What’s an ETF?

As a quick reminder, an exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a financial product that tracks an underlying index, sector, or asset class. If a stock were a fruit then buying an ETF is a bit like buying a fruit basket, you get many small pieces from lots of different fruits.

Many investors prefer buying ETFs because they help you easily diversify your portfolio. Buying shares of an ETF essentially means you never have to worry about picking the right stocks.

For example, let’s say that you’re bullish on the future of AI. But, you aren’t sure which company(s) will emerge as leaders in AI over the coming years and you don’t want to risk investing in the wrong companies. In this case, you could simply invest in an ETF that tracks a range of AI stocks instead of trying to handpick certain companies.

You can read more about how ETF investing works here. Now, let’s discuss Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD).

What is SCHD?

The Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF is a passive ETF whose goal is to “track as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the total return of the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index.” This means that SCHD tracks the top 100 biggest, most reliable dividend-paying companies in America.

Buying shares in this fund is a low-cost and tax-efficient way for investors to get access to some of the most financially stable companies that pay consistent, reliable dividends. If you buy shares in SCHD then you won’t have to worry about researching individual dividend stocks. 

Additionally, an expense ratio of 0.06% means you will only pay $0.60 in fees for every $1,000 that you invest. This is much lower than many actively managed funds. But, still not as cheap as doing your own research.

The SCHD focuses on the quality and sustainability of dividends, mainly looking for companies that increase their dividends over time. Its five biggest holdings are:

1. Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) which makes up 4.12% of the index
2. AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) which makes up 4.11% of the index
3. Home Depot (NYSE: HD) which makes up 4.06% of the index
4. Amgen (Nasdaq: AMGN) which makes up 4.04% of the index
5. Chevron (NYSE: CVX) which makes up 4.04% of the index

This stock-based index is most concentrated in the following five industries:

1. Financials which makes up 17.42% of the index 
2. Healthcare which makes up 15.71% of the index 
3. Consumer Staples which makes up 13.89% of the index 
4. Industrials which makes up 13.51% of the index 
5. Energy which makes up 12.84% of the index 

Should You Buy SCHD?

This depends on your investment strategy and goals. However, if you’re an investor looking to get exposure to a wide range of high-quality dividend stocks then SCHD certainly presents a good solution. This fund has a long and proven history of consistently increasing its dividend payout. 

Here’s a quick snapshot of its dividend payments over the past few years (it pays dividends quarterly):

• Q1 2024: $0.8241 per share
• Q1 2023: $0.5965 per share
• Q1 2022: $0.5176 per share
• Q1 2021: $0.5026 per share
• Q1 2020: $0.4419 per share

You can see that the fund has consistently increased its dividend payments over the years. However, there were a few quarters where dividend payments dipped (mainly, in the wake of the 2020 pandemic). 

Since 2020, SCHD’s stock price has also increased by roughly 34%. This shows the year-over-year dividend and stock appreciation growth that you can expect to experience from this fund. But, remember that past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

That said, a dividend ETF like SCHD might not be the best choice for investors with a longer time horizon. If you plan to keep your money invested for a longer period of time (say, 10 years or more) then you might be better off sticking with a regular ETF. 

Dividend ETFs Vs Stock Market ETFs

Dividend ETFs are popular for their ability to reliably pay money to investors via dividends. Some investors rely on these dividends for income. But, many investors choose to reinvest the dividends back into the fund. If your goal is long-term capital appreciation then you might be better off going with a general stock market ETF.

Stock market ETFs can often outperform dividend ETFs. For example, consider an ETF like the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (Nysearca: SPY) which tracks the overall performance of the S&P 500. Or, the Fidelity NASDAQ Composite Index ETF (Nasdaq: ONEQ) which tracks tech-centric NASDAQ index. Here’s how these two ETFs have fared against the SCHD since 2020:

• SCHD: 34%
• SPY: 70%
• ONEQ: 101%

Dividend ETFs are great because they reliably pay dividends. But, they also tend to track later-stage companies whose high-growth periods are behind them. This means that they could miss out on sector-specific rallies – such as the recent artificial intelligence rally. This is why dividend ETFs can often underperform the broader market, in terms of stock price appreciation. However, keep in mind that the above returns do not factor in reinvested dividends, so it’s not entirely an apples-to-apples comparison.

Ultimately, SCHD is a great choice for investors who are looking for an ETF that reliably pays increasingly growing dividends. But, it might not be the best idea for investors who prioritize stock price appreciation and have a longer time horizon.

You can learn more about ETF investing here:

1. 5 Monthly Dividend ETFs for Income Portfolios 
2. ETFs That Short the Market
3. ETFs: Pros and Cons

I hope that you’ve found this article valuable when it comes to learning about SCHD and whether or not you should buy it. If you’re interested in learning more then please subscribe below to get alerted of new investment opportunities from InvestmentU.

Disclaimer: This article is for general informational and educational purposes only. It should not be construed as financial advice as the author, Ted Stavetski, is not a financial advisor. Ted also did not own shares of SCHD at the time of writing.

The post SCHD: Should You Buy Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF? appeared first on Investment U.

We techno geeks have probably been thinking about computer capabilities since we first laid eyes on HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Coincidentally, this movie came out only four years after the first supercomputer was developed in 1964.

And just recently our minds are blown once again…

If you caught Netflix’s new movie AfrAId this past weekend, AIA the digital family assistant (a supercomputer) tries to endear itself to the mother of the family by helping with her doctoral dissertation by reading her previous thesis… in .007 seconds.

How? Quantum computing.

The AI was calculating everything in the house using all the tech at its disposal … chores … schedules … even the hostile takeover of a company!

