If you were fortunate enough to invest $1,000 in Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) a decade ago on Sept. 3, 2016, you would have roughly $126,810 today -- an incredible return that absolutely crushed the market. Take a look at that incredible growth in the chart below:

Data by YCharts.

Note that the calculation excludes trading fees and taxes, and the exact total fluctuates daily with Bitcoin's price. Still, turning four figures into six figures in one decade is a remarkable result by any standard.

Bitcoin's 62% annualized return beat every mainstream asset since 2016

That's putting it lightly. Few things came remotely close to a 12,581% return -- a 62% annual rate -- in that time. Compare Bitcoin's annual rate of return with some other options you would have had in 2016.

Source: YCharts.

Wall Street now holds Bitcoin despite a decade of major crashes

Bitcoin suffered some brutal drawdowns along the way, and most investors jumped ship. It wasn't easy to hold on after a 70% crash while the "smart money" said to stay far away from Bitcoin.

Things have changed. Major institutions across Wall Street now hold Bitcoin. Motley Fool Research tracks major Bitcoin holdings by governments, public companies, and exchange-traded funds.

Image source: Getty Images.

Of course, the flip side of that adoption is that it's highly unlikely we'll see returns in the future that come close to what we saw in the past. Still, I think Bitcoin is a smart addition as a small portion of a well-balanced portfolio.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Cathie Wood of Ark Invest isn't shy about making big and bold predictions. She has famously said she could see Bitcoin reaching as high as $2.4 million per coin by 2030 and Tesla stock hitting $2,600 a share by 2029.

Predictions this ambitious are bound to grab headlines. It's important, however, not to confuse an imaginable outcome with a probable one. Two forecasts from her firm's Big Ideas 2026, the latest iteration of Ark's annual flagship report, illustrate both what I think Ark does well and where its projections can get carried away.

Image source: Getty Images.

Ark stays reasonable about data center spending

The Ark 2026 Big Ideas report forecasts that data center investment will triple to $1.5 trillion by 2030. This is probably one of the most plausible predictions of the bunch. According to The Motley Fool Research, just four companies spent $410.2 billion on data center development in 2025 and $302.8 billion in the first half of 2026. I could very much see data center investment totals top $1.5 trillion annually or even surpass that amount if the AI boom can sustain itself through 2030.

This is a prediction based on real, tangible trends happening right now.

Ark's view on rocket demand may not be launch-worthy

Ark's forecast says there will be a 60x growth in rocket demand, which hinges on the need for cheaper space-based compute. This one I have much more trouble with. That's because it rests on the idea that space-based data centers could become cheaper than their terrestrial counterparts. There are some basic physical constraints that make this hard for me to buy, even if we assume that Space Exploration Technologies drastically reduces the cost of getting things into space.

This prediction, in my view, is based more on vibes than hard data.

To be clear, Wood isn't claiming these are guaranteed outcomes by any means. She certainly acknowledges that each target requires many things to go right. Still, it's clear Wood believes these are very possible outcomes and puts her money where her mouth is. She invests in companies that are working to create these futures or will directly benefit from them.

ARKK's return since 2014 vs. the market

So should you trust these two predictions and the others laid out in Big Ideas 2026? Well, it's worth looking at the past before evaluating Wood's vision of the future. How has Wood actually performed in the market since Ark was founded?

Her flagship fund, Ark Innovation ETF (NYSEMKT: ARKK), has returned 323% since 2014. Not a bad run. That beats out the 303.7% comparable return of the State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust's (NYSEMKT: SPY) -- an ETF that tracks the S&P 500. The total returns for each work out to 12.8% and 12.3% on an annual basis, respectively.

So it looks like Wood beat the market, but not by much. If you look a little closer, however, you realize that you would have been better off investing in SPY all along. Once you account for management fees and dividend yields, Wood's ARKK returned 12% per year, while SPY returned 13.2% per year.

Take a look at the performance of some of Wood's top funds in recent years. Keep in mind SPY returned 68.1% in this time.

Data source: Google Finance.

The bottom line

Now, obviously, just because most of Ark Invest's funds haven't performed well in recent years doesn't necessarily mean that Wood's predictions are wrong, but it's a good reminder to take them with a grain of salt. Any splashy prediction should be met with skepticism.

For my money, ARK's forecasts are best treated as thought experiments. They highlight important trends and raise assumptions worth testing. But they also lean heavily toward the most optimistic version of the future. That might be useful for imagining what could be possible, but it can distract us from what businesses are actually delivering today and what they can realistically deliver in the next few years.

Johnny Rice has positions in SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin and Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) is down 4.6% in the last 24 hours as of 5:30 p.m. ET on Sept. 4, 2026, after much stronger-than-expected jobs released today, sending odds of a rate hike higher.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite both dropped in Friday's trading, losing 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively.

August payrolls blow past estimates, pushing hike odds to 60%

The August jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed the economy added 162,000 jobs, well ahead of the consensus expectations of 53,000.

Given inflation is running well above the Federal Reserve's target, the strong report gives the Fed less reason to hold rates steady. Odds of a hike at the Fed's upcoming September meeting climbed to about 60% from 49% before the report.

Higher rate-hike odds make Treasuries more attractive than risky bets like Dogecoin

When rates go up, U.S. Treasuries -- basically guaranteed money -- pay more, so the case for investors to take on the risk of investing elsewhere gets harder to make. That's why the stock market tends to see red on days when rate hikes become more likely.

Image source: Getty Images.

In general, the riskier the asset, the larger the effect. And Dogecoin is nothing if not risky. This is a memecoin and is regularly subject to major price swings. In my view, it's not a serious investment, and you should look elsewhere if you're interested in cryptocurrencies.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) shares fell 6% on Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, after its Cybercab launch event failed to impress investors and federal regulators opened a safety audit.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite both dropped, losing 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively.

Tesla's Cybercab event left pricing and production questions unanswered before NHTSA opened a safety audit

On Thursday, Tesla held its much-anticipated Cybercab launch event. However, the event left investors wanting more. CEO Elon Musk wasn't there, and attendance was limited to just a small group of shareholders and content creators under nondisclosure agreements. Tesla usually likes to livestream its events. It did not stream this one.

Even more concerning to many investors, the company offered no real tangible details and, as RBC Capital Markets put it, left "key outstanding questions around pricing, production cadence, and regulatory approvals" unanswered.

Image source: Getty Images.

That last one is a present concern: on Friday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said it had opened an audit query into how Tesla self-certified the Cybercab and why it decided normal safety standards don't apply to the vehicle, like those that require a steering wheel, pedals, and mirrors.

Tesla trades at a P/E above 320, pricing in unproven businesses

Tesla's stock trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of more than 320 -- an extreme figure. That valuation rests mostly on new technologies and business lines that are still in development and are far from slam-dunks. Timelines constantly get pushed, and promised futures never quite arrive. I would avoid the stock.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Space Exploration Technologies (NASDAQ: SPCX) spent $18.4 billion on capital projects in the second quarter. Given the company's name, you might expect the lion's share of that to have gone toward rockets, satellites, and the like. You'd be wrong.

$15.8 billion -- about 86% -- went to its artificial intelligence (AI) segment, SpaceXAI.

The rest was basically a rounding error by comparison: SpaceX put $1.4 billion into Starlink, its satellite-based internet business, and $1.2 billion into its Space business -- that is, rockets. Here's the full breakdown:

SpaceXAI's compute capacity hit 1.4 gigawatts in Q2 2026 as revenue nearly tripled

The bulk of those AI dollars went toward compute infrastructure -- the data centers, specialized chips, networking equipment, and power and cooling systems needed to train and run AI models. SpaceXAI increased its compute capacity from 1 gigawatt (GW) in the first quarter to 1.4 GWs in the second quarter. That's roughly enough energy to power more than 1 million homes.

An AI data center. Image source: Getty Images.

SpaceX's capacity is highly valuable at the moment. The company began servicing a contract to supply Anthropic, the creator of Claude, with compute that will eventually generate $1.25 billion per month once all the chips are up and running. The segment's revenue jumped quarter over quarter from $818 million to $2.56 billion.

Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet spent $303 billion on AI capex in H1 2026

SpaceX is far from alone in spending incredible amounts on AI infrastructure. According to Motley Fool Research, four of the largest hyperscalers -- Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet -- have already spent $302.8 billion in just the first half of 2026.

It's a big bet that needs an equally big payoff. I'm not convinced it will work out long-term, but for anyone considering SpaceX stock, the $15.8 billion shows that while the company may be known for rockets and Starlink, its financial future depends heavily on AI.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) announced on Thursday that it has agreed to acquire Hugging Face for $12.93 billion. The deal gives the chip behemoth control of an influential platform within the world of AI. The company says it is used by more than 18 million developers and 200,000 companies.

Talks had been reported last week, but details were unsettled until today's confirmation. Nvidia's stock jumped today, up 2.5% by the afternoon. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were rising as well, up 1.1% and 1.6%, respectively.

Hugging Face hosts more than 3 million AI models for 18 million developers

So what exactly is Hugging Face? The company's platform is a central hub for the open source AI development world, providing devs with access to millions of AI models and important data sets. Instead of building an AI system from scratch, devs can find an existing model or application and use it as-is or modify and adapt it. It also provides tools that help developers test and deploy those models.

Access to the open source models on the platform is offered for free, unlike the proprietary models offered by frontier labs like OpenAI and Anthropic.

Huang pledges Hugging Face will stay open, with no Nvidia hardware requirement

Nvidia is not presenting this as an attempt to turn Hugging Face into a storefront for its chips, and the company took pains to reassure the Hugging Face community that under its ownership, the platform will remain open source. Users will not be required to use Nvidia's hardware or operate within its ecosystem.

In a blog post penned by Nvidia's CEO, Jensen Huang, that fact was made clear: "Hugging Face will remain an open platform for the entire AI ecosystem. Developers will choose the models they want, the frameworks they want, the clouds and inference service providers they want, and the computing platforms they want. Nvidia Compute will not be required to build on or deploy through Hugging Face."

The deal extends Nvidia's reach into AI software, not just chips

Strategically, the deal pushes Nvidia farther beyond the business of selling processors. But that doesn't mean it won't have an impact on chip sales. The company that influences one of the primary ways developers discover and work with AI models and applications can steer those developers toward software that "plays nice" with Nvidia hardware.

Nvidia doesn't need to require its hardware for the deal to strengthen its position.

At $12.93 billion for $150 million in revenue, the bet is on influence over profit

For my money, the strategic vision is stronger than the near-term financial case. $12.93 billion is a steep price for a company making $150 million in annual revenue. Nvidia clearly isn't buying Hugging Face for what it earns today. But Hugging Face gives Nvidia a recognized platform that helps it better influence the software decisions that eventually drive demand for hardware.

There is a risk, however, that Nvidia's ownership could backfire. If open source developers feel that Nvidia is, in fact, using its position to steer them toward the Nvidia ecosystem, it could alienate them. And of course, the deal could face regulatory pushback on antitrust grounds.

