Welcome back to another edition of the Smart Wealth Newsletter, where three different generations of investing perspectives come together each week to examine the stock market, individual companies, and the strategies we believe can help build long-term wealth.

This newsletter is written by Chris, Trip, and Frankie, and one of the things that makes Smart Wealth different is that investing isn't simply something we write about—it is something we practice together as a family.

Chris brings decades of experience in real estate investing, entrepreneurship, and the stock market. His investment philosophy generally emphasizes owning high-quality companies for long periods while also looking for opportunities when strong businesses become temporarily unpopular.

Trip is a senior at Tulane University's Freeman School of Business. His education in business and finance, combined with managing his own Schwab portfolio, allows him to connect what he studies in the classroom with what actually happens in financial markets.

Frankie attends Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business, where he is continuing to develop his understanding of investing, economics, and business. Frankie also manages his own Schwab portfolio and has increasingly focused on companies positioned around artificial intelligence, technology, software, infrastructure, and other long-term growth themes.

This week provided another reminder of why successful investing requires patience.

Wall Street had to digest volatile oil prices, elevated Treasury yields, geopolitical uncertainty, Federal Reserve expectations, and yet another burst of enthusiasm surrounding artificial intelligence.

Despite those competing forces, stocks finished the week higher.

Let's get into it.

Wall Street finished an unusually volatile week on a positive note Friday, September 25, as investors continued trying to answer one of the biggest questions facing markets today:

Can the extraordinary investment boom surrounding artificial intelligence overcome the pressure being created by higher interest rates, expensive energy, and geopolitical uncertainty?

For at least this week, the answer from the market was yes.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed Friday at 51,828.62, gaining 0.93% Friday. The S&P 500 closed at 7,743.41, up 0.51%, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished at 27,068.72, advancing 0.48%.

For the full week, the S&P 500 gained approximately 1.2%, while the Nasdaq advanced approximately 2.0%. The Nasdaq also reached a record closing high earlier in the week.

That performance was particularly noteworthy because the stock market was simultaneously dealing with substantial pressure from the bond market.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield spent the week around historically elevated levels, with investors wrestling with the possibility that interest rates could remain higher for longer. Higher Treasury yields matter because they create direct competition for stocks. When investors can earn attractive returns from government securities, the hurdle rate for owning equities rises.

Higher interest rates also increase borrowing costs for consumers and businesses while reducing the present value investors assign to future corporate earnings.

Ordinarily, that combination would be particularly difficult for high-growth technology stocks.

Instead, technology led the market.

The primary reason was once again artificial intelligence.

Monday provided the clearest example. The Nasdaq surged more than 2%, the S&P 500 jumped approximately 1.5%, and the Dow advanced roughly 0.7%.

The catalyst was another surge of enthusiasm surrounding AI infrastructure and AI agents.

Meta Platforms (META) became one of September's most closely watched companies following the launch of its Muse AI assistant. Meta surged more than 11% on Monday alone as investors began considering whether Muse could eventually become another major revenue platform for the company.

The excitement quickly spilled into semiconductor stocks.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) surged almost 10% Monday and crossed the $1 trillion market-capitalization threshold for the first time.

That is an extraordinary milestone.

AMD has spent years competing against Nvidia in accelerated computing and Intel in CPUs. The market increasingly believes AMD could capture a meaningful portion of the enormous spending occurring throughout AI data centers.

Intel (INTC) also surged more than 12% Monday, while Arm Holdings (ARM) posted a similarly dramatic advance.

Why?

Investors are increasingly realizing that the AI revolution requires far more than GPUs.

AI data centers need CPUs, networking equipment, high-bandwidth memory, storage, electrical infrastructure, cooling equipment and enormous amounts of electricity.

That broadening opportunity is creating new winners.

Qualcomm (QCOM) also benefited as investors continued searching for semiconductor companies positioned to participate in expanding AI workloads.

Microsoft (MSFT) provided another major catalyst Friday, jumping approximately 3.7% after introducing additional Copilot capabilities involving coding and agentic artificial intelligence.

