Wall Street Wildlife Investing Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Happy New Year! We kick off 2025 with bold predictions and a touch of drama. After reflecting on our 2024 forecasting showdown (spoiler: eggnog-fueled chaos), we dive into the biggest investing and stock market trends and opportunities for 2025!

We also open the box on quantum computing and analyse two hot names in this sector, Rigetti Computing $RGTI and Quantum Computing Inc $QUBT!

💹 S&P 500 in 2025 – Bullish, bearish, or just plain sideways?

📈 Small-Cap Comeback – Are the underdogs finally ready to shine, and is this the end of the Magnificent 7?

🖥 Quantum Computing’s Breakthrough – Will Google’s advances redefine the future of tech? $GOOGL

💡 AI in Action – Which company will dominate practical applications of AI? $AAPL

🪙 Crypto Showdown – Bitcoin vs. Chainlink: Which one will soar higher? $BTC $LINK

🚗 Tesla RoboTaxis – Can Austin lead the driverless revolution in 2025? $TSLA $WAYMO

🌎 Global Recession? – Will 2025 bring a soft landing or economic turbulence?

🚀 Space Innovation – Which company will lead the charge into the stars? $ASTS $RKLB $SPACEX

💼 Biggest Tech M&A – Could Apple, Tesla, or another giant make a game-changing acquisition?

Stick around for a surprise discussion about investing resolutions, portfolio decluttering, and why balancing fun with financial wisdom is the ultimate strategy for 2025!

📌 Don’t miss this episode packed with insights, humor, and hot takes that could reshape your investing portfolio!

Sources:

Link to Wait But Why article on Neuralink and the brain: https://waitbutwhy.com/2017/04/neuralink.html

Segments:

00:00 Introduction

00:39 Recap of our 2024 Predictions

01:30 Patreon Shoutout and Behind the Scenes

03:10 2025 Predictions

03:38 S&P 500 Prediction

05:40 Magnificent Seven vs Small Caps

07:49 Global Recession Concerns

10:46 Crypto Predictions: Bitcoin vs Chainlink

13:24 AI Domination: Tech Giants

17:05 Largest Tech Acquisition of 2025

23:15 Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)

26:28 Space Exploration Predictions

29:06 Tesla RoboTaxis in Austin

32:00 Groundbreaking Invention

36:18 Groundbreaking Medical Treatment

39:15 Best and Worst Portfolio Performers

45:20 Investing Resolutions for 2025

57:59 Quantum Computing: The Next Frontier?

01:05:14 Analyzing Two Quantum Computing Companies

01:14:04 Final Thoughts and Advice for Investors

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Please leave us a review on Apple or Spotify if our Wall Street Wildlife episodes have helped you become a better investor.
If you're enjoying the show and want to support us in creating even more valuable content, head over to patreon.com/wallstreetwildlife. Your support will help us research, learn, and bring you the best insights from the investing jungle. Find your investing animal and show us some love.
If you want to see our furry faces, this podcast is also available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@WallStreetWildlife?sub_confirmation=1.
If you want to use the same portfolio tracking tool as Luke, check-out https://www.portseido.com/?fpr=lukehallard
You can find more episodes of the podcast at ⁠⁠wallstreetwildlife.com⁠⁠ where you can also get our "10 Laws of the Investing Jungle" free PDF download, and you can follow us at:
⁠x.com/7LukeHallard⁠
⁠x.com/7FlyingPlatypus⁠
Wall Street Wildlife is also on Instagram @wallstreetwildlife.
---
Fed up with the stock market giving you a hard time?
- Invest like seasoned pros with over 40 years in the game
- Discover the world's leading companies
- Sharpen your best investing practices and ditch the worst
- Learn how to start investing
- Essential investing principles to boost your returns
---
investing in stocks for beginners, stock trading for beginners, stocks and shares for beginners, investing 101, learn how to invest, stock market for dummies

The Power of Starting Early:

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Why beginning an investment journey for your kids today can lead to life-changing outcomes

💰 How compound interest can turn $20 a week into more than $50,000!

