Dear Investors.

Zee here. Recently, I chance upon a few articles about how starting to invest at Age 50 can yield you a comfortable $1million sum by the time you retire at Age 65.

This is very interesting for the school, as we have a good number of pre-retirees students.

The pitch: you’re 50, you’ve got $50,000 saved, and you feel like the ship has sailed. But invest $2,500 a month into broad market ETFs for 15 years at 8% annual returns, and by 65, right when your pension payouts kick in, you’d have more than $1 million (excluding your pension).

It’s an appealing story. It’s also the kind of claim I’ve learned to be suspicious of, because “just invest and it 10x’s by retirement” is exactly the pitch that’s easiest to dress up with real-sounding numbers.

So instead of taking it at face value, I decided to actually run the math and check the return figures against the data, using a Future Value Calculator.

(I) Period (Meaning: No. of years): 65yo - 50yo= 15years

(II) Starting Amount: $50,000

(III) Interest rate (Meaning: Investment Gains per Year): 8% per year

(IV) Periodic Deposit (Meaning: How much money are you putting in per year): $2500 per month X 12 months= $30,000 per year

First, does the $1 million math actually work?

Yes, the math actually works. So that number holds up. It’s not a rounding trick, it’s just what compounding does over 15 years when you’re contributing $30,000 a year on top of a $50,000 base.

Nothing about this requires a hot stock pick or lucky timing. It’s arithmetic and long term compounding on good stocks or ETFs.

Second, are those “actual” return numbers real?

This is where I got more skeptical, because “10-year annualized return” is a number that swings a lot depending on the exact start and end date you pick. So I checked each one against current fund performance data.

S&P 500 (SPY/VOO) at 14.5% — This checks out. Multiple sources put the S&P 500’s rolling 10-year annualized total return (with dividends reinvested) somewhere in the 14–15% range as of late 2025 into 2026, driven largely by the post-2020 recovery and the AI-fueled run in mega-cap tech. So this figure is accurate and not cherry-picked.

Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) at 19.5% — Also roughly accurate, though it depends on exactly which day you measure from. I found the 10-year CAGR ending in 2025 cited at 18.6% from one source, and north of 20% from another measured a few months later in 2026. 19.5% sits right in the middle of that range, a fair, if optimistic, pick rather than an outlier.

Consumer Staples (XLP) at 8% — This is the sobering one. XLP’s 10-year total-return CAGR checks in right around 8% depending on the source — essentially identical to the “conservative” 8% baseline the post uses in its opening example. That’s not a coincidence; consumer staples (think Walmart, Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble) is a defensive, low-growth sector by design.

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA) at 13% — This one holds up too. DIA’s 10-year annualized total return (dividends reinvested) has been quoted in the 12.4–13.5% range across sources, which is a bit behind the S&P 500 over this specific stretch since the Dow is more concentrated in older industrial and financial names and has less mega-cap tech exposure.

I plug in the same numbers but with the investment gains of index ETFs.

I re-ran the same compounding formula using each of those verified rates instead of 8%, and yes, the numbers in the post are consistent with the math:

• At 14.5% (S&P 500): roughly $2.0 million

• At 19.5% (Nasdaq-100): roughly $3.55 million

• At 8% (Consumer Staples / XLP): roughly $1.03 million — basically the same as the original conservative baseline.

• At 13% (Dow Jones / DOW): roughly $1.72 million.

Why this actually works?

It’s worth pausing on why the math produces such a big number, because it’s not magic — it’s three ordinary forces stacking on top of each other.

• Compounding needs time more than it needs a big starting number. Of that ~$1.03 million at 8%, less than a fifth comes from the original $50,000 growing on its own. The bulk of it comes from 15 years of new contributions compounding alongside it. That’s the real insight hiding in this post: starting at 50 isn’t too late, because 15 years is still enough runway for compounding to do most of the heavy lifting, you don’t need 30 years, you need enough years.

