Tracking 49 Signals Across 11 Portfolio Investment Themes
Let’s scan through the headlines for the stories of the week that speak to our Pro Portfolio holdings.
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Housing starts in September dropped 5.2% and single-family permits are now at their lowest since early 2023. America’s elderly are ageing faster than senior housing is being built. Taiwan cracks down on AI tech exports. And amazon plans to hire more than 300,000 U.S. workers for the holidays. These are among the nearly 50 signals we’ve collected this week that speak to our Portfolio’s 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
Senior living deals are on pace for a record year, with cap rates down about 50 basis points since the end of 2025. Strong occupancy and little new construction, with meaningful new supply not expected until late 2027 or 2028, support the supply/demand backdrop for Welltower. Read more here
America’s nurses are more educated than ever and can command six-figure salaries. Most have their bachelor’s degree. Their income has boomed since the pandemic to a median $97,550 a year, and their hands-on work isn’t easily automated away. Nursing schools have seen their ranks swell, minting thousands of new graduates every year. They’re also leaving the bedside in droves. Burnout and complaints about understaffing, verbal abuse and workplace violence are pushing many nurses off the front lines and into other careers where their skills are in high demand. Read more here
America is aging faster than it is building. The oldest baby boomers (born in 1946) are turning 80 just as senior housing construction starts sit near a generational low, widening the gap between available capacity and projected demand. The U.S. will need approximately 576,000 additional senior housing units by 2030 and more than 1 million by 2035 if development remains at its current pace, estimates NIC MAP… Read more here
Position: State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV), Welltower (WELL)
Artificial Intelligence
Enterprise AI is crossing from experimentation into production, and financial services firms are among the first to prove it can pay off at scale. As token consumption climbs, finance chiefs are now treating AI less as a science project and more as a budget line that has to earn its keep. That shift is changing how chief financial officers judge AI spending, moving the conversation from cost control toward competitive speed. Read more here
AWS opened TorchNeuron, which runs PyTorch code on its Trainium chips, as a public beta and plans to open-source it. More than 30 companies tested it, and Deepgram reported better value per dollar than on GPUs. Read more here
Google released TorchTPU, open-source PyTorch support for its TPU chips, along with tools to help developers migrate off Nvidia. Alphabet and Amazon are both working to make their in-house AI chips an easier choice for developers. Read more here
Sensor Tower data show Meta’s Muse AI app hit 10 million U.S. downloads in 40 days, a pace matched by only 11 other apps. Its 30% seven-day retention tops the 19% average for ChatGPT, Claude and Grok. Read more here
General Motors is adding a personal AI assistant to OnStar as part of a broader makeover of the subscription-based connected car service that the U.S. automaker launched 30 years ago. The OnStar AI Assistant will debut in the 2027 Cadillac Lyriq EV in the coming months, with more GM vehicles to follow… Read more here
Interest in AI-driven drug discovery has surged as companies turn to machine learning models to identify drug targets, design molecules and streamline research. The technology is widely expected to shorten development timelines and improve research productivity. Read more here
Position: Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), Axon (AXON), Meta (META), Microsoft (MSFT), Palantir (PLTR)
Cash-Strapped Consumer
September retail sales rose 0.8%, well above the 0.3% forecast, but gas station sales jumped 6.4% and sales excluding gas rose just 0.2%. With gas averaging $4.33 a gallon, shoppers are leaning on savings and promotions. Read more here
Dozens of Crumbl locations have closed this year, a trend economists said reflected broader economic pressures on consumers and their discretionary spending. Robert Spendlove, senior economist at Zions Bank, said rising costs for household essentials could leave consumers looking for savings wherever they could find them. Read more here
Simon-Kucher forecasts a 5.5% decline in holiday spending, and 77% of consumers say inflation has changed their habits. Only 22% believe advertised discounts are real, down from 46%, putting a premium on retailers with a trusted value proposition. Read more here
Amazon plans to hire more than 300,000 U.S. workers for the holidays, about 20% more than the 250,000 it has hired each season since 2023. Seasonal pay averages about $20 an hour. Read more here
Walmart is bundling Walmart+ and Sam’s Club Plus memberships for $120 a year versus $208 separately, adding delivery, streaming and fuel discounts. It’s a direct push into Costco’s membership value proposition. Read more here