Microsoft remains one of the most interesting companies in the AI ecosystem because it participates at several different levels.

Azure provides the cloud infrastructure.

Microsoft has an enormous enterprise customer base.

GitHub provides access to millions of software developers.

And Copilot gives Microsoft a direct mechanism for monetizing artificial intelligence across its existing products.

Dell Technologies (DELL) also rallied Friday, another example of investors looking beyond semiconductor manufacturers toward the companies providing the physical infrastructure necessary to build AI data centers.

Then there was Akamai Technologies (AKAM).

Akamai rallied after announcing a major cloud-services agreement with Anthropic. That reinforced an important theme: AI investment isn't necessarily slowing—it is spreading across an increasingly broad group of infrastructure providers.

Consider what happened just among those companies.

Meta, AMD, Intel, Arm, Qualcomm, Microsoft, Dell, and Akamai all experienced meaningful positive catalysts during September or this week's trading.

That tells us something important about the current AI cycle.

The opportunity is broadening.

For several years, investors often viewed artificial intelligence primarily through Nvidia and GPU demand. Today, AI is increasingly becoming an entire computing ecosystem.

That ecosystem requires processors.

It requires memory.

It requires networking.

It requires data centers.

It requires electricity.

It requires cloud computing.

And ultimately it requires software capable of turning all that computing power into something customers are willing to pay for.

Artificial intelligence wasn't the only major story.

Oil remained an enormous influence on financial markets.

Energy prices had risen sharply amid geopolitical uncertainty and concerns about global energy supplies. Higher oil prices create a particularly difficult problem for the Federal Reserve because energy costs can flow throughout the economy.

Transportation becomes more expensive.

Manufacturing becomes more expensive.

Air travel becomes more expensive.

Shipping becomes more expensive.

Eventually, many of those costs can reach consumers.

By Friday, however, oil prices were retreating as investors responded to signs of potential diplomatic progress involving the Middle East.

That decline mattered.

Lower oil prices potentially reduce inflation pressure, and lower inflation pressure could eventually reduce the need for additional Federal Reserve tightening.

But investors shouldn't assume the interest-rate problem has disappeared.

The bond market continues to tell investors that inflation remains a legitimate concern, and expectations for additional Federal Reserve action remain an important source of market volatility.

This creates an unusual environment.

AI companies are producing tremendous earnings optimism at exactly the same time that higher interest rates are increasing the discount rate investors apply to those future earnings.

Those forces are fighting each other every day.

Another important development has occurred beneath the surface.

Despite the extraordinary gains in several AI companies, the S&P 500's forward valuation has compressed substantially from earlier levels.

That doesn't automatically make stocks cheap.

When Treasury yields are elevated, investors should demand more from equities.

But valuation compression combined with improving earnings expectations creates a much healthier setup than a market driven entirely by expanding price-to-earnings ratios.

The market is also becoming increasingly selective.

Investors aren't simply buying every company that mentions artificial intelligence.

They are beginning to separate companies that can make money from AI from companies that simply talk about AI.

That distinction will become increasingly important.

Companies with strong balance sheets, growing free cash flow, durable competitive advantages and demonstrable AI revenue opportunities should ultimately be in a stronger position than speculative companies whose valuations depend primarily on expectations.

This week's internal market performance reinforced that theme.

Growth stocks substantially outperformed value stocks, while technology was among the strongest areas of the market.

Money is flowing toward businesses where investors can clearly see earnings growth.

That doesn't mean value investing is dead.

Far from it.

It means investors are demanding a catalyst.

A company trading at a low valuation isn't automatically attractive if earnings are shrinking. Likewise, an expensive company isn't automatically overvalued if earnings can compound rapidly enough to justify the price.

The key is understanding the relationship between price and future earnings power.

That is what investing ultimately comes down to.

Several stocks have demonstrated meaningful strength during September and this latest week.

Meta Platforms surged as investors responded to enthusiasm surrounding Muse.

AMD reached a $1 trillion valuation following another powerful AI-driven rally.

Intel jumped sharply as investors reconsidered the company's potential role in AI computing.

Arm Holdings rallied alongside the semiconductor sector.

