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A Bubble in AI Stocks Again? Update April 27 2026

 

AI STOCKS    

 

We're Gonna be Rich! 

 

 

 

 

The manic buying of stocks in companies in the hottest sectors tends to lean towards what analysts call a stock bubble. We have all heard about and perhaps participated in stocks like housing in the mid 2000’s, the dotcom craze or a myriad of sectors where stocks seem to only go up in price.

All of these hot sectors eventually cool off, and the focus moves on to something else. Some of these bubbles end suddenly with horrific crashes and some just kind of fade away as interest wanes.

It’s safe to say that the Artificial Intelligence (AI) stocks are the latest craze. I have written about these stocks a few times here on Money Matters. I brought the craze to light close to a year ago, and as the stocks went higher and higher, warned about a possible bubble forming.

A few months back, I penned that AI stocks were reaching into the realm of ridiculous as far as valuations were concerned. Simply put, prices kept rising at a blistering pace and when that happens, bad things can follow.

The stocks did pull back a few times and have suffered significant down days on occasion only to be followed by eyepopping gains again.

More recently, a painful erosion in these stocks gave some investors the idea that the party was over and to get while the getting was good. It’s easy to see the ongoing pullback on some of the price charts of these securities. The original peak in prices occurred twice. The first peak hit its mark in late October and early November 2025, with a close rebound occurring around the start of February 2026. This February peak was followed by a notable haircut of prices of many of these AI stocks which lasted about seven weeks.

Starting in the beginning of April however, the party restarted, and what looked like a funeral in AI, turned into another rip-roaring rally. The uptrend has continued right up to the day I penned this latest AI musing (Saturday, April 25).

Looking at the most recent April run, the increases witnessed are again bordering on ridiculous. Don’t get me wrong. The rally started when a handful of AI companies posted stellar earnings in their latest reports. The earnings started what I call the bowling ball effect, where action in one company knocks the prices of others in the space higher as well.

But the caveat here is that stock prices are based on many metrics. One of these metrics being expected future earnings. When we look at the stock price, however, the price of the stock, compared to what these companies are expected to earn, it just doesn’t compute. At least in the metric that many analysts use to determine whether a stock is a good buy or not.

Without getting too technical, the price you pay for a stock is thought to be based on what the company will make and return to stockholders. This return will either be in cash or stock price appreciation. But there are reasonable return expectations and then there are ludicrous return expectations.

Summing it all up, whereas stock prices would normally be based on what a company will earn, when stock prices go so high where it would near be impossible to earn what would justify its stock price under normal circumstances, the stock price is just driven higher by the “next fool” theory.

Put simply, people buy the stock for no other reason than the assumption that someone else will pay more for stock later and therein will lie the profit.

Doing this is not investing. It’s speculative gambling.

And if I ever desire to do that, I will sit at a slot machine in Vegas and get a free drink to boot.

Like a slot machine, no doubt, some people will indeed make money at it. But for my retirement funds, I usually prefer to use a more traditional methodology.

“ This article expresses the opinion of Marc Cuniberti and is not meant as investment advice, or a recommendation to buy or sell any securities, nor represents the opinion of any bank, investment firm or RIA, nor this media outlet, its staff, members or underwriters. Mr. Cuniberti holds a B.A. in Economics with honors, 1979, and California Insurance License #0L34249 His insurance agency is BAP INC. insurance services.  Email: news@moneymanagementradio.com.

 

 

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THOSE SKYROCKETING ENERGY BILLS UPDATE APRIL 19 2026

"DAMN, ENERGY COSTS SO MUCH, WHAT AM I TO DO?' 

 

 

 

