Hands-on experience wanted... Building the physical infrastructure of the future... The AI 'picks and shovels' stock to buy... Whitney's new 'Stinky Six' stock... Last-minute gifts... Mailbag: Biblical advice on diversification...
 It's time to spread some cheer...
We've spent plenty of time writing about the gradually weakening jobs market of 2025... We've noted a growing number of layoff announcements from U.S. companies... And we've discussed how the adoption of AI tools has made it more difficult for recent college grads to find entry-level work. Plus, with higher prices for what feels like just about everything, folks have pulled back on spending this holiday season. Put it all together, and it's not a picture of a flourishing economy... But it is the holiday season. So I (Corey McLaughlin) also want to share good news. Today, I want to talk about one place where jobs are available these days and where they likely will be in the years ahead. We found the answer in Dr. David "Doc" Eifrig's newest issue of Retirement Millionaire, published last week. Wanted: Skilled labor... You see, for the past couple decades, a lot of American kids have been encouraged to go to college to land a job in an increasingly digital world. For example, as Doc explained, parents have for years been telling their kids to "learn code" – meaning the programming languages that underlie the software and apps that we use today. Sure enough, enrollment in college data-analytics and data-science programs grew, including by roughly 180% annually from 2020 to 2024. Coding indeed has been a valuable skill. Digital engineers have built platforms like Google's search engine, the social media platforms Facebook and Instagram, and the Apple operating system. Now, though, AI tools take care of a lot of coding on their own. It is easier and cheaper than ever to create an app from scratch. Coders were some of the first to lose jobs thanks to emerging AI technology. Plus, as Doc explained... Too many young people are now competing for the same jobs. Only the lucky ones will find work in their field. Meanwhile, nobody is left for another set of jobs... one that America desperately needs filled. We need people who work with their hands. We're talking about electricians, pipe fitters, welders, mechanical specialists, and heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning ("HVAC") technicians. Knowing programming languages like Python and SQL is all well and good. But factories are building things... Data centers are running hot... Hospitals need to stay online. And America is running out of people who know how to wire a power system... braze a pipe... or troubleshoot a chiller that's throwing off alarms at 3 a.m. This isn't a small problem, Doc said – it's a full-blown crisis... The U.S. has many high-profile manufacturing projects in the works with substantial government backing. These include semiconductor fabs, AI-driven data centers, biomanufacturing plants, and energy facilities. And they need skilled labor. For example, you need electricians to wire these places and "build the physical architecture of the future." But contractors can't find enough people trained up to do it. Doc wrote... Walk onto any job site today and you'll hear the same thing... We don't have the people. Retirements are accelerating, while trade-school enrollment hasn't kept up. As an example, nearly 10,000 electricians either retire or change careers each year. Yet only 7,000 new electricians enter the workforce annually. According to an estimate by the Center for Strategic and International Studies ("CSIS"), the unprecedented demand for new factories will require up to 140,000 more skilled tradespeople by 2030. 
