My new interview on the nuclear sector; Lessons from the recent downturn and recovery; Consumer sentiment keeps dropping; Many elderly Americans are 'redefining old age'

1) I did a 14-minute interview on Thursday with MarketBeat about the nuclear sector, where stocks have recovered strongly from the recent pullback...

Regular readers know that I see long-term upside potential for the sector. And in my interview, I discussed some of the recent developments as well as a handful of stocks. You can check it out here on YouTube.

Of course, the big story in nuclear energy that my team and I have been following is about "Amazon Helios"...

When people usually talk about nuclear energy, they're talking about fission – which splits atoms. It's an amazingly safe, reliable, and clean power source.

But I'm talking about nuclear fusion. This process combines atoms to form a single, heavier one... while releasing massive amounts of energy.

According to MIT, fusion can create 20 million to 100 million times more energy than coal, oil, or natural gas.

And right now, one company is at the center of it all. You can get all the details in a special presentation right here.

2) Through Friday's close, the S&P 500 Index has risen more than 23% since its intraday bottom on April 7 and is up more than 1% on the year.

But even with the recent recovery, U.S. stocks were still lagging. In the table below (courtesy of Charlie Bilello's latest Week in Charts), you can see that the U.S. was the fifth-worst-performing stock market in the world in 2025 as of early last week:

While those stomach-churning days were a mere six weeks ago, I don't think it's too soon to look back and highlight some lessons...

As I look back at my April 7 and April 8 e-mails, I feel a little pang of regret that I didn't pound the table to buy. But overall, I think I gave my readers good advice.

On April 7, I shared six historical data points that had me "getting more bullish on stocks." And the next day, I explained why I wasn't obsessing over my portfolio. As I said:

I also know that I've taken losses in the 70% [of my personal portfolio] that's not in cash, but it's not going to help me make better decisions by obsessing over and tracking them all throughout the day. In fact, it's almost certain that it would cause me to make worse decisions.

As I've said plenty of times, the key is to focus on the long run... and not get swept up in the short-term hysteria right now.

Meanwhile, I was also asking myself three big questions:

First, do I think things are going to get a lot worse – in which case I would sell aggressively?

My answer, as I've discussed in recent e-mails, is likely no...

The U.S. economy came into this mini-crisis quite healthy. And the damage is self-inflicted, which means it can be mitigated with a simple statement/social media post (though admittedly, the long-term damage to business confidence and investment is harder to gauge).

Second, do I feel like we're at a blood-in-the-streets moment in which I'm trembling with greed – as I was most recently on March 23, 2020? (See my January 6 e-mail about the lessons from that day.)

Not yet...

Lastly, are there individual stocks – either ones I own or have been following – that I want to add to my portfolio?

To answer that last one, I repeated what I said on April 7:

During times of market turmoil, the temptation is to do something dramatic, but that's usually a mistake. Instead, I plan to sit tight and look for the best stocks I can find that look compelling enough to start nibbling on.

I don't know when and to what degree, but it's certain that there will be plenty of volatility in the markets going forward – and I suspect more than usual. As such, keep these lessons in mind so that you are prepared to weather – if not profit from – the inevitable pullbacks.

3) At first glance, this Wall Street Journal headline from Friday appears negative for stocks: Consumer Sentiment Darkens Further With Inflation Worries Rising. Here's an excerpt from the article:

American households in May felt worse about the economy than they did in April, with sweeping tariffs raising the prospect of higher prices.

The University of Michigan said Friday its preliminary index of consumer sentiment for May was 50.8, down about 3% from a final reading of 52.2 in April.

Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had expected consumer sentiment to rise to 53.5 in May.

The preliminary number represents the second-lowest level on record.

And here's the related chart from the article – it looks bad:

But I discount this for two reasons...

First, consumer sentiment has been a good contra-indicator. The index crashed when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, which was a great time to buy stocks.

And the only time the index was lower was in mid-2022, which was also a great time to buy stocks. As you can see in this chart, the S&P 500 is up more than 50% since then:

Secondly, the difference in sentiment between Republicans and Democrats is so vast that it makes me question the index entirely.

Look at how it completely reversed when Donald Trump was first elected in 2016, again when Joe Biden won in 2020, and back again last November. Here's another chart from the same WSJ article showing sentiment index by political party:

I've said this many times before, but I'll repeat it: Don't let your politics affect your investing!

4) My parents (aged 83 and 84) are, thankfully, good examples of this – from this weekend's WSJ: Americans in Their 80s and 90s Are Redefining Old Age. Excerpt:

For a growing number of Americans, old age has undergone a profound transformation. Many are living to advanced ages in good health, with some even demonstrating improvements with the passing years.

A long-running study of older people in the greater New Haven, Conn., area found that most who had lost the ability to feed or bathe themselves recovered within six months, and often sooner. The Einstein Aging Study, which has followed people 70 or older from the Bronx since 1993, discovered a declining rate of dementia in successive age cohorts born after 1929.

According to research at the Stanford Center on Longevity, older Americans report higher levels of emotional well-being and lower levels of negative emotions compared with young adults.

As the article highlights, exercise is important. And for more on exercise, here's an extended excerpt from my book, The Art of Playing Defense...

Countless studies show that regular exercise leads to better health and fitness, a lower risk of many diseases, and a longer life expectancy. It literally reshapes aging. In various recent studies, active older people's muscles, immune systems, blood cells, and even skin appeared biologically younger, at a molecular level, than those of sedentary people.

Exercise also leads to more energy and self-confidence, lower stress, better sleep, and more happiness. Physically active people are half as likely to be depressed.

But wait, there's more: studies show that exercise increases your memory, learning, creativity, productivity, and self-control. Many people who begin to exercise stop using their credit cards so often. They procrastinate less at work. They do the dishes earlier in the day.

An article in the New York Times summarizes:

Scientists have found and reaffirmed the extent to which movement, of almost any kind and amount, may remake how we think and feel. In one study after another, physical activity beneficially remodeled the brains of children and the middle-aged; lowered people's risks for dementia or, if dementia had already begun, slowed memory loss; and increased brain volume, tissue health and the quality of connections between neurons and different portions of the brain.

Exercise also seems able to buoy moods far more than most of us, including scientists, might have expected 10 years ago. In observational studies, physically active people proved to be much less likely to develop depression or anxiety than sedentary people, no matter what types of activities they chose.

So get into the habit of regular exercise by finding something you enjoy.

I like to mix it up: pickup basketball one day, going to the gym the next, then tennis the next, maybe a good run or race on the weekend. Plus, I ride my bike around the city pretty much every day. At least twice a week, I try to mix in high-intensity interval training, which studies show is important – usually via a session with a personal trainer or running coach or a boutique fitness class like Tone House.

[My wife] Susan, in contrast, is a creature of habit: she gets up early every morning and does the exact same workout on an elliptical machine in the gym in the basement of our building.

Figure out what works for you – but make it a habit! If I go more than a day without a good workout, I really notice it. I know we're all super busy, but even if you're short on time, you'd be amazed at how much of a sweat you can work up in only a few minutes – for example, I sometimes use the 7 Minute Workout app.

Best regards,

Whitney

P.S. I welcome your feedback – send me an e-mail by clicking here.