Today’s issue in preview:

• The commodity bull market could create big winners here

• Boomers are set to spend billions in this industry. Three stocks to invest in it.

• Two charts deliver the stock market’s verdict on the Iran War

• Learn our Top Themes to buy today

---

Boomers are set to spend billions in this industry. Three stocks to invest in it.

Credit: alfexe

“There will never be another time in history with as many post-Ozempic patients as now and in the near future.”

– Dr. Roy Kim, a San Franscisco plastic surgeon describing what is happening in clinics across America.

Over the past five years, GLP-1 drugs have become the top selling drugs in the world. About 15% of U.S. adults have tried a GLP-1 at some point in their lives, according to a Gallup News poll. GLP-1 giant Eli Lilly (LLY) is on pace to sell over $50 billion worth of the stuff in 2026.

This, of course, is driving a lot of weight loss. But it’s also driving lots of “second-order” effects… like a surge of interest in cosmetic surgery.

Rapid, dramatic weight loss often results in hollow cheeks, sagging jowls, and loose skin. Faces that shed fat look hollow and gaunt, which has led to “Ozempic face” becoming an actual medical term.

Unfortunately, there is no drug to fix this. The answer for many people is a procedure. A Needham survey found that 62% of GLP-1 drug users say they are now more likely to get cosmetic procedures as a result. Considering the tens of millions of Ozempic users, that’s an enormous new addressable market that didn’t exist a few years ago.

And that’s layered on top of one of the most powerful demographic forces in American history that we have mentioned many times at Money & Megatrends. More than 10,000 Americans reach retirement age every day. The US 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 Baby Boom generation entering the phase of life when healthcare and longevity spending skyrocket – and Boomers, the wealthiest and most health-conscious aging generation in history, are spending aggressively to look and feel younger. For many of them, a typical month involves at least one doctor’s appointment to have something looked at, lifted, or treated.

Add a third tailwind to the equation. The democratization of cosmetic procedures. What was once reserved for celebrities and the ultra-wealthy is now mainstream. Minimally invasive “tweakments” (injectables, lasers, radiofrequency treatments) have brought price points within reach of millions, and a generation of millennials is booking preventative treatments in their 30s rather than waiting until their 50s.

That’s three forces converging at once. The second-order effects of GLP-1, the demographic Boomer wave, and the democratization of aesthetic treatment.

The cosmetic medicine industry has never seen tailwinds like these. We have a business and investment megatrend on our hands.

Compelling stocks to invest in this boom include:

Galderma (GDERF) is a $45 billion Swiss company that is one of the purest plays on aesthetics. It owns the Restylane filler range and Dysport (a leading Botox alternative).

The numbers back up the trend’s strength, with revenue growing 32% and EPS up 68.5% year over year. Galderma CEO Flemming Ornskov said on the most recent earnings call, “We are seeing stabilization of fillers also in the US market…also driven a bit by what you see with the rapid penetration of GLP-1 usage.”

AbbVie (ABBV) is a $450 billion pharmaceutical giant operating across immunology, oncology, neuroscience, and aesthetics, so it’s not a pure play on this theme. But ABBV owns Botox, the most recognized cosmetics brand on the planet.

Botox generated $728 million in Q2 2026, up 5.2% year over year. For investors who want to play this theme but with more caution than the more pure-play names on this list, ABBV is likely your best bet.

Evolus (EOLS) is a smaller sub $1 billion company that has just broken out to new one-month highs. EOLS makes Jeuveau, which is an FDA-approved neurotoxin, going head-to-head with Botox on price and brand. It is now on the verge of profitability for the first time, making it a higher-risk but potentially disruptive challenger in a huge market.

The Baby Boom generation contains the largest group of wealthy people in all recorded history. Many of them are willing to spend big on anti-aging treatments, longevity, and cosmetic surgery. The GLP-1 boom is adding fuel to this trend. This means the stocks above have serious tailwinds working on their behalf.

The commodity bull market could create big winners here

Credit: Sunshine Seeds

Over the past year, we have posted big wins in critical resource sectors such as oil, copper miners, and oil and gas pipelines. We’ve also posted big wins in resource-rich countries, Canada and Brazil.

We’ve done so by “swimming with a strong current,” that is, the bull market in critical resources. Given this bull market’s enormous momentum, it’s worth noting that it recently sent platinum to a new multi-month high… and more such highs could be on the way.