We've built a digital nation on top of physical infrastructure that fewer and fewer people know how to maintain. You see, the most profound bottleneck of the entire American industrial renaissance is the shortage of skilled human capital. We can have the most advanced AI in the world. But without the physical infrastructure – the mission-critical systems hidden behind the walls – the entire digital economy ceases to exist. This dynamic in the American labor market is critical to understand... as a practical matter for anyone who may be trying to size up where to find a job in the years ahead. Jobs are available, if you know where to look and are willing to do physical labor. We've talked before about how AI will likely continue to eliminate some jobs while creating new ones. This is one way that trend plays out. And, as Doc explained, the demand for these hands-on jobs is also an investment opportunity... A 'picks and shovels' play for the future... In the full issue, Doc recommended buying shares of a company that controls one of the nation's largest, most experienced mechanical and electrical workforces. While demand for AI infrastructure just keeps growing, Doc says this company "employs thousands of the very specialists everyone else is desperate to hire"... Even better, by their very nature, these jobs cannot be displaced by AI. The business Doc analyzed has a massive backlog of orders thanks to rising demand for its expertise. It's one of the best "picks and shovels" plays for the "biggest themes in the economy," Doc wrote, and it supplies the high-tech facilities used by a variety of AI players. This company's revenues have been consistently growing by double digits annually, yet the stock is down about 20% from its all-time high. Doc says this presents a great buying opportunity, as the business is trading for a cheaper earnings multiple than the S&P 500 Index. Existing Retirement Millionaire subscribers and Stansberry Alliance members can read Doc's full analysis of the business and recommendation here. And if you don't have access to Retirement Millionaire already, click here to get started today. A new addition to Whitney Tilson's 'Stinky Six'... On the other hand, one of the more important aspects of investing is also knowing which businesses to avoid so you don't lose money. To this point, on Friday, Stansberry's Investment Advisory lead editor Whitney Tilson added a new member to his "Stinky Six" stocks. I was sitting with Whitney at lunch at our annual Stansberry Research conference in Las Vegas in October and couldn't help but chuckle when I heard him say the phrase "Stinky Six" aloud, referring to a group of stocks he suggests people avoid at all costs. He's added online used-car retailer Carvana (CVNA) to his list, replacing the Chinese stock QMMM (QMMM). It's not that he likes QMMM, but he doesn't have to warn about it anymore now that trading has been suspended. Whitney shared all the reasons to avoid Carvana here. The stock has surged lately, as it's set to be added to the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 Index on December 22. But Whitney and analysts he trusts have a variety of concerns about the business. As Whitney puts it, Carvana has "plenty of problems simmering." What to watch this week... Tomorrow brings a new jobs report from Uncle Sam. A few days later, the market will digest a fresh government inflation report when November's consumer price index ("CPI") is published on Thursday. President Donald Trump said over the weekend that inflation has been "totally neutralized." We'll see what these numbers say. We know other indicators are less rosy than the president's statement. Inflation expectations appear to be on bond traders' minds as 2025 winds down. Longer-term Treasury yields have moved up over the past few weeks and months. The 10-year Treasury yield is around 4.19% today, and the 30-year yield is around 4.85%. That's up from closer to 4.5% in October. (Remember, higher Treasury yields mean falling bond prices.) As our Ten Stock Trader editor Greg Diamond wrote on Friday, following the latest rate-cut and liquidity-boosting plans the Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday... The Federal Reserve just cut interest rates AND said it will start buying short-term Treasurys to the tune of $40 billion per month starting today. And yet interest rates aren't falling... They're rising. Greg reminded his subscribers that some of his research suggests 2026 is going to be a volatile year. While he's not sure if interest rates will be the catalyst, he wrote that "what I'm seeing in interest rates needs to be addressed." As Greg explains... The bond market isn't convinced the Fed is doing the right thing. Spending from the federal government hasn't slowed at all despite all the fraud that has been uncovered. Different faces, same unsustainable spending. The bond market is sniffing out these facts, which may contribute to the volatility I'm expecting in 2026. Another factor is the conversation around who the next Fed chair. A choice is expected to be announced early next year. Trump was thought to have already picked White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett to replace Fed Chair Jerome Powell when his term is up in May. But concerns about Hassett's "independence" have emerged in the market and reportedly in the White House. As CNBC reported today, citing anonymous sources... As December wore on, according to several sources, Hassett's candidacy received some resistance, with worries growing that the bond market could revolt over time if it sees him as too much in the pocket of Trump. That view could end up having the opposite effect Trump wants, with long-term yields eventually rising on concern Hassett wouldn't do enough to contain inflation should it ever rebound down the road. Trump told the Wall Street Journal on Friday that former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh is also at the top of his list. Warsh was an early favorite for the job who previously talked about making major changes at the central bank. A lot can happen in six months... but for now, Warsh is back in the running. Doc and friends' favorite things of 2025... At this time of year, I'm still looking for some last-minute holiday gift ideas... And I doubt I'm alone on that. That's why I appreciate Doc and his team's annual list of recommendations – their "favorite things of 2025." This year, Doc himself shares the name of his favorite pair of noise-canceling headphones, and our company's Director of Research Matt Weinschenk shares four books he read this year. The report also has more recommendations from folks who work with Doc on his various publications... including a portable air compressor, an airplane-friendly backpack, a place to buy "big and tall" clothes, a useful 3-in-1 cleaning tool, and a party-friendly card game. Click here for all the details. And note, as Doc and his team do, that we don't receive a commission for any of the links or items mentioned. This list is our team's recommendations of things they've enjoyed themselves. See if any of their "favorite things" are the right fit for your loved ones, too.