Investors should watch whether Nvidia can turn its new distribution reach into a stronger business without weakening the ecosystem.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Oracle Corp (NYSE: ORCL) finished up 5.7% on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026, after a Governor of the U.S. Federal Reserve indicated he'd prefer to keep interest rates steady.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite finished Thursday's trading up 1.1% and 1.4%, respectively.

Fed's Waller signals openness to holding rates steady in September 2026

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller told Reuters on Thursday that if the next inflation reading shows price increases moderating, he is "willing to support holding the policy rate at its current level." He said that he would prefer to "give disinflation a chance," rather than to raise rates too early.

He did, however, say that he would support a rate hike if the data shows inflation heating up.

The market has seen a hike as increasingly likely, today's comments led to a drop in those expectations, and stocks across the board saw a bump.

Oracle's $43 billion debt load leaves it exposed to Fed rate moves

Tech stocks in general tend to be sensitive to interest rate changes, but Oracle is especially so, given its substantial debt burden. The company has watched its free cash flow turn deeply negative as it spends enormous sums in a race to build AI data center capacity.

Image source: Oracle.

Oracle has turned to debt (and equity) to fund the deficit. The company sold $43 billion in bonds last year and expects to raise another $20 billion in the current year, on top of a $20 billion equity raise.

Higher interest rates mean borrowing becomes more expensive and puts further financial strain on a company already on shaky ground.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Oracle. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) is up 9.3% over the past 24 hours as of 4:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026, after Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller told Reuters that the Fed could hold rates steady at its upcoming meeting.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite finished Thursday's trading up 1.1% and 1.4%, respectively.

Lower rate fears are giving crypto some breathing room

Waller said on Thursday that he would support leaving interest rates unchanged if he likes what he sees from the August inflation report. He said he would prefer to let prices moderate on their own and "refrain from prematurely raising rates to allow a cooling process to play out."

U.S. Treasury yields, which have been trading near multi-decade highs, eased slightly today as well. These two factors led to investors rotating back into riskier assets like Bitcoin and other cryptos like XRP.

The next report could spoil the rally

The next jobs and inflation reports will help determine whether today's relief lasts. If rate fears return, XRP and the rest of the crypto market will give away today's gains.

Image source: Getty Images.

Of course, for smart investors, these short-term price movements aren't worth putting much stock into. Long-term, I still think XRP is not a great investment.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META) stock is up 3.7% as of 3:17 p.m. ET on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026, after the release of its Muse Spark 1.3 AI model.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were up 1.1% and 1.5%, respectively.

Muse Spark 1.3 improves Meta's coding tools

Meta released Muse Spark 1.3 late Wednesday, the newest iteration of its AI model. The company says it is better at coding and at agentic tasks -- work that AI can do work with less human help.

The model scored well on benchmark tests, placing it among the leading models from OpenAI and Anthropic. Meta AI chief Alexandr Wang said the release lays the groundwork for future personal AI assistants.

Meta still needs people to use what it builds

Meta has been spending an enormous amount on AI, so investors understandably want to see something come out of it. Muse Spark 1.3 is not a dramatic new iteration, but it is a sign that Meta's models are improving and that it can compete with offerings from frontier labs.

Image source: Getty Images.

The bigger test is whether these improvements lead to products consumers actually use and, eventually, products that can help pay for Meta's massive AI investment.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is up 4.8% over the past 24 hours as of 2:50 p.m. ET on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026, after U.S. Treasury yields fell and investors became less worried that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates this month.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were up 1.1% and 1.6%, respectively.

Lower rate fears are helping Bitcoin rebound

U.S. Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller on Thursday said that he would support leaving interest rates unchanged if August inflation data is positive. This led to a drop in the market's expectations for an upcoming rate increase.

Bond yields also slipped slightly from their recent highs. Both of these macro forces tend to favor higher-risk assets like Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Higher oil prices could bring the pressure back

Earlier this week, we saw the opposite happen. Renewed U.S. strikes against Iran pushed oil prices higher, increasing expectations of a rate hike, bond yields jumped, and Bitcoin dropped.

Image source: Getty Images.

Waller's comments interrupted that pattern, but I wouldn't read too much into one day's move. Oil remains expensive, and a further escalation could bring those inflation fears right back.

The next economic reports matter more than one day's gain

Of course, Bitcoin is often considered a hedge against inflation. That's the narrative, but it doesn't always behave like it, as we've seen this week. It looks more like a high-growth technology stock.

That can make it a frustrating asset to value. Still, I think it's worth adding as a small portion of a well-balanced portfolio.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) reported its Q3 results after the market closed on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. Here are the headline numbers:

• Revenue of $29.59 billion -- up from $15.95 billion a year earlier
• Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $3.32 -- up from $1.69 per share a year earlier

While the semiconductor giant's top and bottom lines grew explosively and beat Wall Street's targets, Broadcom's revenue guidance was less-than-perfect. That's making some investors nervous.

AI chip revenue more than tripled to $16.7 billion in Q3 2026

The incredible growth -- unsurprisingly -- came primarily from Broadcom's AI business. Revenue from AI chips reached $16.7 billion, up 221% year over year and 54% from the previous quarter. Broadcom expects that figure to climb again to $21.7 billion in the fourth quarter, which would clock in at 236% year-over-year growth.

Growth was not limited to AI, however. Total semi sales grew 127% to $20.8 billion, while infrastructure software revenue rose 29% to $8.8 billion. The company brought in $14.2 billion in operating cash flow while spending just over $500 million on capital expenditures (capex). That left $13.7 billion in free cash flow (FCF).

Broadcom's $34.8 billion Q4 guidance fell short of the $35.03 billion Wall Street expected

According to data from LSEG, analysts had expected Broadcom to forecast $35.03 billion in Q4 sales. It fell short of that mark, setting forward guidance of $34.8 billion. Now, that's not a huge gap by any means. A few hundred million is small potatoes at this scale. But expectations are sky-high right now for any company in Broadcom's position.

The company makes custom AI accelerators -- chips built around a customer's particular workload -- and sells important AI networking equipment. That's made it one of the biggest beneficiaries of the AI data-center boom aside from Nvidia. Investors have come to expect earnings beats as the bare minimum and are extremely sensitive to forward guidance, wary of any signs that the AI train is slowing.

That means Broadcom can grow fourth-quarter revenue by a projected 93% and still disappoint if investors were already counting on something slightly better. And as the numbers get larger, maintaining today's growth rates becomes much harder even if demand remains healthy. And if demand weakens even a little, a stock trading with a price to earnings (P/E) ratio above 60 will take a real hit.

Right now, that doesn't look like a threat in the near term. Broadcom has an agreement to supply Alphabet's Google with custom AI processors through 2031. But the tech giant just struck a custom-chip deal with Marvell Technology last month. At this point, it's not really cause for concern, but it's something to watch. It shows that large customers don't want to depend entirely on one supplier. And over time, they may want to bring more of the work in-house.

A sub-1% guidance miss is still enough to spook investors looking for perfection

This was obviously an exceptional quarter, and I don't mean to imply a guidance miss of less than 1% undoes that. I'm just pointing out that at this point the market expects exceptional.

And now, as you look to the next round of earnings, I would pay close attention to margins. Can Broadcom maintain its pricing power as it grows?

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Broadcom, Marvell Technology, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: PLTR) stock is down 6% as of 3:40 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026, in spite of news of a fresh contract from the U.S. Department of Defense and the addition of a new executive.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are both up 0.4% so far in Wednesday's trading.

Palantir landed a new Army TITAN contract and hired AIG's Peter Zaffino on Sept. 2, 2026

Palantir did make news on Wednesday, but it was hardly an obvious reason to sell. The company announced that the Army had awarded its subsidiary, Palantir USG, Inc., with the contract for "production and delivery of the Tactical Intelligence Targeting Access Node (TITAN) ground station system, the Army's next-generation deep-sensing capability enabled by artificial intelligence and machine learning."

Palantir also said that Peter Zaffino is leaving his role as executive chairman of insurance giant AIG in order to join Palantir as its global head of financial services.

The sell-off reflects profit-taking at a roughly 144 P/E, not the news itself

So why the slide? This is most likely a matter of investors taking profits after a massive recent run for the stock, especially given its extreme valuation. Palantir shares currently trade at roughly 144 times earnings.

Source: Company Image

The stock is likely also being pressured by the bond market. The 10-year Treasury yield slid a bit on Wednesday, but only after briefly reaching its highest level in roughly 3 years. Higher yields tend to drag on growth stocks because they make future earnings less valuable in today's dollars.

The business is strong; the valuation is the risk

Palantir's underlying business remains extremely strong. There's no denying that. My issue continues to be its valuation. Palantir stock is falling on Sept. 2, 2026, even after the company landed a new U.S. Army TITAN contract and hired AIG's Peter Zaffino as its global head of financial services.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ: ASTS) stock is up 13% as of 3:22 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026, after Berenberg initiated coverage with a Buy rating.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are both up so far in Wednesday's trading, jumping 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively.

Berenberg's $92 target implies about 50% upside for AST SpaceMobile

The satellite-communications stock is up after analysts at Berinberg initiated coverage, calling it a Buy and setting a $92 price target -- a roughly 50% upside from the stock's price around midday.

The bank believes that AST can turn its satellite network into a healthy commercial business and that its direct-to-device model plays well with the core service from existing terrestrial communication giants like Verizon and AT&T Inc., rather than trying to compete with them directly.

AST SpaceMobile's revenue jumped, but so did its losses and debt

In its most recent quarter, the company reported $31.5 million in revenue, a huge year-over-year jump. However, it also reported a $230.9 million net loss and $2.7 billion in cash against roughly $3 billion in long-term debt.

Image source: Getty Images.

This is an extremely capital-intensive business, and unlike its competition, the company doesn't have a launch business to help offset the costs. Still, I think there is an opportunity here if you keep your allocation small and accept the fact that there is substantial execution risk.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends AST SpaceMobile. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

On Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, John Ternus officially became the CEO of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). Ternus replaces Tim Cook, ending his 15-year tenure leading one of the largest public companies on the planet, currently second only to Nvidia.

However, while Ternus is taking over as CEO, Cook is not leaving the company. Instead, he will serve as executive chairman of Apple's board and will, according to Apple, help with "certain aspects of the company, including engaging with policymakers around the world." John Ternus also joins the board as part of the leadership transition.

Apple's stock moved higher on the news today, even as markets fell. As of 3:15 p.m. ET:

• The S&P 500 is down 0.7%
• The Nasdaq Composite is down 1.0%
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 0.7%

John Ternus has been with Apple since 2001

John Ternus started at Apple in 2001, was promoted to vice president of hardware engineering in 2013, and joined senior leadership in 2021. His 25-year career at Apple has been entirely on the product side, working on everything from the iPhone to the Mac to the Apple Watch.

Cook took Apple from a $350 billion market cap in 2011 to about $4.6 trillion in 2026

A leadership change is never easy, but that is especially true when you're talking about a company as large and influential as Apple. John Ternus has a lot to live up to in replacing Tim Cook, whose tenure saw the company grow from a $350 billion market cap in 2011 into the $4.7 trillion behemoth it is today.