Watching the drama play out from the comfort of my living room, it struck me that even Hollywood was beginning to realize the world-changing potential of quantum computing…

Our Quantum Future Arrived Sooner than Expected

When I told the audience at our Total Wealth Symposium in Orlando this February that quantum computing would be the biggest breakthrough of the second half of this decade, I didn’t think the trend would take off as quickly as it did.

I underestimated the fact that technology comes at us faster than we can think…

During my presentation, I shared this key visual:

Source: IONQ Analyst Day 2023 Presentation

As you can see, human progress moved along at a glacial pace throughout most of our history.

Then it started to pick up during the Industrial Age, thanks to electric power, assembly-line manufacturing and automobiles.

The information age only increased the speed of progress from there — but that still pales in comparison to what’s coming once Quantum becomes a reality.

And tech giant Google just achieved what many thought impossible: a quantum computer that can complete calculations beyond the reach of traditional supercomputers.

Their latest machine, powered by a chip called Willow, performed a calculation in under five minutes that would take today’s most powerful supercomputer 10 septillion years — longer than the age of the universe itself.

This breakthrough ends years of debate over quantum supremacy, a milestone Google first claimed in 2019. Back then, critics questioned their achievement, and advancing classical computers eventually matched their quantum computer’s capabilities.

But this is a whole new kind of breakthrough — and the benefit benefit for investors will be enormous…

Google Turns Quantum Computing into A Reality

At the heart of this achievement lies the mind-bending world of quantum mechanics. While traditional computers process information in bits (1s and 0s), quantum computers use quantum bits, or “qubits.”

These qubits harness quantum mechanics’ strange properties, allowing them to exist in multiple states simultaneously. To make this work, Google chills exotic metals to nearly 460 degrees below zero.

More significant than raw computational power is Google’s mastery of error correction — a challenge that has plagued quantum computing since its conception in the 1980s. They’ve crossed the “error correction threshold,” a milestone scientists have pursued for decades.

In market terms, this is like moving from proof-of-concept to a scalable product.

The stakes couldn’t be higher. As Google pushes forward, other tech giants including Microsoft, Intel and IBM are developing their own quantum systems. There are also smaller startup companies nipping at their heels.

Meanwhile, China has committed over $15.2 billion to quantum research.

This isn’t just a technological race — it’s a battle for market dominance.

Each company takes a different approach. While Google, IBM and Intel work with superconducting qubits, other labs experiment with light particles or trapped ions.

From an investment perspective, this diversity of approaches presents both opportunities and risks.

Despite this breakthrough, we’re not quite there yet.

The calculation Google’s machine performed was designed specifically to test quantum capabilities — not to solve real-world problems. The technology still makes too many errors for practical applications.

Yet as Harvard physics professor and QuEra co-founder Mikhail Lukin stated: “What has happened over the last year shows that it is no longer science fiction.” When quantum computers reach their potential, they’ll revolutionize everything from drug discovery to artificial intelligence.

They might also crack current encryption methods, adding urgency to the global race for quantum supremacy.

As I told my audience in Orlando, quantum computing represents the next great technological frontier.

And the smart money is already positioning for this shift. The quantum future isn’t some distant possibility — it’s unfolding right now, and the market implications are impossible to ignore.

Until next time,

Ian King
Chief Strategist, Strategic Fortunes

As income-focused investors look for ways to generate higher returns in a volatile market, the question often arises: What is a high yield ETF, and how does it compare to owning individual stocks? One category gaining attention is option income ETFs — particularly the YieldMax suite, which includes ETFs like MSTY, based on MicroStrategy (MSTR).

In this article, we’ll examine what high yield ETFs are, how the YieldMax strategy works, and how MSTY has performed over the last year compared to directly holding MSTR stock. The goal is to understand the trade-offs between high monthly income and total return, especially in a year marked by market volatility.

Understanding High Yield ETFs

A high yield ETF is an exchange-traded fund that prioritizes income generation, typically offering annualized yields that far exceed those of traditional dividend-paying funds. These ETFs may invest in high-yield corporate bonds, preferred stocks, or, in the case of YieldMax ETFs, use options-based strategies to enhance income.

YieldMax ETFs do not own the underlying stocks directly. Instead, they use derivatives to simulate long exposure to a stock and then generate income by systematically selling call options. This strategy produces steady monthly cash flow but limits upside participation if the stock rises sharply.

The Strategy Behind MSTY

MSTY, the YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF, is designed to deliver income by writing call options on a synthetic long position in MicroStrategy (MSTR). This approach enables the fund to:

• Generate monthly option premium income

• Distribute that income to shareholders as high-yield monthly dividends

• Mitigate capital requirements by not holding the underlying stock

This is an appealing strategy for income-focused investors, especially when the underlying stock is volatile — which MicroStrategy is, due to its significant Bitcoin exposure.

Performance Comparison: MSTY vs. MSTR (April 2024 – April 2025)

Over the past 12 months, both MSTY and MSTR delivered strong returns, but for different reasons. Here’s a breakdown of their performance:

While MSTY provided significant income that helped smooth out volatility, its capped upside resulted in lower total return than owning MSTR outright. Investors who held MSTR captured more of the stock’s sharp rise, especially during Bitcoin rallies.

Key Trade-Offs: Income vs. Growth

The primary difference between MSTY and MSTR lies in income generation versus growth potential. MSTY is built for consistent yield through options premiums, while MSTR is a volatile asset with high potential upside — and high downside risk. Importantly, MSTY’s performance will lag significantly if the underlying stock makes a sustained breakout due to the call option caps.

