconductor leaders AMD (AMD), Marvell Technology (MRVL), and Lattice Semiconductor (LSCC) gained more than 200% during that time. Stock gains of 25% in a month became commonplace.

When a sector gains 50% in a year, that’s considered incredible. What semis returned was “triple incredible.”

Avid Money & Megatrends readers know what drove those giant returns. Given AI’s enormous promise, large tech firms such as Alphabet (GOOG), Amazon (AMZN), and Microsoft (MSFT) have invested over $1 trillion in AI infrastructure. They are on pace to invest over $700 billion this year alone and more than $3 trillion after that.

Both the scale and the velocity of this investment boom are unprecedented. It is the largest collective investment effort in history.

A lot of this money was used to purchase semiconductors. Semiconductor industry revenue totaled $793 billion in 2025, an increase of 21% year-over-year, according to Gartner, Inc.

Big Tech’s historic investment boom has made the entire “AI infrastructure” trend responsible for a large share of America’s GDP growth and stock market returns over the past two years. It has also drawn the skeptical scrutiny of many widely followed investment analysts who claim the trend is a bubble… one that will soon explode and cause tremendous damage to stock prices and the global economy.

I believe the AI infrastructure trend has years to run. I believe the world’s smartest, most connected tech CEOs who have the greatest access to information on AI advancement and return on AI infrastructure spend like Jensen Huang, Satya Nadella (Microsoft) and Andy Jassy (Amazon) just might know more about this business than the bearish armchair AI quarterbacks know.

As much press as AI gets, let’s remember that less than 1% of the global population pays for top-tier AI programs. And I estimate less than 20% of large companies believe AI has made a meaningful impact on their businesses. It’s probably closer to less than 10%.

This revolutionary technology hasn’t yet proliferated, achieved mass adoption, or had mass impact.

Regular readers know I care a lot more about what the market thinks of any stock, trend or theme than what any one person thinks of it, including me. You can be bullish or bearish on a trend all you like, but if that trend is moving strongly against you, then your idea isn’t worth a hell of a lot in my book.

With this in mind, let’s look at industry giant Nvidia’s effect on the state of semis. The semiconductor sector is our preferred way to track and analyze the hugely consequential AI infrastructure megatrend.

Given its AI drivers and big returns, it’s no wonder semis became the world’s “hottest trade” this summer. And when any theme becomes the world’s hottest trade, it becomes a leading candidate to experience a significant correction or something worse.

That’s just how the stock market works. When a bull market grows very popular and attracts a lot of speculation, it likes to “buck off” market participants with a sharp correction or worse.

That’s what has happened to the semiconductor trade this summer. After soaring from June 2025 to June 2026, SMH declined 24%. Some individual semi names declined by more than 35%.

As you can see in the two-year chart below, the SMH share price declined from the mid-$600s to the mid-$500s. Since reaching a low in late July, SMH has traded up and down, failing to establish a meaningful trend. In other words, “becalmed” as described above.

In my July 20 health analysis of SMH, I stated that if long-term AI bulls are proven right by the market, SMH will likely “digest” its summer losses by trading in a sideways consolidation pattern for 3-6 months… and then recover to trade back to the mid-$600 area and beyond.

If the AI bears are right, SMH won’t see that mid-$600-per-share level for years… and we are much better off focusing on other trends.

As you can see in the chart below, SMH is getting a boost today… but it is still trading in a directionless sideways consolidation pattern. If the current rally can take SMH back to the $620 level, we can say this critical trend is enjoying restored health. We will keep you updated.

This chart shows why you should be bullish and buy stocks

Credit: Art Wager

If you’re looking for reasons to be optimistic on the U.S. economy and U.S. stocks, look no further: The iShares U.S. Broker-Dealer & Securities Exchanges ETF (IAI) recently registered a new all-time high.

This is a bullish signal for America… and for your 401(k).

Since the current bull market began in 2023, a whole doom-and-gloom industry has been built on bearish stock and recession forecasts. Anyone who listened to the “prophets of the apocalypse” and avoided stocks has missed a historic wave of wealth creation. The bears have sounded clever, but they’ve been very, very wrong.

