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The Iran War Will Make Millionaires (Here's How)

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The Iran War Will Make Millionaires (Here's How)

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0:00

Oil prices rise again nationwide amid

0:03

the war in Iran. The war between the

0:05

United States, Israel, and Iran has

0:08

reached a perilous new turning point.

0:10

>> Your S&P and Nasdaq are now on track for

0:12

their fifth straight negative week.

0:14

>> Millionaires are made in markets like

0:16

these, and the more the market panics,

0:18

the bigger the opportunity, especially

0:21

if we can be greedy when everyone else

0:23

is being fearful. So, in this video,

0:25

I'll cover everything you need to know

0:27

to actually take advantage of this crazy

0:29

situation and get rich without getting

0:32

lucky. Your time is valuable, so let's

0:34

get right into it. First things first, I

0:36

owe you an apology. I've been getting

0:38

tons of comments and messages asking me

0:41

to cover the Iran war, and honestly, I

0:43

was staying quiet because there's just

0:45

no end to the macro and geopolitical

0:47

whirlwind that we're constantly in.

0:50

Inflation, tariffs, trade wars, and now

0:52

real wars, and I wanted to stay focused

0:55

on the long-term fundamentals that

0:57

actually matter for building wealth. But

0:59

based on your reactions and the extreme

1:01

fear in the broader market, I really

1:03

should have covered this conflict

1:04

sooner. So, that's on me. Let me make it

1:07

up to you now by covering a few things

1:09

that the mainstream media has been

1:11

missing, like how this Iran war directly

1:13

impacts Nvidia, AMD, and every other AI

1:16

company on Earth, how long chip makers

1:18

can hold out before their supply chains

1:21

actually start to break, which companies

1:23

are the most exposed and which ones

1:24

could come out on top, and of course,

1:26

which stocks I'm buying as a result. All

1:29

right, there's a lot to talk about, so

1:31

let's start with what's actually

1:32

happened so far. But instead of only

1:34

focusing on oil prices, I'll show you

1:36

the direct effects on AI and chip

1:39

companies as we go. As I'm sure you

1:41

know, the Strait of Hormuz is a narrow

1:43

waterway between Iran and Oman that

1:45

about 20% of the world's oil shipments

1:47

pass through every day. Oil sets the

1:50

baseline cost of moving everything. So,

1:52

when oil prices spike, shipping,

1:54

insurance, and every energy-heavy part

1:57

of the chip supply chain gets more

1:58

expensive, which means the cost of every

2:01

wafer, every chip, and every rack of

2:03

GPUs goes up, and that drives margins

2:06

down. But, oil is just one of five

2:09

critical resources for AI chips and data

2:11

centers that pass through the strait.

2:13

LNG, liquefied natural gas, is another.

2:16

LNG powers the electricity grids in

2:19

South Korea and Taiwan, where the

2:21

overwhelming majority of all advanced

2:23

chips on Earth are made. So, less LNG

2:26

means higher electricity costs and

2:28

potential power constraints for the fabs

2:30

that make almost all the chips for

2:32

Nvidia and AMD, Apple and Google, Tesla

2:35

and many more. Helium is the third. It's

2:38

used to keep machines and silicon wafers

2:40

cool during lithography and to keep

2:43

contaminants away from chips during

2:45

deposition. Without helium, fabs can't

2:48

maintain the ultra-clean,

2:49

temperature-controlled environments that

2:51

they need to make the chips we invest

2:53

in. There's no real substitute for

2:55

helium here. This is a real choke point

2:57

that others have already covered, but

2:59

sulfur also passes through the strait,

3:02

which gets refined into the ultra-pure

3:04

sulfuric acid that's used to clean

3:06

silicon wafers between manufacturing

3:08

steps. Sulfur is also used to extract

3:11

copper from ore, and copper is literally

3:14

in every chip, every board, and every

3:16

cable in AI data centers. So, a sulfur

3:19

shortage doesn't just hit the fabs. It

3:21

can also cascade into a copper shortage

3:24

that raises costs across the entire AI

3:26

buildout. And the fifth one is bromine,

3:29

which almost never gets talked about.

3:31

Bromine compounds are used in important

3:33

chemicals inside chip fabs, so

3:35

disruptions here turn into disruptions

3:37

in the lithography and etching process.