For instance, when MicroStrategy surged over 70% during Bitcoin’s rise from late 2023 into early 2024, MSTY captured only a portion of that rally due to the option overlay. However, in periods of flat or declining markets, MSTY’s income-generating strategy may outperform pure equity exposure on a risk-adjusted basis.

Tax Considerations and Risks

Investors should be aware that high yield ETFs using options may introduce complex tax implications. Distributions may not qualify as qualified dividends and could include return of capital or short-term capital gains.

Additionally, the risk of capital loss remains. If the underlying stock declines significantly, the income from selling options may not be enough to offset portfolio losses. This makes risk management and proper position sizing crucial when investing in ETFs like MSTY.

Conclusion: Is MSTY a High Yield ETF Worth Considering?

To answer the question, “What is a High Yield ETF?” — MSTY represents a modern, options-based answer. It fits within a growing category of derivative-enhanced income ETFs that aim to provide high monthly payouts in exchange for limited price appreciation.

In the past year, MSTY performed admirably, delivering over 45% total return, even amid market fluctuations. However, it underperformed the underlying stock, MSTR, which gained nearly 74% due to the full benefit of rising Bitcoin prices and investor sentiment.

For income-focused investors who prefer a rules-based, option-selling approach with limited upside and enhanced cash flow, MSTY can be a useful tool. For those seeking full exposure to high-growth, high-volatility assets like MicroStrategy — and who are willing to accept the risks — direct stock ownership remains the better path.

The post What Is a High Yield ETF? appeared first on Investment U.

These stars are given to restaurants with exceptional food. Out of over 15 million restaurants worldwide, fewer than 16,000 have earned a Michelin star — just 0.10%.

Michelin-star chefs like Alain Ducasse, Gordon Ramsay and Massimo Bottura are not just cooks. They are global celebrities who have transformed fine dining.

What fascinates me is how these chefs take simple, everyday ingredients and turn them into masterpieces. Even if you had their recipes, recreating the same dishes would be extremely difficult.

Why?

Because great chefs don’t just follow recipes — they adapt as they cook.

They tweak flavors, adjust techniques and make decisions based on years of experience. Many of these steps come naturally to professionals but are unknown to most home cooks.

The same idea applies to system trading.

Build Systems That Adapt

When I started building rules-based trading systems in the early 1980s, I was lucky to meet Bruce Kovner (net worth $7.7 billion), a hedge fund manager.

Kovner founded Caxton Associates in 1983 and grew to manage over $14 billion at its peak. Since 1992, the firm has been closed to new investors.

I met him through his brother Richard, who I worked with. When Richard introduced us, I had no idea who Bruce was. He seemed like a college professor — calm and unassuming.

But after just a few minutes of talking, I realized he was a market wizard.

I asked him if he had any advice for a young man in his 20s who was trying to build trading systems.

He smiled and said, “A great system is one that constantly adapts.”

At the time, I didn’t fully understand what he meant, but I never forgot it.

Over the years, his advice proved to be brilliant. Financial markets are always changing and trading systems must evolve to keep up.

Beating the Market

When I built my newest system, Profit Accelerator, I tested its rules on 20 years of historical data.

It performed incredibly well in the lab, but the real challenge was determining how it would perform in real-world conditions.

Now, it’s approaching its one-year anniversary. And the system is outperforming expectations. It’s up more than 104%, beating the S&P 500 by 3.5X.

Profit Accelerator was built using publicly available research.

The idea that momentum outperforms in markets is well-known, as is the fact that smoother momentum (rather than jumpy momentum) tends to be more predictive.

These concepts are backed by Nobel Prize-winning research and are available to anyone willing to dig into them.

But just as a home cook can’t perfectly replicate a Michelin-star chef’s recipe, the same is true for building and executing trading systems.

The difference lies in the small details and expert tweaks that only come with years of experience.

It’s not just about following the rules — it’s about knowing when to adjust them to maximize performance. Those fine-tuned decisions make all the difference.

If you want a chance to look over my shoulder while you try out my newest trading system, go here and I’ll show you how to get started.  

Regards,

Charles Mizrahi
Founder, Alpha Investor

In a yield-starved market, income-seeking investors have gravitated toward option-based ETFs—funds that combine underlying exposures (equities, crypto, etc.) with derivative overlays (often writing or selling covered call options) to deliver monthly or regular distributions. NEOs ETF (NEOS Investments’ suite) , YieldMax ETFs are two competing high yield etfs in this evolving corner of the income ETF landscape.

While the income potential is alluring, the mechanics, risk tradeoffs, and tax consequences differ significantly. In this article, we:

• Compare NEOs ETF strategies with YieldMax ETFs,

• Break down three flagship NEOs ETFs (SPYI, QQQI, BTCI),

• Examine their performance, yield, risk, and ideal use cases

NEOs ETF vs YieldMax ETFs: Strategic Differences

What Are YieldMax ETFs?

YieldMax ETFs are built around synthetic or derivative-based exposures to high-volatility assets (e.g., Tesla, MicroStrategy, Coinbase) and generate income by systematically writing call options. As InvestmentU notes, “YieldMax ETFs do not own the underlying stocks directly. Instead, they use derivatives to simulate long exposure … then generate income by systematically selling call options.” Investment U

These funds often tout extremely high yields—but these come with elevated risk of NAV erosion, especially when the underlying asset price shifts adversely. *InvestmentU’s “YieldMax ETFs and Alternatives” article illustrates how spectacular returns come at the cost of concentration and volatility. Investment U

What Are NEOs ETFs?

