The waiting game continues in the Persian Gulf... Two steps forward, one step back... More layoffs because of AI... The technology's growing 'real' footprint... An energy crisis that needs to be met... These companies can help do it...
The promise of progress...
The war in Iran will "be over quickly," according to President Donald Trump...
It's not the first time we've heard such optimism from Trump since the war began in February. But we're seeing various encouraging signs today.
A few hours ago, Iran's president said that he'd recently met with Iran's new but yet-to-be-seen supreme leader for more than two hours. This conversation presumably included the 14 or so points in the previously reported U.S.-Iran peace proposal being brokered by Pakistani officials.
At the same time, Germany is sending a minesweeper and France an aircraft carrier group toward the Persian Gulf. Both countries say these ships would help with security in the Strait of Hormuz should shippers become comfortable enough to pass through it again.
For now, though, the global energy chokepoint remains essentially 'closed'...
Ships in the strait risk running into mines or being attacked by Iran's Revolutionary Guard, which seems to be behind a newly created "Persian Gulf Strait Authority" to approve ship transits and collect tolls.
Tanker operators and insurers don't want to take that chance.
Briefly, the U.S. offered the Project Freedom service to escort commercial tankers. But it came to an abrupt halt on Tuesday. We've now heard more details, and they underscore how fragile this all can be.
NBC News reported last night that the operation's announcement on social media had surprised and angered leadership in Saudi Arabia.
The Saudis reportedly felt the move opened them up to additional attacks from Iranian militants. And so, in an effective use of leverage, they informed the U.S. they would not allow the military to continue to use Saudi airspace to support the war.
And that was the end of Project Freedom.
According to the report, Trump had a phone call with the Saudi crown prince. Soon after, Trump unexpectedly posted on social media that the ship-escort plans were off. Trump cited "the request of Pakistan and other Countries," as well as progress being made toward a final agreement with Iran.
Today, as the waiting game continued, oil futures were slightly higher. Brent crude's July contract was up to around $101 per barrel. And West Texas Intermediate's June contract gained roughly 1% to about $96 per barrel.
The major U.S. stock indexes were lower across the board, with the small-cap Russell 2000 Index down around 1.6%.
Another big news item of the day: AI is driving real layoffs...
We always watch monthly reports from staffing firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. The latest report shows that U.S.-based employers announced 83,387 job cuts in April. That's the third-highest total since 2009, and it's 38% higher than job cuts announced in March.
The better news: Through the first four months of this year, companies announced about 300,000 job cuts – only half of the roughly 600,000 cuts this time last year.
One difference is that employers are increasingly chalking up this year's job cuts to AI.
"Market and economic conditions" and "closings," or companies going out of business, represent most of this year's job cuts. But for both March and April, AI topped the list. Last month, employers cited AI as the top reason for a quarter of America's layoffs.
Andy Challenger, partial namesake of the staffing firm, highlighted a particular trend...
Technology companies continue to announce large-scale cuts and are leading all industries in layoff announcements. They are also often citing AI spend and innovation. Regardless of whether individual jobs are being replaced by AI, the money for those roles is.
The tech sector saw a 33% increase in layoffs last month versus April 2025.
AI's footprint keeps getting bigger in various ways...
We wrote about this just on Tuesday, though given the news cycle these days, it seems like so long ago.
The U.S. energy grid is becoming increasingly strained. A big reason is demand from data centers and the AI boom, in addition to underinvestment in energy infrastructure over the years.
After a decade of stagnation, electricity demand is growing across the United States. And grid operators and utilities are scrambling or racing to provide supply.
For example, the grid operator PJM Interconnection is trying to build a new power line connecting energy sources in Pennsylvania to data centers in Virginia... But it's facing opposition from residents in the line's path.
PJM's president warns that without this new line, Stansberry Research's home state of Maryland and 12 other mid-Atlantic and Midwestern states could face "system collapse and blackouts" as early as summer 2027.
Nationwide, the U.S. Department of Energy says blackouts could soon rise by a factor of 100. And all the while, electricity prices are on the rise...
The better news: There's opportunity here, too...
On Tuesday, we told you about a new stock recommendation from our Stansberry's Investment Advisory team that can profit from this situation...
We have a host of other related recommendations across our Stansberry Research publications intended to do the same.
And on that front, Stansberry Research senior analyst Gabe Marshank has recommended a set of stocks to play this trend in his Market Maven newsletter. Just yesterday, he published a set of new special reports with all the details. As Gabe wrote in a note to subscribers yesterday...
I have good news and bad news.
The bad news is, America is running out of electricity.
The good news is that a handful of publicly traded companies – and the folks who own shares of them – are going to make a fortune because of it.
In one of three brand-new reports, existing Market Maven subscribers and Stansberry Alliance members will recognize the four names from the newsletter's model portfolio. Gabe has updated his research on these stocks, including raising two recommended buy prices.
He also shared two other new research reports with investment opportunities in the energy space – which is what will be needed to address this supply crisis that will catch many Americans off guard. He doesn't want you to be one of them.
