Editor’s Note: The AI trade isn’t just the companies building the machines — it’s everything that has to exist before those machines can work at all.
I’ve been tracking that supply chain all year, from the rare-earth materials in a robot’s motors to the data centers and optical connections that let AI computing actually scale.
Today, I’m showing you how I work backward from Tesla’s Cybercab to find the businesses most investors overlook — the upstream materials plays and downstream computing-infrastructure names that don’t make the headlines, but still move on the same buildout.
And I want to let you in on a special event I hosted last night to help you consistently find an edge in the options market —
I showed you everything my options playbook has to offer — the principles behind my trades, the charts, the tools, and the exact process I use to find an edge in any market.
Here’s the best part: you don’t need $10,000 to start. I showed you how to apply the same approach to smaller trades, including setups where you can keep the amount at risk below $500.
I’m keeping the full replay up for a limited time.
And read on for those four AI stock picks I’m tracking right now…
On January 10, 1901, a drilling crew near Beaumont, Texas, struck more oil than it could handle.
The well at Spindletop sent a column of crude more than 100 feet into the air. It kept flowing for nine days before the crew managed to cap it, at an estimated rate of 100,000 barrels a day.
That’s the scene everybody remembers. Oil shooting 100 feet in the air. Texas had struck it rich.
But somebody still had to figure out what to do with all that oil.
One business that emerged from the boom, the Texas Fuel Co., bought and transported crude from Spindletop. The enterprise that became Texaco – now a subsidiary of Chevron Corp. (CVX) – expanded into pipelines and built a refinery at Port Arthur.
The discovery had created business well beyond the drilling site. There was money to be made getting the oil somewhere and turning it into something customers could use.
Today, energy industry investors have familiar names for those businesses. Exploration and production are upstream. Transportation and storage are midstream. Refining and selling finished products are downstream.
You can follow the same barrel of oil through several businesses and find different investments along the way.
I’ve been thinking about that as another “gusher” in Texas attracts investors’ attention.
On September 3, Tesla Inc. (TSLA) launched its Cybercab in Austin: a two-seat robotaxi without a steering wheel or pedals. Elon Musk wants passengers to climb in, choose a destination, and let the car do the driving.
It’s easy to see that and think, “I should just buy TSLA.”
Fair point. But I want to work backward from the car.
What goes into its motors? What computing capacity is needed to develop the AI? What equipment moves information between those computers?
Every answer, both upstream and down, gives me another business to investigate.
Today, I’ll show you four stocks I’m tracking across that buildout, from materials used in motors and batteries to computing infrastructure. And I’ll explain what gets my attention before I turn an investment idea into a trade.
Follow the Supply Chain, Not the Headline
A robot needs motors before it can move. AI computing needs facilities, electricity, and connections that can handle enormous amounts of information.
But being important to a story doesn’t make a stock a good trade.
I want to know what’s happening with the stock, whether what I call “unusual trading activity” deserves investigation, and what could cause buyers to pay more. Then I decide how much I’m willing to risk.
Let’s start toward the materials end of the supply chain… upstream of that Cybercab. Before anyone can build the motors or batteries, somebody has to supply the materials that go into them.
MP Materials Corp. (MP) produces rare-earth materials and is expanding U.S. magnet manufacturing. Those powerful magnets are used in electric motors, including motors that make robots move.
Our history with MP shows why the entry matters, too.
On July 7, 2025, a brokerage downgrade had knocked the stock. I still liked the opportunity and recommended a bullish trade.
Three days later, MP announced a Pentagon partnership that included a $400 million investment in preferred stock to help expand the domestic rare-earth magnet supply chain.
The stock surged. I told members to take profits on that position.
At our recorded prices, a $205 position had an exit value of $1,300—a $1,095 profit before fees. Our record shows a 534.15% gain in three days.
That’s the specific trade’s return, not the stock’s move. Not every trade works like that. But that’s why the entry matters.
The Metals Company Inc. (TMC) offers a more speculative upstream materials idea.
It’s pursuing mineral-rich nodules on the ocean floor containing copper, nickel, cobalt, and manganese, metals used in electrification and batteries. Proposed production depends on permitting and successful commercialization.
MP has an operating materials business. TMC is pursuing a new source of supply.
That distinction matters. A great demand story doesn’t tell you whether a company can execute, or whether the stock is worth buying today.
Follow the Demand Into Computing
Farther downstream—where the materials become equipment and facilities that make AI computing possible—is IREN Ltd. (IREN), which operates data centers supporting Bitcoin mining and AI computing.AI developers need computing capacity. That requires facilities with power and specialized equipment, the kinds of capabilities IREN offers.
But here’s what brought us into one IREN trade.
In March, my scanner flagged a large bullish transaction. A buyer had committed nearly $920,000 to a position looking for a substantial move higher over the next couple of months.
That didn’t identify the buyer or guarantee they were right, but it gave me something to investigate.
Bitcoin remained important to IREN’s business, while AI computing offered another source of demand. I recommended a bullish trade.
Then the stock fell.
We adjusted the position during the pullback while maintaining bullish exposure. After the shares recovered, we adjusted again to lower our trade’s net cost.
By May 6, IREN was planning an acquisition to expand its AI cloud capabilities, and its stock had gained roughly 66% over the preceding month.
I told members to close the remaining position. Our trade record shows a 485.28% gain for the managed trade, calculated on its reduced cost basis after those adjustments.
The job was never to fall in love with the story. The job was to recognize when the market gave us what we were looking for and to get out.
Another downstream company supplying that computing infrastructure is POET Technologies Inc. (POET).
Adding computing power creates another problem: moving information between machines quickly and efficiently.
POET develops optical components that move data using light, designed for connections in AI computing clusters and large data centers.
Producing more oil creates demand for transportation. Adding computing capacity creates demand for better connections.
The businesses are different, but the question is useful: As the industry expands, what else has to expand with it?
From the Supply Chain to the Trade
These four companies serve different needs and they’re not interchangeable. This isn’t a Tesla supplier list.
It’s a way to investigate opportunities beyond the finished robotaxis and other physical AI machines.
With my strategy, I take the next step: examining unusual trading activity, researching what might be driving it, and choosing a specific trade with a defined amount at risk.
I just went live to explain that strategy during my free presentation last night
You’ll learn how I look for signs of large investors positioning and turn those clues into trades.
And you don’t need $10,000 to begin learning either. I’ll also explain opportunities where the amount at risk can be less than $500.
At Spindletop, the gusher was the part that made the newspapers. But businesses developed around everything that happened after the oil came out of the ground.
When I watch a Cybercab drive itself, I want to look beyond the car in the same way and investigate who supplies what it takes to make that ride possible.
Remember, the creative trader wins,
Jonathan Rose
