In this conversation, 7investing Lead Advisor Matthew Cochrane once again sits down with Ryan Krueger, the co-founder and CEO of Freedom Day Solutions, a family-owned and operated financial advisory firm located in Houston. Krueger is also the founder of the Freedom Day Dividend ETF (NYSE:MBOX).  The Freedom Day ETF is designed, as Krueger explains, to give investors growth of income, not growth or income. Krueger believes the ETF can accumulate a stable of quality companies that pay a rising dividend while avoiding many of the common pitfalls often associated with income investing, namely:  Not investing in companies with the highest yields; Avoiding companies that nominally raise their dividends every year to please income investors; Not investing in companies with unsustainable payout ratios. Cochrane listens to Krueger as he explains why he believes there's a problem with the 4% rule, which suggests retirees can safely withdraw 4% of their retirement savings balance every year. Krueger believes a much safer bet is holding a portfolio of financial instruments that pay dividends in excess of one's expenses.  Along the way, Cochrane and Krueger discuss several of MBOX's holdings. Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) and Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) are two pipeline operators that transport and store natural gas. If global conditions don't change, the two operate profitable companies that pay a nice dividend to shareholders. However, natural gas provides much cleaner energy than coal, and Krueger believes there is a real chance both can experience significant growth as the rest of the globe transitions from coal in the coming years.  Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) is the largest domestic television station owner and operator with almost 200 stations. Even as the world consumes more media via streaming apps, live sports and news still command more viewers than any other type of content. At just 12 times next year's earnings and sporting a 3% dividend yield, Krueger believes Nexstar is undervalued as an operator of attractive and profitable assets.  As a father of five kids involved in youth sports, Krueger is well aware of the allure of Dick's Sporting Goods (NYSE:DKS), a retailer that sells atheletic apparel and equipment. But Dick's also owns the GameChanger app that allows little league games to be watched online, giving the big box store a digital growth channel.  To see all of Matt Cochrane's top dividend stocks, subscribe to 7investing Premium. Krueger can be found on Twitter @RyanKruegerROI and you can find more information on his advisory firm (and excellent blog) at freedomdaysolutions.com. For more information on the Freedom Day Dividend ETF, you can visit freedomdaydividend.com. 

How do the supercharging powers of artificial intelligence change someone's ability to spy on your whereabouts? Learn your history? Pretend to be you? How do we as consumers and investors safeguard against these emerging threats? Krzysztof and Luke journey into the realm of cybersecurity, blockchain, and AI-assisted private investigators in this week's episode of "No Limit with Krzysztof and Luke." Along the way, their autonomous vehicle takes a few detours, leading to discussions about battery technology, Meta, Tesla, wanting to work at McDonald's as a kid, vegan cheeseburgers, and "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent." To get more of Krzysztof and Luke's in-depth research on a variety of publicly-traded stock market investing opportunities, subscribe to 7investing: https://7investing.com/subscribe/

The tech world moves fast, and no one wants to get left behind. Emerging technologies like generative AI, large language models, and open-source platforms have the potential to completely transform individual businesses or even entire industries. Those who embrace them will profit, while those who don't will become irrelevant. Yet a "Hype Cycle" also tends to accommodate new technologies. Several new movements in the tech world that were believed to be the Next Big Thing turned out not to be. 3D printing and NFTs are recent examples. How should forward-thinking and growth-minded investors separate out the game-changers from the flashes-in-the-pan? What new technologies are actually gaining momentum, and which will never live up to their expectations? To answer those questions, we've brought in an expert. 7investing CEO Simon Erickson recently spoke with Howard Holton, the Chief Technology Officer of GigaOm. GigaOm brings the decision-making executives of progressive companies up-to-speed about emerging technologies and then helping to implement them across their organizations. In Part 2, Simon and Howard discuss how the cloud's Infrastructure-as-a-Service providers like Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure are finding that cloud computing is becoming more commoditized. Each of the Cloud Titans is looking to create a platform for developers, who are comfortable with their capabilities and eager to deploy what they're already familiar with at their organizations. Howard then also spoke in detail about the Metaverse. While intriguing in theory, he also believes it will be very difficult to moderate or to control offensive content, and that monetizing the Metaverse for any corporations' profit interests could be counter-productive to furthering the interests of its users. He and Simon do agree that digital advertising is a likely income stream that will result from the Metaverse; a next-evolution of the personalized advertising we've gotten used to in display ads on websites or video platforms. In the final segment, Howard discusses the importance of trust in the future of AI. While he believes several AI projects are likely overhyped and will eventually go bust, some that are well-designed and execute well could be incredibly valuable and profitable. Companies should hire a "Chief Trust Officer" who can verify the biases purposely imposed on AI models.