Platinum is the highest profile member of the “Platinum Group Metals (PGMs). This is a group of rare metals, including platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium, and osmium. They are typically found together and mined together. The world capital of their production is South Africa’s enormous Bushveld Complex, a large geologic formation rich in PGMs.

PGMs share valuable properties, including high melting points, corrosion resistance, durability, and exceptional catalytic abilities. Their largest use is in automobile catalytic converters, where platinum, palladium, and rhodium help remove pollutants from vehicle exhaust.

PGMs are also important in petroleum refining, chemical production, electronics, glass manufacturing, medical and dental devices, and jewelry. Platinum is used in aerospace alloys and industrial catalysts.

Platinum and its related investments were big losers from 2011 to 2025. This was driven by a well-supplied market and concerns that EVs would supplant gasoline-powered vehicles, thereby reducing demand for catalytic converters and the resources used to build them.

Those lean years and the fact that EVs have not supplanted gasoline-powered cars have led to a tight platinum market and a resurgence in the metal’s price. In 2025, platinum broke out of a sideways base and ran from $1,000 an ounce to $2,850 per ounce.

After this big run, platinum corrected and digested its gains by falling into the $1,600 level this summer. But as you can see in the chart below, that $1,600 level has served as a base from which platinum is attempting a new rally. The price recently hit a three-month high. Plus, leading PGM miners Sibanye Stillwater (SBSW), Valterra Platinum (ANGPY), and Impala Platinum (IMPUY) are starting to move higher in concert.

Could the platinum bull market run higher?

With this question in mind, I’ll remind you that when critical resource markets trend, they often trend big. Their trends often go for hundreds of percent gains and last 5+ years.

This is because major shifts in resource supply and demand play out over years, not months. If the world decides it wants a new copper mine, platinum mine, gold mine, or uranium mine, it will not get that mine for at least a decade.

Given how the tailwinds are blowing strongly for critical resources, the odds favor continued gains for platinum and the miners listed above.

---

The stock market’s verdict on the Iran War is clear. These two charts deliver the message

Credit: sturti

This week, U.S. government bond yields jumped to multi-year highs as Brent crude futures traded above $105 per barrel. The 10-year Treasury yield climbed to 4.9%, its highest level since October 2023.

President Trump puts on a brave face and brushes off concerns related to high oil prices, high interest rates, and high inflation. However, the market is not brushing off these ugly trends. Two of our most important indicators of U.S. consumer health care are flashing red right now.

I prefer to be an optimist because that’s what usually pays and that’s what is good for the soul. I cannot, however, ignore the wreckage in the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Consumer Discretionary ETF (RSPD) and the SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB).

Today, we look at these key ETFs to get a read on how high oil prices and rising interest rates are affecting consumers and key stocks related to their health.

First off, we have the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Consumer Discretionary ETF. This ETF is full of consumer spending stocks of all types. Its holdings include Carnival Cruise Line, Chipotle, Marriott International, Ulta Beauty, General Motors, Airbnb, Lululemon, Expedia, Amazon, Home Depot, Nike, Starbucks, Ford, Ralph Lauren, and Hasbro.

It’s an equal-weight fund, so no one dominant company skews the return.

Plus, the companies above serve a large segment of mid- to upper-level consumers. It’s not heavily reliant on ultra-wealthy spending… or “ultra-poor” spending. Companies in this fund serve good old-fashioned red, white, and blue American consumers – the ones who drive a $90,000 Chevy Suburban, go on a $5,000 Caribbean cruise, drink a $6 latte, and wear $100 leggings.

Over the past month, high oil prices and rising interest rates have led to a big 8% decline in this key ETF. Plus, it sliced through its 200-day moving average and is now negative on the year. This weak price action in a diversified consumer ETF indicates consumers are pulling back. It’s a major negative for the economy.

Second, we have the SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF. Although this fund is labeled “homebuilders,” it is a much broader bet on the U.S. housing market than just companies that build homes. Less than half of it is actual homebuilders. A huge portion of it is in homebuilding materials and services related to plumbing, roofing, tiling, decking, furniture, insulation, paint, lighting and HVAC systems.

Thus, the fund’s fortunes rise and fall with America’s ability to finance home purchases, outdoor projects, kitchen remodels, new roofs, new patios, new bathrooms, and home additions.

Like RSPD, XHB has been hammered over the past month by high oil prices and rising interest rates. And like RSPD, it has sliced through its 200-day moving average.

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.