Sure, the U.S. economy has imbalances and problems. But it also has tremendous forces working in favor of prosperity. Energy independence. Food independence. The world’s most dynamic system for creating and funding new businesses. The world’s largest and most innovative technology industry. A system that rewards hard work, risk-taking, and value creation.

These “forces for good” are manifesting themselves in IAI’s all-time highs.

IAI is a unique ETF focused on companies in the business of money flows… companies that function as the business and investment world’s “circulatory system.”

The fund includes investment banks, securities exchanges, stock brokerages, financial index providers, and credit rating agencies.

Major holdings include diversified giant Goldman Sachs (GS), fellow giant Morgan Stanley (MS), brokerage firm Charles Schwab (SCHW), brokerage firm Robinhood (HOOD), credit rating agency Moody’s (MCO), and financial exchange giant CME Group (CME, formerly Chicago Mercantile Exchange).

These firms provide the grease and gears that make the world’s financial markets engine go. They eventually get a substantial “cut” from all kinds of financial activities, such as IPOs, 401(k) management, option trades, stock index administration, ETF management, stock purchases, commodity transactions, wealth management, debt issuance, and credit ratings.

Their fortunes rise and fall with the health of global financial markets. The new highs reached by their ETF are a bullish economic signal. The fund has returned a stellar 57% over the past two years.

Over the past 10 months, I’ve written over a dozen research notes analyzing the soaring share prices of highly economically sensitive industry groups, including trucking stocks, regional banks, manufacturing stocks, diesel engine makers, steelmakers, shopping mall operators, and hotel chains.

At the end of each note, I pointed to their soaring stock prices and told readers that the U.S. economy is doing much better than most people think.

This exceptional price strength in key components of America’s economic machine means the economy is doing much better than the news you hear from the mainstream media.

We can add IAI’s new highs to this long list of positive market trends. The business of money, investment, and corporate finance is booming. Manage your financial affairs accordingly!

Why you should be bullish on Bitcoin right now

Credit: Vertigo3d

Minute by minute… day by day… things keep getting a little better for Bitcoin bulls.

This week, the beaten-up cryptocurrency rallied to reach $80,000 – its highest price in three months. This action gives me confidence in saying that our bullish March 13 note was well-timed.

After reaching an all-time high of around $125,000 last October, Bitcoin entered a brutal bear market, declining by about 48% to the mid-$60,000 range.

Crypto specialists attributed this decline to the U.S. government withdrawing liquidity from financial markets, as well as to gold and AI trades drawing money flows that could have been directed toward Bitcoin.

Most long-term Bitcoin believers see it as a “store of value” that should maintain its purchasing power like gold and beachfront homes do. It should be a digital form of “hard money.” Sounds great.

However, from October 2025 to February 2026, Bitcoin traded more like a failing technology company than anything you’d call strong and stable.

In March, Bitcoin’s trading behavior underwent a significant change. It formed a bottom and gained 9.5% in one month, while technology stocks dropped and gold gained just 3.2%. Importantly, Bitcoin outperformed stocks and gold as Operation Epic Fury created tremendous market volatility and hammered many sectors of the stock market. It was a “port in the storm.”

Importantly, Bitcoin recently rallied above its long-term 200-day moving average. This is a good sign of an improving health trend. Remember what we say about the 200-day moving average around here: Securities below their 200-day moving average are on the wrong side of the tracks. It’s the ugly part of town. All the really bad things happen below the 200-day moving average. Bitcoin just broke about it.

So, after a year of disappointing believers, has Bitcoin regained its place as a “store of value”? Is it ready to be a “port in the storm” and a stabilizing component of serious portfolios? I hope so. The world is a better place when Bitcoin is rising, and we have not one but two forms of hard money to own. Plus, I like it when the “crypto bros” get chirpy on X and antagonize the skeptics.

Count me bullish on Bitcoin and its new rally.

Market Notes

• Our recommendation to invest in cybersecurity is paying off nicely. Okta (OKTA) just reached a new yearly high, and Palo Alto Networks (PANW) is up 10% today. PANW is now +150% since our March recommendation.

