Drones & Decadence

Today was set up as a proving ground: after record runs, we cautioned that Powell’s tone would determine whether the melt-up can continue. AI headlines, narrow leadership, and commodity flows were on deck. We also flagged that gold and energy might steal some of tech’s thunder if macro cracks appear.

Once the session got going, that tension showed. Stocks slid: the S&P tumbled ~0.3%, the Nasdaq ~0.4%, with tech dragging most. Apple, Nvidia, Micron all sold off after earlier highs. Oil kept rising, fueled by a drop in U.S. crude inventories. Gold, after hacking out new highs, pulled back as the dollar regained strength. 

Powell’s remarks were the hinge. He described asset valuations as “fairly highly valued,” warned of no risk-free path, and emphasized that policy must balance inflation vs. labor weakness. That cautious posture rattled confidence. As markets digest it, the question is whether this is a reset or the start of a break.

“If you have $1,000 to invest today, put it here.”

AI stocks minted 600,000 new millionaires. But 50-year Wall Street veteran Marc Chaikin says the next wave of winners won’t be biotech, cryptos, or even Nvidia.

In a new on-camera interview, Marc reveals the name and ticker of his #1 free stock pick—and why it could be hiding in plain sight.

The last time he made a call like this, over 11 million viewers tuned in… and the stock he named doubled.

👉 See Marc’s latest stock pick free, right here.

Noah Smith argues the next measure of national power isn’t tanks or jets, it’s who controls the Electric Tech Stack. Think batteries, motors, chips, and power systems. They drive everything from drones to cars to factories. China is racing ahead while the West still treats it like a climate issue.

The history lesson is clear: nations that owned rail, steel, and autos ruled their eras. Today, that crown belongs to those who master the electric stack. Miss it and you end up dependent. Nail it and you win both industry and security. Smith makes the case with sharp data and some scary examples from the battlefield. The question he leaves you with: if China already owns most of the pieces, how do others catch up?

Barry Ritholtz’s Masters in Business sits down with WSJ reporter Paul Vigna to trace how greed went from being a sinful vice to a celebrated virtue. Using historical examples from Florence to modern America, Vigna argues that our worship of money is less accident than evolution, and that greed’s prominence says as much about culture as capital. 

Vigna walks you through how ideas of avarice shifted in the Middle Ages, morphed through Protestantism, and finally took root in the American capitalist mythos. Along the way, he shows that in many markets, what we call ambition or drive is just another word for socially acceptable greed.

If you’ve ever wondered why society seems okay with wealth worship (or how that mindset affects markets today) this episode is a must. It’s a philosophical and financial deep dive, delivered like a conversation you always wanted to overhear.