MRNA - The beginning of the end of cancer?

By: Stephen_McBride

As I write, the S&P 500 is down 5%, and it looks like we’re in the early stages of the larger correction we’ve been anticipating.

Given US stocks surged 28% in six months, this pullback is perfectly normal and healthy.

Let’s get after it…

1. Is this the beginning of the end of cancer?

Biotech company Moderna (MRNA) announced its cancer vaccine had a “positive response” in patients suffering from head and neck cancer.

It’s only early stage trials, so I don’t want to jump the gun. But this has the potential to be one of the biggest breakthroughs of our lifetimes.

Cancer kills 600,000 Americans every year. Thousands of people walk into a doctor’s office only to be told they’re going to die soon. Can you imagine hearing that news?

What if beating cancer was as easy as getting a jab in your arm?

mRNA (messenger RNA) technology could make it real.

You may recognize the term “mRNA.” It’s the tech that helped scientists develop a COVID vaccine in less than a year, which was a record.

A lot of folks are skeptical of mRNA vaccines because bureaucrats shoved them down our throats during COVID. Fair.

But don’t miss the forest from the trees. mRNA really is game-changing tech. It allows us to immunize ourselves against all kinds of viruses and diseases and do it faster than ever.

Think of mRNA like a “Swiss Army knife.” It’s being used to develop multiple cancer vaccines. It’s also behind the first-ever malaria vaccine, which is saving thousands of lives in Africa already.

In many ways, we live in incredible times. I can click a button and have a parcel from China show up on my doorstep two days later. And yet… we remain helpless against thousands of “incurable” diseases.

A mom from my daughter’s school just died of breast cancer. She was only in her mid-30s and had three little girls. Brutal.

We must throw everything we have behind technologies like mRNA that can eliminate suffering.

As Matt Ridley told me over breakfast a while ago, biotech is the next transformational megatrend.

2. Robotics is about to have its “ChatGPT” moment.

Three-quarters of the cardboard boxes Amazon (AMZN) delivers are handled at some point by one of its 750,000 robots.

There are lots of robots already. But they’re “dumb,” as in they only do one specific task.

A little-known startup, Physical Intelligence, is changing that. It’s building an “AI brain” for robots.

You know how Dell (DELL), Lenovo, and HP (HPQ) laptops all run on Microsoft (MSFT) Windows? Physical Intelligence is creating “software” that any robot can use to understand and navigate the world.

OLD: Machines performing one repetitive task in factories.

NEW: “All-arounders” that can pick up boxes… screw nuts onto a wheel… unload trucks… and do a dozen other tasks.

This is a game-changer. I think it will revive “Made in the USA.”

Artificial intelligence (AI) robots will soon do human-like work in factories. They could pluck empty bins off a shelf, then turn around and weld bolts onto a door.

Imagine a handful of people overseeing an army of robots to run a factory. We’ll have 100X—even 1,000X—more factories producing stuff for a fraction of today’s cost.

When American factories automate, we could make quality stuff cheaper than China.

If THAT happens (it’s already started), take what’s possible and multiply it by 100X. This could create trillions of dollars in wealth for America—and the companies behind it.

AI going “physical” is one of the biggest investing opportunities over the next decade.

Unfortunately, the robotics ETFs (BOTZ and ROBO) have been duds. They’re packed full of bad businesses that barely grow. It’s no wonder these ETFs have underperformed. Continue to avoid them.

Instead, be selective and only own fast-growing, profitable robotics businesses.

3. Today’s dose of optimism…

Netflix (NFLX) released a series based on one of my favorite sci-fi novels, The Three-Body Problem. (Series is good, but the book is better.)



The first episode opens with a bang, depicting a real “struggle session” during China’s Cultural Revolution.

It’s one thing to read about the Cultural Revolution, when Chairman Mao tried to “cleanse” China of all non-communists. It’s a whole other thing to see it.

During these sessions, non-communists were publicly beaten until they passed out. They were dragged away until the beatings resumed the next morning.

Here’s the bloody reality:

The opening scene of The Three-Body Problem should be mandatory watching for college kids, who seem to have a “soft spot” for communism.

Stephen McBride

Chief Analyst, RiskHedge

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