• Our recommendation to invest in the genomics megatrend continues to pay off. Cancer genomics leader NeoGenomics (NEO) just hit a new high. It’s now up 166% in the last month. Genomics analytics giant Illumina (ILMN) reached a new one-year high.

• Global and community banks are showing strength. Japanese investment banking giant Nomura Holdings (NMR) and community lender Private Bancorp of America (PBAM) reached new highs today.

• Our Oct. 2, 2025, recommendation to own the natural gas theme is doing very well. The US Natural Gas Fund (UNG) just hit a new high, as individual names like Range Resources (RRC) have gained around 7.5% this month.

Regards,

Brian Hunt
Editor, Money & Megatrends

An urgent message from our colleagues:

Wall Street veteran goes ALL in on Bank of Elon

A 20-year Wall Street veteran – who worked at a $10 billion hedge fund – is putting ALL his money in Elon Musk’s new bank. He says he can see the writing on the wall for traditional banks. And he’s not the only one.

See if you should join him here (not just for the 6% yield).

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Today’s issue in preview:

• Six elite stocks to play the bull market in gold

• AI will drive a revolution in money and banking. Three stocks for the coming shift.

• Learn our Top Themes to buy now

Six elite stocks to play the bull market in gold

Credit: Backyard Production

Last week, the U.S. government announced that total U.S. debt topped $40 trillion for the first time.

The government’s debt has more than doubled in less than a decade, from $19.95 trillion when President Donald Trump was sworn in for the first time in January 2017.

Net interest payments on the debt are projected to total more than $1 trillion in fiscal 2026. Interest payments now exceed defense spending and Medicare spending. Servicing debt is now the second-largest item in the federal budget, behind only Social Security. It is expected to cost more than $16.2 trillion over the next decade.

Given all this, it is no wonder gold recently rallied from $4,000 per ounce to $4,600 and resumed its long-term uptrend.

In 2003, I placed over half of my net worth into physical gold. Since making that bet, gold has risen about 1,170%, far outperforming stocks. I haven’t sold one ounce along the way. Over the years, I’ve held huge positions in gold stocks.

And now, all these years later, the best reason I can find to be bullish on gold is the same reason why I bought gold in the first place…

The U.S. government is spending far more money than it takes in and then makes up the difference by borrowing and printing money by the trainload. Every freshly printed unit of currency debases an existing one. This raises the nominal price of real money (gold). Gold has spent the past 23 years constantly revaluing itself to accommodate the huge increase in new currency units.

Here in mid 2026, the problem is worse than ever. In America, millions of people are net tax recipients – meaning they receive more in benefits than they pay in taxes.

No politician can win a major election by promising reduced spending. Too many people are now riding the gravy train. Democrat or Republican, it doesn’t matter. Campaigning on sensible spending is a sure loser.

This makes it a good time to know “who’s who” in the gold royalty business.

In our recent analysis of the unique ETF, Horizon Kinetics Inflation Beneficiaries ETF (INFL), I covered its business model.

Gold royalty firms are a unique type of company. They do not engage in the business of operating gold mines. Instead, they are essentially resource banking/investment firms. They raise investor capital and then invest it in prospective or existing resource projects.

They partner with mine and oilfield operators… buying upfront stakes in projects in exchange for a share of future production. In doing this, the best royalty firms own diversified resource portfolios and enjoy high-margin businesses without doing the day-to-day work of operating mines or oilfields.

This “high margin, asset-lite” business model allows the best royalty firms to generate strong profit margins, consistent cash flow and leverage to rising gold prices. This in turn makes royalty firms the preferred vehicles for many sophisticated investors to invest in gold for the long term.

Compelling gold royalty firms include:

Royal Gold (RGLD): RGLD is one of the largest precious metals companies. Royal Gold has major interests in several large, long-lived mines, including Mount Milligan in Canada, Pueblo Viejo in the Dominican Republic, Cortez in Nevada, Andacollo in Chile and Kansanshi in Zambia. Mount Milligan and Pueblo Viejo are particularly important cash generators. The portfolio is primarily gold-focused but provides meaningful exposure to copper. Market cap: $22.6 billion.

