MW 10 stocks to protect you from the risky AI trade

By Philip van Doorn

Also in Weekend Reads: Tips for selling a home, the bond market's reaction as Kevin Warsh takes over at the Fed and advice from the Moneyist

AI-related stocks have been on a remarkable run since the end of March.

Is it fair to say that AI-related stocks are in a bubble? Recent action in the stock market makes it difficult not to worry about how long investors' enthusiasm over data infrastructure to support generative artificial intelligence might last. Or maybe investors need to cushion their portfolios to mitigate the risk of paying too high a price for AI-oriented names.

On Thursday, shares of the newly listed Cerebras $(CBRS)$ shot up to $311.07 from their initial public offering price of $185, for a one-day gain of 68% for investors who were able to get in at the IPO price. That made for a market capitalization of $66.95 billion for a company that posted $510 million in revenue for 2025.

Read: Cerebras's stock looks like a risky bet on AI hype

As further evidence of AI-driven exuberance, the iShares Semiconductor ETF SOXX rose 61% from the end of March through Thursday. This exchange-traded fund has returned 76% so far in 2026, following a 41% return in 2025. And within that portfolio of 30 companies, Intel's stock $(INTC)$ was up 163% from the end of March through Thursday, while Micron $(MU)$ was up 130%, Advanced Micro Devices $(AMD)$ was up 121% and Nvidia (NVDA) was up 35%. These figures all include reinvested dividends.

Mark Hulbert shared a list of 10 "HALO" stocks protect your portfolio from the AI bubble, with that acronym standing for "heavy assets, low obsolescence."

More from Mark Hulbert:

-- AI investment 'advice' is 50% more likely to pump you up - and trip you into costly blunders

-- AI is 'absolutely useless' at forecasting inflation. This proven model is 12 times more accurate.

A warning for investors: This dot-com survivor says AI build-out is more like 1997 than 1999 - and still urges investors to hold more cash

Another warning: The big dogs of the dot-com era are barking again, 25 years later. Will they suffer the same fate?

A different angle: Alphabet is the top holding of this five-star fund that is also finding 240% gains in the 'unsexy' side of the AI buildout

More coverage of tech stocks

Here is some of this week's coverage from the MarketWatch Technology team:

-- As Nvidia earnings draw closer, here are five things investors need to watch

-- Space stocks fall as SpaceX's ambitious IPO draws near

-- Here's the next AI 'battleground' - and how investors can get in on the action

-- The most prestigious role in AI has no job description

-- Figma has a fix for its ailing stock - a new way to make money off its AI products

-- Cisco to cut jobs so it can invest more in AI, and the stock rockets toward a record

Having difficulty selling a home? Read this.

Leslie Albrecht shared a method some home sellers are using to get candid feedback when they are having difficulty attracting prospective buyers.

One remedy for expensive housing: More Americans are buying homes to fit multiple generations

Live by these three financial rules

Physical fitness can lower your stress. So can financial fitness.

Regardless of how much money you earn, working to build assets while limiting debt will pay off over the long term. Beth Pinsker interviewed Beth Kobliner, who has updated her book, "Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties," which was first published in 1996.

Times have changed, with some new ways for people to improve their financial health, Kobliner said. Here are her three financial rules to live by.

Alternatives: I have $310,000 in cash from a maturing CD. Where should I put it next?

Don't Short Yourself: Your parents' rules for getting rich don't work anymore, Mrs. Dow Jones says - but this does

The bond market, inflation and the stock market

No doubt you were already getting fed up with all sorts of price inflation even before the Iran conflict caused such a large increase in fuel prices. Here's the latest inflation news and reaction:

-- Wholesale prices jump to 4-year high and point to even more inflation this summer

-- U.S. retail sales rise again, but higher gas prices and inflation play a big role

-- Container shipping routes are shifting due to the Iran war - prices of goods could go higher.

-- April's inflation spike leaves Warsh and the Fed zero excuses not to raise rates

As Kevin Warsh got ready to begin his term as Federal Reserve chair on Friday, the bond market was already anticipating interest-rate increases by the central bank, as Joy Wiltermuth explained. She also looked into how the stock market tends to react when the Fed increases rates.

Greg Robb: Powell's legacy as Fed chair is fighting inflation and Trump. He may lose the battle against both.

Joseph Adinolfi: Introducing the 'NACHO' trade - how Wall Street is betting on higher oil prices and persistent inflation

Is it safe to park all of your investment money with one broker?

This week in the Help Me Retire column, Alessandra Malito answered questions from a reader who was concerned about what might happen to her investment account if her broker were to go bankrupt.

As you pay down debt, what should you do with your extra cash flow?

Quentin Fottrell is the Moneyist.

This week, Quentin Fottrell - the Moneyist - helped a reader who has a problem that many people would love to have. A couple in their 40s are about to pay off their mortgage loan, freeing up $1,500 a month. What should they do with the money?

More from the Moneyist:

-- My husband took out a $100,000 Parent PLUS loan for his daughter. She dropped out. Should we refinance?

-- 'He is retired': Should my husband take his Social Security at 62 and invest it?

-- 'I'm not an extravagant spender': I'm in my 70s with a $90,000 income. Can I afford my dream home with a pool?

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-Philip van Doorn

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May 15, 2026 14:18 ET (18:18 GMT)

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