In contrast, the NEOs ETF family from NEOS Investments tends to pair broader benchmarks or crypto exposures (like S&P 500, Nasdaq-100, Bitcoin) with option strategies to harvest premium and provide monthly income. Because of the broader base, the volatility and idiosyncratic concentration risk can be lower (relative to single-stock exposures) — though the derivative overlay still adds complexity.

Head-to-Head: YieldMax vs NEOs ETF

One warning often flagged by industry voices (and echoed in ETF commentary) is that yields vastly exceeding what the underlying markets can typically support may be unsustainable — in effect, the fund could be returning capital just to meet distribution promises.

Although both strategies offer income, yield-chasing without attention to risk and sustainability can backfire.

SPYI: NEOs S&P 500 High Income ETF

What Is SPYI?

SPYI is NEOS’s flagship “high income” ETF built on the S&P 500 index + an option overlay (mostly covered calls) to generate monthly income.

Performance & Yield

• Since its launch (August 2022), SPYI’s NAV-based annualized return has hovered around ~14.08% (as of August 2025).

• Market price returns are similar, indicating modest premium/discount inversion effects.

• Its distribution yield is attractive compared to traditional equity income funds, though a large share of distributions may be classified as Return of Capital (ROC), which erodes cost basis.

Strengths & Risks

• Strengths: Broad U.S. equity exposure with income overlay; less concentration risk than niche or single-stock income strategies; established enough to show some track record.

• Risks:
   1. Capped upside in strong bull markets (option writing sacrifices some gains).
   2. ROC-heavy distributions complicate tax planning and reduce cost basis over time.
   3. In severe drawdowns, option premiums may not offer full protection.
   4. Liquidity and bid-ask spreads may add execution risk.

Read Next: 5 Monthly Dividend ETFs for Income Portfolios

QQQI: NEOs Nasdaq-100 High Income ETF

What Is QQQI?

QQQI offers exposure to the Nasdaq-100 index plus option overlays, targeting higher yield and income by leveraging the tech/growth tilt of Nasdaq.

Performance & Yield

• Launched more recently (January 2024), its shorter track record shows stronger nominal returns versus SPYI in many comparison periods.

• For instance, in mid-2025, QQQI’s YTD performance outpaced SPYI in many metrics, though at the cost of higher volatility and drawdowns.

• Volatility metrics show QQQI typically has higher standard deviation and deeper maximum drawdowns than SPYI (e.g. ~−20% vs ~−16%) in observed periods.

Strengths & Risks

• Strengths: Higher income potential (due to volatility of underlying); more upside capture in certain tech rallies (despite option drag).

• Risks: More concentrated sector risk (tech-heavy exposure); option overlay may clip aggressive upside gains; newer history means less stress-tested; same ROC / tax issues as SPYI.

BTCI: NEOs Bitcoin High Income ETF

What Is BTCI?

BTCI is NEOS’s venture into crypto: it provides exposure to Bitcoin (via ETPs / crypto proxies) and overlays option strategies on that exposure to generate monthly income.

Performance & Yield

• Launched in October 2024.

• As of August 2025:
   - Its distribution rate (based on the most recent payout) has approached ~28%.
   - Cumulative returns since inception have been robust (≈ +49.5% in NAV terms in that span).
   - Its market price has generally traded near NAV, with small premiums/discounts (~0.10%).

• However, a large portion of distributions are estimated to be Return of Capital (ROC ~ 95%), significantly affecting tax basis.

Strengths & Risks

• Strengths: Exposure to crypto upside combined with income overlay, which few other products directly offer.

• Risks:
   1. Bitcoin’s inherent volatility is dramatic—option overlay may buffer but won’t eliminate large swings.
   2. Option overlay on crypto is more complex (less mature derivatives markets, liquidity, correlation mismatches).
   3. ROC heavy distributions erode basis, complicating tax and long-term return.
   4. Limited historical track record, especially through crypto downturns.

How to Think About Fit: Use Cases & Allocation Strategy

Diversification & Correlation

• SPYI and QQQI tend to move together (high correlation), so using both adds limited hedging benefit.

• BTCI can offer diversification from equities, but at the cost of substantially higher volatility.

Yield vs Growth Tradeoff

• For income-focused investors, all three are appealing income vehicles—but the income comes with trade-offs: capped upside, ROC erosion, and higher risk.

• In strong bull markets, traditional equity ETFs may outperform due to less drag from option overlays.

Tactical Use Cases

• Income sleeve: In a total-return core portfolio, NEOs ETFs may fill the “income generating” slot rather than the core equity slot.

• Range-bound / sideways markets: Option-laden strategies tend to shine when underlying assets are neither raging upwards nor crashing.

• Tax-efficient allocations: Given heavy ROC distributions, NEOs ETFs may be better held in tax-deferred accounts (e.g. IRAs) rather than taxable accounts.

YieldMax vs NEOs: When One May Edge Out the Other

• If you’re comfortable taking concentrated bets and want maximum yield, YieldMax might be alluring—but the risk of capital erosion is real 

• For investors who prefer somewhat broader exposure with less single-stock risk, NEOs ETFs offer a more balanced exposure to option-based income.

Conclusion

NEOs ETF and YieldMax ETFs represent two flavor variants of the growing options income ETF space. The NEOs suite (SPYI, QQQI, BTCI, etc) tends to favor broader benchmarks over single-stock concentration, which may offer a more tempered risk profile while still delivering high distribution yields. YieldMax ETFs, by contrast, aggressively lean into yield via concentrated exposures and option overlays—but they also carry a greater danger of capital erosion and volatility risk.

