A Wall Street Genius’s Final Investment Playbook

At last, the day had come.

The 2016 presidential election.

The person I never wanted to get tangled up with all my life was finally becoming the President of the United States.

His name was Don Tranton.

Tranton’s victory went down as an extraordinary event in American politics.

He had smashed the existing rules of the political game to pieces.

Tranton’s weapons were crude remarks, agitation, and endlessly creating new enemies.

He had a remarkable talent for pouring fuel onto the public’s fatigue, anger, and sense of deprivation.

—Illegal immigrants are destroying America! And yet we’re giving them education and healthcare? Is America a charity?

—China is a thief! They’re stealing our factories, our jobs, even our future! Every time you see a “Made in China” tag, remember your neighbor who got laid off!

—Behind all this are the elites. Their so-called “globalization”? What it really means is “America comes last.”

Common sense would suggest such a person could never become president, but…

“The opponent was just too weak.”

The Democratic candidate, Helena Clayton, was overly polished, as if everything about her was scripted.

Ironically, her excessively smooth manner and long political career only fueled distrust, making people wonder if she was hiding something, and sapped the public’s confidence in her.

“And that’s why she lost.”

But that was history from before my regression.

What mattered right now was something else entirely.

[China is trying to buy out Next AI. How will you, the candidates, respond?]

This debate was in a town hall format.

Naturally, the hottest topic of the moment—the “AI leak crisis”—came up.

I fixed my eyes on the screen.

‘What promises will they make?’

My goal was clear.

To draw out from both candidates a firm pledge to safeguard the future of the AI industry.

Clayton spoke first.

[We need a national AI strategy. We’ll establish a dedicated interagency council to expand infrastructure and support startups.]

[We will also work with the Department of Education to introduce talent development programs, and to counter China’s growing technological influence, we’ll strengthen CFIUS authority and establish a new strategic technology review board…]

On the surface, it sounded convincing.

Infrastructure, subsidies, talent programs—she checked all the boxes.

But,

‘That’s going to take forever.’

Look closer and her plan was tangled in the traps of bureaucracy—committees, reviews, endless paperwork.

That kind of pledge was of no use to me.

What I wanted was “acceleration of AI technology.”

Tranton, however, was different.

[Clayton’s ‘strategy’? That’s no strategy at all—it’s just stalling for time. While she’s busy forming committees, holding debates, and drafting papers, China is already waving blank checks around! By the time Clayton’s paperwork is done, Sean will already be in Shanghai shouting ‘Nihao!’]

[I’m different. Handing over America’s brightest minds to the Communist Party? Are you insane? On my very first day in office, I’ll sign the ‘Protect America’s Great AI’ contract!]

Tranton promised immediate action.

By my standards, his style and his character were the absolute worst imaginable…

‘But if I had to choose, this is the better option.’

“There’s no time to hesitate.”

That attitude was exactly what I needed.

And I wasn’t the only one who felt that way.

When it came to the AI issue, public sentiment was also tilting toward Tranton.

—Clayton = UN keynote speech. Tranton = UFC opening. Am I the only one who trusts the latter more?

—On the one hand: ‘We’ll review from all angles.’ On the other: ‘I’ll sign it on day one and be done with it.’ Hm, tough choice, lol.

—Clayton really is like a manual-reading robot. Tranton’s insane, but at least he’s definitely human.

Memes supporting Tranton flooded social media.

—Build the wall! Not just on the Mexican border—let’s build it 9,001 feet high around Next AI headquarters too! #TechWall #NoChina

—LLMs being sold to a censorship state? The Communist Party reading my digital diary? One vote for Tranton! #Tranton2016 #saveourAI

—Didn’t plan to vote, but heading out just to save MindChat #MyMomFainted

—My 2016 plan: 1. Insult Tranton 2. Watch the AI debate 3. Go vote for Tranton 4. Find a psychiatrist

More and more people were saying they’d vote for Tranton for one reason only: to protect MindChat.

Of course, compared to the total electorate, this was a tiny group.

But there was one critical point to note here.

[These are voters in their 20s and 30s, a generation with traditionally low turnout. Their preferences haven’t been reflected in past polls. If they show up en masse at the ballot box… the whole game could change!]

[Another unusual thing about them is that they care less about party loyalty and more about specific issues and policies!]

On topics like terrorism, immigration, and manufacturing, the positions of the Democrats and Republicans were already clear, and voter opinions had hardened.

But this younger group obsessed with AI?