Step-By-Step Guide to Getting Started (Today!):

🏦 How to open a tax efficient account

❔ What to invest in

💪 How to resist market noise and stay consistent with your long-term plan

Investing as a Family Journey:

☕ Teaching kids about investing using brands they love, like Starbucks, Tesla, or Netflix

🎮 Leveraging tools like Greenlight or Acorns Early to make investing interactive

Avoiding Common Pitfalls:

⏳ Why delayed gratification and emotional discipline are essential to investment success

🛑 Insights into avoiding “fear-and-greed” cycles that lead to poor decisions

Key Takeaways:

✅ The earlier you start, the bigger the potential

✅ Focus on teaching good habits over chasing market returns

✅ Start Small, Start Now: Even $20 per week can transform into significant savings

✅ Make Investing Relatable: Engage kids with familiar companies and accessible tools

✅ Think Long Term: Patience and consistency are more valuable than market timing

🌴 Thank you for supporting Wall Street Wildlife on Patreon! Your contributions are helping us make the show even better! 🦁

Segments:

00:00 Introduction

00:34 The Importance of Investing for Your Children

01:27 The Power of Compound Interest

04:51 Getting Started: Opening a Brokerage Account

06:00 Investment Options: UK and US

08:57 The Simplicity of Starting Small

11:06 The Importance of Consistency

14:30 Educating Your Children About Money

18:10 Teaching Through Real-Life Examples

24:58 Investing in What You Know

28:37 Developing an Investor's Mindset

30:34 Emotional Discipline in Investing

32:07 Choosing Companies to Invest In

37:50 The Power of Consistent Investing

41:54 Encouraging the Next Generation of Investors

49:21 Practical Steps to Start Investing

---
Please leave us a review on Apple or Spotify if our Wall Street Wildlife episodes have helped you become a better investor.
If you're enjoying the show and want to support us in creating even more valuable content, head over to patreon.com/wallstreetwildlife. Your support will help us research, learn, and bring you the best insights from the investing jungle. Find your investing animal and show us some love.
If you want to see our furry faces, this podcast is also available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@WallStreetWildlife?sub_confirmation=1.
If you want to use the same portfolio tracking tool as Luke, check-out https://www.portseido.com/?fpr=lukehallard
You can find more episodes of the podcast at ⁠⁠wallstreetwildlife.com⁠⁠ where you can also get our "10 Laws of the Investing Jungle" free PDF download, and you can follow us at:
⁠x.com/7LukeHallard⁠
⁠x.com/7FlyingPlatypus⁠
Wall Street Wildlife is also on Instagram @wallstreetwildlife.
---
Fed up with the stock market giving you a hard time?
- Invest like seasoned pros with over 40 years in the game
- Discover the world's leading companies
- Sharpen your best investing practices and ditch the worst
- Learn how to start investing
- Essential investing principles to boost your returns
---
investing in stocks for beginners, stock trading for beginners, stocks and shares for beginners, investing 101, learn how to invest, stock market for dummies

In this week's episode:

🤏 Why small-caps will outperform in 2025

❌ A horrific, down-in-the-dumps share price does not equal a broken thesis. $CHRS

🧬 The trend is your friend in investing; is biotech an exception? $RLAY

🧑‍🍳 Badger shares his investment todo list, and explains why he's planning to short $CAVA

📕 Bradford DeLong, Professor of Economics and author of 'Slouching Toward Utopia: An Economic History of the 20th Century' will be a guest on our show in the near future. Read his insightful book to get the most out of our conversation

🎮 Stock Safari: Badger channels his inner nerd and discusses Games Workshop $GAW

🚀 Stock Safari: Monkey pitches AST Space Mobile and the future of cellular connectivity: Space X + Phones $ASTS

🚨🌴Thank you for supporting Wall Street Wildlife on https://www.patreon.com/wallstreetwildlife! 💵The few bucks you won’t miss will help us make the show even better. 🎯All patreon questions get boosted to the top of the queue!

