"Thematic" funds have become all the rage over the past 20 years... But it might surprise you to learn they're not that modern. In fact, they go all the way back to the late 1940s. Back then, a new theme was starting to work its way into American life... Television.

This Process Helped Me Find My Best Winner in 2023 By Pete Carmasino, chief market strategist, Chaikin Analytics "Thematic" funds have become all the rage over the past 20 years... But it might surprise you to learn they're not that modern. In fact, they go all the way back to the late 1940s. Back then, a new theme was starting to work its way into American life... Television. The U.S. only had around 1 million TV sets in 1948. And color TV wasn't a thing yet. But a group of investors saw a massive growth opportunity... The Television Shares Management Corporation launched the Television Fund that year. Then, in 1950, it switched the name to the Television-Electronics Fund to better align with the broadening theme. Seven decades later, the idea of investing in a thematic fund remains the same... First, you want to find a sector or industry that's either new or entering a growth period. Then, you want to leverage all the data you have to try to profit from the shift. That's what I did in one Chaikin PowerFeed essay last summer. It ultimately led to my best winner in 2023. And as I'll explain today, my process is pointing to another thematic opportunity right now... Recommended Links: Major Announcement for 2024 With uncertainty on readers' minds, our friends at Stansberry Research are calling everything else off to begin the new year with an extremely time-sensitive warning from the analyst who has posted over a dozen 1,000%-plus winners since 2020. He'll reveal what to expect in 2024 and exactly what you should be doing with your money to prepare. Click here for the details. Gold Is Headed Above $3,000 per Ounce... Here's How to Play It With so many strange events happening across the economy – the longest bear market for bonds since the Civil War... unprecedented bank closures... and soaring prices – it's no wonder the richest investors are loading up on gold. But what you might not realize is there's a much better way to profit from rising gold prices – WITHOUT ever touching an exchange-traded fund, mining stock, or even bullion. Get the full details here. Specifically, I wrote about the ETFMG Prime Cyber Security Fund (HACK) last June. The Power Gauge rated HACK as "very bullish" at the time. And its Power Bar ratio looked great. HACK held 27 "bullish" or better stocks and only one "bearish" or worse stock. With the Power Gauge's help, I saw that HACK's setup was overwhelmingly positive. The fund has outperformed the market since then. It's up around 19% over the past six months. That's a lot better than the S&P 500 Index's roughly 7% gain in that period. I took things a step further for the paid subscribers of my Chaikin PowerTactics service. A week after I published the Chaikin PowerFeed essay on HACK, I recommended cybersecurity leader CrowdStrike (CRWD). CrowdStrike became my best winner in 2023. It's up about 75% since my recommendation. So as you can see, thematic funds can be a steppingstone to other opportunities. But at the same time, they can also be great on their own. They can help you diversify your risk... With a thematic fund, you're not putting all your eggs in one basket. You don't need to pick the winner in the space. You can own them all and profit as the broader idea takes hold. To that point, another theme looks interesting to me right now... I'm talking about metals and mining. We track this theme in the Power Gauge with the SPDR S&P Metals and Mining Fund (XME). Here's the one-year chart for XME... In the panel below the main price chart, I highlighted XME's recent "relative-strength change" with a box. The fund started outperforming the S&P 500 in mid-September. That's an important development. It tells us the trend is on our side with XME today. For this theme's breakout to continue, a couple things need to line up... It starts with the costs of raw materials and energy. Oil is down more than 20% from its most recent peak of about $94 per barrel in September. It's around $72 per barrel today. Lumber and steel prices have fallen from their recent peaks, too. The second piece of the puzzle is rising consumer demand. And as we head into 2024, the best catalyst for rising demand is lower interest rates... The Federal Reserve expects to cut rates this year. That will lead to higher demand in industries like metals and mining. After all, metals are base materials for nearly all manufacturing. Lower rates make it cheaper to invest in these areas. And interest is already surging in this space... A couple weeks ago, Japan-based Nippon Steel offered about $15 billion for U.S. Steel (X). The deal is under scrutiny because the potential buyer of this iconic U.S. company is from Japan. And some folks don't believe the deal would be in our best interest as a country. But for our purposes, the more important point is clear... Metals and mining are in play. So I recommend keeping your eye on this space today. Good investing, Pete Carmasino Market View Major Indexes and Notable Sectors     # Hld:     Bullish     Neutral     Bearish Dow 30 +0.010% 13 15 2 S&P 500 -0.040% 165 282 50 Nasdaq -0.010% 46 47 5 Small Caps -0.460% 761 921 239 Bonds -0.650% — According to the Chaikin Power Bar, Small Cap stocks and Large Cap stocks remain Bullish. Major indexes are mixed. *  *  *  * Sector Tracker Sector movement over the last 5 days Real Estate +1.26% Financial +1.04% Health Care +0.86% Staples +0.84% Industrials +0.82% Utilities +0.78% Information Technology +0.65% Communication +0.47% Discretionary +0.27% Materials -0.04% Energy -0.87% *  *  *  * Industry Focus Software & Services 95 45 3 Over the past 6 months, the Software & Services subsector (XSW) has outperformed the S&P 500 by +5.38%. Its Power Bar ratio, which measures future potential, is Very Strong, with more Bullish than Bearish stocks. It is currently ranked #6 of 21 subsectors. Top Stocks ZM Zoom Video Communica DOCU DocuSign, Inc. CTSH Cognizant Technology *  *  *  * Top Movers Gainers BSX +1.33% EXPE +0.76% NVDA +0.74% MAR +0.70% HES +0.65% Losers FCX -1.60% KMX -1.43% CF -1.39% ILMN -1.25% PARA -1.25% *  *  *  * Earnings Report Reporting Today Rating Before Open After Close No earnings reporting today. Earnings Surprises No significant Earnings Surprises in the Russell 3000. *  *  *  * You have received this e-mail as part of your subscription to PowerFeed. If you no longer want to receive e-mails from PowerFeed, click here. You're receiving this e-mail at indra21poetra@gmail.com. For questions about your account or to speak with customer service, call +1 (877) 697-6783 (U.S.), 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Eastern time or e-mail info@chaikinanalytics.com. Please note: The law prohibits us from giving personalized investment advice. © 2024 Chaikin Analytics, LLC. All rights reserved. Any reproduction, copying, or redistribution, in whole or in part, is prohibited without written permission from Chaikin Analytics, LLC. 201 King Of Prussia Rd., Suite 650, Radnor, PA 19087. www.chaikinanalytics.com. Any brokers mentioned constitute a partial list of available brokers and is for your information only. Chaikin Analytics, LLC, does not recommend or endorse any brokers, dealers, or investment advisors. Chaikin Analytics forbids its writers from having a financial interest in any security they recommend to our subscribers. All employees of Chaikin Analytics, LLC (and affiliated companies) must wait 24 hours after an investment recommendation is published online – or 72 hours after a direct mail publication is sent – before acting on that recommendation. This work is based on SEC filings, current events, interviews, corporate press releases, and what we've learned as financial journalists. It may contain errors, and you shouldn't make any investment decision based solely on what you read here. It's your money and your responsibility.