Now that October is already here, it's hard to believe that we are in the fourth quarter of the year. The weather has started to get a bit chilly, and with only three months left in the year, it can be a bit unsettling to think about. From an investor's perspective, we have the opportunity to evaluate our performance once again. I try to summarize the quarterly returns to see which ones have performed well and which haven't. Today, I want to share some insights because the top-performing stocks this year have changed a bit. Let's take a look at which stocks are rising and why, so we can respond accordingly. Here, I've intentionally left out some features for you to consider.

Would you like to see the commonality among the top five stocks by returns this year? Let's take a look. The first is Vistra, the second is NVIDIA, which has been performing exceptionally well, the third is Constellation Energy, the fourth is Vertiv, and the fifth is GE. Can you express their commonality in one word? The returns are incredible, right? This is based on large-cap blue-chip stocks, excluding small and mid-cap stocks, with returns exceeding 100%. Broadly speaking, it relates to AI infrastructure. As you can see, the top performers this year are in the AI infrastructure sector. I’ve added a bit more explanation: in the first half of the year, semiconductors were strong within AI infrastructure. While semiconductors have shown strength, now, aside from NVIDIA, most have pulled back. However, entering the second half of the year, AI infrastructure is suddenly in the top ranks. To explain further, the company Vistra is involved in AI.

This is a utility company that supplies electrical energy to data centers. Therefore, it also provides high-performance semiconductors for data centers. Constellation Energy is the largest nuclear power company in the United States that supplies power to AI data centers by generating electricity through nuclear power. Vertiv is the company that manages this process. Inside the data center, the heat can get intense, and cooling systems are essential. Just like how there are cooling fans running inside my computer, my computer is currently on for about one or two hours during this live session, so if I don’t manage the heat, it could overheat and shut down. Thus, cooling facilities are crucial. As data centers grow and become hotter, producing cooling-related products that support high performance is what Vertiv specializes in. This can also be considered part of AI infrastructure.

And so, it’s a company that has spun off from GE, which is ranked fifth. This company supplies solutions that help with power generation, such as wind turbines. This year, they have successfully entered the top five. If you look at it this way, AI-related stocks in data centers are also sweeping the top ranks. All the companies I mentioned are included in the chart. There are companies that show where and how AI data centers are being utilized, so it might be helpful for your studies to capture and enlarge that image. I also mentioned this last week; it would be good to refer to last week’s video. The White House is openly pushing for strong stocks, gathering CEOs to discuss how we can quickly build AI infrastructure.

Can we increase the speed? I mentioned that we created a task force for speed competition. In fact, we have selected 12 companies, and one characteristic is that the semiconductor and big tech sectors have the necessary power infrastructure, and their stock prices are currently performing well. Personally, I believe there may be some short-term adjustments, but I think the White House, regardless of party affiliation, is a country where politicians stop fighting for the national interest. This is something I've observed while investing. There is a bipartisan consensus that the U.S. must maintain its AI supremacy, so from a long-term perspective, I think it’s reasonable to continue watching this. The government and private sectors are united in their ambition not to hand over supremacy to China or other countries. Therefore, if we consider this, we shouldn't worry too much about short-term declines.

I want to talk about this. So, just at this moment, the biggest issue of the week has emerged. I see this as a really significant issue. Right after the government made such a declaration, a positive development came out: Constellation Energy, the number one nuclear-based utility company in the U.S., has restarted a decommissioned nuclear power plant that had been out of operation for a long time. They secured a contract to supply electricity exclusively to Microsoft for 20 years. Following this news, their stock price surged by over 20% in just one day and increased by 30% over the week, breaking their previous record high. This company is not small, and this has been recognized as an enormous opportunity. Consequently, utility AI infrastructure stocks also performed well during that week. As I looked into it further, I found out just how serious the U.S. is about this, especially given that it was once considered the worst nuclear power situation.

It is said that the place where the accident occurred is the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, where an accident took place in 1979. Since then, the government gradually imposed regulations, making it impossible to operate. A few years ago, about nine or ten years back, they completely stopped operations. Now, they are planning to restart the nuclear plant at that location. This situation really shows how serious the U.S. government and companies are about AI infrastructure and power supply. It seems like a representative case of this seriousness. Microsoft has signed a 20-year exclusive supply contract, which indicates just how committed Microsoft is to power supply. They need to build AI data centers and will need to secure power, so naturally, they will also invest in these costs. They are reportedly investing 2 trillion, and it seems that Microsoft will bear half of that burden.

