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Hundreds of investing and finance newsletters hit my (and maybe your) inbox every week. This is the best of the best of finance from last week. Friday, we’ll cover tech, and next Monday, we’ll tackle policy.

This week, we’ve got…

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Private credit has ballooned into one of Wall Street’s favorite playgrounds, and Fitch Ratings is worried it could turn into a wrecking ball during the next downturn. Private credit refers to loans made by non-bank lenders (think asset managers and private equity firms) directly to companies that can't or won't borrow from traditional banks. Fitch flagged “bubble-like” traits for the industry: too much leverage, too many retail investors piling in, and too much creativity in how deals are structured.

At the same time, the AI boom is leaning harder on borrowed money. From CoreWeave’s massive cloud deals to Oracle’s infrastructure bets, debt is becoming the fuel for data center expansion. Private equity shops like Vista Equity are even underwriting debt for their own portfolio companies, squeezing fees out of a sluggish M&A market.

The warning lights are flashing. Private credit could magnify the next financial shock, and insurers are piling in like it’s the 1920s. If you’re chasing returns in private credit or debt-heavy tech, make sure you’re ready for the downside when leverage cuts both ways.

Things are going crazy in markets right now. It feels like opinions vary wildly and the macro (and micro) signals are all over the place.

And yet, AltIndex’s top stock picks beat the S&P 500 by almost 40% over the past 6 months.

And in the midst of all this market chaos, AltIndex’s AI model has been consistently rating these three stocks as “buys” for almost two months. Now, they’ve risen to the top-rated spot across the whole platform.

AltIndex’s AI is constantly updating its stock ratings based on the freshest alternative data mixed with rigorous technical analysis. We are always intrigued when any stock is recommended for any length of time, as that typically means it’s showing strength consistently and in several different areas.

One of them is Pembina Pipeline. See the other two here, and get seven more stocks with a free 7-day trial of the app:

Vanguard, long the anti-crypto holdout, is considering letting its 50 million clients trade Bitcoin and Ether ETFs. With $11 trillion in assets, a green light would mark one of the biggest shifts yet in mainstream access to digital assets.

For retail investors, that means crypto exposure could soon be as easy as buying an S&P 500 ETF. Vanguard doesn’t run its own crypto funds, but opening the platform to others would be a massive endorsement of the sector’s staying power.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is exploring equity-like stakes in critical minerals producers, including Australian miners. The goal is to secure supply chains for national security, but it also shows that the government is willing to act like a shareholder. That could reshape valuations in mining stocks and ETFs tied to rare earths and battery metals; certainly something to keep an eye on.

A lot can happen in a week!

Let’s take a quick look at who struck gold and who struck out since our last issue:

Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM): +1.95%
NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA): +1.72%
Tesla, Inc. (TSLA): +1.50%
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A): +1.07%
Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): +0.30%

Broadcom Inc. (AVGO): -3.47%
Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN): -3.53%
Meta Platforms, Inc. (META): -4.01%
Apple Inc. (AAPL): -1.33%
Alphabet Inc. (GOOG): -4.52%

Analysis provided by ​altindex.com​.

Remember to always DYOR.

Cameco Corporation, a leader in uranium mining, refining, conversion and fuel manufacturing, is a Canadian public company that deals with advanced exploration and development projects. As a key player in the nuclear energy sector, the company is poised to benefit from the increasing global demand for cleaner energy sources.

Current price: $83.43
Target price: $101.35

Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd provides various high-speed connectivity Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd provides various high-speed connectivity solutions for optical and electrical Ethernet applications in the United States, Taiwan, Mainland China, Hong Kong, and internationally.

Current price: $142.21
Target price: $173.58

That’s all for today. Write us and let us know your thoughts on the market, the newsletter, or the weather—we’d just love to hear from you.

Till next time,
— Brandon and Blake of Invested Inc.