3:40

Here's a table showing all five AI and

3:42

semiconductor inputs that are seriously

3:44

impacted by the Iran war. The point is,

3:47

this is way bigger than just oil prices

3:49

and helium supplies. A huge percentage

3:51

of the world's LNG, sulfur, and bromine

3:54

are also at stake here, and it's all

3:57

happening in the middle of the fastest

3:59

growth and most supply-constrained

4:00

period AI has ever seen. In fact,

4:03

according to Market US, the global

4:05

artificial intelligence market is

4:07

expected to almost 19X in size over the

4:10

next 9 years, which is a compound annual

4:13

growth rate of 38.5%

4:15

through 2034. But, many of the companies

4:18

building next-generation AI applications

4:21

are not publicly traded. Think about the

4:23

'90s and early 2000s. Companies like

4:25

Amazon and Google went public very early

4:28

in their growth cycle, but today they're

4:30

waiting an average of 10 years or longer

4:33

to go public. That means investors like

4:35

us can miss out on most of the returns

4:37

from the next Amazon, the next Google,

4:40

the next Nvidia. That's where VCX comes

4:43

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4:45

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4:47

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4:50

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5:12

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5:17

right. So, while the growth opportunity

5:19

for AI is massive over the long term,

5:22

five critical supply chains feeding that

5:24

growth are getting disrupted in the

5:26

short term: oil, natural gas, helium,

5:29

sulfur, and bromine. Now that we have

5:31

that context, let's walk through what

5:33

actually happened and when. That will

5:35

tell us how long chipmakers can actually

5:37

hold out before their supply chains

5:39

start to break. February 28th, the US

5:42

and Israel launch a massive strike on

5:44

Iran. Oil prices spike, and some people

5:47

panic sell their stocks. But, the

5:48

broader market priced this in as a

5:50

short-lived scare. That includes me,

5:53

which is why I didn't cover it. The real

5:55

clock starts on March 2nd, when Iran

5:57

effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz

5:59

and Qatar Energy halted their natural

6:02

gas and helium exports in the region.

6:04

Roughly 20% of the world's oil and

6:06

natural gas, around 30% of the global

6:09

helium supply, and close to half of all

6:11

seaborn sulfur and bromine stopped

6:14

moving overnight. Every fab in Taiwan

6:16

and South Korea is now on borrowed time,

6:19

relying on shipments that were already

6:21

in transit, plus whatever buffers they

6:23

built up before the war. Two days later,

6:25

on March 4th, Qatar Energy declares

6:28

force majeure, warning their customers

6:30

that they can't honor shipping and

6:31

tanker contracts because of events

6:33

beyond their control. Shipping insurance

6:36

prices skyrocket, so sailing through the

6:38

strait stops making economic sense

6:40

altogether. Buyers in South Korea,

6:43

Taiwan, and Europe start scrambling for

6:45

new natural gas and helium contracts,

6:47

now at much higher prices. South Korea's

6:50

energy ministry begins emergency

6:52

measures to conserve oil and gas, while

6:55

Samsung and SK Hynix start drawing from

6:57

their own helium reserves. Samsung and

7:00

SK Hynix make most of the world's DRAM

7:02

and high bandwidth memory, critical

7:04

parts for AI data centers. Things

7:06

escalated again on March 18th and 19th,

7:09

when Iranian missiles struck a nat gas

7:11

facility in Qatar, knocking out around

7:14

17% of their export capacity for several

7:17

years, not days or weeks, and

7:19

constraining their helium production.

7:22

For investors, that means that even if

7:24

the war ends tomorrow, there will be a

7:26

multi-year disruption to LNG and helium

7:28

supplies that will last far longer than

7:31

the headlines. A week later, on March

7:33

24th, Qatar Energy expanded their force

7:36

majeure declaration, warning customers

7:38

in Italy, Belgium, South Korea, and

7:40

China that there will be a sustained

7:43

disruption to pre-existing supply

7:45

agreements for natural gas and helium.

7:47

Taiwanese and Korean fabs brace for

7:49

higher and more volatile energy costs.

7:52

On March 27th, Iran's Revolutionary

7:54

Guard Corps officially closes the Strait

7:57

of Hormuz for ships going to or from

7:59

ports in Israel, the US, and our allies.

8:03

That's also when the first round of

8:04

major shipping data hit the news. By the

8:07

end of March, not a single LNG tanker

8:09

passed through the strait, and only a

8:11

small fraction of the usual oil traffic

8:13

was getting through. All five supply

8:16

lines that I covered earlier, oil,

8:18

liquefied natural gas, helium, sulfur,

8:20

and bromine, are now disrupted. And that

8:23

brings us to today. From now on, every

8:25

week that the Strait of Hormuz stays

8:27

closed makes the size of stockpiles at

8:29

companies like Samsung, SK Hynix, TSMC,

8:32

and even Micron start to matter more

8:35

than their long-term contracts. All

8:37

right, here's a table showing the

8:38

estimated risk exposure based on

8:41

everything we've talked about so far.