Microsoft advanced as Copilot and agentic AI developments renewed enthusiasm around its AI strategy.

Qualcomm benefited from the semiconductor rally and expectations surrounding expanding AI workloads.

Dell Technologies moved higher as investors continued recognizing the enormous amount of physical computing infrastructure required by AI.

Akamai also jumped following its cloud agreement with Anthropic.

These moves demonstrate why we don't view artificial intelligence as one stock or even one industry.

It is increasingly an economic infrastructure cycle.

The next major test will come from economic data.

Investors will be watching employment and inflation reports closely for clues about the Federal Reserve's next move.

A strong economy is generally good for corporate profits.

But right now, an economy that runs too hot could also keep inflation elevated and force interest rates higher.

That creates a difficult balancing act.

The market wants economic growth—but not so much growth that inflation accelerates again.

The market wants strong corporate earnings—but not so much demand that the Federal Reserve feels compelled to tighten aggressively.

And investors want AI spending to continue—but eventually they will demand evidence that the hundreds of billions of dollars being invested in infrastructure are generating attractive returns.

That tug-of-war could define the final quarter of 2026.

On one side are artificial intelligence, corporate earnings growth, enormous technology capital expenditures and improving investor enthusiasm.

On the other are high Treasury yields, inflation concerns, expensive energy, geopolitical uncertainty and the possibility of additional Federal Reserve tightening.

For long-term investors, weeks like this provide another reminder that markets rarely move in straight lines.

The Nasdaq can reach records while interest rates remain high.

Oil can fall while technology stocks rally.

A company can decline sharply one month and surge the next.

Trying to predict every move is almost impossible.

That is why our approach remains focused on owning businesses rather than predicting every short-term market fluctuation.

We want companies with strong competitive positions, expanding markets, healthy cash flow, capable management teams and long-term opportunities.

And that brings us directly to this week's Stock Spotlight.

This week's Stock Spotlight is AppLovin (APP), and this one has a direct connection to the Smart Wealth portfolios because Frankie recently initiated a new position in AppLovin in his Schwab account.

AppLovin closed Friday, September 25 at $310.75.

Frankie's position is currently down just 1.84%, which means we're essentially beginning our coverage near his original entry point.

AppLovin is an AI-powered advertising technology company that helps businesses acquire customers and publishers monetize their applications.

Its technology uses enormous amounts of data and machine learning to determine which advertisements should be shown to which consumers and how much that advertising opportunity may be worth.

That makes AppLovin one of the more interesting real-world applications of artificial intelligence outside traditional semiconductors and cloud computing.

Instead of selling AI chips, AppLovin attempts to use AI to make advertising more profitable.

That can be an extremely valuable business.

Digital advertising is ultimately an optimization problem.

Advertisers want to know which consumer is most likely to purchase something.

Publishers want to maximize the value of their advertising inventory.

Platforms attempt to match those groups as efficiently as possible.

The better the algorithm becomes, the more valuable the platform can potentially become.

AppLovin's financial performance demonstrates why investors became so enthusiastic about the company.

Trailing revenue is approximately $6.83 billion, while trailing net income is approximately $4.41 billion. The company has experienced rapid revenue growth while profitability has expanded dramatically as its advertising platform has scaled.

But the stock tells a very different story.

APP has traded between approximately $297.50 and $745.61 during the past 52 weeks.

At $310.75, the stock is now near the lower end of that enormous range.

That creates exactly the kind of situation we like examining at Smart Wealth:

Has the business permanently deteriorated, or has the stock price fallen faster than the company's long-term opportunity?

There are legitimate reasons for caution.

AppLovin must demonstrate that its extraordinary growth rates can remain sustainable. Competition in digital advertising is intense, and investors have become less willing to pay extreme valuations simply because a company has an AI story.

But valuation has changed dramatically.

At approximately $311 per share, AppLovin trades around 24 times trailing earnings and approximately 17 times forward earnings.

Those are dramatically different valuation levels from those investors were willing to pay near the stock's highs.

Wall Street remains constructive overall.

