These 2 Ugly, Ugly Stocks Are Buys
ATTN: Sami’s next Mentorship is open! Go here to lock in your spot because they are going fast. Sami Abusaad is bullish on this tricky, sidewise market. And he’s very bullish on 2 beaten down names: PayPal (PYPL) and Zoom (ZM): Sami also goes over: Why the SPY looks better than QQQ right now Why it would be shocking if IWM pulls back in The bull case for his old favorite Ericsson (ERIC) 2 climactic setups you need to see Why he is bullish on Zoom’s (PYPL) monthly chart His entry on PayPal (PYPL) Why he piled into crypto late last week And more!
Continue Reading -->AI vs. Software: Who Wins?
What a week. We got Dow 50,000, Alphabet (GOOGL) and Amazon (AMZN) cranking up their capex, a crypto collapse, and metals trading like meme stocks. So let’s talk about the 5 biggest things you need to know right now: 1. Software Got Nuked By AI Software stocks were the talk of the town this week. In a bad, bad way. Anthropic launched its Claude CoWork app and the world seemed to scream “AI is going to eat software.” The way software was eating the world back in 2011, according to Marc Andreessen. And people started creating doomsday scenarios for AI replacing software applications wholesale. Traders developed a newfound obsession with the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV), which had its highest-volume week ever. Below the surface, it looks even worse. The average individual stock in the IGV ETF is -44% below its 52-week high, according to KoyFin data. Here are some examples: Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): -29% Salesforce Inc. (CRM): -44% WDAY Workday Inc. (WDAY): -44% ServiceNow Inc. (NOW): -53% Unity Software Inc. (U): -54% Oracle Corporation (ORCL): -60% Atlassian Corporation (TEAM): -71% And at the bottom of the barrel is Tom Lee’s Bitmine Immersion Technologies Inc. (BMNR) at 88% from its highs. (more on this below) Here’s another fun fact: just three of the 100+ stocks in IGV have made a 52-week high in 2026. They are Zoom (ZM), A10 Networks (ATEN), and Electronic Arts (EA). And EA in only that category because it’s being taken over. Is the bottom in for software? My personal guess is maybe. IGV hit an RSI of 14.84 on Thursday. Hard to go lower than that: I bought the Global X Cybersecurity ETF (BUG) Thursday because it’s also oversold, and security may be more AI-proof long-term. Ironically, software companies may benefit most from AI. Because AI coding tools like Claude may help developers do more work faster. So in this war… both AI and software may win! 2. Why Hardware Is Winning Now We plotted a simple chart comparing IGV to the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) and the SPDR® Tech Sector ETF (XLK): This lets us compare the software to the semiconductor sector (a good proxy for hardware) and tech overall. So over the past year, SMH is up 60.8% while IGV fell 22.5%. That’s a differential of 83.3%! You’re asking why, right? To me the answer is simple: shortages are sexy. And short-term gyrations aside, the hottest semiconductor names like Micron (MU), Broadcom (AVGO), Lam Research (LRCX), and Nvidia (NVDA) have been supply constrained. The “we can’t make enough stuff to meet demand” message is catnip for traders. That’s why SanDisk (SNDK) is the #1 stock in the S&P 500 this year. (note: SNDK is not in the SMH ETF) This excitement has pushed tremendous investment dollars to the semiconductor side. Software’s just not been as compelling from a story perspective. 3. Apple Took Over Mag 7, No AI Required I’ve argued that Apple Is Playing the Smartest AI Game of All. Unlike Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), Meta (META), and Oracle (ORCL), Apple is not blasting hundreds of billions of dollars into new capex spending on AI hardware. Apple’s also not playing financial engineering games with the likes of OpenAI and CoreWeave (CRWV). Apple is simply partnering with Google to enhance Siri with AI. Simple, safe, efficient. Especially since iPhone demand is rampant as it is. And as of Friday morning, Apple was the #1 stock in the Mag 7 this year, by a hair: 4. Consumer Staples Went Parabolic Of all the major index ETFs, the one showing the most power as of late is the Consumer Staples SPDR ETF (XLP). XLP is up 13% YTD vs. a 1% gain for SPY. Its RSI is at 82, which is a record high for XLP (or close to it – my data set isn’t perfect). That’s also the highest RSI of any major ETF. Because stocks like Wal-Mart (WMT), Costco (COST), and earnings winner Pepsi (PEP) have been marching on up. Now, there’s an argument to be made that traders are looking for boring stocks after the wild action in AI, the metals, and cryptocurrencies. But if we look back at the past 10 years, XLP has underperformed SPY by an enormous margin: So there’s an element of catch-up here. Strength in the staples is one reason the Dow Jones Industrial Average just hit 50,000 today. 