• Monthly contributions compound too, not just the lump sum. Each $2,500 deposited gets its own clock running from the day it lands. Money invested in year one has 15 years to grow; money invested in year 14 only has one. But because the contributions are so much larger in total ($450,000 over 15 years) than the starting balance, even the “late” dollars add up fast.

• The higher return numbers aren’t invented — they reflect a real decade. The 2016–2025 stretch happened to include a strong post-pandemic recovery and an AI-driven boom in mega-cap tech, which is why QQQ’s 10-year numbers look so good right now.

So the honest version of “why this is true” is: it’s true because compounding rewards time invested, not luck, and the historical numbers are real, but the further the assumed return climbs above a conservative baseline, the more the plan’s success depends on the next 15 years resembling an unusually good 10-year stretch that already happened.

But here’s what the post doesn’t tell you

Everything above checks out on paper, which is exactly why I want to flag what’s missing, because a technically-accurate chart can still tell a misleading story if you don’t read the fine print.

• A single 10-year return is a snapshot, not a promise. These figures depend heavily on the exact start and end dates chosen. Shift the window back two or three years, say, to include 2022’s brutal drawdown more heavily, or exclude the 2023–2025 AI rally, and the Nasdaq-100 and cybersecurity numbers look meaningfully different. QQQ has had 10-year stretches with annualized returns as low as ~10%, and even a negative stretch exists somewhere in its history depending on the window.

• Volatility is the part the chart doesn’t show. QQQ dropped over 32% in 2022 alone. A 15-year plan that assumes steady 19.5% compounding ignores that these funds can and will have years where they lose a quarter of their value. Whether someone can stomach that at 50, with retirement approaching, is a real question the post skips entirely.

• Concentration risk is real. Both QQQ and CIBR are far less diversified than a broad market fund, QQQ is heavily weighted toward a handful of mega-cap tech names, and CIBR is a single-sector bet. “Broad market ETF” in the opening example and “Nasdaq-100 / cybersecurity ETF” in the punchline aren’t really the same category of risk, even though the post presents them as a natural upgrade path.

• Past performance really isn’t a guarantee, and the post says so in passing but then leans on those same numbers to make the emotional case (”time in the market beats timing the market”). Both things can be true at once: the historical numbers are accurate, and they’re still not a reliable forecast.

So, what should you actually do with this?

Here’s the part I don’t want to get lost under all the fact-checking: the core claim is true. 50 is not too late.

15 years is still real time, and the math above isn’t a sales trick, it’s what happens when you combine a modest starting balance, consistent contributions, and a diversified fund that grows with the broader market.

The biggest risk in a post like this was never the numbers. It was reading it, nodding, and then closing the tab and doing nothing, which is the one move guaranteed to make none of this math apply to you.

So if you’re 50, or 45, or honestly any age, and you’ve been telling yourself you’ve missed your window:

• Work out your own numbers. Plug your actual savings and a monthly amount you can commit to into a compound interest calculator and see what 10 or 15 years actually looks like for you.

• Pick the boring fund, not the exciting one. A broad, low-cost market ETF is a reasonable place to start. Chasing last decade’s best-performing sector fund because of a chart like this one is exactly the trap the numbers above warn against.

• Automate the contribution. The plan above only works if the $2,500 (or whatever your number is) actually goes in every single month, market conditions and headlines aside. Set it up so it happens without you having to decide again each time.

• Start this week, not “when things settle down.” Every month you wait is a month that doesn’t get to compound. The version of this plan that starts today will always beat a better-timed version that starts six months from now.

You don’t need to predict the next hot stock.

You need fifteen years, a simple plan, and to actually start it.

Disclaimer:

All information here is for educational purposes only. This is not financial advice. Please do your own research and speak with a licensed advisor before making any investment decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. How we invest may not suit your investment goals and risk management profile.

Dear Investor,

Zee here. If you’ve invested in both the US and Singapore markets, you’ve probably noticed the difference in mindset. Buy a US stock and you’re often betting on where the company will be in 10 years. Buy a Singapore stock and you’re often just waiting for the next dividend payout.