The tech world moves fast, and no one wants to get left behind. Emerging technologies like generative AI, large language models, and open-source platforms have the potential to completely transform individual businesses or even entire industries. Those who embrace them will profit, while those who don't will become irrelevant. Yet a "Hype Cycle" also tends to accommodate new technologies. Several new movements in the tech world that were believed to be the Next Big Thing turned out not to be. 3D printing and NFTs are recent examples. How should forward-thinking and growth-minded investors separate out the game-changers from the flashes-in-the-pan? What new technologies are actually gaining momentum, and which will never live up to their expectations? To answer those questions, we've brought in an expert. 7investing CEO Simon Erickson recently spoke with Howard Holton, the Chief Technology Officer of GigaOm. GigaOm brings the decision-making executives of progressive companies up-to-speed about emerging technologies and then helping to implement them across their organizations. (You can also  see last year's conversation with GigaOm CEO Ben Book here.) In Part 1 of their conversation, Simon and Howard first addressed the status quo of generative AI. AI is being used for 'fun' things today -- like creating lifelike images through MidJourney -- but even this requires significant computing power. Howard explains that innovative companies are already deploying AI at scale, but that they need appropriate data strategies and governance policies in order to maximize their success rate. This is similarly true for the flood of recent large language models; those that endure will require filters to curate the noisy flood of data from all across the internet is a way that is actually usable and trustable for businesses. One key advantage of AI over human beings is that it does not have the same biases as humans. The two then turned their sights on hardware, specifically the custom silicon being designed by hyperscalers like Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft. Chipmakers like AMD and NVIDIA will still have an endless runway of future demand, though niche applications will also continue to be served by customizable chips like FPGAs. In Part 2 (which we will publish on Thursday, April 27th), the cloud's Infrastructure-as-a-Service providers like Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure are finding that cloud computing is becoming more commoditized. Each of the Cloud Titans is looking to create a platform for developers, who are comfortable with their capabilities and eager to deploy what they're already familiar with at their organizations. Howard then also spoke in detail about the Metaverse. While intriguing in theory, he also believes it will be very difficult to moderate or to control offensive content, and that monetizing the Metaverse for any corporations' profit interests could be counter-productive to furthering the interests of its users. He and Simon do agree that digital advertising is a likely income stream that will result from the Metaverse; a next-evolution of the personalized advertising we've gotten used to in display ads on websites or video platforms. In the final segment, Howard discusses the importance of trust in the future of AI. While he believes several AI projects are likely overhyped and will eventually go bust, some that are well-designed and execute well could be incredibly valuable and profitable. Companies should hire a "Chief Trust Officer" who can verify the biases purposely imposed on AI models.

AI is disrupting everything around us, right? Not so fast, say Krzysztof and Luke. Our 7investing lead advisors go through four major areas of society where they feel AI will be least likely to completely render obsolete or eliminate human involvement: the "Four 'C's of AI-Resilient Stock Market Investing."    Along the way, the pair also discuss Krzysztof's latest book recommendation, how Luke's mom is Krzysztof's biggest fan, and how to get banned from playing poker in an entire country.    To join Krzysztof, Luke, and thousands of other investors in the 7investing Premium community, go to https://7investing.com/subscribe/

