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In this issue of Beyond the Headlines:

🧠 Robinhood’s Global Bet on Prediction Markets

Robinhood Markets Inc. $HOOD ( ▼ 1.26% )  is expanding its prediction markets platform overseas, raising fresh questions about the line between investing and gambling.

🚀 Bezos Says the Future of AI Is in Space

Amazon.com Inc. $AMZN ( ▲ 0.11% )  founder Jeff Bezos predicts space-based data centers will soon outperform Earth-based ones, thanks to 24/7 solar power and zero weather disruptions.

⚒️ U.S. Buys Into Australia’s Critical Minerals

The U.S. is offering direct equity and funding to Australian mining firms to secure key materials and reduce reliance on China.

What’s Happening

Robinhood is looking at an international rollout of its prediction markets platform. And it’s talking with regulators like the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority to understand local compliance requirements. In the U.S., prediction markets are classified as futures products. But in markets outside U.S. borders, they’re often categorized as gambling, which makes them a challenge for regulators. The company has already launched operations in the UK and EU and is seeing growing demand for event-based trading in those markets. Robinhood currently offers prediction markets in the U.S. through partnerships with Kalshi and ForecastEx. 

Why It Matters

Prediction markets are further blurring the lines between financial speculation and entertainment, especially as platforms expand into sports, politics, and economic forecasts. For serious investors, since the launch of Stock Picker’s Corner (SPC), we’ve been saying people should not treat their brokerage accounts like a sports betting account — that’s a Wealth Killer move.

If you want to learn more about the investing moves to make and the ones to sidestep, check out Wealth Builder/Wealth Killer, now available on Amazon.

Investable Opportunity

Chief Stock Picker Bill Patalon has likened options trading to gambling, and prediction markets take that concept even further, offering a purer form of “betting” on real-world events. Like any form of betting, you might win occasionally, but over time, the odds favor the house. In Las Vegas, the house is the casino. In the world of prediction markets, the winners are the platforms and operators facilitating the trades; they earn a cut no matter which side of the bet wins or loses.

What’s Happening

Bezos recently shared a bold prediction: Within the next 10 to 20 years, we’ll see gigawatt-scale data centers operating in space. He argued that the continuous availability of solar energy in orbit (free from clouds, rain, or weather disruptions) will make these space-based facilities more cost-effective than their Earth-bound counterparts.

Why It Matters

Bezos understands that Earth-based data centers will eventually hit their limits, especially with the energy needed to power them and the water needed to cool them. This vision also fits into a broader trend of using space not just for exploration, but as a new path for industrial innovation and military preparedness. Investing in the “Space Economy” may sound like a literal moonshot that will take years or decades to pay off … if it pays off at all. But there are very real investments to make in the Space Economy in the here and now.

Investable Takeaway

While timelines vary, the direction is clear that space is unlocking new economic and investable opportunities.

From rockets to satellites to space-enabled defense, we’ve been highlighting some of the biggest potential winners in the Space Economy over the last year.

What’s Happening

The U.S. government is actively offering equity investments and other financial support to Australian critical minerals companies in an effort to diversify supply chains and reduce dependence on China. This initiative follows China’s export restrictions on rare earths and permanent magnets, which have disrupted the automotive and defense industries. Executives from 15 Australian firms recently met with senior U.S. officials in Washington, where they were encouraged to submit proposals for funding through various channels like equity stakes, debt financing, and prepayment of supply for strategic reserves.

Why It Matters

Critical minerals like lithium, cobalt, and rare earths are foundational to electric vehicles, semiconductors, and military technologies. This willingness to work with another country reflects growing geopolitical coordination among allies, with Australia offering shares in its new critical minerals reserve to partners like the U.K. and U.S.

Investable Takeaway

Mining projects that were previously seen as risky due to market volatility now have a clearer path to de-risking through government backing. In fact, just last week, we covered such a company based in the United States.

It’s a gold miner but hasn’t started production.

It’s not profitable.

And it’s not the kind of company we typically spotlight.

But it’s sitting on an estimated $18 billion in gold reserves … and something even more strategically important: antimony, a critical mineral used in defense tech, semiconductors, and energy storage.

It also has the potential to become the only domestic source of mined antimony, effectively creating a legal monopoly in a sector where China has cut off exports.

We broke it all down for SPC Premium readers, including the risks, the upside, and where shares could head over the next year.

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