A Luxury Travel Bubble Is Swelling
When you go on vacation, do you ever treat yourself to an upgraded airline seat? Or book the (admittedly cheapest) room at a five-star hotel? Maybe splurge on a spa day or celebratory Michelin-starred meal? If any of this sounds familiar, you may be what the travel industry calls an 'aspirational' luxury traveler. And much to the industry's potential dismay, you're also inflating an economic bubble that may be about to burst.
According to McKinsey, the aspirational set, defined as those with between $100,000 and $1 million in net worth, now accounts for 35% of the global luxury travel market. In 2023, they spent $84 billion on high-end vacations, a figure expected to grow to $107 billion by 2028. That purchasing power has helped turn luxury travel from a glamorous niche into a major profit center, sparking a race among airlines, hotels, cruise lines, tour companies and the rest to cater to and capture this market segment. But what happens when economic uncertainty suddenly brings aspirations back down to earth?
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Forbes
2 hours ago
- Forbes
Feeling The Strain: A Real-World Guide To Leading In Polarized Times
The referee stands in the middle of the rope of the tug-of-war If you're a manager today, you've probably felt it. One group pushes for change. Another cautions against it. You're expected to move fast and be careful. Lead boldly and listen closely. Protect what works while building what's next. That stretch you're feeling? It's not confusion. It's polarity. And it's baked into your job. You're not just holding workplace tensions. You're leading in a world defined by them—competing ideologies, global instability, and rising economic divides. The stakes are bigger than ever. So is the strain. On one side are the people who lean toward caution. They worry about risk. They want to hold the line until things feel safer. These are your Stabilizers. On the other side are those who lean into possibility. They think three steps ahead. They want to move, explore, expand. These are your Amplifiers. They're not enemies. But they are opposites. Their instincts pull in different directions. And you're in the middle. Feeling the rope tighten. Trying not to snap. Imagine a leadership meeting around a new AI rollout. The Amplifiers are already drawing up a roadmap. They see market edge, scale, intelligence. Then a Stabilizer speaks up: 'What if the training data is flawed? We're about to automate decisions we haven't even validated.' The room stiffens. The moment turns. It's not sabotage. It's stewardship. One side pushes for momentum. The other pulls for stability. Both are trying to help. And the friction is not a threat. It's the force that can shape something better. When that tension is visible and held (either not ignored or shut down), it leads to better outcomes. Amplifiers get grounded. Stabilizers get curious. And the team builds something neither could create alone. This isn't dysfunction. It's design. And it shows up everywhere. You're not managing one contradiction. You're holding many at once. You might even have your own preferences. But your role is not to choose a side. It's to hold the whole. According to Gallup, managers are more burned out than the people they lead. They work longer hours, face more interruptions, and navigate more emotional complexity. Nearly half say they deal with multiple, competing priorities every day. Even high-performing managers describe their work as reactive and fragmented. Almost a third report that job demands interfere with their personal life. This isn't just pressure. It's polarity overload. You're not failing. You're absorbing complexity the system doesn't know how to hold. A polarity isn't a problem to solve. It's a tension to manage — a concept introduced by Barry Johnson, who studied how leaders must navigate interdependent forces that are both necessary and enduring. These are not either-or choices. They are both-and dynamics that must be balanced over time. Stability brings structure, clarity, and risk management. But overused, it becomes inertia. Amplification brings speed, energy, and possibility. But left unchecked, it becomes chaos. Polarity is what keeps the system alive. And once you name it, you can lead it. If you've ever felt torn between team voices, now you know why. Both instincts matter. Both are incomplete alone. There's been a surge of interest in Both/And thinking as a way to move past binary decisions. At its best, it helps leaders widen their lens and hold complexity without collapsing into either-or debates. But in a multipolar world filled with contradictions, disruption, and high-stakes decisions, just saying Both/And is no longer enough. It risks becoming a conceptual shortcut. A way to simulate harmony without doing the harder work of tension-holding. A way to appease competing voices while avoiding discomfort. And a way to look thoughtful without being decisive. This is where Amplifiers and Stabilizers offer something more real—and more difficult. Each brings not just a perspective, but conviction. They don't arrive with neutral input. They arrive with stakes. What feels urgent to one feels reckless to the other. What feels responsible to one feels resistant to the other. So while Both/And can help name the polarity, it can't hold the pull. Amplifiers and Stabilizers aren't the problem. They're the gift. Each brings something essential. That's why Both/And thinking gained traction—it encouraged leaders to honor opposing instincts rather than silence one side. But the real work isn't just naming both. It's feeling the force between them. It's engaging with the discomfort. It's choosing—not to flatten the tension, but to lead through it. Change leadership is not about finding the easiest middle path. It's about staying with the mess. Not resolving every tension, but recognizing what each side is trying to protect—and what both might be missing. Diplomacy and negotiation will only take you so far. Eventually, leaders must engage with the tug itself. 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2 hours ago