If you don't already have access to Gabe's work, he shares the details on this story in a new free presentation. He doesn't hold back... And he also shares the opportunity he sees in a market setup that he used during his hedge-fund days to make $100 million in profits – twice.
"You're already in this trade," Gabe says, "just on the losing side."
Click here now to get up to speed.
New 52-week highs (as of 5/6/26): ABB (ABBNY), Altius Minerals (ALS.TO), Applied Materials (AMAT), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Amazon (AMZN), Arm Holdings (ARM), ASML (ASML), BHP (BHP), CBOE Global Markets (CBOE), Ciena (CIEN), Healthpeak Properties (DOC), DigitalOcean (DOCN), DXP Enterprises (DXPE), Emcor (EME), iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ex China Fund (EMXC), EnerSys (ENS), iShares MSCI South Korea Fund (EWY), Exelixis (EXEL), Cambria Emerging Shareholder Yield Fund (EYLD), Fanuc (FANUY), FirstCash (FCFS), Alphabet (GOOGL), Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), iShares Convertible Bond Fund (ICVT), Idex (IEX), Intel (INTC), KraneShares Bosera MSCI China A 50 Connect Index Fund (KBA), KraneShares Global Humanoid Robotics and Physical AI Index Fund (KOID), Keyence (KYCCF), Lamar Advertising (LAMR), LXP Industrial Trust (LXP), Nucor (NUE), Invesco WilderHill Clean Energy Fund (PBW), Roku (ROKU), ProShares Ultra Technology (ROM), Starbucks (SBUX), U.S. Global Sea to Sky Cargo Fund (SEA), State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 Value Fund (SPYV), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM), Texas Instruments (TXN), UL Solutions (ULS), and State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor Fund (XSD).
In today's mailbag, we have feedback on subscriber Jacqueline G.'s note in yesterday's mail... And Stansberry Research senior analyst Alan Gula answers a question about AI spending – a topic we've been covering frequently. Do you have a comment or question? As always, e-mail us at feedback@stansberryresearch.com.
"I don't know Jacqueline G., but can I marry her and produce more people that think like her!!! Maybe we CAN get this government under control and return to 'of the people, for the people & by the people'." – Subscriber R.H.T.
Corey McLaughlin comment: Our first marriage proposal in the Digest mailbag... we love it.
"Kudos Jaqueline G. I could go on, but after a 12 hour work day I need some rest. At 69 years old, I don't [know] how to keep it up. Thanks to our government's wasteful spending, I guess I will have to." – Subscriber Tim L.
"Let me, please, add to Jacqueline G's comment: Another Constitutional duty of the Federal Government is the regulation of interstate commerce. It is that aspect that has been construed to allow all kinds of federal interference to the states' responsibilities and sovereignty. The list is interminable." – Subscriber N.B.
"Corey & team, I would like to know the breakout of a given company's AI capex spending. Is this available in a company report?
"If AI spending is now up to $710 billion, and the average cost to construct an AI data center is approximately $1 billion, where are these 700+ new data centers going to be built? The cat is out of the bag with community push back, so it seems choosing locations that satisfy all the criteria is going to become ever more difficult.
"Thanks as always for your insights." – Subscriber John G.
Alan Gula comment: Companies disclose their capital expenditures (or "capex") in their 10-K and 10-Q filings. These figures show up on the company's statement of cash flows typically as "additions to property, plant, and equipment."
You can also see capital expenditures for companies on our website. Log in and search for a company up top. On the company's Research Dashboard, click on the "Financials" tab and then the "Cash Flow" button. Scroll down in the window to see "Capital Expenditure."
Unfortunately, there's no easy way to tell how much of this capex is earmarked for AI in particular.
According to some estimates, roughly 75% of Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta Platforms, and other hyperscalers' capex in 2026 is AI-related, with the rest going to traditional cloud and other businesses.
Keep in mind that many of the data centers being built are mega-campuses, rather than individual buildings.
For example, Meta's "Hyperion" campus in Louisiana is a $27 billion development scaling to 5 gigawatts.
Also, a big chunk of the $700 billion capex forecast for 2026 is for chips and other IT infrastructure inside the data centers.
You're right, though... Securing permits for data centers might become more difficult. Maine even had a data-center moratorium bill in the works. But the governor vetoed it. After all, these projects provide jobs and tax revenue for the state.
Some states, such as Texas and Louisiana, are welcoming data centers with open arms.
We've been tracking – and profiting – from these trends in Stansberry's Investment Advisory... from semiconductor equipment to data-center construction to energy and natural resources that will fuel the AI-infrastructure build-out.
We even just recommended a power producer on the nation's largest electricity grid, which is the top region for data centers. Existing Investment Advisory subscribers and Stansberry Alliance members can find that recommendation in the latest issue right here.
And if anyone doesn't subscribe to our flagship service and would like to access this pick and all of our research from the Investment Advisory team, click here for more information and get started today.
All the best,
Corey McLaughlin
Baltimore, Maryland
May 7, 2026