5. Knives Out for Tom Lee Now, I’m not sure if the crypto market just bottomed. But the hate for Market Strategist and Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) Chair Tom Lee has been deafening. It feels worse than when everyone threw Ark Invest’s Cathie Wood under the bus in 2022. Tom’s taken a lot of flack for his crazy bullish forecasts on Bitcoin and Ethereum. But I now wonder if Bitmine bottomed at the point of maximum hate: Are you buying? I’m still afraid…
Continue Reading -->I Shorted the #1 Stock in the Market
ATTN: Sami’s next Mentorship is open! Go here to lock in your spot because they are going fast. Sandisk (SNDK) has been the #1 stock in the market. And Sami shorted it this morning at $644.97 because it made a “forever top.” Sami also goes over: The trouble he sees on the SPY and QQQ weekly charts Why the market is in trouble The problems facing gold and silver Why Alphabet (GOOGL) looks good into earnings Why his short ideas are looking better And more!
Continue Reading -->I’m Buying This AI Victim
The SPY remains very bullish, unfazed by the crashes in Gold and Bitcoin, and weakness in select names like Microsoft (MSFT). Meanwhile, QQQ is in breakout failure mode, while IWM is a mess. Add it up, and it’s impossible to pick a near-term direction. But long-term, the trend Sami shows in the video is hard to break: Sami goes over: A software stock he’s buying that was clobbered on AI concerns (6:46 into the video) Why SanDisk (SNDK), Western Digital (WDC), and Seagate (STX) may have topped out Why you must be careful when leaders break down How he makes money without predicting where the whole market is going Multiples names that look ready to break out Why he’s shorting ultra high-flyer Micron (MU) And more!
Continue Reading -->Meet the 4 Horsemen of the AI-pocalypse
What a week! President Trump named a new FOMC chair, the SPX hit 7000, and precious metals turned into meme stocks. So it’s time for the 5 things you need to know right now: 1. SanDisk Leads the 4 Horsemen of the AI-pocalypse Last week, I declared SanDisk (SNDK) “the most dangerous stock in the world… to longs and shorts.” Because it had a parabolic stock price, high short interest, and crazy earnings momentum. The longs won this week when the company delivered blockbuster earnings and guidance, keeping the stock at the top of the S&P 500 leaderboard. Look at the top 4 names year-to-date: SanDisk (SNDK): +172% Seagate (STX) +63% Western Digital (WDC): +60% Micron (MU): +48% *as of Friday morning So the AI trade is dominated by memory and storage stocks. And yes, you know those good old-fashioned spinning hard disk drives? AI data centers can’t get enough of those. The AI game is about SHORTAGES. The bigger the shortage, the bigger the earnings momentum. And right now, 4 horsemen have the best supply-demand dynamics. Because you can’t run data centers without memory or storage. As an illustration, SanDisk guided for Q3 EPS of $12 to $14. That’s triple the $4.33 consensus. And heck, it’s more than Q3 and Q4 earnings estimates COMBINED. But let’s talk about an unlikely AI hero… 2. Apple Is Playing the Smartest AI Game of All Apple’s (AAPL) been criticized for being slow to integrate AI into the iPhone. Which would have everyone switching to Android, right? Which was gonna kill the company, right? WRONG. On Thursday after the close, Apple smashed earnings expectations and reported “staggering” iPhone demand. Now, this chart doesn’t look great: But Apple’s now beaten earnings estimates for 12 straight quarters. The business is 100% intact. As I’ve pointed out 859 times, you can put any AI app on your iPhone. Which gives it all the AI capabilities we need. And the company’s teaming up with Google Gemini to reboot Siri. And if you still believe a lack of AI is a problem for Apple, tell your kids “you’re switching from iPhone to Android because you need better AI.” Their reaction will tell you everything. And consider this. Companies like Nvidia (NVDA), Oracle (ORCL), and Microsoft (MSFT) are hitching their fortunes to the very unprofitable ChatGPT maker OpenAI. OpenAI is burning through billions of dollars and facing intense competition from Alphabet (GOOGL). OpenAI is moving into ads even though Sam Altman once called them a last resort. Because they need money. So when the inevitable AI crash happens, Apple will be watching from the sidelines counting those iPhone bucks, not a care in the world. Full disclosure: Apple is my biggest stock position and I’m 100% biased. 