This isn’t a coincidence. It comes down to a simple question every company has to answer: what do we do with our spare cash?

The answer looks very different depending on how big your home market is, and that’s the real story behind why Singapore is largely a dividend market and the US is largely a growth market.

Singapore: Smaller Market Size, Limited Room to Grow

Here’s the thing about growing a business: it isn’t limitless. Every company eventually hits a point where it simply doesn’t need more capital to keep operating. Past that point, throwing more money at the business doesn’t widen its competitive edge or win it more customers. It just sits there.

Take Vicom, Singapore’s dominant vehicle inspection operator. It’s essentially a regulated monopoly: every vehicle on Singapore’s roads needs a yearly inspection, and the number of vehicles is capped by government quota. There’s a natural ceiling here.

Building ten more inspection centres wouldn’t create more customers, because the customer pool is fixed by policy. Neither would expanding Vicom to overseas markets be possible. As such, Vicom’s capital needs are steady and predictable, year in and year out.

So what happens to all the extra cash Vicom generates? Since ploughing it back into more inspection centres makes no sense, the next best move is to return it to shareholders, either through buybacks (of shares) or dividends.

This points to a broader investing principle: a company exists to create value for its shareholders, one way or another. When there’s genuinely nowhere useful for extra cash to go, reinvesting it anyway doesn’t build value; it just drags down returns. Sending it back to shareholders through dividends is often the smarter, more disciplined choice.

There’s also a market-psychology angle here. Cash sitting on a balance sheet doesn’t always get full credit from investors, because it comes with question marks: how long will management sit on it, will it eventually be deployed well, or might it get wasted on a bad deal?

A company that just piles up cash without a plan tends to make investors nervous, not confident.

Dividends solve this by removing the guesswork. When a company commits to paying out cash regularly, it forces management to stay disciplined: no hoarding cash for no reason, and no temptation to chase questionable projects just because the money is sitting there.

In a market as small as Singapore’s, with limited runway for expansion, this dividend discipline becomes the default way companies create value.

The US: A Market Focused on Growth

The US tells a very different story, and even dividend investing’s biggest believers are starting to admit it.

There’s an old joke among income investors that alcohol stocks are the perfect dividend play: recession or boom, people drink either way. So when Diageo (the company behind Johnnie Walker and Guinness) cut its dividend earlier this year, it turned heads.

Prominent Dividend Investor Todd Wenning, who wrote a book on dividend investing and once ran a newsletter dedicated to it, pointed out that a Diageo dividend cut would have been unimaginable just five years ago. Coming from him, that’s a notable admission.

Wenning argues the ground has shifted under dividend investing in 4 ways.

#1 The “safe” dividend payers aren’t so safe anymore.

The consumer giants that used to anchor dividend portfolios are under real pressure: from store-brand competitors, influencer-driven marketing, and even weight-loss drugs changing how much people eat and drink.

Long-time Dividend Aristocrats like Coca-Cola, Colgate-Palmolive, J.M. Smucker, and Clorox, companies with 25-plus years of consecutive dividend increases, have all seen their dividend growth slow down.

The problem is that many of these companies already pay out 75% or more of their profits as dividends, leaving little room to redirect cash toward fighting off disruption. And because cutting a dividend would spook investors and get a stock dropped from dividend-focused funds, boards often keep paying out even when reinvesting would serve the business better.

One telltale sign: some companies (Colgate-Palmolive, Sysco, Stanley Black & Decker among them) have raised their dividend by a single cent just to technically keep their streak alive, a signal, in Wenning’s view, that management is quietly worried.

#2 Buybacks have taken over as the preferred tool.

Companies have only been free to buy back their own shares at scale since an SEC rule change in 1982. Given that the average S&P 500 board member today is around 59 years old (meaning they were teenagers when that rule was introduced), most current leadership has never really operated in a dividend-first world.

Buybacks are more flexible than dividends and more tax-efficient for investors holding shares in taxable accounts. If you are investing from outside the US, your dividends are generally subject to a flat 30% withholding tax.

