The digital transformation is certainly underway. Technology is changing and companies of all sizes are embracing it. Small businesses are deploying lightweight applications to grow revenue and gain share. Larger enterprises are replacing legacy systems with more efficient solutions from cloud-native vendors. And even massive and notoriously slow-moving industries like health care, banking, and insurance are keen to innovate more quickly and become more efficient in today's digital world. All of this is great news for investors. More efficient companies are more profitable and are able to hand out those rising profits to their shareholders. But where do the greatest opportunities in the digital transformation lie? Should investors look to the smaller, pure-play companies who are enabling bigger-trend movements such as data-centric AI or DevOps? Or is there a greater opportunity to invest in larger companies who are capitalizing on these movements to re-align their existing businesses? And are all of the things taking place in the world -- from the lingering impacts of COVID, supply chain disruptions, or fears of a global recession -- having any impact on how these exciting new technologies are actually getting deployed? To help us answer those questions, we’ve brought in an expert. Ben Book is the co-founder and CEO of GigaOm, who is helping IT decision makers tackle their most complex technical challenges. GigaOm is bringing the executives of progressive companies up-to-speed about emerging technologies and then helping to implement them across their organizations. In an exclusive interview with 7investing CEO Simon Erickson, Ben describes what's really driving the digital transformation. He focuses on the fundamental changes taking place in artificial intelligence and how organizations are building entire programs to benefit from them. He describes the DevOps movement and explains how data scientists are monitoring new data formats to make better decisions. He also shares what the process typically looks like for a large enterprise to shift from its legacy vendors and adopt a cloud-based solution. In the second segment, Ben chats a bit about the progress being made in health care. He explains that while hospital budgets are constrained, there is a ton of interest in using medical information to improve patient outcomes. He also discusses companies who have done a great job of embracing digital innovation, and points to Disney (NYSE: DIS) as one example. In the final segment, Simon spots Ben up with the 'lightning round' and asks for his thoughts on quantum computing, the Metaverse, and DNA used for storage. Publicly-traded companies mentioned in this interview include Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, C3.AI, Cloudera, Disney, GitLab, Johnson & Johnson, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, The New York Times, Oracle, SAP, Snowflake, Splunk, and Teradata. 7investing’s advisors or its guests may have positions in the companies mentioned.

Things are really heating up in the commercial space economy. We noticed last year that several companies were providing the underlying infrastructure that could allow private businesses to set up shop in outer space. Favorable developments like declining launch costs and the miniaturization of satellite components were driving the number of satellites seeking launch approval to increase by an order of magnitude. And thanks to a flood of interest in Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs...which actually necessarily aren't all related to "SPACE"), publicly-traded options emerged for investors that included Rocket Lab (Nasdaq: RKLB), Astra Space (Nasdaq: ASTR), and Virgin Galactic (Nasdaq: SPCE). Yet quite a lot has also changed in the world during just these past six months. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has prompted governments to double-down on their space-based military operations, especially for satellite surveillance. Out-of-control inflation has driven the Federal Reserve to aggressively raise interest rates, making it more difficult for capital-intensive businesses who conduct space-based operations to raise funding. And the fascination of space from billionaire entrepreneurs like Elon Musk, Richard Branson, and Jeff Bezos has led Space-X's Falcon Heavy, Virgin Galactic'sSpaceShip, and Amazon's (Nasdaq: AMZN) Project Kuiper to transform what was once science fiction into commercial realities. What will all of this mean for investors? Are escalating international conflicts re-invigorating the militarization of space? Will rising rates make it harder to compete against the best-capitalized leaders? Is it better to invest in the down-to-Earth legacy players...or is it worth taking a flyer on a few pure-play moonshots? To help us answer those questions, we’ve brought in two experts who are actively investing in outer space. Andrew Chanin is the CEO and co-founder of Procure AM and Micah Walter-Range is the President of Caelus Partners. Together, they've created America’s first Space-themed ETF that trades with the ticker “UFO.” In an exclusive interview with 7investing CEO Simon Erickson, Andrew and Micah describe why the space economy is taking off. They describe how Russia's war with Ukraine is increasing the demand for real-time satellite imagery and is also causing businesses to seek launch providers who are not based in Russia. They compare Rocket Lab democratized approach to launch to Space X's ridesharing capabilities, and also explain why 'space tourism' might actually be less relevant than 'space-based research.' In the final segment, Micah and Andrew describe the methodical framework they've constructed for the SPACE Index and how some of their thinking has changed in 2022. The also reveal some of the most important unmet challenges facing space-based companies and several companies that should be on investors' radar. Publicly-traded companies mentioned in this interview include Airbus, Amazon, Arqit Quantum, Astra, BlackSky Technology, Boeing, Mynaric, RedWire, Rocket Lab, and Virgin Galactic. 7investing’s advisors or its guests may have positions in the companies mentioned.

