Dear Reader
I recently visited Mar-a-Lago...
And now I'm p repared to put my reputation on the line.
Since 1998, my proprietary system would've returned 13,126% in backtests.
(That's 13X the S&P and 106X the average investor, according to JP Morgan.)
However, one investment I just uncovered could be my biggest winner of all...
It involves President Trump, Elon Musk, trillions of dollars, China...
And a MAJOR upgrade to the artificial intelligence revolution.
If you buy just one stock in 2026, I urge you to make it this one.
Regards,
Louis Navellier
Senior Investment Analyst, InvestorPlace
3 Standout ETFs With a Proven Track Record of Success
Reported by Nathan Reiff. Originally Published: 2/23/2026.
Key Points
- In the last five years, three ETFs have generated returns of 150% or more.
- These funds include a unique angle on the Greek economy, a broad uranium and nuclear energy play, and an equal-weight approach to the U.S. energy sector.
- External factors suggest that momentum might continue for each of these funds into the foreseeable future.
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The world of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is expanding rapidly, with investors putting more than a trillion dollars into these products each year amid a wave of new fund launches. That proliferation makes it easy to get lost in the noise. One way to narrow the field is to focus on long-term results.
Seeking out ETFs with a strong five-year performance history can help avoid the short-term blips that often accompany flashy funds chasing trendy themes. Of course, several years of success is no guarantee of future outperformance, but the funds below stand out for their proven track records.
GREK Provides Unique Exposure to the Ups (and Downs) of the Greek Economy
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The Global X MSCI Greece ETF (NYSEARCA: GREK) remains the only pure-play Greek ETF, offering exposure to about 30 companies domiciled in Greece. Unlike some other single-country funds, GREK can be quite volatile because the Greek market is often unsettled. Recently, however, the Greek economy has strengthened, and projections of 2.2% growth in 2026 could outpace many other European nations.
Close to half of GREK's portfolio by weight is concentrated in a small group of just four stocks, all from the financials sector and representing some of the largest banks in Greece.
Other sectors with meaningful representation include industrials and consumer discretionary names.
Because the fund leans heavily on banking stocks, investors benefit handsomely when the economy is booming—GREK has returned an impressive 193% over the last five years—but the fund can suffer during broader European economic turmoil.
That volatility may make GREK better suited to tactical allocations rather than a buy-and-hold core position. The fund also offers a dividend yield of 3.21%, a bonus alongside its recent outperformance.
NLR Is a Costly Nuclear Bet, but Many Factors Point to Continued Growth
After an outstanding rally through much of 2025, the clean-energy-focused VanEck Uranium and Nuclear ETF (NYSEARCA: NLR) dipped heading into 2026. Despite that pullback, it has still returned roughly 11% year-to-date (YTD) and more than 196% over the past five years as nuclear energy gains renewed regulatory support in the United States and elsewhere.
While several nuclear-themed ETFs have become popular recently, NLR's dual approach is appealing: it provides broad exposure to the nuclear power industry while also targeting companies that produce uranium, covering multiple corners of the nuclear complex.
That said, NLR's portfolio is fairly concentrated at a little over two dozen positions, though those holdings are spread across the U.S., Canada, Australia, China and other regions.
NLR stands to benefit from growing interest in cleaner nuclear power to meet the energy demands of AI and data centers.
It could also get a lift from easing regulations that accelerate nuclear adoption. Given those tailwinds, an expense ratio of 0.56%—high relative to many ETFs—may be reasonable for investors seeking targeted nuclear exposure.
Equal-Weighting Across the S&P 500's Energy Names
The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Energy ETF (NYSEARCA: RSPG) has returned more than 153% over the past five years. That performance stems from its equal-weight approach across the energy sector as represented in the S&P 500.
Although the roughly two-dozen holdings in RSPG's portfolio are not perfectly equal-weighted, they are close enough to ensure the largest names—like the $637-billion Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM)—do not have outsized influence on the fund.
Because the energy sector includes exploration and production firms, refiners, storage and transport companies, and more, RSPG doesn't take a strong sector tilt beyond the S&P's composition. That broad exposure means the fund benefits when the energy sector strengthens across the board.
The fund also pays a dividend yield of 2.11%, which may appeal to longer-term investors.
Vertiv's $15 Billion Backlog Is the Loudest AI Signal in 2026
Reported by Jeffrey Neal Johnson. Originally Published: 2/18/2026.
Key Points
- The company reported a historic surge in its order backlog that provides exceptional visibility into revenue growth for multiple future years.
- Strategic acquisitions and partnerships with leading chip manufacturers have solidified a dominant position in the liquid cooling market.
- Recent government policy exemptions for large data centers effectively create a regulatory advantage that incentivizes domestic expansion.
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For the past two years, the artificial intelligence (AI) investment narrative has focused almost exclusively on silicon. Investors constantly asked, "Who makes the chips?" and the answer was usually NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA). However, as 2026 unfolds, the bottleneck in the AI revolution is shifting. It is no longer just about acquiring the processors; it is about the physics of keeping them running.
As AI data centers grow larger and chips run hotter, the primary constraints have moved to power delivery and thermal management. This shift has crowned Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE: VRT) as the "utility company" of the AI era.