It’s telling that for most of the last decade, the S&P 500’s buyback yield has outpaced its dividend yield.

Our guest writer Aaron found this:

Direct Performance Impact: In 2025, S&P 500 companies bought back roughly $1.0 trillion worth of their own shares. On an overall S&P 500 market capitalization of around $50–$57 trillion, this translates to a Buyback Yield of ~1.8% to 2.0%.

Dilution Offset: Companies issue significant stock for executive compensation and employee stock plans. After accounting for this dilution, net share count reduction for the S&P 500 typically adds only 1.0% to 1.5% to annual EPS growth.

2025 S&P return: 17.9%, share buybacks contribute approximately 6-8% to it.

#3 The index is getting younger, and young companies don’t do dividends.

The average age of a company in the S&P 500 has dropped sharply: from 57 years back in the 1950s to just 15 years today.

Older dividend stalwarts like Campbell’s, Macy’s, Xerox, and Harley-Davidson have exited the index over the past decade, replaced by newer companies built in a completely different era, one where reinvesting for growth, not paying dividends, is the norm.

#4 Analyzing cashflow

Wenning’s takeaway is to stop picking stocks based on their dividend history and instead look at how a company handles all of its cash flow.

Is the buyback program actually shrinking the number of shares outstanding, or just offsetting new shares issued to employees?

Is the balance sheet strong enough to adapt if the business needs to pivot?

And if a company is steadily buying back a few percent of its shares every year, you can effectively create your own “dividend” by selling that same small percentage of your holdings each year.

The Bottom Line

Both approaches make sense once you understand the environment they come from.

Singapore is a small, mature market. Many of its biggest listed companies, like Vicom, operate in spaces with a natural ceiling on growth, often due to regulation or a limited domestic population.

Once a company hits that ceiling, sending cash back to shareholders isn’t a lack of ambition; it’s simply the most rational thing to do with money that has nowhere better to go.

The US is a different animal entirely: a vast, competitive market where companies and entire industries are constantly being challenged, replaced, and reinvented. In that environment, cash is fuel for staying relevant, and companies increasingly prefer buybacks over dividends because they’re more flexible when the future is uncertain.

Neither approach is “better” in isolation; they’re just answers to different questions, shaped by the size and dynamism of the markets these companies operate in.

Understanding this can help you set the right expectations: if you’re investing in Singapore, income is often the reward.

If you’re investing in the US, the reward tends to come from growth, and increasingly, from buybacks rather than dividend cheques.

Disclaimer:

All information here is for educational purposes only. This is not financial advice. Please do your own research and speak with a licensed advisor before making any investment decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. How we invest may not suit your investment goals and risk management profile.

Dear Investor,

Zee here. Time of the month again, to share our monthly update on our portfolio. You can read last month’s portfolio update here.

This month, I wanted to reveal that I have grew the portfolio size to 1 Million SGD. Truth is, I started in October 2023 with 2 separate accounts, and have been investing 2 accounts with different investing strategies.

Account 1

This is the account, which I have been showing monthly on this newsletter.

In Summary, account grew from USD 111,356.04 to USD 398,465.36

• Time period: 2 years and 295 days (4 Oct 2023 → 26 July 2026 inclusive)

• Total gain: +257.86%

• Annualized return: ≈ +67.1% per year

Account 2

A separate account, started during the same time but deploying different strategies.

In Summary, account grew from USD 138,643.25 to USD 426,013.82

• Time period: 2 years and 295 days (5 Oct 2023 → 26 July 2026 inclusive)

• Total gain: +207.27%

• Annualized return: ≈ 49.1% per year

Note: Gains should have been an additional +USD40,000 more, as this amount was withdrawn in January 2026 to buy a 2nd hand car for my parents. Incorporating this, the account would have an Annualized return: ≈ 53.97% per year

Adding Account 1 + Account 2

USD 398,465.36 + USD 466,013.82= USD 864,479.18

USD 864,479.18 X1.29 (prevailing exchange rate on 26th July 2026)= SGD 1,115,740.05

So there you have it, proof in the pudding, hitting 1 Mil SGD from purely investing is possible.

