A Wall Street Genius's Final Investment Playbook-Chapter 283: The Invisible Hand (18)
Finally, the day had arrived. The 2016 U.S. presidential election. The moment when the very man I had hoped all my life never to cross paths with… would become the President of the United States. His name was Don Trenton.
Trenton’s victory would go down as one of the most extraordinary events in American political history. Because he didn’t just play the game—he shattered the rules. His weapons? Rhetoric, fear-mongering, and manufacturing endless enemies. He had an uncanny talent for pouring gasoline on the public’s exhaustion, anger, and sense of loss.
— “Illegal immigrants are ruining America! And we’re giving them education and healthcare? Is America a charity now?”
— “China’s a thief! They’ve stolen our factories, our jobs, and now our future! Every time you see a ‘Made in China’ label, think of a neighbor who got laid off!”
— “And who’s behind it all? The elites! Their so-called ‘globalization’? It really means ‘America gets taken care of last.’”
It defied all common sense that someone like this could become president… But then again:
“His opponent was just too weak.”
Democratic nominee Helena Clayton came across as overly polished—as if every word, every gesture had been scripted. Ironically, her smooth demeanor and vast political experience ended up eroding public trust, fueling suspicions that she was hiding something.
“That’s why she lost.”
But… That was how things had played out before I returned to this point in time. And more importantly, that wasn’t what mattered right now.
[China is allegedly attempting to acquire Next AI. How will each of you respond?]
This presidential debate was structured as a town hall—naturally, the hottest controversy of the moment surfaced: “The AI leak crisis.”
I focused my gaze on the screen.
“What kind of promises will they make?”
My objective was crystal clear: Extract from both candidates a definitive pledge securing the future of the AI industry.
Clayton spoke first:
[“We need a national AI strategy. I will establish a dedicated inter-agency council to expand infrastructure and support startups. Additionally, we’ll work with the Department of Education to launch talent cultivation programs, and to counter China’s growing tech influence, I’ll propose strengthening CFIUS authority and launching a Strategic Tech Review Board…”]
On the surface, it sounded promising—infrastructure, subsidies, talent development—she covered it all. But.
“This’ll take forever.”
Upon closer examination, her ideas were mired in bureaucracy—committees, reviews, long-drawn deliberations. Such promises wouldn’t help me. What I needed was acceleration—a push to fast-track AI development.
Trenton, on the other hand, was different.
[“You call that a ‘strategy’? It’s just delay tactics. While she’s setting up councils and drafting paperwork, China’s already waving a blank check! By the time her files are complete, Sean will be shouting ‘nihao’ from Shanghai!”]
[“Not me. You think I’m gonna hand over America’s smartest mind to the Communist Party? Are you insane? On day one, I’ll sign the ‘Protect American AI’ pact—no hesitation!”]
Trenton promised immediate action. His style and character were utterly revolting by my standards, but…
“Still… if I had to choose, I’d pick him.”
What I needed was someone who wouldn’t waste time dithering—and that was exactly what Trenton promised. And I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. When it came to the AI issue alone, public sentiment clearly tilted toward Trenton.
— “Clayton = UN keynote. Trenton = UFC opening. And am I the only one who finds the latter more trustworthy?”
— “Review from every angle” vs. “I’ll sign it day one”... hmmm, tough call lol
— “Clayton sounds like a manual-reading robot. Trenton’s crazy, but at least he’s human.”
Social media soon exploded with Trenton-support memes:
— “Build a wall! Not just for Mexico—build one 9001 feet high around Next AI HQ! #TechWall #NoChina”
— “They’re selling LLMs to a censorship state? My digital diary’s gonna be read by communists? Voting Trenton! #Trenton2016 #saveourAI”
— “Wasn’t gonna vote but now heading out for MindChat. #MyMomFainted”
— “My 2016 plan: ① Trash Trenton ② Watch AI debate ③ Vote Trenton ④ Find a therapist”
Just to protect MindChat, more people were willing to vote Trenton. Of course, these weren’t huge numbers in the broader voter base. But there was one crucial detail:
[“These are 20–30-somethings with historically low turnout. They’ve been invisible in prior polling. If they show up en masse, the entire election could be flipped.”]
[“They’re also unique in that they prioritize issues and policies over party loyalty.”]