Position: Amazon, Costco (COST), TJX Companies (TJX)
Cybersecurity, Data Privacy & Digital Identity
Thoma Bravo-backed Proofpoint will buy Varonis for $6.3 billion in cash, a 52% premium to its pre-rumor price. The deal signals a rebound in security M&A after this year’s software selloff. Read more here
Google’s Mandiant uncovered a China-nexus espionage campaign exploiting a zero-day in BeyondTrust’s Remote Support tool, and CISA added the flaw to its exploited-vulnerabilities catalog. Attacks on privileged-access tools show why identity security remains a priority. Read more here
ConnectWise suspended its Cloud Backup service after a compromised credential was used to access 162 Microsoft 365 tenants, where attackers granted themselves admin roles. Third-party app access is becoming a key identity risk. Read more here
Microsoft added dynamic permissions, agent risk scoring and Entra Conditional Access for AI agents to its Project Perception security system, and can now discover 60 agent types. Securing AI agents is shaping up as a new layer of Microsoft’s security business. Read more here
Artificial intelligence enables cyber threats by enhancing existing criminal tactics such as scams and fraud, according to Interpol. AI is enhancing existing criminal techniques rather than revolutionizing them, Bjorn R. Watne, global chief information security officer at Interpol… Read more here
Nikkei Inc. disclosed a new data breach, the third in about a month, that exposed 1.83 million personal information records. The Japanese giant says subsets of the data contained personally identifiable information and other sensitive details, but most records contained no identifying info. The company said that 150,000 records contained at least one of the following data types: full names, email addresses, physical addresses, telephone numbers, and dates of birth. Email addresses appeared in 120,000 records. Read more here
Position: Alphabet, First Trust Nasdaq Cybersecurity ETF (CIBR), Microsoft
Digital Infrastructure
Taiwan is adding AI servers and leading-edge chips to its controlled-export list, with prison terms of up to five years for illicit shipments to China. The move follows Nvidia chip smuggling probes and tightens the China channel for AI hardware. Read more here
Anthropic is in talks to lease a second 460 MW building at Nscale’s West Virginia campus for up to $45 billion, running Nvidia Vera Rubin systems. Microsoft has already signed for 1.35 GW at the same site. Read more here
At GTC Berlin, Nvidia unveiled containerized Vera Rubin “DSX Pod” AI factories that it says cut deployment time from four to five months to about one. It also showed a reference humanoid robot due in Q1 2027. Read more here
Singaporean startup neocloud Aolani has signed a Letter of Intent to take up 500MW of data center capacity in Malaysia. The capacity is currently set to start coming online in the second half of 2027, and will be split between multiple sites in the country. Read more here
Position: Applied Materials (AMAT), Arista Networks (ANET), Broadcom (AVGO), Eaton (ETN), Marvell (MRVL), Nvidia (NVDA), Robo Global Robotics and Automation Index ETF (ROBO)
Digital Lifestyle
Netflix cut its 2026 ad revenue forecast to about $2.7 billion from about $3 billion as ad features roll out more slowly. Full-year revenue guidance of $51.1 billion came in slightly below its prior midpoint. Read more here
Apple capped iPhone Duo orders at two per customer in the U.S., U.K., Japan and Spain after shipping dates for its first foldable slipped into January. eBay listings are running above $5,000. Read more here
The U.K.’s competition regulator proposed sharply lower fees and broader access to the iPhone’s contactless payment chip for Apple Pay rivals. Apple objects, and the consultation runs through Nov. 17. Read more here
Meta has guided to as much as $145 billion in capex this year as Zuckerberg looks to own the full AI stack rather than build on Apple’s platform. The piece also asks whether AI shopping agents could cannibalize the ads that make up about 98% of Meta’s revenue. Read more here
Position: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Netflix (NFLX)
Energy Pain Point
NERC stakeholders approved new reliability standards for computing loads of 50 MW or more, as NERC projects summer peak demand will rise 224 GW, or 24%, over 10 years. The rules should drive more spending on protection and switching equipment. Read more here
Microsoft reportedly walked away from Nscale’s delayed Loughton, U.K., AI supercomputer site because grid power may not arrive until the 2030s. U.K. grid connection requests have jumped from 41 GW to 125 GW, making power the binding constraint on the buildout. Read more here
Microsoft signed a 20-year deal with NiSource for about 1.1 GW of power plus 600 MW of battery storage for a planned Indiana data center. A large-load tariff has the data center pay for its own generation and grid build-out. Read more here
