Smart Investing with Brent & Chase Wilsey

Would you let your credit card do your spending for you? That sounds like a very silly question, but the reality is that credit card companies like Mastercard now have AI bots that can shop for you. This is crazy to me. People already have enough trouble controlling their spending on credit cards, and now credit card companies are rolling out programs that can do even more shopping for you… Could...

Will Rising Interest Rates Hurt Private Debt and Private Equity? It is hard to tell for sure because private investments are, by definition, private, and we don't have the same level of transparency that we have with publicly traded investments. However, with the 10-year Treasury crossing the 5% mark… Is the New Siri AI Already Obsolete? Is it possible that Apple’s latest update to its famous...

Why I’m Glad the Fed Increased Interest Rates on September 16 On Wednesday, September 16, at 2 p.m. Eastern, the Federal Reserve announced its decision to increase interest rates by 0.25% to the range of 3.75% to 4% from 3.5% to 3.75%. This was the first rate hike since July 2023. Your initial reaction might be, “Why would you want the Fed to increase interest rates?” Generally, higher rates are v...

Another big cost for data centers: insurance! You always hear about the obvious expenses involved in building data centers: incredibly expensive chips, massive energy requirements, cooling systems, and the cost of constructing the facility itself. But there’s another major expense that doesn’t get nearly as much attention: insurance. Once completed, a large data center can be worth anywhere from $...

The AI Capex Bubble Is Starting to Look Crazy I keep coming back to the same question when I look at the incredible amount of money being poured into artificial intelligence: Where is all of this capital ultimately going to earn a return? Since the beginning of 2024, roughly $500 billion has been spent on chips, $350 billion on power infrastructure, $200 billion on construction and $100 billion on...

The K-Shaped Economy May Be Improving If you’re unfamiliar with the term, the upper arm of the “K” represents higher-income Americans, who are spending more and generally doing better. The lower arm represents lower-income consumers who have been struggling with higher prices and tighter budgets. But there are signs the lower end of the K-shaped economy may finally be improving. Treasury Secretary...

The AI boom is starting to look a lot more leveraged than investors realize There is a growing risk in the AI infrastructure buildout that isn’t getting nearly enough attention: how much of this spending is being financed, and how much of the risk is sitting off the balance sheet. The headline numbers around capital expenditures are already staggering, but what… Refined oil could be in jeopardy ov...

Second Quarter Earnings Give Me Some Optimism I call all my clients on their yearly anniversary with our firm to have a discussion about their past performance and where I see their portfolio going over the next six to 12 months. I’m very pleased to report that I expected a more subdued performance in 2026 than what we’re experiencing so far. However, stronger-than-expected returns can also make p...

Apparently, self-driving cars don’t know where they shouldn’t park Self-driving cars are proving to be remarkably safe on the road and, so far, have demonstrated a better safety record than human drivers in many situations. However, like all technology, they still lack common sense. They may be able to navigate traffic... Why Interest Rates Could Stay Higher Than Many Expect One of the biggest deb...

Those Long-Term Chip Deals May Not Be as Secure as Investors Are Led to Believe When you listen to memory chip companies like Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology discuss their businesses, they often make it sound like customer contracts—some extending as long as five years—are essentially set in stone. Unfortunately, that's not entirely true. Yes, these companies have long-ter...

Netflix Is Struggling to Stay on Top…. and the Stock Reflects It For years, Netflix has been the dominant force in streaming, consistently taking market share from its competitors. However, recent data suggests the competition is beginning to chip away at that lead… U.S. oil supplies are falling to concerning levels U.S. oil inventories have fallen to levels that should be a concern. The current U...

META's stock surged last week, but investors shouldn't ignore the risks. Meta shares climbed last week as Wall Street became increasingly optimistic about the company's AI strategy. The stock was up about15% for the week and erased the year-to-date losses. Investors are betting that Meta's enormous spending on AI infrastructure, custom chips, top engineering talent, and next-genera...

