This past week, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 0.25%. President Trump has repeatedly pushed for lower rates, so the decision was notable, as the new Fed Chair, Kevin Warsh, moved in the opposite direction. Given the concerns about Fed independence during his nomination process, I took that as an encouraging sign that the institution will retain its independence.
In other news, for those with a concentrated stock position, I highly suggest this article: The Best Way to Sell a Concentrated Position.
And lastly, the best quote I read from the past month is one I wholeheartedly agree with. It comes from Jo Townsend, the manager of New Zealand’s sovereign wealth fund:
- “Returns for US equities over the past couple of years are close to double annualized returns for the past 20 years…So we would expect there to be some reversion to the mean at some point.”
- – Jo Townsend, chief executive of the Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation, which manages New Zealand’s sovereign wealth fund.
Below is my usual collection of charts and personal-finance data points from the past few weeks.
Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy
- 🌎 Stock Performance in 2026 – It’s been a good year, with international stocks continuing to lead the pack:
- 😱 September Scaries – September is historically the worst month of the year:
- 💰 Big Tech Spending Spree – Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Alphabet are on pace to spend nearly $1 trillion annually, while their free cash flow is projected to turn negative.
- It goes to show how expensive the AI build out is, even for the world’s most profitable companies.
- 📈 Consumers Are Investing Too – Investors have already invested ~$1.3 trillion into ETFs this year. That’s nearly as much as all of 2025, which was a record year.
- It shows how far each stock is trading below its 52-week high. Some well-known names are down a lot. And again, lots of tech:
- 💪 Beating Expectations – In good news, approximately 87% of S&P 500 companies beat their Q2 expectations, much higher than the long-term average.
- ✔ Nike Down 75% – Just because most companies are beating expectations, some are not. Nike is doing very poorly.
- No matter how well known or established a company is, that does not mean their stock will do well.
- 📈 On The Other Hand… – Nvidia’s quarterly revenue is approaching $100 billion. Amazing growth since only 2023.
- 🤖 Nvidia vs. Apple – Putting Nvidia’s net income in context, they’ve now earned more in profit over the past year than Apple:
- 🧐 Pricey? – The chart below shows the number of stocks in the S&P 500 that could be labeled “expensive.”
- Out of those 500, only 27 fit the description.
- This is down quite a bit from the Covid-era stock-trading frenzy, when companies like AMC and Gamestop traded at high valuations that didn’t make sense.
- ⏳ Retirement Is A Relationship Problem – And lastly, if you’re pondering retirement, I highly suggest this article. One key takeaway:
- “The single biggest predictor of whether your retirement is brilliant or bleak has almost nothing to do with your portfolio. It’s your relationships.”
- 🏠 More Sales of Higher-Price Homes – Just one interesting real estate stat.
- “The higher the price band, the more sales volumes are up on a year-over-year basis.”
- – Conor Sen
“Leave the children enough so that they can do anything, but not enough that they can do nothing.”
– Warren Buffett
As always, please reach out if you have any questions or would like to connect.