More Articles | Free Reports | Premium Services We’re never short of opinions around here. That’s the way it should be. We’re a society… a group of independent-minded free thinkers. And we’re at our best when we talk. That’s why I want to know what’s on your mind. What opportunities do you see? What’s keeping you awake at night? Did you make money on one (or more) of my recommendations? That’s why I ask you regularly – and ask again now – to email me at feedback@thefreeportsociety.com. Then, from time to time, I’ll share our conversations so every member of The Freeport Society benefits. Today, let’s talk turkey. Over the last month, I’ve gotten some great questions across the spectrum. So we’re going to consider where we are on the quantum computing road… we’ll iron out some of the DeepSeek wrinkles… I’ll share details of my go-to investment research tools… and we’ll consider some investments that pay NOW. Are you ready? Let’s go! I’ll start with Adam Z, who fired the first shots with some solid questions on quantum computing (super-powerful computers that could solve complex problems exponentially faster than today’s computer, and so revolutionize everything, from security to medicine, AI, logistics, material science, medicine discovery, and physics). He writes: I first got involved with quantum computing when I found out about Jeff Bezos’ investment in D Wave, where it was explained that he is doing the same thing he did with AWS but for quantum computing. I read your opinion with great curiosity and my only question is: If quantum computing isn’t yet reliable, why would large institutions already be using the D Wave computers?” Excellent question, Adam. And thanks for kicking us off for our February Ask Me Anything edition. To start, I take note of anything Jeff Bezos does. If they were ever to build a “Mount Rushmore” of great American capitalists, Bezos would be in the running for one of the slots. Quantum computing is the future, and he knows it… like we know the sun will rise tomorrow. Traditional chip architecture is starting to bump against real limitations. Moore’s Law is starting to break down. Moore’s Law, named after Gordon Moore, the co-founder of Intel, observed that the number of transistors on a chip doubled every two years. In layman’s terms, think of it as computational power roughly doubling every two years. However, this doubling is slowing down. It’s only happening roughly every three years now. And as the transistors shrink and become denser, managing heat dissipation is becoming a real problem. We’ve more or less hit the end of the road on this technology. That’s why Bezos and everyone else is investing in quantum computing. It uses an entirely different architecture, getting past the limitations facing classic chips. But quantum computing can’t replace classical computing for most tasks today because of the errors caused by “quantum decoherence.” It’s essentially still in the proof of concept stage. In another few years, the engineers will work out the kinks. That’s why D Wave computers are increasingly in use. Next… | Recommended Link | | | | President Trump’s shocking promises for the stock market are just the beginning of this game-changing prediction. It involves the next leg of the AI boom… an ultra-rare pattern that’s only flashed twice before in 125 years… and a brand-new technological breakthrough that points to a massive generational wealth opportunity. Click here for details. |  | | Ironing Out the DeepSeek Wrinkles We got several questions about China’s DeepSeek, the upstart AI competitor to ChatGPT, xAI, and the rest. Tony G. wrote, My question is about the elephant in the room, China. Why would we believe anything they print or say? The cost to build? I haven’t heard anyone doing a deep dive into the company and seeing their financial records. How much electricity does it really consume? Has anyone personally looked at their consumption and measured the amount of electricity? Most importantly the information those companies across the globe will be feeding into this AI will be handed over to China. They will be giving to China free information about themselves and or the company they work for. I hope no intellectual secrets or threads that could harm those who use free stuff fall into the wrong hands. Remember, "Nothing is Free, There's Always a Cost Somewhere". All good points, Tony. We should view all news with a healthy degree of skepticism… and any news coming out of China with even more. There is a lot we don’t know about DeepSeek’s model and the precise hardware and amounts of electricity and computing power needed to train it. But there is one thing we do know. Its model is competitive with ChatGPT, Grok, and other American AI bots, particularly when it comes to data analysis and general number crunching. This means that America’s lead in the AI race is not as wide as we believed it to be. DeepSeek’s censorship and potential Chinese government propaganda are going to make it a tough sell in the West. But there’s going to be a lot less resistance in most emerging markets. That’s important to remember. As an aside, I live in Peru for about half the year. So I can tell you with absolutely no doubts that China is the dominant political and economic force here. They own this place and replaced the gringos a long time ago. It wouldn’t be controversial for a Chinese AI to be the dominant player here. There’s one more wrinkle… DeepSeek’s model is open source. You can host its model on your own in-house infrastructure. If you download and run DeepSeek locally or on your private cloud, the model operates entirely offline, meaning no data is sent back to DeepSeek, the Chinese government, or any third party. Since it is open-source, you (or security experts) can inspect the code to ensure there is no hidden tracking. Still, your points are valid, Tony. Another reader, Florence L., asked why DeepSeek was free. What would be the Chinese motive in giving it away? That’s another good question. Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta AI, Llama, has a similar model. It too is open source, meaning they give the code away to anyone that wants to tinker with it. But few companies have the expertise to self-host. So, DeepSeek and Meta make money by offering to host on their infrastructure and providing services and consulting. It’s essentially the same business model that Linux has run on for decades. Changing direction, Stanley P. had an investing question: Which financial website do you use for your own stock/options/bonds/ETF research? Do you have a certain preference for one over any other(s) and why? While S&P and Vanguard ETFs have the cheapest expense ratios in general, do you base your ETF recommendations mainly on the stock content (equal weighting or cap weighting) or do you also consider their expenses? This is a shameless plug (for which I receive no compensation), of course, but my single biggest go-to source for investment research is TradeSmith. I’ve been using their research tools for over 15 years… mostly for quantitative research on individual stocks. I’m not alone. More than 60,000 individuals use the company’s algorithms to track some $30 billion in assets. And TradeSmith is constantly developing new and more powerful algorithms. Just yesterday, they released their newest tool, which can identify if we’ll see a true market melt-up this year. In broad strokes, the algorithm does three things… -