Of course, when Tim Cook took over, he had just as much to live up to. Cook took over for the inimitable Apple co-founder, Steve Jobs, in 2011, just four years after the iPhone hit the market and changed society's relationship with technology.

Tim Cook's succession turned out to be a fantastically successful move for Apple. Cook was a very different CEO than Jobs -- more managerial wizard than visionary leader -- and it was exactly what Apple needed.

Take a look at the company's financial growth under Cook's leadership in the table below:

Cook's chairman seat smooths the handoff, but could blur who is in charge

An interesting thing to watch moving forward is what exactly Tim Cook's role will be. Apple's former CEO has a wealth of experience and deep relationships across tech and government that could help Ternus more effectively focus on the business itself. I think having Cook as chairman will be a good thing in the long run. In the short run, it will certainly make the transition smoother.

That said, it introduces some ambiguity about who is ultimately in charge. There could end up being some confusion around who's really calling the shots. If Cook disagrees on strategic direction, it could impact Ternus's ability to lead effectively.

More than 2.5 billion active devices give Ternus an AI platform without the capex

In the end, I believe Ternus takes over with Apple in a great position. The company has more than 2.5 billion active devices and access to invaluable data. In my view, that makes it a perfect platform to benefit from AI without having to spend enormous sums building AI infrastructure.

There are short-term issues -- Apple's margins will likely be squeezed by the current memory shortage -- but these are transitory. Apple is still a great stock.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Oracle Corp (NYSE: ORCL) stock is falling today, down 5.4% as of 1:52 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, as bond yields continue to rise, which could have serious consequences for the debt-laden tech giant.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are both down, sliding 0.7% and 0.9%, respectively.

The 30-year Treasury yield is near a 20-year high

As U.S. 30-year treasury yields hover near 20-year highs, major bond markets around the world are setting their own records. In Japan, 10-year notes hit their highest level since 1996, while in the U.K., yields on the 30-year Gilt set a near 30-year record.

Bond markets are uneasy over persistent inflation and global conflicts, especially the Iran war, which has reignited in recent days. Oil prices are once again moving higher.

Oracle's free cash flow was negative $23.7 billion in fiscal 2026

This has consequences for businesses across the market, but Oracle is especially sensitive to changes in the bond market. That's because it is currently spending enormous sums in a race to build AI data centers as quickly as possible.

Image source: Getty Images.

And it's spending considerably more than it's taking in -- free cash flow (FCF) dropped to negative $23.7 billion last year. To fund the difference, Oracle raised $43 billion from the debt market last year and expects to raise another $20 billion in the current year, in addition to a $20 billion equity raise.

Rising yields mean borrowing becomes more expensive.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Oracle. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) stock is rising today, up 2.5% as of 1:41 p.m. ET, on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, as John Ternus officially takes over for Tim Cook as CEO of the tech giant.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are both down, sliding 0.7% and 0.9%, respectively.

Ternus is Apple's first new CEO since Tim Cook took over in 2011

Today marks the first time in 15 years that a new CEO takes the reins. Not since Tim Cook stepped into the role, replacing Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, has the iPhone-maker transitioned its chief executive.

Investors should know that while Ternus now serves as CEO, Cook is not leaving the company. Instead, he will serve as Executive Chairman and continue helping with "certain aspects of the company, including engaging with policymakers around the world." https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/apple-ceo-john-ternus-tim-cook-rcna341096

Apple's revenue topped $416 billion in fiscal 2025 under Cook

What exactly that rather vague definition really means remains to be seen, but his continued presence seems to have helped reassure many investors worried about what happens next.

Apple Inc

Cook leaves an incredible financial record at Apple. By FY 2025, Apple was generating more than $416 billion in annual revenue -- about four times its sales when Cook began his tenure.

These are big shoes to fill, but I have faith in Apple's future. I think the company is well placed to take advantage of AI without bearing most of the enormous costs.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

In 2024, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman called the combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and advertising "uniquely unsettling." He described ads as a "last resort" for the company's business model. Now that last resort is starting to look like a real business.

OpenAI announced Monday that ChatGPT Ads reached a $1 billion annualized revenue run rate less than 200 days after launch. Annualized run rate means that the business would generate that much over a year if its current pace continued, not that it has already collected $1 billion over the last year.

ChatGPT's ad reach: 1 billion weekly users in 40+ countries

ChatGPT now has more than 1 billion weekly active users, and OpenAI says tens of thousands of advertisers use its platform in more than 40 countries.

The pitch is that ChatGPT -- even more so than the likes of Meta's (NASDAQ:META) Instagram or TikTok -- has unusually valuable information about what users want at a particular moment. Someone who is, say, comparing products may already be close to making a decision, and OpenAI can sell access to that intent.

Of course, that's exactly why Altman originally found the idea unsettling. OpenAI says that the ads are clearly labeled and don't influence the model's answers. It also says that private conversations remain private. But if users begin to suspect that ChatGPT's advice is shaped by the highest bidder -- or that the contents of their most sensitive conversations are being used to sell to them -- the company could erode trust in its product very quickly.

OpenAI's Q2 revenue grew just 18% to $6.7 billion as losses widened

The ad milestone arrives as much of the rest of the IPO picture looks less tidy. The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI generated $6.7 billion in second-quarter revenue, up 18% from the first quarter, while operating losses grew and margins slipped further.

At its current pace, advertising equals only about 3.7% of OpenAI's annualized second-quarter revenue, and OpenAI has reportedly told investors it expects $2.5 billion in advertising revenue this year and $100 billion by 2030.

A $1 billion run rate is a promising start, especially given it took just 200 days, but the quoted targets require a completely different level of scale. And there is a substantial risk that ads will erode user growth. No one knows the long-term impacts of serving ads in this format.

And then, of course, there's regulatory risk. On Monday, European regulators designated ChatGPT a "very large" online search engine under the Digital Services Act. OpenAI has four months to meet additional requirements as its ad platform expands across Europe.

OpenAI targets a $1 trillion IPO despite widening losses

OpenAI confidentially filed to go public in June, although it has not chosen a date. It was most recently valued at $852 billion, but a potential IPO valuation could be as high as $1 trillion.

The investor appetite for an OpenAI IPO seems to be pretty strong, and it's very possible an IPO at either valuation would be a hit -- at least at first. I think once investors get past the initial IPO buzz, they'll find it hard to look past the massive lossed OpenAI is incurring and the even more massive capital outlays required in the coming years if OpenAI hopes to keep scaling.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Sam Altman's OpenAI recently completed a roughly $7 billion employee share sale at an $852 billion valuation.

This wasn't an outside investment. OpenAI itself bought the shares from current and former employees, providing them with liquidity. This wasn't about raising $7 billion to spend on more chips, data centers, training, or day-to-day operations.

This comes as the ChatGPT creator prepares to go public. The company submitted a confidential registration statement for an initial public offering (IPO) in June and is now reportedly deciding whether to delay a potential $1 trillion listing until 2027 or go public sooner at a lower price, perhaps closer to that latest $852 billion valuation.

What a $1 trillion valuation would mean

A $1 trillion price tag would be about 17.4% above the employee tender valuation. That increase alone is not outrageous for a company growing as quickly as OpenAI. But the valuation itself should still raise some eyebrows.

The Information recently reported that OpenAI generated $5.7 billion of revenue in the first quarter. Multiply that by 4, and you get annualized sales of $22.8 billion, which would value the company at roughly 44 times sales.

Even if it debuts at an $852 billion valuation, it would still work out to roughly 37 times sales. That is an incredible multiple before you consider two important details: OpenAI is not profitable, and its business is extremely expensive.

OpenAI's net loss widened

I want to be clear here. The company is growing sales on a scale and at a pace we've basically never seen before. That is undeniable.

But in my view, the eye-watering growth masks the pretty dubious economics of the business.

The problem is not that the company is losing money -- that's not unusual for a company in its early days trying to stake its claim on a market. The problem is that, unlike with the businesses that do this successfully, its costs seem to be scaling right alongside its sales.

Image source: Getty Images.

The latest reported figures show that OpenAI's net loss widened from $9.3 billion in the first quarter to $12.3 billion in Q2. That outstripped its sales growth over the same period.

Of course, bulls will tell you that this math will shift in the future. If they're right, OpenAI could be sitting on a gold mine. But I'm not so sure. I've not seen much evidence that it will, and, in my view, the belief that it will shift fundamentally is based on some seriously rosy assumptions.

Nearly 7 in 10 investors say they'd buy OpenAI or Anthropic stock, Motley Fool Research finds

Now, that may not matter on IPO day. According to Motley Fool Research, nearly 7 in 10 current stock investors surveyed said they would buy OpenAI, Anthropic, or both if they went public. Its stock could very well outperform early on -- just look at Space Exploration Technologies' stock in its first couple of weeks after its June IPO.

But I'm not convinced it will last. Until OpenAI shows clearer evidence that it can turn its extraordinary revenue growth into sustainable profits, I'm staying away from any IPO.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

D-Wave Quantum (NASDAQ: QBTS) stock fell this week, finishing down 16.6% by the market's close on Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, following the company's announcement that a key C-suite executive would be departing.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are both up this week, gaining 1.1% and 1.8%, respectively.

D-Wave CFO John Markovich to retire Sept. 2, replaced by Greg Golkov

On Tuesday, Aug. 25, D-Wave announced that Chief Financial Officer (CFO) John Markovich is retiring, effective Sept. 2, 2026. He will be replaced by Greg Golkov, the company's senior vice president of finance.

CEO Alan Baratz thanked Markovich for his "significant contributions," including the "pivotal role" he played in helping take D-Wave public in 2022.

The company said the resignation wasn't the result of any disagreements "on any matter related to the Company's business, operations, accounting policies, practices, financial statements, disclosure controls and procedures or internal control over financial reporting."

Image source: Getty Images.

Despite the disclaimer, the sudden announcement of his unusually quick departure spooked investors.

D-Wave's operating loss doubled to $54.7 million in Q2 2026

That's especially true because it comes on the heels of a less-than-stellar earnings report. D-Wave's Q2 sales were flat year over year, coming in once again just above $3 million. At the same time, however, its operating loss more than doubled from negative $26.5 million to negative $54.7 million.

This is a stock with an enormous amount of very uncertain growth baked in. I would avoid D-Wave stock.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ: ASTS) stock is falling this week, down 15.5% as of 2:14 p.m. ET on Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, as investors react to macro news that makes a rate hike more likely.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are both up this week, gaining 1.1% and 1.8%, respectively.

Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's Aug. 28 Jackson Hole speech raised rate-hike odds

AST SpaceMobile is building a constellation of satellites largely on borrowed money. That makes it especially sensitive to a change in interest rates. If interest rates move higher, AST's borrowing costs increase, and the math on their investments changes.

This week's economic data, released on Wednesday, revealed that inflation remains well above where the Federal Reserve -- the body responsible for setting interest rates and keeping inflation in check -- wants it. That means the odds are now greater that the Fed will soon hike rates.

Image source: Getty Images.

That suspicion was confirmed on Friday when Fed Chair Kevin Warsh delivered an important speech from Jackson Hole in which he said that inflation should be the Fed's primary focus right now.