Debates over terrorism, immigration, and manufacturing had already polarized voters by party. But this new generation of AI enthusiasts? They weren’t loyal to anyone—and would swing for whoever made the right promise. In other words, they were the wild card that could break the mold. Most importantly…
[“We’ve already seen what they can do—the Herbalife incident, the China currency war! If that energy turns toward the election…”]
It was now inevitable: both campaign camps would have to act to win over these new voters. But then…
"Here's another important fact—I have significant influence over this voting bloc."
“Why waste a good hand?”
Time to leverage that power for a solid policy win. So I stepped right into the media spotlight.
“I enjoyed the debate, but frankly, both candidates seem detached from reality.”
“If they truly care about advancing the AI industry, shouldn’t they start by listening to those in the field?”
And coming from me—the “key AI talent” allegedly being courted by China—well, it wasn’t something either side could afford to ignore. Both campaigns reached out immediately. I met with each candidate in turn, clearly outlining what the AI industry actually needed on the ground.
A few days later, Clayton made the first move:
[“We need to shorten AI firms’ depreciation cycles from five years to 12 months. For hardware with such short lifespans, five years is outdated.”]
That “depreciation cycle” refers to how fast an asset’s value is officially allowed to decline over time—which directly affects tax deductions. Under U.S. law, GPUs and computing gear had a five-year depreciation standard. But in tech, one year can already make your gear obsolete. Clayton’s proposal to revise this was a game-changer. It sounded like boring tax policy—but this tweak alone would make AI companies’ financials soar.
Retail investors caught on quickly:
— “Wait, Clayton actually said something useful??”
— “BREAKING: Clayton.exe updated… now includes ‘actual policy’ module!”
— “With this, every earnings call's gonna be fireworks!”
— “Newsflash: Clayton turns AI startups into cash printers…”
Momentum shifted toward Clayton. But Trenton fired back with a counterpunch:
[“The most urgent issue is power. Why doesn’t Clayton mention that? Because one of her biggest donors is Gooble. She won’t dare propose anything that hurts them!”]
[“But me? I’ll set up a system to supply startups with affordable, predictable electricity. I’ll expand off-grid infrastructure too…”]
He promised cheap, stable power access for startups.
— “Did Trenton just make a logical argument? Is the universe glitching?”
— “With secure electricity, dev speed would skyrocket.”
— “So it’s Clayton for Gooble, Trenton for LLMs… which one boosts stock prices more?”
— “Forget DD. Just follow Saint Sean. He knows the way.”
Once again, all eyes were on me. So I stepped up to the mic once more:
“Hmm? Which candidate do I support? Well…”
I paused for a moment, then spoke deliberately:
“I plan to support the candidate who truly addresses what this industry needs. Both sides have made interesting pledges—but we still have a long way to go. What we’ve heard so far isn’t enough.”
In other words: “If you want my endorsement, you’ll need to offer even more.”
It worked better than I expected. I kept visiting both camps under the guise of “consultation,” pushing for policies favorable to the AI industry—and the results followed fast.
<Clayton: Massive subsidy increase for AI startups, new green card quota for top-tier talent>
<Trenton: Pledged to provide government-designated land for building AI data centers>
“Yep—competition gets results.”
When two people fight over the same prize, its value inevitably rises. As the bidding war peaked, Trenton even went as far as saying this:
[“The biggest problem with AI is that there are no bold users willing to adopt cutting-edge technology first! That role—let the government take it. If I become President, I’ll sign a procurement contract with the Department of Defense on Day One!”]
A direct contract with the Department of Defense? There’s hardly a bigger boon than that.
“Maybe it’s time to stop now.”
At this point, I couldn’t think of any more promises to wring out of them. I’d already extracted everything the election could offer. That part was satisfying—but, as always, life doesn’t go exactly the way you want. Even during this policy arms race, there was a part that rubbed me the wrong way.
— “Yesterday, I met my dear friend, Sean! I’m the only candidate with an Asian friend!”
Extremely reluctantly, I had to face the fact that Trenton was now showcasing our relationship everywhere. While I was trying to keep my distance, he was proudly parading our "friendship" to the public. I thought about drawing a line—but in this political climate, it wouldn’t have mattered. To him, I was an important political tool.
— “We must protect Sean! He’s an American treasure!”
Case in point: That bizarre rally performance where someone in a giant vault set wore a mask of my face, yelling, “No way we’re letting China have him!”
