☕ Why I think every investor could probably double what they already own and still not have enough shares

Howdy! 👋 

Nasdaq 100 futures are up more than 1% this morning after the Nasdaq’s 4.5% drubbing last week. 

Here’s something to chew on. 

Last week was only the 8th time the Nasdaq 100 fell all five trading days and finished with a 2%+ drop on Friday.  

The Monday after was positive 5 of 7 times.  

The week after?  

6 of 7. 

Now obviously that’s a statistically insignificant number… 7 times is hardly a law of physics. But it’s a darn good reminder that selling in a panic rarely pays. 

To a point you hear me make often… 

Investing in optimism beats cowering in pessimism.  

Here’s my playbook. 

1 – Why I think every investor could probably double what they own and still not have enough shares 

I was honoured to join the super-smart Stuart Varney once again this morning ahead of today’s opening bell. 

We had a great chat about SpaceX, Tesla and Meta! (Watch) 

2 – Strange bedfellows… hardly 

CNBC is reporting that Putin has proposed a 3-way summit with US President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping… without Zelensky. (Read) 

Seems to me that there are two ways to read this. 

First, he wants to have a frank conversation between superpowers – which I think is great because it means there’s still dialogue going on behind the scenes.  

And second, it means he potentially wants a path forward – which would be good for the world if so. 

A few investing and trading ideas come to mind: 

1. Puts or shorts on oil prices which will calm down to capture the trading side of what happens next and LowBall Orders to buy oil majors that will get caught as the tide goes out. 
2. Airlines and transports, which will get a big break when fuel costs drop. 
3. European industrials which have been completely choked by high energy costs and would see some immediate margin expansion if peace does break out. 

Keith’s Investing Tip: Keith’s Rule of the Back Page applies… people are so focused on what goes wrong that they fail to think about what could go right. No surprise that they miss the opportunity and it’s a totally fixable problem. 

If you’re tired of fighting for Wall Street’s table scraps and would appreciate a helping hand and the perspective needed to be a better, more consistent and effective investor, you may find One Bar Ahead® helpful. If you’re getting the results you want already, fabulous! 😀 

3 – Buy or bail? – 15% of the S&P 500 reports this week 

Scores of investors are beside themselves over last week’s selling. 

Don’t be. 

Last week's selling felt brutal but, in the scheme of things, not bad.  

People forget that every rally tends to start with selling first because it takes buying AND selling to build the foundation for each push higher. 

Think about where the markets are at the moment. 

The S&P 500 fell 1.95% to 7,659.44, which leaves it just 2.4% below its 7,844.52 record. The Nasdaq dropped 4.48% to 26,140.03, snapping a four-week winning streak with its worst week since June, while the Dow actually gained 0.7% to 52,002.41. 

Drops like that are par for the course.  

The Nasdaq came into this morning’s market a mere 5.7% below its 27,722.75 record. Not even grocery store coupon range. 

Since the early 1980s, the S&P 500 has seen a pullback of more than 5% in every year but two, and the average recovery has taken three months from a 5%-10% downturn and eight months from a 10%-20% correction, according to Invesco. Even the Nasdaq's worst collapse on record, a 78% plunge from March 2000 to October 2002, was eventually erased over time.  

Innovation powers profits, which is why it’s important to remember that the markets have rebounded every single time over time. 

EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. 

Keith’s Investing Tip: The edge undeniably goes to those smart investors who wade in rather than chicken out. Buying great stocks never goes out of style even if the markets stink. 

4 – Anybody selling to the guv’mint just got a leg up 

Palantir and Knox Systems announced a new partnership this morning. (Read) 

Chances are good you know the former – Palantir – but not the latter – Knox Systems. 

I didn’t either. 

Here’s the deal. 

Any software company that wants to sell to Uncle Sam has to clear FedRAMP first. That’s the government’s security seal of approval for cloud software. For the really sensitive stuff, there’s IL5, which is the Pentagon’s higher bar for protecting sensitive data. 

Palantir figured out years ago that most companies would rather skip that slog so it built FedStart, a program that lets other companies run their software inside Palantir’s already-approved government environment. 

A super smart move. 

Enter Knox. 

Knox Systems says it can get companies through FedRAMP in 90 days or less and, in fact, already runs more than 100 AI and enterprise apps, including Adobe and Armis. 

I think customers are going to love it. 

I still probably don’t have enough shares, now that I think about it. 

Keith’s Investing Tip: People constantly tell me “they’ll buy on a pullback” then chicken out when they’ve got one on their hands. Don’t… chicken out. 😀 

5 – Musk could make every child in America a millionaire 

I’ve said it a thousand times if I’ve said it once. 

The biggest problem with investing is that most folks don’t get started until way too late which means they’re constantly playing catch-up and forced to take risks they didn’t count on to do so. 

Unka Elon may have just solved that problem single-handedly. 

He announced Monday that he’ll give one of his own SpaceX shares to every kid in America next year. And he says it’s “the first of many.” (Read) 

I love it! 

One share may not sound like much, but history says otherwise. 

• A single share of Coca-Cola bought at its 1919 IPO for $40 would be worth about $29.4 million today with dividends reinvested. 
• A single share of Walmart bought at its 1970 IPO for $16.50 has split into 6,144 shares worth roughly $640,000, before dividends. 
• And a single share of Berkshire Hathaway trades north of $700,000. 

Kids have the one thing older investors don’t. 

Time. 

Now imagine 72 million kids starting life with a piece of SpaceX. 😁 

You don’t have to wait for Elon and the undeniable pushback that’ll surface shortly, though. 

Open a custodial account for your children or grandchildren and buy ’em their first share of a great company like SpaceX. Add to it every birthday and holiday from here on out. 

This is YOUR opportunity to create generational wealth… something that eludes most investors despite their best intentions. 

Keith’s Investing Tip: The sooner you start, the bigger that gift gets. 

Bottom Line 

The most important investment skill you can learn today is to calculate the future cost of decisions you make today. 

You got this — I promise. 

As always, let’s MAKE it a great day and start the week strong!  

Keith 😀