Why AI Isn’t Replacing Affiliate Marketing After All
“AI will make affiliate marketing irrelevant.”
Our new research shows the opposite.
Levanta surveyed 1,000 US consumers to understand how AI is influencing the buying journey. The findings reveal a clear pattern: shoppers use AI tools to explore options, but they continue to rely on human-driven content before making a purchase.
Here is what the data shows:
Less than 10% of shoppers click AI-recommended links
Nearly 87% discover products on social platforms or blogs before purchasing on marketplaces
Review sites rank higher in trust than AI assistants
Readers,
Welcome to The Starting 5 Newsletter! The 30 Second Newsletter with stocks, motivation, and tunes! Hope you enjoy!
1. Stock Performance 📈
DIA: $487.01 ↑ 0.56%
NASDAQ Composite Index: 23,613.31 ↑ 0.22%
S&P 500 (SPY): $690.38 ↑ 0.34%
AMZN: $232.38 ↑ 0.12%
AAPL: $273.81 ↑ 0.56%
What investment is rudimentary for billionaires but ‘revolutionary’ for 70,571+ investors entering 2026?
Imagine this. You open your phone to an alert. It says, “you spent $236,000,000 more this month than you did last month.”
If you were the top bidder at Sotheby’s fall auctions, it could be reality.
Sounds crazy, right? But when the ultra-wealthy spend staggering amounts on blue-chip art, it’s not just for decoration.
The scarcity of these treasured artworks has helped drive their prices, in exceptional cases, to thin-air heights, without moving in lockstep with other asset classes.
The contemporary and post war segments have even outpaced the S&P 500 overall since 1995.*
Now, over 70,000 people have invested $1.2 billion+ across 500 iconic artworks featuring Banksy, Basquiat, Picasso, and more.
How? You don’t need Medici money to invest in multimillion dollar artworks with Masterworks.
Thousands of members have gotten annualized net returns like 14.6%, 17.6%, and 17.8% from 26 sales to date.
*Based on Masterworks data. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. Important Reg A disclosures: masterworks.com/cd
2. Crypto Check-In 🪙
BTC: $88,182.00 ↑ 1.29%
ETH: $2,957.12 ↑ 0.95%
SOL: $123.48 ↑ 0.51%
LTC: $77.02 ↑ 1.57%
3. Motivation Of The Day 💭
“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”
— Arthur Ashe
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4. Term Of The Day 📚
Sharpe Ratio
📖Definition: A measure of risk-adjusted return: (Portfolio return − Risk-free rate) ÷ Portfolio volatility.
📊Why it matters: It helps you compare investments by showing how much return you’re getting per unit of risk—not just raw performance
💡Example: If a portfolio returns 10%, the risk-free rate is 4%, and volatility is 12%, the Sharpe Ratio is (10% − 4%) ÷ 12% = 0.50
What investment is rudimentary for billionaires but ‘revolutionary’ for 70,571+ investors entering 2026?
Imagine this. You open your phone to an alert. It says, “you spent $236,000,000 more this month than you did last month.”
If you were the top bidder at Sotheby’s fall auctions, it could be reality.
Sounds crazy, right? But when the ultra-wealthy spend staggering amounts on blue-chip art, it’s not just for decoration.
The scarcity of these treasured artworks has helped drive their prices, in exceptional cases, to thin-air heights, without moving in lockstep with other asset classes.
The contemporary and post war segments have even outpaced the S&P 500 overall since 1995.*
Now, over 70,000 people have invested $1.2 billion+ across 500 iconic artworks featuring Banksy, Basquiat, Picasso, and more.
How? You don’t need Medici money to invest in multimillion dollar artworks with Masterworks.
Thousands of members have gotten annualized net returns like 14.6%, 17.6%, and 17.8% from 26 sales to date.
*Based on Masterworks data. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. Important Reg A disclosures: masterworks.com/cd
5. Song Of The Day 🎧
🎧Song: “Sun Models” by ODESZA ft. Madelyn Grant
Genre: EDM
Why it hits: Bright, cinematic, and smooth—perfect “lock in” energy without being too aggressive

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3. Personal Finance Tips - 1 tip a day to help with your personal finance needs
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Thanks For Reading,
The Starting 5 Team
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