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.”
Continue Reading -->David Prince Explains When to Focus on a Sector in Trading
David Prince has a specialty of identifying sectors that are trading differently than the overall market environment. He explains what you need to pay attention to in your trading to know when it’s time to focus on a sector vs the broader market: David goes over: What makes a catalyst How to identify a catalyst How some specific sectors perform in different environments Want David’s insight in your trading daily? Apply to join the Inner Circle VTF® and work with him here.
Continue Reading -->IWM’s Dirty Little Secret
The market uptrend had a problem. We couldn’t get a real breakout. Momentum kept failing. And then on Monday evening, Sami pointed out that IWM could signal a decline if it broke $264.70. Which it did on the open Monday morning: Sami goes over: How he knew IWM $264.70 could give us trouble Why he predicted a pullback this week The big biotech name that looks perfect for a long-term rally A lithium play could could be the next hot metals name A nuclear play that could ignite on a breakout Multiple names that are going climactic, meaning we could see huge reversals 5 names that look ready to drop, including a controversial EV stock
Continue Reading -->Heavy Metal Traders Are Getting Rich
Congratulations. You survived the first half of January. So it’s time for the 5 charts you need to see. Though there’s more than 5 this week: Heavy Metal Traders Are Getting Rich Metals won in 2025, and they’re winning again this year. But while everyone’s obsessed with the #silversqueeze, there is another dominant metal in 2026: uranium. The Global X Uranium ETF (URA) is now up 26.5% this month, edging out the iShares Silver Trust (SLV). The AI industry is driving demand for more nuclear power. And nuclear power providers need a lot more uranium, which is in short supply. Bank of America said uranium prices could rise by 50% by 2027, and named Cameco (CCJ) its number one pick. It’s been on fire this year: But uranium and silver are not the only metals winners. Copper, platinum, palladium, and lithium are all in uptrends. So this the year of heavy metal! Full disclosure: CCJ is one of my biggest personal equity holdings. But let’s talk about my biggest position, which isn’t doing as well as CCJ: Apple = Crapple Every time it looks like it’s waking up, Apple (AAPL) goes back to sleep. Look at this mess: Do you need indicators or squiggly lines to see how ugly this is? Now, I’m not selling my Apple because the company’s got two huge things going for it: Android is, um, not very cool The products all just work together It’s a good thing earnings are in two weeks, because we need resolution here. Either a screaming rally back to the highs, or a final death blow. This slow bleed is too painful to endure. If it’s gonna go down, let’s just get it over with! Small Caps Go on a Wild Ride We’ve been hearing about a small cap comeback for years. But it may be happening. The Russell 2000 is up over 8% in January while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 are up less than 2%. And there are tons of individual winners. ‘ As of Friday afternoon, 205 stocks in the Russell 2000 are up more than 20% this month. And 32 are up more than 50%. We can’t necessarily attribute this to lower rates because the Fed direction isn’t quite clear. So it looks like a combination of speculative juices and catch-up. Investors Are Getting Very Bullish The crowd is getting very bullish after a big rally from the December lows. According to the AAII Sentiment Survey, 49.5% investors are bullish: This is the highest bullish reading since November 14, 2024, which was right after President Trump’s election victory, which drove a massive surge in stocks. Interestingly, it seems that survey respondents are not concerned about all the chaos in the world, between Venezuela, Iran, the President going after Powell, uncertainty on the economy, etc. Or perhaps everyone’s just gotten used to chaos by now. Just keep in mind that timing the market using sentiment indicators is notoriously difficult. Happy times can last. Micron Earnings Estimates Are Insane Micron (MU) is up 249% over the past year, and if you want to know why, look at the power of a memory shortage. Earnings estimates have gone parabolic, as you can see in this chart. This is crazier than what we saw with Nvidia 3 years ago. In the past 12 months, FY2026 EPS estimates have gone from $11.24 to $32.67. Everybody from Nvidia (NVDA) to AMD (AMD) to Alphabet (GOOGL) is desperate for memory and prices are going through the roof. Crazy stuff.
Continue Reading -->The #1 Financial Stock in the World
JR Romero is bullish on Interactive Brokers (IBKR), even with the financials reporting lousy earnings. Get his target price, and why he’s so bullish on this brokerage stock: The highest analyst target price on IBKR is $84 right now, according to KoyFin. JR’s target is way higher. Find out: -Where he wants to enter IBKR into earnings -Another financial name that looks ready for a gap & go -A travel name that is about to break out, big time -Where Carnival Cruise Lines (CCL) is going -Why IREN (IREN) is going back to the highs And MORE!
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