Until 2018, Microsoft seemed to have no thoughts of going bankrupt at least until 2048. They are confident. Of course, I also don't think they will go bankrupt, but it was a long-term investment perspective. The CEO of Constellation Energy stated that it was the largest contract in the company's history. While he couldn't disclose the exact amount, he mentioned it was an unprecedented large-scale contract, which caused the stock price to soar. This is a good example that shows how much power and energy are needed to build AI data centers. Currently, various regulatory agencies and local governments in the United States are involved, and the fact that approvals are being granted indicates that the government is supporting this initiative. That's what I presented earlier regarding the U.S. government from the White House.

They are thinking of completely deregulating everything. There is an awareness that nuclear power can be dangerous, yet they are pushing to lift all regulations. This has been the case, and although there are many lesser-known articles, a representative competitor, Amazon, is a cloud data center company. Amazon ranks first in data centers, with Microsoft coming in second. They are acquiring customer service and are operating based on nuclear power, as you can see here. They have also signed a 10-year supply contract with Talon Energy. Can you feel how sincere Big Tech is about this? When you see them signing long-term contracts like 10-year or 20-year agreements, it’s evident that utility companies have been sidelined. In other words, Big Tech is hastily developing nuclear power to profit and deliver to us.

Utility companies are typically seen as low-growth, dividend-paying, defensive stocks, but if you look at their stock price increases, it's astonishing—187%. This week alone, they rose by 10%. Meanwhile, the big tech companies that were the source of funding last week are also soaring. For example, Salen Energy is listed on the S&P 500, and Constellation Energy has increased by 118%. This year alone, the growth has been incredible. So, they are all positioned among the top earners this year. 

Foreign media has also noted that Amazon's goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2040 requires nuclear power and similar energy sources, which was highlighted in a report back in March. This has drawn renewed attention. Companies like Meta and other big tech firms are investing not only in nuclear power but also in environmentally friendly companies, securing power supply contracts to ensure they don’t fall behind. Moving forward, expectations for continued growth will likely persist. I mentioned this around last week as well.

Oracle, the cloud data center company, is facing an overwhelming increase in AI demand, so they decided to build small modular reactors (SMRs) to directly supply power to their data centers. The founder of Oracle, Larry Ellison, mentioned in a recent announcement that due to the insane demand for AI, they cannot avoid investing in nuclear power. During this announcement, this week, the leading small modular reactor company in the U.S., NuScale Power, with the ticker SMR, was highlighted. Although recommending such small-cap stocks can be risky, the stock has soared by 225%. Oracle's stock also rose by 59%, which is quite significant. Now, the scale of Oracle's AI data center is so vast that just one of its facilities alone...

The size is enough to park eight Boeing 747s, and the demand in that data center is currently overflowing, leading to a shortage of gold supply. This situation is causing a mix of excitement and concern. The demand has reached a point where they are even operating small nuclear power plants directly. This has led to a rise in related stocks due to expectations of increased investment in small nuclear power plants. 

I have shown you a chart before, and the stocks I monitor haven't changed much. If I show you the profits, you'll see that among the major AI infrastructures, stocks related to electric utilities are all performing well. You can see a strong upward trend this week. 

Constellation Energy, the top nuclear-based utility in the U.S., and Vistra Energy, the second-largest nuclear-based power supply company, are both doing well. NRG Energy is a retail electric utility company serving residential customers, while NextEra Energy is significant in terms of overall electric supply size based on U.S. market capitalization.

According to the standards, it is the top utility company, and there are some differences in this regard. So, for those who find it all very unfamiliar and confusing, I always say there are utility ETFs. There's XLU, and I just keep buying that. Actually, I originally started buying it for the dividends, but suddenly, with the growth stock theme taking off, it's been a bit surprising. Originally, the utility ETF, XLU, just provides a dividend yield of about 3% to 4%. I used to buy it whenever it dropped, just waiting for the dividend payments, and then I would reinvest that money into more stocks. This year, it has a return of 26%, and it's performing well compared to ETFs like the S&P 500 or Nasdaq. It's all interconnected. There are also those who enjoy high-risk stocks, and one of those could be small modular reactors, the next-generation nuclear power.

Now, as I mentioned in front of NewsScale, Bill Gates is also investing a lot in this field, which has drawn attention. He has talked about how the next big opportunity lies in small modular reactors. There has been a lot of discussion about this. Additionally, Sam Altman has invested, which has made the small modular reactor company, Cloudelectronics, quite famous. While I don't recommend investing in such stocks, they have shown strong performance, rising by 30% and 10% in just one week. In the U.S., there are no upper or lower limits on stock prices, so a company can be delisted in a day or its stock price can double or triple in a single day. This can be somewhat intimidating. However, I wonder if this trend isn't just a passing fad for short-term trading indicators. You might think I'm being overly optimistic, but I cautiously believe that the long-term direction is upward.