If you are looking to invest in one of the market’s best-performing sectors, then look no further than Software as a Service! Recently, technology and research advisory firm IDC wrote that spending on shared cloud services totaled $385 billion in 2021 and will see a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 21.0% through 2025, reaching $809 billion.  Considering the incredible growth this industry has seen over the past decade, this sector of the market continues to remain attractive for investors to due its predictable and recurring revenue, flexible and cost-efficient product, and scalability. In this exclusive episode of 7investing inFocus, Lead Advisor Luke Hallard shares his research on the stock performance of SaaS, some interesting business metrics to consider, and three investment ideas in this space for investors to consider.  You can view Luke's presentation on YouTube as well by clicking the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW3MRpwsaQY Publicly-traded companies mentioned in this conversation include Snowflake, Bill.com, and Monday.com. 7investing’s advisors may have positions in the companies that are mentioned. Welcome to 7investing. We are here to empower you to invest in your future! We publish our 7 best ideas in the stock market to our subscribers for just $49 per month or $399 per year. Start your journey toward's financial independence: https://www.7investing.com/subscribe Stop by our website to level-up your investing education: https://www.7investing.com Join the 7investing Community Forum: https://discord.gg/6YvazDf9sw Follow us: ► https://www.facebook.com/7investing ► https://twitter.com/7investing ► https://instagram.com/7investing

The advertising industry is going through a transformation. There's a confluence of events that are demanding it to make some recent higher-level changes. Consumer privacy concerns are escalating, and they're causing Big Tech companies like Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Alphabet (Nasdaq: GOOGL) to phase out the third-party cookie. Walled gardens like Meta Platforms (Nasdaq: FB) are at the risk of crumbling down as advertisers are looking to a more open internet for alternatives. People are moving away from their desktops and their iPads back to the television, where they're migrating away from traditional cable in preference of a la carte Connected TV programming. All of these changes are rewriting the script for the industry. It's becoming more important than ever to establish a direct, genuine relationship with individuals. And that's unlocking an entirely new approach to digital, programmatic advertising. What will all of this mean for investors? What impact will the higher-level tech changes have on the largest companies of the S&P 500? And are there pure-play opportunities that are arising and taking advantage of the fastest-growing segments of the market? To answer these questions, we've brought in an expert. Rajeev Goel is the co-founder and CEO of PubMatic (Nasdaq: PUBM). PubMatic is a publicly-traded company who serves as a sell-side platform for programmatic advertising. It helps publishers — who create websites, podcasts, mobile apps, or streaming TV stations — to monetize their content by placing targeted advertisements. Rajeev is one of the innovators in this space; he's very in-tune with the direction his industry is heading and is always two steps ahead of his competition. In this exclusive interview, Rajeev chats with 7investing lead advisors Simon Erickson and Luke Hallard about the changes taking place in advertising and how PubMatic is responding to them. They talk about the importance of Connected TV and why Netflix's (Nasdaq: NFLX) recent comments about an ad-supported plan could be significant. They discuss why Google and Apple are making changes to their identifiers and what The Trade Desk's (Nasdaq: TTD) recent OpenPath initiative could mean for the industry. In the final segment, the three talk about advertising in the Metaverse and what investors interested in this space should be watching. Welcome to 7investing. We are here to empower you to invest in your future! We publish our 7 best ideas in the stock market to our subscribers for just $49 per month or $399 per year. Start your journey toward's financial independence: https://www.7investing.com/subscribe Stop by our website to level-up your investing education: https://www.7investing.com Join the 7investing Community Forum: https://discord.gg/6YvazDf9sw Follow us: ► https://www.facebook.com/7investing ► https://twitter.com/7investing ► https://instagram.com/7investing

We have exciting news!  The 7investing Community Forum recently reached 1000 members, which meant we had the opportunity to try something new for the very first time.  Since our Discord reached that milestone, we unlocked the functionality to host live conversations directly on our server - meaning we got the opportunity to speak directly with you! Join 7investing Lead Advisors Simon Erickson, Dana Abramovitz, Steve Symington, and Luke Hallard for a fun, interactive conversation as each member of the team brought a stock to the table that is currently on their radar. Do you have a topic in mind for our next discussion on Discord?  Let us know what you would like to discuss with the 7investing Team on the next interactive conversation on our server! Welcome to 7investing. We are here to empower you to invest in your future! We publish our 7 best ideas in the stock market to our subscribers for just $49 per month or $399 per year. Start your journey toward's financial independence: https://www.7investing.com/subscribe Stop by our website to level-up your investing education: https://www.7investing.com Join the 7investing Community Forum: https://discord.gg/6YvazDf9sw Follow us: ► https://www.facebook.com/7investing ► https://twitter.com/7investing ► https://instagram.com/7investing