Segments:

[00:00:00] Introduction

[00:10:47] Small Cap Stocks are set to Outperform in 2025

[00:15:54] Coherus is now a Penny Stock

[00:18:19] What's Luke's Can't Miss Short Term Trade?

[00:23:26] Preview of our Upcoming Guest Interview

[00:25:14] Is it Bad for your Health to Add a Biotech Stock in a Downtrend?

[00:29:10] Stock Safari - Games Workshop

[00:36:59] Stock Safari - AST Space Mobile

---
Please leave us a review on Apple or Spotify if our Wall Street Wildlife episodes have helped you become a better investor.
If you're enjoying the show and want to support us in creating even more valuable content, head over to patreon.com/wallstreetwildlife. Your support will help us research, learn, and bring you the best insights from the investing jungle. Find your investing animal and show us some love.
If you want to see our furry faces, this podcast is also available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@WallStreetWildlife?sub_confirmation=1.
If you want to use the same portfolio tracking tool as Luke, check-out https://www.portseido.com/?fpr=lukehallard
You can find more episodes of the podcast at ⁠⁠wallstreetwildlife.com⁠⁠ where you can also get our "10 Laws of the Investing Jungle" free PDF download, and you can follow us at:
⁠x.com/7LukeHallard⁠
⁠x.com/7FlyingPlatypus⁠
Wall Street Wildlife is also on Instagram @wallstreetwildlife.
---
Fed up with the stock market giving you a hard time?
- Invest like seasoned pros with over 40 years in the game
- Discover the world's leading companies
- Sharpen your best investing practices and ditch the worst
- Learn how to start investing
- Essential investing principles to boost your returns
---
investing in stocks for beginners, stock trading for beginners, stocks and shares for beginners, investing 101, learn how to invest, stock market for dummies

Square was founded in 2009, when glass-blower Jim McKelvey found he was unable to complete a sale because he couldn't accept credit cards. He discussed the problem with his friend Jack Dorsey, and they co-founded Square, initially selling a cost-effective mobile phone accessory that allowed small businesses to accept credit card payments. This has since expanded to over 30 products and services for both sellers and consumers.

Square is one of our model portfolio stocks, and in this week’s pod we deep dive into the company and discuss recent developments for this fast-growing player in the e-payments space.

• What started with a dongle for a mobile device to allow sellers to accept credit cards has since expanded to a range of point-of-sale (POS) systems and seller services. Square have also launched tailored products and services for specific businesses, for example the Square Kitchen Display System (KDS) recently launched as a standalone product worldwide to help restaurants manage and fulfil orders more efficiently
• The use of electronic payments has been increasing for many years and was accelerated by the pandemic. Digital wallets are now the most popular form of payment globally. The Square Cash App introduced in 2013 is one of the most popular digital wallets in the US, with 36M monthly active users at the end of last year, a jump from 24M at the end of 2019
• Square started offering Bitcoin trading in its Cash App in 2018 and the company has increased its stake in crypto by buying $170M of Bitcoin, representing 5% of its cash reserves. They saw over 1M users buy Bitcoin for the first time in January of this year, and their revenue from Bitcoin trading surged to $3.5B in Q1. This may be a cause for concern if crypto sees increasing regulation, restrictions, or volatility
• Square acquired the music streaming service, Tidal, earlier this year. Tidal’s once distinguishing feature of high-quality lossless audio are now available on other music streaming services, but the relationships with the artists may be the key differentiator. Could Square and Tidal become the "Shopify for music artists"?
• Another recent acquisition was Credit Karma Tax, a free tax filing tool that Square plans to integrate into its Cash App, further enhancing the Square payment ecosystem. Square payment processing is currently integrated with TurboTax from Intuit to simplify the tax filing for sellers. The acquisition of Credit Karma Tax may suggest a bigger move into the tax filing business, perhaps competing with Intuit instead?
• Square officially became a bank earlier this year. Previously, Square offered financial products such as small business loans via a partnership with Celtic Bank. They are now able to offer these products directly, and have recently announced they will launch checking and savings accounts, competing with incumbents such as JP Morgan and Wells Fargo