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Without Vertiv's high-density cooling and power systems, the latest generation of high-performance chips cannot function at scale.
After a massive fourth-quarter earnings report that pushed shares toward all-time highs near $243, Vertiv demonstrated it is not merely a manufacturing stock but a structural necessity for the digital economy.
A $15 Billion Signal for Future Growth
On Feb. 11, 2026, Vertiv delivered what Wall Street calls a beat-and-raise quarter, fundamentally resetting expectations for the company's growth trajectory. The numbers tell a story of accelerating demand that is decoupling from broader, slower-moving industrial trends.
In the fourth quarter of 2025, Vertiv reported net sales of $2.88 billion, an organic increase of 19% year over year. Profitability was even more impressive: Adjusted Earnings Per Share (EPS) reached $1.36, beating analyst consensus of $1.29. The company also generated $910 million in adjusted free cash flow, giving it ample resources to reinvest in factories and the supply chain.
The Mic Drop Metric: A $15 Billion Backlog Matters
While revenue growth was strong, the standout metric was the order backlog. Vertiv ended 2025 with a backlog of $15 billion, a staggering 109% increase compared with the prior year. This number is critical because it represents contractually secured demand.
Unlike consumer tech firms that chase quarterly sales trends, a backlog of this magnitude means a substantial portion of Vertiv's 2026 and 2027 revenue is already locked in, providing a level of visibility rare in the industrial sector. Management issued bullish guidance for full-year 2026, projecting revenue between $13.25 billion and $13.75 billion, with adjusted EPS of $5.97 to $6.07. That roughly 43% projected earnings growth effectively pulls the company's long-term financial targets forward by nearly two years.
Engineering the Moat: How Vertiv Protects Its Lead
The driving force behind Vertiv's backlog is a fundamental problem with physics: air is no longer enough. Traditional data centers cool servers by blowing cold air through racks. Modern AI clusters, including those using NVIDIA's Blackwell chips, are pushing power densities to 100 kilowatts (kW) per rack and beyond. At those levels, air simply cannot transfer heat fast enough to prevent hardware failure.
Vertiv has positioned itself as the market leader in the transition to liquid cooling. That includes Direct-to-Chip technology, where fluid is pumped through metal plates attached directly to GPUs. This engineering moat protects Vertiv from commodity competitors that lack the pedigree to manage high-pressure fluid loops inside expensive server racks.
To deepen the moat, Vertiv completed the $1 billion acquisition of PurgeRite in December 2025. The deal is a classic razor-and-blade strategy: Vertiv sells the hardware (cooling units), while PurgeRite supplies the specialized services to flush, filter, and maintain complex fluid chemistry. Owning that service layer creates a high-margin, recurring revenue stream that lasts for the life of a data center.
Additionally, the company is collaborating with NVIDIA to develop an 800-volt DC power architecture, slated for release in the second half of 2026. The product launch is timed with NVIDIA's next-generation Rubin platform. By integrating its power systems into the blueprints for future AI facilities, Vertiv positions itself as the default infrastructure partner for the world's largest tech companies.
Why Trade Wars Won't Stop the Build-Out
Investors have rightly worried about the new 25% Section 232 tariffs on semiconductors, imposed in January 2026. Trade tensions typically raise costs and dampen demand. However, Vertiv benefits from a regulatory wrinkle many analysts initially overlooked.
The presidential proclamation imposing the tariffs includes a key exemption: semiconductor imports destined for U.S. data centers with loads greater than 100 megawatts (MW) are exempt from the duty. That policy actively incentivizes hyperscale companies to build their AI clusters in the United States. Since the Americas region is Vertiv's strongest market—posting 50% sales growth in Q4—this exemption effectively creates a regulatory moat around its core customer base, shielding them from cost inflation.
Why Vertiv Commands a Higher Multiple
Vertiv's strength is clearer when compared with peers such as Eaton (NYSE: ETN). While Eaton is a high-quality industrial company, it recently missed revenue estimates due to exposure to cyclical sectors such as automotive and aerospace. Vertiv, by contrast, is a pure-play on data centers and captures the full velocity of the AI infrastructure boom without the drag of slower-growing legacy industries.
Trading at roughly 40 times forward earnings, Vertiv commands a premium. But context matters: when adjusted for growth using the PEG ratio (price/earnings-to-growth), the stock looks reasonably valued. With earnings projected to grow about 43% in 2026, the PEG ratio sits near 1.0, suggesting investors are paying a fair price for elite growth. Additionally, S&P Global Ratings recently upgraded Vertiv to investment grade (BBB-), which lowers the company's cost of capital and opens the stock to a broader pool of institutional investors.
The Toll Booth for the AI Age
Vertiv has moved from a cyclical industrial manufacturer to a secular growth compounder. The shift in the AI bottleneck from silicon availability to physical infrastructure has placed the company in an enviable position. With a $15 billion backlog, a protected domestic market, and a strategic hold on liquid cooling and high-voltage power, Vertiv functions as the toll booth for the AI supercycle.
Customer concentration among the Magnificent Seven remains a risk to monitor, but the company's execution to date suggests that as long as the arms race for compute power continues, Vertiv will be the one keeping the lights on and the temperatures down.
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