More From Vegas: The Robots Are Near
The future is faster than you think... Bullish indicators now... Reasons to be bearish later... 'Something's going to trigger a bear market'... What the investing business is all about...
The ballroom was buzzing this morning...
Tech investor and XPrize Foundation founder Dr. Peter Diamandis headlined the morning session of Day 2 of our Stansberry Research conference in Las Vegas this week. He gave a terrific presentation that left everyone with something to think about...
Diamandis detailed the possible future of artificial intelligence ("AI") development, saying we're going to see as much innovation in the next 10 years as we did in the past 100.
Notably, he highlighted that young entrepreneurs in their 20s – the best, brightest, and most motivated to create new technologies – are flocking to AI, and the development will keep speeding up.
This will help extend the human lifespan. That's a big enough deal. But we want to talk about robots – humanoid robots, specifically. They can look like, move like, and perform physical tasks like us. These robots were once science fiction, but they're very real today.
Diamandis, who has launched more than 25 companies in his investing career and is an investor in robotics startup Figure AI, painted a picture (and showed videos) of a world where human-like robots roam the planet.
They could work the dangerous or dull jobs that people would prefer not to do today... or help out with chores in your home, maybe vacuuming floors, or doing laundry.
Just take a look at the cover of a recent issue of Time magazine, which Diamandis showed. It features a real Figure AI robot...
The total addressable market for these robots is $50 trillion, Diamandis said. That's essentially the entire labor market. Diamandis predicts there will be between 1 billion and 10 billion humanoid robots on Earth by 2040.
'People are not prepared for robots to enter society,' Diamandis said...
I (Corey McLaughlin) must say, as Diamandis spoke, my relatively new work laptop suddenly felt incredibly out of date. Just wait until "robots manufacture robots," Diamandis said.
It's mind-blowing to think about this world. But, as Diamandis titled his popular book, The Future Is Faster Than You Think. He showed that you could have recently bought a humanoid robot online from Walmart for around $21,000.
The Chinese-made humanoid robot (and a dog-like one) from a company called Unitree appeared briefly on Walmart's U.S. website earlier this month.
Neither are available anymore, and the retailer didn't give an official reason why, reportedly saying only that a third-party seller decided to pull the listings.
The point is, robots aren't just coming... they're near – if not already here. That's assuming we want them. Do you? As much as I don't like taking out the trash, I'm not sure yet.
At the very least, Diamandis said we should think about how changes in robotics and AI and longer human lifespans might affect businesses and the economy in the future. That's probably a smart move, lest robots take our jobs.
As for the present...
As part of his on-stage presentation yesterday afternoon, Stansberry Research senior analyst Brett Eversole made a compelling case that the bull market we're in – despite various concerns in the world today – remains strong.
As Brett said, stocks keep climbing the proverbial "wall of worry." He also showed several indicators that signal the U.S. stock market is "unequivocally" healthy.
One of Brett's favorite indicators is the advance/decline (A/D) line for stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The A/D line basically measures the number of NYSE stocks going up versus down over time.
The A/D line takes the number of stocks that went up in a given day and subtracts the number of stocks that went down. If more stocks went up, the line goes up and vice versa. It might sound simple, but it's a powerful indicator of market "breadth."
In a typical bull market, the A/D line of the NYSE usually goes up as more stocks rise. As Brett shared, that's precisely what has been happening since the Liberation Day tariff "pause"...
Brett also shared how more than 60% of NYSE-listed stocks are trading above their 200-day moving average... and how the equal-weight S&P 500 is trading at new highs, along with five of the top six S&P 500 sectors, which make up about 85% of the benchmark cap-weighted index. These are all bullish indicators.
We'll want to keep our eyes on these indicators moving ahead to see if the market is remaining healthy or getting sick. For example, when the A/D line moves lower while the market continues to rise (like in late 2021), it's usually time to worry.
This means the gains in stocks are concentrated in only a few companies, but the headline movement of the indexes is obscuring that fact. We're not there yet. But it's something to watch.
That's according to another conference presenter, Marc Chaikin, the founder of our corporate affiliate Chaikin Analytics.
2026: 'The year of the bear'...
I was a little taken aback when I saw that was the title of Marc's presentation, given he has been bullish for the past few years and doesn't make claims like this lightly.
But Marc has survived 10 bear markets over a 50-plus-year professional investing career, and he has been using technical analysis for 45 years (way before most).
Marc's decades of experience and analysis made him (correctly) turn bullish in November 2022, right near the start of the ongoing bull market... and it has him getting ready to be cautious next year.
"Patterns repeat," Marc told conference attendees and those who tuned in to our livestream.