All eyes are on the Fed these days. And for good reason, too. There's a high degree of correlation between the stock market and the American macroeconomy. Many investors are impatiently watching Jay Powell's every move and are obsessively analyzing every word he says. Yet the Fed's actions are actually just one piece of a much larger puzzle. Equities as a whole tend to follow a broader business cycle, which includes periods of growth, inflation, and policy that spans for several years and even decades. Each phase within the business cycle has implications for companies and also their equity shareholders. What exactly does that mean? And what exactly are those implications for us, as investors? To answer those questions, 7investing CEO Simon Erickson recently spoke with Mike Singleton, who's the founder and senior analyst of Invictus Research. Invictus' business cycle analysis helps retail and institutional investors make more-informed financial decisions. Simon and Mike began the conversation by discussing the business cycle -- including what it is and how to measure it. They discussed why several leading indicators such as industrial manufacturing, CPI inflation, and the housing sector are worth monitoring to predict upcoming investing cycles. Specifically, layoffs within the manufacturing sector could indicate a shift in the business cycle -- especially is service-heavy economies like the United States. In the second half of the conversation, Simon asks Mike if he believes the Fed will ultimately reach its stated goal of 2% inflation and what a period of lower inflation would mean. Mike believes American will, in fact, see disinflation through the second half of the year. He also predicts an uptick in unemployment rates and a high likelihood of a recession. For investors, now could be a good time to consider defensive sectors such as consumer staples and health care. No individual publicly-traded companies were mentioned in this interview. Cryptocurrencies mentioned include Bitcoin. 7investing or its guests may have positions in the stocks or cryptocurrencies mentioned. This episode of our 7investing podcast has been sponsored by Stockscurrent. As a listener of our 7investing podcasts, you'll get an exclusive offer a 10% off as an executive membership by visiting stockscurrent.com/signup/podcast10. Their membership comes with a 30 day 100% money back guarantee no questions asked. 

Follow the 7investing Podcast here: https://open.spotify.com/show/7wBWhst8U3CqSeQ8fRGCLO?si=72004a7e131947d6 Subscribe to 7investing's Premium service here: https://7investing.com/subscribe Without living in a cave, it is nearly impossible to avoid today's negative headlines. Inflation persists and the Fed continues to raise interest rates. Russia is still at war with Ukraine and has openly talked about deploying tactical nuclear weapons. Many believe a recession is imminent. These negative events have taken their collective toll on the stock market as the S&P 500 is still off 15% from its all-time highs. Tobias Carlisle joined 7investing Lead Advisor Matthew Cochrane this week to help us walk through these challenging questions. Carlisle, the founder and managing director of Acquirers Funds, believes that while the indices are still not "cheap", valuations are down overall and there are plenty of opportunities within the stock market for investors willing to dig. Carlisle said while he is fascinated by macroeconomics, he does not let it affect his investment process. Cochrane asks Carlisle about the high number of basic materials and energy companies currently inside the The Acquirers ETF (NYSE:ZIG). Carlisle notes this is not due to any love for these particular sectors, but that even after recovering from the absolute lows these industries feature some companies that are still trading at multiples of just 2-3 times earnings. Even after accounting for their inherent cyclicality and political headwinds, he believes their valuations provide enough of a margin of safety for investors to find decent bargains. Carlisle used Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) as an example of one company in his portfolio. Even as it reported bad earnings, the stock rallied because its low valuation had baked in very low expectations. Carlisle calls this the counterintuitive nature of deep value investing. Cochrane contrasts this with stocks that reported great numbers throughout 2022, yet continued to be punished by the market, mostly because their lofty valuations had baked in such fantastic expectations it was almost impossible for real life results to measure up. Carlisle and Cochrane then dive deep into Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) and Domino's Pizza (NYSE:DPZ), two stocks in which they currently both hold long positions.