The weakness in these two critical stock market representatives of consumer health and happiness sends a loud message: The Iran War and its consequences of high oil prices, high diesel prices, and rising interest rates are harming the consumer and the U.S. economy.

---

Market Notes

• Our recommendation to get long oil and gas stocks continues to pay off. Oil giants Chevron (CVX), ConocoPhillips (COP), Shell (SHEL), Cenovus Energy (CVE), and Equinor (EQNR) reached new all-time highs today.

• Our recommendation to invest in cybersecurity is paying off. Cybersecurity leader Okta (OKTA) just reached a new yearly high now up 96% over the last year.

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

• Apparel and footwear giant Nike (NKE) reached a new one-year low today.

• Elevator giant Otis Worldwide (OTIS) reached a new one-year low today.

• Fast-food giant McDonald’s (MCD) reached a new one-year low today.

Regards,

Brian Hunt
Editor, Money & Megatrends

---

An urgent message from our colleagues:

Louis Navellier: My #1 AI stock for 2026 (name & ticker inside)

“I want to give you a free stock pick today. This company’s sales are up 28% year over year. It holds over 30,000 patents in wireless and video technology. And it just earned an A-rating in my proprietary Stock Grader system. That’s the same system that helped me flag Nvidia back in 2005 — before its 82,000% run. In fact, this system has identified the top-performing S&P 500 stock for 12 years running. Over the years, it has cost me $9 million to build and maintain. And right now, it’s flashing its highest possible rating on this AI play.” — Louis Navellier

Click here to see which AI stock my $9 million system is flagging right now, free.

The post The commodity bull market could create big winners here appeared first on MarketWise.

Everybody’s crowding into the same handful of AI chip names. Meanwhile, the actual bottleneck in the entire AI buildout is a metal that’s been around since the Bronze Age — copper. (Yes, the Chester Copper Pot metal, for my fellow Goonies fans. It always sneaks into my presentations.)

And this week copper did something it hasn’t done in a very long time: it printed a brand-new all-time high while the physical supply underneath it keeps getting thinner. As I’m writing this, three-month copper on the LME just tagged a record near $14,700 a ton (an intraday high around $14,694), capping its longest weekly winning streak since 1994. One of my favorite copper stocks is Freeport-McMoRan (FCX), and it’s up better than 7% on the day and roughly 44% on the year.

I’ve been pounding the table on the copper trade on Masters in Trading LIVE for weeks — and I put a real, defined-risk version of it (a specific FCX options play) in our free portfolio, live on the show, which I’ll show you the exact structure of below. Let me walk you through why first.

 AI Runs on Copper, and There Isn’t Enough of It

Here’s the part Wall Street keeps glossing over. An AI data center uses roughly 10 times the copper of a traditional data center. All that compute, all that power delivery, all that cabling — it runs on copper. And a new copper mine takes seven to ten years to build. Supply simply cannot catch up to this demand on any timeline that matters.

Now stack that AI demand on top of a supply chain that’s genuinely cracking:

• One year ago this week, a wet-material flood hit Freeport’s Grasberg mine in Indonesia — the world’s second-largest copper source — triggering a force majeure. Freeport has cut its 2026 output guidance at the complex by roughly a third, and a full recovery isn’t expected until 2027 or 2028.
• Chile, the world’s largest producer, just logged its weakest second quarter in at least 19 years and has cut its full-year forecast twice.
• Global mine output actually fell in the first half of the year. Morgan Stanley started 2026 expecting supply to grow and now sees it flat-to-down — which would be the first annual decline in mine supply since 2017.

As Evy Hambro, BlackRock’s Global Head of Thematic and Sector Investing, put it, existing copper operations are “tired, very, very old assets.” That’s the backdrop: warehouses draining, grades falling, and the biggest demand story of the decade just getting started.

The Copper Tariff Catalyst Nobody’s Fully Pricing In

This is where the edge lives. I don’t just want to be long a strong commodity — I want a known catalyst with a date on it. Copper has one.

Remember: a tariff is just a tax. Back in 2025, Washington slapped a 50% tariff on semi-finished copper products — pipes, wires, rods, sheets — plus copper-intensive derivatives like cables and connectors. But read the fine print: they didn’t tax raw input material or refined copper (cathode) itself. Not yet.

Here’s the timeline that matters:

• The Commerce Department’s deadline to recommend action on refined copper passed on June 30, and more than two months later the White House still hasn’t ruled.
• The recommendation on the table is a phased tax on refined copper — 15% in 2027 (possibly as soon as January), stepping up to 30% in 2028.
• Traders aren’t waiting for the ink to dry. Roughly 200,000 tons of refined copper flooded into the U.S. in July alone — the largest monthly inflow on record — pushing Comex inventories past 1 million tons as buyers race to beat that possible January duty.

