The Big Beautiful Bill: What It Means for Investors
📘 Part I: What the Bill Actually Does 1. Corporate Tax Cuts Made PermanentThe 21% rate is here to stay. No cliff. No phase-out. Just permanent low taxation for businesses large and small. The math is simple: Lower taxes → higher net income → higher EPS → higher multiples. And with full expensing for capital […]
From Prime to Priced-In: Amazon Enters the Value Club
📦 From Prime to Priced-In: Amazon Enters the Value Club Amazon is now a value stock. Yes—that Amazon. 📦 The one with a 36x+ P/E that uses my front porch more than I do. This is the company that rewired how we shop, built a cloud empire, and turned endless cash burn into a real, […]
They Taxed Paper. We Tax Silicon.
The Medium Changes, the Instinct for Control Doesn’t. By Gregory Lai, Co-Chief Investment Officer In recent weeks, I sat through a few town halls where financial leaders and academics shared their views. At one UC Irvine event, what stood out wasn’t a forecast—but a prop: an original eight-page copy of the Townshend Acts from June […]
Jabil’s $500M Bet on AI and Cloud Growth
Company Spotlight: Clouds, Chips, and Cash – Jabil’s $500M Bet on the Future 📈 A Strong Quarter Fuels Big Gains Jabil (JBL), which makes electronic circuit boards and other manufacturing solutions, has turned heads with some of the biggest gains in the S&P 500 this June. The company’s stock jumped past $205 in mid-June, hitting […]
When Will Clues to Tariff Impact Show Up in the Data?
📦 When Will Clues to Tariff Impact Show Up in the Data? 🧠 “Tariffs have a way of creeping into the numbers with a lag, and we haven’t seen policy like this in almost 100 years.”— Ernie Tedeschi, Director of Economics, Yale Budget Lab 📉 Markets React Fast—But Data Lags BehindInvestor sentiment can shift in a flash—but economic […]
Moody’s Downgrade: A Warning Sign, Not a Crisis
💳 Moody’s Downgrade: A Warning Sign, Not a Crisis Moody’s just downgraded the U.S. credit rating—following similar moves by S&P and Fitch in past years. The market reaction? Pretty quiet. But that doesn’t mean it’s not important. The downgrade wasn’t about the U.S. defaulting on its debt. It was about concerns over how the government is […]
Labor Strength vs. Policy Patience: The Fed’s Balancing Act to Serve Two Masters
As we move deeper into Q2 2025, the U.S. labor market continues to defy expectations of a broad economic slowdown. April’s jobs report showed 177,000 new positions, steady unemployment at 4.2%, and a modest 0.2% increase in average hourly wages—strong, but not overheating. 💼 A Strong Job Market, but Sticky Inflation While job growth fuels […]
UnitedHealth’s Decline and the Cost of For-Profit Care
🏥 The Medicaid Paradox: What’s Really Going On at UnitedHealth UnitedHealth Group—America’s largest health insurer—is having a rough year. Its stock is down nearly 50%, and the recent shake-ups are raising bigger questions about the way we deliver public healthcare in the U.S. Let’s break down what’s happening—and why it matters to more than just […]
Europe: Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire?
Europe: Out Of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire? So far this year, European equities have outperformed U.S. equities, with MSCI Europe up nearly 18% in dollar terms, the Euro Stoxx 50 up 20%, and the DAX up an incredible 28% in dollar terms. Is this the start of a new era for the […]
Who Blinks First in the U.S.-China Trade War?
🇺🇸🇨🇳 Who Blinks First in the U.S.-China Trade War? The U.S. and China are locked in an economic standoff. Tariffs have been imposed, diplomacy has wavered, and markets are watching closely. The question now: who gives in first? Some see former President Trump’s recent talk of easing tariffs as a sign the U.S. is feeling […]