Happy Saturday!

I got a flood of great questions and thoughtful comments this week.

From getting started in the market at 68… to clarifying the difference between my Perfect Portfolio and Million Mission positions… to the best ways to play copper and SpaceX exposure…

My responses are below.

Let’s get into it.

I feel like an ant amongst all the larger species of great veterans in the financial sphere like you. My wife and I have enough to get to the finish line of life. I am 68, still working in my own company and have limited funds to put into the market. I wanted to try the market before I leave this planet and see if I can duplicate the results others have posted. I have Chat AI answering questions I ask on each topic I have no knowledge of, and it’s interesting what is returned to read. With the flood of information and choices, what are the recommendations you can give an Ant? – Mark

Thanks for the question and for being along for the Mission, Mark.

First of all, you’re not an ant. You’re ahead of most people simply because you’re still curious and still willing to learn.

Second, I think you’re in the right place.

I’m going to tell you the same thing I tell everyone who’s getting into investing.

Start by investing in companies you already know and understand.

Then do one simple habit every day: watch the news and check the stock price. It takes three minutes. Just look at the stocks you own and ask: Did they go higher or lower today? And why? Then read the headlines behind the move.

If you do that consistently, you’ll learn faster than you think. You’ll start to understand how markets react, what investors care about, and how sentiment drives prices.

And keep reading and learning.

Read The Million Mission. Read Altucher. Read Enrique. And read my favorite investing book of all time: One Up On Wall Street by Peter Lynch.

As I said, you’re already ahead of most people. Now let’s put the work in.

Does the Perfect Portfolio reflect the positions that you're currently holding, or is that a different list? I didn't see FNMA in today's list, but also couldn't find a Million Mission update that guided you'd gotten out of FNMA. – Gary

Great question, Gary. Apologies for the confusion.

The Perfect Portfolio is 5 assets I think will significantly outperform the broader market over the next few years. These are more buy-and-hold compounders versus the high-risk high-reward speculative stocks that I hold in my Million Mission portfolio.

The reason I’m not holding all of them in my Million Mission portfolio is because my timeline in that portfolio is shorter than 3-5 years.

Risky, yes. And certainly not a strategy for everyone.

I recall Jim touting ERShares Private-Public Crossover ETF (XOVR) as part of the SpaceX play. I promptly took a position but have yet to realize any gain. Can you tell me the status of the recommendation? – Dudley

Hi, Dudley. I’m thinking you’re mistaking Jim for James here?

Regardless, I like XOVR as an investment. It’s a diversified basket of tech companies including SpaceX, Nvidia, and Meta – three of my favorite investments.

What’s interesting is that the top holdings have increased significantly over the last year, yet XOVR is higher just 6.7%.

SpaceX’s private valuation increased from $350 billion to $800 billion.

Nvidia is up 40% in the last year.

Meta is up just 3% in the last year after a rough last few months.

Palantir is up 150% in the last year.

Yet XOVR is up just 6.7%...

Maybe there’s better options out there. Like owning the best individual stocks instead of the ETF.

I like reading your columns. You say it how you feel right or wrong without all the B.S. and you admit your mistakes which is rare today. My question is: I think copper prices are going to go up. Is there a better way to play other than the miners? Thanks. – Doug

Thanks for the kind words, Doug! I reached out to geologist and mining expert Byron King for his thoughts. Read on below:

“The big producer companies are Southern Copper (SCCO), Freeport McMoRan (FCX), BHP Group (BHP), and Rio Tinto (RIO). I wrote about copper in Strategic Intelligence last month which reprinted in The Rude Awakening on Dec 26th.

Freeport is a favorite out of the bunch. Nice rise, dividend, earnings growing... I expect the Grasberg Mine to reopen mid-2026 which will be a great lift for confidence in the company.”

Here’s a link to Byron’s recent copper article.

Important Update: Follow The Million Mission on Twitter/X

Big news: I just launched a Twitter/X account so you can follow along with The Million Mission in real time. If you want quicker insights, early reactions to breaking news, and a closer look at how I’m navigating the road to $1 million – this is where I’ll be.

Come hang out, ask questions, and follow the Mission as it happens @DavisPWilson.

Another Important Update: The Million Mission website is live!

I’ve gotten plenty of feedback regarding where to find previous alerts. Well, The Million Mission website is finally live and you can check out archived alerts here.

Portfolio Overview

Here’s what I’m currently holding in The Million Mission portfolio:

Fannie Mae (FNMA) – 2,500 shares @ $7.25/share.

Northern Dynasty (NAK) – 5,000 shares @ $1.11/share

Nvidia (NVDA) call options – $200 strike price expiring February 20, 2026

Uber Technologies (UBER) – 140 shares @ $82/share