The current consensus among 24 analysts is Moderate Buy, with 16 Buy ratings and eight Hold ratings. The consensus 12-month target is approximately $529, although individual analyst targets vary substantially.

Morgan Stanley recently maintained an Overweight rating while lowering its price target from $650 to $450.

That wide dispersion tells us something important.

There is considerable uncertainty surrounding APP.

This isn't a stock where investors should pretend the risks don't exist.

But it is also easy to understand why Frankie sees an opportunity.

The company operates at the intersection of several powerful long-term trends:

Artificial intelligence.

Digital advertising.

Automation.

Mobile applications.

E-commerce.

If AppLovin's algorithms continue improving advertising returns for customers, advertisers have a financial incentive to spend more money through the platform.

That creates a potentially powerful feedback loop.

More advertisers generate more data.

More data can improve algorithms.

Better algorithms can improve advertising returns.

Better returns can attract additional advertising spending.

That is the bull case.

The bear case is equally straightforward.

Competition is enormous.

Alphabet, Meta, Amazon and numerous specialized advertising platforms all compete for marketing dollars.

AppLovin also needs to prove that its recent financial performance is sustainable.

For Frankie, this should therefore be viewed as a growth investment with significant volatility, rather than the type of established core holding represented by Microsoft or Costco.

Frankie's timing is particularly interesting.

Rather than buying APP when investors were euphoric and shares were trading above $700, he established his position after the stock had fallen dramatically.

That doesn't guarantee the stock has bottomed.

It could certainly decline further.

But price matters.

A great company purchased at an unreasonable valuation can produce disappointing returns.

A rapidly growing company purchased after expectations have been dramatically reset can produce a very different result.

At $310.75, AppLovin is trading near its 52-week low while the current analyst consensus target remains materially above the market price.

For the Smart Wealth portfolio, our view is BUY — GROWTH, recognizing that APP carries considerably more risk and volatility than an established mega-cap company.

Frankie's new position also gives us something particularly useful going forward.

We'll be able to follow AppLovin not simply as a Stock Spotlight, but as an actual Smart Wealth portfolio holding.

And with Frankie currently down only 1.84%, we're starting almost exactly at his cost basis.

The next several quarters should tell us whether Frankie bought into a company whose problems were only beginning—or took advantage of a major valuation reset in one of the more interesting AI-powered advertising businesses in the market.

Analyst Consensus: Buy | Chris's Rating: BUY

GE Vernova participates in power generation, wind and electrical-grid infrastructure. Chris owns GEV because AI data centers and electrification are dramatically increasing electricity requirements while aging electrical grids require massive investment. The 832.95% gain makes GEV one of Chris's greatest investments.

Analyst Consensus: Hold | Chris's Rating: HOLD

Kroger is one of America's largest grocery retailers. Chris owns it because food demand is defensive and Kroger's scale, private-label brands and loyalty programs provide recurring customer relationships. It also provides diversification away from technology.

Analyst Consensus: Buy | Chris's Rating: BUY

Marvell develops semiconductor and infrastructure technology used in data centers and advanced networking. Chris believes AI infrastructure requires much more than GPUs, creating opportunities for networking and custom-silicon providers such as Marvell.

Analyst Consensus: Buy | Chris's Rating: BUY

Meta owns Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger. Chris believes AI can improve advertising effectiveness, user engagement and monetization while potentially creating entirely new businesses. Meta's enormous cash generation gives management the resources to invest aggressively.

Analyst Consensus: Buy | Chris's Rating: STRONG BUY

Micron produces DRAM, NAND and high-bandwidth memory that are increasingly critical to AI computing. Chris believes AI servers will require dramatically more advanced memory and that this could structurally improve Micron's earnings power. The position remains below cost, but his long-term thesis remains intact.

Analyst Consensus: Moderate Buy | Chris's Rating: STRONG BUY

Microsoft operates Azure, Office, Windows, GitHub and one of the world's most important enterprise AI ecosystems. Chris continues holding because cloud computing, recurring software revenue and AI provide multiple long-term growth engines. The extraordinary 1,009.78% gain demonstrates the potential reward from allowing an exceptional business to compound.

