--- title: "The Market's Junk Drawer: AI Grifters, Nuclear Leverage, and SPACs Refusing to Die" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/296211805.md" description: "Welcome to the island of misfit toys. When algorithms group leftovers together, you get a wild mix of real aerospace giants, crypto-obsessed data centers, and humanoid robot SPACs. Here is the unvarnished truth." datetime: "2026-08-18T10:12:47.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/296211805.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296211805.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/296211805.md) generator: "portal-rs" --- # The Market's Junk Drawer: AI Grifters, Nuclear Leverage, and SPACs Refusing to Die I’ve seen a lot of weird market groupings in my time, but this collection of unclassified leftovers is truly something else. This is stupid and here's why: you can’t just lump multi-billion dollar aerospace companies with leveraged nuclear ETFs and private clinical networks. We need to separate the actual adults in the room from the kids playing casino. Let’s start with the real businesses. ATI Inc. (ATI.US) actually makes things—titanium and superalloys for aerospace. They just posted a massive 2026 second-quarter beat with a record USD 4.4 billion backlog. The stock has been a strong performer recently. Why aren't more companies just focusing on execution like this? Then we have the AI and data center crowd, a mixed bag of real pivots and pure desperation. Duos Technologies Group (DUOG.US) finally ditched its legacy rail business and scored a massive USD 500 million AI infrastructure deal. Good for them. On the other hand, Hyperscale Data (GPUS.CLSB.US) is out here executing reverse splits and selling its Bitcoin stash just to fund a Michigan data center. Good luck with that. Speaking of reverse splits, BrenX (BRNX.US) just did a 1-for-6 split to avoid getting kicked off the Nasdaq. They rebranded from Brenmiller and have a thermal storage system entering commissioning, but this smells like a classic survival scramble. Over in biotech, Generate Biomedicines (GENB.US) has caught a nice updraft recently. Why? Because NVIDIA disclosed a stake. In 2026, dropping the "N" word is basically a cheat code for your stock, even if you are burning over USD 138 million in cash every six months on AI drug design. If you're still looking for ways to lose your money faster, Tradr 2X Long SMR Daily ETF (SMU.US) is a 200% leveraged bet on NuScale Power. It's a short-term trading toy, not an investment. And somehow, Churchill Capital Corp XI (CCXIU.US) is still kicking around, trying to merge with a humanoid robot maker as if the SPAC bubble never burst. Rounding out this bizarre island is the iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF (EIDO.US) for your standard Southeast Asia financial exposure, Reitar Logtech Holdings (RITR.US) whose stock chart looks like an EKG for a heart attack, and CenExel (CNSY.US), a clinical research firm that is literally private. Why are they even in this list? Whoops! My view is simple: buy the companies with real backlogs and real cash flow, and leave the crypto-funding, reverse-splitting science projects to the gamblers. *This article does not constitute investment advice.* ### Related Stocks - [BRNX.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/BRNX.US.md) - [GPUS.CLSB.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/GPUS.CLSB.US.md) - [ATI.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/ATI.US.md) - [RITR.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/RITR.US.md) - [GENB.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/GENB.US.md) - [CNSY.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/CNSY.US.md) - [CCXIU.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/CCXIU.US.md) ## Related News & Research - [Quantbot Technologies LP Makes New Investment in ATI Inc. $ATI](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296699568.md) - [ATI Chair, President and CEO Kimberly A. Fields sells ATI shares worth $5.71 million](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296401243.md) - [Reitar Logtech launches share buyback program of up to $3 million](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296621450.md) - [Reitar Logtech Holdings Limited Announces US$3 Million Share Repurchase Program | RITR Stock News](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296622178.md) - [Brenx publishes investor presentation on industrial heat decarbonization strategy](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296390043.md) --- > **Disclaimer: This article is for reference only and does not constitute any investment advice.**