My colleague Louis Navellier has flagged a potential “black swan.” It's the private credit market — a $3 trillion corner of finance where problems can grow out of sight. Louis is joining us today to walk you through what’s happening inside the private credit market, why it matters right now, and what it could mean for your portfolio.

In today’s Smart Money, we’ll unpack how this shift is redefining Meta’s broader AI strategy and further examine the widespread deployment of AI agents. Then, before AI agents enter every C-suite, I'll reveal how the best course of action is not to invest in the firms developing those agents… but in the companies powering them.

I like to remind readers that good things tend to happen to cheap stocks, while bad things tend to happen to pricey stocks – no matter how serene or chaotic the world might be.

Every major technological shift has a moment when skeptics declare it over. Today, artificial intelligence finds itself in a similar moment. My InvestorPlace colleague Louis Navellier and I agree: AI is not contracting. It is transitioning.

Today, let’s dive into the latest change on the AI block – the rise of agentic AI – and what it means for where the smart money flows next.

Since the U.S. attacked Iran on February 28, investors have poured a net $685 million into USO alone, reversing a negative $682 million outflow since 2024. Today, I’d like to show you why this rush into USO – and the way retail investors are playing oil in general – could be a mistake. Then, I’ll explain why your attention should be pointed elsewhere. It’s an investing approach you won’t regret.

Micron’s memory technology is used, among other places, in artificial intelligence, data centers, computing, autos, and mobile devices. Today, the company is rallying as demand for its memory chips soars. The memory-chip shortage shows no signs of easing, with the tech industry’s top players spending record sums to stay competitive in the AI race. That means memory companies could be among the next wave of AI stock winners.

I thought I was one of only a few contrarian voices speaking about AI’s emerging bottlenecks. But I’m actually joined by a growing chorus of voices behind Wall Street’s closed doors.

There’s a fundamental change in compute needs thanks to the rise of agentic AI. Because AI agents are task-oriented, CPUs are the ideal fit for running them, as they have fewer powerful cores than GPUs when running consecutive general-purpose tasks. And Nvidia is once again ready to profit from this shift.

In the 1990s, the explosion of internet infrastructure, personal computers, and networking hardware meant the world suddenly needed far more metals than usual. The result was a classic supply bottleneck. From 1998 to 2001, I recommended four mining stocks to my readers that went on to generate remarkable gains. And this same bottleneck is happening again.

In today’s Smart Money, let's walk you through some emerging bottlenecks in AI, and I'll show you why they could determine which companies win the next phase of the AI boom. 

After the launch of ChatGPT, there weren’t enough chips, networking components, or infrastructure to power the AI explosion. Two companies sat at the center of this compute bottleneck…  and both of these AI infrastructure providers went on to capture enormous gains early in the AI boom. AI’s next wave of millionaire-maker bottlenecks is here.

To help protect your portfolios during this Middle East conflict, I’d like to highlight a Fry’s Investment Report holding that should do well, regardless of whether oil surges to $120 or falls back to Earth. 

If the war continues to create a global aluminum shortage, mining companies could stand to benefit. Now, I am certainly not celebrating conflict in the Middle East; but we can only invest in the world as it is, not in the rose-tinted world we might prefer.

In today’s Smart Money, let’s take a look at the AI costs that Big Tech has pledged to bear, investment opportunities that could follow, and the best way to get in early.

I want to bring to your attention a streaming giant that accounted for over 95 billion hours of viewing time in the first half of 2025. Alarmingly, even this household name is vulnerable to AI’s disruption.

For decades, investors were told to focus on fundamentals, buy great companies, and hold on for the long haul. That approach still has its place, but it can come with gut-wrenching drawdowns and years-long recovery periods in today’s environment. So, I invited Luke Lango to explain his investment method in today’s guest essay.

Spreading investments internationally reduces reliance on the U.S. alone and can smooth overall returns over time. Plus, some markets outside the U.S. may offer cheaper valuations.