ABB’s Q3 orders hit a record, with electrification orders up 70% to $7.67 billion and U.S. orders up 82% on data center demand. Backlog rose 35% to $32.3 billion, a strong read-through for Eaton. Read more here
AEP, Amazon and X-energy are exploring 12 small modular reactors totaling 960 MW at a former Indiana coal site. AEP expects Indiana’s statewide peak load to climb from 2,800 MW to more than 7,000 MW by 2030. Read more here
ERCOT has received more than 500 large-load requests totaling 439 GW in two years, with at least 32 gas plants planned. But Gov. Abbott’s pause on new data center grid connections remains in place, and air-quality concerns are adding to the backlash. Read more here
Musk went bigger, saying the tentative target is 20 gigawatts of power and cooling by the end of next year. Then he undercut himself in the same answer: “I don’t think we’re going to achieve 20 gigawatts.” The realistic number, he said, is closer to 15. New York City needs more than 10,000 megawatts at peak in an extreme heat wave, according to a July report from Comptroller Mark Levine, so even Musk’s low figure is a city’s worth of power. Read more here
Position: Eaton
Guilty Pleasure
Lindt has replaced its chief executive and brought back his predecessor on an interim basis to help turn around the Swiss chocolate group as it struggles with falling demand for its pricey products. Read more here
Brace your wallet: “Super” El Niño is expected to lift the price of your morning brew. Agricultural markets around the world are already dealing with record-high diesel prices and high fertilizer costs — yet unpredictable and chaotic weather over the next few months is set to make production even more difficult for farmers, and prices even higher for consumers. That’s especially true when it comes to coffee, sugar and cocoa, which are among the most weather-sensitive crops in the world. Read more here
Homebuilding & Materials
Commerce cut antidumping and countervailing duties on Canadian softwood lumber to 24.75% from 35.16%. Including the separate 10% Section 232 tariff, total duties still stand at 34.75%, a modest relief on materials costs. Read more here
The NAHB builder sentiment index fell 3 points to 29 in October, its lowest since 2012. Some 43% of builders cut prices, the highest share since 2020, and 65% used incentives as rates, tariffs and labor shortages weigh. Read more here
September housing starts fell 5.2% to a 1.22 million annual rate, below every economist’s estimate. Single-family permits are at their lowest since early 2023. Read more here
NAR’s pending home sales index fell 7.3% to 66.0 in September, the lowest on record and down 11.3% from a year ago. Every region declined, a weak signal for housing demand in the months ahead. Read more here
Luxury Buying Boom
United’s Q3 premium and loyalty revenue each rose 17% on record total revenue of about $17.9 billion, even as fuel costs led it to cut its profit outlook. Affluent travelers keep booking despite higher fares, a positive read-through for American Express. Read more here
EssilorLuxottica’s Q3 revenue rose 9% to 7.49 billion euros, with North America up 4.7% and wearables, including Meta’s AI glasses, up 20%. Licensed luxury frames from Chanel, Prada and Miu Miu are gaining. Read more here
Bernstein says Hermès Birkin resale prices averaged about 1.7 times retail in Q3, down from 2.6 times at the 2022 peak. Consensus calls for Q3 sales growth of 5.2%, the weakest in six years. Read more here
Position: American Express (AXP)
Safety & Security
Northrop Grumman and RTX both raised 2026 guidance on strong defense demand. Northrop’s backlog hit a record $109.6 billion and RTX’s a record $340 billion. Read more here
The Marine Corps is giving Marines at every echelon their own accounts on Palantir’s Maven Smart System under enterprise licensing effective Oct. 1. It’s another step in Maven becoming a standard AI platform across the military. Read more here
Reno’s city council is weighing an eight-year, $22 million Axon deal that bundles body cameras, Tasers, evidence storage, 200-plus license plate readers, drones and AI tools. Axon would replace Flock, though privacy groups oppose the deal. Read more here
The Breckenridge Police Department plans to replace the town’s Flock license plate readers with Axon technology as soon as possible after all but one Town Council member signaled support for the transition. The switch would consolidate the department’s license plate readers under one company and limit access to the town’s vehicle-location data to Breckenridge police, according to Chief Dawn Layman. The department currently shares Flock data with 67 Colorado law enforcement agencies. Read more here
France, Germany, Austria and Poland are moving to let utilities and infrastructure operators bring down drones. That would widen the counter-drone market beyond the military. 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, the Pro Portfolio was long BA, XLV, WELL, GOOGL, AMZN, AXON, META, MSFT, PLTR, COST, TJX, CIBR, AMAT, ANET, AVGO, ETN, MRVL, NVDA, ROBO, NFLX, AXP.