You might be wondering what happened before 5th Oct 2023? I was using TD Ameritrade and had to switch to IBKR due TD changing the rules to accept only Accredited Investors (i.e. rich retail investors).

Unfortunately, I did not keep the TD results but on excel sheet, these are the rough data I kept:

Account 1
Started 1st January 2020: 35,000 USD
Ended 4th October 2023: 111,356.04 USD

Annualized return: ≈ 36.1% per year

Account 2
Started 1st Jan 2022: 100,000 USD
Ended 5th October 2023: 138,643.25 USD

Annualized return: ≈ 20.4% per year

And now to the usual portfolio updates…

Public Portfolio Update: July 2026

YTD performance: +13.57%

MTD performance: -8.96%

Cash left uninvested: 0%

Our Portfolio Review:

(I) Markets fell, despite July being a bullish month. But this is fine for me, as the stocks and ETFs, held in this portfolio are solid ones.

(II) Market fundamentals still growing strong.

Disclaimer:
All information here is for educational purposes only. This is not financial advice. Please do your own research and speak with a licensed advisor before making any investment decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. How we invest may not suit your investment goals and risk management profile.

Zee here. This fundamentally-strong company was discovered by one of my student, TS.

If you still picture The New York Times as a company that prints newspapers and hopes people buy them at the newsstand, it’s time for an update.

Today’s NYT is closer to a digital subscription business, think Netflix, but for news, games, recipes, and sports, that happens to have started with a print product back in 1851.

That shift matters for investors because it changes how the company makes money, what risks it faces, and why its stock moves the way it does.

What Does The New York Times Actually Do?

The New York Times Company (ticker: NYT on the NYSE) is best known for its journalism, but its business today rests on three main pillars:

• Digital subscriptions — This is the engine of the company. People pay a monthly fee not just for news, but for a bundle that includes Games (like Wordle and Connections), Cooking, The Athletic (sports), and audio products. Bundling keeps people subscribed even on days they don’t read the news.

• Advertising — Both print and digital ads, though digital advertising is growing much faster and now matters more to the bottom line.

• Licensing and other revenue — This includes things like content licensing deals, including newer agreements around AI companies using its articles (more on that below).

The strategic bet the company has made is simple: shrink reliance on print and advertising, and grow a large base of paying digital subscribers who stick around for years.

So far, that bet has been paying off.

1. Subscribers Just Crossed a Big Milestone: 13 Million and Climbing

In its most recent quarter, the company added roughly 310,000 net new digital-only subscribers, pushing its total subscriber base past 13 million for the first time. Of that, about 12.5 million are digital-only subscribers, with the rest still on print.

Why this matters: subscriber growth is the single number Wall Street watches most closely for NYT, because recurring subscription revenue is more predictable and valuable than one-off ad sales. Management has said it’s aiming for 15 million subscribers, so this quarter’s growth keeps that goal within reach.

2. Revenue and Profit Both Beat Expectations By a Wide Margin

Total revenue grew 12% year-over-year to $712.2 million, beating what analysts had forecast. More striking was the profit growth: operating profit jumped over 50%, and adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.61, well above the roughly $0.47–$0.48 Wall Street expected.

Why this matters: it’s one thing to add subscribers, it’s another to do it profitably. This quarter showed the company growing its revenue and expanding its profit margins at the same time, which is the combination investors like to see. The stock jumped in the days following the announcement.

3. Digital Advertising Is Suddenly a Bigger Growth Story Than Expected

Digital advertising revenue jumped nearly 32% in the latest quarter, notably faster than subscription growth. This comes as many other publishers have struggled with declining ad dollars.

Why this matters: for years, digital advertising was the weak link for news publishers, losing ground to tech giants like Google and Meta. NYT bucking that trend suggests its scale, plus newer products like Games and The Athletic, are attracting advertisers who want to reach an engaged, upscale audience.

