We’re Tracking 23 New Signals Across Our Investing Themes

Germany shows the financial impact of an aging population, travelers adopt AI faster than destination marketers, U.K. spending on AI is set to rise further and another week was filled with cyberattacks —these are just some of the data points we collected over the last few days, which bring an added layer of support for the Portfolio’s strategies and holdings, during what could be a potentially volatile week in the market.

If you’ve come across a signal we should know about, be sure to drop a link in the Comment section below.

Aging Population

According to an analysis by the Ifo institute, published on Monday, spending on the elderly and illnesses accounted for around 70% of total social spending in Germany last year, pushing the social budget to a new record. Read more here

The Los Angeles metro area, encompassing Orange County, secured the second-highest national ranking for healthcare leasing activity in the second quarter, according to Avison Young. The region recorded 331,000 square feet of medical office leasing in Q2, contributing to over 1.5 million square feet in the past year. Los Angeles also led all markets in healthcare sales, with $285 million in transaction volume. This robust activity is fueled by an aging population and the presence of major health systems like Cedars-Sinai and UCLA Health. Read more here

Position: State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV), Welltower (WELL)

Artificial Intelligence

Mindtrip, in partnership with Sabre, Sojern and MMGY Travel Intelligence, released new research showing a growing disconnect between traveler behavior and travel industry readiness regarding AI. The study found that 54 percent of travelers have already used AI to plan travel and 75 percent intend to use AI for future trips. Meanwhile, only 22 percent of destination marketing organizations (DMOs) currently offer AI trip-planning capabilities on their websites, and 26 percent have a documented AI strategy. Read more here

Government contractors and architecture and engineering (A&E) firms continue to invest in artificial intelligence while navigating labor shortages, rising costs and cybersecurity risks, according to Deltek’s latest annual Clarity industry studies… Ninety percent of government contractor respondents said they are using or plan to use AI in at least one business function in 2026, but only 5% described their organizations as fully mature in AI implementation. Read more here

A report from the Lloyds Business Barometer claims over half (54%) of UK businesses say AI has already created new jobs within their organizations… The majority (58%) of businesses say they now plan to increase investment in AI tools and skill training over the next twelve months – and of the businesses planning to raise AI investment, 42% expect to spend between £25,000 and £100,000 during the coming year. Another 26% expect to spend between £100,000 and £250,000, showing a clear appetite for deeper AI skills funding across sectors. Read more here

Position: Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), Axon (AXON), Meta (META), Microsoft $(MSFT), Neostellar Capital (NSLR), Palantir (PLTR)

Cash-Strapped Consumer

SecureSave found that 55% of American workers cannot cover an unexpected $500 expense from savings, according to the company’s 2026 Financial Stress Survey… The savings gap is pushing workers toward difficult trade-offs. In the past six months, 41% of respondents said they skipped a necessary expense — including medical care, food, rent, or car repairs — because they lacked sufficient savings. Meanwhile, 37% increased their credit card debt over the past year, and 25% reduced, paused, borrowed from, or withdrew retirement savings, the company said. Read more here

While affluent shoppers continue to snap up Ralph Lauren linen shorts and prestige beauty products, lower-income consumers are stretching budgets at Taco Bell and Ross Stores, pairing value meals and discount apparel with essential purchases. Aggregate spending has not collapsed, but “households are becoming much more deliberate about where their money goes” Read more here

Position: Amazon, Costco (COST), TJX Companies (TJX)

Cybersecurity, Data Privacy & Digital Identity

Private equity giant Apollo Global Management has disclosed a data breach that exposed sensitive personal information. According to a data breach notice sent to affected individuals, a social engineering attack enabled threat actors to access some of the company’s cloud platforms between July 6 and 10. Read more here

Iran-linked hackers reportedly managed to shut down a British power plant for four days in July 2026. The story was broken by the Telegraph newspaper on August 22, 2026. That it took so long to become public knowledge immediately says two things. Firstly, it was not a major power plant since the effect would have been immediately noticed, and secondly, the authorities wished to keep news of the attack as low key as possible. Read more here

Amgen Inc. experienced a cyber incident that involved the theft of patient information and proprietary data stored in cloud servers, it said in a filing Friday, the latest large healthcare company to suffer a data breach. Read more here

Position: Alphabet, First Trust Nasdaq Cybersecurity ETF (CIBR), Microsoft

Digital Infrastructure

Only 20 state or metro markets account for 60 percent of hyperscale data center capacity in the world, new data from Synergy Research Group has found. Northern Virginia in the US makes up 11 percent of the total, according to Synergy, with Beijing, China, the next highest in terms of market share at 6 percent. Of the top 20 markets, 15 are in the US. Four are in the APAC region, three of which are in China, the outlier being Singapore; and just one is in Europe – Dublin, Ireland. Read more here

Some of Nvidia Corp.’s biggest customers have been told that the prices of servers containing its artificial intelligence chips are going up more than 15% in many cases with memory chip costs soaring. The price hikes will go into effect on systems shipped early next year and will impact systems including those with the flagship Vera Rubin and Grace Blackwell chips… Read more here

Businesses pumped more than £11 billion ($15 billion) into Britain’s digital infrastructure last year in the rush to build data centers used for artificial intelligence. Investment in digital infrastructure has returned to levels seen in 2000 when the dot-com boom was boosting spending, according to revised data from the Office for National Statistics. Read more here

Position: Applied Materials (AMAT), Arista Networks (ANET), Broadcom (AVGO), Eaton (ETN), Marvell (MRVL), Neostellar, Nvidia (NVDA), Robo Global Robotics and Automation Index ETF (ROBO)