Analyst Consensus: Buy | Chris's Rating: HOLD

P&G owns some of the world's most recognizable household brands. Chris owns the company for defensive characteristics, dividends and relatively dependable consumer demand. It provides useful balance against the portfolio's larger growth exposure.

Analyst Consensus: Moderate Buy | Chris's Rating: BUY

Chris's second Amazon position has more than doubled. He continues holding because AWS, advertising, e-commerce and artificial intelligence provide several independent growth engines.

Analyst Consensus: Moderate Buy | Chris's Rating: BUY

American Express combines a global payments network with a particularly affluent customer base. Chris likes its premium brand, customer loyalty and exposure to the continuing transition from cash toward electronic payments.

Analyst Consensus: Hold | Chris's Rating: HOLD

Kinder Morgan owns extensive natural-gas pipeline and energy infrastructure. Chris owns it for recurring cash flow and exposure to America's increasing need for natural gas and electricity generation.

Analyst Consensus: Hold | Chris's Rating: HOLD

Verizon operates one of America's largest wireless networks. Chris owns it primarily for recurring subscription revenue, defensive characteristics and income rather than rapid growth.

Analyst Consensus: Hold/Moderate Buy | Chris's Rating: HOLD

Exxon is one of the world's largest integrated energy companies. Chris owns it for cash generation, energy exposure and diversification, particularly during periods when geopolitical events drive oil prices higher.

Analyst Consensus: Strong Buy | Chris's Rating: SPECULATIVE BUY

LightPath develops optical and infrared technologies serving defense, industrial and advanced technology markets. Chris purchased LPTH after a substantial decline because he believed the selloff created an attractive entry into a company with potentially significant infrared and defense opportunities.

Analyst Consensus: Hold | Chris's Rating: STRONG BUY

Chris views Tesla as more than an automobile company, with autonomous driving, robotics, energy storage and AI representing potentially enormous future businesses. He accepts considerable volatility because he believes successful execution in autonomy and Optimus could eventually create substantial additional value.

Analyst Consensus: Moderate Buy | Chris's Rating: HOLD

This Apple position has more than tripled from Chris's cost basis. Chris continues holding because Apple's ecosystem, services revenue and brand remain exceptional, although today's valuation makes him more inclined to Hold than aggressively add.

Analyst Consensus: Buy/Strong Buy | Chris's Rating: STRONG BUY

Nvidia remains the dominant provider of GPUs and accelerated-computing technology powering much of the AI revolution. Chris believes its hardware leadership and CUDA software ecosystem create formidable competitive advantages.

Traditional Analyst Consensus: Not Applicable | Chris's Rating: BUY

SpaceX develops reusable launch vehicles, Starlink satellite broadband and next-generation space infrastructure. Chris owns it because he believes reusable launch economics, satellite communications and the commercialization of space can create enormous long-term value.

Analyst Consensus: Moderate Buy | Chris's Rating: HOLD

Apple remains one of the world's premier consumer technology franchises. Chris owns it for the company's ecosystem, services revenue, brand and enormous installed customer base.

Analyst Consensus: Buy | Chris's Rating: BUY

Costco's membership economics, purchasing scale and extraordinary customer loyalty create one of retail's strongest competitive advantages. Chris believes membership growth and continued expansion can support earnings for many years.

Analyst Consensus: Moderate Buy | Chris's Rating: BUY

Cisco provides networking, security and infrastructure technology. Chris believes massive AI data-center construction will require enormous networking capacity, creating another potential long-term growth opportunity.

Analyst Consensus: Buy | Chris's Rating: BUY

GE Aerospace benefits from commercial aviation, defense demand and recurring engine-service revenue. Chris believes its installed engine base provides an attractive long-term earnings opportunity.

Analyst Consensus: Buy | Chris's Rating: BUY

Coca-Cola owns one of the world's most valuable brands and an extraordinary global distribution network. Chris owns KO for dependable cash flow, pricing power, dividends and defensive characteristics.