The following companies are mentioned in this episode: SQ, INTU, SHOP, MELI, SE, GOOG, APPL, PYPL

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If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing at https://telescopeinvesting.com/subscribe/

Or you can contact the hosts: LukeTelescope AlbertTelescope

Have you become numb from seeing wave after wave of red days in your portfolio? Are you unsure whether it’s the right time to buy or to sell as you’re buffeted by the market? Then maybe it’s time for some stock therapy!

After a fantastic start to the year, our model portfolio has turned south, along with the majority of high-growth stocks as investors run to the 'safe haven' of value stocks. In this week’s pod, we talk about what’s happened to growth stocks in the last few months, the possible reasons why, and more importantly what we can do about it. Long-time listeners will already know the answer, but it feels good to get it all out!

(apologies for Luke's fairly terrible audio quality on today's Pod, a rather silly technology error that was overlooked, we'll have to write a checklist for future recording sessions!)

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If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing at https://telescopeinvesting.com/subscribe/

Or you can contact the hosts: LukeTelescope AlbertTelescope

Unity Software is best known for its game engine, which was used for over 50% of all video games in 2020. But Unity is also used to create over 60% of all VR/AR applications, and is starting to expand into other industries such as automotive, architecture, manufacturing, film, and retail. It’s not just about Pokemon Go!

In this week’s pod, we take a deep dive into Unity, and have a fantastic discussion with Karle Kane, the founder of Rainfall Games.

• Unity is one of the largest development platforms for gaming and was used to create over 50% of video games across 20 platforms in 2020. It is even more dominant in mobile gaming where 71% of the top 1,000 mobile games in 2020 used Unity. 93 of the top 100 game studios by revenue are Unity customers, and on average there were 2.7B people each month who consumed content created with Unity in 2020. Unity estimates their addressable market in gaming at $12B growing to $16B by 2025
• Over 60% of all VR/AR experiences are created with Unity, and this platform was used to create 90% of all Microsoft HoloLens and Samsung Gear VR experiences. AR/VR is seeing increased adoption, not just in gaming but also in other industries including healthcare, manufacturing, architecture and design and the VR/AR market is projected to grow by 63% per year through 2025. Unity estimates their current opportunity in VR/AR at $17B
• They have three main business segments: Create Solutions, a subscription-based business providing access to Unity’s development tools; Operate Solutions, a usage-based business helping game developers to run and monetise their games; and Strategic Partnerships, where tech partners such as Apple, Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony pay Unity to support their hardware and software. These three segments contributed 30%, 61% and 9% of revenue respectively in 2020, with Operate Solutions growing the fastest
• Unity acquired Applifier and launched their in-game advertising network in 2014, and this is now one of the world’s largest mobile ad networks serving 23B ads per month. Unity does not break-out advertising revenue from their Operate Solutions segment, but the whole segment had revenues of $471M in 2020, an increase of 61% from the previous year. However, recent changes in iOS to prevent app tracking is estimated to reduce revenues by $30M in 2021, which represents 3% of total revenue
• Total revenue for 2020 was $772M, an increase of 43% from the previous year. Existing customers are buying more each year, with DBNERs of 138%, 133% and 124% for 2020, 2019 and 2018 respectively. The business is reinvesting in growth and has not shown a consistent profit as yet, having just become free cashflow positive in Q4 2020. They ended 2020 with $1.3B in cash with a further $480M in marketable securities and zero debt
• Unity currently has a market cap of $23B with a P/S ratio of 24. Despite the huge 50% drop from its all-time high in January, the stock remains relatively expensive and will need to maintain continued high revenue growth to justify the valuation