| Recommended Links: | |  Tomorrow: 'I'm Issuing My First Bear Market Warning Since 2022' He accurately predicted the 2020 COVID-19 crash and the brutal 2022 bear market weeks before they struck. Today, legendary analyst Marc Chaikin is raising the red flag again, saying there is a 65% chance that 2026 will usher in the next great bear market... with an average market drop of 20%. He will show you ALL the historical evidence, along with how to pinpoint the date to GET OUT of the markets before the worst days arrive. Before tomorrow, get the full details here. | |
 The $20 Move Giving You Exposure to 2 Ounces of Pure Gold (Worth About $8,000 Today) An ex-Goldman Sachs vice president reveals a secret of the rich and connected that lets you tap into the upside of a huge amount of real, physical gold for just about $20 at a time. He says the future upside could be 1,000%. Even a relatively small amount of money could go a long way when every $20 or so leverages the upside in 2 ounces of pure gold, as he'll explain. See this $20 "gold hack" right here. | | |
New 52-week highs (as of 12/12/25): Alpha Architect 1-3 Month Box Fund (BOXX), Equinox Gold (EQX), Fanuc (FANUY), FirstCash (FCFS), Freehold Royalties (FRHLF), Markel (MKL), Royal Gold (RGLD), RenaissanceRe (RNR), Roivant Sciences (ROIV), TKO Group (TKO), and Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM). In today's mailbag, feedback on Dan's Friday essay about using history to navigate today's investing climate... Do you have a comment or question? As always, e-mail us at feedback@stansberryresearch.com. "Solomon was also an astute investor. In Ecclesiastes 11:2, he recommended, 'Divide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what misfortune may occur on the earth.'" – Subscriber Dana M. "Re: Stansberry Digest article on learning history, [here is] another bit of history: 'What this country needs is a short, victorious war to stem the tide of revolution,' said Vyacheslav von Plehve, Russian Minister of the Interior, 1903, speaking on the eve of the Russo-Japanese War. In 1904, Japan was winning the war decisively both on land and at sea. Russia was forced to pursue a peace agreement. The war ended in September 1905 with the Treaty of Portsmouth (New Hampshire). In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for mediating the end of the war. The first American to win a Nobel Prize." – Subscriber Roger M. "Great article on what's to come!" – Subscriber Robert R. All the best, Corey McLaughlin with Nick Koziol
Baltimore, Maryland
December 15, 2025
Stansberry Research Top 10 Open Recommendations Top 10 highest-returning open stock positions across all Stansberry Research portfolios. Returns represent the total return from the initial recommendation. | Investment | Buy Date | Return | Publication | Analyst | MSFT
Microsoft | 02/10/12 | 1,543.3% | Stansberry's Investment Advisory | Porter | MSFT
Microsoft | 11/11/10 | 1,491.9% | Retirement Millionaire | Doc | ADP
Automatic Data Processing | 10/09/08 | 990.9% | Extreme Value | Ferris | BRK.B
Berkshire Hathaway | 04/01/09 | 789.4% | Retirement Millionaire | Doc | GOOGL
Alphabet | 12/15/16 | 662.1% | Retirement Millionaire | Doc | WRB
W.R. Berkley | 03/15/12 | 632.6% | Stansberry's Investment Advisory | Porter | AXP
American Express | 08/04/16 | 526.9% | Stansberry's Investment Advisory | Porter | AFG
American Financial | 10/11/12 | 505.1% | Stansberry's Investment Advisory | Porter | ALS-T
Altius Minerals | 03/26/09 | 504.2% | Extreme Value | Ferris | HSY
Hershey | 12/07/07 | 469.8% | Stansberry's Investment Advisory | Porter | Please note: Securities appearing in the Top 10 are not necessarily recommended buys at current prices. The list reflects the best-performing positions currently in the model portfolio of any Stansberry Research publication. The buy date reflects when the editor recommended the investment in the listed publication, and the return shows its performance since that date. To learn if a security is still a recommended buy today, you must be a subscriber to that publication and refer to the most recent portfolio.
