Natalie Pace Blogs
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 Snack Brands Suffer from Poor Health. Why are Coke & Pepsi Lagging on Wall Street? Snacks Companies Have High Debt and Slow Growth and are Being Sued for Plastic Pollution by Cities and Others. The S&P500 had a Perfect Week on July 25, 2025, setting 5 new highs, one each day from Monday through Friday. However, many of the legacy drink companies have share prices that are lagging the index in gains, with National Beverage Co.* (LaCroix) down -38%, Celsius Holdings plunging -51%*, and Chagee Tea, which had its IPO on April 17, 2025, off -44%. Coca-Cola is one of the 30 Dow Jones Industrial Average Index components that has been named a Dog of the Dow. What’s going on? *from its 5-year high When you look at the Drinks Stock Report Card, some themes emerge in the legacy brands: · Very slow growth or losing revenue year over year, · Very high debt, with some companies (Keurig Dr. Pepper and Starbucks) at very low credit quality – the lowest run of investment grade, · High price-earnings ratio (expensive share prices). We’ve seen some exciting newcomers to the field, including Poppi, which was purchased by Pepsico for $1.65 billion in March 2025. So, why are drinks and snacks gathering dust on the Wall Street shelf, and should you take a closer look at your own wealth plan to be sure that you’re not losing money on these investments (often in the name of earning a very low income)? Email [email protected] if you’d like to receive an Updated Coffee, Tea and Soda Stock Report Card. Here are the topics we’ll cover in this blog. Chagee Tea: The Starbucks of Tea Health-Conscious Consumers Schools and Cities Banning Single-Use Plastic Less than 9% of Plastic Gets Recycled Plastic is an Oil Product: Dirty from Cradle to Neverending Life Multiple Lawsuits Against the Worst Plastic Polluters in the World Value Substitution Funds And here is more information on each development. Chagee Tea: The Starbucks of Tea The first thing I noticed about Chagee Tea was that it was the only place at the Century City (California) Mall where I saw a very long line – especially for a brand that I had never heard of. Chagee Tea is the only publicly-traded beverage café or brand with double-digit year-over-year sales growth – of 35.35% on the Drinks Stock Report Card. Chagee Tea is a Chinese-based tea café with 6000+ locations in Asia (and perhaps only one in the U.S.?) that purports to be the Starbucks of tea. The Chagee IPO hit Wall Street in April 2025 with a bang, soaring from $32/share to $42/share and making the company’s 30-year old founder and CEO a billionaire (per Bloomberg). Chagee wasn’t investors’ cup of tea after that meteoric IPO rise. It is currently trading at $23.53/share. Rapid expansion can explain the increase in sales. (More stores = more revenue.) Are the long lines auspicious for the company to become the next hundred-billion-dollar café brand, ala Starbucks? Or is this more of a Krispy Kreme flash in the pan? Patricia Kelly Yeo, the food and drink editor of Timeout L.A., wasn’t very impressed. She pointed out local places with better tasting tea and complained about the single-use containers. Yeo wrote in her review, “Of course, all of the [drink] options are slightly tainted by the fact that these mostly iced drinks are served out of paper or plastic cups. Even the casual afternoon tea aficionado understands that proper ceramicware and the ability to sit down and relax elevates the tea drinking experience.” Not only do hot drinks taste better in ceramic mugs, but reusable containers are also better for our health and for the planet. You might have heard that most of us have microplastic in our bodies, causing considerable, undesirable side effects. Some drink companies are being sued for their single-use plastic pollution. I‘ll discuss this more below. Health-Conscious Consumers PepsiCo now owns Poppi, a prebiotic, low-sugar soda that has exploded in popularity. Between 2023 and 2024, Poppi’s sales increased fivefold, from $100,000,000 to $500,000,000. LaCroix is a no-calorie carbonated water choice that is owned by National Beverage. Celsius drinks are designed to optimize physical and cognitive performance and burn calories. National Beverage had very tepid sales growth of 5.49% in the most recent quarter, while Celsius Holdings saw revenue drop -7.43%. Will Poppi be the saving grace for Pepsico? Poppi is still a very small brand within an empire that boasts of $92 billion in sales each year. In their most recent quarterly earnings report and forward outlook, Pepsico is forecasting a 1.5% decline in EPS with a low single-digit increase in revenue. Schools and Cities Banning Single-Use Plastic Consumers are also getting planet conscious. Over a decade ago, many schools took out their vending machines due to an obesity crisis in children in the United States. According to the CDC, one in five children and adolescents have obesity. Sugary drinks contribute to that problem. More schools are providing metal reusable containers and water refill stations, instead of plastic bottled water. In Poundbury, England, the 5 to 9-year-olds at Damers First School went beyond getting plastic out of their school and asked the local businesses to do the same. That inspired one store to offer organic produce that was not covered in plastic packaging.  Eco Kids at Damers First School in Poundbury, England. Wisdom is a powerful thing. However, the plastics and beverage industries push back with misinformation campaigns and an aggressive defense in the courts. While many beverage companies are being sued for misleading their customers about recycling and the damage caused by plastic pollution, some have been successful in getting the lawsuits dismissed. In Coca-Cola’s most recent quarterly earnings report, the company disclosed that it was being sued by the City of Baltimore “concerning the environmental impacts of plastic packaging on the city’s lands and waterways. The Company believes it has strong defenses to the claims.” Less than 9% of Plastic Gets Recycled There are six Rs of sustainability, and recycling is the least effective of all of them. Less than 5% gets recycled in the United States, and less than 9% around the world. Most single-use plastic is shipped to third world countries where it’s become a true crisis. (When I visited India in early 2018, there were streets and fields littered with plastic water bottles, where the pigs and cows would root around looking for food. Some people would try to burn them to stay warm, breathing toxic fumes in the process.)  Should more recycling plants be built when plastic is toxic, is not being recycled and never dies? Or should companies be held accountable for the pollution and incentivized to offer their drinks in reusable containers? Would  Plastic is an Oil Product: Dirty from Cradle to Neverending Life Plastic starts out as oil. Drilling, even when there isn’t an oil spill, is very damaging to the environment. Are you aware that many of the toxic chemicals that spilled in the train derailment of Feb. 2024 in Palestine, OH are used to make plastic? Plastic is a forever product that leeches into our water supply and pollutes air, oceans and humans. From drilling oil to their never-ending life, plastic (and polyester) are toxic products.  Multiple Lawsuits Against the Worst Plastic Polluters in the World As a result of the misinformation disseminated by the plastics industry, including the constant campaigns to convince people that if they just recycle plastic, all will be well, there are multiple lawsuits against plastic polluters, including PepsiCo, Coca-Cola and other consumer goods companies. Chemical companies are also being held liable, with 3M (a Dow Jones Industrial Average component), Dow Inc. (a former DJIA component) and Dupont (a former DJIA component) all settling multi-billion-dollar fines for forever chemical pollution. These challenges make the current environment of slow growth and high debt and leverage more acute in these legacy brands. Oil and plastic companies continue to obfuscate the truth about recycling, drilling and fossil fuel products (including polyester), and to purchase political power. It’s the same strategy that we’ve seen before in tobacco companies and other harmful industries that profit on our poor choices. And yet, we are still seeing grassroots efforts, particularly in parents and schools, to eliminate plastic and to create a cleaner, greener world. (Check out the Green Kids episode of our Earth Gratitude free docuseries.) Should legacy brands continue to spend their money defending a toxic packaging system or in developing one that is healthier for everyone and the planet upon which we all depend? Value Substitution Funds Whether you are concerned about your money or our planet, they are likely better ways to earn income without losing principal than to invest in a lot of these legacy brands, which are underperforming the S&P500 and continue to face headwinds in what many CEOs in the industry admit is a “challenging environment.” At our Financial Freedom Retreat, we encourage value fund substitutions that offer diversification outside of the United States. By doing that, we can invest in countries that have much lower debt and typically offer a much higher yield – sometimes even double the income. Bottom Line If you own a target date retirement fund or a mutual fund that tries to offer income, performance and safety, you might be limping along in gains (or losing), in a market that has been on fire for the past three years, while also suffering from losses on the safe side (where your money is supposed to remain intact). There are easy, time-proven solutions. Now is the time to know what you own and why and implement them – to be the boss of your money. The world is always changing. We don’t use the typewriter or Blackberry phones anymore. As consumers become aware that plastic and single use are terrible for our personal health and the planet, it is possible, if not probable, that these drink companies will suffer even more than they already are. (The chemical companies that make plastic products face multi-billion-dollar lawsuits on a regular basis and have already engaged in many settlements.) Many legacy brands, including the beloved Coca-Cola and Pepsico, have a massive amount of debt, very slow revenue growth, and are overvalued, to boot, which should be enough to convince any investor to underweight large cap value funds in the U.S. and lean into healthier choices for our personal prosperity and our world. Register now to join us at our online Financial Freedom Retreat Oct. 11-13 2025 where you'll learn how to protect your wealth, save thousands annually in your budget and how to hedge in a volatile Debt World. If you'd like a life-changing adventure of a lifetime, be our guest at a royal manor house in Cornwall, England, March 12-19, 2027. (With just eight rooms available, this exclusive, private, bucket-list adventure sells out a year in advance!) Call 310-430-2397 or email [email protected] to learn more. The 2025 Restormel Retreat was a magical and royal experience. Click to learn more. Receive the best price when you register for the Financial Freedom Retreat Oct. 11-13 2025 by July 31, 2025. Request testimonials at [email protected]. You can also view some on the flyer page of the retreat. Learn how to: * Invest in hot industries, such as cryptocurrency, Nvidia, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing, * Hedge against a weaker dollar, * Invest and compound your gains, * Green your retirement plan, * Easy and efficacious nest egg strategies, * Get hot and diversified (including in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and crypto), * Evaluate stocks, * Avoid capital gains and financial predators, * Keep an age-appropriate amount safe, and, * Know what's safe in a Debt World. You'll even discover how to save thousands annually with smarter big-ticket choices. Yes, it's a complete money makeover. Email [email protected] or call 310-430-2397 to learn more and register. Learn the 15+ things you'll master and read testimonials in the flyer on the home page at NataliePace.com. Register with friends and family to receive the best price. "Ten minutes into the first day I was already much smarter about investing than I ever thought I would be in my life and I knew I was in exactly the right place at this retreat. I am amazed at how EASY and FUN it is to make my money work for me and those I love. I think this kind of information should be compulsory in schools. I wish I'd learned this sooner." CM If you’d like an unbiased 2nd opinion on your current wealth plan, email [email protected] for pricing and information.  Receive the best price when you register by July 31, 2025. Visit NataliePace.com to learn more. Call 310-430-2397 or email [email protected] for pricing, additional information and to register.  Join us for our Restormel Royal Immersive Adventure Retreat. March 2027. Email [email protected] to learn more. Click for testimonials, pricing, hours & details. Register now to receive the best price, the best room and eight private, prosperity coaching sessions. There are only 8 rooms available. This retreat includes an all-access pass to all of our online training for a full year for two. Considering the perks, you're receiving a 65% discount to learn the life math that we all should have received in high school, and the room is free! Email [email protected] to learn more. The best rooms at the 2025 retreat were sold out in 2024! Yes, it's a great idea to register and start transforming our lives now!  Natalie Wynne Pace is an Advocate for Sustainability, Financial Literacy & Women's Empowerment. Natalie is the bestselling author of The ABCs of Money (6th edition) and The Power of 8 Billion: It's Up to Us, and is the co-creator of the Earth Gratitude Project. She has been ranked as a No. 1 stock picker, above over 835 A-list pundits, by an independent tracking agency (TipsTraders). Her book The ABCs of Money remained at or near the #1 Investing Basics e-book on Amazon for over 3 years (in its vertical), with over 120,000 downloads and a mean 5-star ranking. The 6th edition of The ABCs of Money and the 2nd edition of Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is (2nd edition) are the most recent releases of these books. Follow her on Instagram. Natalie Pace's easy as a pie chart nest egg strategies earned gains in the last two recessions and have outperformed the bull markets in between. That is why her Investor Educational Retreats, books and private coaching are enthusiastically recommended by Nobel Prize winning economist Gary S. Becker, TD AMERITRADE chairman Joe Moglia, Kay Koplovitz and many Main Street investors who have transformed their lives using her Thrive Budget and investing strategies. Click to view a video testimonial from Nilo Bolden. Check out Natalie Pace's Substack podcast on Apple and Spotify. Watch videoconferences and webinars on Youtube. Other Blogs of Interest Crypto, Gold, AI, Energy, Healthcare, Real Estate. Which Sector Performed Best in the First Half of 2025. Crypto Goes Mainstream. The Genius Act Becomes Law. Wealth Hacks: Are You Getting Killed in Capital Gains Taxes? Clean Energy Unplugged. Tesla Sales Slump in 2Q 2025. Our Super Performing Hots and Value Replacements. Is Gold a Tier 1 HQLA Reserve Currency? Is Your Income Strategy Losing Money? Gold, Silver & Crypto Soar. Stocks Offer 5%. Debt Balloons. Some Foreigners are Selling U.S. Treasuries. Get Safe & Hot in 1 Easy Plan. Home Prices Soften. Is Your City Next? Tesla Vision vs. Waymo LiDAR and Air Taxis. Are Any of Them Safe? Archer Aviation is Chosen to be the Exclusive Air Taxi Service for the 2028 L.A. Olympics. Company of the Year? USA Downgraded. Is U.S. Reserve Currency Status Threatened? Utilities: In the Eye of the Natural Disaster Storms. Aging Mom Doesn't Want to Discuss Dilapidated House. Investors Ask Natalie. Sell in May? Tesla, Tariffs, Chinese Competition and Price Wars. Fun Ways to Celebrate Earth Day April 22nd. Will the Correction Become a Bear Market? 21st Century Recessions Look More Like Depressions. Will Oil Prices Sink or Soar? Executives are Uncertain. Health Savings Accounts. Save Thousands. Get a Tax Credit. Provide for Tomorrow's Healthcare Needs. Restormel Manor House 2025. A Truly Royal and Magical Adventure. 9 Ways to Cut Your Tax Bill in Half and Save Thousands Annually. Berkshire Hathaway. Should I Just Invest in Warren Buffett? Should I Have a Money Manager? Top Dividend/Income Strategies for 2025. 10 Rules of Successful Investing. Quantum Computing. Paper Losses. Another Warning About Long-Term Bonds! 2025 Investor IQ Test. 2025 Investor IQ Test Answers. Indonesia: Rich in Nickel with Ambitions of Becoming an EV Battery Hub. RoboTaxis. AI. The Magnificent 7. Why Are So Many Safe Investments Losing Money? Canadian, Australian and U.S. Banks. Are Any of Them Safe? Ireland. Rich in Technology, Biotechnology and Agribusiness. Robo Investing and AI. No, They are Not Foolproof. Copper. Peru ETF Outperforms the S&P500. Will Insurance Companies & Homeowners Weather the Hurricanes? 9 Money Secrets of the Ultra Wealthy. Housing & Budgeting Solutions. Arkansas Sues Temu for Data Theft. We Must Be the Boss of Our Money. Why? Fast Fashion. Fossil Fuels. Plastic Clothing. Atacama Desert Waste Dumps. Fintechs and Brokerages that Fail are Not FDIC-Insured. 5 Green Tips for Clean Beaches Week. So, You Think You Want to Be a B&B Owner... Retiring Soon? Start Planning Now. 2024 Rebalancing IQ Test. Answers to the 2024 Rebalancing IQ Test. 9 Inflation, Budgeting, Debt Reduction and Investing Solutions. China & Russia Double Their Gold Holdings. Uh. Oh. More Bank Trouble. Housing. Unaffordable. What Works? Case studies and creative solutions. The Underperforming DJIA, Full of Fossil Fuels and Forever Chemicals. The Best ROI* (Almost 40%!) & 7 Life Hacks That Save Thousands. 13 Lifestyle Choices to Reduce Waste, Pollution & CO2 & Save a Boatload of Dough. 11-Point Green Checklist for Schools. 10 Wealth Secrets of Billionaires and Royals. Fiat. Crypto. Gold. BRICS. Real Estate. Alternative Investments. BRICS Currency. Will the Dollar Become Extinct? Why We Are Underweighting Banks and the Financial Industry. Save Thousands Annually With Smarter Energy Choices Is Your FDIC-Insured Cash Really Safe? Money Market Funds, FDIC, SIPC: Are Any of Them Safe? Important Disclaimers Please note: Natalie Pace does not act or operate like a broker. She reports on financial news, and is one of the most trusted sources of financial literacy, education and forensic analysis in the world. Natalie Pace educates and informs individual investors to give investors a competitive edge in their personal decision-making. Any publicly-traded companies, funds or projects mentioned by Natalie Pace are not intended to be buy or sell recommendations. ALWAYS do your research and consult an experienced, reputable financial professional before buying or selling any security, and consider your long-term goals and strategies. Investors should NOT be all in on any asset class or individual stocks. Your retirement plan should reflect an age-appropriate, diversified wealth plan, which has been designed strategically, with the assistance of financial professionals who are familiar with your goals, risk tolerance, tax needs and more. The "trading" portion of your portfolio should be a very small part of your investment strategy, and the amount of money you invest into individual companies should never be greater than your experience, wisdom, knowledge, patience and diversified strategy. Information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. However, NataliePace.com does not warrant its completeness or accuracy. Opinions constitute our judgment as of the date of this publication and are subject to change without notice. This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial instrument.