When big money moves ahead of a known date, it tips its hand. That’s the footprint I follow. I learned that on the floor — I spent twenty-eight years as a market maker at the CBOE and a floor trader at the CME and CBOT, and all any trader is ever doing is positioning in front of the biggest players in the room. Copper is flashing that exact signal right now.

 The Edge: Only Two Copper Smelters Are Left in America

Here’s the nuance that separates the pros from the crowd. A tax on imported refined copper is a gift to the very few companies that turn raw material into finished copper on U.S. soil. And there are barely any left.

Industry testimony to Congress this year put it starkly: the U.S. ran 16 primary copper smelters in 1976. Today, just two are operational, with a third (Grupo México’s Asarco Hayden in Arizona) mothballed. That’s the entire domestic backbone for refining copper in the world’s largest economy — which is why the U.S. ships roughly a third of the copper it mines overseas to be processed, then buys it back as finished metal. Put a tariff on that finished metal, and you hand enormous pricing power to the two companies that still run a smelter here:

• Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) runs one of them (its Miami smelter in Arizona). It’s the largest U.S.-listed copper producer, it trades with deep, liquid options, and it’s my single favorite name in the space. The leverage is the story: by management’s own math, every 10-cent move in copper is worth about $390 million in annual EBITDA. It models ~$13 billion in EBITDA at $5 copper and ~$20 billion at $7 copper. Copper’s already trading north of $6.60 a pound. You do the math.
• Rio Tinto (RIO) owns the other (its Kennecott smelter in Utah). It’s a much bigger, more diversified major — so it’s a steadier, more indirect way to get exposure. Think of Rio as the lower-beta version of the same idea.

That’s the concentrated bet. Now let’s talk about the rest of the group — because not all copper stocks play this story the same way.

The Best Copper Stocks for AI (and the Ones to Approach With Caution)

Copper’s 2026 run has turned the big producers into what basically looks like one trade — the year-to-date returns are clustered in a tight band, which tells you this is a commodity move, not a company-execution move. Names to know:

• FCX (Freeport-McMoRan) — my top copper stock pick. Most direct U.S. smelter play, deepest options, biggest earnings leverage to the copper price.
• RIO (Rio Tinto) — the other U.S. smelter; bigger, steadier, more diversified.
• SCCO (Southern Copper) — a pure-play copper heavyweight, up roughly 45% on the year with monster EBITDA margins. Riding the same wave as FCX.
• TECK (Teck Resources) — also up ~45% YTD, part of that same tight cluster.

And then there’s the be-careful bucket. Plenty of copper names are just miners — they dig up raw copper and ship it overseas. A U.S. refined-copper tax doesn’t really touch them, and the foreign refiners can actually be hurt by it. That group includes names like Ero Copper (ERO), Hudbay (HBM), First Quantum, Ivanhoe, Capstone, plus the big overseas majors like Vale (VALE) and BHP. Great companies, plenty of them — but they don’t sit on the right side of this specific catalyst. Know what you own and why you own it.

What About Copper ETFs?

If you’d rather not pick a single name, the sector has clean ETF wrappers — just understand what each one actually gives you:

• COPX (Global X Copper Miners ETF) — a basket of copper miners worldwide. Great for broad exposure to the theme. The trade-off: it dilutes the U.S.-smelter edge, because it holds a lot of those overseas miners the tariff doesn’t help.
• CPER (United States Copper Index Fund) — tracks copper futures directly. This is your cleanest exposure to the metal itself rather than the equities. If your whole thesis is that the price of copper goes higher, this is the straightforward vehicle.
• COPJ (Sprott Junior Copper Miners ETF) — smaller, higher-beta junior miners. More torque, more risk.

The way I look at it: the copper ETFs are the easy button for just being in copper. But the edge — the concentrated, catalyst-driven bet — lives in the two American smelters, FCX and RIO. That’s the difference between owning the theme and owning the trade.

The Exact FCX Copper Trade I Shared Free on MiT Live

Here’s what makes our show different: I don’t just talk about copper — I put on a real trade in front of you, live, in our free portfolio — no paywall required to watch me do it. So let me show you exactly how I structured the FCX trade when I shared it on the show.