With the cost of powering one’s home going up and up and away, I often query others I may know or run across about how much their power bills are. I find different answers from different people, but it seems like there is little rhyme or reason as to the swings in costs that are mentioned. Some are like me and have power bills in the many hundreds. We’re talking $600 or more a month in the worst months which hover around the first of the year. Our situation has the kids’ home during the holidays; the weather is cold and the small solar array I have generates little power. The combination of the three pushes me into the higher tiers as the more power you use, the higher that power cost. Sort of like the income tax structure where you pay more and more as you make more income. The kids use space heaters like lizards, stay up at night and watch TV, cook and whatever else they do. The forced air heater which heats the whole house runs constantly being winter and all. I scream like hell at both the wife and the kids that the power bill is huge and to shut down some stuff and put on a sweater, but it doesn’t work for long. What I find odd is some people I ask complain about their power bills doubling yet they still only pay something like a hundred bucks or so. I’m like “WHA”? It’s not surprising those out of state pay much smaller power bills. I travel a lot, so I ask a lot of folks the energy bill question, and it’s usually that way. If you are not in California, you don’t think about power bills so much. I have never done a survey so I may be all wet about the California thing, but it certainly seems that way. In any case, I do run into a lot of people here in California who still have puny power bills and I just shake my head. How come I have to make war with my family just to keep my power bills under $800 bucks or so while a friend across town pays a few hundred bucks if that? I call the power folks every so often and they tell me its zoning or something like that and it would take an act of Congress or God himself to get my rates lowered. Adding insult to injury, I have to use propane and well water as I am out in the country and not in city limits as are many. So now add in the propane bill which isn’t cheap. Then add in the cost of maintaining the water well and powering it and you have a giant chunk of your paycheck disappearing down the power-rat hole. I know we like to blame the power company. Oddly enough nobody seems to blame the propane company. But they a very close to one and the same, power and propane, so we probably should. All those power plants use gas, propane, liquid fuel and some even burn wood chips and other stuff. And everything the power plants use to make power keeps going up in price with all that other “stuff”. Sun and wind power help but they are not very efficient when you consider the cost to build, run, maintain and eventually dispose of the machinery at life’s end. The bottom line is everything is skyrocketing in price. And this power thing takes up a bigger chunk of my income. I think the fact that power is a necessity is a bit more irritating. It’s not like I am complaining about buying a boat, new car or fancy clothes that cost too much. It’s about staying warm, or cool, or fed, or watered. And that’s the part that bugs me. I know there are no easy solutions, and I don’t offer any here today except to say, we have to get a handle on the rising costs of all things. And water, power and heat are probably the most important reasons to do so. That and putting food on the table. The remedy to that will be offered up next week. Be sure not to miss it.

 

“Watching the markets so you don’t have to” (end) (As mentioned, please use the below disclaimer exactly) THANKS (Regulations) This article expresses the opinion of Marc Cuniberti and is not meant as investment advice, or a recommendation to buy or sell any securities, nor represents the opinion of any bank, investment firm or RIA, nor this media outlet, its staff, members or underwriters. Mr. Cuniberti holds a B.A. in Economics with honors, 1979, and California Insurance License #0L34249 His insurance agency is BAP INC. insurance services. Email: news@moneymanagementradio.com.

 

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Those Pesky Prepaid Credit Cards Update March 12 2026

 

Prepaid credit cards are those cards that are on the rack at a variety of quick stop stores, pharmacies, grocery stores and a handful of other merchants. People might use them to send money to a college student, pay a bill, charge stuff or even have an “off the grid” charge card that only the buyer might see and be aware of. Sounds pretty clandestine doesn’t it, and it can be. Money launderers and con artists use these and probably a host of other shady characters for shady reasons, but regular folks buy them too. They may not qualify for a regular revolving credit card because of bad credit or just don’t want to use a revolving credit type of account. You buy the card at a variety of stores, prepay any amount and get the card and a receipt. Then you must register the card with your personal information including a social security number. The card then gets activated. The card doesn’t have your name on it but the company may send you another card in the mail which might be a debit card or a copy of the card you bought. It may or may not have your name on it. I bought a few in my younger days and a few more over the years for gifts and to use when traveling but my experience with them has been dismal. I used one that had a colored dot on it and another that came from a large bank somewhere I had never heard of. Put simply, I don’t use them anymore and for good reason. I don’t have kids in college anymore, have business cards with revolving credit and don’t get them as gifts much in recent times. That said, I did see how they work and it stunk back then and still does. This opinion comes from my most recent experience getting one as a promo gift from a company I use. Every so often the cards would not work. I would be required to go to a website and reactivate the card or something like that. They used terms like verify due to suspicious activity or some damn thing. You could check your balance on the website you initially activated the card on and do some sort of verification. That’s if you didn’t lose your log in information you used when you registered the card, which I did on occasion. After all, I thought once the card was active, it would charge until it ran out. Not so I found out on more than one occasion. One time when the card stopped working, I had to call an 800 number, and it took me multiple tries to get a real person. I got some story that the computer deactivated the card somehow. Yeah, right. Another time a card stopped working for the person I gave it to as a gift. I logged in, couldn’t get in, then wrestled another hour or so on the website with no success. I finally got in and the balance was way off. In the company’s favor of course. Still another time, a card again stopped working, logged in and the balance was negative. Huh? I kept good records on the balance, so I knew something was amiss. What was amiss was my money. It went “missing”. Unable to get through to someone after many tries the website said to write a letter. Ok, so I wrote a letter. I never heard back and tried relogging in again. Another hour wasted, as was my money. You would think these cards would be regulated heavily to prevent this obvious confiscation of people’s funds. Apparently not. I am not the world’s most savvy technology person or website user, but you think prepaying a card and then using it would be pretty simple. Not so, and thinking many people that use these cards, or HAVE to use them, may be even worse at negotiating the clusters I saw. This might be due to their lower income, lower education or just a lack of exposure to such cyber nonsense. I am of the opinion that there is more than just petty theft going on here. I won’t be using these prepaid cards anymore. I don’t have any use for them and am thankful for it. Even if I did need a prepaid card, I wouldn’t buy one. Not after what I experienced. I will stick to company gift cards from specific companies from now on like Starbucks, Amazon or Walmart. Almost all big stores have them now. They work, and without all the BS, not to mention the theft, that I am of the opinion, is taking place on a massive scale. “Watching the markets so you don’t have to”