It seems that companies are experiencing performance improvements. In addition to that, as I have mentioned continuously, the AI issue is still being supported. For instance, Amazon launched AI for sellers this week. Most people may not be interested in this, but I once tried to sell items on Amazon. You all know about Naver Smart Store, right? Even if you haven't sold anything, you've certainly made purchases. From a seller's perspective, having AI that boosts productivity would be beneficial. For example, if I'm selling products and I want to know the stock levels or what the current marketing points are, I might not know how to find that information. However, AI can assist with all of these inquiries. There is an AI named Amelia that is designed for this purpose.

I mentioned that there are some shortages in stock, and I asked what orders should be placed or what marketing strategies would be beneficial. This is all part of the AI launched to assist sellers. Naturally, since Amazon is based on e-commerce, it is likely that similar systems will be introduced in our country as well, such as with Coupang. In October, there will be a large-scale update for Alexa, which is a consumer AI that subscribers may find particularly interesting after ten years. As the demand for AI and the market for it continue to grow, I believe that the demand for AI infrastructure among companies, as I mentioned earlier, will also increase. Microsoft has also updated its Copilot AI brand on a large scale. While some people may not yet feel the impact, I think that the areas where we do feel it will gradually expand. Apple will also be introducing AI features next year.

It should be at a certain level before it can be used, so you might say that nothing has really changed yet. However, I believe that these things are becoming increasingly relevant to our daily lives, and I have a positive perspective that the demand will explosively increase. Therefore, I thought it would be helpful to share this. For our subscribers, I think it would be good to keep this in mind as a reference. 

Next week, there will be the Meta Connect Live event, and in October, we have Tesla's AI self-driving robo-taxi launch. Additionally, there's the Amazon Alexa renewal event after ten years, so I believe interest in AI infrastructure will continue to grow. Lately, AI semiconductor stocks have been somewhat sluggish. Here, I've brought up the ones that have dropped the most. Currently, NVIDIA has pulled back a bit, around 20% from its peak, and the semiconductor ETF has dropped about 15%. This has led to a lot of discussions around semiconductors.

It seems to have decreased, but is it just taking a break? Regarding AI semiconductor stocks, some say they are at a peak and are bound to fall now, but from a long-term perspective, I think it might still be too early to say that. What do you think? Currently, even top-tier semiconductor equipment companies like ASML have dropped nearly 30%, AMD is down about 30%, and TSMC has fallen around 10%. There are companies related to AI data centers, like Super Micro Computer, that have also seen their stock prices cut in half compared to their highs. It feels like the market is a bit sluggish, but I wonder if it's just a cycle where things go up and down. Right now, the power infrastructure has also increased, and when semiconductors receive another boost, it might be time for semiconductors to rise again. Even within AI-leading stocks, there seems to be a rotation happening. What do you think about this perspective? So, for those who bought semiconductor stocks and are feeling stuck...

You might not need to worry too much; just think that this too shall pass, and we will be able to recover. So, I thought I would organize some information related to AI infrastructure as we approach the end of the third quarter. If there are no exceptions this year, it seems that AI infrastructure stocks are sweeping the market. The common point among the stocks that are rising right now is that they are essentially related to data centers, thanks to the enormous investments from big tech companies. This trend appears to be continuing.

Next, the cycle of interest rate cuts in the United States has finally begun. After calculating, it has been a whopping two years and six months since the last one. There was an interest rate hike cycle from March 2022 to September 2014, and now we are starting to see rates come down. According to the diagram I’m showing you, this corresponds to the period of interest rate cuts. Now, from an investor's perspective, the most curious aspect is...

You might be curious about which stocks to buy and how much, especially in the context of interest rate cuts and this cycle. So, I have included information that subscribers are most likely to be interested in, which is in the Somong's U.S. Stock Master Class that I launched this year. Additionally, there are concerns about an economic slowdown, and the volatility is increasing during this period. There may be times when you want to distinguish whether the stock market is just experiencing a correction or if a real crisis is beginning. Some people say one thing, while others say another, making it challenging to determine if there are genuinely negative signs in the market. I strongly recommend a crisis prediction indicator that helps you assess this. I've included it in Somong's U.S. Stock Master Class. This will enable you to judge for yourself whether we are facing a real crisis or a fake one during the onset of the interest rate cycle and in the midst of corrections.

I have compiled my know-how in the U.S. Stock Masterclass, so if you want to study these aspects properly and try investing, I will leave links in the description and comments of this video for you to check out. Lastly, having invested in U.S. stocks for nearly ten years, I understand what my subscribers are particularly curious about and what they need help with. Therefore, I have focused this lecture on the essential content needed for practical investing. I believe that by referring to the links in the description and comments of this video, you will find it helpful for your investments.

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