Manias Never Change

Who wouldn't want to own a piece of a machine that traps you inside with a violent, naked man?

In the mid-1800s, Great Britain faced its biggest mania ever. The first steam-powered train launched in 1825... and within a few years, it made all kinds of headlines.

While people talked about how fast it was, many were scared to try it.

You see, the new train seemed to be making people act... odd.

According to reports, folks would board the train seeming completely normal. But as soon as it started moving, lunacy ensued.

One man started jumping through the train-car windows, going after other passengers while brandishing a gun. As soon as the train pulled into the next station, he calmed down.

A Scottish passenger took off all his clothes and started climbing out the windows.

Not to be outdone, yet another man combined both feats. He managed to disable all the communications aboard the train before chasing other passengers around... while completely naked. He had to be restrained with umbrellas.

This phenomenon came to be known as "railway neurosis." Doctors discovered that fear of railway accidents could induce this type of hysteria.

While railway neurosis scared a lot of people away from trains at first, it didn't last long. And as you'll see, a similar situation is happening again today...

Eventually, people's curiosity about trains won out over their fears...

And as they realized that trains were generally safe to ride, they started clamoring for rail stocks.

Stocks funding rail lines across Great Britain popped up as early as the 1840s. In 1847 alone, companies spent more than the modern-day equivalent of $1 trillion developing new rail lines.

And most of that money came from investors lining up to get a piece of the action.

While the fear and excitement surrounding railroads is long gone, nearly all of them are still in operation. And we're seeing similar fear today... alongside a similar mania.

Only this time, it's in AI.

Like they did with railroads in the 1800s, people are panicking over what AI means for the world – and for the market...

Sam Altman, the co-founder of OpenAI, which created the ChatGPT tool, is trying to raise trillions of dollars to build all the AI infrastructure we need.

Most people scoff at such a figure. And yet, if AI mania is anywhere near as big as railroad mania, it may not be so absurd after all.

A ton of companies are already using AI. Even more are claiming to use the technology, with little to show for it. It's tough to know which companies are legitimate. It's tougher to know which are still a good value.

My team and I are tracking an urgent AI story that could rock the market in a matter of days. We've zeroed in on five stocks that are promising a lot... and don't seem likely to deliver. (One is even a member of the "Magnificent Seven.")

Through midnight tonight, you can access all our latest AI research... including a bonus report about the AI ecosystem first shared with our "big money" institutional clients. Plus, you'll get the name and ticker symbol of one of my No. 1 AI stocks to buy now.

Click here while this offer is still available.

It's critical for folks to invest carefully in today's AI mania. If you choose right, you could set yourself up for generational wealth.

If you choose wrong, you could follow a fad-chaser all the way to zero.

Regards,

Joel Litman
July 24, 2024