 

This article expresses the opinion of Marc Cuniberti and is not meant as investment advice, or a recommendation to buy or sell any securities, nor represents the opinion of any bank, investment firm or RIA, nor this media outlet, its staff, members or underwriters. Mr. Cuniberti holds a B.A. in Economics with honors, 1979, and California Insurance License #0L34249 His insurance agency is BAP INC. insurance services. Email: news@moneymanagementradio.com.

 

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Prepaid Credit Cards Update May 6 2026

 

Keep Selling Those Prepaid Credit Cards Bob.

We are making a fortune screwing people!

 

Prepaid credit cards are those cards that are on the rack at a variety of quick stop stores, pharmacies, grocery stores and a handful of other merchants. People might use them to send money to a college student, pay a bill, charge stuff or even have an “off the grid” charge card that only the buyer might see and be aware of. Sounds pretty clandestine doesn’t it, and it can be. Money launderers and con artists use these and probably a host of other shady characters for shady reasons, but regular folks buy them too. They may not qualify for a regular revolving credit card because of bad credit or just don’t want to use a revolving credit type of account. You buy the card at a variety of stores, prepay any amount and get the card and a receipt. Then you must register the card with your personal information including a social security number. The card then gets activated. The card doesn’t have your name on it but the company may send you another card in the mail which might be a debit card or a copy of the card you bought. It may or may not have your name on it. I bought a few in my younger days and a few more over the years for gifts and to use when traveling but my experience with them has been dismal. I used one that had a colored dot on it and another that came from a large bank somewhere I had never heard of. Put simply, I don’t use them anymore and for good reason. I don’t have kids in college anymore, have business cards with revolving credit and don’t get them as gifts much in recent times. That said, I did see how they work and it stunk back then and still does. This opinion comes from my most recent experience getting one as a promo gift from a company I use. Every so often the cards would not work. I would be required to go to a website and reactivate the card or something like that. They used terms like verify due to suspicious activity or some damn thing. You could check your balance on the website you initially activated the card on and do some sort of verification. That’s if you didn’t lose your log in information you used when you registered the card, which I did on occasion. After all, I thought once the card was active, it would charge until it ran out. Not so I found out on more than one occasion. One time when the card stopped working, I had to call an 800 number, and it took me multiple tries to get a real person. I got some story that the computer deactivated the card somehow. Yeah, right. Another time a card stopped working for the person I gave it to as a gift. I logged in, couldn’t get in, then wrestled another hour or so on the website with no success. I finally got in and the balance was way off. In the company’s favor of course. Still another time, a card again stopped working, logged in and the balance was negative. Huh? I kept good records on the balance, so I knew something was amiss. What was amiss was my money. It went “missing”. Unable to get through to someone after many tries the website said to write a letter. Ok, so I wrote a letter. I never heard back and tried relogging in again. Another hour wasted, as was my money. You would think these cards would be regulated heavily to prevent this obvious confiscation of people’s funds. Apparently not. I am not the world’s most savvy technology person or website user, but you think prepaying a card and then using it would be pretty simple. Not so, and thinking many people that use these cards, or HAVE to use them, may be even worse at negotiating the clusters I saw. This might be due to their lower income, lower education or just a lack of exposure to such cyber nonsense. I am of the opinion that there is more than just petty theft going on here. I won’t be using these prepaid cards anymore. I don’t have any use for them and am thankful for it. Even if I did need a prepaid card, I wouldn’t buy one. Not after what I experienced. I will stick to company gift cards from specific companies from now on like Starbucks, Amazon or Walmart. Almost all big stores have them now. They work, and without all the BS, not to mention the theft, that I am of the opinion, is taking place on a massive scale.