Crypto. Gold. Silver. AI. Cybersecurity. Banks. Housing. Energy. Health Care. Kohl’s. Which industries are soaring, and which are sinking? In this midyear checkup, we’ll see which sectors performed well in the 2nd quarter of 2025, and which were the Dogs of the Dow. We will also discuss where the money is flowing from. As you can see in the chart below, the best performers of the year (so far) are silver, gold, Bitcoin, copper (Peru), industrials, utilities, information technology (Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia), and communication services (Google, Meta), in that order. Health care, energy, consumer discretionary, consumer staples, and real estate dragged down the index performance.  The S&P500 hit a new high today. The previous high was in February 2025, before the announcement of the tariffs. Stocks plunged -19% in early April. Who did the selling? According to S&P Global, institutional and retail investors sold, while hedge funds, ETFs and index funds purchased (at the low). It’s easy for Main Street to be swallowed up by the whales of Wall Street, which is why it is so important to have a time-proven investing strategy rather than rely upon headlines or let FUD* guide our actions. Emotions typically put us on the wrong side of the trade. *Fear, uncertainty, doubt Here are the sectors we’ll discuss in this blog. Gold & Silver Crypto Copper Industrials & Utilities AI, Information Technology, Cybersecurity and Communication Services Financials Real Estate Consumer Staples and Discretionary Energy: Oil & Gas and Clean Energy Health Care Kohl’s Meme stock And here is more information on each sector. Gold & Silver It’s interesting that the top performers this year are “safe havens” – gold, silver, and crypto. Silver hasn’t been receiving the headlines of gold or bitcoin. However, it is the silent superstar, as you can see in the chart above. We’ve been leaning harder into silver because it still hasn’t achieved the Apex of $50 a coin that it saw back in 2011, at the previous high. My thinking was that it was a better value, and had more room to run. If you are a gold or silver bug, it’s also important to understand that this industry is more volatile than people recognize. Our pie chart system, with gold, silver or crypto as a hot slice or two prompts us to capture gains when they hit their all-time highs. It’s never a question of all or nothing, but rather that we have a strategy of claiming and keeping our wealth, rather than just riding a rollercoaster through the quite long periods when investors desert the asset. In 1980, when gold hit an all-time high, it took a quarter of a century to return to that value. In 2011, the pre-pandemic high, gold dropped from $2,000 in August to $1,200 in 2015 (-40%). It didn’t stay above $2,000 again until late 2023. Learn more in my Safe Haven blog. Crypto Bitcoin has been on fire the past few years. It doubled in 2023 and then again in 2024 and is still holding strong in 2025.
I listed bitcoin as our Investment of the Year in March 2024, and it certainly has performed well enough to deserve that designation. However, crypto is another asset that experiences extreme volatility. After the last two halving events, we saw a trend worth noting. Bitcoin hit a high one year after halving, and then sank into a severe Crypto Winter at the 2nd year anniversary. That means that between now and April 2026 (the 2nd anniversary of the April 2024 halving), there could be greater volatility than cryptophiles are counting on. Remember, it’s always the whales who send the HODLs into these long periods of lack. *Hold On for Dear Life Here again, if crypto is a hot slice of an age-appropriate, properly diversified plan that we rebalance 1-3 times a year, we have a “capture gains” strategy in place and can buy low when the price tanks rather than shivering (or perishing) during the long Crypto Winters. I discuss crypto and stablecoins in greater detail in my blog, videoconference and podcast. (Click to access.) Copper Materials was one of the weaker sectors in the U.S. this year. However, when we move over to a country like Peru, that has been one of the superior performers, largely due to the strength of copper. As you can see in the chart above, the iShares Peru Index (symbol: EPU) is up 25.6% year to date. Check out my Peru blog from last November for additional information. (Click on the blue-highlighted words.) Copper prices are at all-time highs. Peru is the 2nd largest exporter of copper in the world. Copper is a building block of new energy and was dubbed “The New Oil” by Goldman Sachs years ago.  We’ve been using EPU as our mid value replacement fund for years. Not only has it been a super performer in share price, but it also provides double the dividends of most US-based mid cap value funds. Industrials & Utilities Planes, trains, and automobiles, and all the widgets that make things run, along with utilities, are considered to be less volatile industries. When we see strength in these sectors, it’s considered to be a flight to safety, buoyancy and income for risk-averse investors. As I mentioned in my Utilities blog, utilities are a lot more volatile in a world full of natural disasters that people believe are caused by powerlines. Industrials tend to be older, slow growth, high debt companies with low profit margins and high leverage. We’re underweighting both sectors in our sample wealth plan pie charts. Check out my Utilities blog for additional information and join us live online at the Oct. 11-13, 2025 Financial Freedom Retreat. AI, Information Technology, Cybersecurity and Communication Services By now you’ve probably heard of the Magnificent 7, those multi trillion-dollar technology companies that have been responsible for most of the gains on Wall Street over the past 2 1/2 years. Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, Meta (Facebook), Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla were responsible for over half of the impressive stock market gains in 2023 and 2024. At the same time, those same companies were the biggest losers in the April 2025 and the 2022 corrections.  This is another reminder of the importance of rebalancing 1-3 times a year. It helps us to protect our wealth (keep our money). When rebalancing, always mock up a pie chart of what we do have and compare it to the sample pie charts of what we should have. Email [email protected] for a link to our free web app, where you can personalize your own sample pie chart. Take our Rebalancing IQ Test. Conservative investors have lost out on the spectacular performance of the Magnificent 7 if their plan did not include a large cap growth fund. A well-diversified plan is going to help us to outperform the general market. Another problem for conservative investors is paper losses on the fixed-income side. People who use our strategies for safety are not experiencing that loss of wealth and liquidity. We spend one full day on what’s safe at our online Financial Freedom Retreat. (Click to learn more.) Financials It’s earning season, so we’re hearing all about the strength of U.S. banks. However, most of us are also aware of the extraordinary amount of debt in the United States, with $36.7 trillion in public debt. We might not be as cognizant that banks, corporations, and US consumers bring the total tally of debt and loans in the U.S. to $103 trillion.  Also, the U.S. is no longer a AAA sovereign. Some U.S. banks are at the lowest rung of investment grade. There is more leverage in insurance companies and banks in the United States than many people are aware of – until you look back at the bank failures in 2023. For that reason, we are underweighting U.S. financials and have been for many years, including before the very high-profile bank failures. Again, by going outside the U.S. to a country that has a higher sovereign rating and lower debt, with banks that take on less risk (and are rated higher), we can get more yield and better credit quality all in one. Real Estate Housing prices are at an all-time high. Meanwhile, commercial real estate is one of the bigger problems in the United States, with half-empty office buildings and vacant mini-malls in many cities. Most investors are going to find it very difficult to navigate the risk in real estate. Be very careful reaching for yield in a Debt World, in any industry. We see marketing campaigns that encourage investors to lean into high-yield (a euphemism for high risk) real estate for the “income,” while downplaying the risk of capital loss. This is another sector that we are underweighting in our sample pie charts. We discuss this at our online Financial Freedom Retreat as well. Consumer Staples and Discretionary People will still buy toilet paper and basic needs during a recession. However, the challenge for using consumer staples for buoyancy is that the share prices of many of the companies in this sector are elevated. You’re buying high. Also, there has been a retail Apocalypse that makes brick-and-mortar companies vulnerable. Margins are always low (3% range), with revenue plunging in the more traditional companies that haven’t been able to compete with Amazon for price and convenience. Many consumer discretionary funds include businesses that really are staples, such as Amazon. However, the same challenge arises here too. Prices are very, very lofty on Wall Street. Amazon’s price-earnings ratio is 38. Energy: Oil & Gas and Clean Energy Oil prices are below the threshold that would entice oil companies to “Drill Baby Drill.” So, supply is not expected to dramatically increase in the mid term. At the same time, the dramatic shift to electric vehicles has caused a plunge in demand, particularly in China. Check out my blog on Oil and Gas for additional information. This is an industry we’re underweighting. As someone who cares about renewable energy, my heart is with the clean energy sector. However, the current U.S. administration has stripped away incentives for businesses and consumers. The solar tax credit ends December 31, 2025, while the electric vehicle tax credit ends September 30, 2025. This is all negative for the industry. There has also been a very aggressive misinformation campaign on solar and EV‘s, (and plastic) sponsored by, wait for it, the oil industry. As a result, clean energy is out of favor and trading near an all-time low. Of course, if things change moving forward, you’ll be buying low if you keep this sector in your wealth plan. (Fair warning that there could be more challenges, including bankruptcies, before the turnaround.) Health Care Healthcare has been a perennial favorite historically. With an aging developed world population, more people are going to need healthcare, hip replacements and pharmaceuticals. The reason that healthcare has done so poorly over the past few years is that we’re no longer in a pandemic, with panic buying of COVID tests and vaccines. ETFs allow us to get very specific about our area of focus, ranging from biotechnology, medical devices or pharmaceuticals. The iShares Medical Devices ETF (symbol: IHI) is trading near an all-time high. Now might be a good time to dollar-cost average into this sector, particularly if you’re looking for a utility replacement. Kohl’s Meme Stock We are still seeing retail investors leap into get-rich-quick meme stock schemes. Yesterday, Kohl’s stock soared by 50%. However, like Blackberry, AMC Theaters, Gamestop and more, Main Street is often on the wrong side of these trades. Kohl’s is part of the retail Apocalypse and is struggling with low revenue, cash bleed, very high debt, and a low market value. The current leap in share price is likely to be short-lived once investors discover that the real estate leaseback plan that Kohl’s is considering didn’t save Bed Bath and Beyond – another meme stock darling that went bankrupt. Be careful chasing headlines and social media sensations. Bottom Line Safe havens are performing the best so far in 2025, while sectors that do poorly in recessions, such as real estate, consumer discretionary and oil, are suffering the most. Our best strategy will be an age-appropriate, diversified wealth plan that we rebalance 1-3 times a year. That keeps us capturing gains on the super performers at the high, while having a strategy to buy low if we get another correction. In our sample pie charts we are overweighting safe for a variety of reasons that add up to heightened risk on Wall Street. One other tip, when prices are at an all-time high, nothing is on sale. In our sample pie charts, we are using value fund substitutions, which also allow us to experience international diversification. Many of the funds pay double the dividend of the U.S. based value funds, while some offer us lower risk with higher performance. Register now to join us at our online Financial Freedom Retreat Oct. 11-13 2025 where you'll learn how to protect your wealth, save thousands annually in your budget and how to hedge in a volatile Debt World. If you'd like a life-changing adventure of a lifetime, be our guest at a royal manor house in Cornwall, England, March 12-19, 2027. (With just eight rooms available, this exclusive, private, bucket-list adventure sells out a year in advance!) Call 310-430-2397 or email [email protected] to learn more. The 2025 Restormel Retreat was a magical and royal experience. Click to learn more. Receive the best price when you register for the Financial Freedom Retreat Oct. 11-13 2025 by July 31, 2025. Request testimonials at [email protected]. You can also view some on the flyer page of the retreat. Learn how to: * Invest in hot industries, such as cryptocurrency, Nvidia, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing, * Hedge against a weaker dollar, * Invest and compound your gains, * Green your retirement plan, * Easy and efficacious nest egg strategies, * Get hot and diversified (including in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and crypto), * Evaluate stocks, * Avoid capital gains and financial predators, * Keep an age-appropriate amount safe, and, * Know what's safe in a Debt World. You'll even discover how to save thousands annually with smarter big-ticket choices. Yes, it's a complete money makeover. Email [email protected] or call 310-430-2397 to learn more and register. Learn the 15+ things you'll master and read testimonials in the flyer on the home page at NataliePace.com. Register with friends and family to receive the best price. "Ten minutes into the first day I was already much smarter about investing than I ever thought I would be in my life and I knew I was in exactly the right place at this retreat. I am amazed at how EASY and FUN it is to make my money work for me and those I love. I think this kind of information should be compulsory in schools. I wish I'd learned this sooner." CM If you’d like an unbiased 2nd opinion on your current wealth plan, email [email protected] for pricing and information.  Receive the best price when you register by July 31, 2025. Visit NataliePace.com to learn more. Call 310-430-2397 or email [email protected] for pricing, additional information and to register.  Join us for our Restormel Royal Immersive Adventure Retreat. March 2027. Email [email protected] to learn more. Click for testimonials, pricing, hours & details. Register now to receive the best price, the best room and eight private, prosperity coaching sessions. There are only 8 rooms available. This retreat includes an all-access pass to all of our online training for a full year for two. Considering the perks, you're receiving a 65% discount to learn the life math that we all should have received in high school, and the room is free! Email [email protected] to learn more. The best rooms at the 2025 retreat were sold out in 2024! Yes, it's a great idea to register and start transforming our lives now!  