If I were advising you, I’d treat SPYI, QQQI, and BTCI as tools within the “income / alternative” sleeve of a diversified portfolio, not as replacements for core equity or fixed-income holdings. And I’d lean toward holding them in tax-advantaged accounts to minimize the drag from ROC distributions.

The post NEOs ETFs: The new Income machine appeared first on Investment U.

“Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.”

Originally referencing the magic of physics, this observation has since taken on a larger meeting.

It’s become a metaphor for how the prepared mind can achieve a seemingly impossible goal, provided you have the right tools, and you know how to use them.

From performing open-heart surgery to piloting a cross-country flight, all the modern miracles we now take for granted are a result of this simple, ancient formula.

And nowhere is this old saying truer than in the world of Systematic Investing…

For most of our lives, investing systems have seemed like the province of the expert.

This is especially true of the last decade-and-a-half — with endless reports of Wall Street recruiting an army of coders and mathematicians to build out the advanced trading systems (“quants”) that now dominate short-term trading.

We see so many headlines about quants and algorithmic traders, you’d be forgiven for thinking there’s no use in trying to keep up.

But in reality, investors like us now have a greater technological advantage than ever before. And if you choose the right system to meet your goals — then the sky is truly the limit.

Here, I’ll show you what I mean…

Building Your Portfolio Around a Strong, Systematic Foundation

I’ve been working with investing systems throughout my career, and the vast majority of these different systems all had one nearly-fatal flaw:

Accessibility.

There’s simply no way around it. Most systems were designed by professionals for professionals. These systems come with an assumption that you’ll have plenty of time for endless tweaking and back-testing to optimize your returns.

That simply isn’t a reality for most of the investors I work with. Most of my readers would rather spend their free time traveling, playing a round of golf, or making memories with their family.

The key to success with any system is consistent application. If it’s not a system you can stick to, then it’s not a system that will deliver predictable results … simple as that.

That’s why I built my core Green Zone Power Ratings system around that one key feature; accessibility.

I set out to build the type of system that anyone — even my 95-year-old grandmother — could use to guide their investments.

So instead of having to parse through 75 different factors in six key categories (including both technical and fundamental research), all you have to do is look up a ticker symbol to get a score from 0 (worst) to 100 (best):

Example Green Zone Power Rating for Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA)

The score is even further simplified into bullish, bearish, or neutral (as is the case for Tesla).

As a result, you can essentially “shortcut” long hours of stock research and get a simple signal to show whether a stock is even worth considering.

And if that was all you did, using Green Zone Power Ratings to guide all your investing, my studies show that you’d beat the S&P 500 by 3-to-1.

Believe it or not, beating the market by that kind of margin is relatively conservative for a system (as you’ll see in a moment).

The Green Zone Power Ratings system is exclusively available via the Money & Markets website to subscribers of Green Zone Fortunes, my newsletter where I highlight and recommend one of the market’s top-rated stocks each month.

Aiming Higher … for 10X Gains

What happens when we push our investing system even further?

What are the highest possible gains we can target using only equity (aka stocks)? No options, crypto, NFTs or other dodgy investments?

The answer to that question is 10X Stocks…

10X Stocks uses a streamlined version of my Green Zone Power Ratings System. Except instead of being optimized for accessibility, it’s built to target massive, 10X gains within a one to five year timeline. If Green Zone Fortunes is a reliable family automobile, then 10X Stocks is a Formula One car.

I realize it’s easy to get skeptical at the mere thought of it. Exclusively targeting 10X Stocks? It sounds ambitious to say the least.

Just like driving a Formula One car, this kind of 10X investing takes a little more willpower. Smaller stocks are more volatile, so they’re more prone to sharp up-and-down price swings.

To account for this, I always recommend selling the first half of a position as it crosses the first 100% gain threshold.

So when one of your 10X Stocks positions grows from $10,000 to $20,000, you’ll sell off half and recover the entirety of your initial investment. From there you’re “playing with house money,” as the saying goes, so it becomes far easier to whether a few years of sharp ups and downs.

This year alone, we closed out four different positions for 100%+ gains, and we’re already on the verge of our next 1,000% gain.

Taking Systematic Investing Further Than Ever Before

As you can see, systematic investing is all about choosing the right tool for the job (and knowing how to use it) …

If you’ve got a stock portfolio that’s in need of a little updating, then Green Zone Fortunes can streamline that process — with instant ratings for each of your holdings and new recommendations to help you beat the market year in and year out, even if you’re not an active investor.

For more active and advanced investors who want to target even bigger gains, there’s 10X Stocks.

We’re investing at an earlier stage in the company’s lifecycle — which can lead to higher returns at the expense of slightly higher volatility. It’s a trade-off, but one we can manage (as we have in 2024).

It’s also possible to take this approach even further, using the same systematic approach to target top investments before they’re even available to the public — and multiplying your gains in turn. Get the full story on this breakout new system here.

To good profits,

Adam O’Dell

Chief Investment Strategist,

Money & Markets

Look at the full stadium:

Now, picture this.

AI has the potential to generate enough wealth — right here in the United States — to mint 22,000 new millionaires every 30 days, from now until the end of the decade.

22,000 millionaires a month … that’s more than enough to fill Madison Square Garden.

I don’t make predictions, claims or forecasts. But I have research showing me where this is heading…

In 2023, the AI industry’s revenue was $208 billion.

By 2030, it’s projected to reach $1.85 trillion.

That’s roughly a 9X increase in seven years:

So, all the money we made in AI last year … all the huge stock run-ups … all the big returns … they are just a mere drop in the bucket of what’s coming…

How We Got NVIDIA Early

Let me be clear … you are not too late.

In fact, you are right there in the early innings.