 

“Watching the markets so you don’t have to” (end) (As mentioned, please use the below disclaimer exactly) THANKS (Regulations) This article expresses the opinion of Marc Cuniberti and is not meant as investment advice, or a recommendation to buy or sell any securities, nor represents the opinion of any bank, investment firm or RIA, nor this media outlet, its staff, members or underwriters. Mr. Cuniberti holds a B.A. in Economics with honors, 1979, and California Insurance License #0L34249 His insurance agency is BAP INC. insurance services. Email: news@moneymanagementradio.com.

 

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Interest Rates Set to Rise OH NO! UPDATE MARCH 28 2026

 

Hyperinflationary Ride?

 

And just like that the Federal Reserve (FED), after embarking on an interest rate reduction program, came out and warned last week, “not so fast”.

With the price of oil increasing with the military action in Iran, inflation is likely to accelerate even faster than previously expected.

As detailed in last week’s Money Matter’s article, oil is a key ingredient of many of the products we buy. As the price of oil increases, this cost is passed on to consumers in higher prices.

As unexpected as the conflict was, the reality of higher prices now challenges the FED to act to preempt the inflation that is in the pipeline.

This translates to tighter credit and dampening consumer demand, which means raising interest rates.

Whereas the markets and Wall Street expected rates to continue to come down, now the opposite is becoming a real possibility.

Already higher prices are hitting consumer pocketbooks.

Unfortunately, I must now resurrect a warning I haven’t used in years when it comes to inflation, “You ain’t seen nothing yet”.

The conundrum the FED faces now was always going to occur and it was only a matter of time before they faced it. The sudden spike in oil prices has only hastened its arrival.

This conundrum was detailed in last week’s article but is worth repeating.

The inflation genie must be put back into his bottle quickly as inflation somewhat resembles a wildfire. It must be extinguished quickly before it gets out of hand. Once it takes off, it is that much harder to stop, and the FED knows that.

With the consumer already stressed due to increased living costs, and the market reeling in a mild but persistent freefall, what is ahead will likely not be pleasant.

I don’t envy the FED. It is caught between a rock and a hard place. Like I said, they would have had to face this problem eventually. Inflation was never going to recede as promised by both the FED and Washington. There was just too much money created during the Covid shutdowns to keep the world from imploding due to the business inactivity forced upon it. You simply cannot shut down three quarters of the world’s businesses and expect it to recover without serious problems.

Many analysts, including this one, warned against such actions. We will never know if the shutdowns helped or hindered the virus’s spread. What we do know, however, is that the massive amount of government spending to keep the financial wheels of the world spinning, and the consumers of the world able to put food on the table, has resulted in the egregious and persistent inflation we have witnessed in the last three years.

The spike in oil now only makes the situation much worse.

Hold onto your hats. I think it’s going to be a very rough ride.

“Watching the markets so you don’t have to”

(end)    

(As mentioned, please use the below disclaimer exactly) THANKS   (Regulations)   This article expresses the opinion of Marc Cuniberti and is not meant as investment advice, or a recommendation to buy or sell any securities, nor represents the opinion of any bank, investment firm or RIA, nor this media outlet, its staff, members or underwriters. Mr. Cuniberti holds a B.A. in Economics with honors, 1979, and California Insurance License #0L34249 His insurance agency is BAP INC. insurance services.  Email: news@moneymanagementradio.com.

 

 

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