Natalie Wynne Pace is an Advocate for Sustainability, Financial Literacy & Women's Empowerment. Natalie is the bestselling author of The ABCs of Money (6th edition) and The Power of 8 Billion: It's Up to Us, and is the co-creator of the Earth Gratitude Project. She has been ranked as a No. 1 stock picker, above over 835 A-list pundits, by an independent tracking agency (TipsTraders). Her book The ABCs of Money remained at or near the #1 Investing Basics e-book on Amazon for over 3 years (in its vertical), with over 120,000 downloads and a mean 5-star ranking. The 6th edition of The ABCs of Money and the 2nd edition of Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is (2nd edition) are the most recent releases of these books. Follow her on Instagram. Natalie Pace's easy as a pie chart nest egg strategies earned gains in the last two recessions and have outperformed the bull markets in between. That is why her Investor Educational Retreats, books and private coaching are enthusiastically recommended by Nobel Prize winning economist Gary S. Becker, TD AMERITRADE chairman Joe Moglia, Kay Koplovitz and many Main Street investors who have transformed their lives using her Thrive Budget and investing strategies. Click to view a video testimonial from Nilo Bolden. Check out Natalie Pace's Substack podcast on Apple and Spotify. Watch videoconferences and webinars on Youtube. Other Blogs of Interest Crypto Goes Mainstream. The Genius Act Becomes Law. Wealth Hacks: Are You Getting Killed in Capital Gains Taxes? Clean Energy Unplugged. Tesla Sales Slump in 2Q 2025. Our Super Performing Hots and Value Replacements. Is Gold a Tier 1 HQLA Reserve Currency? Is Your Income Strategy Losing Money? Gold, Silver & Crypto Soar. Stocks Offer 5%. Debt Balloons. Some Foreigners are Selling U.S. Treasuries. Get Safe & Hot in 1 Easy Plan. Home Prices Soften. Is Your City Next? Tesla Vision vs. Waymo LiDAR and Air Taxis. Are Any of Them Safe? Archer Aviation is Chosen to be the Exclusive Air Taxi Service for the 2028 L.A. Olympics. Company of the Year? USA Downgraded. Is U.S. Reserve Currency Status Threatened? Utilities: In the Eye of the Natural Disaster Storms. Aging Mom Doesn't Want to Discuss Dilapidated House. Investors Ask Natalie. Sell in May? Tesla, Tariffs, Chinese Competition and Price Wars. Fun Ways to Celebrate Earth Day April 22nd. Will the Correction Become a Bear Market? 21st Century Recessions Look More Like Depressions. Will Oil Prices Sink or Soar? Executives are Uncertain. Health Savings Accounts. Save Thousands. Get a Tax Credit. Provide for Tomorrow's Healthcare Needs. Restormel Manor House 2025. A Truly Royal and Magical Adventure. 9 Ways to Cut Your Tax Bill in Half and Save Thousands Annually. Berkshire Hathaway. Should I Just Invest in Warren Buffett? Should I Have a Money Manager? Top Dividend/Income Strategies for 2025. 10 Rules of Successful Investing. Quantum Computing. Paper Losses. Another Warning About Long-Term Bonds! 2025 Investor IQ Test. 2025 Investor IQ Test Answers. Indonesia: Rich in Nickel with Ambitions of Becoming an EV Battery Hub. RoboTaxis. AI. The Magnificent 7. Why Are So Many Safe Investments Losing Money? Canadian, Australian and U.S. Banks. Are Any of Them Safe? Ireland. Rich in Technology, Biotechnology and Agribusiness. Robo Investing and AI. No, They are Not Foolproof. Copper. Peru ETF Outperforms the S&P500. Will Insurance Companies & Homeowners Weather the Hurricanes? 9 Money Secrets of the Ultra Wealthy. Housing & Budgeting Solutions. Arkansas Sues Temu for Data Theft. We Must Be the Boss of Our Money. Why? Fast Fashion. Fossil Fuels. Plastic Clothing. Atacama Desert Waste Dumps. Fintechs and Brokerages that Fail are Not FDIC-Insured. 5 Green Tips for Clean Beaches Week. So, You Think You Want to Be a B&B Owner... Retiring Soon? Start Planning Now. 2024 Rebalancing IQ Test. Answers to the 2024 Rebalancing IQ Test. 9 Inflation, Budgeting, Debt Reduction and Investing Solutions. China & Russia Double Their Gold Holdings. Uh. Oh. More Bank Trouble. Housing. Unaffordable. What Works? Case studies and creative solutions. The Underperforming DJIA, Full of Fossil Fuels and Forever Chemicals. The Best ROI* (Almost 40%!) & 7 Life Hacks That Save Thousands. 13 Lifestyle Choices to Reduce Waste, Pollution & CO2 & Save a Boatload of Dough. 11-Point Green Checklist for Schools. 10 Wealth Secrets of Billionaires and Royals. Fiat. Crypto. Gold. BRICS. Real Estate. Alternative Investments. BRICS Currency. Will the Dollar Become Extinct? Why We Are Underweighting Banks and the Financial Industry. Save Thousands Annually With Smarter Energy Choices Is Your FDIC-Insured Cash Really Safe? Money Market Funds, FDIC, SIPC: Are Any of Them Safe? Important Disclaimers Please note: Natalie Pace does not act or operate like a broker. She reports on financial news, and is one of the most trusted sources of financial literacy, education and forensic analysis in the world. Natalie Pace educates and informs individual investors to give investors a competitive edge in their personal decision-making. Any publicly-traded companies, funds or projects mentioned by Natalie Pace are not intended to be buy or sell recommendations. ALWAYS do your research and consult an experienced, reputable financial professional before buying or selling any security, and consider your long-term goals and strategies. Investors should NOT be all in on any asset class or individual stocks. Your retirement plan should reflect an age-appropriate, diversified wealth plan, which has been designed strategically, with the assistance of financial professionals who are familiar with your goals, risk tolerance, tax needs and more. The "trading" portion of your portfolio should be a very small part of your investment strategy, and the amount of money you invest into individual companies should never be greater than your experience, wisdom, knowledge, patience and diversified strategy. Information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. However, NataliePace.com does not warrant its completeness or accuracy. Opinions constitute our judgment as of the date of this publication and are subject to change without notice. This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial instrument.  Crypto Goes Mainstream. The GENIUS Act Passes. On July 17, 2025., S. 1582. The GENIUS Act passed Congress. This is a major step towards mainstreaming stablecoins in the United States. What does this mean for your crypto assets? I will host a videoconference on Thursday, July 24, 2025, to discuss these developments, as we see how the signing of the law impacts the crypto market over the next week (should be positive). Email [email protected] with GENIUS Videocon in the subject line to join us live. FYI: Bitcoin was listed as our Investment of the Year on March 24, 2024. At that time the coin traded at $65,770. Bitcoin hit an all-time high of $123,212 on July 13, 2025. Here are the things we will cover in this blog. Email [email protected] if you would like an updated Crypto Stock Report Card. The GENIUS Act Are Stablecoins Safe? Terra’s Luna Stablecoin Collapse in May 2022 World Liberty Financial: USD1 StableCoin Gemini’s Bitcoin Credit Card XRP‘s Bank Application Bitconnect, Bitcoin Trading Club and Other Ponzi Schemes and Fraud Generating Income and Avoiding Capital Gains Bitcoin and Ethereum Exchange-Traded Funds And here is more information on each topic. The GENIUS Act The GENIUS Act legalizes stablecoins and provides some important standards that help to protect investors. The permitted issuers must maintain U.S. dollar and cash reserves on a one-to-one basis. They must also publicly disclose their redemption policy and publish the details of their reserves monthly. Click to read the text of the full bill. Are Stablecoins Safe? Having the coin directly tied to U.S. dollar and cash reserves on a one-to-one basis offers greater stability than stablecoins such as Terra Luna that was backed by an algorithm rather than assets. However, there is still risk, especially if the company offering the stablecoin gets into trouble. Stablecoins are not going to be regulated by the SEC. However, they are required to maintain anti-money laundering policies, and there will be annual reports to Congress and published by the Financial Stability Oversight Council. It’s important to note that stablecoins are not backed by anything other than the company and their reserves. They are not yet able to be used to purchase anything. They are not FDIC-insured or SIPC-insured. Another consideration is that stablecoins will charge fees. If they enter a period of instability, they can impose a redemption gate. Redemption gates limit investors from cashing in their coins, which, in theory, would prevent a run on the coin. Finally, you can earn 4% interest in Certificates of Deposit or Treasury Bills. You won’t earn any interest on most stablecoins. And if you do, then they might be a lot riskier than you believe. For instance, investors piled into Luna hoping to receive interest of almost 20%, which is clearly not sustainable and had a terrible outcome. Terra’s Luna Stablecoin Collapse in May 2022 When Terra’s Luna stablecoin collapsed in May 2022, it caused a ripple effect. Not only were investors who thought their money was safe, stunned to learn that it was all gone, but other companies were collapsing as well, including Three Arrows Capital, Voyager Digital and FTX. Bitcoin dropped from a high of $69,000 in November 2021 to a low of $15,000 in November 2022. Do Kwon, the co-founder and former CEO of Terraform Labs, is currently in prison in the United States and is charged with “multiple schemes to deceive investors in order to fraudulently inflate the value of terraform cryptocurrencies.” The investor losses of the collapse are over $40 billion. Terraform Labs filed for bankruptcy on January 21, 2024. The company listed assets and liabilities of $100-$500 million. The deadline for creditors (including investors) to submit claims was April 30, 2025. Since investor losses and creditors’ claims significantly exceed the assets available, investors are not expected to get much back. World Liberty Financial: USD1 StableCoin Token holders of the Trump-backed crypto project World Liberty Financial voted to go public the same day that the GENIUS Act was passed by Congress. World Liberty Financial offers the USD1 stablecoin on Binance and other trading platforms. (It is also conceivable that other big players, such as Elon Musk and Meta, could launch stablecoins.) $WLFI states that the company will break barriers for the unbanked, conceivably in rural, remote areas of Africa and Asia. The wording on the USD1 offering reads, “Backed by dollars and U.S. treasuries that have the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.” If someone is not doing a careful reading of that, they might be thinking the stablecoin is as safe as (or safer than) fiat. On the Risks page, it states clearly (in bold and quite large) that USD1 is not legal tender and is not government backed. Gemini’s Bitcoin Credit Card Gemini just launched a MasterCard-backed credit card where cardholders can earn back 1-4% of their purchases in the cryptocurrency of their choice. With the popularity of cryptocurrencies and no annual fee, this offering by Gemini could be in high demand. Gemini also offers their own stablecoin, staking, and buys, sells and stores Bitcoin and 70 other cryptos. Coinbase offers a Bitcoin credit card, too. It should be noted that Gemini previously had a program called Gemini Earn that suspended redemptions on Nov. 16, 2022. Participants in that program expected to earn up to 7.4% APY in that program but instead had no access to their crypto until May 24, 2024. Click on the blue-highlighted words to learn more about the timeline of the suspension. FYI: The payback settlement did not include interest earned. XRP‘s Bank Application XRP has become the third largest cryptocurrency ($215.3 billion), behind Bitcoin ($2.4 trillion) and Ethereum ($432.3 billion). Ripple Labs, the company behind XRP, also has the Ripple USD stablecoin, which is backed by U.S. dollars and other cash equivalents. Again, as a reminder, many stablecoins don’t pay interest and are not FDIC-insured. It has been reported that Ripple applied for a Federal Bank Trust Charter with the Offices of the Controller of the Currency on July 2, 2025. Bitconnect, Bitcoin Trading Club and Other Ponzi Schemes and Fraud Sadly, there are still many ways to lose money in crypto. One of my clients reported a theft, where over $50,000 of her Bitcoin was stolen from her personal account. Bitconnect was a Ponzi scheme. The Trade Coin Club, promoted by multiple individuals in a multilevel marketing type scheme, was fraud. Another private client was convinced by fabricated statements (Bernie Madoff-style, only more sophisticated) that his “mentor” was making him money hand-over-fist in a gold-backed stablecoin. This convinced him to take out a high-interest credit card loan to the tune of over $40,000 to invest in the scam, which disappeared once he handed it over to the predator, never to return. The new stablecoin law states that coins must have U.S. dollar and cash reserves on a one-to-one basis. As I stated above, this reduces, but does not eliminate, the risk. We have seen weakening in the dollar over the past few months and less liquidity in the treasury market, too. Some companies, like the fraudsters listed above, simply cook the books. I’m repeating myself when I say many stablecoins don’t pay any interest and are not insured or backed by the federal government. Generating Income and Avoiding Capital Gains $1 million could be earning $40,000 annually with 4% interest. $250,000 would be earning $10,000 at 4% interest. Many people could use this extra income. So, it’s important to recognize that your stablecoin is not going to offer income. Stablecoins, like money market funds, typically stay flat and do not increase in their price. They are designed to stay steady (though they can decrease in value). The marketing pitch is that fiat is yesteryear and is a House of Cards waiting to fall. However, if the coin is backed by fiat… Bitcoin and Ethereum Exchange-Traded Funds There has been an important development in that investors can now invest in a Bitcoin or Ethereum exchange-traded fund within their individual retirement account. This means that they can capture gains when things shoot the moon without paying capital gains taxes on it. If the person has a Roth IRA, then they won’t pay income tax when they start taking their distributions. (It has been reported that Peter Thiel has over $5 billion in his Roth IRA.) I discussed this in greater detail in my videoconference of today on Wealth Hacks. Watch it back at youtube.com/nataliepace. Bottom Line Digital innovations are creating a new world. The excitement of Crypto Week and the GENIUS Act has pushed many cryptos at or near their all-time highs. At the same time, in a Debt World, it is very important to understand what guarantees are backing money that we are relying upon before we leap into the promise of a stablecoin, which might be backed by the fiat currency we fear. Because Crypto Winters have occurred two years after the last two Bitcoin halving events, it's also important to have a plan for capturing gains at the high and to reduce our tax burden when we do. Learn more about this in the blogs and videoconferences below. Are You Getting Killed in Capital Gains Taxes? Blog and Videoconference. Gold, Silver and Crypto Soar Get Safe and Hot in 1 Easy Plan 2024 Investment of the Year: Bitcoin Register now to join us at our online Financial Freedom Retreat Oct. 11-13 2025 where you'll learn how to protect your wealth, save thousands annually in your budget and how to hedge in a volatile Debt World. If you'd like a life-changing adventure of a lifetime, be our guest at a royal manor house in Cornwall, England, March 12-19, 2027. (With just eight rooms available, this exclusive, private, bucket-list adventure sells out a year in advance!) Call 310-430-2397 or email [email protected] to learn more. The 2025 Restormel Retreat was a magical and royal experience. Click to learn more. Receive the best price when you register for the Financial Freedom Retreat Oct. 11-13 2025 by July 31, 2025. Request testimonials at [email protected]. You can also view some on the flyer page of the retreat. Learn how to: * Invest in hot industries, such as cryptocurrency, Nvidia, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing, * Hedge against a weaker dollar, * Invest and compound your gains, * Green your retirement plan, * Easy and efficacious nest egg strategies, * Get hot and diversified (including in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and crypto), * Evaluate stocks, * Avoid capital gains and financial predators, * Keep an age-appropriate amount safe, and, * Know what's safe in a Debt World. You'll even discover how to save thousands annually with smarter big-ticket choices. Yes, it's a complete money makeover. Email [email protected] or call 310-430-2397 to learn more and register. Learn the 15+ things you'll master and read testimonials in the flyer on the home page at NataliePace.com. Register with friends and family to receive the best price. "Ten minutes into the first day I was already much smarter about investing than I ever thought I would be in my life and I knew I was in exactly the right place at this retreat. I am amazed at how EASY and FUN it is to make my money work for me and those I love. I think this kind of information should be compulsory in schools. I wish I'd learned this sooner." CM If you’d like an unbiased 2nd opinion on your current wealth plan, email [email protected] for pricing and information.  Receive the best price when you register by July 31, 2025. Visit NataliePace.com to learn more. Call 310-430-2397 or email [email protected] for pricing, additional information and to register.  