Because while everyone is focusing on the AI market of the past few years…

I’ve created an “AI Money Map” that shows what’s set to happen next.

This Map helped investors get into the 800-pound gorilla of AI NVIDIA early.

In December 2020, I told my readers to “back up the truck” and buy.

Since then, it’s up roughly 900%.

Now, my Money Map is making a huge pivot.

It’s saying chip stocks, data centers and most of the other hot AI stocks are going to catch investors off guard…

The time to get into those stocks was three or four years ago.

But business, like nature, is never static.

Right now, every Big Tech company and their mother are nipping at their heels.

They all want a piece of NVIDIA’s 80% market share, and they are working like the devil to get it.

My point is, most investors have their eyes fixed on the rearview mirror when the real opportunity is right in front of them.

They are going to miss out on making as much money as they should from this mega boom.

Because if you make the right investments now, you could walk away wealthier than you ever thought possible.

So, the $64,000 question is: what should you be investing in right now for the chance to make the biggest returns over the next few years?

That’s where my AI Money Map comes in. The answer is in the Map.

AI Stocks to Buy

For this holiday season, I want to share a gift with you.

Here’s a sneak peek at one of the AI stocks from my American Prosperity Report portfolio that has the potential to soar with AI in 2025 and beyond.

Now, if you want more information and updates on this stock, please click here and subscribe so you don’t miss out.

If you want exposure to the AI mega trend, you can buy Alphabet (GOOGL).

Alphabet’s CEO Sundar Pichai says when it comes to AI, “When you go through a curve like this, the risk of underinvesting is dramatically greater than the risk of overinvesting.”

Alphabet has increased its spending (with plans to go even bigger in 2025), focusing on AI tools like Bard and integrating AI into its core search and advertising businesses.

But if you want more, my new AI Money Map lays out all the details on four more under-the-radar AI stocks.

To unlock the Map, just go here and I’ll show you how.

Regards,

Charles Mizrahi
Founder, Alpha Investor

This was back in 1999. A close friend was raising two young kids, and he’d just started shopping on the internet to save some time.

He was ecstatic about how much time he was saving. And he was blown away that he could tap a few keys on his computer … then have his purchases delivered to his doorstep about a week later.

Of course, Amazon was little more than a glorified bookstore back then.

This was a decade before Apple released its first smartphone.

About a third of Americans had a cell phone at the time.

And only 12% of Americans had internet access.

These were the early days of the Internet Revolution.

Even though folks like my friend could tell there was some value to the new technology — no one would’ve guessed how much it would ultimately transform our lives.

Amazon is now a retail juggernaut, second only to Walmart, with $1.6 billion in daily sales revenue.

Tech juggernauts like Google, Facebook and Netflix emerged to create trillions of dollars in market capitalization and make unprecedented fortunes for faithful investors.

But back in 1999 or 2000, it was impossible to know just how diverse and profitable this new technology would become.

Fast forward to 2024 — and we’re right back in that same position…

We’ve just been through the exciting first phase of the AI revolution.

And it’s only a matter of time before this radical new technology transforms our everyday lives.

Before that can happen, there are THREE critical factors AI innovators will need to master.

(The third one might surprise you…)

3 Critical Factors for the Next Stage of the AI Revolution

With the launch of ChatGPT on November 30, 2022, the first phase of the AI revolution was off to the races.

ChatGPT was the first “killer app” of the AI revolution.

It put the power of large language models (LLM) into the hands of everyday internet users, and people loved it.

The site reached 100 million users in just two months, proving there was a market for AI-powered tools.

A handful of mega-cap tech companies were clear frontrunners in this race since they already had a head start. These stocks are the “Magnificent Seven” that saw their shares soar steadily through 2023.

And while a few of these Magnificent Seven stocks are soaring, others aren’t.

So, in some ways, it seems the initial “hype” phase of the AI boom is cooling off.

Much like the internet boom of the early 2000s, consumers and investors are getting over their initial sense of awe and excitement and are now trying to find real value in AI.

Some investors are finding that value in the hardware that will power the AI revolution.

Nvidia has a clear advantage in this area because it is the world’s leading manufacturer of graphics processing units (GPUs).

As the name implies, these GPUs are crucial for creating graphics, video, and images — rendering the visual effects we see in Hollywood blockbusters and our favorite streaming shows. They’re also critical for 3D modeling, architectural design and dozens of other real-world applications.

GPUs use a process called “parallel computing” to make the magic happen. It involves thousands of individual cores working in sync to complete massive computations simultaneously.

Where your computer’s CPU might have four or eight processor cores, the latest Nvidia card has 16,384 cores all working in tandem.

That’s precisely the kind of next-level processing power AI programs will need.

But the hardware is nothing without good software. And that’s where Microsoft is in the lead.

Microsoft famously inked a $10 billion deal with OpenAI, the company that created ChatGPT. And it has already started integrating AI assistants into platforms like Bing and Skype.

With Windows still installed on 72% of all computers worldwide, Microsoft has a massive advantage in dominating the AI copilot market.

Ben Reitzes from Melius Research argued that Microsoft might already “own the most valuable AI real estate” and that the company’s advantage “currently isn’t quantifiable.”

There are already clear frontrunners in both the hardware and software of the AI revolution.

But that still leaves out one critical part of the formula. Something absolutely crucial for every single computer program, platform and online business…

The Key to Unlocking Next-Level AI

Think about it…

Before you browse a single webpage or download a single email, you have to hit your computer’s “power” button and wait patiently as it boots up.

If you’re reading this article on a tablet or a smartphone, then you’ll have to remember to recharge your device at the end of the day.