AST SpaceMobile's net loss widened to $230.9 million in Q2 2026

Q2 sales for AST SpaceMobile were $31.5 million, up considerably from $1.2 million a year earlier. The problem is, losses are widening alongside that growth. Net loss increased to a whopping $230.9 million during the quarter.

AST stock is too risky for my money, especially given the high likelihood that rates could soon increase.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends AST SpaceMobile. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is the better buy than XRP (CRYPTO: XRP), in my view. XRP has real utility and a far stronger case than many cryptocurrencies, but Bitcoin's value proposition is clearer and less dependent on one company turning product growth into lasting demand for its token.

Now, admittedly, this is not the same as comparing two stocks, and valuing crypto is extremely subjective. There aren't really fundamentals to work from. At the end of the day -- much more so than stocks -- narrative is what matters.

XRP Ledger has moved $1.7 trillion since 2012

The bull case for XRP deserves to be taken seriously. Sending money across the globe can be a headache -- an expensive one. High fees and delays are commonplace -- whether you're an individual or a major financial institution. The reality is that much of the technology that underpins the modern banking system is outdated and inefficient.

Ripple, the company behind the XRP token, is trying to disrupt that system and make things faster and cheaper. The company also reports that the XRP Ledger (XRPL) has processed more than 4 billion transactions, representing more than $1.7 trillion in value since 2012.

The basic bull narrative is that as Ripple's payment technology is adopted throughout the banking industry by more and more clients, XRP's price will rise.

XRP tokens burned total less than 15 million tokens since 2012

The catch is that growth across Ripple's business and the XRP Ledger doesn't necessarily create all that much demand for XRP itself. That's because the token is increasingly being sidelined by Ripple's stablecoin, RLUSD.

For banks moving money globally, the choice comes down to basic risk management: Why use a volatile cryptocurrency that can drop in value mid-transfer when a dollar-pegged stablecoin does the job just as well? Ripple's own website makes it clear that they realize this and see RLUSD as the future for its institutional clients -- the ones that really matter.

Now, the obvious question here is whether it matters that banks use Ripple's stablecoin rather than XRP directly. RLUSD transactions happen on the XRP Ledger, and every transaction burns XRP. So, shouldn't mass RLUSD adoption still lead to XRP appreciation?

Not really. The gas fees that result in the burning of XRP are so minimal, they don't have a meaningful effect. It's kind of the whole point of the XRP Ledger. If gas fees were higher and more XRP were burned in every transaction, it would undermine half of the ledger's core value proposition: that it's fast and cheap.

Image source: Getty Images.

To put this into perspective: Since 2012, all transactions on the network have burned less than 15 million XRP in total. There are more than 60 billion XRP tokens in circulation today.

At the end of the day, I think the narrative driving XRP's success rests on a misunderstanding of how things actually work. As time goes on, this will become increasingly apparent to more and more investors, and the narrative will collapse. That's why I would treat any extremely bullish XRP price prediction with serious skepticism.

Bitcoin's supply is capped at 21 million coins

Bitcoin's narrative is more straightforward -- and more solid. It is a scarce asset -- the protocol caps supply at 21 million coins -- that acts like a sort of "digital gold." But unlike gold, it can be easily stored, transported, or sent around the world without much effort.

This has been an extremely effective pitch, and Bitcoin remains -- even after all these years -- the cryptocurrency that moves the rest of the market.

The fact that it's been around for so long and is the "original gangster" (OG) cryptocurrency mean people trust it far more than they trust most of the crypto market.

I realize that my Bitcoin analysis feels much more qualitative than my XRP analysis, but that's kind of the point. The fact that its value comes from a simple idea of scarcity rather than a practical utility is -- maybe counterintuitively -- a positive. Like I said, crypto valuation is fuzzy by definition, so in my view, simplicity is a good thing.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin and XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX) announced Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, that it intends to invest $100 billion in a new Starship campus on 125,000 acres in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana. Construction is expected to begin in 2027, while the company expects the first launch by 2029.

Starbase Louisiana will span 125,000 acres with five launch complexes and 3,000 promised jobs

Once completed, Starbase Louisiana is expected to have five launch complexes, each with two launchpads. The company says the site will have facilities for fuel production and storage, power generation, vehicle processing, deep-water shipping capabilities -- even housing and possibly an airport.

One thing to note is that the site includes sensitive coastal wetlands. SpaceX has said it will leave portions undeveloped and will work with state agencies on habitat protection, but the company's environmental record means the project is likely to face stiff opposition from conservation groups. The company is currently facing a lawsuit in Texas over a land swap that would hand it more than 700 acres of a national wildlife refuge, plus lawsuits for its use of gas generators to power its Colossus data center in Mississippi.

Governor Jeff Landry told reporters the project was important to improving the local economy, saying that, "this project means ​more than just steel, technology, and capital. It represents jobs for our families. It represents momentum for our communities, and it represents ​protection for our coast." SpaceX itself says the project will bring 3,000 jobs to the region.

SpaceX spent $28.5 billion on capex in the first half of 2026

There is an important distinction here: this is an investment commitment over time. SpaceX is not cutting a check for $100 billion up front. Still, it's not pocket change, even for SpaceX. That's especially true given all of its other spending commitments.

The company spent $28.5 billion on capital projects during just the first half of 2026. Most of that went into building compute capacity for its AI unit, SpaceXAI.

Of course, while its spending is concerning, SpaceX's top-line growth has been incredible. It brought in $7.8 billion in revenue in Q2 2026, up 92% from a year earlier. Starlink, its satellite internet service, doubled active subscribers in a year. The AI division more than tripled sales. And, according to The Motley Fool Research, the company was responsible for 82% of all commercial launches last year.

Starship has not yet flown a commercial mission

At present, Starship is still in development. It's not flying commercially. So, this is a bet on the future and one that makes sense if all goes according to plan. A reusable Starship flying at high frequency will need more infrastructure than the company has today, so building that infrastructure now can prevent launch capacity from becoming a bottleneck later on.

This is an ambitious project, and it shows vision. But SpaceX has never been short of that. It has never been short of big ideas. The question for investors is whether those ideas can produce cash as quickly as they consume it.

If Starship works out and delivers on its promise, then this will only help the company down the line. But, like many of its ambitions, if things don't go according to plan, this could end up being a very expensive overbuild that weighs on the company's finances.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026, is going to be a big day for investors.

At 8:30 a.m. ET, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) is set to release an estimate of Q2 gross domestic product (GDP) as well as July's personal income and outlays report. That second report contains a personal consumption expenditures (PCE) reading, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure.

Then, after the market closes, Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) will report its latest results at 4:20 p.m. ET. An earnings call will follow at 5 p.m.

Is the macro picture holding up? And is the AI boom still booming?

GDP grew just 1.5% while core inflation held at 3.3%

The last estimate put GDP growth at 1.5%. That's not dire by any means, but it's far from the numbers economists -- and the market -- would like to see.

Inflation is probably the less comfortable part of the picture at this point. In June, the PCE was up 3.7% from a year earlier, while core PCE -- that means it excludes the more volatile inputs like gas prices -- was up 3.3%. Both remain well above the Fed's 2% target.

For investors, the combination matters more than either number alone. Firmer growth with stubborn inflation could keep interest rates higher for longer. Weak growth with stubborn inflation would be worse, since the Fed would have less room to help the economy. The friendliest result would be steady growth and cooler inflation.

Wednesday should show whether the economy is moving toward that better combination or farther away from it.

Nvidia's data center revenue jumped 92% to $75.2 billion last quarter

The company has become something like a running receipt for the AI build-out. Its Data Center segment produced $75.2 billion of revenue last quarter, up 92% year over year. Companies are spending enormous sums on their chips in a race to build the most compute capacity they can. According to Motley Fool Research, the latest 2026 capital-spending guidance from just four companies -- Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta -- adds up to roughly $745 billion.

Nvidia's results will give investors a broad look at whether demand for the chips behind this spending spree is still accelerating. I wouldn't treat another revenue beat as saying too much, however. That's to be expected at this point. I would pay attention to its guidance and order book, as well as gross margin.

Wall Street expects Nvidia to guide for roughly $104.2 billion of Q3 revenue and roughly 75% non-GAAP gross margins. I'll be watching those figures as well as the timing of its next-generation Vera Rubin chips.

I'm also very interested in what management has to say about customer financing. Nvidia recently helped arrange $500 billion in financing for customers building AI infrastructure. It also agreed to guarantee up to $105 billion to support OpenAI's 20-year lease of an Ohio data center.

It's certainly an interesting development to have Nvidia start to help finance its customers in this way, especially at this scale.

A friendly mix would be cooler inflation, steady growth, and strong Nvidia guidance

If cooler inflation, stable growth, and strong Nvidia guidance arrive together, the market will get fresh support, but if inflation stays hot, GDP weakens, and Nvidia's outlook disappoints, things may get a little choppy.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) could nearly double its revenue year over year when it reports earnings on Wednesday, Aug. 26, and still see its stock fall following the release. While that might sound strange, the fact is that Wall Street has become so accustomed to Nvidia beating targets that an otherwise extraordinary result now tends to land as plain ordinary.

Nvidia beat Q1 estimates by $2.8 billion -- and the stock fell 5% anyway

Nvidia's revenue guidence for for its upcoming fiscal 2027 Q2 earnings is set at $91 billion, but Wall Street expects more -- $92.18 billion. The company generated $46.74 billion in the same quarter last year, so hitting the consensus estimate comes in at roughly 97% growth year over year.

Image source: Getty Images.

That is objectively incredible growth, especially for a company operating at this scale. The problem is that expectations tend to dominate the stock market, and merely hitting the consensus target (even beating it) isn't enough. The market tends to expect more.

Take last quarter, for example. In May, the chip designer reported Q1 revenue of $81.62 billion, handily beating Wall Street's analyst consensus of $78.86 billion, according to FactSet.

The stock fell nearly 5% in the week that followed.

Nvidia, it seems, has become a victim of its own success. Repeatedly beating expectations has trained investors to expect that it will do just that, so a number that would thrill shareholders of any other company now feels underwhelming. That's the setup for Aug. 26.

The real number to watch: Nvidia's 75% gross margin

The most likely scenario is that Nvidia once again beats Wall Street's sales and earnings targets, and once again, the stock wobbles. But that's not what I would pay attention to.

I think the number to watch is gross margin. There's not a lot of headroom here. Nvidia is already operating at an incredible 75% gross margin, so there isn't much upside left. But there could be a downside. The question is whether Nvidia's margins are being squeezed by skyrocketing memory prices, which have sent memory-maker stocks like SK Hynix and Micron soaring over the last year. Nvidia outsources memory components in its chipsets and thus can be affected by rising prices.

At the end of the day, I wouldn't read too much into the stock's initial move after the report. If history is a guide, it's likely the stock will move lower initially unless the sales beat is beyond extraordinary. Of course, for long-term investors, the short-term ups and downs hardly matter. What matters is looking for clues that might hint at trends that the headline numbers hide. Shrinking margins could be that clue.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends FactSet Research Systems, Micron Technology, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Gemini Space Station Stock (NASDAQ: GEMI) is up today, gaining 11.5% as of 2:55 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, after the cryptocurrency company said yesterday that it is expanding into prediction markets.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are both up so far in Tuesday's trading, gaining 0.3% and 0.6%, respectively.

