Global View
Key Highlights * U.S. inflation continues to cool without a sharp deterioration in labor markets, reinforcing expectations that the Federal Reserve will remain on hold near term.¹ * Equity leadership is widening meaningfully, with small- and mid-caps outperforming mega-cap technology and signaling healthier market breadth.² * Globally, disinflation is allowing
Leaders-Laggards
Key Highlights * The Trump administration’s December 18, 2025 executive order materially advanced federal cannabis rescheduling. * A move to Schedule III would remove 280E tax constraints, reshaping cannabis company cash flows. * Cannabis reform is no longer a purely partisan issue, altering political risk assumptions. * Several U.S. operators are positioned
Weekly Signals
As 2026 begins, equity market leadership looks notably different from what investors have grown accustomed to over the past several years. Instead of mega-cap technology stocks dictating the market’s direction, small-cap equities have emerged as the primary drivers of performance. For investors conditioned to measure risk appetite
Newsletter
Key Highlights * Deregulation is re-emerging as a structural policy shift, driven by court rulings, executive action, and economic conditions rather than short-term political cycles. * A 2024 Supreme Court decision limiting regulatory authority has fundamentally reshaped the balance of power between federal agencies and the judiciary. * Industries with historically
Macro Observations
Key Highlights * The DOJ’s criminal inquiry into Fed Chair Jerome Powell marks an unprecedented challenge to Federal Reserve independence.¹ * Powell argues the investigation is a political pretext tied to pressure for interest-rate cuts rather than genuine misconduct.² * Market confidence in U.S. monetary institutions is central to dollar
Newsletter
Key Highlights * Recent SEC agenda items and public statements signal a shift toward streamlined regulation and a renewed focus on capital formation and market efficiency.¹ * Enforcement priorities appear to be narrowing, with fewer actions tied to technical violations and greater emphasis on cases involving clear investor harm.³⁻⁴ * Heavily regulated industries
Closing Thoughts for the Week
Are markets rising for the right reasons?
Newsletter
For most of 2022 and 2023, private-equity firms found themselves in an uncomfortable position: plenty of companies to sell, but almost no market willing to buy. Rising interest rates, shaky economic conditions, and a frozen IPO window left sponsors holding aging assets far longer than intended. By late 2025,
Lead-Lag Live
The retail brokerage landscape is entering a new phase. Artificial intelligence is no longer just a research aid or a chatbot layered onto an existing platform. It is increasingly becoming the interface through which investors research ideas, construct portfolios, and execute complex decisions that once required teams of analysts or
Newsletter
Key Highlights * Market leadership in 2025 has shifted away from mega-cap growth stocks toward small-caps, value-oriented sectors, and emerging markets. * The rotation reflects improving risk appetite and broader market participation rather than a move toward defensive positioning. * Small-cap and emerging-market strength has historically aligned with
Leaders-Laggards
Key Highlights * A multi-year global rearmament cycle is underway, driven by active wars, renewed great-power rivalry, and depleted military inventories.¹ * Defense spending growth is increasingly structural rather than cyclical, with record budgets and long-dated procurement commitments.¹² * Market pricing remains uneven, leaving several strategically critical aerospace and defense
Lead-Lag Live
Lead-Lag Live Recap: Hype vs. Reality in AI Investing