3. Gold Went Full SMCI Gold futures hit a ridiculous RSI of 96.00 on Wednesday. It was like the heyday of Super Micro (SMCI) back in early 2024. And that was right before gold and other precious metals collapsed: By the way, David Prince of our Inner Circle VTF® is going to break down his amazing gold short on next week’s webinar. Sign up for it here. As a general rule, it’s hard for anything to sustain an RSI in the 90s, especially a major ETF. Now we’ll see if dip buyers come in with Gold 11% off the highs, and Silver down 24%. 4. Earnings Season Is Going Great Earnings season started pretty stinky with the banks and a whiff from Netflix (NFLX), to the point where the numbers overall were below expectations. That turned around big time this week with beats from a host of giants: SanDisk (SNDK) Apple (AAPL) Meta (META) ASML (ASML) Boeing (BA) IBM (IBM) GE Vernova (GEV) Lam Research (LRCX) Tesla (TSLA) Caterpillar (CAT) Visa (V) Mastercard (MA) Exxon (XOM) Chevron (CVX) American Express (AXP) Regeneron (REGN) So yes, there’s a lot of things in the world to worry about. But corporate earnings are not one of them. 5. Energy Is the Stealth Hero of 2026 Yes, everyone’s still obsessed with the precious metals and hot AI names. But have you noticed the energy stock boom? SPY is up 1.4% year-to-date. Meanwhile, the VanEck Oil Services ETF (OIH) is up 21.3% and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) is up 13.1%. Iran is a concern, and we’re seeing headlines that OPEC will keep its oil production pause. Yet it feels like nobody’s talking about the steady rise in crude oil: But we’ll give credit to the T3 Live audience. In our year-end survey, energy was the second favorite sector, behind tech.
Continue Reading -->David Prince Just Nailed Gold
The metals trade got even crazier this week as Gold futures went wild overnight on Wednesday. At one point futures rose $120 per ounce and then fell $100 per ounce in just 20 minutes. That was a $1.5 trillion swing in market cap, causing many to compare the move to how small caps or cryptos trade. Inner Circle’s David Prince breaks down how he navigated the trade and what it means for Gold long term: David also goes over: The state of the market at the end of January Meta Platforms (META) earnings + reaction Why Microsoft’s (MSFT) report killed software stocks Why Immunome (IMNM) is headed for $50+ Expectations for Apple (AAPL) earnings And more! Want David’s insight in your trading daily? Join his free webinar on Monday to see how you can join the Inner Circle VTF®.
Continue Reading -->Nvidia: JR’s Price Target Was Just Released
Sandisk (SNDK) has been the #1 AI name since it IPO’d last year. But Nvidia (NVDA) is back in the driver’s seat. And JR Romero has a big and bold price target which he reveals in his new video: JR goes over: Why Nvidia is going to all-time highs Why he is bullish on Iren (IREN), and where it’s going next A ridiculous space name that has “real momo” A semi name that looks ripe for a huge short His favorite nuclear name that can put in a big rally An AI data center name that’s on his buy list Why swing trading has been tricky And more!
Continue Reading -->David Prince’s Big Silver Short
David Prince joined Benzinga’s PreMarket Playbook to share his thoughts on the market so far in 2026, including why his SLV short this week was akin to some of the biggest trades he’s had in his career: David goes over: His focus for 2026 Why it’s time to be an opportunist over an investor One thing he agrees with Jim Cramer about Analysis of Apple (AAPL), Micron (MU), Immunome (IMNM), Netflix (NFLX) and more names The details of his big SLV short this week And more! Want David’s insight in your trading daily? Apply to join the Inner Circle VTF® and work with him here.
