Episode summary
500th Episode: Investing Tips from 11 Years of Podcasting About Stocks
Zacks Market Edge
· · 30 min
Summary
The host uses the 500th episode to look back on nearly 11 years of the podcast and the themes that have repeated the most: recession calls, commodities, hiding out in volatile markets, AI stocks, and banks. He argues that the show’s history has mostly rewarded patience and diversification, with some picks soaring and others collapsing once rates and sector conditions changed.
He revisits Exxon Mobil, saying higher oil prices and wide crack spreads make the integrated major attractive again, especially because of its refineries and dividend. He also says JPMorgan remains the leader among large banks, but it is no longer cheap at a price-to-book ratio of 2.63, so he would look elsewhere for banking bargains.
On AI, the host says Nvidia is still the standout, with extraordinary revenue and earnings growth continuing into fiscal 2027. He is more cautious but still interested in Super Micro, which has cheap valuation metrics and strong recent earnings beats, while Vertiv and Sterling Infrastructure have also been better AI-adjacent performers. He closes by noting that PayPal and Block have been weak over the last five years and that he plans to cover more lower-priced stocks soon.
Key takeaways
- The host says Exxon Mobil looks attractive again because high crack spreads and refinery exposure may support earnings, even though the stock still trades below prior highs.
- The host says JPMorgan is the best large-bank name, but at 2.63 times book value it is not a bargain right now.
- The host argues Nvidia remains the clearest AI winner, with revenue and earnings growth that he says is unlike anything he has seen.
- The host says Super Micro is a potential hidden gem again because it is cheap, has had four big beats in a row, and is still a number one strong buy.
- The host notes that PayPal and Block have been poor five-year performers, reinforcing his point about diversification.
- The host says Sterling Infrastructure and Vertiv have been stronger AI-related ideas than Super Micro over the last year.
Notable quotes
“we have been in a bull market in the S&P 500. During that period, yes, we've had the pullbacks like 2022”
“I recently added it to the value investor portfolio. It's one of the largest refineries uh and refiners in the world in addition to the oil production it does”
“I would look elsewhere for banking bargains. But um JP Morgan is the leader in its class for the large international banks”
“we will never see this again um with any company, this kind of earnings and sales growth”
“It's got that F for growth, C for momentum, a D overall on the VGM, but I'm liking the NA the number one strong buy”
How the episode opens
Stocks, bonds, ETFs, straight out of downtown Chicago. This is Zach's Market Edge. Welcome to Zach's Market Edge, the podcast about investing in your life.
I'm your host, Tracy Reinneck, and this week I'm going solo to celebrate our 500th episode. We've been around a long time, nearly 11 years. Coming up in just a couple weeks here in October of 2026.
Uh, from what I could tell, the very first episode was October 13th, perhaps 2015 or maybe in September. It's hard to find those very first episodes, but it has been just about 11 years in 2015 to now 2026. I did manage to find some of our other anniversary episodes and I had Kevin Cook on the 300th episode podcast which was in 2022 I think late uh or early 2022 January 26th and in that episode um it was interesting to see what we covered.
So, I'm going to kind of take some clues from that episode and look back on some of our calls over the years, over these 11 years and 500 episodes on this podcast. A couple themes really do stick out and one of them is our discussion with John Blank about recessions. We've covered the recession question every year, multiple times a year for all 11 years on this podcast, but it's only happened one time and it was only because of the pandemic.
So, there was a US recession from February 2020 through April 2020 during COVID. That was the shortest recession ever in US history. And so we didn't even get a chance to call that because our discussion is usually about everything else that's going on that's not a government induced recession as that one was.
So outside of that recession, John Blank and I are still waiting.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- investing tips
- stock investing
- podcasting milestone
- market research
Companies and tickers mentioned
- Zacks Investment Research
- Stocktwits
Watch the episode
Watch “500th Episode: Investing Tips from 11 Years of Podcasting About Stocks” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
More from Zacks Market Edge
Zacks Market Edge, this episode and its artwork belong to Zacks Investment Research. Octagon is not affiliated with the show; this page is an independent summary.