4. A Legal Battle With OpenAI Is Heating Up and Getting Expensive

NYT has been suing OpenAI and Microsoft since 2023 over claims they used its articles without permission to train ChatGPT. This week, NYT and a group of other publishers asked a federal court to sanction OpenAI, accusing it of misleading the court about whether it could search its own systems for evidence — and of deleting relevant data.

The company has already spent more than $28 million fighting AI companies in court, including a separate lawsuit against Perplexity.

Why this matters: this isn’t just legal noise. The outcome could set a precedent for whether AI companies need to pay news publishers to train on their content, which could become a meaningful new revenue stream (through licensing deals) or a costly, drawn-out distraction, depending on how it plays out.

NYT has already signed at least one AI licensing deal (with Amazon), showing it’s trying to profit from AI rather than just fight it.

5. The Balance Sheet Is Strong, and Cash Is Going Back to Shareholders

The company ended the quarter with $1.1 billion in cash and no debt, and generated $81.5 million in free cash flow in just three months. Over the trailing twelve months, free cash flow reached over half a billion dollars, supporting both a dividend and share buybacks.

Why this matters: a company with no debt and a growing cash pile has flexibility — to invest in new products, weather a slow ad market, absorb legal costs, or return money to shareholders. That’s a comforting sign for anyone worried about the media industry’s broader struggles.

The Bottom Line

The New York Times has quietly transformed itself from a newspaper company into a diversified digital subscription business and the latest results suggest that transformation is working financially.

The biggest wildcard ahead isn’t subscriber growth, which looks healthy, but how the AI copyright fight with OpenAI resolves, since it could shape both the company’s legal costs and a brand-new revenue opportunity in AI licensing.

Disclaimer: All information here is for educational purposes only. This is not financial advice. Please do your own research and speak with a licensed advisor before making any investment decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. How we invest may not suit your investment goals and risk management profile.

Zee here. I visited Tokyo Disneyland once and the experience blew my mind, especially the Beauty and the Beast ride.

Disney is one of those companies almost everyone has an opinion about but far fewer people actually understand as a stock. Is it a movie studio? A theme park operator? A streaming service? A cruise line?

The honest answer is: all of the above, and that mix is exactly what makes Disney interesting and occasionally confusing for investors.

This year alone, Disney has swapped CEOs for the first time in years, beaten Wall Street’s earnings expectations, and watched its stock slide anyway.

What Disney Actually Does and How It Makes Money?

Before diving into the news, it helps to understand Disney’s business model. Disney runs four main segments:

1. Entertainment – This includes movie studios (Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, Disney Animation), broadcast/cable TV (ABC), and streaming (Disney+, Hulu). Money comes from box office ticket sales, licensing, advertising, and subscriber fees.

2. Sports – Primarily ESPN, including ESPN+ and the recently launched standalone ESPN streaming app. Revenue comes from cable carriage fees, advertising, and subscriptions.

3. Experiences – Theme parks (Disneyland, Disney World, international parks), resorts, cruise ships, and consumer products (toys, merchandise). This is Disney’s cash cow, generating money through ticket sales, hotel stays, food, merchandise, and cruise fares.

4. Direct-to-Consumer/Streaming – Increasingly folded into how Disney reports Entertainment, this is the Disney+/Hulu subscription business, which for years lost money as Disney built it up to compete with Netflix.

In short: Disney makes money by turning stories and characters into experiences people pay for, whether that’s a movie ticket, a streaming subscription, a theme park pass, or a stateroom on a cruise ship. Investors watching Disney are really watching how well these four very different businesses perform together.

1. Disney Has a New CEO for the First Time in Years

After nearly two decades on and off at the helm, Bob Iger officially handed the CEO role to Josh D’Amaro in March 2026. D’Amaro spent years running Disney’s parks, cruises, and consumer products business, the very unit that’s been carrying the company’s profits lately.

Disney’s board, chaired by James Gorman, faced pressure to execute a strong succession plan after the rocky handoff to Bob Chapek in 2020. This time, the transition has been notably smooth, and D’Amaro has signaled continuity rather than a dramatic shift in strategy, including doubling down on Disney+ as the company’s central digital hub.