8:42

Each row is one of the five critical

8:44

supply lines we just covered, and each

8:46

column is a critical semiconductor

8:48

company sitting in a different region of

8:50

the world. Samsung and SK Hynix in

8:52

Korea, TSMC in Taiwan, Micron and Intel

8:56

in the US, and ASML in Europe. Almost

8:59

every AI and chip company depends on at

9:02

least one of these six companies, and

9:04

any supply problems that these companies

9:06

would have will ripple through the rest

9:08

of the AI ecosystem. A high-risk

9:10

exposure means that if supplies stay

9:12

disrupted, that company could face real

9:15

production problems, not just higher

9:17

costs. Low risk means they're mostly

9:19

dealing with price increases as opposed

9:21

to the risk of not being able to secure

9:24

those supplies at all. Oil, LNG, and

9:26

helium are all high or medium risks for

9:29

Korea and Taiwan because they heavily

9:31

rely on the supplies coming through

9:33

Hormuz. Korean memory makers in

9:36

particular are exposed to materials

9:38

shortages and power disruptions as the

9:40

war drags on. The risks are much lower

9:42

for US companies like Micron and Intel.

9:45

They'll still see higher prices, but

9:47

they have access to more domestic energy

9:49

and helium. So, the risks are mostly to

9:51

their margins unless they pass those

9:53

increased costs onto their customers.

9:56

And the same goes for ASML in Europe

9:58

with higher energy and material costs.

10:01

And now that you understand how and

10:02

where the supply chain is breaking,

10:04

let's talk about what that actually

10:05

means for AI stocks. And if you feel

10:08

I've earned it so far, consider hitting

10:10

the like button, subscribing to the

10:11

channel, and sharing this video. That

10:14

really helps the channel out and it lets

10:16

me know to make more content like this.

10:18

Thanks. Now, let's talk about which

10:19

stocks have the highest risks and which

10:21

ones could come out on top. Like I just

10:24

showed you, Samsung and SK Hynix have

10:26

the highest risks to their supply

10:28

chains. That's not just a problem for

10:30

ETFs like EWY, which is iShares South

10:33

Korea ETF, or DRAM, which is Roundhill's

10:36

brand new memory ETF that just hit the

10:38

market. These two companies are major

10:40

suppliers of high bandwidth memory for

10:43

Nvidia's Hopper, Blackwell, and Rubin

10:45

GPUs. Samsung also supplies some of the

10:48

HBM chips for AMD's Instinct MI350s and

10:52

over half of the HBM that goes into

10:54

Google's TPUs through Broadcom. So, if

10:57

the war drags on, companies like Nvidia,

11:00

AMD, and Google could start seeing

11:02

supply chain issues for their memory

11:04

chips. As Samsung and SK Hynix keep

11:06

juggling limited LNG, helium

11:08

constraints, and bromine supplies,

11:11

they'll probably cut their lower margin

11:13

DRAM products first and do everything

11:15

they can to protect their premium HBM

11:18

lines. But, they might be forced to make

11:20

some hard choices between protecting

11:22

their margins or protecting their market

11:24

share. TSMC is the other key company for

11:27

almost every stock I cover on this

11:29

channel. All of the GPUs and CPUs for

11:31

companies like Nvidia, AMD, and Qualcomm

11:34

are made by TSMC, as well as all the

11:37

custom ASICs for Broadcom, Marvell,

11:40

Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. So, if

11:43

you own the stocks of any AI compute

11:45

companies, chances are they're exposed

11:46

to TSMC's supply chain risks. In

11:49

practice, TSMC has a little more

11:51

flexibility than Samsung and SK Hynix

11:54

because they reportedly have several

11:56

months of helium reserves. They're

11:58

already signing new natural gas deals

12:00

and they have the pricing power to pass

12:02

those higher costs onto their biggest

12:04

customers. So, I don't think there's any

12:06

real risk of TSMC actually shutting

12:09

down. I think that wafer prices will go

12:11

up and fabulous chip companies will see

12:13

their costs creep higher or have their

12:15

allocations capped. That's a real

12:17

headwind, for sure, but it's not as bad

12:19

as a full stop to chip production.

12:21

Micron could be one of the biggest

12:23

winners from this whole fiasco, at least

12:25

relatively speaking. Micron makes

12:27

high-bandwidth memory for AMD's Instinct

12:30

MI350s, for Nvidia's Blackwell and Rubin

12:33

GPUs, as well as DRAM and NAND memory

12:36

for Qualcomm and Broadcom, and even

12:38

flagship smartphones and major

12:39

automotive companies. Unlike Samsung and

12:42

SK Hynix, Micron has access to helium

12:45

from North America and depends less on

12:47

LNG that goes through the Strait of

12:48

Hormuz. On top of that, they have

12:51

record-level margins and their products

12:53

are heavily focused on data centers. So,

12:56

Micron is one of the few companies set

12:58

up to survive these supply shocks and

13:00

even pick up market share if the war

13:02

lasts for a long time. TSMC, Samsung,

13:06

and Intel account for a majority of

13:08

ASML's revenue, and Micron and SK Hynix

13:11

drive a big chunk of their

13:12

memory-related EUV business. So, if

13:15

CapEx shifts more towards lower-risk

13:17

regions or new fabs in the US, ASML is

13:21

one of the few companies still getting

13:23

paid. So, if the war puts long-term

13:25

pressure on supply chains to Taiwan and

13:27

South Korea, semiconductor equipment

13:29

companies like ASML, Lam Research,

13:32

ticker symbol LCRX, and Applied

13:34

Materials, ticker symbol AMAT, would end

13:37

up on the winning side of this story.

