Hello, Reader.
In the late 1980s, the U.S. Army War College created the acronym “VUCA.” It stands for…
Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity
It was initially used to describe the post-Cold War international environment, although it gained wider recognition after the 2008 financial crisis.
And I think it appropriately describes the financial environment today.
At this moment in history, two giant economic forces are slamming into the U.S. stock market at the same time…
- We are living in the fastest rate of technological change that humankind has ever experienced, with artificial intelligence threatening to make the world we know unrecognizable in just a few years…
- Trade relationships and peace deals are hanging on by a fraying thread. If that thread breaks, it will unleash an unrelenting and painful era of chaos.
Volatility? Check.
Uncertainty? Check.
Complexity and ambiguity? Check, check.
This means that knowing which companies to run from and which to run toward will become more difficult than ever in the age of exponential progress and mind-warping technological advances.
So, in today’s Smart Money, I’ll detail why many of the companies poised to potentially fail will be household names you are already familiar with – and maybe even own.
(Hint: Like Amazon.com Inc. [AMZN])
Then, I’ll share how you can find the lesser-known and highly misunderstood stocks that I recommend instead…
And how you can “buy Amazon like it’s 2005”… in 2025.
The Writing on the Factory Wall
Let’s take a quick trip to 2122 Broening Highway in Baltimore, Maryland. The industrial Baltimore property pictured below hosts a one-million-square-foot Amazon distribution center.
However, it was once home to a sprawling factory owned by a business many believed was too big, too iconic, and too “All-American” to fail: General Motors Co. (GM).
When the old GM plant opened in 1935, the state-of-the-art facility covered 40 football fields and included test tracks for new cars and rail lines to transport vehicles to market. Nearly 7,000 people worked there at its peak.
But eventually, this formerly cutting-edge plant became too obsolete to build cars profitably. In 2005, this iconic Baltimore landmark was razed to the ground… just a few years before General Motors filed for bankruptcy.
When the GM plant shut down, 1,100 employees lost their jobs. The event shocked investors and long-time employees of the plant.
But I saw the writing on the wall well in advance.
While two-thirds of the analysts on Wall Street were rating the stock a “Buy” or a “Hold,” I knew it was going to fail… months before the plant closed down.
GM wasn’t so much a car company anymore as it was a house of cards, propped up by wishful accounting.
And despite Wall Street’s optimism, I knew we would soon see GM run out of cash.
So, I doubled down and called GM a “Strong Sell”. And sure enough, the unraveling I predicted came to pass: On June 1st, 2009, General Motors disintegrated in what Forbes referred to as, “The most important bankruptcy in U.S. history.”
More importantly, when I recommended selling General Motors in 2005, I also recommended buying Metal Management, a large metal recycling company.
Today, the company is known as Sims Metal. And it’s one of the largest full-service metal recyclers in the country – with 53 locations.
At the time I recommended it, most people had never heard of Metal Management.
Unlike GM, this company was not an American icon. It didn’t build cars. It crushed them for scrap metal on dirt lots. However, steel prices were soaring, which made Metal Management extremely profitable.
And sure enough, GM tumbled more than 50% on its way to going completely bankrupt…
While Metal Management nearly doubled in price.
Like I said, it is as equally important to know which companies to run from as it is to know which to run toward.
This leads me back to Amazon…
Sell That, Buy This
General Motors and Amazon have more in common than a shared history at 2122 Broening Highway.
Like GM, Amazon has been the stock to own for many years. I even recommended it to my Fry’s Investment Report subscribers in February 2023.
However, Amazon is going to be one of the prime (no pun intended) victims of the current administration’s trade war. Up to 70% of what you see on Amazon comes from China. Tariffs on those goods means that Amazon could lose their competitive edge entirely.
Plus, Amazon’s cloud service division has missed analyst expectations for three-straight quarters. That’s the part of Amazon’s business that they consider to be their “growth driver.” That is why CEO Jeff Bezos is panic-pumping $100 billion into this lagging part of their business. However, that investment is bleeding the company dry.
Like General Motors, I was dubious of Wall Street’s optimism about the tech giant’s profit growth.
So, I recommended that my Fry’s Investment Report subscribers sell the company in October 2024, while pocketing a nice triple-digit gain.
But as I suggest turning away from Amazon, there is another company I suggest turning toward…
It is virtually unknown, fast-growing online retailer that could be like buying Amazon twenty years ago, but with even bigger competitive advantage.
And the smart money is already moving away from Amazon and toward this online retailer. Projections are showing that it could become 700% more profitable by 2027.
I put all of the details of this under-the-radar company in my brand-new, free special broadcast.
I also share stocks I believes every investor should buy now – and what stocks everyone should drop immediately.
Click here to access all of the details.
Regards,
Eric Fry