Franco-Nevada (FNV): Franco-Nevada owns one of the industry’s largest and most diversified portfolios, spanning hundreds of mining and energy assets across numerous countries. Major contributors have included Candelaria, Antapaccay, Antamina and various Nevada gold operations. Gold accounts for most of its value, supplemented by silver, platinum-group metals, copper and energy. Market cap $52 billion.

Triple Flag Precious Metals (TFPM): Triple Flag’s important assets include Northparkes and Ravenswood in Australia, Cerro Lindo in Peru, Impala Bafokeng in South Africa, Buriticá in Colombia and Fosterville in Australia. Its portfolio is heavily weighted toward gold and silver and geographically concentrated in the Americas and Australia. Market cap $7.2 billion.

OR Royalties (OR): Formerly Osisko Gold Royalties, OR’s flagship asset is its valuable interest in Agnico Eagle’s Canadian Malartic complex in Quebec, one of Canada’s largest gold operations. OR also has exposure to other producing and development projects, including several Canadian assets. Market cap $7.3 billion.

Gold Royalty Corp. (GROY): Gold Royalty has assembled a large portfolio of interests across the Americas, with particularly significant exposure to gold projects in Canada and the United States. Unlike the industry’s giants, much of GROY’s potential value comes from mines and projects that are still being developed, expanded or explored. That creates potentially substantial production growth over time but also makes future cash flows less certain. Market cap: $815 million.

Versamet Royalties (VMET): Versamet is an emerging player whose portfolio provides exposure to precious and base metals across producing, development and exploration-stage properties. The company’s attraction is largely its growth potential: because it remains relatively small, successful mine developments, expansions and additional acquisitions can materially increase its cash flow and asset value. Market cap $1.2 billion.

Recent government spending and taxation data tell us the government is going “full speed ahead” with spending, borrowing, and printing. This means owning quality “inflation defense” assets is as important as ever. Gold royalty firms are worthy members of this club. If gold continues its bull market, as I think it will, these stocks will be large winners. As you can see in the chart below, our Precious Metals Royalty Index is poised to reach new highs:

AI is poised to drive a revolution in money and banking. Three stocks for the coming shift.

Credit: jroballo

In May, Microsoft said the number of active AI agents in its business software suite (the Microsoft 365 ecosystem) increased 15-fold from March 2025 to March 2026.

This significant increase in agent usage marks the start of a massive AI trend… one that will create many large opportunities for investors. It’s also proof that the Agent Supernova we forecasted is here.

On March 16, we urged readers to prepare for the “Agent Supernova” our nickname for the coming explosion in AI agent usage.

Years of development have made AI advanced enough to perform many everyday tasks people do now… and the list of tasks is only getting bigger.

In the next 12–24 months, AI agents will assist with managing factories… performing financial analysis… managing business inventories… writing software… designing websites… creating legal documents… and thousands of other things.

Within the next two years, the number of AI agents operating in the American economy isn’t poised to increase by 10X… or 50X… or even by 1,000X. Try at least 10,000X.

This is the coming Agent Supernova. Agents working with people. Agents working with other agents. Agents running businesses. Agents negotiating and haggling with other agents.

The Agent Supernova is about to introduce billions of “AI workers” into our economy to perform all kinds of roles… with very little day-to-day human oversight.

The business and investment implications are huge. The Agent Supernova will transform many businesses and industries, and end many as we know them… while creating new ones. The economic deck is about to get reshuffled.

The bigger the impact a megatrend can have on our world, the bigger the capital gains it can generate in your portfolio. This is why the Agent Supernova is such a big opportunity. It’s why we will be writing about and investing in this trend for years.

One compelling facet of this megatrend is how AI will revolutionize money, payments, and banking.

Very soon, there may be more AI agents than humans transferring money and making payments in our economy.

That’s not our claim. That’s what the CEO of Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, said on March 9:

“Very soon, there are going to be more AI agents than humans making transactions. They can’t open a bank account, but they can own a crypto wallet. Think about it.”

Money is about to have far more machine use than human use. And once you understand that machines and AI agents can’t use bank accounts as we know them… the only logical use case will be stablecoins… aka “dollars that computers use without having bank accounts.”