Analyst Consensus: Strong Buy | Chris's Rating: STRONG BUY

Lam manufactures essential semiconductor-production equipment. Chris believes AI, high-bandwidth memory and increasingly complex chip manufacturing will support years of semiconductor capital investment.

Analyst Consensus: Strong Buy | Chris's Rating: STRONG BUY

Mastercard operates one of the world's dominant electronic-payment networks. Chris believes the continuing migration from cash toward digital payments gives the company a long runway for growth.

Analyst Consensus: Buy | Chris's Rating: HOLD

Merck is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies. Chris likes its profitability, research capabilities and defensive healthcare exposure while remaining comfortable holding after the current gain.

Analyst Consensus: Buy | Chris's Rating: HOLD

P&G's household brands generate recurring demand across economic cycles. Chris owns it for stability, income and diversification rather than high growth.

Analyst Consensus: Buy | Chris's Rating: BUY

Palantir provides AI-powered data and software platforms to government and commercial customers. Chris believes Palantir is becoming an increasingly important enterprise AI company, although valuation remains an important risk to monitor.

Analyst Consensus: Strong Buy | Chris's Rating: STRONG BUY

Visa operates one of the world's largest electronic-payment networks. Chris believes the long-term transition away from cash, combined with Visa's global network and asset-light economics, makes it an exceptional compounder.

Trip's Schwab portfolio is now up 82.46% overall, an improvement from 73.52% last week.

Analyst Consensus: Buy | Personal Rating: BUY

GE Vernova remains Trip's greatest winner, with an extraordinary 851.01% gain. The company sits directly in the path of increasing electricity consumption from AI data centers, electrification and global power demand.

Analyst Consensus: Buy | Personal Rating: BUY

Trip has now officially doubled his money in Costco. Its membership model, renewal rates, pricing power and customer loyalty make Costco the type of high-quality business Trip is comfortable owning long term.

Analyst Consensus: Hold | Personal Rating: HOLD

Intel is attempting one of the semiconductor industry's most significant corporate turnarounds. Trip remains slightly below cost and is giving management time to execute while recognizing that Intel carries substantially more turnaround risk than his established winners.

Analyst Consensus: Buy | Personal Rating: STRONG BUY

Micron continues becoming a more important winner for Trip. He was up more than 17% last week and is now up 25.39%, as high-bandwidth memory demand strengthens the investment case surrounding AI infrastructure.

Frankie's Schwab portfolio is now up 109.71% overall.

Analyst Consensus: Hold | Personal Rating: SPECULATIVE BUY

Navitas develops gallium nitride and silicon carbide power semiconductors. Frankie believes these technologies could become increasingly important in data centers, EVs and power-intensive AI infrastructure.

Analyst Consensus: Moderate Buy | Personal Rating: BUY

Nebius has become another exceptional investment for Frankie, with the position now up almost 180%. Its AI-focused cloud and computing infrastructure provides direct exposure to enormous AI capital spending.

Analyst Consensus: Buy | Personal Rating: BUY

GE Vernova remains Frankie's largest percentage winner. Power generation and grid infrastructure put the company directly in the path of one of AI's most important secondary effects: rapidly increasing electricity consumption.

Analyst Consensus: Buy | Personal Rating: BUY

Frankie is within a fraction of doubling his money in Costco. Its membership model, renewal rates, purchasing scale and customer loyalty create a durable competitive advantage.

Analyst Consensus: Buy | Personal Rating: BUY

ServiceNow provides cloud-based workflow and enterprise automation software. Frankie believes businesses will continue spending heavily on software that uses AI to improve productivity and automate repetitive work.

Analyst Consensus: Buy | Personal Rating: BUY

Corpay provides corporate payments, expense management and commercial payment solutions. Frankie's position remains modestly below cost, but his long-term thesis centers on continued automation of business payments and financial workflows.

Analyst Consensus: Buy | Personal Rating: SPECULATIVE BUY

Aurora is developing autonomous-driving technology with an emphasis on self-driving trucking. Frankie believes successful commercialization could transform trucking economics, although this remains one of the portfolio's more speculative holdings.

