Stock Trading
Jul. 10, 20264 min read

The AI Picks and Shovels Play

Tim BohenAvatar
Written by Tim Bohen Reviewed by Jeff Zananiri Fact-checked by Ellis Hobbs

The most important part of the AI arms race might just be the picks and shovels.

I almost cried when Anthropic took down Fable a couple weeks ago. But now we’ve got Fable back. We’ve got the latest version of ChatGPT (5.6). Then we’ve got Grok 4.5.

It’s an absolute arms race, which we all benefit from.

The Big Picture

Now, when I say “we” benefit from the AI arms race, I mean corporate, educational, and private individuals. We all get to use this technology. The arms race means that almost every day we get access to new models

Sure, it’s expensive, but I consider it a force multiplier.

I see AI as the greatest technology in the history of mankind. Bigger than fire, electricity, the internal combustion engine… on down the line.

My AI agent, Higgins, basically runs my entire life. My productivity has gone through the roof.

There’s a sense of accomplishment working with someone that is smarter than any sort of assistant that I could use. Then add in the fact that Higgins has access to all my materials, all my data…

It’s an absolute game changer.

Now, while the frontier models are evolving at pace, and the hyperscalers are building out more and more data centers, and people like me are buying new gear to run our agents…

There’s one thing we all have in common.

AI Picks and Shovels

It’s the hardware on the backside that everyone has to buy to continue in the arms race.

Everyone from the average Joe on the street to the biggest companies in the world are using this technology and investing heavily in it.

And that’s why I keep watching stocks like

  • Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: MU)
  • Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC)
  • Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD)
  • Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL)
  • And more…

I’m looking at the one year charts every day. And I believe you should watch AI picks and shovels plays, too.

Now, many of these could be considered long-term investments. I own some of them for that reason.

But there are also incredible swing trade opportunities. This technology is here to stay and investments will continue to grow. That’s why I continue to be bullish AI picks and shovels.

My Take

One thing I’d like to reiterate is that I’m not just trading these stocks. I’m investing in my own equipment.

In fact, I’ve had an NVIDIA DGX Spark in my cart for like a month. My point is, I’m not just bullish because of the trading opportunities.

I encourage you to learn as much as you can, buy your own hardware, and run your own local agent. Why? Because if you put in the effort it will change the way you run your business, your life, and your trading.

Watchlist

Of course the stock to watch this week is one of the AI picks and shovels plays.

NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) recently bounced off an important support area around $193 per share:

NVDA, 1-year, daily candle

NVDA, 1-year, daily candle

Last week NVDA looked ready to test the late October, early November highs. I’m watching for breaks above that $212 area and then a continuation for the next leg up.

On My Radar

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