Continue Reading -->My #1 Silver Name
SPY and QQQ keep doing nothing. But IWM may have topped out, making this a very tricky market. In fact, Sami says this is the biggest divergence between large caps and small caps he’s ever seen. However, the big story in the market is silver, and Sami names his #1 silver mining name: Sami also goes over: The parabolic action in gold and silver Why you have to be careful with the metals, even with individual names looking strong Why Flowers Foods (FLOW) and Iridium Communications (IRDM) are on breakout watch 2 China names he loves right now Why he is betting against the red-hot memory stocks like Micron (MU) and SanDisk (SNDK) And more!
Continue Reading -->The Most Dangerous Trade of 2026
We’re coming off another fun week with skyrocketing metals prices, President Trump Tacoing on Greenland, and earnings season heating off. So it’s time for the 5 charts you need to see right now: 1. Sandisk Is the Most Dangerous Stock in the World Sandisk (SNDK) is the #1 stock in the S&P 500 in 2026. And it’s the most dangerous stock in the world… to longs and shorts. Thanks to the AI boom, there’s not enough memory and storage to go around. That’s been a boon for Sandisk, along with its peers Micron (MU) and Western Digital (WDC). But what’s really interesting about Sandisk is that it’s heavily shorted. According to KoyFin data, 6% of the float is sold short: Meanwhile, earnings estimates have skyrocketed since the company came public again last year: So we have 6% of the float short, while earnings estimates are going through the roof because of a massive supply-demand imbalance. It looks like the shorts are trying to predict a cyclical top into earnings on Thursday, January 29. And the optimists think things can only get better. This is quite tricky. One one hand, it might have already gone too far, too fast. On the other hand, SanDisk could see a mountain of good news next week. Aside from its own earnings report Thursday, ee get earnings from Microsoft (MSFT), Meta (META), and Lam Research (LRCX) on Wednesday. All are likely to give bullish outlooks on the AI cycle. And Lam Research is a Sandisk supplier. If you’re playing it… good luck. 2. The Silver Squeeze Is Still Raging 2026 is still the year of heavy metal. Silver is on top with uranium and gold also in strong uptrends. They’re all crushing the SPY: The metals are being boosted from a variety factors including industrial demand, central bank buying, and good old-fashioned momentum. And here’s another example of how extreme the #silversqueeze is. We searched Google Trends for “silver price” and that chart is just as parabolic as SLV: So yes, the general public is here. 3. The Energy Boom Continues On January 5, OIH put in the “Gap of the Year” on President Trump’s presumed takeover of the Venezuela oil industry. Then it was off to the races, and OIH is up 21% on the year: But it gets much more interesting when we take a long-term view. OIH is still way off the $935.46 all-time high from 2014. And it’s right at resistance in the $343 area: The kicker here might be Europe. If they get friendlier to oil after very mixed results from alternative energy, there could be a global energy production spending boom. And there could be a massive catch-up play for OIH. 4. Russell Just Reversed The FOMC is on Wednesday, and the market is pricing in a 2.8% chance of a 25 bps rate cut. And of course, the Fed’s forward direction is hard to predict. So this week was a good time for the Russell 2000 Index to take a break after a furious start to 2026. IWM put in a big topping tail Wednesday with nasty downside follow-through on Friday: And it’s not even at the 20-day moving average yet. If next week’s earnings stink, IWM could lead to the downside. Speaking of earnings… 5. Earnings Season Is Upside Down According to FactSet, 13% of S&P 500 companies have reported so far, and things don’t look great so far: Earnings growth is tracking at 8.2%, below the 8.3% expected on December 31. And companies are reporting earnings that are 5.3% above estimates, below the 5-year average of 8.7%. In recent quarters, we’ve been used to estimates coming down, and companies crushing those lowered estimates. Q4 2025 earnings season has been a flip-flop. Estimates have been on the upswing, and now the beats are getting smaller. Should we freak out? Not until next week when Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Meta Platforms (META), Visa (V), Mastercard (MA), and other indexy heavyweights report. They should push that 8.2% number up. With an emphasis on the word “should.”
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