13:40

Now that you know where the supply choke

13:41

points are and which companies they

13:43

affect, let's talk about the three most

13:45

likely scenarios going forward and which

13:47

stocks I'm looking to buy based on what

13:49

actually happens next. I made a quick

13:51

and easy table to break it all down for

13:53

you. Scenario one is a near-term

13:56

resolution, like a ceasefire or a

13:58

partial deal in the next month or two.

14:00

Shipments through the strait start

14:01

ramping back up and LNG and helium

14:03

pressures come down before supply chains

14:06

take too much damage. If that happens,

14:08

the market will have overreacted on

14:10

almost every stock we've talked about

14:12

and I'd expect to see a broad post-war

14:15

relief rally in the market as fear turns

14:17

into greed. Scenario two is a long-term

14:20

drawn-out conflict. The Strait of Hormuz

14:22

never fully reopens and some of the

14:24

damaged gas and LNG capacity takes years

14:27

to come back online. Samsung, SK Hynix,

14:31

and even TSMC have higher input costs

14:33

going forward, which puts pressures on

14:35

their margins and on their customers.

14:38

Korean memory companies and the ETFs

14:40

built around them become higher risk

14:42

investments. TSMC and their big AI

14:45

customers become more volatile but are

14:47

still great long-term investments while

14:49

companies like Micron, ASML, Lam

14:52

Research, and Applied Materials come out

14:54

on top as HBM stays in high demand and

14:57

capex shifts towards safer supply

14:59

chains. Scenario three is a near-term

15:02

escalation, the opposite of scenario

15:05

one. Oil prices keep spiking, more

15:07

infrastructure is destroyed, and

15:09

shipping through the strait becomes

15:10

economically impossible. Institutional

15:13

investors de-risk their portfolios and

15:15

even the best AI companies see their

15:17

multiples go down. If that happens, I'm

15:20

taking profits on my South Korean

15:22

stocks. I'm building more cash and I'm

15:25

dollar cost averaging less into the rest

15:27

of my portfolio. The only stocks I'd

15:29

actively be buying in this scenario are

15:31

Micron and maybe ASML. Micron's HBM 4

15:35

capacity is already sold out for 2026

15:38

under long-term contracts and they're

15:40

based in the US, which I think more

15:42

companies will find very attractive if

15:44

the situation escalates. ASML is the

15:47

only real supplier of EUV lithography

15:50

machines and their supply chain is much

15:52

less dependent on the Strait of Hormuz.

15:54

Hopefully, this video helped you

15:55

understand that this war affects much

15:58

more than just oil prices. There are at

16:00

least five major resources that touch

16:02

almost every stock in the AI ecosystem

16:05

and that pass through the strait. Oil,

16:07

natural gas, helium, sulfur and bromine.

16:11

The companies most at risk are the

16:12

Korean high bandwidth memory makers and

16:15

their customers. So, that's where I'm

16:17

being extra cautious until this conflict

16:19

is fully resolved. That's when there

16:21

could be a big relief rally. The

16:23

companies with safer supply chains and

16:25

real pricing power like Micron and ASML

16:28

are the ones that I'm betting on even if

16:30

things stay the same or continue to

16:32

escalate, making them a great way to get

16:34

rich without getting lucky. Let me know

16:37

in the comments if you want me to make a

16:39

deep dive video on either of these

16:40

companies or what your plan is as the

16:43

conflict continues. And if you want to

16:45

see what else I'm buying to get rich

16:47

without getting lucky, check out this

16:49

video next. Either way, thanks for

16:51

watching and until next time, this is

16:53

ticker symbol U. My name is Alex,

16:56

reminding you that the best investment

16:57

you can make

16:59

is in you.

Interactive Summary

The video analyzes the geopolitical conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran, focusing on how the closure of the Strait of Hormuz impacts the global AI and semiconductor supply chains. Beyond oil prices, the speaker highlights five critical resources—oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG), helium, sulfur, and bromine—that are essential for chip manufacturing and are currently facing supply disruptions. The video assesses the varying levels of risk for major companies like Samsung, SK Hynix, TSMC, Micron, and ASML, offering insights into investment strategies based on different conflict resolution scenarios.

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