Tracking 21 Signals Across 10 of Our Investing Themes
Let’s scan through the headlines for the stories of the week that speak to our Pro Portfolio holdings.
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Malware-infected devices are giving hackers backdoor access to Americans’ home networks. More and more people are paying big fees to draw from retirement funds for cash. And Rolls-Royce goes … nuclear. These are a few of the stories we’ve collected over the past week that speak to the Pro Portfolio’s investment themes and back many of its holdings.
If you’ve come across a signal we should know about, be sure to drop a link in the Comment section below.
Aging Population
Hawaiʻi will need nearly 60,000 additional housing units by 2050 to meet future demand driven largely by an aging population and to prevent younger residents from getting squeezed out of the housing market. Residents age 65 or older will need 44,000 of the new units, according to a new report released by AARP Hawaiʻi, which also said the housing shortage is driving up prices and pushing younger residents to leave the state. Read more here
Demand for assisted living is expected to grow as the U.S. population continues to age. In 2025, an estimated 63.3 million Americans were age 65 and older, and by 2040 that number is projected to exceed 78 million. Life expectancy is also increasing, contributing to a larger population of older adults who may eventually need long-term care. Recent data suggests demand is already increasing. Read more here
Position: Labcorp (LH); Welltower (WELL)
Artificial Intelligence
Per the report, 60% of consumers in the U.S. say that brands that use “AI” in their messaging are a turnoff, and 86% don’t fully trust AI and still want to explore original sources. Notably, 42% of consumers said that AI-generated answers without clear attribution are trusted less than airline fees, confusing privacy policies, and medical bills. Read more here
More than three and a half years after ChatGPT’s initial release, AI assistants are now used by millions of people worldwide, and the competitive landscape is changing fast. While OpenAI’s chatbot is still the most popular assistant globally, its market share has dipped below 50% for the first time as users are migrating between different assistants like Google’s Gemini, Anthropic’s Claude, and xAI’s Grok, according to analytics firm Sensor Tower’s State of AI Report for 2026.
The report, based on a March survey of 60 senior technology executives at enterprises in the United States with at least $1 billion in annual revenue, examined AI use across 75 tasks in financial services and insurance, healthcare and medical, and media and advertising. The broad finding was that every sector is moving toward AI, but healthcare’s path is distinct. It is less about sweeping automation and more about targeted relief. Read more here
Salesforce is set to acquire AI customer service platform Fin for $3.6 billion.
The deal, announced Monday (June 15), gives the customer relationship management company access to Fin’s AI agent, designed to resolve complex customer queries across channels including live chat, email, WhatsApp, SMS, phone and Slack. Read more here
Position: Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), Arista Networks (ANET), Axon (AXON), Meta (META), Microsoft (MSFT), Palantir (PLTR), SuRo Capital (SSSS)
Cash-Strapped Consumer
The rising costs of housing, healthcare and education have pushed more Americans to tap into their retirement accounts despite high penalties and taxes for doing so. Vanguard Group Inc. said Tuesday in its annual How America Saves report that a record 6% of the nearly 5 million participants in 401(k) plans it administers made hardship withdrawals in 2025. That’s up from 5% a year earlier. About two-thirds of the funds were used to avoid home foreclosure or eviction (36%) or to cover medical expenses (31%). Read more here
Cooling costs are projected to reach record highs this summer amid rising electricity prices and hotter weather. A new analysis from the National Energy Assistance Directors Association estimates that Americans will spend an average of nearly $800 on electricity between June and September, up 10.5% from the same period last year. Read more here
Position: Amazon, Costco (COST), TJX Companies (TJX)
Cybersecurity, Data Privacy & Digital Identity
Millions of everyday consumer devices, especially knockoffs that you buy online, are being infected by a malware known as residential proxy software. This gives anyone—including hackers—a backdoor into home networks. The Digital Citizens Alliance estimates that there are 20 million of these backdoors in the U.S. Read more here
A cyber extortion group claimed on Tuesday to have stolen more than a terabyte of data from pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO), opens new tab and said it is exploring selling parts of the data after unsuccessfully demanding $25 million from the company. Read more here
Position: Alphabet, First Trust Nasdaq Cybersecurity ETF (CIBR), Microsoft
Digital Infrastructure
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. introduced new networking gear for artificial intelligence data centers, building on the products it acquired from Juniper Networks and striving to capture more of the demand for AI tools from corporate customers. As part of its annual conference, the company Tuesday unveiled networking switches that are specialized for inferencing, or running AI workloads. HPE also said Siemens Energy AG will use a collection of AI technologies it has built with Nvidia Corp. for a private cloud that can run simulations and manage engineering tasks… Read more here
Position: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Broadcom (AVGO), Arista Networks, Eaton (ETN), Marvell (MRVL), Meta, Nvidia (NVDA)
Digital Lifestyle
Alphabet Inc.’s Google has begun rolling out Android 17, the latest major update to its popular mobile operating system, though some of its marquee artificial intelligence features will not arrive for another few months. Read more here
Snap on Tuesday launched its first augmented-reality glasses for consumers at a hefty price of $2,195, pitching the device as the future of how people interact with technology in the AI age. Unveiled at the Augmented World Expo in Long Beach, California, Specs mark a major bet by the social media minnow (SNAP.N), opens new tab in a device category that even Apple has struggled to turn into a hit with its Vision Pro headset. Read more here
