Trump and Elizabeth Warren suddenly agree... A 'productive' talk on interest rates and housing... Why a credit-card rate 'fix' could make everything worse... A new addition to the 'White House portfolio'... Our AI system spotted the stock...
 Adversity and politics make strange bedfellows...
After being foils over the years, President Donald Trump and Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren suddenly have a shared pursuit – controlling interest rates. On Friday, Trump posted on Truth Social that he wants to see a one-year, 10% cap on credit-card interest rates, starting as soon as next week, to help combat the "affordability" challenges millions of Americans are facing. This compares with an average credit-card interest rate above 20% right now. Politics being what they are, Warren delivered a speech on Monday morning criticizing Trump's efforts to curb rising costs, which he promised to do during his campaign for a second term. She said if "he really wants to get something done, including capping credit-card interest rates or lowering housing costs, he would use his leverage and pick up the phone." Warren was talking about Trump calling those in his own party to support legislation. But later on Monday, a White House official said Warren and Trump had a "productive call" about interest rates and housing prices. I (Corey McLaughlin) argue that having sound currency and fiscal policy would be much more productive in addressing the root of the country's financial ills, but here we are. We know many are living with the burden of debt... We've covered the sour consumer-debt picture a lot in previous Digests. Frankly, the reason I became interested in finance and investing in the first place was to avoid the all-too-common outcome of my peers who are burdened by too much debt. Credit-card debt is at an all-time high of $1.23 trillion (as of the end of the third quarter of 2025). And more than 12% of all outstanding credit-card debt is more than 90 days delinquent – the highest share since the first quarter of 2011. With the average credit-card rate at nearly 21%, according to the St. Louis Federal Reserve, those delinquent accounts are accruing a lot of interest – putting even more burden on consumers. Combining all of that, the consumer is under a lot of stress. So a temporary cap on credit-card interest rates could relieve some pressure. But the idea comes with consequences. There are two big issues... First, as Trump's call to Warren demonstrates, a cap on rates would only be enforceable through congressional action, which means passing the House and Senate. So far, that has been difficult. Republican Senator Josh Hawley and Senator Bernie Sanders (speaking of strange bedfellows) proposed a bill in February 2025 that would have capped credit-card interest rates at 10% for five years, but only two other senators supported it. Second, if a cap is enacted, it would likely lead to banks and card companies pulling back on new lending, which would cause more problems – especially for "subprime" borrowers. Subprime borrowers are deemed less creditworthy and riskier for lending. If banks can't charge higher interest rates to these folks, they're going to cut back on risky lending. That means lower credit limits or less access to credit altogether. All of this adds up to lower spending, which 70% of U.S. economic activity is tied to. In a report on Monday, America's Credit Unions – a nonprofit advocating for credit unions – laid out just how many folks could be impacted. From its report, a credit-card rate cap would mean... - An estimated two-thirds of credit-card users carrying a balance would have their credit lines reduced or eliminated.
- Virtually all of the 47 million Americans with a subprime credit score would be unable to obtain or keep a credit card.
Even if those are overestimates, the idea remains the same. If the government restricts the interest lenders can collect, these lenders will tighten credit standards. And that could have drastic short-term consequences... ones people on both sides of the aisle probably aren't looking for with midterm elections coming up later this year. On JPMorgan Chase's post-earnings conference call yesterday morning, Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Barnum said... Instead of lowering the price of credit, we'll simply reduce the supply of credit, and that will be bad for everyone: consumers, the wider economy, and yes, at the margin, for us. In sum, short-term "fixes" for some tend to have longer-term consequences. We'll see if we hear about any more phone calls. Elsewhere on the interest-rate front... This past Thursday, Trump said he was directing government-sponsored Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase $200 billion in mortgage-backed securities in an effort to support the housing market. Like the move on credit cards, this aims to lower interest rates and make mortgages more affordable for folks. And it worked in the short term... The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell below 6% for the first time since September 2022, according to Mortgage News Daily, though it has climbed a bit higher over the past several days. As our colleague and True Wealth editor Brett Eversole has written, we need to see mortgage rates below 6% to thaw the housing market. We just got back to that level. Now, rates will have to remain there (or head even lower) for us to see a meaningful pickup in housing activity because of interest rates. We have a new addition to the 'White House portfolio'... Yesterday, defense contractor L3Harris Technologies (LHX) announced it has secured an investment from the Department of War, née Defense. The Department of War will invest $1 billion in L3Harris in exchange for convertible preferred shares in the company's "missile" business segment, which makes propulsion systems for missiles and launch engines for rockets and satellites. Those preferred shares will be converted to common stock in the event of an initial public offering of the Missile Solutions segment, which L3Harris says will come in the second half of 2026. The stock soared at open yesterday on the news but then gave up its gains and finished the day lower. The news shouldn't have come as a surprise. The White House has been signaling that