Why do more AI agents mean more stablecoins?

Currently, AI agents can do the following:

• Talk to other APIs (services)

• Rent computer power

• Buy and sell data and

• Send lots of small payments every day.

That is all programmed in advance and easy for an agent to do.

However, an agent cannot go to a bank, show an ID, sign forms, or open an account. That’s why the traditional banking system as we know it today isn’t agent-friendly.

But an agent can manage a digital wallet protected by a key or code. Stablecoins are simply dollars that live inside these keyed, or coded, wallets that can move dollars instantly, anytime, anywhere. This makes them a natural fit for how agents spend and receive money.

Compelling investment candidates related to this trend include:

Circle (CRCL): CRCL is a $23 billion company that is the issuer of USDC, the #1 stablecoin in transaction volume globally. Unlike Tether (another key stablecoin), which operates predominantly outside the more regulated US industry, CRCL is a fully regulated entity that has created a stablecoin that banks, institutions, and asset managers are regularly using.

The business model is simple. It issues USDC, holds the corresponding dollar reserves in T-bills (for yield), and earns yield on those reserves. This means it’s a simple play on the adoption of stablecoins that CRCL CEO Jeremy Allaire has recently compared to where the internet was in 2002.

Coinbase (COIN): COIN is a $50 billion company that can be best described as the “everything crypto company,” which includes stablecoins.

COIN doesn’t issue stablecoins the way Circle (CRCL) does, but it has a revenue-sharing partnership, agreed upon until 2029, that allows it to profit from USDC. COIN is now at a level where over 90% of all agentic stablecoin transactions settle through Base, COIN’s own blockchain, which has processed over $32 trillion in stablecoin transfer volume over the last 12 months.

Visa (V): V is a $720 billion payments giant that is quietly also becoming one of the most important plays in the stablecoin infrastructure world. V has been settling transactions in USDC on chain since 2021. This quarter, it launched the Visa Stablecoin Platform, which allows it to issue, move, and manage stablecoins.

V’s CEO Ryan McInerey has been explicit in the recent earnings call that the company is not picking one stablecoin winner. It is connecting clients to the entire ecosystem, meaning V will win as long as the stablecoin market continues to win.

For investors, V can offer a safer exposure to the stablecoin market because the stablecoin segment is wrapped inside one of the most durable, cash-generative business models on earth.

If Brian Armstrong and his fellow bulls on stablecoins are even half right, the next big user of money won’t be humans. It’ll be agents. If that’s true, stablecoins become the default money for machines, and COIN, CRCL, V will enjoy huge tailwinds.

Market Notes

• The American consumer continues to spend. Credit card giant and emerging stablecoin giant Visa (V) reached a new all-time high this week.

• U.S. manufacturing giant Nordson (NDSN) reached a new all-time high this week.

• Steelmaking giant ArcelorMittal (MT) reached a new all-time high today. This is a bullish economic signal.

• Our recommendation to invest in the genomics megatrend continues to pay off. Genomic testing/analytics giant Illumina (ILMN) reached a new one-year high today.

• Our recommendation to get long the copper mining megatrend continues to pay off. Ero Copper Corp. (ERO) reached a new all-time high today. The Global X Copper Miners ETF (COPX) reached a new all-time high today.

• It’s a bull market in Poland. The iShares MSCI Poland ETF (EPOL) reached a new all-time high today.

Regards,

Brian Hunt
Editor, Money & Megatrends

An urgent message from our colleagues:

These 3 Stocks Could Soar as Sam Altman Announces New Venture After OpenAI

Elon Musk calls it “the most disruptive force in history.” The test staff are sworn to keep it secret – by law. And 3 little-known stocks are poised to take off, as Sam Altman releases what could be the biggest venture of his life – 500 times bigger than ChatGPT.

Click here to learn about the stocks tied to Sam Altman’s NEXT big move after OpenAI.

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A huge AI worry has been eliminated. Plus, these stocks could rally after Nvidia (NVDA) reports earnings… Druckenmiller's AI op-ed… 2 assets that will benefit from Bessent's bond intervention… And trading ideas from the latest 13Fs.

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