The setup was a vertical call spread in the January 2027 expiration:

• Buy the FCX 80 call
• Sell the FCX 105 call

At the time, that spread cost roughly $4.50 to put on — paying about $6 for the 80s and collecting about $1.50 for the 105s. And that number is your risk: in a defined-risk spread like this, the most you can lose is what you pay for it. So one spread risked about $450 — and you can never lose a dollar more than that, no matter what FCX does.

Now the reward. The spread is worth its full width — the 25 points between the 80 and 105 strikes, or $2,500 — if FCX finishes above 105. Subtract the $450 you paid, and the most you can make is about $2,050. That’s better than 4-to-1 — risk $450 to make $2,050 — with about 134 days for the thesis to play out. And it scales cleanly: a 10-lot risks about $4,500 to make about $20,500. Same ratio, just add a zero.

A few things I say every single day on the show:

• This is one trade, not two. Two legs, one position — a vertical call spread. Don’t manage it as a separate long option and short option.
• Options are just a derivative of the stock. Think of it as long from 80 and short from 105. If FCX is above your strike at expiration, you’re long from there; if it’s below, you’re not. That’s it — the internet loves to overcomplicate this.
• New to options? Paper-trade it. Write the trade down, follow FCX, and let your confidence build before you risk a dime.

Options prices move, so the fills above reflect the session when I shared it — and with copper and FCX both pushing to fresh highs since, the picture keeps evolving. But the structure is the lesson: a known catalyst, a strictly defined risk, and a reward that’s several times what you put up.

The Bottom Line on Copper Stocks

AI can’t run without copper. The world is running short of it. And Washington is sitting on a decision that could put a tax on it as soon as January. That’s a supply squeeze, a demand supercycle, and a known catalyst all stacked in one place — and the cleanest way to play it is the two companies that refine copper on American soil, starting with FCX.

Editor’s Note: Forbes calls $1 billion fund manager Louis Navellier “the king of quants.” Today, he’s stepping forward to reveal why he’s investing $358 million of his own firm’s money in the next stage of Artificial Intelligence… a technological sea-change that could erase millions of jobs, solve humanity’s biggest mysteries, and spark a wave of moneymaking opportunities — both in and outside the stock market. Click here for the details… 

Copper Stocks FAQ

Why are copper stocks going up?

Copper just printed a record near $14,700 a ton on the LME, capping its longest weekly winning streak since 1994, while the physical supply underneath keeps thinning. An AI data center uses roughly 10 times the copper of a traditional one, and a new mine takes seven to ten years to build. Demand is surging while supply stalls.

What does the copper tariff mean for copper stocks?

In 2025, Washington put a 50% tariff on semi-finished copper products but left refined copper untaxed, for now. A phased duty on refined copper is on the table, possibly 15% as soon as January 2027 and 30% in 2028. That would hand pricing power to the few companies that refine copper on U.S. soil.

What are the best copper stocks for AI?

The cleanest plays are the two companies that still refine copper on U.S. soil: Freeport-McMoRan (FCX), the largest U.S.-listed producer and the top pick, and Rio Tinto (RIO), a steadier, more diversified option. Southern Copper (SCCO) and Teck Resources (TECK) ride the same commodity wave, both up roughly 45% this year.

Is FCX a good copper stock to buy?

Freeport-McMoRan runs one of only two operational U.S. copper smelters, and its earnings leverage is the story. By management’s own math, every 10-cent move in copper is worth about $390 million in annual EBITDA, and it models around $20 billion at $7 copper. Copper is already trading north of $6.60 a pound.

Are there copper ETFs for the AI trade?

Yes. COPX (Global X Copper Miners) gives broad exposure but dilutes the U.S.-smelter edge with overseas miners. CPER (United States Copper Index Fund) tracks copper futures directly, the cleanest bet on the metal itself. COPJ (Sprott Junior Copper Miners) holds smaller, higher-beta names with more torque and more risk.

What are the risks of copper stocks?

Copper’s 2026 run is largely a commodity move, so the big producers trade like one bet and would fall together if copper retreats. Many copper names just mine raw metal and ship it overseas, so a U.S. refined-copper tariff does not help them and can even hurt foreign refiners. Know what you own and why.

Want to see the next setup like this before it goes on? I break down real, defined-risk trades live every weekday at 11 AM ET on Masters in Trading LIVE — real trades, real time, real community. Come hang out.

The post Time to Wake Up. Copper Stocks Are the AI Trade Everyone’s Sleeping On. appeared first on MarketWise.