Did you ever wonder why so many people didn't get out before the dot-com crash? It's an important question to ask yourself, especially if you believe you'll know exactly when to get out before any potential correction in today's AI and semiconductor stocks… Don’t Build That Data Center in My Backyard The race to build AI infrastructure is running into an obstacle that many investor...

Competition for AI Is Coming From a Surprise Source That Could Pressure U.S. Companies' Prices and Profits We tend to focus on the major AI companies in the United States and assume they will be the long-term winners. However, one competitor that cannot be ignored is China. Chinese companies are making rapid progress in artificial intelligence, and they could become a serious challenge to… The...

Want the New iPhone 18 This September? Be Prepared to Pay More…. A Lot More The iPhone 18 is expected to be released in just a few months, and if current estimates are accurate, consumers could be facing some serious sticker shock. One of the biggest reasons is the ongoing battle for semiconductor components. The rapid buildout of AI data centers has created enormous demand for… Bad News: The Doll...

You Didn’t Get SpaceX? Don’t Worry, There Are Other Mega IPOs Coming You may feel like everyone got into SpaceX except you, and now you're wondering: Should I buy shares today? Is there something better coming next? The reality is that several other massive IPOs could be coming sooner than many investors realize. At the top of the list are OpenAI, with an estimated valuation of $852 billion, A...

Can Apple Update the 16-Year-Old Siri? This week marked Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in Cupertino, California. One of the biggest storylines is Apple's effort to reinvent Siri, which many users now view as one of the least capable AI assistants on the market… The Housing Market Is Finally Starting to Look Normal Again For the last several years, the housing market...

Where is the money coming from that is fueling this technology rally? No one knows for certain, but there are some concerning signs that suggest many investors may not have the cash to support their positions and are instead relying on borrowed money to drive the rally higher. One metric we continue to monitor closely is margin debt, a potentially dangerous tool that has now reached record levels....

Logic should tell you there may not be much growth left in Nvidia Investing has become increasingly emotional for many people, and too often investors stop thinking logically. Could the popular company Nvidia continue climbing higher? Of course it could. But there are logical reasons to believe its future growth may be limited compared to what investors expect today. First, consider the company’s...

Why do low P/E stocks perform better in overpriced markets? We are currently in a momentum-driven market, and many people are experiencing FOMO, which is the fear of missing out. Much of this is being fueled by AI and technology stocks, where investors are willing to pay almost any price because they believe these industries will continue growing indefinitely and they don’t want to miss the opport...

The Fed’s Inflation Problem Just Got More Complicated U.S. inflation accelerated sharply in April, with CPI rising 3.8% year-over-year, the highest reading in nearly three years, as the Iran conflict continued to ripple through global energy markets. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, also rose to 2.8%, up from 2.6% in March, suggesting inflation… The Market Continues To Flash Warning Signs...

Bitcoin had a nice April, will it continue The cryptocurrency gained 12.7% last month, marking its best performance since April 2025. Interestingly, according to CryptoQuant, the 30-day change in outright Bitcoin purchases remained negative throughout April. That suggests the rally wasn’t driven by strong spot demand. Instead, much of the momentum came from something called perpetual futures. Unti...

More regulators are concerned about private credit The bad news just keeps coming for the private credit industry. If you’re not sure what private credit is, it is mostly middle market business loans extended by asset managers. People often don’t realize that these asset managers don’t have the same strict supervision that banks have on their loans. Investors may be starting to realize the risk be...

Should the Fed still use the PCE as its inflation guide? I’ve talked a lot about the shelter index being misleading when it comes to inflation, especially when looking at the CPI, but the PCE has its flaws as well. The Federal Reserve has a 2% inflation target and uses monetary policy, which includes adjusting the Fed Funds rate, to tackle its dual mandate of maximum employment and stable prices....

Has watching your favorite sports become a nightmare? It used to be easy to watch a football game as you generally had maybe two different networks it would be on and it was easy to find. Well, now the promise of streaming, reducing costs and making it easier for people to watch the shows and sports they want when they want has really missed the mark. The list can go on and on of where to watch th...