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Wealth that began with challenge
Happy 4th of July!
Few stories better depict the American entrepreneurial spirit than that of Cornelius Vanderbilt in the early nineteenth century. This was early in his career, before he became the railroad and shipping magnate we all know.
New York State granted steamboat pioneer Robert Fulton and his heirs a monopoly on all steamboat traffic in state waters. No competition. There are no alternatives. Just Fulton Boats, Fulton Prices, and Fulton Rules.
Vanderbilt, who was working for someone else at the time, had other ideas.
He did not pressure the state or bribe politicians to help him change things. He simply continued to operate a ferry between New York and New Jersey and raise the flag on his ship – “New Jersey Shall Be Free.” He undercut Fulton’s prices (he charged $1 for Fulton’s $4) and essentially dared the authorities to stop him.
Credit: Chloe
Ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that New York’s monopoly was an unconstitutional grip on interstate commerce. But by then, the monopoly had already been broken as customers increasingly cast their votes. Vanderbilt did not wait for permission.
This situation led to the creation of one of the greatest empires of wealth in American history. This is the attitude you should take as you build your wealth and secure your financial freedom today.
And honestly, there’s probably never been a better time to grow your wealth than now.
Quick wins in AI infrastructure play
As you are no doubt aware, AI trading has dominated the markets since ChatGPT debuted in November 2022.
Since then, we have seen a significant rise in some stocks, e.g nvidia (NVDA)an increase of more than 1000%, and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)an increase of 657%, among others.
Many people look at their investment portfolio and simply cannot believe that these good times can continue. But investing legend Louis Navellier is confident we’re still early in this bull market.
Profits explain why.
This is what he wrote to his owner Accelerating profits subscribers earlier this week.
The current earnings environment is exceptional, and earnings momentum will remain strong throughout 2026. FactSet currently expects the S&P 500 to deliver 27.7% average earnings growth in the first quarter – then 19.9%, 23.2%, and 20.7% in average earnings growth in the second, third, and fourth quarters, respectively.
For calendar year 2026, estimates are 21%.
As you know, positive earnings surprises will likely push these estimates higher in the coming months. At the start of the first-quarter earnings season, analysts only expected the S&P 500 to deliver average earnings growth of 13.1%. Due to positive results and surprisesThe S&P 500 has more than doubled that estimate.
So, once again, earnings momentum is accelerating – and that means we need to continue investing in companies that have impressive expected earnings and sales growth, positive analyst reviews and strong institutional buying pressure.
One of those companies is Seagate Technology Holdings (STX). STX develops AI hard drives better than any other company.
The need for computer memory has not slowed down. Training and deploying AI models requires high-speed data, memory, and storage technologies – ideally, technologies that balance cost, performance, and scalability. This means that most AI data ends up being stored on hard drives, such as those developed by STX.
STX’s earnings reflect demand for its product.
Here’s how Lewis summarized their outlook.
In the third quarter of fiscal 2026, Seagate Technology reported a 44.1% year-over-year revenue increase to $3.11 billion. Earnings rose 129.5% year over year to $934 million, or $4.10 per share.
The consensus estimate called for earnings of $3.50 per share on revenue of $2.96 billion, so Seagate Technology posted an earnings surprise of 17.1% and a revenue surprise of 5%.
Looking to the fourth quarter, Seagate Technology expects revenue of about $3.45 billion and earnings of about $5.00 per share. This represents revenue growth of 41.4% year-over-year and profit growth of 93.1% year-over-year.
Thanks to the positive outlook, analysts significantly increased their fourth-quarter and full-year earnings estimates over the past month. Q4 earnings are now expected to rise 95.4% year-over-year to $5.06 per share, and full-year 2026 earnings are expected to jump 83.7% year-over-year to $14.88 per share.
Since Lewis’ recommendation, the STX (in blue) has outperformed the S&P (in green) by 10 to 1, still below Lewis’ purchase price.
What Lewis is worried about
Underneath all the dividend gains is a potential pitfall for investors.
Vanderbilt understood something that many investors forget: Just because everyone believes something doesn’t make it true.
Everyone accepted Fulton’s monopoly as a permanent monopoly, but Vanderbilt saw an opportunity that everyone had missed.
Today, millions of people now rely on the same Wall Street research… the same financial headlines… and, increasingly, the same AI tools to tell them what to buy.
While this is convenient, it also creates danger.
If everyone looks at the same information, everyone is likely to come to the same conclusions. Lewis believes this is exactly what is starting to happen.
In his view, artificial intelligence does not replace investors. It encourages millions of investors to chase the same obvious opportunities at roughly the same time.
That’s why he believes the biggest advantage is not finding better titles. It’s finding the signals that appear before Titles.
This is exactly what Lewis explains A new show he recently recorded.
He discusses why he believes the next phase of the AI boom may look very different from the first, and why investors who simply follow AI-generated recommendations could eventually find themselves buying the same crowded stocks as everyone else.
Most importantly, he explains The only signal he has relied on for over four decades To identify opportunities before they turn into their biggest gains.
If you’re investing in AI – or simply wondering where the next great opportunities could come from – you should Watch Lewis’ show today.
You can access the presentation here.
Enjoy your weekend,
Luis Hernandez
Editor-in-Chief, InvestorPlace