Distinguishes a melt-up from a bull market – using advanced mathematics, not theory or opinion -
Helps determine if we’re in a melt-up now, in 2025 -
Gives us a sense for how much longer this melt-up might last It even performs the same analysis on individual stocks. TradeSmith CEO Keith Kaplan explained how this works and the top 10 stocks this algorithm has identified in a special broadcast. If you missed it, watch the replay here. When I’m researching growth and technology stocks, my Freeport Society cofounder Louis Navellier is a fantastic resource. His Stock Grader does a great job of identifying quality companies that are trending higher. I’ve used it to help me pick stock for Freeport Investor, and I expect I always will. We’ve already pocketed some gains on those picks. I’m also a big fan of GuruFocus for value stock and fundamental research, and I’ve used their services for about 15 years. For closed-end funds (CEFs), CEFConnect.com is an incredible resource. I use that site as an initial screener and then I see where the research takes me. (Remember, closed-end funds raise a fixed amount of money by selling shares and then trades on an exchange like a stock. Because no new money enters the fund once it’s launched, it can often offer higher dividends and typically trades at discounts to the net asset value.) For ETFs and mutual funds, Morningstar is always a decent starting point. Though frankly, good ETF screeners are a dime a dozen these days. Regarding fees… | Recommended Link | | | | While AI is all the rage… I believe a new, cutting-edge technology will steal the headlines in 2025. And if you’re in before the crowd, it could mean a big winner for you. I’ve found one stock I think will benefit the most. It could be the #1 Tech Stock of 2025. |  | | When to Pay Attention to Fees If an ETF or fund offers unique exposure that I can’t get elsewhere, then I don’t pay a lot of attention to the fees. Some strategies are hard or expensive to replicate, so paying a slightly higher fee on the ETF is reasonable. If I can find the same exposure for cheaper, I always take it. For example, I prefer the SPDR Gold MiniShares (GLDM) over the older and more established SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) because the fees are 0.1% per year vs 0.4% per year. That’s why we’ve held GLDM in our Freeport Investor model portfolio since we launched in December. Today, we’re showing open gains north of 40% on that position. If we’re talking about broad market exposure, like an S&P 500 index fund, there is no reason to pay a premium. Fees and expenses have fallen to virtually zero, which is exactly what they should be in an ultra competitive market. Thanks for asking, Stanley. Along the same lines, Christopher C. asks about something near and dear to me: Income. Mr. Sizemore, I'm older than you so I really don't think I'll be around in 5, 10, or 20 years to see your "growth" suggestions to melt-up. I want investments that pay me now. Could you focus on a few dividend paying investments that can be added to your portfolios? Yields of 6% and higher would be appreciated. You’re speaking my heart language, Christopher. I’ve been a fan of income investing for the entirety of my career becauseI started investing when the 1990s bubble was starting to fall apart in 2000. Growth stocks were out of favor for about a decade, but income investments performed really well. Could we be looking at a similar situation today? Maybe. It’s too early to say just yet. But I can tell you that I’m starting to give income investing a lot more consideration these days. I plan to make that more of a focus in Freeport Investor this year. So stick around. I shall deliver. Before we wrap up for today, I have one last topic to address… Wirtz writes: I get very annoyed with all the promotion emails I get from the Freeport team. You let so many people use Freeport to promote their letters. What a waste of time. You should attach a warning saying this letter contains nothing of value. Thanks for letting me vent. I hear ya, Wirtz. But remember, we’re not beholden to corporate advertisers like the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, or the rest of the mainstream financial media. We’re not a charity organization either. We make money by producing content that people are happy to pay to read. Content that we hope will improve your financial well being and investment success. To allow us to do this, we need income. Besides, we don’t share details and opportunities from other services that we don’t believe will be of value to someone, if not you. So, if I may be so bold… I recommend you give them a chance. Almost always, the promotional material contains valuable takeaways… often stocks to consider investing in or avoiding. Just yesterday, for example, Keith Kaplan shared 10 stocks the newest TradeSmith algorithm has identified as being in potential melt-up mode. Maybe you’re not interested in signing up for another service. But you may learn new and often valuable information. If you didn’t yesterday, watch the replay of Keith’s broadcast here. You might be pleasantly surprised. That’s going to wrap it up for today. Please, keep the questions coming. Talking turkey with you brings me great joy. Email us at feedback@thefreeportsociety.com whenever you have a question, a comment, or an insight. We want to hear it all. That’s how Freeport Society stays great. To life, liberty and the pursuit of wealth, | 
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