Meanwhile, Trenton supporters were hanging banners in front of Pareto Innovation and Next AI HQ:
— “Sean! Thank you for coming to this country legally—and for staying!”
“……”
Well, in their own way, I guess they meant it as encouragement. Still…
“I really don’t want to get more entangled in this mess…”
Should I just work to get Trenton eliminated? Or maybe take matters into my own hands and help install a new President? I seriously considered it, but—
“No… That won’t do.”
Rejected. My goal had always been to accelerate the entire AI industry. Clayton’s bureaucratic attitude was the exact opposite of that. Meanwhile, Trenton—if I put aside my personal feelings, at least when it came to AI, he was the one who could genuinely speed up the future.
“Yeah… Uncomfortable as it is, this is the right path for now.”
So I suppressed my disgust. After all, once the election was over, he’d drop the fake camaraderie too. Most importantly, the rewards were worth the discomfort.
Meanwhile, during this heated battle of campaign pledges—AI-related stocks were hitting all-time highs, day after day. It was only natural. Whoever won the presidency would decide where trillions in federal funds would be allocated. These “thematic stock surges” during election seasons weren’t new. In 2008, green energy campaign promises sent solar companies soaring two- to three-fold. Even before my time travel, in 2020, electric vehicles and clean energy stocks quadrupled for similar reasons.
And now… In 2016, AI was indisputably the king of all presidential campaign themes. But there was a unique twist.
<Trenton Announces Direct Defense Department Contract — AI Stocks Soar>
<Clayton Expands Startup Subsidies... Policy Competition Heats Up>
<Political AI Rally... MindChat-Themed Stocks Climbing Daily>
<Pledge Floods Shake the Market>
Both major candidates were going all-in on the same theme—AI.
— “So basically, AI wins no matter who becomes President?”
— “Spoiler alert: The election results? AI wins.”
— “Both parties hooked on AI = ultimate bull run pass. It’s like free money lying on the ground.”
— “Money printer is ON! Ready for cash tsunami!”
It didn’t matter who won. Federal funding was guaranteed to pour into AI, making a bullish market inevitable. And when trends become that crystal clear, there's always one thing that follows in the market: FOMO.
— “This is the bottom! Failure chance mathematically proven to be 0.00000%! If you’re not buying AI, you’ve lost your brain!”
— “Put my entire severance package in! HR asked ‘Are you sure?’ I said, ‘Are you planning to stay poor forever?’”
— “Got my parents’ account password and went all-in on AI. Real filial piety is making them millionaires without them knowing!”
— “Put my 8-year-old son’s college fund in. He won’t need it at 18 anyway—we’ll be cruising our private island in a Rambo collection yacht.”
But… This rally was fundamentally different from all previous ones.
<“AI is the new infrastructure”—BlackRocks launches dedicated AI fund>
<Churches, schools, even local libraries start offering ‘AI Investment Classes’... hype spreads>
Pension funds and retirement accounts, historically cautious, were now pouring into AI like they were under a spell. People who’d never cared about stocks were jumping in, saying, “This time, it’s for real.”
Put differently—Mass hysteria around AI had consumed the entire nation. AI meetups popped up on every corner. Grandparents were asking their grandkids: “So, this thing everyone’s buying—AI stocks? How do you even get those?”
The bubble inflated to historic proportions. Yet, curiously, nobody seemed worried. They believed the campaign-backed surge meant the bubble was too political to pop easily. That was what Hasiheon once called the “safe bubble.”
But even this inferno of hype began to lose steam.
— “Can it even go higher? There aren’t any new pledges left…”
— “My mother-in-law just asked me how to buy ‘this NVIDIA thing’—that’s it. That’s the top. Evacuate.”
— “There’s no one left to buy. Grandmas, cabbies, teens—all in AI. This is textbook bubble finale.”
The candidates’ campaign promises had reached their limit. No more shocking pledges. No more juice to push prices up. “This is the peak.” That sentiment was widespread.
But I disagreed.
“We’re not done yet.”
Competition always drives up value. Even if the Clayton–Trenton duel was over, another arena hadn’t even started. Did I mention? The real motif of this AI war was “Cold War.” In other words, the “government funding” I was aiming for wasn’t limited to the United States alone.
<China Officially Announces Large-Scale AI Development Plan>
Right. China was still in the game.