The following companies are mentioned in this episode: U, VUZI, AAPL, FB

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If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing at https://telescopeinvesting.com/subscribe/

Or you can contact the hosts: LukeTelescope AlbertTelescope

At Telescope Investing, we believe that individual investors have an advantage over the professionals - they don't have to answer to anyone but themselves, and can more easily invest for the long-term without the need to 'beat their benchmark' every quarter or year. Thinking long-term helps minimise excessive trading, which often results in lower returns, whether it's from trading fees, buy-sell spreads, high short-term capital gains taxes, or more likely missed gains.

In this week’s pod, we answer some listener questions on portfolio management and talk about how we approach starting, adding, trimming and sometimes exiting a position.

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If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing at https://telescopeinvesting.com/subscribe/

Or you can contact the hosts: LukeTelescope AlbertTelescope

Communication is a core function of almost every app, from ordering a pizza, hailing a ride, to booking a doctor’s appointment. This week, we deep dive into one of the leading providers of this core functionality, Twilio. Twilio is one of the stocks in our model portfolio for 2021 and we discuss why we think it is a strong company with room to grow. Also, Luke muses on his dreams of a space economy.

• Twilio is the world’s leading cloud communication platform, allowing other companies to embed multiple communication channels into their web, desktop, and mobile applications. They have grown revenues 10x in five years as digital transformation trends gather pace and were accelerated by the pandemic. Twilio estimates that their total addressable market is valued at $79B
• Its communications-platform-as-a-service business (CPaaS) is a scalable 'land & expand' business model, where marketing is targeted at developers and product managers. This strategy is clearly working as their customer count has increased 350% in three years to reach 221,000 by the end of 2020. Twilio's dollar-based net expansion rate (DBNER) has averaged around 140% each quarter in that time, meaning that customers are spending more on Twilio’s products and services over time
• Twilio has a strong focus on developers, providing them with all the tools to use Twilio’s services, and running an annual conference called Signal, where the company showcases its products and runs workshops to help developers get the most out of them. Over 10 million developers use Twilio services, generating network effects through a huge pool of developer expertise. The CEO, Jeff Lawson, has published a book titled “Ask Your Developer: How to Harness the Power of Software Developers and Win in the 21st Century”
• Twilio Flex is their fully-programmable contact centre platform, which includes features such as intelligent call routing and AI-powered chatbots. Flex came about from feedback from customers, who were building their own contact centre solutions using Twilio’s communication service. Flex now has 600 customers and its revenue in 2020 increased 184% from the previous year.
• Twilio completed its acquisition of Segment last year, a leading customer data platform (CDP) that allows customers to see a single unified view of all their customer interactions, and improve customer experience by tailoring communications to their usage patterns and preferences. As well as addressing the estimated $17B CDP market, Segment is a key part of Twilio’s plans to become the world’s leading customer engagement platform
• However, Twilio is not profitable yet as it reinvests heavily in growing its business, and with a market cap of $66B and a P/S ratio of 31, it has a rich valuation, higher than it has been historically. And the competition is heating up, not just from tech giants such as Microsoft and Cisco, but also from smaller pure plays such as Bandwidth and MessageBird. MessageBird, in particular, has a strong presence in Europe and Asia and may impact Twilio’s international growth, which currently only accounts for 27% of its revenues

The following companies are mentioned in this episode: BAND, FB, MessageBird, MSFT, TWLO, UBER

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If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing at https://telescopeinvesting.com/subscribe/

Or you can contact the hosts: LukeTelescope AlbertTelescope

We get some fantastic stock suggestions from our listeners and one that has popped up several times is a gaming company called Gravity. Gaming is not a sector we follow closely, so we’re pleased to have Zippy Capital (@zippy_capital) on this week’s podcast to share his insights about this fast-growing publisher of mobile games. Gravity is a South Korean gaming company, and are publishers of games based on the Ragnarok franchise, which is extremely popular in South East Asia. Zippy Capital publishes his analysis on Gravity and other investing topics on his substack and at Seeking Alpha.