Analyst Consensus: Moderate Buy | Personal Rating: BUY — GROWTH

This is Frankie's newest position and this week's Stock Spotlight. AppLovin uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve digital advertising performance, and Frankie believes its technology can continue capturing advertising spending. The position is currently only 1.84% below his cost basis.

Analyst Consensus: Buy | Personal Rating: BUY

PTC provides industrial software for product design, engineering and lifecycle management. Frankie believes digital transformation and artificial intelligence will make industrial design and manufacturing increasingly software driven.

Analyst Consensus: Moderate Buy | Personal Rating: STRONG BUY

Microsoft remains one of Frankie's greatest investments, with the position approaching a 200% gain. Azure, Office, GitHub, Copilot and Microsoft's enormous enterprise customer base provide multiple ways to monetize AI.

This week's portfolios provide another remarkable illustration of what can happen when investors identify strong businesses and give those businesses enough time to compound.

Chris's Microsoft position has now crossed the 1,000% gain threshold. His GE Vernova position is up more than 830%, GE Aerospace almost 230%, Apple in one Fidelity account more than 205%, Nvidia approximately 128%, and Amazon in another Fidelity account nearly 120%.

Trip's portfolio tells a similar story on a smaller but increasingly impressive scale. He leads with an 851% gain in GE Vernova, a 100% gain in Costco, and Micron at +25.39%.

Frankie's GE Vernova is up 851%, Microsoft almost 197%, Nebius nearly 180%, Costco almost 100%, Navitas approximately 64%, Aurora approximately 55%, and ServiceNow almost 49%.

Those results didn't happen because every investment worked immediately.

Chris remains below cost in LightPath, Procter & Gamble and his small Morgan Stanley Micron position. Trip is modestly underwater in Intel. Frankie is below cost in Corpay and his newly purchased AppLovin position.

That is investing.

A red number doesn't automatically make an investment a mistake, just as a green number doesn't automatically make an investment a good idea.

The important question is whether the underlying business is developing the way we expected when we originally invested.

The extraordinary gains in Microsoft and GE Vernova reinforce another lesson:

Selling your winners too early can sometimes be just as costly as holding your losers too long.

Chris could have sold Microsoft after doubling his money.

He could have sold after a 300% gain.

He could have sold after 500%.

Instead, the underlying business continued growing, and the investment has now surpassed 1,000%.

That doesn't mean investors should blindly hold every stock forever.

Valuation matters.

Competition matters.

Management matters.

Earnings matter.

Every company must continually earn its place in a portfolio.

But when the original investment thesis remains intact and the underlying company continues becoming more valuable, patience can be extraordinarily powerful.

That is one of the lessons Trip and Frankie are learning while studying business at Tulane University's Freeman School of Business and Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business.

Their portfolios provide a real-world classroom where decisions have real consequences and both successes and mistakes become valuable lessons.

Our goal at Smart Wealth isn't to win every trade.

It is to continually improve as investors, own exceptional businesses, manage risk intelligently, learn from mistakes and allow the extraordinary mathematics of long-term compounding to work in our favor.

We are building wealth for decades—not days.

The Smart Wealth Newsletter is provided solely for educational and informational purposes. Nothing contained in this newsletter should be considered individualized investment, financial, tax, accounting or legal advice, nor should anything herein be interpreted as a recommendation or solicitation to buy, sell or hold any security.

Chris, Trip and Frankie may own securities discussed in this newsletter, and their personal investments, gains, losses and opinions are presented for educational purposes and transparency. Their financial circumstances, investment objectives, risk tolerances and time horizons may differ substantially from those of readers.

Stock prices, analyst ratings, analyst price targets, earnings estimates and market expectations can change at any time. Analyst targets are estimates rather than guarantees of future value. Past performance does not guarantee or predict future results, and substantial past gains should never be interpreted as evidence that similar gains will continue.

Investing in stocks involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Smaller companies, emerging technologies and speculative growth stocks can experience particularly significant volatility and losses.

Readers should conduct their own research and, when appropriate, consult qualified financial, tax and legal professionals before making investment decisions.

Invest intelligently. Stay patient. Keep learning. And remember: building wealth is a marathon, not a sprint.