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Beneath the Surface

Nvidia Goosed 401(k) Millionaires – Beware

Loading ...Addison Wiggin

May 24, 2024 • 3 minute, 57 second read


Nvidia Goosed 401(k) Millionaires – Beware

“History shows us, over and over, that bull markets can go well beyond rational valuation levels as long as the outlook for future earnings is positive.”

–  Peter Bernstein


[Special Reminder: In case you missed our recent announcement, The Essential Investor has merged with legacy contributors to Agora Financial. The new, larger, more inclusive project is called The Grey Swan Investment Fraternity. If you’re interested in the scope and benefits of our new endeavor, please see what prompted us to merge here. If you’ve been a member of The Essential Investor, please keep an eye out for your new benefits.]

May 24, 2024 – This interesting stat shows the extent of the market’s current rally. It’s the total number of individuals with at least $1 million socked away in their 401(k):

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New 401(k) millionaires can thank Nvidia, in part, for their own investing genius.

This single company alone – which has more than doubled since the start of 2024 – accounts for 5.8% of the S&P 500 by weight.

The $2 trillion dollar AI chip maker is also one of the greatest threats to the stock market and individual investor wealth we’ve seen since funds were overweight mortgage-backed securities in 2007 — 08.

We’re doing a deep dive into the meaning of AI for the June Grey Swan Bulletin we send to paid readers.

In it, we’ll introduce new Grey Swan contributor Zoltan Istvar, who, if anybody does, has the perfect name to match his status as a world-renowned futurist.

Further introductions are on the way…

Also, one company we’re looking into is a small cap producing energy for server farms dedicated to AI computing.

With a gain of 412% over the past 12 months, the company’s share growth has outpaced Nvidia. We haven’t decided whether to pull the trigger yet, but the energy sector for AI is intriguing, to say the least.

The case for waiting to buy in, at this point, is largely made by the Global Markets Investor substack post we’ve republished below.

Hint: The company’s market cap is now larger than the stock market in Germany, South Korea and Australia… enjoy! ~~ Addison

NVIDIA is One of the Largest Threats
to the U.S. Stock Market

Global Markets Investor

On Wednesday, after the market closed, Nvidia released its financial report for the fiscal first quarter 2025. The company’s earnings per share came at $5.98, above Wall Street estimates of $5.57. Revenues in first quarter were $26.04 billion, beating average forecasts of $24.55 billion. Adjusted gross margin came at 78.9%, above the analysts projected 77%. As you can see, these are really great results and substantially exceeded expectations.

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Moreover, in the last four quarters, Nvidia’s revenue has tripled year-over-year and reached $79.77 billion.

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What caused the stock to move higher, however, was the 2Q 2025 sales outlook of $28.0 billion (plus, minus 2%) which came significantly above Wall Street estimates of $26.8 billion. The chip-maker also announced a 10-for-1 stock split and raised its quarterly dividend by 150% to 10 cents a share.

As a result, Nvidia rallied by 9.3% on Thursday and closed above the $1,000 per share mark for the first time ever. The company added $217.7 billion to its market value in just one day, more than the combined market cap of McDonald’s and Ford and almost $80 billion more than the value of Intel.

The below meme perfectly shows Thursday’s and the last few quarters of U.S. stock market developments.

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On Thursday, the S&P 500 closed down by 0.7% and the Nasdaq by 0.4% as recent economic data showed that inflation has not been easing. However, if not for Nvidia’s 9% gain, the stock market would have easily dropped by more than 2%.

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Nvidia’s performance indeed looks great, and the company has been materially exceeding market expectations for the last two years. However, have the things not moved too far and too quickly?

The company has become so great that it should be considered as the largest threat to the U.S. stock market performance in the months ahead. ~~ Global Markets Investor

So it goes,

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Addison Wiggin,
The Wiggin Sessions

P.S. Monday is Memorial Day, and the stock market is closed. As has been our modus operandi for decades now (oof!), we’re not going to publish on Monday. Enjoy your long weekend!

(How did we get here?  An alternative view of the financial, economic, and political history of the United States from Demise of the Dollar through Financial Reckoning Day and on to Empire of Debt — all three books are available in their third post-pandemic editions.)

(Or… simply pre-order Empire of Debt: We Came, We Saw, We Borrowed, now available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble or if you prefer one of these sites:Bookshop.org; Books-A-Million; or Target.)

Please send your comments, reactions, opprobrium, vitriol and praise to: addison@greyswanfraternity.com


American Life: Less Ordinary

December 2, 2025 • Bill Bonner

But Green is describing more than just a new calculation. He’s talking about a new form of misery.’ It’s a poverty where you may still have most of the accoutrements of middle-class life. But your relationship with the financial elite has changed: you are indentured to the credit industry — for life.

American Life: Less Ordinary
The Inflation Episodes – Act I

December 2, 2025 • Addison Wiggin

Historically, when the Fed has cut into inflation above 3%, one of two outcomes tends to follow:

A brief reprieve, followed by a larger inflation wave (see: 1970s).

A crisis born from cheap money rather than expensive money (see: housing in the 2000s).

We are heading into another round of cuts with:

• A still-bloated balance sheet

• A new digital plumbing that auto-funds the Treasury

• Hard-asset markets flashing warning lights

Paul Tudor Jones summed it up in one dry quip: interest expense is now one of Washington’s largest bills; commodities are “ridiculously under-owned”; and “all roads lead to inflation.”

The Fed’s flip from QT to easing doesn’t end this inflation episode. It likely begins its next season.

The Inflation Episodes – Act I
Looking For 10% Monthly Returns? Google It

December 2, 2025 • Addison Wiggin

The question investors should ask themselves isn’t whether this trend is sustainable – it isn’t.

Instead, they should ask if the $2 trillion increase in Google’s market cap has sucked capital away from other promising parts of the market – and if so, where investors can expect a rally when Google reverses.

Looking For 10% Monthly Returns? Google It
The Problem With Fake Money

December 1, 2025 • Bill Bonner

Long have we dwelt on the corrupting influence of funny money on capital asset prices and on the economy. Everything gets distorted, perverse…and false. We get high prices. We get low prices. What we don’t get are honest prices.

Yesterday, we looked at the ‘small time crooks’ — ripping off the public for a million or two.

Today, we move to the big fry.

You’ll recall that the money in question was never earned by anyone. No one has a genuine claim to it. And what kind of apple falls from this funny money tree? Just what you’d expect…a funny one…with the worms already in it.

The Problem With Fake Money