Gemini signs letter of intent with Apex Fintech Solutions for exclusive crypto contract settlement

On Monday, Aug. 24, 2026, Gemini announced it has signed a letter of intent with Apex Fintech Solutions, a firm that runs the behind-the-scenes plumbing for many brokerage apps. If the deal is finalized, all crypto event contracts -- like those on Polymarket -- offered through Apex's network would be placed and settled exclusively on Gemini's platform.

The two say they could also team up on sports, economics, and financial-market contracts, though not exclusively.

Image source: Getty Images.

The deal isn't binding yet -- the companies said they'll hammer out the details in the coming weeks.

Prediction markets offer growth for Gemini, but regulatory risk looms

I think this could definitely be a big deal for Gemini Space Station -- prediction markets are a fast-growing industry. However, I'm concerned that long-term, these markets may run into a much stricter regulatory environment.

I think it's a risk that has to be considered, given the fine line these markets walk with pure gambling.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

When Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: SPCX) went public on June 12 in the largest initial public offiering (IPO) in history, there were so many investors vying for shares that the stock finished the day above $160, despite its initial pricing of just $135.

One of those buyers -- a big one -- was tech investor and longtime Tesla bull Cathie Wood. Her firm, Ark Invest, picked up SpaceX shares across four of its exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on IPO day and has continued to buy since.

According to Wood, SpaceX "could become the most important company in history." That's quite an endorsement, even from an investor like Wood who's never shied away from bold predictions.

I don't agree. SpaceX may very well make history, but that doesn't make the stock a good investment. My problem is how much investors are already being asked to pay for a future that is far from certain.

Starlink revenue hit $4.3 billion in Q2 2026 at a 38.6% operating margin

The bull case for SpaceX is not hard to see: Starlink is already an incredible business, with connectivity revenue reaching $4.3 billion in the second quarter, operating margins improving to 38.6%, and subscribers doubling year over year (YoY). Starlink is seriously impressive, and it's a key reason I don't dismiss SpaceX's valuation out of hand.

You also have launch, which dominates the field, sending more than 80% of the world's mass to orbit, according to Motley Fool Research. Starship, its next-generation rocket, could push that advantage even further: a single launch is designed to deliver 20 times the Starlink capacity of a Falcon 9, which could make it much cheaper for SpaceX to keep adding connectivity capacity.

Of course, "if Starship works as planned" is doing work here, given it's still in development and the project has been plagued with delays and cost overruns.

SpaceX burned $25 billion in free cash flow in the first half of 2026

Here's my biggest problem: cash.

Free cash flow (FCF) -- cash from operations minus everything SpaceX spends on capital projects -- came in at a whopping negative $25 billion in just the first half of 2026. That's not necessarily a problem for a company investing heavily in potentially lucrative markets.

But unfortunately, most of that is flowing into its AI division, whose ability to deliver a return on that investment long term is doubtful, in my view. Yes, in the short term, that investment is helping fuel insane sales growth. AI revenue went from $818 million to $2.6 billion in just one quarter after the company began serving its compute to Anthropic.

But it's easy to see that jump and ignore the fact that the AI segment spent nearly $16 billion in capex alone during that same period. This doesn't need to be a problem if that spend trends down over time while revenue keeps rising. That's the point of capex. It's an investment -- spend $1 today to earn $2 tomorrow.

The problem is that the normal capex cycles that you expect in other businesses may not play out in AI. That is, SpaceXAI's capex could end up looking a lot more like an operational expense as time goes on -- a constant need that never really diminishes.

Image source: Getty Images.

Now, if the scale of this were different, maybe it wouldn't matter too much, but we're talking about almost 90% of the company's investments here. This is not a side project.

The fate of SpaceX is, in large part, the fate of SpaceXAI.

Why SpaceX stock isn't a buy above $1.8 trillion

That is why, for my money, SpaceX stock is not a buy. An innovative rocket program and a potentially game-changing satellite business aren't enough to overshadow the cash-burning AI division -- at least when you're asking me to value the entire company at more than $1.8 trillion.

Cathie Wood's buying doesn't change that for me. And frankly, I wouldn't let it change that for you either. Wood has made some spectacular calls over the years, but following her blindly would have also been a painful strategy. Her flagship fund, the Ark Innovation ETF, is down more than 25% during the past five years while the S&P 500 was on an historic run, gaining nearly 73%.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) said on Aug. 24 that Groq 3 LPX, its new low-latency artificial intelligence (AI) inference system, is in full production and will come online before the end of 2026. Nebius will be the first AI cloud to adopt it through the Nebius Token Factory platform.

The production announcement came exactly eight months after Nvidia signed a $20 billion licensing agreement with the chip designer, Groq Inc, on Dec. 24, 2025.

Nvidia's $20 billion Groq deal closed on Dec. 24, 2025

At the end of last year, Groq, a neocloud and semiconductor start-up focused on creating low-latency chips for AI inference, signed a non-exclusive licensing agreement with Nvidia.

At the same time, Nvidia hired Groq founder and CEO Jonathan Ross, president Sunny Madra, and much of the engineering staff. It held off on actually acquiring Groq as a company, however, and Groq remains an independent entity.

Nvidia reportedly paid $20 billion in cash for the assets.

Groq 3 LPX debuted at GTC with 256 LPUs and 35x efficiency gains

According to the company, the liquid-cooled Groq 3 rack contains 256 language processing units (LPUs) and is part of Nvidia's Vera Rubin platform. Nvidia's GPUs handle AI training and large-context "prefill" work, while LPX accelerates inference where speed is king.

Groq's design leans on on-chip memory and other design trade-offs that make it especially suited to inference, but bring limitations that make it less so for other tasks like training. Even with inference, however, they work best in conjunction with Nvidia's premier chips working alongside them, which is why the company is positioning LPX beside GPU racks rather than as a stand-alone replacement for them.

LPX can be paired with Nvidia’s new Vera Rubin chips without customers changing their CUDA workflows -- the software that dominates as the standard base layer across the AI industry. CUDA is a critical reason -- maybe the critical reason -- Nvidia has dominated for as long as it has.

The company says it estimates that a system that pairs the LPX and Vera Rubin would process inference workloads with as much as 35 times the throughput for each megawatt of power used. Given that access to electricity is one of the most pressing constraints in the industry at the moment -- and likely will be for some time -- efficiency is paramount.

Why the eight-month turnaround matters

Nvidia moved extremely fast here -- from signing the deal to announcing full production in less than three quarters. In that time, it managed to merge the new hardware into its complex ecosystem, turning what could have been a threat to its dominance into an asset. That is an impressive turn of events.

Nvidia is making a critical move to get ahead of what could be a major shift in the industry. Training models is important and will undoubtedly continue to demand a massive amount of chips, but I think the focus across the market will shift more and more toward inference in the next few years. This is an extremely smart move by Nvidia in my mind.

According to Motley Fool Research, Nvidia's Data Center business generated $75.2 billion in revenue in its Q1. That number should be closer to $92 billion when Nvidia reports earnings on Wednesday, Aug. 26. Now, when the new LPX revenue starts to show up, I don't expect a massive bump upfront. But in the coming years, I think this could turn out to be a critical moment for Nvidia.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) has been on quite a ride recently. After gaining more than 6% in the first two weeks of August, it's now 2% off its Aug. 13 high. The Nasdaq Composite's performance over the same period has been even more up-and-down (hardly a surprise for the tech-heavy index) -- up nearly 10%, then down nearly 3%.

Something else happened during those weeks that's definitely worth paying attention to: The Shiller CAPE ratio, the most widely followed measure of how expensive the stock market is, crossed above 41. In 145 years of data, it's been above 41 exactly twice -- right now, and at the peak of the dot-com bubble in late 1999.

So what should an investor do?

The CAPE ratio's 145-year average is 17.4, and today it's above 41

CAPE stands for cyclically adjusted price-to-earnings ratio. It takes the price of the S&P 500 and divides it by the index's average inflation-adjusted earnings over the past 10 years. That's helpful because a regular price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio can get thrown off by one great year or one terrible one, and the 10-year average strips a lot of that noise out.

The long-run mean is 17.4, and the all-time record is December 1999, when the CAPE reached just above 44. Months later, the dot-com bubble burst, and the S&P 500 proceeded to lose nearly half of its value. Take a look at the CAPE ratio over the last 145 years.

S&P 500 Shiller CAPE Ratio data by YCharts.

The Buffett indicator hit an all-time high above 240% on Aug. 18

The CAPE ratio isn't the only market gauge at an extreme level. The Buffett indicator -- the total value of the stock market divided by the gross domestic product (GDP), a measure of the size of a country's whole economy -- is now north of 240% as of Aug. 18, 2026. That's an all-time high.

The Oracle of Omaha himself, Warren Buffett, who popularized the indicator in 2001 -- in the aftermath of the dot-com crash -- wrote that when the ratio approaches 200%, "you are playing with fire." We are now well beyond that and well beyond its peak in 1999.

Buybacks, accounting changes, and foreign earnings all affect today's readings

Now, let me address a few things straight on: There are real issues with giving too much credence to any one metric, and both of these have their flaws. Buffett himself has cautioned investors not to over-emphasize his indicator. For one, over time, markets have simply become a bigger part of our economy, and more people are invested in stocks than ever before. That will naturally shift the balance.

Many U.S. companies today make a lot more money outside of the U.S. than they did in the past. That value doesn't show up in the U.S. GDP, but it does -- and should -- show up in stock prices.

As for the CAPE, plenty of people rightly point out that there have been some accounting changes over the years that make today's earnings look less attractive than they would have looked in the past. Companies today tend to buy back their stocks instead of paying shareholders through dividends. This helps boost stock prices, inflating the CAPE ratio relative to earlier generations.

Don't ignore the record figures

These are real reasons to take these readings with a grain of salt. Still, I really don't think you should dismiss them.

In my view, this market is indeed very expensive, and while the earnings from Nvidia and Alphabet look more impressive and durable than things did in the dot-com era, there are reasons to be skeptical of that argument. Right now, a lot of the eye-popping revenue these companies are booking is coming from each other, not from end users. That's not the healthiest system, in my opinion.

Image source: Getty Images.

An expensive market can stay expensive for years before it corrects

So where does that leave us? If we take the CAPE seriously, what does history say comes next? The obvious connection to 1999 would seem to say that a crash is imminent. It may be, but it also could be years off. The frustrating truth is that the market can be overpriced and stay that way. Stocks can keep gaining for months -- or years.

Plenty of people predicted the dot-com bubble years before it actually burst, and they missed enormous gains in the meantime. What I would do is evaluate your portfolio and make sure you are invested in quality businesses that can endure a major shake-up, not stocks built on hype and speculation.