They weren’t loyal to anyone yet. If the pledge was solid, they could swing either way.

In other words, they were the biggest wild card capable of overturning the entire board.

Above all…

[They’ve already proven their activism several times—Herbalife, the China currency war! If that same energy gets channeled into the election…]

At this point, both campaigns had no choice but to move to win over these new voters.

But then…

There was another important fact.

That I had no small influence on this voting bloc.

‘No point in wasting such a good card.’

Might as well squeeze out some firm promises.

So, I stepped in front of the press.

“I watched the debate. Unfortunately, both candidates seemed out of touch with reality. If you truly want to develop the AI industry, shouldn’t you start by listening to the people on the ground?”

I was “the key AI expert China was trying to buy.”

When someone like me said this, it couldn’t be ignored.

Both campaigns immediately reached out, and I met with each candidate in turn, pointing out exactly what the AI industry needed most in practice.

And a few days later—

Clayton moved first.

[We must shorten the depreciation cycle for AI companies from five years to twelve months. For fast-moving hardware products, five years is an anachronism.]

“Depreciation cycle” refers to the rate at which an asset’s value decreases over time.

Tax benefits change depending on this drop in value.

Under current U.S. law, computing equipment like GPUs had a maximum depreciation cycle of five years.

But in the tech industry, a product is considered outdated after just a single year.

Clayton promised to correct this.

It might sound like boring accounting talk at first…

But with this single adjustment, profitability on the income statement would skyrocket.

Retail investors who understood this cheered.

—What’s this? Clayton actually said something useful for once?

—Breaking news) Clayton.exe updated… Found “real policy” module besides “useless committee creation”!

—Now we can expect fireworks at every earnings call!

—Breaking news) Clayton just turned AI companies into cash-printing machines…

There were signs that wavering voters were swinging toward Clayton.

So Tranton immediately struck back.

[The most urgent issue right now is electricity! And why isn’t Clayton talking about it? Because one of her biggest donors is Gooble! Of course she avoids policies that would hurt Gooble!]

[But I’m different! We need to provide startups with stable and predictable electricity rates! We’ll expand off-grid power infrastructure as well…]

He promised startups cheap, reliable power.

—Tranton actually made a logical point…? Did the universe just glitch?

—With power alone, development speed would skyrocket.

—So is it Clayton with Gooble, or Tranton with the LLMs? Which one’s better for stock prices? Follow current novᴇls on novelꜰire.net

No due diligence needed! Just follow Saint Sean and the path will appear!

Once again, all eyes turned to me.

And once again, I stepped in front of the cameras.

“Hm? Which candidate do I support? Well…”

I paused for a long moment before slowly speaking.

“I plan to choose the candidate who’s truly essential for the industry’s development. Both sides have made impressive pledges, but there are still many outstanding issues. This alone isn’t enough.”

In other words: if they wanted my support, they’d better bring more to the table.

This strategy worked even better than expected.

I kept moving between the two camps, using the excuse of “consulting” while nudging them toward policies that favored the AI industry.

Soon, useful promises began to pour out.

<Clayton: Major expansion of subsidies for AI startups, new green card quota to attract top talent>

<Tranton: Federal land designated for building AI data centers>

‘As expected, competition is the answer in times like this.’

When two sides fight over one resource, the price naturally goes up.

As the rivalry reached its peak, Tranton even went so far as to say:

[The biggest problem in AI is the lack of brave early adopters willing to implement cutting-edge technology! The government will take on that role. If I become president, I’ll sign a direct procurement contract with the Department of Defense!]

A direct contract with the Pentagon.

Could there be a bigger boon?

‘Maybe it’s about time I stop?’

By now, I couldn’t think of any more pledges to extract anyway.

I had already gotten everything I could from this election.

I was satisfied with that much, but…

As always, life never goes exactly the way I want.

Even in this policy war, there were parts that bothered me.

[Yesterday I met with my dear friend, Sean! I’m the only candidate with an Asian friend!]

What unsettled me most was Tranton’s constant bragging about our “friendship.”

I was trying my best to keep my distance, but he kept promoting that we were close every single day.

I thought about drawing a line, but in the current atmosphere, it was pointless.

To him, I was an important political “tool.”

[We must protect Sean! Sean is America’s national treasure!]

Like the stunt he pulled at a Tranton rally—

He locked someone wearing my face mask inside a giant vault prop and shouted, “We will never hand him over to China!”