• Gravity works with developers such as Dream Square, Tencent and Bytedance to develop games in exchange for distribution rights in the China market, while Gravity retains distribution rights in all other markets.
• The Ragnarok franchise has transcended its comic book roots and is part of South East Asia popular culture, with live concerts based around the games selling out in minutes.
• Gravity has had hit games in Ragnarok: Eternal Love and Ragnarok: Origin, with more on the way, and have recently announced a partnership with the NBA to launch an NBA based game in South East Asia.
• With a market cap of just under $1B and trading at 9x trailing EV/EBITDA, the potential upside is large given the increasing popularity of mobile games all over the world and especially in South East Asia, but mobile games have a relatively short shelf life and competition in this sector is very high.

The following companies are mentioned in this episode: Sea Limited (SE), Teladoc Health (TDOC), Tencent Holdings (TCEHY), Activision (ATVI), Take-Two Interactive (TTWO).

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If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing to the Telescope Investing website at https://telescopeinvesting.com/subscribe/

Or you can contact the hosts Luke & Albert at

https://twitter.com/LukeTelescope

https://twitter.com/AlbertTelescope

It can be exciting to invest in new innovations and it's easy to get carried away with the next big thing. Gartner hype cycles illustrate the typical pattern of new innovation over time, from inception to the peak of inflated expectations, down into the trough of disillusionment, and hopefully up the slope of the enlightenment to the plateau of productivity as the innovation matures. In this week’s pod, we take a look at a few recent hype cycles and talk about some of the innovations that impact our own investments - past, present and future.

• Many technologies related to connected vehicles have gone over the peak of inflated expectations and are beginning to mature. According to Gartner, electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles are just starting to realise their potential and have a long way to go. However, don’t expect to jump in your flying car any time soon
• The Internet of Things is mostly at the peak of inflated expectations. There’s a lot of hype but will we see real applications that fulfil the promise of a fully connected world of devices? The use of wearables and digital twins of the person could revolutionize health promotion and disease prevention, but do we really need a kitchen tap connected to the internet?
• Digital advertising has powered much of the online experience, from social media to video streaming, and the space is evolving quickly. Companies are working to balance the need for privacy and the ability to show targeted ads. However, seeing connected TV advertising near the peak of maximum hype with an estimated 5-10 years to maturity gives us pause on a particular stock in our model portfolio.
• We are seeing similar changes in digital marketing as the world increasingly moves towards a digital future, but we are surprised to see mobile wallet marketing sliding into the trough of disillusionment. The use of digital payments is growing at a rapid pace, and we’re starting to see new ways it can affect consumer behaviour. Imagine if the money in your digital wallet expired and you had to use it or lose it?
• It's easy to get caught up in the hype, and one place where we have done that ourselves is in the sector of 3D printing. We invested during the time of maximum hype, and have seen the value of our investments get decimated as reality set in. We finally sold out after years of broken promises, however, Gartner believes 3D printing in manufacturing operations is starting to progress towards maturity and productivity. Did we exit our 3D printing stocks too early?

The following companies are mentioned in this episode: Facebook (FB), Apple (AAPL), Alphabet (GOOGL), Snap (SNAP), Vuzix (VUZI), Unity (U), CrowdStrike (CRWD), Cloudflare (NET), Fastly (FSLY), Tesla (TSLA), Teladoc Health (TDOC), Magnite (MGNI), The Trade Desk (TTD), IZEA Worldwide (IZEA), 3D Systems (DDD), Stratasys (SYS), ExOne (XONE)

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If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing to the Telescope Investing website at https://telescopeinvesting.com/subscribe/

Or you can contact the hosts Luke & Albert at

https://twitter.com/LukeTelescope

https://twitter.com/AlbertTelescope