In the end, what history really tells us is that timing the market is impossible and that over the long haul, patient, steady investing wins every time.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Critical Metals (NASDAQ: CRML) finished up 22.6% on Friday, Aug. 21, 2026, after the rare-earth miner's CEO said the timeline is holding for its critical Tanbreez Project in Greenland.

Tanbreez is on track to produce rare-earth within three years

Critical Metals' CEO said that the Tanbreez project remains on track and should be producing rare-earth elements -- strategically important metals used in magnets for things like electric vehicles and defense equipment -- within three years.

The company also released financial details of its acquisition of European Lithium. The deal would take Critical Metals from a 92.5% control of Tanbreez to a full 100%.

Critical Metals laid out steps meant to limit dilution from the transaction, reassuring shareholders and helping to lift shares.

Critical Metals is pre-revenue and three years from first production

Rare-earth metals are, as you might expect, hard to come by -- especially outside of China. That, in combination with the fact that they're essential for critical defense applications, has made producing more of them a top priority for the U.S. Government.

Image source: Getty Images.

Uncle Sam has already made investments in other rare-earth miners, and many investors hope the government will do the same thing here. It might happen, but I wouldn't make my investing decisions based on speculation.

The company is essentially pre-revenue and may be three years out from even beginning production. While there could be real profits on the other end, that's a long way to go in a capital-intensive business like rare-earth mining.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) stock finished Friday, Aug. 21, 2026, up 5.1%, on news that it received approval to bring its robotaxis to Las Vegas. The company also confirmed a European debut for its electric semi truck.

Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite finished Friday up 0.4%.

Clark County cleared Tesla for up to 5,000 robotaxis in Las Vegas

On Thursday, Clark County, Nevada, cleared Tesla, Alphabet's Waymo, and Uber to begin running robotaxi services in Las Vegas -- driverless cars that pick up paying passengers with no one behind the wheel. Together, the three can put as many as 8,000 robotaxis on local roads over the next year.

But Tesla got the largest share of that by a wide margin -- its approval covers up to 5,000 vehicles.

Image source: Getty Images.

The stock also got a boost from the news that Tesla plans to show its new all-electric semi-truck at an international transportation expo in Germany as it gears up for a European launch.

Tesla's valuation leans on businesses that don't exist yet

These are exciting developments, no doubt, but both projects remain in their development stages, far from true commercial deployment. Tesla's stock is too richly valued, and for my money, too much of that value is derived from lines of business that may never materialize.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is up 6% in the last 24 hours as of 3:14 p.m. ET on Aug. 21, 2026, extending a rally that began with President Trump's Aug. 19 meeting with cryptocurrency executives at the White House.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are both up 0.4% in Friday's trading.

Trump pushed Congress to move the Clarity Act after meeting crypto executives on Aug. 19

On Wednesday, President Trump and leaders from the crypto industry met at the White House. Executives from companies like Coinbase and Ripple, the company behind XRP, joined by the heads of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), discussed the future of digital assets.

After the meeting, flanked by members of the group, Trump told reporters that Congress should "take the next step" in passing a key bill for the industry, the Clarity Act. The legislation is currently stalled in the Senate.

The SEC and CFTC say they'll do what they can without Congress

Despite this, the SEC and the CFTC appear interested in doing what they can without Congress. On Tuesday, the SEC proposed several rule changes that it says would provide "clarity for crypto markets," while on Thursday, the CFTC said it will use its "existing authorities to begin establishing a regime for crypto asset markets" if the Clarity Act isn't passed.

Image source: Getty Images.

Is Bitcoin worth buying after its 6% day?

I'm somewhat skeptical of the more bullish calls around Bitcoin, but I still think at this point it's worth owning as a smaller part of a well-diversified portfolio.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

A $1,000 stake in Bill Ackman's hedge fund, Pershing Square Capital Management, at its 2004 launch would have been worth roughly $26,000 as of August 2026, according to Pershing Square's own fund disclosures. That's about 15.6% a year for nearly 23 years.

Compare that to the roughly 11% a year for the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) over the same stretch.

Ackman's 15.6% annual return more than doubled the S&P 500's result

An average gap of nearly 5% every year over that stretch makes a massive difference in the end. Take a look at just how different your results would be based on where you put your $1,000.

A quick note: You couldn't have actually put $1,000 in back in 2004. Pershing Square Capital Management was a private hedge fund, open only to large accredited investors with minimums far beyond that.

Ackman earned his returns by buying large stakes and pushing for change

So how did he do it?

Ackman is an activist investor. That means he takes a large stake in a company and then pushes management to change something like sell off a division, cut staff, replace the CEO, or otherwise shift the strategic vision of the company.

Some of his biggest wins came from investing in companies like Canadian Pacific, Chipotle, and General Growth Properties.

Individual investors can copy Ackman's conviction, not his activism

Obviously, you and I will never have the chance to reshape how the companies we invest in are run, so what can we learn from Ackman?

Well, first and foremost, you cannot be an activist investor without conviction. Ackman buys into companies he believes can win. He's not trading stocks based on hype and sentiment. He's evaluating the business underneath, and he's only investing if he likes what he sees.

Image source: Getty Images.

Even if there are aspects of the business he wants to improve, Ackman is looking for durable competitive advantages, predictable cash flows, and solid balance sheets. And he's not spreading himself too thin. Pershing Square usually holds a dozen or fewer names at any given time.

Now, that's a smaller portfolio than we recommend here at the Motley Fool -- and it has to be, given the active role Ackman takes in his investments -- but it's still born of the same underlying philosophy that you need to believe in the companies you invest in. You can't know enough about 100 companies to have real conviction about them all.

Ackman's strategy comes down to three rules for individual investors

So, while you probably won't ever get the chance to reshape a company's C-suite, here's how you can apply Ackman's winning strategy:

• First, own businesses you can actually understand, value, and believe in.
• Second, prioritize cash flow, competitive advantages, and financial strength over whatever is popular.
• Third, be patient without becoming stubborn.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Canadian Pacific Kansas City and Chipotle Mexican Grill. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: short September 2026 $35 calls on Chipotle Mexican Grill. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is up again today, gaining 6.5% in the last 24 hours as of 2:41 p.m. ET on Aug. 20, 2026, after President Trump hosted a crypto summit, and traders reacted to the White House's bond market moves.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were down 0.7% and 1%, respectively, on Thursday

A Treasury buyback plan held 30-year yields down for less than a day

After U.S. 30-year Treasuries reached near 20-year highs, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday that his department would move to steady the market by more than doubling the repurchasing of government debt.

The move seemed to work -- at first. Yields eased yesterday but shot right back up so far today. Investors seem to think the intervention won't really move the needle long term.

The instability is driving investors toward alternative investments, including Bitcoin.

Trump pushed Congress to pass the Clarity Act at a White House crypto summit

Bitcoin is also up on general optimism in the industry. Crypto executives met with President Donald Trump at the White House to discuss crypto regulation, joined by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Paul Atkins and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chair Mike Selig.

Image source: Getty Images.

Trump told reporters that Congress should "take the next step" and pass the Clarity Act, a market-structure bill for digital assets.

Bitcoin still earns a place in a diversified portfolio

While I have my doubts, I still think Bitcoin is worth owning as a part of a well-diversified portfolio.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) is rocketing higher today, up 21.5% in the last 24 hours as of 2:17 p.m. ET on Aug. 20, 2026, after President Trump urged Congress to pass the Clarity Act alongside key industry leaders, including Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were down 0.7% and 1.1%, respectively, on Thursday.

Trump told Congress to pass the Clarity Act with Ripple's CEO standing beside him

The CEO of Ripple, the company behind XRP, joined several crypto executives yesterday at the White House to discuss the future of regulating digital assets with Trump and key regulators like Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chair Mike Selig.

Later, flanked by the group, Trump spoke to the press, saying that Congress should "take the next step" by passing the Clarity Act, a critical market-structure bill for digital assets.

A Clarity Act win would help Ripple more than it would help XRP

Ripple stands to gain considerably from any formalizing legislation. The company's products interface directly with traditional finance; clear rules would open up new opportunities.

Image source: Getty Images.

Whether the bill passes is an open question; it's currently stalled in the Senate. The thing is, even if it passes, I'm not sure it will help XRP as much as some investors might hope. Ripple's success is not necessarily XRP's success.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

On April 15, Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST) raised its quarterly dividend from $1.30 to $1.47 per share, an increase of roughly 13.1%. Yearly, the new rate comes out to $5.88 per share. How much does that get you if you buy $10,000 in Costco stock today?

What $10,000 in Costco stock pays you in dividends

Shares are trading around $960, so a $10,000 investment buys you roughly 10.4 shares -- you can buy fractions of shares these days through most brokers. That means your $10,000 investment yields just over $61. That works out to a dividend yield of 0.61%.

Image source: Getty Images.

It's not all that much, but Costco does have a habit of offering special one-time dividends. Since 2012, the company has declared five, with the most recent coming out to $15 per share in 2024. Another could be on the way soon.

Costco's yield doesn't tell the whole story

Costco isn't the best stock if you're after regular income -- but that doesn't mean it isn't a good investment. Costco's business is humming. Its stock is definitely far from cheap, but even with an elevated valuation, I think it's a buy for long-term holders.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Costco Wholesale. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Mark Cuban recently warned that the current artificial intelligence (AI) build-out -- the race to build as many data centers as possible as quickly as possible -- has echoes of 1999.

The billionaire thinks the build-out rhymes with the race to lay internet-enabling fiber optic networks in the late 1990s -- a somewhat underdiscussed aspect of the dot-com boom and eventual bust.

So, given that AI companies now make up something like 40% of the value of the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC), should investors be worried?

Fiber boom, fiber bust

A quick history lesson: In the late 1990s, telecom companies spent a staggering $500 billion -- much of it borrowed -- to bury fiber optic cable across the country and build out the network to support it. This was the critical physical infrastructure that allowed the U.S. to transition online.

In the heat of the moment, companies believed that internet traffic would double every 90 days. But predictions outpaced reality. Though there were a couple of years when traffic did double every three to four months, after that, growth moderated. Over a sustained period, real traffic grew at roughly a quarter of that pace.

When the tech bubble burst in 2000, the industry discovered it had built about 10 times more capacity than anyone needed. About 90% of that new fiber sat "dark" and carried no traffic at all for years. A number of high-profile bankruptcies followed.

Image source: Getty Images.

Why Mark Cuban thinks AI could follow the same path

There was a simple mismatch between how much fiber was built and how much was actually needed. A huge part of that gap came from a too-rosy view of how much demand there really would be, but Cuban doesn't think that will be the issue in the AI infrastructure boom. In his mind, the issue will involve technical innovation.

During the fiber boom, engineers learned to push far more data through each strand of existing cable than was possible when those cables were first laid. This was another major factor in the overbuild. We just got a lot better at using what was already there. Efficiency and technical innovation actually worked against the fiber companies.

Cuban says the same kind of thing could happen today in artificial intelligence. As AI models become drastically more efficient, they could eventually need less and less hardware to support the same workloads.

That could lead to a lot of dark data centers turning, as he put it recently on the All-In podcast, "into pickleball courts."