Fox is preparing to acquire streaming video company Roku for $22 billion. The deal, announced Monday (June 15), will make Fox the third-largest player in the television world in terms of viewership share. The companies say they plan to operate Roku “as an open, partner-friendly platform” committed to “the continued ubiquitous distribution of FOX content.” Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch noted in a news release that the deal follows the company’s pivot to focus on news and live sports in 2019 and its acquisition of the Tubi streaming service in 2020. Read more here
American Express wants to acquire restaurant reservation management platform TheFork from Tripadvisor for $700 million. Announcing the proposed deal in a Monday (June 15) news release, American Express said it was designed to build on the company’s broader dining strategy following its acquisitions of Resy and Tock. Put together, the three platforms expand the Amex dining network to 75,000 venues, the company said, citing internal records. Read more here
Today we’re announcing that Threads has reached 500 million monthly active users, a milestone that reflects people’s desire for a public space built around conversation… Our communities feature has been one of the fastest-growing features on Threads since it launched last year. Today, we’re graduating communities out of beta and delivering some of the most-requested features as we invest in the people and communities that got us here… Read more here
Position: Alphabet, Amazon, American Express (AXP), Apple (AAPL), Meta (META), Netflix (NFLX), SuRo Capital (SSSS)
Energy Pain Point
Risks to the security of electricity supply in the Netherlands will rise significantly from 2030, with expected shortages breaching the Dutch reliability standard, grid operator TenneT said on Wednesday, urging government action. Read more here
Rolls-Royce will build small nuclear power plants for Sweden in a major boost for the British engineering group’s ambitions to lead the development of the nascent technology in Europe. A group led by Rolls-Royce will build three mini reactors for the Scandinavian nation after beating competition from GE Vernova Hitachi. It is the third major contract for Rolls-Royce SMR unit, whose backers include CEZ, the Czech utility, and Qatar Investment Authority. Read more here
Position: Eaton
Homebuilding & Materials
Housing market affordability is so stretched that this $23B builder is shelling out $55K incentives per home. Lennar spent an average of 12.9% of the final sales price on sales incentives in Q2 2026—down from 14.1% last quarter. Read more here
Builder sentiment remains subdued as rising material costs, elevated mortgage rates and ongoing affordability challenges continue to strain the housing market. Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes fell two points to 35 in June, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) released today. This is the 14th straight month that sentiment has remained below 40, a streak not seen since 2011-2012 during the foreclosure crisis. Read more here
Luxury Buying Boom
Rolex raised the global price of its gold watches by an average 5% this month, adding a rare second annual increase to its main markets including Britain, Hong Kong and the U.S., according to two luxury research platforms and two dealers. The increase, which follows a slightly bigger rise in January that was not global and not specific to gold, reflects strong demand for premium products despite a broadly subdued luxury goods market. Read more here
Safety & Security
Cities all over Idaho and across the country are using an array of mass surveillance programs, such as Flock cameras, AI-equipped license plate readers, audio detection systems for identifying gunfire and facial recognition software… Meridian Police Department uses a similar technology for license plate reader cameras. Such AI tools are quickly becoming a standard part of the policing toolkit. As of 2025, there were nearly 18,000 state and local law enforcement agencies across the country, according to a report by the National Council of State Legislatures. Read more here
Position: Axon, Palantir
The Strategies Behind Our Thematic Models
Aging of the Population – Capturing the demographic wave of the aging population and the changing demands it brings.
Artificial Intelligence – Software, chips, and related companies that facilitate the collection and analysis of large data sets and autonomous generation of solutions given non-machine language prompts.
Cash-Strapped Consumer – Companies poised to benefit as consumers stretch the disposable spending dollars they do have.
Cybersecurity – Companies that focus on protecting against the penetration of digital networks and the theft, ransom, corruption, or destruction of data.
Data Privacy & Digital Identity – Companies providing the tools and services that verify authorized users and safeguard personal data privacy.
Digital Infrastructure & Connectivity -The buildout and upgrading of our Networks, Data Storage Facilities, and Equipment.
Digital Lifestyle – The companies behind our increasingly connected lives.
Digital Payments – This model focuses on companies benefiting from the accelerating structural adoption of digital payments and financial technology (FinTech).
Energy Pain Point – Companies poised to prosper from rising power demand.
EV Transition – Capturing the transition to EVs and related infrastructure from combustion engine vehicles.
Guilty Pleasure – Companies that produce/provide food and drink products that consumers tend to enjoy regardless of the economic environment and potential long-term health hazards associated with excessive consumption.
Homebuilding & Materials – Ranging from homebuilders to key building product companies that serve the housing market, this model looks to capture the rising demand for housing, one that should benefit as the Fed returns monetary policy to more normalized levels.
Luxury Buying Boom – Tapping into aspirational buying and affluent buyers amid rising global wealth.
Rebuilding America – Turning the focused spending on rebuilding US infrastructure into revenue and profits.
Safety & Security – Targeted exposure to companies that provide goods and services primarily to the Defense and security sectors of the economy.
At the time of publication, TheStreet Pro was long Labcorp; Welltower; Alphabet; Amazon; Arista Networks; Axon; Meta; Microsoft; Palantir; SuRo Capital; Costco; TJX Companies; First Trust Nasdaq Cybersecurity ETF; Apple; Broadcom; Arista Networks; Eaton; Marvell; Meta, Nvidia; American Express; Apple; Meta; Netflix; SuRo Capital.