Our "No limit" podcast features 7investing advisors Luke Hallard and Krzysztof Piekarski breaking down investing-related topics.Episode 14 of No Limit has Luke saying goodbye to the alpine slopes while praising Krzysztof for his wholesome view on paying for Twitter’s blue verification check. Meanwhile, AI is starting to really scare people, including people who know what they’re talking about and who wrote an open letter about slowing down and not advancing much further until we establish proper frameworks. Luke wonders if organizations and companies involved are ethically minded enough or just going full blast at humanity’s expense and doom. But, the tools we have now are truly staggering and Luke dives into some of his most recent use cases. Krzysztof’s book of the week is The Grid which made his April recommendation for 7investing a seeming no-brainer: our electrical grid needs lots of help and companies are positioning themselves to make lots of money by fixing the oldest machine without which our society would fall apart -- so lots of talk about batteries and electricity. We end the conversation with some fascinating stats about home-schooling in the age of ChatGPT and the rise of the Indian economy which Luke suggests may deliver some great investments in the coming years. Krzysztof wisely asks Luke to tell him which ones, but that’s for episode 15!

Banking is just a sleepy, boring industry, right? Ha! Not if you've read the headlines lately. The failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank (the third-largest bank failure in U.S. history) turned the financial world upside down almost overnight. Is the entire financial industry about to collapse?   Veteran banking analyst and writer John Maxfield doesn't think so. Maxfield is the executive director of the Wilmers Integrity Prize, named after Robert Wilmers, the longtime CEO of MMT Bank. He was formerly the editor-in-chief of Bank Director magazine.  For the second time in a year, Maxfield joined 7investing lead advisor Matthew Cochrane to walk listeners through what happened at the above banks that led to their insolvency and subsequent takeover by the FDIC. Maxfield explains that the ground for the error was laid in early 2020, when Silicon Valley Bank was overtaken by a deluge of deposits flooding in from the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic. The bank's deposits more than tripled over the next two years, climbing to $189 billion by the end of 2022.  Silicon Valley Bank treated this windfall as regular deposits and invested the money into long-duration assets, simultaneously betting that the deposits would be sticky and that interest rates would remain low for years. Neither would prove true. As interest rates rose, these assets declined in value precipitously. As it became apparent that SVB's paper losses were enough to make the bank insolvent, venture capitalists advised the startups in their portfolios to withdraw their money, leading to a bank run and a lightning-quick collapse.  Maxfield advises when the banking equilibrium becomes unstable, it implodes exponentially, not linearly. Meaning banking panics can get magnified as more banks fall and panic spreads. This helps explain why First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC), a "good" bank by all accounts, got caught up in the carnage, as it too had a large percentage of uninsured deposits that account holders rushed to withdraw as soon as the bank experienced a loss of confidence.  As the panic spread, even foreign banks, such as Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS), experienced a loss of confidence and were rushed into a forced merger with UBS Group (NYSE:UBS).  Maxfield talks through the rapid fall of these institutions, peppering the conversation with a plethora of historical examples, using his rich knowledge of the banking industry. Along the way, Maxfield and Cochrane discuss 1) FDIC insurance and whether it should be expanded to include all deposits; 2) Why regional banks are necessary; and 3) whether banking regulation should be more robust. At the end of the conversation, Maxfield explains why fast growth at financial institutions can be a red flag and gives examples of banks that he believes are well run and worthy of a long look from investors, such as Hingham Institution for Savings (NASDAQ:HIFS) and M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB).

Welcome to our 7investing Market Madness competition! Throughout this campaign, we’re matching popular stocks up against one another to determine which will be the best investment over the next three years. And then, by voting in the poll at the bottom of the article, you can help us determine which stock will go on to the next round! Our rankings are determined by the total return of the stock during calendar 2022. The highest-ranked stock had the best overall return of those in our tournament, and our lowest-ranked stock had the lowest overall return. In this final first-round matchup, we have a battle of the semiconductor chipmakers: with Intel up against AMD! The two were very similar performers in 2022, with Intel’s stock falling (48%) and AMD falling (52%). But past performance is not predictive of future returns. Which of these stocks do you believe will provide investors with the best forward three-year return? Read our investing thesis and cast your vote in the poll below! To follow along with our entire Market Madness tournament: 7investing.com/marketmadness Our Market Madness tournament is in support of our new 7investing Starter membership, which we are giving away free during the entire month of March. To get started with Starter — and to see how we’re already outperforming the S&P 500 by a convincing margin — click here to automatically apply your “madness” promo code.