Charles’ Note: Fun fact… America’s working-age population flatlined around 2016. After decades of growth, the number of Americans aged 15 to 64 – the pool of people willing and able to hold a job – started dropping. It’s trended sideways ever since. 

It’s no mystery. Baby boomers are aging out of the workforce and Gen Zers just starting their first jobs are barely replacing them. 

That would be a problem under normal circumstances. It’s a slow-motion catastrophe when it happens at the same time that globalization is circling the drain and the U.S. and China are in the middle of a messy, public divorce. 

Of course, it’s also an opportunity. 

The Freeport Society, since its inception, has tracked the intersection of two massive, world-changing megatrends. 

The first is the collapse of globalization that was brought front and center by the trade war and Liberation Day tariffs. This trend was in place long before President Trump returned to Washington. But Trump’s insistence on bringing manufacturing back to American shores has certainly pushed the trend into overdrive. 

The second is the AI boom, which is part of the greater exponential progress of technology. AI is already disrupting the world to a degree we haven’t seen since the onset of the Industrial Revolution… and it’s just getting started.

And here’s where the two trends bleed into each other: There can be no great reshoring of manufacturing to America without help from technology. The bodies needed to man the factories simply aren’t there. 

Top-rated investment analyst, tech visionary, and fellow basketball enthusiast Luke Lango breaks down the investment opportunity these merging megatrends presents. In case you missed it, I interviewed Luke last week in Freeport Navigator. Today, he’s back to dig even deeper into the details.

He’s also hosting an online strategy session on May 1 at 7 p.m. Eastern. Simply click here to reserve your seat.

Over to you, Luke.

May 7 to Trigger a $7 Trillion Flood

Few in Washington will say this out loud.

But President Trump’s economic agenda faces a major challenge.

To re industrialize America and reshore manufacturing, we need labor. 

And we simply don’t have it. 

The only way we can bring back “Made in the USA” is with the help of robots.

That means one thing for investors: physical AI – not just digital AI – is about to explode.

But the stocks of companies developing and using physical artificial intelligence – robotics and other forms of AI-powered automation – are waiting for a catalyst. 

They need something to uncap the $7 trillion cash bubble sitting on the sidelines.

They’ll get what they’re looking for come May 7.

Today, we’ll dig into the why and when… and I’ll tell you the best way to position yourself to grab this opportunity.

Let’s get started…

Big Vision, Big Problem

Trump is pushing the boldest industrial policy in U.S. history. He’s committed $500 billion to expand AI infrastructure through the Stargate Project. It supports domestic manufacturing and restoring U.S. supply-chain independence.

We’re talking about chip fabrication plants (also known as foundries or chip fabs) in Ohio… EV-battery plants in Michigan…. robotics factories in Texas… steel mills in Pennsylvania.

The problem is: Who’s going to do all of that work?

As of today, only 222,000 Americans file for unemployment benefits each week. 

The president’s reshoring goals require replacing tens of millions of overseas manufacturing jobs.

China alone has more than 100 million manufacturing workers. India has about 20 million. Vietnam has more than 10 million.

That means we’d need at least 130 million Americans to step into those manufacturing jobs when we bring them back home.

We simply don’t have that many people. Not by a long shot.

Not only are there not enough physical bodies to take the jobs, there’s little incentive to do so either…

Americans Don’t Want These Jobs

The United States offshored manufacturing work for a reason: The tasks are difficult, often dangerous, and generally not the kind of roles in which young Americans see a future.

A recent Cato Institute survey captured the mismatch:

• 80% of respondents say the nation would be better off if more people worked in manufacturing.
• Only 20% say they would be better off working in a factory.

The economics here are even starker…

The minimum wage in China averages about $300 a month. In Vietnam, it’s  roughly $200. And in India, it’s below $200 in many regions.

Yet the U.S. federal minimum wage is more than $1,200 a month. Factories often pay far more.

U.S. labor is four to six times as expensive as most Asian labor. 

So, all told, reshoring manufacturing can’t happen unless companies deploy AI-powered machines.

The Only Way Reshoring Works

Trump’s industrial renaissance will only work if robots build it.

The 21st-century American factory won’t look like Detroit in the 1950s. It will look like Tesla’s Gigafactory, multiplied across industries.

There will be fewer humans working inside them. Instead, they’ll be filled with dozens of industrial arms, autonomous material handling, machine vision-based quality-assurance systems, and zero-light warehouses.

That’s why our team sees physical AI – robots, automation systems, machine vision – as the next leg of the AI Revolution.

Until now, most of the AI hype has revolved around language models, chatbots, and digital copilots. Those software breakthroughs have been transformative for knowledge work.

The next AI frontier is the physical world.

And I believe the next wealth-defining list will be a basket of small, U.S.-based physical-AI leaders that I call the “MAGA 7.” 

“MAGA” stands for Make AI Great in America.

If I’m right, May 7 could mark the start of a second, and possibly larger, melt-up in which the “MAGA 7” will become the new titans of American industry.

That’s why, this Thursday, May 1, at 7 p.m. Eastern, I’m hosting an urgent online strategy session. I’ll show you how we could see triple-digit gains in the coming years. And I’ll detail the “MAGA 7.”

To get ahead, sign up for my 2025 Summer Panic Summit on May 1, at 7 p.m. Eastern to learn more about the stocks that could go parabolic after May 7.

Sincerely,

Luke Lango,

Senior Investment Analyst, InvestorPlace