it was going to make an investment like this. As we wrote in the August 27 Digest, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said there was "monstrous discussion" within the Trump administration about investing in defense contractors. Instead of Lockheed Martin (LMT), which Lutnick name-dropped in an August interview with CNBC as a potential target, the government is investing in L3Harris. But the reasoning is the same. As our colleague Mike Barrett wrote in his Select Value Opportunities in 2024... L3Harris manufactures the motors powering some of America's most important defense systems, including the Javelin, Patriot, and Stinger weapon systems, which are developed by aerospace and defense giants RTX (RTX) and Lockheed Martin. Kudos to the N.E.W. System team... When Stansberry Research unveiled the AI-based New Engine of Wealth ("N.E.W.") System for picking stocks in September, our colleagues Whitney Tilson and Alan Gula included L3Harris in its inaugural model portfolio. Each quarter, this system searches for the best businesses in the market... stocks that meet our strict capital-efficiency, financial, and valuation criteria, and puts AI to work to create a 20-stock-portfolio long-term investing strategy. As Whitney and Alan wrote in the publication's guide for new subscribers in September... The N.E.W. System is not about speculating on the next hot AI stocks (although we may have AI-related stocks in our portfolios). The N.E.W. System is a way to make AI work for you. As you'll see, we use our AI tools to generate a portfolio of great market-beating investments. The system uses AI to understand how stocks, vetted through our trusted "Stansberry Score" ratings, behave through various market environments, how volatile they've been, and how they've performed alongside other quality stocks being considered for the portfolio. L3Harris isn't necessarily a household name but is graded an "A" using our Stansberry Score. And since adding it to the model portfolio, the stock has risen 26%, including dividends, in only four months. It's been a great call so far. The N.E.W. System subscribers and Stansberry Alliance members can find the latest issue here, where Whitney and Alan report on the model portfolio's outperformance against its benchmark and share that the 20-stock portfolio's next rebalance is set for March. And if you want to see how you can build a simple, profitable, AI-aided portfolio, you can learn more here.
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New 52-week highs (as of 1/13/26): Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM), Altius Minerals (ALS.TO), Valterra Platinum (ANGPY), Atmus Filtration Technologies (ATMU), Barrick Mining (B), Alpha Architect 1-3 Month Box Fund (BOXX), CBOE Global Markets (CBOE), Donaldson (DCI), EnerSys (ENS), Freeport-McMoRan (FCX), Comfort Systems USA (FIX), Franco-Nevada (FNV), Freehold Royalties (FRU.TO), VanEck Gold Miners Fund (GDX), Alphabet (GOOGL), Hubbell (HUBB), iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense Fund (ITA), Kinross Gold (KGC), L3Harris Technologies (LHX), Lockheed Martin (LMT), Mueller Industries (MLI), Monster Beverage (MNST), Newmont (NEM), Natural Resource Partners (NRP), Nucor (NUE), OR Royalties (OR), Ormat Technologies (ORA), Pan American Silver (PAAS), Sprott Physical Silver Trust (PSLV), Invesco Oil & Gas Services Fund (PXJ), Royal Gold (RGLD), Roivant Sciences (ROIV), Sibanye Stillwater (SBSW), Sprott (SII), iShares Silver Trust (SLV), Tenaris (TS), Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM), State Street Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLI), and ExxonMobil (XOM). In today's mailbag, feedback on yesterday's mail discussing the latest in the Trump versus Powell feud... Do you have a comment or question? As always, e-mail us at feedback@stansberryresearch.com "Hi, All, Want to say I think Darren N. hit the nail on the head; Trump wants to 'juice' the economy before the mid-terms." – Subscriber Steve C. "I can't agree with Darren N. here: 'I think we should put the criminal investigation of Powell into the proper context to understand its real intent. This is all about juicing the economy ahead of midterm elections.' "Trump's pressure to drop rates has been going on for many, many months. While I agree that lowering rates does help the economy, if we compare the rates and the data during the Biden years to the current rates and data, it's clear that rates would have been dropped months ago were Biden still president. This gives the impression that maybe the Fed isn't impartial. At a minimum, Powell should provide an explanation of why rates were not managed the same in these two cases..." – Subscriber Mike M. All the best, Corey McLaughlin and Nick Koziol
Baltimore, Maryland
January 14, 2026
Stansberry Research Top 10 Open Recommendations Top 10 highest-returning open stock positions across all Stansberry Research portfolios. Returns represent the total return from the initial recommendation. | Investment | Buy Date | Return | Publication | Analyst | MSFT
Microsoft | 02/10/12 | 1,517.7% | Stansberry's Investment Advisory | Porter | MSFT
Microsoft | 11/11/10 | 1,477.2% | Retirement Millionaire | Doc | ADP
Automatic Data Processing | 10/09/08 | 961.4% | Extreme Value | Ferris | BRK.B
Berkshire Hathaway | 04/01/09 | 785.6% | Retirement Millionaire | Doc | GOOGL
Alphabet | 12/15/16 | 727.6% | Retirement Millionaire | Doc | WRB
W.R. Berkley | 03/15/12 | 630.3% | Stansberry's Investment Advisory | Porter | ALS-T
Altius Minerals | 03/26/09 | 579.5% | Extreme Value | Ferris | HSY
Hershey | 12/07/07 | 503.0% | Stansberry's Investment Advisory | Porter | CIEN
Ciena | 10/20/22 | 502.6% | Stansberry Innovations Report | Wade | SII
Sprott | 01/11/18 | 491.5% | Extreme Value | Ferris | Please note: Securities appearing in the Top 10 are not necessarily recommended buys at current prices. The list reflects the best-performing positions currently in the model portfolio of any Stansberry Research publication. The buy date reflects when the editor recommended the investment in the listed publication, and the return shows its performance since that date. To learn if a security is still a recommended buy today, you must be a subscriber to that publication and refer to the most recent portfolio.