2. Streaming Is Turning a Corner

For years, Disney+ was a money pit as the company spent heavily to compete with Netflix. That’s changing.

In its most recent quarter, Disney’s earnings per share and revenue both beat Wall Street forecasts, driven by strong performance in its streaming and experiences segments. The company is investing heavily in streaming and is approaching profitability there.

Profitable streaming has been the missing piece of Disney’s turnaround story. If it keeps improving, it removes a major drag on overall earnings.

3. Theme Parks and Cruises Keep Expanding but Cautiously

Disney is investing to grow its global footprint, including plans to expand the cruise line fleet from 8 ships currently to 13 ships by 2031. The experiences division reported 7% year-over-year growth in its latest quarter. That said, growth in park attendance has been more modest lately, and management is watching guest spending closely as travel costs shift.

Experiences remains Disney’s biggest profit engine. A bigger cruise fleet means more capacity to grow revenue for years, but it’s a multi-year bet, not an instant payoff.

4. The Stock Has Lagged Even Though the Business Looks Solid

Disney shares fell 13% through the first half of 2026 despite the company making strong moves. Disney is also facing intense scrutiny and regulatory pressure from the FCC, and at least one analyst cut its price target due to increased competition from Comcast’s Universal theme parks.

A stock price and a business’s underlying health don’t always move together. Investors will want to watch whether regulatory issues and competitive pressure are temporary headwinds or signs of a longer-term challenge.

5. Content Is Still a Wildcard

The successful release of Toy Story 5 has given Disney a boost heading into the summer season, and overall the company expects adjusted earnings-per-share growth of 12% for fiscal 2026.

Upcoming releases, including a live-action Moana adaptation, will test whether Disney’s studio can keep delivering hits.

Blockbuster movies still ripple across the whole business, driving streaming views, park attendance, and merchandise sales. A hit (or a miss) at the box office matters more for Disney than for a typical media company because of this “flywheel” effect.

The Bottom Line

Disney’s story right now is one of quiet progress overshadowed by stock market skepticism: new leadership, improving streaming profits, an expanding cruise business, and box office momentum all set against a falling share price and real regulatory and competitive pressures.

For investors, the key question isn’t whether Disney’s businesses are working (many signs say they are), but whether the market will start reflecting that progress in the stock price, and how soon.

Disclaimer:

All information here is for educational purposes only. This is not financial advice. Please do your own research and speak with a licensed advisor before making any investment decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. How we invest may not suit your investment goals and risk management profile.

Dear Investors.

Zee here. Every four years, the world stops for football. But while billions of fans are glued to their screens watching goals, saves, and penalty drama, a quieter game is playing out in the stock market.

The FIFA World Cup 2026 is the biggest edition ever, 48 teams, 104 matches, spread across 16 cities in the US, Canada, and Mexico. FIFA estimates it could add nearly US$41 billion to global GDP and support over 800,000 jobs worldwide. Whether those numbers hold up in reality is another story, but one thing is clear: certain companies are already feeling the buzz.

As fans pour into stadiums and living rooms around the world, some publicly traded companies are quietly benefiting from all the excitement.

Here are 4 areas worth watching.

#1 Sportswear: Adidas Is Wearing the Crown

When it comes to World Cup kit deals, Adidas has come out on top this year, outfitting 14 national teams including crowd favorites Argentina, Germany, Spain, and Mexico.

That’s more teams than both Nike (12) and Puma (11).

More teams means more jerseys flying off the shelves. And Adidas has another edge, it has supplied the official match ball for every World Cup since 1970.

Investors have noticed: Adidas shares jumped around 19% in the month leading up to the tournament, while Nike and Puma barely moved.

That said, one big tournament doesn’t fix everything. The broader sportswear industry is still dealing with too much unsold stock and cooling demand in China.

We’ll get a clearer picture when Adidas reports earnings in late July.

#2 Hotels and Travel: Bigger Hype Than Bookings?