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1 Artificial Intelligence (AI) ETF to Buy Hand Over Fist and 1 to Avoid
Some index funds provide not only diversification but also exposure to high-growth areas like AI. The Vanguard Information Technology ETF tracks an index that includes over 300 tech stocks. The Ark Invest Autonomous Tech and Robotics ETF is concentrated with fewer than 40 stocks. 10 stocks we like better than Vanguard Information Technology ETF › It looks like artificial intelligence (AI) is more than the latest fad. The technology is becoming an integral part of how people do things, from work to play, offering solutions to simplify complex activities. Many companies are investing billions of dollars into it in their efforts to become leaders in aspects of the industry or to maintain their positions in their established arenas. Based on various forecasts, AI could become a trillion-dollar industry, and the companies that succeed in leading the charge could create tremendous shareholder value. Naturally, many investors are trying to predict which ones are going to be the winners and allocate their funds accordingly. However, since it's important to diversify your portfolio across many industries, it doesn't make sense for most investors to pick too many AI stocks. If you're looking for a way to get exposure to the AI revolution without placing too much money into that single industry, consider buying an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that's focused on AI. That would give you easy exposure to a variety of stocks in a single asset, allowing you to benefit from many winners without overexposing yourself to the space or increasing your risk through a lack of diversification. There are many AI ETFs to choose from, but I would recommend buying the Vanguard Information Technology ETF (NYSEMKT: VGT) and avoiding the Ark Invest Autonomous Tech and Robotics ETF (NYSEMKT: ARKQ). Here's why. Vanguard offers about 80 different ETFs that suit an array of different investing needs. What unites them is that they're all passively managed, meaning they each track an established index instead of having a fund manager choose the stocks. There are many benefits to this strategy. First of all, it provides instant and wide diversification. The Vanguard Information Technology ETF tracks the MSCI US Investable Market Information Technology 25/50 Index, which includes 307 small-, medium-, and large-cap companies. It's a weighted index, so larger companies make up higher percentages of its total value. The top three components are Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia, which collectively account for about 46% of the total. However, because there are so many stocks in the portfolio, the risk from any single company's potentially poor performance is minimized. And index funds don't have to pay highly compensated fund managers to choose stocks which stocks to buy and sell, their fees are much lower than those of actively managed funds. The Vanguard Information Technology ETF has an expense ratio of just 0.09%, which compares quite favorably with the industry average of 0.92%. Because AI and technology have been huge growth industries, this ETF has delivered fantastic results over the medium term. In fact, it has been Vanguard's best-performing ETF over the past 10 years, with 19.8% annualized gains. AI is still in its infancy, and as the market looks like it's recovering, now could be a great time to take a position. The Ark Invest Autonomous Tech and Robotics ETF has also done well over the past 10 years, but not nearly as well as the Vanguard ETF. It experiences many of the same tailwinds -- and risks -- as the Vanguard fund does in terms of industry growth, but the Ark fund is a riskier investment because it only has 37 components. So when some of them go south, its portfolio will take a proportionally more intense beating. Moreover, in broad market downturns, many traders tend to run to safe stocks. In such times, those value stocks can cushion a portfolio. An ETF that's focused solely on growth stocks is bound to feel more pain in those times, though its relative portfolio diversity will mitigate some of that risk. The Ark Invest Autonomous Tech and Robotics ETF also focuses more on emerging stocks than market leaders. Its top holdings are -- in sharp contrast to the Vanguard ETF's established giants -- Tesla, Kratos Defense and Security, and Palantir Technologies. These stocks trade at ambitious valuations, which makes them more susceptible to steep drops if the market's mood changes or their business results come under pressure. Both of these ETFs are riskier than a value-oriented ETF or even an ETF that tracks a broad index like the S&P 500. But over time, they have so far rewarded investors who can handle that risk. If you're ready to invest in the future of AI but are concerned about current market uncertainty, the Vanguard Information Technology ETF looks like a smart way to play it. Before you buy stock in Vanguard Information Technology ETF, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Vanguard Information Technology ETF wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $669,517!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $868,615!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 792% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 171% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 2, 2025 John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Jennifer Saibil has positions in Apple. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, Palantir Technologies, and Tesla. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 1 Artificial Intelligence (AI) ETF to Buy Hand Over Fist and 1 to Avoid was originally published by The Motley Fool
Yahoo
