In 1973, the Arab oil embargo crippled America. Gas stations ran dry. Prices quadrupled. Lines wrapped around the block.

Violence broke out at pumps nationwide.

In response, the U.S. launched a series of energy independence initiatives—like the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fuel efficiency standards, and incentives for domestic drilling.

We swore we'd never let ourselves become that dependent on a foreign power again.

And yet…

Fast-forward to today—different war, same trap.

This time, it’s not oil. It’s rare earth metals. And ~70% of America’s supply comes from China.

You don’t need to know what yttrium, neodymium, or dysprosium are. You just need to know that without them, we can’t make iPhones, EV motors, wind turbines, F-35 jets, or Tomahawk missiles.

No rare earths = no tech. No defense. No modern economy.

Last month, as you know…

China announced it will restrict exports of 7 rare earth metals critical for high-tech industries.

Right on cue, rare earth stocks tripled. Subreddits filled with rocket emojis. Retail traders discovered neodymium.

But before you mortgage the dog to go all-in on manganese futures, here’s the truth:

Rare Earths Aren’t Rare

Rare earths are neither rare, nor all that magical.

They’re just dirty.

Dirty to mine, dirty to refine, and dirtier to depend on when the world's biggest supplier is your biggest rival.

And, though they’re about as common in Earth’s crust as copper or tin…

They're spread out, tangled up with junk, and to extract it cheaply requires filthy chemical processes.

Think: rivers of acid and fields of toxic sludge.

China didn’t corner the rare earth market because it had the biggest stash. It won because it was willing to poison entire provinces to refine the stuff on the cheap. They chose the pollution path, not the cleaner, but far more energy-intensive one.

Enter the hypocrisy:

In our race for “clean energy,” we outsourced the filthy parts to China and Myanmar.

(Fun fact: Half of China’s rare earth supply came from Myanmar… but it was messy, run by local militias and unofficial syndicates. Until, that is, Myanmar had a military coup, consolidating control, making it far less messy for Beijing. The More You Know™.)

Point is, we love the shiny toys. We just don’t want to dig for the guts.

Problem is, a single EV requires 6.6 pounds of rare earth metals. One wind turbine? Try 770 pounds. AI GPUs. Data centers. Robots. Drones. All require these rare earth metals.

We don’t have enough.

Greenland? Ukraine? Eh…

“Let’s just get them from Greenland.”

It’s true. Greenland has millions of tons of rare earth deposits. The catch? No refining capacity. Mining won’t start until maybe next year. Probably 2026. Maybe 2030.

And Ukraine? According to the Ukrainian government, they have $12 trillion in rare earths. If true, it’s not as meaningful as it sounds. Because they also have little grid capacity and no facilities. Oh, and Russia controls about half of the deposits now.

The U.S.? We used to mine rare earths at Mountain Pass, California. But then China undercut us on price, so we shut it down and imported everything instead.

To build a functional rare earth supply chain in the U.S., you need:

✓ Mines

✓ Refining

✓ Permits

✓ Political will

✓ Capital

Now that China’s slamming the door, the timeline on this checklist is getting fast-tracked. Trump’s team is already signaling deregulation.

If you're looking for a high-conviction, high-risk U.S.-based play that could 10x on rare earth nationalism, James recently uncovered the best of all worlds.

We’ve seen a lot of rare earth companies with hype. This one has urgency, narrative, and necessity. And they’re doing it the right way: no acid sludge necessary.

It’s an asymmetric bet.

You risk a little for the chance to gain a lot. Like betting on oil in the 1970s—before the crisis broke out.

And, what’s more…

It’s only one of FIVE stocks James recommends deploying new cash into this month to his new “Beta Test” group.

From now until Thursday at 9:29 a.m. (ET), James is opening the doors to this beta test group for only 250 more members.

Click here for the details from our Customer Service Director, John Wilkinson.