Power is something that most of us take for granted … because it’s always there.

Flip on a light switch or plug in a charger, and you’re good to go.

We rarely stop to think about the impact of our daily browsing and scrolling.

The simple reality is that it takes massive amounts of power to keep the internet up and running on a day-to-day basis.

According to Thunder Said Energy, internet activity soaked up 800 terawatt hours of electricity in 2022.

By 2025, the IT industry is projected to use up to 20% of all electricity produced worldwide.

Compare that to China — the most populous country in the world, with 1.4 billion residents — which only consumes slightly more power (26% of the total global market).

That’s right … your favorite websites, apps and streaming services collectively consume nearly as much power as the entire country of China!

But as stunning as these numbers are, they still don’t hold a candle to the unprecedented, power-hungry AI platforms that are right around the next corner.

That’s why Amazon, Google and Microsoft have all recently made commitments to landmark nuclear power projects, including small modular reactors (SMRs) and even restarting the dormant reactor at Three Mile Island.

Each of these Big Tech companies has realized that dominating the AI Revolution in 2025 won’t just be about having the best hardware or software … but also about having access to as much power as possible to drive their colossal research efforts…

To good profits,

Adam O’Dell

Chief Investment Strategist,

Money & Markets

Pete and I went live again last night to bring you important details about a MAJOR move that’s about to happen in the crypto space this coming Monday.

There’s still time for you to rewatch last night’s urgent Zoom briefing here .

The last time we did this bitcoin (BTC) rocketed up nearly 10% in only one week.

And I believe an even bigger move move could happen as soon as next week…

So I thought I’d use today’s issue to prepare you for what’s coming.

Let’s start with MicroStrategy (Nasdaq: MSTR) a business-intelligence software company that’s been around for over three decades.

You might have seen MicroStrategy in the news recently, but it’s not for anything the company is doing in the software sector.

That’s because MicroStrategy is barely a software company anymore.

Remember how big a deal it was last week when Microsoft shareholders voted on whether the company should buy bitcoin as an asset class?

Well, MicroStrategy has been buying bitcoin for nearly five years.

Back in 2020 MicroStrategy’s then-CEO Michael Saylor made the bold decision to start acquiring bitcoin as a potential hedge against inflation.

And the company kept buying bitcoin — even as its price fluctuated.

It was a risky move. But so far the decision has paid off in spades for MicroStrategy.

As chairman, Saylor has overseen a massive surge in the company’s stock price over the past five years.

This year alone the company’s shares are up as high as 521%.

Of course, this incredible stock story has nothing to do with the company’s software business.

By one estimate, MicroStrategy’s value per share of its software business represents only 0.3% of the stock price.

But the company’s bitcoin business is booming!

It’s so important to MicroStrategy’s business that the company had to come up with a new performance indicator.

It’s called “bitcoin yield.”

And it tracks the percentage change over time in the ratio of the company’s bitcoin holdings to its assumed diluted shares outstanding.

But you don’t need to understand how “bitcoin yield” works to understand why I urged Pete to join me for another live briefing last night.

All you need to know is that MicroStrategy now owns more than 2% of bitcoin’s total supply…

A supply that’s capped at 21 million coins.

And that brings me to Monday’s big move…

What’s Happening On Monday?

On December 23, MicroStrategy will enter the Nasdaq-100.

It’s a stock market index reserved for the largest 100 nonfinancial companies in the full Nasdaq Composite Index by market capitalization.

And it’s a big deal.

You see, MicroStrategy became eligible to join the Nasdaq-100 because it’s technically a software company.

But as I just showed you, it owes most of its market cap to the company’s bitcoin investment strategy.

MicroStrategy’s market cap is up from around $1.4 billion on August 11, 2020 when the company first bought bitcoin to around $93.9 billion as of Monday.

That’s a gain of over 6,600%.

Obviously, one of the main factors behind this huge gain is bitcoin’s recent surge to over $107,000.

MicroStrategy’s impending Nasdaq-100 Index membership announcement also lifted the stock.

But it’s HOW the company acquired bitcoin that we should focus on.

Because MicroStrategy was able to make all those bitcoin purchases by leveraging debt.

It sold stock and other convertible-debt offerings to help finance its bitcoin purchases.

In other words, the company has created a kind of infinite money loop.

As its stock price goes up… it’s able to buy more bitcoin.

As bitcoin’s price goes up… it’s able to buy more bitcoin.

And now that the company is joining the Nasdaq-100 a lot of institutions with ETFs that mirror the Nasdaq-100 will start buying MicroStrategy…

And that will cause its stock price to go up.

As its stock price goes up…  it’s able to buy more bitcoin.

Do you see what’s going on here?

It’s like an infinite money loop.

Here’s My Take

MicroStrategy has the biggest corporate portfolio of digital assets in the world.

Its explosive growth shows how a cryptocurrency-driven corporate strategy can work…

And its entry in the Nasdaq-100 proves that its high-risk bitcoin approach can gain market acceptance.

Like I told you last week about Microsoft’s vote…

It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when buying bitcoin as an asset appeals to a major corporation.

Maybe it’s Amazon or Apple. Maybe Microsoft’s shareholders eventually relent.

But it will happen.

In the short term, I see Microstrategy’s big move to the Nasdaq-100 doing two things.

One is that it could cause a massive spike in bitcoin like we saw last week.

Second — and more important over the long term — is that it proves that bitcoin is a legitimate form of collateral.

We entered 2004 with a new bitcoin ETF that showed folks it’s OK to invest in bitcoin now.

We’re ending the year by showing folks it’s not just something you can invest in…

But something that you can borrow against.