Join us for our Restormel Royal Immersive Adventure Retreat. March 2027. Email [email protected] to learn more. Click for testimonials, pricing, hours & details. Register now to receive the best price, the best room and eight private, prosperity coaching sessions. There are only 8 rooms available. This retreat includes an all-access pass to all of our online training for a full year for two. Considering the perks, you're receiving a 65% discount to learn the life math that we all should have received in high school, and the room is free! Email [email protected] to learn more. The best rooms at the 2025 retreat were sold out in 2024! Yes, it's a great idea to register and start transforming our lives now!  Natalie Wynne Pace is an Advocate for Sustainability, Financial Literacy & Women's Empowerment. Natalie is the bestselling author of The ABCs of Money (6th edition) and The Power of 8 Billion: It's Up to Us, and is the co-creator of the Earth Gratitude Project. She has been ranked as a No. 1 stock picker, above over 835 A-list pundits, by an independent tracking agency (TipsTraders). Her book The ABCs of Money remained at or near the #1 Investing Basics e-book on Amazon for over 3 years (in its vertical), with over 120,000 downloads and a mean 5-star ranking. The 6th edition of The ABCs of Money and the 2nd edition of Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is (2nd edition) are the most recent releases of these books. Follow her on Instagram. Natalie Pace's easy as a pie chart nest egg strategies earned gains in the last two recessions and have outperformed the bull markets in between. That is why her Investor Educational Retreats, books and private coaching are enthusiastically recommended by Nobel Prize winning economist Gary S. Becker, TD AMERITRADE chairman Joe Moglia, Kay Koplovitz and many Main Street investors who have transformed their lives using her Thrive Budget and investing strategies. Click to view a video testimonial from Nilo Bolden. Check out Natalie Pace's Substack podcast on Apple and Spotify. Watch videoconferences and webinars on Youtube. Other Blogs of Interest Wealth Hacks: Are You Getting Killed in Capital Gains Taxes? Clean Energy Unplugged. Tesla Sales Slump in 2Q 2025. Our Super Performing Hots and Value Replacements. Is Gold a Tier 1 HQLA Reserve Currency? Is Your Income Strategy Losing Money? Gold, Silver & Crypto Soar. Stocks Offer 5%. Debt Balloons. Some Foreigners are Selling U.S. Treasuries. Get Safe & Hot in 1 Easy Plan. Home Prices Soften. Is Your City Next? Tesla Vision vs. Waymo LiDAR and Air Taxis. Are Any of Them Safe? Archer Aviation is Chosen to be the Exclusive Air Taxi Service for the 2028 L.A. Olympics. Company of the Year? USA Downgraded. Is U.S. Reserve Currency Status Threatened? Utilities: In the Eye of the Natural Disaster Storms. Aging Mom Doesn't Want to Discuss Dilapidated House. Investors Ask Natalie. Sell in May? Tesla, Tariffs, Chinese Competition and Price Wars. Fun Ways to Celebrate Earth Day April 22nd. Will the Correction Become a Bear Market? 21st Century Recessions Look More Like Depressions. Will Oil Prices Sink or Soar? Executives are Uncertain. Health Savings Accounts. Save Thousands. Get a Tax Credit. Provide for Tomorrow's Healthcare Needs. Restormel Manor House 2025. A Truly Royal and Magical Adventure. 9 Ways to Cut Your Tax Bill in Half and Save Thousands Annually. Berkshire Hathaway. Should I Just Invest in Warren Buffett? Should I Have a Money Manager? Top Dividend/Income Strategies for 2025. 10 Rules of Successful Investing. Quantum Computing. Paper Losses. Another Warning About Long-Term Bonds! 2025 Investor IQ Test. 2025 Investor IQ Test Answers. Indonesia: Rich in Nickel with Ambitions of Becoming an EV Battery Hub. RoboTaxis. AI. The Magnificent 7. Why Are So Many Safe Investments Losing Money? Canadian, Australian and U.S. Banks. Are Any of Them Safe? Ireland. Rich in Technology, Biotechnology and Agribusiness. Robo Investing and AI. No, They are Not Foolproof. Copper. Peru ETF Outperforms the S&P500. Will Insurance Companies & Homeowners Weather the Hurricanes? 9 Money Secrets of the Ultra Wealthy. Housing & Budgeting Solutions. Arkansas Sues Temu for Data Theft. We Must Be the Boss of Our Money. Why? Fast Fashion. Fossil Fuels. Plastic Clothing. Atacama Desert Waste Dumps. Fintechs and Brokerages that Fail are Not FDIC-Insured. 5 Green Tips for Clean Beaches Week. So, You Think You Want to Be a B&B Owner... Retiring Soon? Start Planning Now. 2024 Rebalancing IQ Test. Answers to the 2024 Rebalancing IQ Test. 9 Inflation, Budgeting, Debt Reduction and Investing Solutions. China & Russia Double Their Gold Holdings. Uh. Oh. More Bank Trouble. Housing. Unaffordable. What Works? Case studies and creative solutions. The Underperforming DJIA, Full of Fossil Fuels and Forever Chemicals. The Best ROI* (Almost 40%!) & 7 Life Hacks That Save Thousands. 13 Lifestyle Choices to Reduce Waste, Pollution & CO2 & Save a Boatload of Dough. 11-Point Green Checklist for Schools. 10 Wealth Secrets of Billionaires and Royals. Fiat. Crypto. Gold. BRICS. Real Estate. Alternative Investments. BRICS Currency. Will the Dollar Become Extinct? Why We Are Underweighting Banks and the Financial Industry. Save Thousands Annually With Smarter Energy Choices Is Your FDIC-Insured Cash Really Safe? Money Market Funds, FDIC, SIPC: Are Any of Them Safe? Important Disclaimers Please note: Natalie Pace does not act or operate like a broker. She reports on financial news, and is one of the most trusted sources of financial literacy, education and forensic analysis in the world. Natalie Pace educates and informs individual investors to give investors a competitive edge in their personal decision-making. Any publicly-traded companies, funds or projects mentioned by Natalie Pace are not intended to be buy or sell recommendations. ALWAYS do your research and consult an experienced, reputable financial professional before buying or selling any security, and consider your long-term goals and strategies. Investors should NOT be all in on any asset class or individual stocks. Your retirement plan should reflect an age-appropriate, diversified wealth plan, which has been designed strategically, with the assistance of financial professionals who are familiar with your goals, risk tolerance, tax needs and more. The "trading" portion of your portfolio should be a very small part of your investment strategy, and the amount of money you invest into individual companies should never be greater than your experience, wisdom, knowledge, patience and diversified strategy. Information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. However, NataliePace.com does not warrant its completeness or accuracy. Opinions constitute our judgment as of the date of this publication and are subject to change without notice. This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial instrument.  Natalie Pace in Powerscourt, Ireland. Photo: Marie Commiskey. Are You Getting Killed in Capital Gains Taxes? Are you paying too much in capital gains taxes, ignoring your retirement plan, or gambling with your future, or are you building lasting wealth? Ask yourself these questions. Do you put your hottest investments in your Roth IRA? Do you know what you own in your employer-based retirement plan? Are you chasing returns in Bitcoin or the Magnificent 7? Are you gambling with hot tips you see on social media? Do you have a Health Savings Account? Are you aware of the Rule of 7? Are you depositing 10% of your gross income into tax-protected retirement accounts? Here are some of the things that keep us gambling and bleeding cash, instead of building lasting wealth. There are so many ways that we end up making “the system rich” rather than achieving financial freedom ourselves.
Editor's Note: "Many people, including educated men and women, often get into trouble when they neglect to follow simple and fundamental rules of the type provided [by Natalie]. This is why I recommend them with enthusiasm." Professor Gary S. Becker. Dr. Becker won the 1992 Nobel Prize in economics for his theories on human capital. He also wrote the Preface for Natalie Pace's first book, Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is (2nd edition). Recently, I did a coaching session with a person who is only 15 years away from retirement, who makes over $100,000 a year and has only about $100,000 in his brokerage account. He also has money in an employer-sponsored retirement plan, which he’s never looked at. He has no clue how it’s invested, what the current value is, or what rate of return he might be getting. Another retired client had money in a government retirement plan. When he found out that the S&P500 had earned 57.5% over 2023 and 2024, and had a 13.1% annualized gain over the past decade, he was mortified to discover that his plan had earned just 2.5% annualized for decades. So, let’s dig into the details of how to build lasting wealth, while also having a little fun. Here’s more information on each of the points I listed at the top of this blog. Do you put your hottest investments in your Roth IRA? Billionaire Peter Thiel reportedly has over $5 billion in his Roth IRA (source: Propublica). He didn’t pay capital gains taxes on any of his early Paypal and META investments and warrants that are in his Roth IRA, and when he withdraws from the account, he will not pay income taxes (unless the laws change). Most of us should have a Roth IRA (or TFSA for Canadians) that we max out, in addition to contributing to our employer-sponsored retirement plan (up to the match). Our self-directed Roth IRA gives us freedom of choice, a chance for a much higher rate of return, a shield from capital gains taxes, and the benefit of tax-free distributions in retirement. Do you know what you own in your employer-based retirement plan? Rollovers are very easy and they offer us the world of investing. Many times our employer-sponsored retirement plans only offer a few choices. That means that we can never truly get properly diversified if we are only choosing to invest in our 401K or RSP, unless we’re able to self-direct. Some plans offer this, while others do not. Many employer-sponsored retirement plans underperform the market, especially if we’re using target date funds or an annuity. (Contrary to their promises of diversification and that you can’t lose, these funds are not the great choices they purport to be, for multiple reasons.) You can learn more in these blogs. Is Your Safe, Income Strategy Losing Money? https://www.nataliepace.com/blog/is-your-income-strategy-losing-money#/ Get Safe and Hot in One Easy Plan https://www.nataliepace.com/blog/get-safe-hot-with-one-easy-plan#/ Are you chasing returns in Bitcoin or the Magnificent 7? When stocks and crypto are high, everyone’s a millionaire. When we hit a Crypto Winter or bear market, things go radio silent. The truth is that we should be capturing gains at the high and adding more at the low – which is the opposite of chasing headlines and spectacular gains (after they’ve already happened). Our simple pie chart strategy encourages us to invest in the hottest opportunities, in an age-appropriate, diversified way, and also prompts us to be on the right side of the trade. Learn more in my book The ABCs of Money 6th edition and at our October 11-13, 2025 Financial EDU Retreat. (Register for the retreat by July 31, 2025, to receive the best price.) Are you gambling with hot tips you see on social media? Gamification made investing popular a few years ago, especially when there was extra Stimmy money floating around. However, many of 2021 meme stock companies are either struggling to stay alive or already dead in the water, including Bed, Bath and Beyond, Blackberry, AMC Theatres and Gamestop. Also, I’m seeing so many people who leapt into over 50 different companies without the proper due diligence. (Not even a professional analyst would attempt DD on that many holdings.) Not only are they not doing any research into the companies, but they are not even reading the complete blog or email that brought up the tip. For instance, even though I’m very excited about air taxis, I’m not investing yet.  Archer Aviation has been selected as the official air taxi of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Is there a way to invest in hot exciting new industries without taking on a second job doing trading and proper due diligence? The answer is absolutely yes. Targeted ETFs can focus on cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, gold, silver, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and even hot countries, for international diversification. funds have multiple companies, which reduces the risk of betting on one horse. Another important aspect of successful investing is to capture gains at the top and buy more at the low – rebalance 1-3 times a year. This is only possible in our self-directed individual retirement account, which is why we want to have our own self-directed retirement account, in addition to our employer-sponsored RA. Do you have a health savings account? If you are healthy and spending an arm and a leg on health insurance, then it’s time to look into a Health Savings Plan with a high-deductible insurance plan. This will save most people thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars annually, while building up the best long-term health care plan for retirement. Don’t assume that your employer is paying your premiums. Many employers take the premiums out of our paycheck. Add up the amount that is being deducted and you might discover that you are giving thousands of your hard-earned money to the health insurance company. Read my HSA blog and The ABCs of Money 6th edition for more information.  Are you aware of the Rule of 7? Have you doubled your money over the last seven years? The stock portion of our portfolio will double in 7 1/2 years if it’s earning 10% annualized and we are religious about depositing 10% of our gross income. Check out the savings versus investing chart below. This sample plan is based on someone earning just $40,000/annually, who can become a millionaire thanks to the power of contributing annually, compounding gains and avoiding capital gains taxes.  As you can see in the chart below, stocks have achieved 10% gains for three decades. As I mentioned above, the S&P500 earned 57% in the 2-year period of 2023 and 2024.  Are you depositing 10% of your gross income into tax-protected retirement accounts? Investing is the only ticket out of the rat race. Even someone of modest means can achieve financial freedom by focusing on paying themselves first, learning a time-proven investing strategy (such as our pie chart system with 1-3 times a year rebalancing), and by getting creative about adopting a Thrive Budget. This requires strength, courage and wisdom, rather than just buying into the current high cost of things. Most of us will have a few different retirement accounts – our employer-sponsored plan (free money up to the employer match), our self-directed IRAs, our HSA, our children’s college funds. When doing our rebalancing, it’s important to consider all these accounts, as well as our checking, savings, crypto and other paper assets, to see the complete picture. We can then mockup a sample pie chart and use that as our guide for capturing gains high and adding more low. We have many resources, including free videocoaching. Email [email protected] to learn more. Are you waiting to pay off debt before investing? We’re often doing the simple math, thinking, “I’m paying almost 30% on my credit cards, so I’ll wait until I pay that off before investing.” Sadly, that mindset keeps us trapped in a debt prison that few can escape. A debt problem is a budgeting challenge. It’s no reason to stop providing for our own future and investing to increase our personal net worth (which will actually help with the debt problem). Get started by reading the Debt Solutions section of The ABCs of Money 6th edition. We also have a free Debt Solutions videocoaching series. Email [email protected] with Debt Solutions Videocoaching in the subject line to receive free access to this series. Spending 30% or more of our income on housing At some point, we just want to get a place away from our parents and start adulting. However, if our housing budget is taking up 30% or more of our income, then we are making the landlord or bank rich at our own expense. It’s hard to enjoy our freedom if we can’t afford any fun. There are many ways that we can get creative about housing, which will allow us to have room in the budget for paying ourselves first, for charity, for education and for fun. These things can all add up to living the life of our dreams, instead of punching the clock, feeling buried alive in bills or struggling to survive. The Thrive Budget section of The ABCs of Money 6th edition offers essential tips. You might also consider playing our Financial Freedom Game. Click to access the online version on my YouTube.com/NataliePace video channel. Chasing headlines and pump and dump schemes Most of us don’t realize that most of the emails and social media ads we see are pay-to-play. Red flags that we are being suckered in include:
Even celebrities have been caught up in schemes that turned out to be fraudulent – and, even worse, were spokespersons who were paid to convince others to jump in, too. Tom Brady and Kim Kardashian are just two examples of this. However, any time you see a celebrity promoting something on social media, it’s a paid advertisement. The star is getting some sort of incentive or compensation. A better plan is to invest in what we think is hot, dollar cost average into it if it’s near a high and then capture gains when it shoots the moon. That way, when we hit a Crypto Winter or a bear market, we have kept our money safe from the staggering losses, while also giving ourselves the liquidity to buy low instead of having to endure losses of 50% or more of our wealth for the duration of the downturn. It’s been a long time since the Great Recession. Many investors have never seen an extended downturn. However, it’s important to remember that we never want to confuse a bull market with wisdom, and that recessions can take years to recover – during which time most of us will experience extreme financial hardship. In the Dot Com Recession, the NASDAQ Composite Index lost 78% (a million dollars dropped to just $220,000) and took 15 years to recover.   Options and day trading The Nobel Prize winning economist who wrote the book on options trading was on the board of one of the most highly leveraged, biggest bailout in U.S. history. Options and day trading are like playing tennis with Serena Williams. The person on the other side of the trade could be a hedge fund with a team of analysts, who employs high-frequency trading and algorithms, and are even able to legally step in front of you in the priority of their trades. It’s heartbreaking to watch people brag about their returns one month and then get loaded up with high-interest debt that many will struggle to pay and free themselves from. Yet that is a story that I hear far too often: following the wrong guru and watching helpless as our dreams turn to dust – and staggering debt. Crypto and capital gains A few years ago, the SEC approved Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs. While we used to have to pay high capital gains on our crypto, we can now purchase an ETF within our tax-protected retirement account. Part of our wealth plan must include reducing taxes. We don’t want our gains flying out the window. Refer to the top of this blog where I discuss the benefits of putting our hot investments in our Roth IRA. Bottom Line It’s easy to get caught up in stories that keep us running in the hamster wheel rather than accumulating real wealth. It’s a lot of work trying fancy tricks and get rich quick schemes. At some point, we should understand that others are benefitting from our fixation more than we are. A good plan costs less time and money – both of which can be better spent on things we like a lot more than trying to game a system (that, like Vegas, has many tricks to game us). The power and magic of the Thrive Budget and a time-proven investing system will transform our lives immediately and forever. That’s why we call it the life math that we all should’ve received in high school. The sooner we educate ourselves about proper financial strategies, instead of allowing ourselves to be tossed around by the current economic conditions, headlines, hot tips, the high cost of housing, et al., the faster we can start creating the life we really want to live. Wisdom and right action are the cures. Register now to join us at our online Financial Freedom Retreat Oct. 11-13 2025 where you'll learn how to protect your wealth, save thousands annually in your budget and how to hedge in a volatile Debt World. If you'd like a life-changing adventure of a lifetime, be our guest at a royal manor house in Cornwall, England, March 12-19, 2027. (With just eight rooms available, this exclusive, private, bucket-list adventure sells out a year in advance!) Call 310-430-2397 or email [email protected] to learn more. The 2025 Restormel Retreat was a magical and royal experience. Click to learn more. Receive the best price when you register for the Financial Freedom Retreat Oct. 11-13 2025 by July 31, 2025. Request testimonials at [email protected]. You can also view some on the flyer page of the retreat. Learn how to: * Invest in hot industries, such as Nvidia, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing, * Hedge against a weaker dollar, * Invest and compound your gains, * Green your retirement plan, * Easy and efficacious nest egg strategies, * Get hot and diversified (including in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and crypto), * Evaluate stocks, * Avoid capital gains and financial predators, * Keep an age-appropriate amount safe, and, * Know what's safe in a Debt World. You'll even discover how to save thousands annually with smarter big-ticket choices. Yes, it's a complete money makeover. Email [email protected] or call 310-430-2397 to learn more and register. Learn the 15+ things you'll master and read testimonials in the flyer on the home page at NataliePace.com. Register with friends and family to receive the best price. "Ten minutes into the first day I was already much smarter about investing than I ever thought I would be in my life and I knew I was in exactly the right place at this retreat. I am amazed at how EASY and FUN it is to make my money work for me and those I love. I think this kind of information should be compulsory in schools. I wish I'd learned this sooner." CM If you’d like an unbiased 2nd opinion on your current wealth plan, email [email protected] for pricing and information.  Receive the best price when you register by July 31, 2025. Visit NataliePace.com to learn more. Call 310-430-2397 or email [email protected] for pricing, additional information and to register.  Join us for our Restormel Royal Immersive Adventure Retreat. March 2027. Email [email protected] to learn more. Click for testimonials, pricing, hours & details. Register now to receive the best price, the best room and eight private, prosperity coaching sessions. There are only 8 rooms available. This retreat includes an all-access pass to all of our online training for a full year for two. Considering the perks, you're receiving a 65% discount to learn the life math that we all should have received in high school, and the room is free! Email [email protected] to learn more. The best rooms at the 2025 retreat were sold out in 2024! Yes, it's a great idea to register and start transforming our lives now!  Natalie Wynne Pace is an Advocate for Sustainability, Financial Literacy & Women's Empowerment. Natalie is the bestselling author of The ABCs of Money (6th edition) and The Power of 8 Billion: It's Up to Us, and is the co-creator of the Earth Gratitude Project. She has been ranked as a No. 1 stock picker, above over 835 A-list pundits, by an independent tracking agency (TipsTraders). Her book The ABCs of Money remained at or near the #1 Investing Basics e-book on Amazon for over 3 years (in its vertical), with over 120,000 downloads and a mean 5-star ranking. The 6th edition of The ABCs of Money and the 2nd edition of Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is (2nd edition) are the most recent releases of these books. Follow her on Instagram. Natalie Pace's easy as a pie chart nest egg strategies earned gains in the last two recessions and have outperformed the bull markets in between. That is why her Investor Educational Retreats, books and private coaching are enthusiastically recommended by Nobel Prize winning economist Gary S. Becker, TD AMERITRADE chairman Joe Moglia, Kay Koplovitz and many Main Street investors who have transformed their lives using her Thrive Budget and investing strategies. Click to view a video testimonial from Nilo Bolden. Check out Natalie Pace's Substack podcast on Apple and Spotify. Watch videoconferences and webinars on Youtube. Other Blogs of Interest Clean Energy Unplugged. Tesla Sales Slump in 2Q 2025. Our Super Performing Hots and Value Replacements. Is Gold a Tier 1 HQLA Reserve Currency? Is Your Income Strategy Losing Money? Gold, Silver & Crypto Soar. Stocks Offer 5%. Debt Balloons. Some Foreigners are Selling U.S. Treasuries. Get Safe & Hot in 1 Easy Plan. Home Prices Soften. Is Your City Next? Tesla Vision vs. Waymo LiDAR and Air Taxis. Are Any of Them Safe? Archer Aviation is Chosen to be the Exclusive Air Taxi Service for the 2028 L.A. Olympics. Company of the Year? USA Downgraded. Is U.S. Reserve Currency Status Threatened? Utilities: In the Eye of the Natural Disaster Storms. Aging Mom Doesn't Want to Discuss Dilapidated House. Investors Ask Natalie. Sell in May? Tesla, Tariffs, Chinese Competition and Price Wars. Fun Ways to Celebrate Earth Day April 22nd. Will the Correction Become a Bear Market? 21st Century Recessions Look More Like Depressions. Will Oil Prices Sink or Soar? Executives are Uncertain. Health Savings Accounts. Save Thousands. Get a Tax Credit. Provide for Tomorrow's Healthcare Needs. Restormel Manor House 2025. A Truly Royal and Magical Adventure. 9 Ways to Cut Your Tax Bill in Half and Save Thousands Annually. Berkshire Hathaway. Should I Just Invest in Warren Buffett? Should I Have a Money Manager? Top Dividend/Income Strategies for 2025. 10 Rules of Successful Investing. Quantum Computing. Paper Losses. Another Warning About Long-Term Bonds! 2025 Investor IQ Test. 2025 Investor IQ Test Answers. Indonesia: Rich in Nickel with Ambitions of Becoming an EV Battery Hub. RoboTaxis. AI. The Magnificent 7. Why Are So Many Safe Investments Losing Money? Canadian, Australian and U.S. Banks. Are Any of Them Safe? Ireland. Rich in Technology, Biotechnology and Agribusiness. Robo Investing and AI. No, They are Not Foolproof. Copper. Peru ETF Outperforms the S&P500. Will Insurance Companies & Homeowners Weather the Hurricanes? 9 Money Secrets of the Ultra Wealthy. Housing & Budgeting Solutions. Arkansas Sues Temu for Data Theft. We Must Be the Boss of Our Money. Why? Fast Fashion. Fossil Fuels. Plastic Clothing. Atacama Desert Waste Dumps. Fintechs and Brokerages that Fail are Not FDIC-Insured. 5 Green Tips for Clean Beaches Week. So, You Think You Want to Be a B&B Owner... Retiring Soon? Start Planning Now. 2024 Rebalancing IQ Test. Answers to the 2024 Rebalancing IQ Test. 9 Inflation, Budgeting, Debt Reduction and Investing Solutions. China & Russia Double Their Gold Holdings. Uh. Oh. More Bank Trouble. Housing. Unaffordable. What Works? Case studies and creative solutions. The Underperforming DJIA, Full of Fossil Fuels and Forever Chemicals. The Best ROI* (Almost 40%!) & 7 Life Hacks That Save Thousands. 13 Lifestyle Choices to Reduce Waste, Pollution & CO2 & Save a Boatload of Dough. 11-Point Green Checklist for Schools. 10 Wealth Secrets of Billionaires and Royals. Fiat. Crypto. Gold. BRICS. Real Estate. Alternative Investments. BRICS Currency. Will the Dollar Become Extinct? Why We Are Underweighting Banks and the Financial Industry. Save Thousands Annually With Smarter Energy Choices Is Your FDIC-Insured Cash Really Safe? Money Market Funds, FDIC, SIPC: Are Any of Them Safe? Important Disclaimers Please note: Natalie Pace does not act or operate like a broker. She reports on financial news, and is one of the most trusted sources of financial literacy, education and forensic analysis in the world. Natalie Pace educates and informs individual investors to give investors a competitive edge in their personal decision-making. Any publicly-traded companies, funds or projects mentioned by Natalie Pace are not intended to be buy or sell recommendations. ALWAYS do your research and consult an experienced, reputable financial professional before buying or selling any security, and consider your long-term goals and strategies. Investors should NOT be all in on any asset class or individual stocks. Your retirement plan should reflect an age-appropriate, diversified wealth plan, which has been designed strategically, with the assistance of financial professionals who are familiar with your goals, risk tolerance, tax needs and more. The "trading" portion of your portfolio should be a very small part of your investment strategy, and the amount of money you invest into individual companies should never be greater than your experience, wisdom, knowledge, patience and diversified strategy. Information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. However, NataliePace.com does not warrant its completeness or accuracy. Opinions constitute our judgment as of the date of this publication and are subject to change without notice. This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial instrument.  Clean Energy Unplugged by the Big Beautiful Bill. EV tax credit ends September 30, 2025. Solar and wind tax credits end December 31, 2025. New legislation (H.R.1, The Big Beautiful Bill) pulls the plug on the clean energy industry, some companies of which were already on life-support. The negative effects will ripple throughout many different supporting players, including utilities, inverters, lithium and polysilicon miners and manufacturers and some chip makers. Email [email protected] if you would like an updated Auto, Solar and Wind, Semiconductor, Lithium or Utility Stock Report Cards. Here are the things I will cover in this blog. Electric Vehicles Solar and Wind Inverters and Chipmakers Lithium and Polysilicon Industries Homeowners and Energy Efficiency Tax Credits Utilities Clean Energy ETFs And here is more on each topic. Electric Vehicles Electric vehicles are not one of the clean industries on life-support. This is the fastest growing vertical in the automotive industry. Electric car sales reached 1.4 million in the U.S. and 11 million in China in 2024 (source: IEA.org).  Projections have EVs reaching 71% of the total auto market within a decade. Despite this positive industry news, Tesla’s deliveries were down -13.5% in the 2nd quarter. As I mentioned in my Tesla blog last week, “This could result in a drop of up to $1 billion in quarterly revenue from the 2nd quarter of 2024, due to the intense price wars that EV makers are engaged in, requiring almost all EV automakers to reduce prices to compete.” With inventory building up at Tesla, will the loss of the tax credit force the company to lower prices even more in the U.S. Will people pile in with a purchase in the 3rd quarter, while the EV tax credit is still alive? (This could definitely initiate a near-term bump in sales.) Taking away the $7,500 EV tax credit, effective Sept. 30, 2025, is bad news for Tesla. However, it’s not a death knell for the company. (Tesla sells more cars in China than in the U.S.) Having said that, Tesla’s shares, even with the pullback this year, are very expensive. (Should a company with just $7.13 billion in net income really be valued at a trillion dollars?) Tesla’s shares are priced for years down the road, based on Tesla’s potential in artificial intelligence (particularly in autonomous vehicles) and robotics. While Elon Musk fans believe everything he touches turns to gold, the bet on Tesla Vision without LiDAR is something that many CEOs and engineers strongly disagree with. “We really believe that LiDAR is mission critical,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said last week, according to Fortune magazine. LiDAR could give Waymo the edge over Tesla in the robotaxi market. Why? There's a video that shows this quite clearly in my Robotaxi blog. You can check out my ride in a Waymo on my Instagram page. (Click to access.) Waymo is already operating in Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, and Atlanta, with expansion plans into Miami and Washington D.C. in 2026. One final note: when the economy slows down, car sales tank. The U.S. economy is expected to fall to just 1.4% GDP growth in 2025, compared to 2.8% in 2024. The 2nd half of 2025 is expected to have slower auto sales than the 1st half. Some analysts believe there will be a bump in 3rd quarter in EV sales before the credit expires. There is a great deal of uncertainty whether car buyers will be able to purchase EVs without the government support, particularly since consumer debt is at an all-time high, and delinquencies on student loans surged in May (source: New York Federal Reserve Bank). Solar and Wind Sunpower declared bankruptcy on August 5, 2024. Commercial, community and utility solar projects have grown, while the residential rooftop vertical struggled – perhaps due to the higher interest rates. By comparison, First