Meanwhile, his supporters even hung banners outside Pareto Innovation and Next AI headquarters.

—Sean! Thank you for coming here “legally” and for staying with us!

Well, I suppose this was their way of showing “support.”

Still.

‘I really don’t want to get more entangled with this… Should I just take Tranton out of the game? Or should I intervene directly and install a new president?’

I considered it seriously…

But… “That would be… troublesome.”

I dismissed the idea.

My goal was, after all, nothing more and nothing less than “accelerating the entire AI industry.”

Clayton’s bureaucratic attitude was a complete mismatch.

On the other hand, Tranton…

Stripping away my personal feelings, at least when it came to the future of the AI industry, he was the one who could actually bring it forward.

‘Yeah… uncomfortable as it is, right now he’s the better option.’

In the end, I forced down my disgust.

Once the election was over, he’d stop pretending to be my buddy anyway.

More importantly, the payoff was worth the discomfort.

***

Meanwhile, as this fierce policy war unfolded…

AI-related stocks were hitting record highs day after day.

Naturally so.

The outcome of the election would decide where trillions of federal dollars would flow.

The phenomenon of so-called “theme stocks” during election season was nothing new.

In 2008, when promises to promote green energy flooded in, solar stocks doubled and tripled. Before my regression, in 2020, EV and clean energy stocks nearly quadrupled under similar conditions.

And now…

In 2016, AI was by far the undisputed king among election theme stocks.

But…

There was one peculiar point this time.

<Tranton announces direct Pentagon contract—AI stocks surge together>

<Clayton expands AI startup subsidies… policy battle heats up>

<Politics sparks AI rally… MindChat theme stock climbs daily>

<Market swings as pledges pour in>

Both party candidates were staking everything on the same theme.

—So basically, no matter who wins, AI’s headed to the moon?

—Spoiler on the election outcome: AI wins.

—Both parties locked onto AI = a once-in-a-lifetime bull run free pass.

—This is basically a game where money is just lying on the ground.

—The money printer is on! Ready to get showered in cash!

—No matter who got elected, federal funds would inevitably pour into AI…

Which meant the market was guaranteed to rise.

And when the trend becomes that obvious, one phenomenon never fails to appear.

That’s right… FOMO.

***

—This is the bottom. Mathematicians confirmed failure probability: 0.00000%! If you don’t buy AI, you don’t have a brain!

—I went all in with my retirement fund! HR asked me, “Are you sure?” I said, “Yes, enjoy staying poor.”

—I found my parents’ account password and went all in on AI for them! True filial piety means secretly making your parents billionaires.

—I put in my kid’s college fund. He’s only eight, but by the time he’s eighteen, he won’t need it. He’ll be picking which Lambo to drive on our private island.

But this rally was distinctly different from those before the election.

<“AI is now infrastructure”—BlackRocks establishes AI-dedicated fund>

<Churches, schools, even neighborhood libraries launch “AI investment classes”… enthusiasm spreads>

Even conservative pension funds and retirement accounts were flocking to AI like they were possessed.

People who had never cared about investing before jumped on the bandwagon, saying, “This time it’s a sure thing.”

In other words…

A collective mania for AI was sweeping across America.

AI clubs were popping up in every town, and even grandparents were asking their grandchildren, “I hear everyone’s buying these AI stocks—how do you buy them?”

The bubble swelled to unprecedented levels…

And strangely enough, hardly anyone seemed worried.

Because with election pledges backing it, they believed it wasn’t a bubble that could burst easily.

This was what Ha Si-heon called a “safe bubble.”

But.

At some point, that feverish energy began to slow.

—Can it really go higher from here? There aren’t even any pledges left…

—My mother-in-law just asked, “So how do I buy something called Envid?” That’s it, it’s over… the top is in, folks. Time to evacuate.

—There’s no one left to buy. Grandmas, cab drivers, teenagers—everyone already owns AI stocks. Isn’t this the textbook definition of a bubble’s end?

The candidates’ policy war had already hit its limits.

There were no more cards left to push the stock higher, no shocking pledges left to announce.

“This is the peak.”

That sentiment dominated the market…

But I thought differently.

‘It’s not over yet.’

Competition always drives value higher.

Tranton and Clayton’s battle may have ended, but on another stage, the game hadn’t even begun.

Did I ever mention?

The motif of this AI war is “Cold War.”

Which means the government funds I’m targeting aren’t just from the U.S.

<China officially announces large-scale AI development plan>

Yes.

China was still in play.