It's been a rough year for the stock market. A pessimistic outlook for the American economy has hammered the stock prices of many companies. In anticipation of a contracting economy and higher interest rates, several investors are reassessing their strategies and their allocations. But is the negative outlook already fully baked in? Have valuation multiples fallen so low that the pendulum might actually be due to swing the other way? 7investing CEO Simon Erickson recently sat down with retired money manager Puru Saxena to discuss the status quo of the American economy and how it might impact the stock market in 2022. In this follow-up conversation (which was originally broadcast live to 7investing's Community Forum), Simon shares his key takeaways from that conversation with 7investing Marketing Manager JT Street. Welcome to 7investing. We are here to empower you to invest in your future! We publish our 7 best ideas in the stock market to our subscribers for just $49 per month or $399 per year. Start your journey toward's financial independence: https://www.7investing.com/subscribe Stop by our website to level-up your investing education: https://www.7investing.com Join the 7investing Community Forum: https://discord.gg/6YvazDf9sw Follow us: ► https://www.facebook.com/7investing ► https://twitter.com/7investing ► https://instagram.com/7investing

Things are getting dicey out there, and it's shaking the resolve of quite a few investors. The stock market has spent the past half year in a free fall. The S&P 500 is down 17% from its December highs, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq is down 28% from its peak in November. Many individual stocks are faring even worse, with some down 60%, 70%, or more from their previous highs. Shell-shocked investors have been searching for the reasons behind the current market hysteria. Many believe the culprit of this year's severe selloff is due to the headwinds blowing in the face of the US economy. American inflation hit 8.5% in April, which is the highest annual increase in more than forty years. The Fed, looking to tame that inflationary beast, has driven up interest rates aggressively in recent months. Higher rates make it more challenging for consumers or businesses to borrow, which tends to slow down the expansion of the economy. And the report card of the business world is the stock market. Always forward-looking, stocks have sold off in anticipation of the economy's upcoming struggles. Slower growth and rising interest rates are both net-negatives in the calculations of a stock's intrinsic value (all other things being equal). So what are investors to do? Is now the time to be aggressive, being greedy when others are fearful and buying up bargains when there's blood in the streets? Or is it time to get defensive, prioritizing cash flows and a strong balance sheet as the most important factors of consideration? Furthermore, how long will these macroeconomic issues last for? What would happen to stocks if the US goes into a recession? Or conversely, are there new opportunities that might arise like a phoenix out of this crisis? To help us answer those questions, we've brought in an expert. Puru Saxena is a retired money manager who is now an individual investor. He's spent more than twenty years monitoring indicators and analyzing market cycles, deciphering what they all will mean for stock market investors. In this exclusive interview, Puru chats with 7investing CEO Simon Erickson about several important topics. Puru explains what the Fed's recent rate increase will mean for the economy and how it should be interpreted by investors. He describes his expectations for the stock market in 2022 and why tech companies could be poised to outperform during the next three years. The two discuss the winners and losers from inflation, why market timing is so difficult, and how to interpret the recent yield curve inversion. They also predict the likelihood of an American recession and how investors should think about valuing technology companies. In the second segment, Puru and Simon discusses several individual stocks they find intriguing. Simon notes that large tech companies like the FAANG (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google) have been responsible for much of the last decade's bull-market gains, yet there has been a divergence in their performance post-COVID. Puru describes several companies he believes are well-poised for the future, including QuantumScape, MercadoLibre, and Nu Holdings. In the final segment, Puru talks about position sizing and how investors can think about hedging as a way to protect their portfolio gains.

Our financial world is getting complex, and there are a lot of challenging questions now facing investors: "The S&P 500's going through a really sharp selloff. How should I invest in the middle of a bear market?" "Inflation just hit a 40-year high. What will this mean for the stock market?" "The Fed just raised interest rates and the yield curve recently inverted. What does that mean for the economy?" "How should I think about Bitcoin, stock valuations, "sector rotation", funding my retirement, or [insert your favorite recent financial media news headline here]?" These are important questions and there are a lot of moving pieces. But perhaps the most straightforward and logical answer is to just keep buying. That's exactly the title and the key takeaway from Nick Maggiulli's recent book. As Chief Operating Officer of Ritholtz Wealth Management, Nick has taken an evidence-based approach to saving money and compounding wealth over time. In an exclusive interview with 7investing founder and CEO Simon Erickson, Nick describes the important concepts he introduces in his book. He explains how investors can maximize returns over long periods of time, especially by tuning out market multiples or macroeconomic news. Nick elaborates on why people should be investors, how a person's background influences their approach, and how luck play a larger role than many of us may be willing to admit. He also describes why "buying the dip" isn't as important as you think, how the "crossover point" could be helpful in your retirement, and how to think about investing in a crisis. Publicly-traded companies and cryptocurrencies mentioned in this interview include GameStop and Bitcoin. 7investing’s advisors and/or guests may have positions in the companies that are mentioned. Welcome to 7investing. We are here to empower you to invest in your future! We publish our 7 best ideas in the stock market to our subscribers for just $49 per month or $399 per year. Start your journey toward's financial independence: https://www.7investing.com/subscribe Stop by our website to level-up your investing education: https://www.7investing.com Join the 7investing Community Forum: https://discord.gg/6YvazDf9sw Follow us: ► https://www.facebook.com/7investing ► https://twitter.com/7investing ► https://instagram.com/7investing

