Revolutions are often a long time in the making...
Motorola released the MicroTAC cellular phone in 1989... one of the first handheld mobile phones designed to be carried in a pocket and be accessible to average people.
By 1999, a decade after Motorola released the MicroTAC, roughly 500 million people around the world owned a cellphone, according to the United Nations' International Telecommunication Union. That figure doubled two years later. And by 2008, more than 4 billion people worldwide owned a mobile phone.
Today, worldwide, people are carting around 7.6 billion smartphones.
These numbers sound like relentless growth... The truth is, the mobile phone's development came in waves. Each generation resulted in a burst of new capabilities and drew in more and more users.
Remarkably, it wasn't a series of brilliant inventors who drove mobile-communication technology to where it is today... Rather, one company spent decades at the heart of the world's cellular network.
And at every turning point, it seemed as though this company's portfolio of patents was about to become obsolete... But this company never ceded ground to new competitors. Instead, it defied predictions of doom and produced key innovations for each new leg in the advancement of mobile technology.
And this mobile technology isn't just in our phones… It's in our watches, our appliances, and even our cars.
I'm not talking about iPhone maker Apple (AAPL). I'm talking about the electronics supplier Qualcomm (QCOM).
Qualcomm introduced CDMA technology in 1989 – the same year as the Motorola MicroTAC... Over time, that technology and other Qualcomm innovations became the backbone of the world's mobile networks.
Qualcomm's main business (52% of revenue for the most recent quarter) is producing computer chips for mobile devices. And its stock is up more than 30,000% since it went public in 1991.
But as most chipmaker stocks have surged this year, Qualcomm has begun falling behind. Mobile devices aren't part of the next big tech evolution... AI is.
Whatever your feelings are on AI, this technology demands a lot of computer chips. And it needs a lot more power than the Qualcomm chips in your phone.
Two of my colleagues just went on camera to discuss a new AI "super chip" that's 144 times faster than Qualcomm's.
They say this new chip could create the next generation of tech winners, including one California company whose stock could jump 1,000%.
Now, let's get to this week's Q&A... And as always, keep sending your comments, questions, and topic suggestions to feedback@healthandwealthbulletin.com. My team and I read every e-mail.
Stop Losses and Capital Gains
Q: How do you rationalize taking stop losses that trigger a 15% capital gains tax on top of the drop in market value? Thank you. – S.M.
A: Thanks for your question, S.M.
As a reminder, a trailing stop follows the price of a stock up. If you buy Stock X at $10 and use a 20% trailing stop, your stop would start at $8. But if the price rose to $15, your stop would rise accordingly to $12. So if you stopped out of the stock at $12, you'd have a $2 gain.
Like you said, you'd owe a capital-gains tax on that $2. (How much depends on how long you held the stock and your tax bracket.)
But stop losses aren't meant to be a tax strategy. They're portfolio protection. They keep us from giving back all our gains on a stock that's going against us.
Would you rather give up some of your gains in taxes... or risk not even having any gains? For me, my priority is avoiding the loss.
If capital-gains tax is a primary concern, you can invest in a tax-advantaged account like an IRA. Then the gains stay in the account and only trigger a tax when you're ready to withdraw your cash.
You could also use a hard stop instead of a trailing stop. I do this with some of my recommendations. With a hard stop, you sell at a predetermined price... which could be either a fixed loss or breakeven. Then you're protected against a big loss while never worrying about a capital-gains tax. You could even take a capital loss that would offset any other gains.
But it means your big winners could dwindle into nothing, or even lose you money, before you finally bail out.
Whatever stop loss you use, the key is to stick with it. Getting attached to a falling stock is a losing strategy. Stop losses protect us from that mistake.
Q: A while back there was a discussion of the benefits of using a hot tub. Could you please allow me to access that email again to further understand the benefits of use of a hot tub. Thank you. – C.B.
A: Thanks for your readership, C.B. You can find that information – plus other heat-therapy questions we answered for readers – right here.
What We're Reading (and Watching)...
- Did you miss it? Grab this elite business before its stock recovers.
- Something different: Does Notre Dame still sound the same?
Here's to our health, wealth, and a great retirement,
Dr. David Eifrig and the Health & Wealth Bulletin Research Team
October 23, 2026