| Top 10 Totals | | 3 | Extreme Value | Ferris | | 3 | Retirement Millionaire | Doc | | 3 | Stansberry's Investment Advisory | Porter | | 1 | Stansberry Innovations Report | Wade |
Top 5 Crypto Capital Open Recommendations Top 5 highest-returning open positions in the Crypto Capital model portfolio | Investment | Buy Date | Return | Publication | Analyst | WSTETH/USD
Wrapped Staked Ethereum | 12/07/18 | 2,509.4% | Crypto Capital | Wade | BTC/USD
Bitcoin | 11/27/18 | 2,434.6% | Crypto Capital | Wade | ONE/USD
Harmony | 12/16/19 | 1,033.7% | Crypto Capital | Wade | QRL/USD
Quantum Resistant Ledger | 01/19/21 | 1,007.8% | Crypto Capital | Wade | POL/USD
Polygon | 02/26/21 | 659.2% | Crypto Capital | Wade | Please note: Securities appearing in the Top 5 are not necessarily recommended buys at current prices. The list reflects the best-performing positions currently in the Crypto Capital model portfolio. The buy date reflects when the recommendation was made, and the return shows its performance since that date. To learn if it's still a recommended buy today, you must be a subscriber and refer to the most recent portfolio.
Stansberry Research Hall of Fame Top 10 all-time, highest-returning closed positions across all Stansberry portfolios | Investment | Duration | Gain | Publication | Analyst | | Nvidia (NVDA)^* | 5.96 years | 1,466% | Venture Tech. | Lashmet | | Microsoft (MSFT)^ | 12.74 years | 1,185% | Retirement Millionaire | Doc | | Inovio Pharma. (INO)^ | 1.01 years | 1,139% | Venture Tech. | Lashmet | | Rocket Lab (RKLB)^ | 2.35 years | 1,034% | Venture Tech. | Lashmet | | Seabridge Gold (SA)^ | 4.20 years | 995% | Sjug Conf. | Sjuggerud | | Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B)^ | 16.13 years | 800% | Retirement Millionaire | Doc | | Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA) | 1.95 years | 775% | Amer. Moonshots | Root | | Rite Aid 8.5% bond | 4.97 years | 773% | True Income | Williams | | PNC Warrants (PNC-WS) | 6.16 years | 706% | True Wealth Systems | Sjuggerud | | Maxar Technologies (MAXR)^ | 1.90 years | 691% | Venture Tech. | Lashmet | ^ These gains occurred with a partial position in the respective stocks.
* Editor Dave Lashmet closed the first leg of this Nvidia position in November 2016 for a gain of about 108%. Then, he closed the second leg in July 2020 for a 777% return. And finally, in May 2022, he booked a 1,466% return on the final leg. Subscribers who followed his advice on Nvidia could've recorded a total weighted average gain of more than 600%.
Stansberry Research Crypto Hall of Fame Top 5 highest-returning closed positions in the Crypto Capital model portfolio | Investment | Duration | Gain | Publication | Analyst | | Band Protocol (BAND) | 0.31 years | 1,169% | Crypto Capital | Wade | | Terra (LUNA) | 0.41 years | 1,166% | Crypto Capital | Wade | | Polymesh (POLYX) | 3.84 years | 1,157% | Crypto Capital | Wade | | Frontier (FRONT) | 0.09 years | 979% | Crypto Capital | Wade | | Binance Coin (BNB) | 1.78 years | 963% | Crypto Capital | Wade | | 
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