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2 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks to Buy and Hold for the Next 20 Years
AI is expected to add trillions of dollars in value to the global economy in the coming years. Nvidia has built a solid competitive advantage by fulfilling key hardware and software needs for AI data centers. Meta Platforms could benefit significantly from using AI to improve ad targeting and increase user engagement with its social media platforms. 10 stocks we like better than Nvidia › Artificial intelligence (AI) is sweeping across every industry. Researcher IDC forecasts that AI will contribute a total of nearly $20 trillion to the global economy over the next five years. By 2045, AI could drive enormous returns for investors who invest in the right stocks. Here are two stocks that could deliver tremendous returns over the next 20 years. Nvidia's (NASDAQ: NVDA) dominance in the market for graphics processing units (GPU) -- vital hardware for handling AI workloads -- has placed it in a lucrative position. Even after its meteoric rise over the last few years, the chipmaker still has plenty of growth ahead. Two years ago, on the company's fiscal Q4 2023 earnings call, CEO Jensen Huang stated, "I believe the number of AI infrastructures is going to grow all over the world." He expected to see more AI data centers built, and that Nvidia's chips, networking products, and software systems would help accelerate AI computing by a factor of 1 million times over the coming 10 years. Nvidia's latest quarterly report shows that Huang's prediction is continuing to play out. In a quarter where its revenue grew 69% year-over-year, Nvidia saw accelerating deployments of AI-purposed data centers, aka AI factories. There are nearly 100 Nvidia-powered AI factories in progress right now -- twice as many as there were a year ago. These specialized data centers are being built across every industry and geography. Nvidia is in a solid competitive position with its in-demand full-stack solutions that cover hardware, networking components, software, and systems. Its networking revenue alone jumped 64% over the previous quarter, reflecting a massive jump in demand for networking components to handle the massive growth in data processing and AI workloads that's happening now. Industry estimates pointing to a $1 trillion data center opportunity could be underestimating the actual long-term opportunity for Nvidia. Nvidia has generated more than $148 billion in trailing 12-month revenue and its top line is still growing by more than 50% year over year. That trajectory for a company of this size indicates an enormous opportunity. Nvidia is playing a vital role in meeting the demand for AI. While at some point there could be a slowdown in data center spending that saps Nvidia's momentum, the combination of its powerful GPUs and its popular networking and software solutions provides it with a wide competitive moat. The stock should continue to deliver long-term growth, as it has over the last quarter of a century. Facebook and Instagram owner Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) could be a sleeper AI beneficiary over the long term. When AI ushers in time-saving services like fully autonomous robotaxis, people will have a lot more time to do other things, such as browsing social media. That's just one way AI could benefit Meta's business over the next 20 years that is not reflected in the stock's valuation. Investors can get a hint of the impact that AI could have on Meta's business by looking at how much the company is investing in the technology. It is planning for capital expenditures of at least $64 billion in 2025, and those investments will go primarily toward data centers. (Investors should note that this rising spending on hardware is also ringing the cash register for Nvidia.) Meta's high returns on capital show that it doesn't spend money like this unless management sees attractive returns down the road. The company is investing in AI for a number of initiatives, including new experiences to drive more useful and immersive experiences across its family of apps. One of the ways it brings more useful content is by showing its users more relevant ads. Over the last few years, Meta has benefited from a growing digital ad market that has started to implement AI technology for improved ad targeting. Revenue grew 22% in 2024, and much of this momentum continued in Q1 2025, when revenue rose by 16% year over year. Meta could also benefit from the launch of new devices powered by AI, such as its Meta AI glasses. More than 1 billion people wear glasses, and Meta believes that in the future, AI will be integrated into a large number of these glasses. So far, it seems to be tapping into a big opportunity, as sales of Meta's Ray-Ban AI glasses have tripled over the last year. More than 3.4 billion people use Meta Platforms' apps every day. That's a huge built-in audience for it to leverage AI technology to grow the value of the business. Its current valuation of 27 times forward earnings estimates is a reasonable price, and leaves plenty of potential for the company's growth to drive healthy stock price gains over the long term. Before you buy stock in Nvidia, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Nvidia wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $669,517!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $868,615!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 792% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 171% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 2, 2025 Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. John Ballard has positions in Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Meta Platforms and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 2 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks to Buy and Hold for the Next 20 Years was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