A big reason for Marc's concern is that 2026 will be the second year of a four-year presidential cycle, which typically brings the worst returns of the cycle, as Marc showed in his slide...
Not only that, but Marc also pointed out that 50% of bear markets since 1945 have begun in Year 2 of a presidential election cycle.
We could pontificate on reasons why history may rhyme again – maybe more uncertainty out of Washington D.C., as Republicans and Democrats jostle for midterm election positioning – but Marc's main point is that history suggests an environment that's ripe for market downside next year. He said...
Something's going to trigger a bear market, in my opinion, in 2026.
Marc went on to share the possible timing of this playing out, a road map for navigating the next 12 months, and how Chaikin Analytics subscribers can use his Power Gauge to be in the right sectors at the right times to avoid steep losses and buy when the market hits an eventual bottom at some point later next year.
In the meantime, the key is to think about "spotting bearish personality changes," he said.
Also on Day 2...
David Berman, the founder of Durban Capital, shared his expertise in the retail sector and said all investors should seek out areas of the market where they can have "an edge."
Inventories are a key indicator in retail, he said. And he noted that many businesses today – even after front-running import tariffs in the second half of last year and early this year – have limited supply. Normally, keeping inventory low would be a good thing for retailers' earnings, but tariffs have changed the game.
Berman said many retailers' next big moves could be to raise prices to make the most of the smaller inventory they have (we believe that the longer tariff uncertainties persist, the more this is likely). In any case, Berman predicted higher prices from retailers this holiday season. "We could have an issue with inflation," he said.
As a result, he is concerned about upcoming earnings outlooks in the sector.
When making portfolio decisions, Berman also emphasized the importance of position sizing on returns, saying that many of the world's top investors make most of their returns from just a few big bets... and the opportunities don't come around very often.
Buying one share of Nvidia (NVDA) years ago would have been different than buying 1,000, for instance. "It's all about the size in our business," Berman said, "and knowledge."
Conference attendees and viewers of our livestream also heard from Silicon Valley veteran Joe Milam, Battle Bank's Frank Trotter, tech "futurist" Sinead Bovell, British cardiologist Dr. Aseem Malhotra, comedy writer Alan Zweibel, and our friends JC Parets of TrendLabs and Rob Spivey from Altimetry, plus our own Whitney Tilson and Dan Ferris.
What's ahead...
We're off to dinner and drinks... Also on the schedule tonight is a wine tasting hosted by MarketWise CEO, Retirement Millionaire editor, and Eifrig Cellars owner Dr. David "Doc" Eifrig and our "Stansberry Social."
We'll be back tomorrow with a report on our Stansberry Alliance Day. Ritholtz Wealth Management CEO Josh Brown headlines, and then our Stansberry Research team will take center stage with their exclusive recommendations for Alliance members.
In this week's Stansberry Investor Hour, Eric Fry of InvestorPlace joins the show and talks about how he's approaching investing (or not) in AI right now, including three "AI survivor" stocks he likes today, and what parts of the AI chain he's inclined to avoid...
Watch the entire episode of Stansberry Investor Hour here... or catch the audio version on our website or wherever you listen to podcasts.
New 52-week highs (as of 10/20/25): ABB (ABBNY), Altius Minerals (ALS.TO), Applied Materials (AMAT), American Express (AXP), Alpha Architect 1-3 Month Box Fund (BOXX), Ciena (CIEN), Cencora (COR), iMGP DBi Managed Futures Strategy Fund (DBMF), Donaldson (DCI), iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ex China Fund (EMXC), iShares MSCI Spain Fund (EWP), iShares MSCI South Korea Fund (EWY), Fanuc (FANUY), Franklin FTSE Japan Fund (FLJP), Gilead Sciences (GILD), SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), Alphabet (GOOGL), iShares Biotechnology Fund (IBB), VanEck Morningstar Wide Moat Fund (MOAT), Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA), Sprott Physical Gold Trust (PHYS), Roivant Sciences (ROIV), ProShares Ultra Gold (UGL), Vale (VALE), and SPDR S&P Semiconductor Fund (XSD).
In today's mail, a note about yesterday's edition, which mentioned Harry Browne's 1996 and 2000 runs for president... As always, send your comments and questions to feedback@stansberryresearch.com.
"Harry Browne ran for President as a Libertarian. That is big L not little l. The Libertarian Party did and still exists." – Subscriber Joseph T.
Corey McLaughlin comment: Correct, of course. That's what we meant. It should have been capitalized.
All the best,
Corey McLaughlin with Nick Koziol
Las Vegas, Nevada
October 21, 2025