Solar’s revenues were up 6.35% year over year in the 1st quarter, and the revenue guidance issued in the 1Q 2025 earnings report was for $4.5-$5.5 billion, compared to $4.1 billion in 2024. While not explosive, this could be enough to keep investors interested. However, this guidance came before the Big, Beautiful Bill passed. First Solar could lower the projection as a result of the solar tax credit getting pulled. However, we could also see a frenzy of activity before the Dec. 31, 2025, expiration of solar credits. At any rate, 2026 will struggle to be as strong for First Solar, unless there is a major mid-term upset in Congress. American Superconductor is another company that is shining brightly as many clean energy companies struggle. (Many companies on our Wind/Solar stock report card have seen their revenue sink, their debt soar and are cash negative.) AMSC’s turbines are useful in military ships, their “protection” degaussing systems cloak war ships, and their clean energy technology and power conduction solutions are popular with utility companies. Defense is always in favor under a Republican Administration, especially when there are active wars going on. AMSC’s revenue was up 58.60% in the 1st quarter and could jump 63.8% year over year in 2Q 2025. Be careful with all individual clean energy companies, as we have yet to see the impact of tariffs and the new legislation, and particularly in a company like AMSC that is trading at a 5-year high, with a very lofty price/earnings and price/sales ratio. Inverters and Chipmakers Inverters and chipmakers, such as Enphase, a former Wall Street darling, are seeing their sales dramatically reduced from the 2022 highs. Many have had their stock hammered. Both Enphase and SolarEdge have high debt-equity ratios – made worse by their new small cap status. Both companies are down by more than -80% in share price and market value, which is a reminder of just how important it is to capture gains. This was before tariffs and having the plug pulled on clean energy tax credits. We suggest rebalancing 1-3 times a year and that sticking with targeted ETFs over individual companies is more appropriate, particularly for busy professionals. If you’d like an Inverter Stock Report Card, email [email protected]. Lithium and Polysilicon Industries Lithium and polysilicon miners and manufacturers have been out of favor for a few years. The problem is that there is a very prolific supply. The demand is high, but the supply is far higher. See the price demise in the charts below.   Homeowners and Energy Efficiency Tax Credits If you are interested in energy efficiency, wind or solar, now is the time to race to get it installed. The tax credit, which is 30%, runs out at the end of 2025. Leases are not eligible. (Read the bill text at this link.) Also, it’s important to reduce your megawatt footprint before you get the quote on the solar. This could save you thousands of dollars. If you live in a sunny state, and you make some smart energy efficiency improvements in your home, which can be very, very cheap, then the payback time of the solar panels could be as low as 4-7 years. Thereafter, the amount of money you save on utilities could be the equivalent of a 15% or higher yield. That is an excellent investment for a hard asset that should hold its value very well and is purchased for a good price (30% off retail). The window on this opportunity is clearly closing quite soon. Utilities 21.5% of the U.S. grid was powered by renewable energy in 2023.  On February 24, 2025, the Energy Information Administration (under the new Administration), projected that solar and battery storage would be the leaders of new power generation in the U.S.  If the new legislation remains intact, 2026 will be a different story. However, what might happen in November of 2026 or 2028? Things can change rapidly, as we saw with clean energy residential and commercial tax credits that were supposed to be in play through 2032 being completed turned off in a matter of months. However, as we saw in 2021, when clean energy was the hottest investment on Wall Street, the opposite can also be the case. Whether a utility has a large amount of renewable energy or not, with more expensive natural disasters being blamed on the companies, this industry is not the safe harbor of yesteryear. If you’ve invested for the dividends, or any other reason, be sure to read my blog and warning on the industry. (Click to acess.) Clean Energy ETFs The iShares ICLN ETF tripled between March 2020 and Jan. 2021. Clean energy was one of the best performing industries that year. Rebalancing 1-3 times a year will help us to capture gains. (Early January is a great time to rebalance.)  Source: MSN.com. (c) Microsoft. Used with permission. ICLN is currently trading near an all-time low. The industry has been very volatile over the last two decades. Administrations change their policies. However, in recessions, the clean energy industry suffers, even if there is a green President in charge. (Individuals and countries that are reeling economically must cancel new projects.) While there’s little to suggest that the clean energy industry will be hot anytime soon, changes can happen swiftly (even as soon as midterm elections). When we wait for the headlines that something is hot, it’s too late. So, rather than selling low now, thinking clean energy is out of favor, it’s a better idea to forecast whether the industry might be in favor going forward. What conditions might change the game? Most people don’t buy low because they aren’t seeing the potential. When the gains are making headlines, everyone wants to buy (high) – even if they have no clue as to why the investment is soaring. (Sometimes, as was the case with many meme stocks, there’s not a lot of true value behind the furor.) If we’ve seen the value when no one else has, then we’re on the top of that wave, capturing gains at the high. Bottom Line Individual companies are tough to invest in, particularly in this feast-or-famine industry. Investing in a clean energy fund will lower risk. However, the industry is volatile. So, rebalancing 1-3 times a year is VITAL to capturing gains and keeping our wealth growing. Would I add clean energy as a hot slice right now? No. However, knowing how much appetite there is for renewable energy throughout the world, and how many of these products make other industries, including defense and utilities, more versatile and resilient, I’m not selling low either. If I owned individual companies, such as Tesla, First Solar or AMSC, I’d move into a targeted ETF (offered by a creditworthy fund company). Most Main Street investors have demanding jobs which prevent us from doing the rigorous analysis and disciplined profit-taking required to win on Wall Street. Register now to join us at our online Financial Freedom Retreat Oct. 11-13 2025 where you'll learn how to protect your wealth, save thousands annually in your budget and how to hedge in a volatile Debt World. If you'd like a life-changing adventure of a lifetime, be our guest at a royal manor house in Cornwall, England, March 12-19, 2027. (With just eight rooms available, this exclusive, private, bucket-list adventure sells out a year in advance!) Call 310-430-2397 or email [email protected] to learn more. The 2025 Restormel Retreat was a magical and royal experience. Click to learn more. Receive the best price when you register for the Financial Freedom Retreat Oct. 11-13 2025 by July 31, 2025. Request testimonials at [email protected]. You can also view some on the flyer page of the retreat. Learn how to: * Invest in hot industries, such as Nvidia, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing, * Hedge against a weaker dollar, * Invest and compound your gains, * Green your retirement plan, * Easy and efficacious nest egg strategies, * Get hot and diversified (including in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and crypto), * Evaluate stocks, * Avoid capital gains and financial predators, * Keep an age-appropriate amount safe, and, * Know what's safe in a Debt World. You'll even discover how to save thousands annually with smarter big-ticket choices. Yes, it's a complete money makeover. Email [email protected] or call 310-430-2397 to learn more and register. Learn the 15+ things you'll master and read testimonials in the flyer on the home page at NataliePace.com. Register with friends and family to receive the best price. "Ten minutes into the first day I was already much smarter about investing than I ever thought I would be in my life and I knew I was in exactly the right place at this retreat. I am amazed at how EASY and FUN it is to make my money work for me and those I love. I think this kind of information should be compulsory in schools. I wish I'd learned this sooner." CM If you’d like an unbiased 2nd opinion on your current wealth plan, email [email protected] for pricing and information.  Receive the best price when you register by July 31, 2025. Visit NataliePace.com to learn more. Call 310-430-2397 or email [email protected] for pricing, additional information and to register.  Join us for our Restormel Royal Immersive Adventure Retreat. March 2027. Email [email protected] to learn more. Click for testimonials, pricing, hours & details. Register now to receive the best price, the best room and eight private, prosperity coaching sessions. There are only 8 rooms available. This retreat includes an all-access pass to all of our online training for a full year for two. Considering the perks, you're receiving a 65% discount to learn the life math that we all should have received in high school, and the room is free! Email [email protected] to learn more. The best rooms at the 2025 retreat were sold out in 2024! Yes, it's a great idea to register and start transforming our lives now!  Natalie Wynne Pace is an Advocate for Sustainability, Financial Literacy & Women's Empowerment. Natalie is the bestselling author of The ABCs of Money (6th edition) and The Power of 8 Billion: It's Up to Us, and is the co-creator of the Earth Gratitude Project. She has been ranked as a No. 1 stock picker, above over 835 A-list pundits, by an independent tracking agency (TipsTraders). Her book The ABCs of Money remained at or near the #1 Investing Basics e-book on Amazon for over 3 years (in its vertical), with over 120,000 downloads and a mean 5-star ranking. The 6th edition of The ABCs of Money and the 2nd edition of Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is (2nd edition) are the most recent releases of these books. Follow her on Instagram. Natalie Pace's easy as a pie chart nest egg strategies earned gains in the last two recessions and have outperformed the bull markets in between. That is why her Investor Educational Retreats, books and private coaching are enthusiastically recommended by Nobel Prize winning economist Gary S. Becker, TD AMERITRADE chairman Joe Moglia, Kay Koplovitz and many Main Street investors who have transformed their lives using her Thrive Budget and investing strategies. Click to view a video testimonial from Nilo Bolden. Check out Natalie Pace's Substack podcast on Apple and Spotify. Watch videoconferences and webinars on Youtube. Other Blogs of Interest Tesla Sales Slump in 2Q 2025. Our Super Performing Hots and Value Replacements. Is Gold a Tier 1 HQLA Reserve Currency? Is Your Income Strategy Losing Money? Gold, Silver & Crypto Soar. Stocks Offer 5%. Debt Balloons. Some Foreigners are Selling U.S. Treasuries. Get Safe & Hot in 1 Easy Plan. Home Prices Soften. Is Your City Next? Tesla Vision vs. Waymo LiDAR and Air Taxis. Are Any of Them Safe? Archer Aviation is Chosen to be the Exclusive Air Taxi Service for the 2028 L.A. Olympics. Company of the Year? USA Downgraded. Is U.S. Reserve Currency Status Threatened? Utilities: In the Eye of the Natural Disaster Storms. Aging Mom Doesn't Want to Discuss Dilapidated House. Investors Ask Natalie. Sell in May? Tesla, Tariffs, Chinese Competition and Price Wars. Fun Ways to Celebrate Earth Day April 22nd. Will the Correction Become a Bear Market? 21st Century Recessions Look More Like Depressions. Will Oil Prices Sink or Soar? Executives are Uncertain. Health Savings Accounts. Save Thousands. Get a Tax Credit. Provide for Tomorrow's Healthcare Needs. Restormel Manor House 2025. A Truly Royal and Magical Adventure. 9 Ways to Cut Your Tax Bill in Half and Save Thousands Annually. Berkshire Hathaway. Should I Just Invest in Warren Buffett? Should I Have a Money Manager? Top Dividend/Income Strategies for 2025. 10 Rules of Successful Investing. Quantum Computing. Paper Losses. Another Warning About Long-Term Bonds! 2025 Investor IQ Test. 2025 Investor IQ Test Answers. Indonesia: Rich in Nickel with Ambitions of Becoming an EV Battery Hub. RoboTaxis. AI. The Magnificent 7. Why Are So Many Safe Investments Losing Money? Canadian, Australian and U.S. Banks. Are Any of Them Safe? Ireland. Rich in Technology, Biotechnology and Agribusiness. Robo Investing and AI. No, They are Not Foolproof. Copper. Peru ETF Outperforms the S&P500. Will Insurance Companies & Homeowners Weather the Hurricanes? 9 Money Secrets of the Ultra Wealthy. Housing & Budgeting Solutions. Arkansas Sues Temu for Data Theft. We Must Be the Boss of Our Money. Why? Fast Fashion. Fossil Fuels. Plastic Clothing. Atacama Desert Waste Dumps. Fintechs and Brokerages that Fail are Not FDIC-Insured. 5 Green Tips for Clean Beaches Week. So, You Think You Want to Be a B&B Owner... Retiring Soon? Start Planning Now. 2024 Rebalancing IQ Test. Answers to the 2024 Rebalancing IQ Test. 9 Inflation, Budgeting, Debt Reduction and Investing Solutions. China & Russia Double Their Gold Holdings. Uh. Oh. More Bank Trouble. Housing. Unaffordable. What Works? Case studies and creative solutions. The Underperforming DJIA, Full of Fossil Fuels and Forever Chemicals. The Best ROI* (Almost 40%!) & 7 Life Hacks That Save Thousands. 13 Lifestyle Choices to Reduce Waste, Pollution & CO2 & Save a Boatload of Dough. 11-Point Green Checklist for Schools. 10 Wealth Secrets of Billionaires and Royals. Fiat. Crypto. Gold. BRICS. Real Estate. Alternative Investments. BRICS Currency. Will the Dollar Become Extinct? Why We Are Underweighting Banks and the Financial Industry. Save Thousands Annually With Smarter Energy Choices Is Your FDIC-Insured Cash Really Safe? Money Market Funds, FDIC, SIPC: Are Any of Them Safe? Important Disclaimers Please note: Natalie Pace does not act or operate like a broker. She reports on financial news, and is one of the most trusted sources of financial literacy, education and forensic analysis in the world. Natalie Pace educates and informs individual investors to give investors a competitive edge in their personal decision-making. Any publicly-traded companies, funds or projects mentioned by Natalie Pace are not intended to be buy or sell recommendations. ALWAYS do your research and consult an experienced, reputable financial professional before buying or selling any security, and consider your long-term goals and strategies. Investors should NOT be all in on any asset class or individual stocks. Your retirement plan should reflect an age-appropriate, diversified wealth plan, which has been designed strategically, with the assistance of financial professionals who are familiar with your goals, risk tolerance, tax needs and more. The "trading" portion of your portfolio should be a very small part of your investment strategy, and the amount of money you invest into individual companies should never be greater than your experience, wisdom, knowledge, patience and diversified strategy. Information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. However, NataliePace.com does not warrant its completeness or accuracy. Opinions constitute our judgment as of the date of this publication and are subject to change without notice. This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial instrument.  