Uncle Sam just became a quantum shareholder

THE LAST CALL

FRIDAY • MAY 22, 2026

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Quantum stocks went absolutely nuclear this week. D-Wave and Rigetti up 30% in a day, the whole group ripping double digits.

Everyone's staring at the move. Barely anyone's asking the better question, which is who showed up with the buy orders.

Turns out it was Uncle Sam.

THE STORY OF THE WEEK

Thursday, the Commerce Department said it's handing roughly $2 billion in CHIPS Act money to nine quantum computing companies. The detail that actually moved the stocks: in exchange for the cash, the government takes an ownership stake in every one of them.

IBM's the big winner here, around a billion dollars to build a quantum-chip plant on U.S. soil. Rigetti, D-Wave, GlobalFoundries and a few others split what's left. Nobody bothered waiting for the contracts to get signed. D-Wave and Rigetti both ripped 30%-plus the same afternoon.

We've watched this exact move before. Washington ran the same play on Intel last August, scooping up a 9.9% stake in the company. Intel's more than doubled since, even with its actual turnaround still only half-built.

And it keeps happening. Government backing has turned into one of the most dependable short-term catalysts going right now. It usually shows up one of three ways.

One is a straight equity buy, like Intel and now the quantum nine. Another is a grant, federal money flooding a sector with nothing bought outright. The loudest version is just a shoutout. When the President told people to "buy a Dell" earlier this month, the stock popped about 14% off the comment alone.

Quick reality check, though. A government check doesn't make a company profitable.

Most of these quantum names barely have revenue. They're selling a future that's still years out. What the money actually buys is credibility and a floor under the stock, plus a brutal short squeeze, since a bunch of them had 15% to 22% of their shares sold short going in.

Which is why the split this week is worth seeing. Rigetti, the same beaten-down lottery ticket we flagged near thirteen bucks back in the spring, walked away with real money and the U.S. government on its cap table. IonQ and Quantum Computing got nothing but a sympathy bid off the headline.

Same green candles, completely different reason behind them. One group is trading the actual catalyst. The other is just chasing the vibe. A check this size doesn't change the companies. It changes the story people are willing to believe about them, and for now that's plenty.

ZOOM OUT

Pull back far enough and every one of these government checks traces back to the same place, a balance sheet under serious strain. We asked that exact question a while back in Is the U.S. Dollar Dead? The complimentary report below looks at one move being floated to deal with it.

They impeached him. Twice. They indicted him. They raided his home. They tried to remove him from the ballot. Someone even tried to take his life.

Every single time, he found a way.

Now he's facing something bigger than all of that. A $38 trillion debt bomb.

Interest payments crossing a trillion a year. Markets swinging wildly. A war in the Middle East. And an economy that 63% of Americans say is headed in the wrong direction.

The talking heads say there's no way out. The math is impossible. The hole is too deep.

But 45 has always had a "Trump card" nobody saw coming.

And right now, there's one move he can make that doesn't require Congress. Doesn't require a vote. Doesn't add a single penny to the debt.

One executive order that could add over $1 trillion to the government's balance sheet overnight and potentially create a wave of new American millionaires in the process.

It's not a theory. The legal authority already exists. A president used it before in 1934. The legislation is in Congress right now. And his own Treasury Secretary has hinted at it publicly.

We put together a free report called "The Great Gold Reset" that breaks down the entire play.

Inside you'll discover:

→ The one executive action Trump can take that could reshape the economy overnight, without Congress

→ The $1.2 trillion accounting error the government has ignored for 50 years, and why it can't be ignored much longer

→ The 1934 precedent that shows exactly what happens when a president plays this card, and how it created generational wealth

→ The "IRA Loophole" that lets everyday Americans get positioned in about 15 minutes, tax-free and penalty-free

→ The midterm pressure that could force Trump's hand before November, and why analysts say the timeline is accelerating

They've thrown everything at this man. Nothing has stopped him.

And if he plays this final card, the Americans who saw it coming won't just be protected. They could be set for life.

Download Your Free Report Here

WHAT'S SETTING UP

Zoom out past quantum for a second. What you're really watching is the government acting like a momentum trader, and a rich one.

The money keeps landing on anything stamped "strategic" or "national security." Rare earths, shipbuilders, drones, nuclear. A name like MP Materials or Huntington Ingalls is the type that fits the mold if Washington keeps writing checks.

Timing is the whole game, though. The headline is the move. By the time these stake deals actually close, the run is usually over. Chasing Rigetti after a 30% day isn't where the edge lives. Guessing where the money goes next might be.

As for the names that already got paid, here's the thing to watch into next week. They either hold these gains, or they hand it all back once the headline cools and the shorts that got squeezed come back swinging.

NEXT WEEK • THE 4-DAY STUB

MON • MAY 25

Markets closed for Memorial Day. Touch grass.

TUE • MAY 26

Back at it. Consumer Confidence drops at 10 AM ET, the first read on whether the risk-on mood made it through the long weekend.

WED • MAY 27

Earnings start trickling in. Dick's Sporting Goods and Generac report, with the enterprise-software names lining up behind them.

THU • MAY 28 — THE HEAVY ONE

GDP revision and PCE inflation (the Fed's favorite gauge) both land at 8:30 AM ET. Dell reports after the bell, its first look since the "buy a Dell" pop, with Coinbase, Crocs and Nutanix tagging along.

FRI • MAY 29

Month-end. Confluent closes things out, and watch the funds tidy up their books into the bell.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Take this into the long weekend. The most reliable catalyst in the market right now has nothing to do with earnings or the Fed. It's a government check, and they're getting handed out more often.

So watch where Washington spends, not where analysts upgrade. The announcement is usually the whole move, and it doesn't sit around waiting for you.

Stay Locked In,
The Lead Editor, Main Street Betz

DISCLAIMER

We are a bunch of apes who figured out how to use a Bloomberg Terminal and a group chat at the same time. That combination is either genius or a liability, and we honestly aren't sure which one yet.

Nothing here is financial advice. Seriously. Do your own research. Talk to an actual licensed professional before you YOLO your savings into something you read in a newsletter written by an ape in a hoodie.

Past performance doesn't guarantee future results. The market doesn't care about your feelings, your conviction, or your "diamond hands." It will humble you. It humbles us too. That's the game.

We may hold positions in securities mentioned. Trading and investing is risky. Trade at your own risk. Eat Cookiez responsibly.

Uncle Sam just became a quantum shareholder

FOLLOW THE CHECKBOOK

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