| Top 10 Totals | | 5 | Stansberry's Investment Advisory | Porter | | 3 | Retirement Millionaire | Doc | | 2 | Extreme Value | Ferris |
Top 5 Crypto Capital Open Recommendations Top 5 highest-returning open positions in the Crypto Capital model portfolio | Investment | Buy Date | Return | Publication | Analyst | WSTETH/USD
Wrapped Staked Ethereum | 12/07/18 | 2,343.6% | Crypto Capital | Wade | BTC/USD
Bitcoin | 11/27/18 | 2,247.6% | Crypto Capital | Wade | ONE/USD
Harmony | 12/16/19 | 1,026.6% | Crypto Capital | Wade | QRL/USD
Quantum Resistant Ledger | 01/19/21 | 712.7% | Crypto Capital | Wade | POL/USD
Polygon | 02/26/21 | 648.1% | Crypto Capital | Wade | Please note: Securities appearing in the Top 5 are not necessarily recommended buys at current prices. The list reflects the best-performing positions currently in the Crypto Capital model portfolio. The buy date reflects when the recommendation was made, and the return shows its performance since that date. To learn if it's still a recommended buy today, you must be a subscriber and refer to the most recent portfolio.
Stansberry Research Hall of Fame Top 10 all-time, highest-returning closed positions across all Stansberry portfolios | Investment | Duration | Gain | Publication | Analyst | | Nvidia (NVDA)^* | 5.96 years | 1,466% | Venture Tech. | Lashmet | | Microsoft (MSFT)^ | 12.74 years | 1,185% | Retirement Millionaire | Doc | | Inovio Pharma. (INO)^ | 1.01 years | 1,139% | Venture Tech. | Lashmet | | Rocket Lab (RKLB)^ | 2.35 years | 1,034% | Venture Tech. | Lashmet | | Seabridge Gold (SA)^ | 4.20 years | 995% | Sjug Conf. | Sjuggerud | | Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B)^ | 16.13 years | 800% | Retirement Millionaire | Doc | | Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA) | 1.95 years | 775% | Amer. Moonshots | Root | | Rite Aid 8.5% bond | 4.97 years | 773% | True Income | Williams | | PNC Warrants (PNC-WS) | 6.16 years | 706% | True Wealth Systems | Sjuggerud | | Maxar Technologies (MAXR)^ | 1.90 years | 691% | Venture Tech. | Lashmet | ^ These gains occurred with a partial position in the respective stocks.
* Editor Dave Lashmet closed the first leg of this Nvidia position in November 2016 for a gain of about 108%. Then, he closed the second leg in July 2020 for a 777% return. And finally, in May 2022, he booked a 1,466% return on the final leg. Subscribers who followed his advice on Nvidia could've recorded a total weighted average gain of more than 600%.
Stansberry Research Crypto Hall of Fame Top 5 highest-returning closed positions in the Crypto Capital model portfolio | Investment | Duration | Gain | Publication | Analyst | | Band Protocol (BAND) | 0.31 years | 1,169% | Crypto Capital | Wade | | Terra (LUNA) | 0.41 years | 1,166% | Crypto Capital | Wade | | Polymesh (POLYX) | 3.84 years | 1,157% | Crypto Capital | Wade | | Frontier (FRONT) | 0.09 years | 979% | Crypto Capital | Wade | | Binance Coin (BNB) | 1.78 years | 963% | Crypto Capital | Wade | | 
