1) As longtime readers know, I've been pounding the table on the potential of both nuclear fission and fusion energy.
So I read this essay by Microsoft (MSFT) co-founder Bill Gates with great interest: The Future of Energy is Subatomic. Gates writes:
Today, 9 percent of the world's electricity comes from nuclear power plants. That electricity is entirely generated through fission, since fusion energy isn't online yet. By 2050, however, I think both fusion and next-generation fission power will make up a significant chunk of the world's energy portfolio...
If you know how to build a fusion power plant, you can have unlimited energy anywhere and forever. It's hard to overstate what a big deal that will be. The availability and affordability of electricity is a huge limiting factor for virtually every sector of the economy today. Removing those limits could be as transformative as the invention of the steam engine before the Industrial Revolution.
This transformation will dramatically improve human welfare around the world – and especially for the world's most vulnerable people. Making cheap electricity is super important. If you don't have power, there's a real limit to how much you can develop economically. As crazy as it seems now, I believe that we will one day be able to put fission and fusion power plants in the most remote parts of the world.
I couldn't agree more...
In fact, in our Commodity Supercycles publication here at Stansberry Research, my team and I have put together special reports on nuclear fusion – including the best ways to invest in this breakthrough technology. (Subscribers can access them here.)
If you aren't already a Commodity Supercycles subscriber, find out how to gain access right here.
2) In his latest The Week in Charts, Charlie Bilello highlighted something very unusual...
Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of our GDP, is strong – despite terrible consumer sentiment.
As you can see, sentiment is in the bottom 1% right now:
This isn't surprising. That's because roughly 60% of Americans expect unemployment to rise in the next year and fear losing their own job in the next five years:
Americans also expect inflation to rise to more than 4% in the next year:
One might expect that such gloom would translate into reduced spending...
But retail sales actually grew 4.8% over the past year, outpacing inflation by 1.8%:
Bilello concludes that Americans "may be fearful about the future, but they are not yet acting on those fears."
I agree. And until spending actually starts to decline, I'll remain bullish on the economy – and stocks.
3) Kudos to Bloomberg for a good piece of journalism...
An article from last week profiled the secretive, mysterious co-founder of one of the most profitable businesses in the world: Rob Granieri of trading firm Jane Street Capital.
As Bloomberg noted, the firm is "smashing trading records." And Granieri has tried to maintain a low profile:
Those who know Granieri describe him as a shy introvert with a "golly gee" attitude who easily recedes into the background. While Wall Street frolics in the Hamptons, he prefers reveling in anonymity at Burning Man, the mecca of counterculture. His rare casino getaways also let him cut loose unnoticed, like he did last year.
"I wouldn't recognize him walking down a street," said Alphacution's Paul Rowady, a researcher who digs into firms like Jane Street. "Congratulations to Rob Granieri: Influence and anonymity is a very rare combination."
But as the article continues, Granieri and Jane Street have been pushed into the spotlight this year:
Legal wrangles and ballooning profits have drawn global attention. Rivals are swapping notes on Jane Street, piecing together a portrait of a firm that notched $10.1 billion of trading revenue in the second quarter, trouncing the biggest banks. Its haul for the year's first half eclipsed $17 billion – almost on par with its full-year record set in 2024.
My advice to everyday investors: Don't help Jane Street (or anyone else) "smash trading records." They're profiting at your expense. Because as countless studies have shown, the more you trade, the worse the returns are on your investments.
4) I never miss the annual Robin Hood Investors Conference, which I helped start more than a decade ago.
It's taking place at Spring Studios in New York City on Wednesday, October 15. The conference brings together the brightest and most influential policy experts, investors, and innovators to share actionable, moneymaking insights.
Even better, Robin Hood is a wonderful charity that fights poverty in NYC. And 100% of ticket sales ($7,500 each) go directly to organizations helping New Yorkers in need.
This year's lineup includes Jamie Dimon (JPMorgan Chase), Chase Coleman (Tiger Global Management), Ken Griffin (Citadel), Paul Tudor Jones (Tudor Investment), Larry Robbins (Glenview Capital), Boaz Weinstein (Saba Capital), Mike Novogratz (Galaxy Digital), and more.
Click here for more information. And to register for the event, click here.
If you're going to be there, please say hi!
Best regards,
Whitney
P.S. I welcome your feedback – send me an e-mail by clicking here.