The bottom line

There are definitely some major differences between 2000 and 2026 that could mean we avoid a crash like the one that ended the dot-com bull era. The most important: Until recently, the AI infrastructure build-out was mostly funded with the massive cash flows of companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta Platforms.

Still, I think this warning is worth taking seriously. It's an interesting angle that I don't think a lot of investors consider. AI doesn't have to flop for there to still be a massive overbuild. Demand could keep growing rapidly, but innovations in AI itself could make much of the infrastructure being developed now unnecessary.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Five years from now, in August of 2031, I think XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) will trade lower than $1. Here's why.

As of August 2026, XRP has lost roughly 70% from its July 2025 peak near $3.65. That's in spite of some major catalysts for the token, like the end of the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) case against Ripple and the launch of spot XRP exchange-traded funds in the U.S.

Meanwhile, Ripple -- the company behind XRP -- cleared more than $3 trillion through its prime brokerage in 2025 while securing a national trust bank charter. The company is becoming a much more serious financial institution, and it's gaining more and more partners in the industry, yet XRP continues to fall.

The problem for XRP investors is that Ripple's success is no longer XRP's success.

Ripple's banking partnerships do not necessarily create demand for XRP

The XRP bull case goes like this: Banks adopt Ripple's technology, they're forced to use XRP, which drives demand for the token, and the price follows.

That argument misunderstands how banks use Ripple's products, and it fails to take into account how the ecosystem has changed.

While XRP used to play a more central role, it's quickly being replaced by Ripple's stablecoin, RLUSD. The stablecoin can serve as a bridge asset -- a sort of go-between -- in the kinds of transactions XRP traditionally powers. If you're a bank moving dollars around the world, would you rather use a dollar-pegged token or an asset whose price can move while the transfer is in flight?

By August 2026, RLUSD had crossed $1.7 billion in market value and was fast becoming a central part of Ripple's payment ecosystem.

XRP's token burns are too small to make it meaningfully scarcer

Bulls will still argue that this can lead to XRP appreciating, since the token is burned when RLUSD is used, and there is a finite supply of XRP. There will only ever be 100 billion XRP tokens, and every transaction on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) -- including every RLUSD transaction -- destroys a tiny amount of it.

Unfortunately, the burn is too small to matter. One analysis estimated that even at Visa-level transaction volume for RLUSD, the XRP Ledger would destroy only about 0.0075% of the supply each year.

Image source: Getty Images.

In fact, by mid-2026, all transactions on the network since its inception in 2012 -- well before RLUSD was introduced -- had burned only 14.4 million XRP in total.

XRP's ETFs can fuel speculation, but its biggest catalysts have already passed

Truth be told, the best argument against me has little to do with Ripple's payment plumbing. XRP's price, despite the narrative, has never really tracked how much the network is used. It's been driven, in my view, by hype -- and hype is fickle. There absolutely could be another speculative rally that drives XRP's price well above where it trades today. I just don't think that will last.

As time goes on, and it becomes abundantly clear that the bull story that has been told about XRP isn't true, the hype will fade. So, too, will XRP's price.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Visa and XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Anthropic closed July with an annualized revenue run rate of $65 billion, up roughly 600% from the end of 2025.

Anthropic is still private -- there's no ticker to buy here -- but its continued success is critical for stocks across the market. Two companies in particular stand to gain: Amazon and Space Exploration Technologies Corp (NASDAQ:SPCX).

Anthropic filed confidential IPO paperwork in June 2026 at a $965 billion valuation

First, run rate means taking current revenue and annualizing it, so investors should keep in mind that this is a snapshot in time. Still, the incredible pace of growth is undeniable. Its preliminary Q2 revenue came in at around $11.5 billion, around 14 times what Anthropic brought in over the same period last year.

Anthropic is gearing up for an initial public offering (IPO), filing confidential paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission in June. The company still hasn't named a date, and it remains to be seen when it will list.

Anthropic's last private valuation came in at $965 billion.

Anthropic has committed $100 billion to Amazon cloud services over the next 10 years

Amazon is Anthropic's largest corporate backer, with roughly $13 billion invested so far and the option to commit up to $33 billion. The company holds a minority stake and no board seat.

More important than its equity stake, however, is the commercial relationship. Anthropic has committed to spending $100 billion on Amazon cloud services over the next 10 years and has secured up to 5 gigawatts (GW) of capacity running on Amazon's in-house AI chips. If Anthropic keeps growing at this pace, it may need to expand that commitment.

Anthropic pays SpaceX roughly $1.25 billion a month for compute capacity through 2029

SpaceX's arrangement is all commercial, with no equity involved. Indeed, until recently, the two were direct competitors. While they still are in one sense, the relationship is now a bit more complicated: Anthropic is SpaceXAI's biggest customer.

Anthropic leases a massive amount of compute running on more than 300,000 Nvidia chips from SpaceX, paying roughly $1.25 billion a month for the capacity through 2029, according to SpaceX's IPO filing. Alphabet's Google signed a separate lease at $920 million a month, though that one doesn't start ramping up until October.

With Anthropic responsible for roughly half of SpaceXAI's total sales, its success is SpaceX's success -- at least for now.

Anthropic's model-building costs cloud its "profitability"-- and its partners' upside

With Anthropic growing at the pace it is growing, it looks like it will be hungry for compute for some time. That's good news for those that provide it, like SpaceX and Amazon. And of course, it's good for Anthropics investors -- another win for Amazon.

What gives me pause is the profitability of all this. Anthropic is quick to leak or announce its annualized sales, but it's much slower to reveal its costs. That's because frontier model building is extremely expensive, and thus far, it looks like costs are scaling with revenue.

It was reported recently that Anthropic was a profitable operationally, but that only means so much. It leaves out the most expensive part of being a frontier model developer -- building the models. Without factoring that in, "profitable" doesn't mean much in my eyes.

With that in mind, while both SpaceX and Amazon stand to gain immensely from Anthropic -- and will in the short term -- over time, it could turn into a liability if Anthropic can't pay its bills. An IPO will help with that, but it also means revealing all of its financials in detail, and its possible investors won't like what they see.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Circle Internet Stock (NYSE: CRCL) is soaring today, up 8.7% as of 3:35 p.m. ET on Aug. 19, 2026, on news of a White House meeting between President Donald Trump and crypto-industry executives.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were up 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively.

Trump is meeting crypto executives and top regulators a day after the SEC proposed easing registration rules

Trump is set to meet today with representatives from crypto companies as well as key regulators like Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Paul Atkins and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chair Mike Selig.

The meeting comes a day after the SEC proposed a rule change that would let some crypto companies skip standard securities-registration requirements. More changes could come from tomorrow's CFTC meeting.

Circle's income tracks USDC minting, so the Clarity Act matters more than any single rule change

Circle, which issues the stablecoin USDC, could benefit from some of these rule changes. The big catalyst, however, would be the passing of the Clarity Act, currently stalled in the Senate. The market-structure bill would help traditional finance integrate stablecoins and other digital assets into their operations, potentially massively expanding adoption of USDC.

Image source: Getty Images.

Circle's income is directly related to how much USDC is minted. Passage of the Clarity Act could be a game changer. Still, there's no guarantee that will happen. I do think Circle stock is worth owning as a small part of a diversified portfolio.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is soaring today, up 5.5% as of 3:07 p.m. ET on Aug. 19, 2026, as President Donald Trump and crypto-industry executives meet at the White House.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were up 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively, on Wednesday.

Coinbase, Payward, and Blockchain.com executives are meeting with Trump and top regulators

Trump is meeting crypto executives at the White House on Wednesday afternoon. The group, which features executives from Coinbase Global, Payward, and Blockchain.com, will also meet with key regulators and White House staff, including Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Paul Atkins, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chair Mike Selig, and White House crypto advisor Patrick Witt.

The Clarity Act is stalled in the Senate, but the SEC and CFTC can act without Congress

Investors are hoping the meeting will lead to movement from Congress. The Clarity Act, which would provide a legal framework for the crypto market, is stalled in the Senate. Whether that comes to pass is very much an open question.

Image source: Getty Images.

Still, there is a lot the executive branch can do on its own. Just yesterday, the SEC proposed a rule change favorable to the industry. Something similar could come out of tomorrow's CFTC meeting.

Regardless, I think Bitcoin is worth owning, but as a reasonably small part of a diversified portfolio.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) is soaring today, up 6.1% in the last 24 hours as of 3:02 p.m. ET on Aug. 19, 2026, as President Donald Trump meets with executives from top crypto firms, including Ripple, the company behind the XRP token.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were both up slightly in Wednesday's trading.

Trump is meeting Ripple and top regulators one day after the SEC proposed a disclosure exemption

Trump will meet with crypto executives at the White House along with key regulators like Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chair Mike Selig.

This comes just a day after the SEC proposed a rule that would let certain token and digital-asset offerings skip the standard disclosure process a company normally goes through before selling a security to the public.

Traders are betting on the Clarity Act, but it would help RLUSD more than XRP

Investors are clearly excited that the meeting today, along with the SEC's proposal, signals key crypto-industry legislation may soon be able to make its way through Congress. The Clarity Act -- a market structure bill that the industry wants most -- is currently stuck in the Senate.

Image source: Getty Images.

It's unclear if that will happen, but even if it does, I'm not sure it will move the needle in the way that XRP bulls hope. This would likely be more beneficial for Ripple's stablecoin RLUSD than for XRP itself.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

CoreWeave Inc (NASDAQ: CRWV) stock is down on Tuesday, falling 11.8% as of 2:05 p.m. ET. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite are down 0.6% and 1.4%, respectively.

President Trump said Tuesday that talks with Iran are not underway, walking back earlier claims that negotiations were in progress. That's spiking fear in the market.

Why CoreWeave stock is dropping today

In a Truth Social post on Tuesday, Trump said there were "no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran."

The war has sent oil prices soaring. And while they're down from their peak earlier in the war, they've been climbing in the last week and remain roughly 30% above pre-war levels.

Image source: Getty Images.

That's compounding an already tough inflation picture for the Fed, and bond yields have climbed right along with oil -- the 30-year Treasury rate is now at its highest point in almost 20 years. subhead

CoreWeave's heavy debt load adds to the risk

When the macro picture looks like this, it often leads to traders selling out of high-growth, high-risk stocks, especially those carrying loads of debt and trading at extreme multiples.

Both can be said about CoreWeave. The company is heavily leveraged -- its debt-to-equity ratio is more than 14 and continues to climb -- and its stock is certainly pricey. I would avoid it.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) stock is down on Tuesday, falling 7.1% as of 1:47 p.m. ET. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite are down 0.6% and 1.2%, respectively.

With no clear end to the Iran war in sight, traders appear wary of capital-intensive growth stocks trading at rich multiples -- like Intel's.

Why Intel stock is falling today

On Tuesday, President Trump said that no active negotiations were underway with Iran, a reversal of his prior claims that they were. The President said on the social media platform Truth Social that "There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran."

The Iran war has sent oil prices skyrocketing, and though they're down from their peak earlier in the conflict, they remain nearly 30% higher than their pre-war levels.