Have you ever had a tough time explaining investing to friends and family members who are unfamiliar with the stock market and its inner workings? Or maybe you still don't understand many terms thrown around by talking heads on CNBC or even 7investing's member calls? If you answered yes to any of those questions, Brian Feroldi's new book, Why Does the Stock Market Go Up?, might be for you. In this episode, Feroldi sits down with 7investing Lead Advisor Matthew Cochrane to discuss the lessons Feroldi covers in his book. Feroldi says that he devoured every investment book he could his hands on when he began investing, but some basic questions, such as "Why does the stock market go up?" went unanswered. So he set out to write a book that contained all the answers to his questions over the years about investing, which he had to figure out for himself. Feroldi emphasizes that the stock market is vital to average Americans, not just investing geeks. More than 100 million Americans invest through pension plans, 401(K)s, and IRAs. He says: "The stock market is the greatest wealth creation machine of all time. Period. End of story. The stock market literally enables ordinary people, with ordinary incomes, in one generation to build extraordinary wealth for themselves." Feroldi and Cochrane also discuss how stock prices can mislead new investors, as they'll often consider stocks such as Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) expensive and penny stocks as cheap. Another thing Feroldi says that can trip up new investors is a misaligned time frame. Saying you're a long-term investor in bull markets is different from acting as a long-term investor during market crashes. Feroldi then explains why the market has always recovered from crashes and bear markets. Finally, Feroldi ends the discussion by talking about Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU), a new stock that he's interested in after its precipitous fall the past year. Welcome to 7investing. We are here to empower you to invest in your future! We publish our 7 best ideas in the stock market to our subscribers for just $49 per month or $399 per year. Start your journey toward's financial independence: https://www.7investing.com/subscribe Stop by our website to level-up your investing education: https://www.7investing.com Join the 7investing Community Forum: https://discord.gg/6YvazDf9sw Follow us: ► https://www.facebook.com/7investing ► https://twitter.com/7investing ► https://instagram.com/7investing

Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) shareholders are having a rough April. The stock has gone into a freefall and has now sold off more than 50% during the past month. The common consensus believes this is due to a drop in its paying subscriber count, as well as an admission that competition from Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN), and Disney(NYSE: DIS) is heating up. Netflix has been a one-trick pony thus far. Its revenue has been entirely tied to its global subscriber count, and also the regional pricing that it charges those subscribers. But things are getting more interesting now. Netflix is attempting to monetize its freeloaders, who are getting the service for free by using the login details of others. It's also considering a lower-priced, ad-supported tier for potential subscribers who don't want to pay their standard rates. The stock market is always forward-looking, and everything that has happened this past month is now in the rear-view mirror. Ultimately, investors must now answer the question of whether Netflix at an $85 billion market cap is a good opportunity going forward? To answer that question, 7investing lead advisors Anirban Mahanti and Simon Erickson teamed up with TheStreet's Managing Editor (and former 7investing advisor) Dan Kline in a special "Netflix's Past, Present, and Future" discussion. The three describe what it was that made Netflix so special, what present challenges it faces, and whether they believe it will ultimately solve its current issues in the future. Publicly-traded companies mentioned in this interview include Amazon, Disney, and Netflix. 7investing’s advisors and/or guests may have positions in the companies that are mentioned. This discussion was originally recorded on Twitter Spaces on April 20, 2022. Welcome to 7investing. We are here to empower you to invest in your future! We publish our 7 best ideas in the stock market to our subscribers for just $49 per month or $399 per year. Start your journey toward's financial independence: https://www.7investing.com/subscribe Stop by our website to level-up your investing education: https://www.7investing.com Join the 7investing Community Forum: https://discord.gg/6YvazDf9sw Follow us: ► https://www.facebook.com/7investing ► https://twitter.com/7investing ► https://instagram.com/7investing