Either way, I see bitcoin going up and to the right.

And as we’ve seen before…

When bitcoin goes up smaller coins tend to make even bigger moves.

My concern is that if you wait until Monday you might miss out on the four altcoins I’ve identified that could make the biggest moves.

So if you haven’t seen it… make sure to click on this link to watch last night’s urgent Zoom briefing.

Regards,

Ian King
Chief Strategist, Banyan Hill Publishing

It’s not his best movie, but the setting is classic science fiction.

It takes place in the far-off future of 2035, in a world populated by highly intelligent humanoid robots.

Of course, what was once a far-off future is now only a decade away…

And what seemed like science fiction back then could soon end up being closer to reality than most people realize.

As I’ve said before, the robot revolution is coming.

And the speed that it’s about to hit us will likely shock you.

But it won’t be because of the increasing number of robots in factories or fast food restaurants.

It won’t even be the proliferation of robot dogs that people will find most surprising.

It’s going to be the number of robots that look a lot like us.

How Will Humanoid Robots
Reshape the Next Decade?

That’s because the market for humanoid robots is growing much faster than experts first thought.

Recent research from Goldman Sachs shows that by 2035, the number of human-like robots shipped is expected to conservatively reach 1.4 million units.

That’s four times more than the company previously predicted.

And it’s roughly in line with Elon Musk’s prediction that there will be around 10 billion humanoid robots on the planet by 2040.

To put that into perspective, it’s estimated that — barring any drastic changes to the rate of population growth — 9.2 billion humans will populate the Earth in 2040.

Which means humanoid robots could outnumber humans sometime over the next two decades.

What led to this dramatic change?

Advances in artificial intelligence have surprised even the experts.

New technology called robotic large language models allows robots to learn tasks without being programmed for every little movement. This means robots can now work outside of factories and adapt to new situations much quicker.

The cost of building these robots is also dropping fast.

In 2023, a basic humanoid robot cost around $50,000, while top-of-the-line models ran up to $250,000.

Last year those prices fell to between $30,000 and $150,000 – a 40% decrease.

This happened in part because robot parts are becoming cheaper and there are more suppliers to choose from.

But just as DeepSeek showed us how AI is rapidly becoming cheaper and easier for everyone to use…

We’re seeing the same thing happen with humanoid robots as their designs keep improving.

Lower costs mean we’ll likely see humanoid robots in factories earlier than expected.

But there are already plenty of companies that use humanoid robots, especially in the automotive industry.

Honda has developed humanoid robots like ASIMO…

Source: Honda

Toyota has introduced humanoid robots like T-HR3…

Source: Toyota

And BMW, Volkswagen and Hyundai have all developed their own proprietary humanoid robots for use in their manufacturing plants to assemble vehicles and for inspection tasks.

By 2030, experts predict more than 250,000 humanoid robots will be shipped, mostly for industrial use.

But the real growth will happen in the consumer market.

According to Goldman Sachs, robots for personal use could arrive 2-4 years sooner than previously thought.

And within just over a decade, annual sales could exceed one million units as ordinary people begin bringing robots into their homes.

And I understand that might sound like a reach to you, but consider that there are already over 40 million Roomba robot vacuum cleaners in homes today…

And humanoid robots can do much more than vacuum.

Domestic robots will likely start out mostly helping with cleaning tasks and for companionship.

Their increased mobility and carrying capacity should immediately help the elderly and disabled.

But as they become more functional, it’s easy to see how they could become more useful for a variety of tasks.

Your robot helper could soon take over more complex household chores like cooking, doing laundry and mowing the lawn.

And as AI continues to develop, domestic robots could schedule appointments for you, keep track of your home’s smart appliances and generally make life easier for you.

They could even be a component of your home’s security.

In other words, over the next decade i Robot might start looking more like a historical account than a work of science fiction.

Here’s My Take

Naturally, the domestication of AI-driven robots comes with moral and ethical concerns, but that’s outside the scope of this letter.

What I’m concerned about are investing opportunities.

Goldman Sachs reports that human-like robots could be worth a whopping $38 billion by 2035.

That’s six times higher than earlier estimates of just $6 billion.

But those numbers are conservative compared to Macquarie’s estimate that the global market size for humanoid robots will reach a massive $139 billion by 2035.

That equates to a 50% compound annual growth rate.

And it’s not inconceivable. After all, Elon Musk is all-in on humanoid robots, and Tesla (TSLA) aims to be a major player in this space with its Optimus robot.

In January’s earnings call Musk said that Tesla will begin production of “several thousand” Optimus robots by the end of 2025.

And over the long term he said he believes: “Optimus has the potential to be north of $10 trillion in revenue.”

But he’ll have competition.

Boston Dynamics keeps improving its robots by leaps and bounds. It retired the hydraulic version of its Atlas robot last year and replaced it with an all-electric version that is shockingly agile.

It’s even able to do backflips.

Boston Dynamics is a private company, but Hyundai (HYMTF) is a majority owner.

And another company I’m keeping a close eye on is Figure AI.

The company calls itself: “the first-of-its-kind AI robotics company bringing a general purpose humanoid to life.”

And it’s reportedly in talks with investors to raise $1.5 billion for its work in developing these robots.

That would put the company’s valuation at nearly $40 billion, a 15x increase from its last round of funding when it was valued at $2.6 billion.

Microsoft, Nvidia, Jeff Bezos and ARK Invest are all investors in this fast-rising company…

And I wouldn’t be shocked if you’ll start hearing a lot more about them in 2025.

Regards,

Ian King
Chief Strategist, Banyan Hill Publishing