Iran war uncertainty weighs on investor sentiment

The elevated oil prices come at a time when the Federal Reserve is still struggling to tame persistent inflation. The combo has helped drive bond rates higher, with the 30-year U.S. Treasury rate reaching its highest point in nearly 20 years.

Image source: White House.

In an environment like this, investors tend to prefer safer investments and rotate out of stocks that have significant growth already baked into their share prices, especially those that will need to continue spending serious money to see that growth materialize.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Intel. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) will be in an Oakland federal courtroom on Tuesday, defending itself against the 29 states that say it built Facebook and Instagram to addict children and then told parents the platforms were safe.

A bipartisan group of state attorneys general will attempt to convince the court that the social media giant knew its products were harmful. It goes to trial less than two weeks after a judge in New Mexico hit Meta with a nearly $1 billion judgment in a similar case.

What the states allege

The states' argument is that the addiction was designed in. They point to infinite scroll, likes, autoplay, algorithmic recommendations, and weak age controls. They also say Meta violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), a federal law that bars companies from collecting personal data on kids under 13 without a parent signing off.

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers threw out most of Meta's attempt to get the case dismissed in April.

Meta denies wrongdoing and is leaning on Section 230, the federal law that generally shields internet platforms from being sued over what their users post. The company argues that its recommendation algorithms are protected editorial choices and that "social-media addiction" isn't a recognized medical diagnosis.

Meta's legal troubles are piling up fast

The case is part of a torrent of similar cases brought against the company, including a very similar case Meta lost in New Mexico court in which a jury found 75,000 violations of the state's consumer-protection laws and assessed a $375 million penalty. A judge then ruled that Meta's platforms amounted to a "public nuisance" and ordered another $567 million for a youth mental-health fund along with mandated product changes. Meta maintains its innocence here as well and is appealing all of it.

Other states are moving the same way as well as school districts across the country. Meta settled with a first test case in May for $9 million. It faces 1,200 more.

Why some are calling this big tech's "big tobacco moment"

Some industry observers are wondering if this could prove to be a "big tobacco moment" for Meta and tech companies like it.

In the 1990s, every state in the country sued cigarette makers in a series of extremely high-profile cases that eventually led to the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement, which put the industry on the hook for a whopping $246 billion and restricted how tobacco companies could market their product.

While the settlement itself was an immediate hit to their bottom lines, the cases were public relations nightmares for the firms involved and seriously harmed their sales long-term.

What a Meta loss could mean for the tech industry

If Meta loses this case, it could open the floodgates to more lawsuits. And not just for Meta, but for companies across big tech whose products rely on similar, algorithmic recommendations. The 9th Circuit recently gave the green light for thousands of lawsuits to proceed against not just Meta, but Alphabet, TikTok, and Snap.

The big question is whether Section 230 will hold, which up to this point has been a durable firewall protecting tech companies from allegations of harm. If Meta can't stand behind that statute, it will have far-reaching consequences for how other tech companies design and distribute their products.

Of course, Meta could still defend itself successfully here.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet and Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) said on Monday that it will back as much as $105 billion in financing for a massive OpenAI data center campus in Ohio. The chipmaker will also invest $1.5 billion into SB Energy, the SoftBank unit developing the site.

In return, OpenAI committed to exclusively using Nvidia chips onsite.

OpenAI's 8-gigawatt data center is massive

OpenAI will lease the site for 20 years, which will eventually grow to provide 8 gigawatts (GW) of compute -- a massive target. That's more than enough energy to power New York City on a typical day. It's also an expensive target; each GW typically costs something like $50 to $60 billion.

The power won't come online all at once, however. The project is planned in phases: roughly 0.8 GW in 2028, growing to 4.25 GW, then the full 8 GW.

How Nvidia's $105 billion guarantee actually works

The $105 billion backstop is not a direct investment, but a guarantee. It means that, in the event OpenAI can't pay its bills, Nvidia will step in to cover any unpaid lease and power obligations. Nvidia owes nothing unless a default actually happens, and the absolute limit the company would be on the hook for is the headline number of $105 billion.

But the promise alone helps OpenAI secure key funding it needs to build the site. And though there's no cost to Nvidia upfront, it's expected to lead to serious revenue. The company expects the first 4.25 GWs alone to bring in about $200 billion in chip sales.

Nvidia is doubling down on AI infrastructure financing

The announcement comes at a complicated time for Nvidia and the AI industry. Many investors are nervous about the increasingly tangled ecosystem of financing between Nvidia and its top customers. Just last week, the company said it's teaming up with BlackRock, Apollo, Blackstone, and others to raise more than $500 billion for AI infrastructure, offering to backstop up to $125 billion of it.

Why investors should watch this deal closely

If OpenAI pays its bills, Nvidia books 100s of billions in revenue and never has to write a check. That could be a pretty great deal.

The problem is that there's a real chance OpenAI runs out of money. The ChatGPT creator is on the hook for something like $750 billion over the next 4 years. This is a company that, while growing sales at lightning speed, is losing money just as fast. It's unclear how it expects to pay for all that it has committed to unless something changes.

If OpenAI does stumble, it could have serious consequences for Nvidia. Even without these backstops, Nvidia's top-line is heavily reliant on OpenAI. Most of the companies that purchase Nvidia's most advanced chips are either directly or indirectly reliant on OpenAI.

If that happens, Nvidia would be on the hook for a data center in Ohio at the exact moment its biggest customer's orders dry up.

Of course, there's no guarantee that's what will happen. OpenAI could very well meet its obligations, and Nvidia will be the richer for it. Still, it's a risk you should take into account.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) stock is down Monday, falling 3.8% as of 2:43 p.m. ET. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite are also sliding, down 0.4 and 0.3%, respectively.

Just weeks after the social media giant lost a high-profile case in New Mexico, it will once again defend itself in court tomorrow -- this time, in California.

29 states are suing Meta over child safety

Oral arguments begin Tuesday morning in a major, unified case brought by Attorneys General from 29 states. Led by California AG Rob Bonta, Meta is facing allegations that it knowingly fostered addictive behavior in teens and children.

Meta has denied wrongdoing and said that the case's "limited claims are unsubstantiated and their financial demands are vastly disproportionate."

Image source: Getty Images.

This follows Meta's recent loss in a similar case in New Mexico earlier this month. The company will be forced to pay $1 billion in damages and change some of its policies.

What a loss could mean for Meta and big tech

While losing the New Mexico case was undoubtedly damaging, a loss in the current case could be significantly more so -- and not just for Meta. Some in the industry are saying this could be a sort of "big tobacco moment" for big tech.

I think that risk is real. A loss in this case would have far-reaching consequences for Meta and social media companies across the board.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: SPCX) went public on June 12, ultimately selling 638.9 million shares at $135 through its initial public offering (IPO), raising a record-setting $85.7 billion in the process.

Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk, who owns more than 6 billion in combined Class A and Class B shares -- about 42% of the company by value -- agreed to a 366-day lock-up of his stake. That means he can't sell any shares until June 12, 2027.

He's not the only one, however. Early investors and SpaceX employees are also temporarily barred from selling their shares. But they don't have to wait a year to do so. During the next year, nearly 6 billion additional shares will become available for sale through staggered lock-up releases before Musk gets his chance to sell.

Let's take a look at that schedule and what it means for SpaceX investors.

SpaceX lock-up expiration schedule: when shares unlock

The first release has actually already happened. On Aug 6, just shy of 912 million shares were unlocked, more than doubling the shares available for sale.

And during the next year, SpaceX employees and investors will have the chance to sell more of their stakes. Here's the schedule:

Source: Reuters

So, by spring of next year, there will be about 10 times as many shares eligible for sale as were sold in the IPO. And by mid-June, when Musk is finally able to sell his shares, 20 times as many will be eligible as at the IPO.

Eligible to sell doesn't mean shares will be sold

I want to make this clear: eligible does not mean sold. Although these unlocks could flood the market with newly released shares, there's no guarantee that will happen. Insiders could very well choose to hold on to their shares, believing that SpaceX stock will rise in the future.

Image source: Getty Images.

And we already saw this happen. Despite fears of the opposite, the first unlock on Aug. 6 didn't lead to a huge selling spree. Not only did SpaceX stock not get hammered as many worried, but it's also gained more than 20% since then.

What this means for SpaceX investors

Still, I don't think we are out of the woods by any means. Just because new supply didn't swamp the market on Aug 6 doesn't mean it won't happen during the next 12 months.

SpaceX went public with an unusually small float -- the shares available to the public. It's part of what made the stock shoot up to more than $225 in the days after the IPO. When you only offer a tiny slice of the pie, it's easier for demand to outstrip supply.

But that works in reverse too -- if a large portion of employees and investors decide they want to make their profits real, each unlock could seriously increase public supply, and I'm not convinced there's enough demand to compensate.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Five years ago, Rocket Lab (NASDAQ: RKLB) was a small rocket company that plenty of investors had never heard of. Since then, it has gone on an absolute tear.

Could anyone have seen a run like this coming back then? Its believers sure did.

A 650% return in five years

Five years ago, Rocket Lab shares traded just above $10.60. Today it trades around $80. A $5,000 investment in 2021 would now be worth around $37,810 today -- a more than 650% gain.

Take a look at the incredible run in the chart below.

RKLB data by YCharts

The bottom line

So where does it go from here? The growth story here is real. The space industry is expanding rapidly, and the company just reported a record backlog of $2.36 billion.

Image source: Getty Images.

But if you ask me, investors have gotten ahead of themselves. The stock trades at more than 60 times its annual sales and it is burning cash fast. Its free cash flow last year was more than $270 million. And operationally, it continues to delay its Neutron rocket. This is absolutely critical to the company's long-term success, and if Neutron is delayed further, the stock could fall hard.

Still, I won't deny there's a lot to like. I just think the valuation is off.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Rocket Lab. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Reddit, Inc. (NYSE: RDDT) stock was up 10.7% as of 2:22 p.m. ET today while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were down 0.2% and 0.4%, respectively.

Shares of the social media company are flying after it was announced that Reddit would join the S&P 500.

Why Reddit is joining the S&P 500 now

S&P Dow Jones indexes said after the close on Thursday that Reddit will replace AvalonBay Communities in the S&P 500 before the market opens on Aug. 18. AvalonBay was just acquired by Equity Residential, freeing a slot in the index outside the usual rebalancing schedule.

Funds that track the S&P 500 have to own every company in it, at whatever weight the index assigns. The buying is automatic and mechanical. JPMorgan estimates that, in total, about 16.7 million Reddit shares will be bought up.

Image source: Getty Images.

Reddit's growth is impressive, but there's a catch

Reddit generated $805 million in second-quarter revenue, up 61% year over year (YoY), while net income reached $253 million. Daily active users -- a key metric for social media platforms -- increased 18%.

That all sounds very positive, but it obscures a major issue the platform is facing. AI search results are more and more keeping users from clicking through to Reddit itself. If this trend continues, it could spell real trouble for a company that needs to keep growing at a rapid pace to support its valuation.

JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends JPMorgan Chase and Reddit. The Motley Fool recommends AvalonBay Communities. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.