☕️ Small cap, big voltage — I’m waiting at $25

Howdy! 👋 

Stocks higher and more weekly gains on the table… at least this morning as I type and for now. 

Take the risk or lose the chance. 

Here’s my playbook. 

1 – Fed Soap opera, Season 2025 

You can’t make this stuff up.  

After weeks of “serious” interviews and speculation, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has whittled down Trump’s list of Fed chair candidates from eleven to five. (Read) 

Apparently, Bessent wants someone who can “rethink” the Fed — translation: shrink it, simplify it, and maybe, just maybe, admit the obvious… the Fed’s models are broken, their assumptions outdated, and their track record… well, let’s just say it’s nothing to brag about. 

I’ve railed about this stuff for years on TV, at presentations, here and in our research. (Watch) 

It’ll be nice if there’s finally a dose of reality at hand. 

Meanwhile, Waller — who is perceived as one of the frontrunners — told CNBC this morning that he still wants to cut rates but needs to “be cautious.” (Read) 

Cautious?  

About what?  

The Fed’s been behind the curve for years and — I submit — has already caused the next three financial crises. 

Keith’s Investing Tip: People want to bet on the Fed but that’s a mistake. Bet on companies that will succeed despite it all… including the Fed. 

2 – Qualcomm just ran into the Great Wall of Retaliation 

Beijing’s regulators just opened an antitrust probe into Qualcomm’s acquisition of chipmaker Autotalks. (Read) 

Officially, it’s about “competition.”  

Keith’s Rule of the Back Page says otherwise.  

This is all about leverage and retaliation for TikTok. 

Keep your eye on companies with diversified supply chains and strong domestic demand; they’ll ride out this nonsense better than most. 

I’ve got my eye on a few new choices that could benefit nicely. 

You? 

And, btw, if you’d like some help, I’ll be here.  

3 – Levis wins the battle but comfort’s the new couture 

Levi’s just raised prices and demand didn’t blink. 

The denim icon beat Wall Street’s expectations on both sales and profits, lifted its outlook for the year, and saw margins rise to 61.7%. (Read) 

CEO Michelle Gass says the company’s taking a “surgical” approach to pricing while steering more business through its own stores and website instead of wholesalers. That’s good for margins — at least for now. 

The market, though, didn’t buy the story.  

Comfort sells faster than craftsmanship, and denim’s fighting an uphill battle against stretch, spandex, and screens. 

Let’s see what Lululemon’s answer is! 

No doubt in my mind that they’ll have one but that doesn’t make either stock investable imho. 

Interesting, but uninvestable nonetheless. 

4 – Applied Digital: small cap, big voltage — I’m waiting at $25 

Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and OpenAI have already pledged nearly $800 billion toward new data centers this year alone. 

AI computing demand is now growing at twice the rate of Moore’s Law, creating a massive power and infrastructure shortfall. The world will need $500 billion a year in new data center investment through 2030 just to keep up. 

We’ve obviously been ahead of that a long time here and in One Bar Ahead® but many investors are just now latching on and wondering if it’s too late. 

Not even close. 

You do need to pick carefully, though. 

Enter the builders. 

Applied Digital may not be a household name, but the numbers it just posted tell you everything about where the real AI money is flowing. Revenue up 84% year over year, plus a new 150-megawatt lease with CoreWeave — enough energy to power a small city and worth roughly $11 billion over 15 years. (Read) 

The stock has just gone parabolic after an $11B CoreWeave deal. 

Which makes me leery because that kind of action rarely ends well for those operating on FOMO. But it does often create a fabulous opportunity for investors with a longer-term perspective, discipline and patience. 

I’d love to get my hands on it after a pullback at about $25… if there is a pullback. 🤔 

Meanwhile, I think a few speculative putskies AND a LowBall Order could be a nice 1-2 punch that gets the job done. ✅ 

If not, no big deal. I’m very happy with other stocks in the same space because they have what I believe to be considerably longer-term profit potential. Several just hit new all-time highs and the OBA Family is grinning ear to ear as am I. 

Hopefully you’re thinking along similar lines. 

5 – Morgan Stanley gives crypto its blessing—because fees are forever 😏 

Morgan Stanley just dropped all restrictions on which wealth clients can own crypto funds. Starting Oct. 15, advisors can pitch Bitcoin, Ether, and Solana to anyone — even in retirement accounts. (Read) 

I can’t shake the nagging thought that this ends badly — not for the banks, but for customers who are about to get hustled as Wall Street finally embraces crypto.  

Think about it. 

The same institutions that mocked Bitcoin for a decade are now lining up to sell it at a premium… to their own clients.  

Classic. 

To paraphrase poker legend Amarillo Slim, “if you can’t spot the sucker at the table in the first half hour, you are the sucker.” 

Slim, btw, is often credited to Paul Newman’s character in The Hustler. 

Keith’s Investing Tip: When Wall Street starts selling what it once sneered at, keep in mind that this is because they think they can turn a profit, not because whatever it is they’re hawking will be profitable. 

Bottom Line 

Lots of folks ask me, “How do I make money in the markets?”   

The real question and the one you want to ask is, “What’s going to prevent you from doing so?”   

Sort that out first. 

Great results tend to follow clear thinking. 

Let's finish the week strong. 

As always, let’s MAKE it a great day! 

You got this – I promise! 

Keith 😀