President Trump purchased a Tesla on the White House lawn on March 11, 2025. Tesla. Sales Slump as the White House War of Words Rages. I want to start off this blog by acknowledging the massive feat achieved by Tesla, under the aegis of Elon Musk, to disrupt the ICE* industry and make electric vehicles de rigueur. It was an impressive feat. However, today, the competition for EVs has erupted into a price war, while the Bromance breakup between Mr. Musk and The President has descended into a war of words and threats. These stress factors are showing up in sales. *Internal Combustion Engine. Tesla, as a trillion-dollar company with exciting projects in development, should have a bright future for decades to come. However, the real question is, “Should Tesla be valued at more than twice the combined market caps of Toyota, General Motors, and Ford Motor Company combined?” To answer that, we must look beyond the headlines and our own biases and dive into the details. Here are the topics we’ll cover in this blog. Deliveries are Down Intense EV Competition and Price Wars Regulatory Credits (and that White House War of Words) Revenue and Net Income Down Weakening Economy Expensive Price And here is more information on each point. Deliveries are Down Tesla issued a 2Q 2025 deliveries report on July 2, 2025. Tesla delivered 14% more vehicles in the second quarter than they did in the first quarter of 2025. However, year over year, deliveries are down. The company delivered 384,122 vehicles in the 2nd quarter of 2025, compared to 443,956 vehicles in the same quarter in 2024 – a decline of -13.5%. This could result in a drop of up to $1 billion in quarterly revenue from the 2nd quarter of 2024, due to the intense price wars that EV makers are engaged in, requiring almost all EV automakers to reduce prices to compete. It should also be noted that the company is building up inventory, producing 26,122 more vehicles in the 2nd quarter than the company sold. In the 1st quarter, Tesla produced 25,934 more vehicles than the company sold. Intense EV Competition and Price Wars BYD is the top selling electric vehicle maker in the world, even though Tesla still has one of the most popular cars in the world. The Tesla Model Y has been the #1 bestselling car since Q1 2023. However, according to JATO Dynamics, the Toyota RAV4 beat the Y by a margin of just 0.16% in 2Q 2025 to become the best-selling vehicle.  When we look at a stock report card of the fastest growing automakers, many are Chinese-based. This has a lot to do with China being the largest electric vehicle market by far. Of more than 17 million EVs sold globally in 2024, 11 million were purchased in China. Tesla is very popular in China. However, there are many options to choose from that are much more affordable. Tesla has had to lower prices to compete.  Many European countries and the U.S. have kept Chinese EVs out of their markets with very high tariffs. However, BYD and other Chinese EVs are available for purchase in Mexico, South America, Africa and Asia. If you are interested in an updated auto stock report card email [email protected]. Regulatory Credits (and that White House War of Words) Tesla’s regulatory credits were $595 million in the first quarter of 2025. Without the credits, Tesla’s earnings results would have reflected a net loss instead of net income of $409 million. It’s interesting to think that the DOGE department that Elon Musk set up might in fact go after some of these regulatory credits now. That was a threat posted by the President on Truth Social on July 1, 2025. Revenue and Net Income Down Tesla did a company-wide factory renovation in the first quarter of 2025. So, it is possible that the second quarter net income can be a little more robust than the weak 1Q net income of just $409 million. That still could put the range somewhere between $500 million and perhaps $1 billion. The full year revenue could be down by more than half compared to the $7.3 billion net income in 2024, and even more depressed than the $15 billion in net income that Tesla enjoyed in 2023. Weakening Economy There are more than a few headwinds for the auto industry. The U.S. economy is expected to grow by 1.4% GDP growth in 2025, compared to 2.8% in 2024. Student loan delinquencies began being reported in May of this year. Since then, we’ve seen a spike in 90-day+ delinquencies to 7.74%. This will result in lower credit scores and higher interest rates for anyone wanting to purchase a vehicle. Tariffs on steel will increase the costs of automakers and reduce profit margins, unless they are able to raise their prices. There are additional tariffs for foreign made vehicles. This is one area where Tesla’s build-local motto is in the company’s favor. Tesla builds cars for the U.S. market in the U.S., for Europe in Germany, and for China in China. Automakers struggle when unemployment rises or consumers have difficulty borrowing due to low credit scores or high interest rates. While interest rates are not egregiously high on a historical basis, many Americans have gotten accustomed to almost zero since the Great Recession. With inflation so high, the restrictive rates could negatively impact all auto purchases. It’s important to remember that General Motors and Chrysler both had to go through bankruptcy debt restructuring in the financial crisis of 2008 and the Great Recession. We’ve already seen an auto parts manufacturer go belly-up – Marelli (on June 11, 2025). Expensive Price Tesla is one of the most expensive stocks on Wall Street. The company is worth over $1 trillion, with a price/earnings ratio of 166. Yes, Tesla has some exciting projects and products in development. However, should a company that might earn less than $6 billion in net income in 2025 be valued at over a trillion dollars? General Motors and Ford Motor Company had $6 billion in net income in 2024, with current market values of just $51 billion and $47 billion, respectively. It can take years for robotaxis to be embraced and rolled out in a meaningful expansion. It’s questionable whether we’re all going have our own Optimus robot before the next recession. There have been a lot of reports of safety incidents from the Tesla robotaxi launch in Austin, and engineers have raised concerns about the use of cameras only (Tesla FSD) versus LiDAR and cameras (what Waymo uses). (Click to read my blog on that.) Pricing companies out years from now, when there are so many risks in the marketplace, is walking quite a tight rope. Tesla’s share price is volatile, plunging as low as $182/share in July of 2024, hitting a high of $488.54 in December of 2024 and then plunging again to $222/share in early April of 2025. Prices are back to $315/share. However, with the public and White House backlash aimed at the CEO, and the daily headlines those skirmishes generate, volatility will likely continue. That’s quite a rollercoaster. Even sophisticated traders and hedge funds might find it difficult to be on the right side of that trade. Bottom Line I would never bet against Elon Musk because he has proven himself to be one of the most productive CEOs ever. When the company is on the ropes, he finds ways to bounce back and soar above the competition. Disrupting an industry that’s been around for a century is a tall order, and it is very impressive what Tesla has achieved. However, in a slowing economy, people tend to buy fewer cars. In price wars, companies must lower prices to compete. The current Administration is not friendly to clean energy companies and has threatened to take away subsidies and credits. Those are number of headwinds for a company priced for what people hope will be the value years from now. Anyone who bought Tesla stock early in the game, or even at this year’s low, has enjoyed gains. However, in addition to the auto industry challenges, we’re long overdue for a recession. A correction or bear market could come as quite a shock for newer traders who haven’t experienced a time when the markets didn’t bounce back quickly. Register now to join us at our online Financial Freedom Retreat Oct. 11-13 2025 where you'll learn how to protect your wealth, save thousands annually in your budget and how to hedge in a volatile Debt World. If you'd like a life-changing adventure of a lifetime, be our guest at a royal manor house in Cornwall, England, March 12-19, 2027. (With just eight rooms available, this exclusive, private, bucket-list adventure sells out a year in advance!) Call 310-430-2397 or email [email protected] to learn more. The 2025 Restormel Retreat was a magical and royal experience. Click to learn more. Receive the best price when you register for the Financial Freedom Retreat Oct. 11-13 2025 by July 31, 2025. Request testimonials at [email protected]. You can also view some on the flyer page of the retreat. Learn how to: * Invest in hot industries, such as Nvidia, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing, * Hedge against a weaker dollar, * Invest and compound your gains, * Green your retirement plan, * Easy and efficacious nest egg strategies, * Get hot and diversified (including in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and crypto), * Evaluate stocks, * Avoid capital gains and financial predators, * Keep an age-appropriate amount safe, and, * Know what's safe in a Debt World. You'll even discover how to save thousands annually with smarter big-ticket choices. Yes, it's a complete money makeover. Email [email protected] or call 310-430-2397 to learn more and register. Learn the 15+ things you'll master and read testimonials in the flyer on the home page at NataliePace.com. Register with friends and family to receive the best price. "Ten minutes into the first day I was already much smarter about investing than I ever thought I would be in my life and I knew I was in exactly the right place at this retreat. I am amazed at how EASY and FUN it is to make my money work for me and those I love. I think this kind of information should be compulsory in schools. I wish I'd learned this sooner." CM If you’d like an unbiased 2nd opinion on your current wealth plan, email [email protected] for pricing and information.  Receive the best price when you register by July 31, 2025. Visit NataliePace.com to learn more. Call 310-430-2397 or email [email protected] for pricing, additional information and to register.  Join us for our Restormel Royal Immersive Adventure Retreat. March 2027. Email [email protected] to learn more. Click for testimonials, pricing, hours & details. Register now to receive the best price, the best room and eight private, prosperity coaching sessions. There are only 8 rooms available. This retreat includes an all-access pass to all of our online training for a full year for two. Considering the perks, you're receiving a 65% discount to learn the life math that we all should have received in high school, and the room is free! Email [email protected] to learn more. The best rooms at the 2025 retreat were sold out in 2024! Yes, it's a great idea to register and start transforming our lives now!  Natalie Pace in Powerscourt, Ireland. Photo: Marie Commiskey. Natalie Wynne Pace is an Advocate for Sustainability, Financial Literacy & Women's Empowerment. Natalie is the bestselling author of The ABCs of Money (6th edition) and The Power of 8 Billion: It's Up to Us, and is the co-creator of the Earth Gratitude Project. She has been ranked as a No. 1 stock picker, above over 835 A-list pundits, by an independent tracking agency (TipsTraders). Her book The ABCs of Money remained at or near the #1 Investing Basics e-book on Amazon for over 3 years (in its vertical), with over 120,000 downloads and a mean 5-star ranking. The 6th edition of The ABCs of Money and the 2nd edition of Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is (2nd edition) are the most recent releases of these books. Follow her on Instagram. Natalie Pace's easy as a pie chart nest egg strategies earned gains in the last two recessions and have outperformed the bull markets in between. That is why her Investor Educational Retreats, books and private coaching are enthusiastically recommended by Nobel Prize winning economist Gary S. Becker, TD AMERITRADE chairman Joe Moglia, Kay Koplovitz and many Main Street investors who have transformed their lives using her Thrive Budget and investing strategies. Click to view a video testimonial from Nilo Bolden. Check out Natalie Pace's Substack podcast on Apple and Spotify. Watch videoconferences and webinars on Youtube. Other Blogs of Interest Our Super Performing Hots and Value Replacements. Is Gold a Tier 1 HQLA Reserve Currency? Is Your Income Strategy Losing Money? Gold, Silver & Crypto Soar. Stocks Offer 5%. Debt Balloons. Some Foreigners are Selling U.S. Treasuries. Get Safe & Hot in 1 Easy Plan. Home Prices Soften. Is Your City Next? Tesla Vision vs. Waymo LiDAR and Air Taxis. Are Any of Them Safe? Archer Aviation is Chosen to be the Exclusive Air Taxi Service for the 2028 L.A. Olympics. Company of the Year? USA Downgraded. Is U.S. Reserve Currency Status Threatened? Utilities: In the Eye of the Natural Disaster Storms. Aging Mom Doesn't Want to Discuss Dilapidated House. Investors Ask Natalie. Sell in May? Tesla, Tariffs, Chinese Competition and Price Wars. Fun Ways to Celebrate Earth Day April 22nd. Will the Correction Become a Bear Market? 21st Century Recessions Look More Like Depressions. Will Oil Prices Sink or Soar? Executives are Uncertain. Health Savings Accounts. Save Thousands. Get a Tax Credit. Provide for Tomorrow's Healthcare Needs. Restormel Manor House 2025. A Truly Royal and Magical Adventure. 9 Ways to Cut Your Tax Bill in Half and Save Thousands Annually. Berkshire Hathaway. Should I Just Invest in Warren Buffett? Should I Have a Money Manager? The Cleanest Cities in the World. Can Altadena, Pacific Palisades and Gaza Become Edens? Rebuilding Gaza. American Companies Will Benefit. Top Dividend/Income Strategies for 2025. 2025 Crystal Ball: Who Will be the Superstars of Wall Street? Gold & Crypto IRAs and the Risk of Fraud and Losses. 10 Rules of Successful Investing. Quantum Computing. Paper Losses. Another Warning About Long-Term Bonds! 2025 Investor IQ Test. 2025 Investor IQ Test Answers. Apple iPhone Sales Plunge in China. Indonesia: Rich in Nickel with Ambitions of Becoming an EV Battery Hub. RoboTaxis. AI. The Magnificent 7. Charitable Giving. Nonprofits that are Worthy of Supporting. Why Are So Many Safe Investments Losing Money? A Bargain-Priced AI Company. Canadian, Australian and U.S. Banks. Are Any of Them Safe? Ireland. Rich in Technology, Biotechnology and Agribusiness. Robo Investing and AI. No, They are Not Foolproof. Stocks Soar as Nvidia Joins the DJIA. Copper. Peru ETF Outperforms the S&P500. Will Insurance Companies & Homeowners Weather the Hurricanes? 9 Money Secrets of the Ultra Wealthy. Housing & Budgeting Solutions. Arkansas Sues Temu for Data Theft. We Must Be the Boss of Our Money. Why? Fast Fashion. Fossil Fuels. Plastic Clothing. Atacama Desert Waste Dumps. Can Crowdstrike Recover from its Colossal Catastrophe? Featuring a Cybersecurity Overview. Fintechs and Brokerages that Fail are Not FDIC-Insured. 5 Green Tips for Clean Beaches Week. So, You Think You Want to Be a B&B Owner... Retiring Soon? Start Planning Now. 2024 Rebalancing IQ Test. Answers to the 2024 Rebalancing IQ Test. 9 Inflation, Budgeting, Debt Reduction and Investing Solutions. China & Russia Double Their Gold Holdings. 2024 Investment of the Year? Bitcoin Sets a New Record High. The Importance of Rebalancing. Uh. Oh. More Bank Trouble. Housing. Unaffordable. What Works? Case studies and creative solutions. The Underperforming DJIA, Full of Fossil Fuels and Forever Chemicals. The Best ROI* (Almost 40%!) & 7 Life Hacks That Save Thousands. 13 Lifestyle Choices to Reduce Waste, Pollution & CO2 & Save a Boatload of Dough. China Bans Apple 11-Point Green Checklist for Schools. 10 Wealth Secrets of Billionaires and Royals. Bank of America has $100 Billion in Bond Losses (on Paper) Fiat. Crypto. Gold. BRICS. Real Estate. Alternative Investments. BRICS Currency. Will the Dollar Become Extinct? Why We Are Underweighting Banks and the Financial Industry. Save Thousands Annually With Smarter Energy Choices Is Your FDIC-Insured Cash Really Safe? Money Market Funds, FDIC, SIPC: Are Any of Them Safe? My 24-Year-Old is Itching to Buy a Condo. Should I Help Him? The Bank Bail-in Plan on Your Dime. Important Disclaimers Please note: Natalie Pace does not act or operate like a broker. She reports on financial news, and is one of the most trusted sources of financial literacy, education and forensic analysis in the world. Natalie Pace educates and informs individual investors to give investors a competitive edge in their personal decision-making. Any publicly-traded companies, funds or projects mentioned by Natalie Pace are not intended to be buy or sell recommendations. ALWAYS do your research and consult an experienced, reputable financial professional before buying or selling any security, and consider your long-term goals and strategies. Investors should NOT be all in on any asset class or individual stocks. Your retirement plan should reflect an age-appropriate, diversified wealth plan, which has been designed strategically, with the assistance of financial professionals who are familiar with your goals, risk tolerance, tax needs and more. The "trading" portion of your portfolio should be a very small part of your investment strategy, and the amount of money you invest into individual companies should never be greater than your experience, wisdom, knowledge, patience and diversified strategy. Information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. However, NataliePace.com does not warrant its completeness or accuracy. Opinions constitute our judgment as of the date of this publication and are subject to change without notice. This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial instrument.  Our Super Performing Hots and International Value Replacements The international equity and hot ETFs featured in our sample pie charts have doubled, tripled and quadrupled the returns of the S&P500 in 2025. Is your plan performing at par, above the market, or are you suffering from poor performance and paper losses?  Sources: MSN.com and Coinbase. Used with permission. Here are the topics we’ll cover in this blog. Back to an All-Time High The S&P500 Has Doubled in 5 Years Hot Funds Value Replacement Funds Income Strategies Asia And here is more information on each topic. Back to an All-Time High The S&P500 is back to an all-time high, hitting an intraday peak of 6,215.08 on June 30, 2025. However, it’s important to put this in context, as 5.5% year to date return in the market is not as impressive as many of the other rallies we’ve seen in:
These are all sectors we’ve been focusing on in our hot slices and value replacements for years. (Click on the blue-highlighted words to read my blogs on these industries and countries.) The S&P500 Has Doubled in 5 Years Has the at-risk (stock) portion of your wealth plan doubled in the last five years? Conservative investors are often missing large cap growth funds, where the Magnificent 7 stocks are overweighted. Without the Magnificent 7 stocks, the S&P performance would have been half as powerful. This is one of the reasons why the S&P500 has trounced the performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average over the past three years. If you don’t know what you own, now is the time to get better diversified – and hot. Conservative investors can overweight more to the safe side to satisfy their risk appetite, while still participating in the spectacular returns of Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp), Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla. These trillion-dollar+ companies have embedded themselves in our daily lives. It’s silly to think that Dow components, such as Boeing and 3M, are more stable. Hot Funds It’s a great idea to add hot funds to increase the performance of our wealth plan. If this is done in an age-appropriate, diversified way, then we are not adding much risk for a potentially higher performance. When we rebalance regularly, we’re capturing gains at the high, taking some of our money off the table, while ensuring that we are still properly protected from volatility and from stocks sinking. This simple strategy earned gains in the Dot Com and the Great Recessions and outperformed the bull markets in between, and is less time and money of most managed plans.  Email [email protected] if you'd like to personalize your own pie chart using our free web app. Most of the managed wealth plans that I look at (to provide an unbiased 2nd opinion), do not have enough safe (protected from losses), are heavily overweighted in large cap companies, do not have enough of the Magnificent 7, and are missing the hots altogether. If a conservative investor has been given value funds and bonds for “income,” they are more likely to be suffering from paper losses, high fees and illiquidity, in addition to underperforming the S&P500. Are you reading the fine print of your managed plan? Are you aware of the fees you’re being charged, or of the paper losses? Are you factoring them in to discover the true income you’re earning (perhaps half of what you think)? Learn more in my blog, “Is Your Income Strategy Losing Money?” Value Replacement Funds Value funds are supposed to contain stocks that are on sale. However, equities are very expensive today, by many measurements. Prices are high. Debt is outlandish. This makes U.S. value funds problematic. For that reason, we’ve been using value replacement funds for years. Peru, Australia and Ireland have all been on fire this year. Income Strategies The Australia ETF offers a higher yield than most U.S.-based value funds, while also enjoying a higher credit rating in many of the banks and companies. The Peru ETF’s yield is 4.52%, compared to the 2.5% yield of the Morningstar Mid Cap Value ETF (symbol: IMCV). So, in addition to superior returns, we might be taking on less risk for more income. That sounds like a win-win. On the safe side of our wealth plan, it’s tricky to earn income without the paper losses, but doable, if we adhere to a few fundamental rules (which are outlined for a full day on Day 3 of our Financial Freedom Retreat). Check out some of the strategies in my blog, “Top Income Strategies for 2025.” Email [email protected] to learn more about our next retreat. Register by July 31, 2025, to join us for the best price. Asia There is a lot of conflict in the world – outright wars, but also economic shifts. As I’ve discussed in many BRICS blogs, China and Russia are trading amongst themselves using the Chinese yuan in an attempt to break the U.S. dollar’s dominance as a global reserve currency. (And no, gold has not just become a Tier 1 currency.) Is this the reason U.S. investors have mostly abandoned Chinese equities? It has more to do with their unaudited financial results and that their economy is considered to be repressed (source: Index of Economic Freedom). Most Chinese-based ETFs are still down -43% from their February 2021 highs, even though they have enjoyed a little rally so far in 2025. Indonesia is one of the countries that I’ve been featuring. There are many reasons why this country could enjoy breakout performance again, as it has many times over the past 15 years. Check out my Indonesia blog for details. Indonesia’s economy is growing at one of the highest rates in the world. The country is the top producer of nickel – an essential mineral in electric vehicles. The 2025 pullback of -7.0% in the iShares Indonesia ETF (symbol: EIDO) is a reminder of the importance of 1-3 times a year rebalancing. EIDO enjoyed gains of 67% between March 2020 and March 2022. Rebalancing and capturing gains allow us to keep our wealth and have liquidity, in case a pullback creates a buying opportunity (assuming we still believe the investment is a good idea). Bottom Line We can get safe, hot and diversified in one easy plan. (Click to read that blog.) This increases performance and protection. So far in 2025, most of our value replacement and hot funds have been super performers! Register now to join us at our online Financial Freedom Retreat Oct. 11-13 2025 where you'll learn how to protect your wealth, save thousands annually in your budget and how to hedge in a volatile Debt World. If you'd like a life-changing adventure of a lifetime, be our guest at a royal manor house in Cornwall, England, March 12-19, 2027. (With just eight rooms available, this exclusive, private, bucket-list adventure sells out a year in advance!) Call 310-430-2397 or email [email protected] to learn more. The 2025 Restormel Retreat was a magical and royal experience. Click to learn more. Receive the best price when you register for the Financial Freedom Retreat Oct. 11-13 2025 by July 31, 2025. Request testimonials at [email protected]. You can also view some on the flyer page of the retreat. Learn how to: * Invest in hot industries, such as Nvidia, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing, * Hedge against a weaker dollar, * Invest and compound your gains, * Green your retirement plan, * Easy and efficacious nest egg strategies, * Get hot and diversified (including in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and crypto), * Evaluate stocks, * Avoid capital gains and financial predators, * Keep an age-appropriate amount safe, and, * Know what's safe in a Debt World. You'll even discover how to save thousands annually with smarter big-ticket choices. Yes, it's a complete money makeover. Email [email protected] or call 310-430-2397 to learn more and register. Learn the 15+ things you'll master and read testimonials in the flyer on the home page at NataliePace.com. Register with friends and family to receive the best price. "Ten minutes into the first day I was already much smarter about investing than I ever thought I would be in my life and I knew I was in exactly the right place at this retreat. I am amazed at how EASY and FUN it is to make my money work for me and those I love. I think this kind of information should be compulsory in schools. I wish I'd learned this sooner." CM If you’d like an unbiased 2nd opinion on your current wealth plan, email [email protected] for pricing and information.  Receive the best price when you register by July 31, 2025. Visit NataliePace.com to learn more. Call 310-430-2397 or email [email protected] for pricing, additional information and to register.  Join us for our Restormel Royal Immersive Adventure Retreat. March 2027. Email [email protected] to learn more. Click for testimonials, pricing, hours & details. Register now to receive the best price, the best room and eight private, prosperity coaching sessions. There are only 8 rooms available. This retreat includes an all-access pass to all of our online training for a full year for two. Considering the perks, you're receiving a 65% discount to learn the life math that we all should have received in high school, and the room is free! Email [email protected] to learn more. The best rooms at the 2025 retreat were sold out in 2024! Yes, it's a great idea to register and start transforming our lives now!  Natalie Pace in Powerscourt, Ireland. Photo: Marie Commiskey. Natalie Wynne Pace is an Advocate for Sustainability, Financial Literacy & Women's Empowerment. Natalie is the bestselling author of The ABCs of Money (6th edition) and The Power of 8 Billion: It's Up to Us, and is the co-creator of the Earth Gratitude Project. She has been ranked as a No. 1 stock picker, above over 835 A-list pundits, by an independent tracking agency (TipsTraders). Her book The ABCs of Money remained at or near the #1 Investing Basics e-book on Amazon for over 3 years (in its vertical), with over 120,000 downloads and a mean 5-star ranking. The 6th edition of The ABCs of Money and the 2nd edition of Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is (2nd edition) are the most recent releases of these books. Follow her on Instagram. Natalie Pace's easy as a pie chart nest egg strategies earned gains in the last two recessions and have outperformed the bull markets in between. That is why her Investor Educational Retreats, books and private coaching are enthusiastically recommended by Nobel Prize winning economist Gary S. Becker, TD AMERITRADE chairman Joe Moglia, Kay Koplovitz and many Main Street investors who have transformed their lives using her Thrive Budget and investing strategies. Click to view a video testimonial from Nilo Bolden. Check out Natalie Pace's Substack podcast on Apple and Spotify. Watch videoconferences and webinars on Youtube. Other Blogs of Interest Is Gold a Tier 1 HQLA Reserve Currency? Is Your Income Strategy Losing Money? Gold, Silver & Crypto Soar. Stocks Offer 5%. Debt Balloons. Some Foreigners are Selling U.S. Treasuries. Get Safe & Hot in 1 Easy Plan. Home Prices Soften. Is Your City Next? Tesla Vision vs. Waymo LiDAR and Air Taxis. Are Any of Them Safe? Archer Aviation is Chosen to be the Exclusive Air Taxi Service for the 2028 L.A. Olympics. Company of the Year? USA Downgraded. Is U.S. Reserve Currency Status Threatened? Utilities: In the Eye of the Natural Disaster Storms. Aging Mom Doesn't Want to Discuss Dilapidated House. Investors Ask Natalie. Sell in May? Tesla, Tariffs, Chinese Competition and Price Wars. Fun Ways to Celebrate Earth Day April 22nd. Will the Correction Become a Bear Market? 21st Century Recessions Look More Like Depressions. Will Oil Prices Sink or Soar? Executives are Uncertain. Health Savings Accounts. Save Thousands. Get a Tax Credit. Provide for Tomorrow's Healthcare Needs. Restormel Manor House 2025. A Truly Royal and Magical Adventure. 9 Ways to Cut Your Tax Bill in Half and Save Thousands Annually. Berkshire Hathaway. Should I Just Invest in Warren Buffett? Should I Have a Money Manager? The Cleanest Cities in the World. Can Altadena, Pacific Palisades and Gaza Become Edens? Rebuilding Gaza. American Companies Will Benefit. Top Dividend/Income Strategies for 2025. 2025 Crystal Ball: Who Will be the Superstars of Wall Street? Gold & Crypto IRAs and the Risk of Fraud and Losses. 10 Rules of Successful Investing. Quantum Computing. Paper Losses. Another Warning About Long-Term Bonds! 2025 Investor IQ Test. 2025 Investor IQ Test Answers. Apple iPhone Sales Plunge in China. Indonesia: Rich in Nickel with Ambitions of Becoming an EV Battery Hub. RoboTaxis. AI. The Magnificent 7. Charitable Giving. Nonprofits that are Worthy of Supporting. Why Are So Many Safe Investments Losing Money? A Bargain-Priced AI Company. Canadian, Australian and U.S. Banks. Are Any of Them Safe? Ireland. Rich in Technology, Biotechnology and Agribusiness. Robo Investing and AI. No, They are Not Foolproof. Stocks Soar as Nvidia Joins the DJIA. Copper. Peru ETF Outperforms the S&P500. Will Insurance Companies & Homeowners Weather the Hurricanes? 9 Money Secrets of the Ultra Wealthy. Housing & Budgeting Solutions. Arkansas Sues Temu for Data Theft. We Must Be the Boss of Our Money. Why? Fast Fashion. Fossil Fuels. Plastic Clothing. Atacama Desert Waste Dumps. Can Crowdstrike Recover from its Colossal Catastrophe? Featuring a Cybersecurity Overview. Fintechs and Brokerages that Fail are Not FDIC-Insured. 5 Green Tips for Clean Beaches Week. So, You Think You Want to Be a B&B Owner... Retiring Soon? Start Planning Now. 2024 Rebalancing IQ Test. Answers to the 2024 Rebalancing IQ Test. 9 Inflation, Budgeting, Debt Reduction and Investing Solutions. China & Russia Double Their Gold Holdings. 2024 Investment of the Year? Bitcoin Sets a New Record High. The Importance of Rebalancing. Uh. Oh. More Bank Trouble. Housing. Unaffordable. What Works? Case studies and creative solutions. The Underperforming DJIA, Full of Fossil Fuels and Forever Chemicals. The Best ROI* (Almost 40%!) & 7 Life Hacks That Save Thousands. 13 Lifestyle Choices to Reduce Waste, Pollution & CO2 & Save a Boatload of Dough. China Bans Apple 11-Point Green Checklist for Schools. 10 Wealth Secrets of Billionaires and Royals. Bank of America has $100 Billion in Bond Losses (on Paper) Fiat. Crypto. Gold. BRICS. Real Estate. Alternative Investments. BRICS Currency. Will the Dollar Become Extinct? Why We Are Underweighting Banks and the Financial Industry. Save Thousands Annually With Smarter Energy Choices Is Your FDIC-Insured Cash Really Safe? Money Market Funds, FDIC, SIPC: Are Any of Them Safe? My 24-Year-Old is Itching to Buy a Condo. Should I Help Him? The Bank Bail-in Plan on Your Dime. Important Disclaimers Please note: Natalie Pace does not act or operate like a broker. She reports on financial news, and is one of the most trusted sources of financial literacy, education and forensic analysis in the world. Natalie Pace educates and informs individual investors to give investors a competitive edge in their personal decision-making. Any publicly-traded companies, funds or projects mentioned by Natalie Pace are not intended to be buy or sell recommendations. ALWAYS do your research and consult an experienced, reputable financial professional before buying or selling any security, and consider your long-term goals and strategies. Investors should NOT be all in on any asset class or individual stocks. Your retirement plan should reflect an age-appropriate, diversified wealth plan, which has been designed strategically, with the assistance of financial professionals who are familiar with your goals, risk tolerance, tax needs and more. The "trading" portion of your portfolio should be a very small part of your investment strategy, and the amount of money you invest into individual companies should never be greater than your experience, wisdom, knowledge, patience and diversified strategy. Information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. However, NataliePace.com does not warrant its completeness or accuracy. Opinions constitute our judgment as of the date of this publication and are subject to change without notice. This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial instrument. |
AuthorNatalie Pace is the co-creator of the Earth Gratitude Project and the author of The Power of 8 Billion: It's Up to Us, The ABCs of Money, The ABCs of Money for College, The Gratitude Game and Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is. She is a repeat guest & speaker on national news shows and stages. She has been ranked the No. 1 stock picker, above over 830 A-list pundits, by an independent tracking agency, and has been saving homes and nest eggs since 1999. Archives
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