Digital Lifestyle

Netflix executives have considered making third-party streaming services available within its app, according to a report from The New York Times. The recent discussions reportedly centered around bringing Peacock and Fox One to Netflix, though it’s unclear whether the streaming giant would sell subscriptions to the other services or add their content to its app. While Amazon’s Prime Video and Roku have long sold subscriptions to rival services, the move would be a major change for Netflix, which has only joined bundles with other streamers. Read more here

The foldable iPhone, set to be introduced at a launch event on or around Sept. 9, is what I consider the company’s most exciting new product in several years. It’s also something I’ve personally been yearning for. Ever since I got my hands on Samsung Electronics Co.’s first foldable phone in 2019, I’ve been obsessed with the category because of how high-tech, powerful and truly useful it feels. The ability to watch videos, play games and get work done on a foldable phone is unmatched in the mobile landscape. It’s far more convenient than pulling out a tablet, and there’s something powerful about the versatility. Read more here

AdImpact forecasts a record $11.6 billion in political advertising spend for the 2026 midterms, making it the most expensive midterm cycle in U.S. history… Connected TV (CTV) has become a priority for political advertisers navigating an increasingly fragmented media environment. With 89% of U.S. households projected to be CTV households this year, according to eMarketer, campaigns are embracing streaming TV for its combination of premium content, audience precision, and measurable performance. Read more here

Amazon Prime is expanding its air drone delivery service. The online retail giant says nearly 500 cities and towns should have the service by the end of the year. Currently, fewer than 100 cities receive the service. Items must be 5 pounds or less and fit inside a large shoebox that can be delivered by drone. Read more here

Position: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Neostellar, Netflix (NFLX)

Energy Pain Point

Rising electricity consumption by Ireland’s insatiable data centres has prompted the government to do something that has been unthinkable for decades: reignite a debate about nuclear power. Data centres account for nearly a quarter of all electricity used in Ireland — a share set to rise to at least 30 per cent by 2032. Their consumption grew 10 per cent last year from 2024, far outstripping the 2 per cent growth of all other users. Read more here

Position: Eaton

Homebuilding & Materials

As birth rates decline and the population gets older, some counties could face more deaths, estate sales and housing inventory at the same time that fewer young households are forming to absorb that supply. Meanwhile, younger markets with stronger birth rates could maintain population and housing demand for much longer. By 2030 to 2035, this demographic divide could begin separating America’s housing market winners from its losers. Read more here

Annual spending on home improvements and repairs is expected to continue losing momentum through mid-2027, according to our latest Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA). Year-over-year growth in renovation and repair spending is expected to slow to just 0.5 percent in the second quarter of 2027. Read more here

Position: Builders FirstSource (BLDR)

Luxury Buying Boom

Global luxury brands are facing a deepening sales slump in China, as the country’s campaign to tax offshore wealth sends ripples from stock markets to casino floors and dampens spending by the country’s richest consumers. Sales at the 25 biggest luxury labels in China dropped more than 10% in July, according to three research firms surveyed by Bloomberg that track industry data. That’s worse than the slowdown witnessed in June, and marks a sharp reversal from the brisk business seen earlier this year. Read more here

Position: American Express (AXP)

Rebuilding America

UPS disclosed Monday that it is investing more than $2 billion across its international, healthcare, and supply chain solutions businesses, revealing the total figure for the first time. The investments began in 2024 and are set to continue through 2028, the company said. Read more here

Ford Motor Co. plans to increase Lincoln production in the US beginning in 2030, a decision that puts one of America’s oldest automotive brands at the center of the debate over manufacturing reshoring, tariffs and industrial employment. Under the plan announced Aug. 12, Lincoln will gradually shift US-market production away from China as Ford increases domestic manufacturing capacity. The automaker expects the change to generate thousands of direct and indirect US jobs, with further details on investment levels, plant assignments and hiring expected as the program develops. Read more here

Micron Technology is betting that the next phase of that expansion will place much greater attention on what sits beside those processors. The company has announced Micron Research Labs, a US-based research organization headquartered in Boise, Idaho, backed by a planned $10 billion investment over the next decade. Construction of its flagship research facility is expected to begin in 2027, with space for hundreds of researchers. Read more here

Position: Applied Materials (AMAT), ROBO Global Robotics & Automation Index ETF (ROBO), Paccar (PCAR), United Rentals (URI).

Safety & Security

Flock has been the target of much of the public’s ire, but its rivals have largely avoided it. Now, some of those competitors are trying to cash in on Flock’s fall from grace. More than 130,000 automated license-plate readers, or ALPR’s, can be found in cities and towns across the country, according to the crowdsourced database DeFlock.org. The cameras take images of the backs of cars. Law enforcement has increasingly turned to this tool to help solve crime. Read more here

More than 100 cameras are expected to be installed across Rialto’s intersections following the City Council’s July 28 approval of a $1.25 million amendment to the police department’s existing Axon contract. The amendment adds body-worn and patrol vehicle cameras and over 100 hardware devices to integrate publicly and privately owned security systems with the department’s “real-time intelligence network,” allowing officers access to participating camera feeds. 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.

More Pro Portfolio

At the time of publication, the Pro Portfolio was long XLV, WELL, GOOGL, AMZN, AXON, META, MSFT, NSLR, PLTR, COST, TJX, CIBR, AMAT, ANET, AVGO, ETN, MRVL, NVDA, ROBO, NFLX, BLDR, AXP, AMAT, PCAR and URI.