Explainers
Evergreen guides to how the market actually works, from 13F filings to HBM memory.
Why options really do lose value fast on Fridays, and it's not a Wall Street conspiracy
It feels like your option loses value the moment Friday shows up, and a lot of traders assume institutions are rigging it against them. The real explanation, theta decay and how market makers hedge, is less sinister and more useful to actually understand.
What is a SPAC? DraftKings, Lucid and the Agility Robotics deal (CCXI), explained
A SPAC skips the normal IPO process by merging a private company into an already-public shell. Here is how that actually works, and what happened to the famous ones, from DraftKings to Lucid to the Agility Robotics deal (CCXI) moving through the pipeline right now.
What is an AI neocloud? CoreWeave (CRWV) and Nebius (NBIS), explained
Neoclouds like CoreWeave and Nebius buy GPUs with debt and rent out the computing power to AI companies. Here is how the business model works, and the risk built into it.
Every trade a CEO makes in their own stock goes public within 2 days. Here's how to read a Form 4.
Corporate insiders must disclose their own stock trades within two days. Here's what a Form 4 actually shows, using two real filings, and why most insider selling isn't the warning sign it looks like.
What are stock futures, and what do they actually predict?
S&P and Nasdaq futures trade almost around the clock and set the tone before the opening bell. What a futures contract actually is, why tech futures swing harder, and how much you should trust them.
What is the VIX? The market's fear gauge, explained
The VIX measures how much movement options traders expect in the S&P 500, not which direction it moves. Here is what counts as low or high, how investors actually use it, and the real risks in trying to trade volatility directly.
What is HBM? The memory chips powering the AI boom
Only three companies make high bandwidth memory, the chips every AI accelerator depends on, and supply is sold out through 2026. What HBM is, who makes it, and how to invest in it.
SK Hynix is coming to Nasdaq: how to buy SKHY stock
SK Hynix plans to list ADRs on the Nasdaq under ticker SKHY as soon as July 10 in the largest ADR offering ever. Here is what is happening and how to actually buy in once it starts trading.
How to read an earnings report: EPS, margins, and what actually matters
Earnings reports look like a wall of numbers. Here is how to read the lines that matter, from revenue and EPS to margins, guidance, and whether a stock is cheap or expensive.
Do politicians actually beat the stock market? What the data says
Nancy Pelosi, David Rouzer, Ro Khanna and more: do members of Congress really beat the stock market? What the research and the yearly reports actually show, and whether copying their trades works.
How to track stock trades by Congress and the president
A plain guide to how politicians disclose their stock trades: the STOCK Act, which forms to read (PTR, OGE 278-T, 13F, Form 4), where to find them for free, and how to read them without fooling yourself.
AI investing glossary: the jargon behind every AI stock, explained
A plain-English glossary of the jargon in AI-stock coverage: GPU, HBM, foundry, neocloud, hyperscaler, capex, 13F, picks and shovels, Mag 7 and more, grouped by theme with links to fuller explainers.
What is a 13F filing? How to track what hedge funds are buying (and what it leaves out)
A plain-English guide to 13F filings: what they are, the 45-day lag, what they include and leave out, how 13D and 13G stakes differ, and how to track what hedge funds are buying for free.
The hidden chokepoints behind the AI chip boom
Everyone watches Nvidia and TSMC. But the AI chip boom rests on a few obscure materials, often from one company, country, or town: ABF substrate, photoresist, high-purity quartz, neon and gallium. Who controls them, and how big the risk really is.
The government is betting billions on quantum computing, but the payoff is years away
Washington is now a quantum-computing investor, having committed about $2 billion to nine companies and taken equity stakes back in May. But the technology will not pay off for years, and the pure-play stocks are already priced for a future that has not arrived. Here is the realistic picture.
Advanced packaging is the bottleneck behind the AI chip, and the stocks that own it
Everyone watches TSMC make the AI chip, but it cannot ship without advanced packaging, the CoWoS step that bonds the GPU to its memory, and it has been sold out into 2026. Here is what advanced packaging is, why it is the real bottleneck, and the overlooked stocks behind it: Amkor (AMKR), Camtek (CAMT), Onto Innovation (ONTO) and Besi.
Monthly dividend ETFs explained: QQQI, SPYI and the safer SCHD
Covered-call ETFs like QQQI and SPYI dangle 12 to 14 percent monthly yields, but the headline number hides real risks and very different tax treatment. Here is how they actually work, what they pay, the catch, and how the safer SCHD compares.
What every space stock actually does, and why ASTS, RKLB and the rest fell after SpaceX went public
Space stocks ran up together on Golden Dome defense money, then fell together after SpaceX’s record IPO. Here is what AST SpaceMobile (ASTS), Rocket Lab (RKLB), Planet Labs (PL) and the rest of the basket actually do, and why they move as one trade.
What is a chip foundry? Why almost every AI chip is made by one company, TSMC (TSM)
Nvidia, Apple and AMD design chips but do not make them. A plain-English guide to what a semiconductor foundry is, the fabless model, why TSMC (TSM) makes around 70 percent of the world's chips, and the packaging bottleneck holding back AI.
The AI stock map: every layer of the trade, from sand to software
A top-to-bottom deep dive on the AI supply chain, from the machines that make the chips down to the hyperscalers writing the checks, and how every layer pushes and pulls on the others.