In this week's Stansberry Investor Hour, Dan welcomes Bryan Beach back to the show. Bryan is the editor of Stansberry Venture Value and a senior analyst on Stansberry's Investment Advisory.

Bryan kicks things off by discussing the idea of passive investing and how it has changed the way the market is valuated. He says that folks are relentlessly buying the biggest stocks every time they invest in their retirement funds, and they don't even know it. This "irrational indifference" could result in such a high level of volatility that it leads to mass liquidation of stocks. Bryan then talks about Software as a Service ("SaaS") and why artificial intelligence ("AI") isn't going to kill the companies that focus on it...

There are two reasons why I don't think AI will kill some of these big companies. One, they're building out the data centers that they hope are going to facilitate for everyone else. And two, it's not like Microsoft and Oracle and Intuit coders aren't going to be using AI themselves. They're going to be using AI to code their stuff... I'm not saying that we know who the winners are going to be and who the losers are going to be, but the incumbents are not hosed.

Next, Bryan does a deep dive into Salesforce (CRM) and its business model. Investors thought that AI was going to undermine the company and similar businesses because it offers better efficiency and can be cheaper. However, its software is so embedded in its customers' operations that they don't want to leave it, even if they aren't in love with it. Bryan says that "sticky" companies with models like that are ones you want to look at...

If [folks using a product that has AI tools] want to stop using it, they can just stop. Or if AI comes out with a new product, there's absolutely no pain to try the different product. You can just switch like that... Some of the concerns around AI are valid... [However], there are some companies that are more entrenched with their customers than others... Don't make assumptions.

Finally, Bryan shares the market sectors he's most interested in right now. He says investors should keep an eye on the conflict in the Middle East. This has created multiple energy investment opportunities in North America, especially in Canada. But in general, it pays to frequently brush up on what's going on in the world to see what new opportunities could arise. And contrary to what you might think, investing isn't an "either/or" matter. If you're focused on long-term investing, you can take advantage of volatility and make options trades...

[I come] from long-term investing, value investing... and you see really smart [option] traders... and people seem to think it's either/or. [They think] if you're into the kinds of things that [I] write about, then you wouldn't be into options trading. And I don't think it has to be either/or... Chart volatility is real. It happens, and you can make money figuring out what's going to happen. Ben Graham... would tell us, "It's meaningless for long-term [investing]," and he's right. It is meaningless for long-term investing, but that doesn't mean you can't trade around it and make a little money on it.

Click on the image below to watch the video interview with Bryan right now. For the audio version, click "Listen" above.

(Additional past episodes are located here.)

The transcript is coming soon.

This Week's Guest

Bryan Beach is a former "Big Four" auditor and a certified public accountant who holds bachelor's and master's degrees in business and accounting, respectively. He spent six years in public accounting and then a number of years as a controller and director of publicly held software companies. He also ran his accounting consulting practice. Bryan's ability to sift through company filings – finding opportunities and red flags – is his specialty. His unique experience in creating and auditing financial reports allows him to see what most investors miss.

Bryan is the editor of Stansberry Venture Value, an advisory service focused on small-cap value investing. He's also a senior analyst and contributor to our flagship product, Stansberry's Investment Advisory.