Millions of fans travelling across three countries should be a goldmine for hotels and travel platforms. Airbnb launched special incentives for hosts in all 16 host cities, and major hotel chains like Marriott, Hyatt, and Hilton have been flagged as potential winners.

But here’s the surprise: actual bookings in some US host cities have come in below expectations. High ticket prices, visa complications, and the complexity of a multi-country tournament have kept some travelers away. One major New York hotel reportedly cut its tournament rates significantly just to fill rooms.

So the travel story isn’t as straightforward as it sounds. Stocks may be pricing in optimism that hasn’t fully shown up in real demand yet.

#3 Food, Drinks & Consumer Brands: The Sponsors Cashing In

Behind every World Cup is a long list of official sponsors quietly raking it in. Coca-Cola, Budweiser (AB InBev), McDonald’s, and Visa are among the biggest names attached to FIFA 2026, and for good reason. A tournament watched by an estimated five billion people worldwide is one of the most powerful marketing platforms on earth.

For consumer brands, World Cup sponsorships aren’t just about logo placement. They drive limited-edition product launches, co-branded campaigns, and a measurable lift in brand awareness across multiple markets simultaneously. AB InBev, for instance, has historically reported sales spikes in markets where popular teams advance deep into the tournament.

The risk? If a sponsoring brand’s home-market team exits early or if the tournament faces controversy, the expensive sponsorship can turn into an awkward association rather than a feel-good moment.

#4 Broadcasting & Streaming: The Battle for Eyeballs

With 104 matches across three countries, the World Cup 2026 is a broadcaster’s dream. In the US, Fox Sports holds the English-language rights while Telemundo covers Spanish-language viewers and both are expected to pull in record advertising revenue from brands desperate to reach a global audience.

But the more interesting story is streaming. Platforms like Peacock, Fubo, and even YouTube TV are aggressively competing to be where fans watch. More eyeballs mean higher ad rates, bigger subscription numbers, and a chance to lock in long-term viewers.

The catch? Broadcasting rights cost a fortune, and turning that into profit depends entirely on how many people actually tune in. Early viewership numbers from the group stages will be closely watched, not just by fans, but by media investors too.

The Bottom Line

The World Cup creates real, if temporary, tailwinds for certain companies. Sportswear brands, hospitality businesses, and betting platforms all have something to gain. But “World Cup boost” doesn’t automatically mean “strong long-term investment.”

The smartest approach?

Look past the hype, check the actual numbers when they come in, and remember that a stock rising on tournament excitement can just as quickly fall when the final is over.

Disclaimer:
All information here is for educational purposes only. This is not financial advice. Please do your own research and speak with a licensed advisor before making any investment decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. How we invest may not suit your investment goals and risk management profile.

Dear Investor,

Zee here. Time of the month again, to share our monthly update on our portfolio. You can read last month’s portfolio update here.

Public Portfolio Update: June 2026

YTD performance: +20.57%

MTD performance: +3.97%

Cash left uninvested: 10%

Our Portfolio Review:

(I) June is usually a flat (slow or no growth) month, but there was 2 pull-back, which we re-entered our positions. See chart by EquityClock

.
(II) Lesson learnt: we missed out on some of the May 2026 gains as our indicators showed an over-heated market, but that is fine, 1 bird in hand is better than 2 in the bushes.

Disclaimer:

All information here is for educational purposes only. This is not financial advice. Please do your own research and speak with a licensed advisor before making any investment decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. How we invest may not suit your investment goals and risk management profile.

Dear Investor.

Zee here. Most investors can name the two men behind Berkshire Hathaway: Warren Buffett, the calm and folksy “Oracle of Omaha,” and Charlie Munger, the sharp-tongued philosopher who sat beside him for decades. Their story is legendary: patient compounding, iron discipline, generational wealth.

But there was a third man. Just as brilliant. Just as well-positioned. And almost completely forgotten.

His name was Rick Guerin. And the reason he vanished from the Berkshire story isn’t a mystery.

It’s a warning.

The Three Amigos of Early Investing

Back in the 1960s and 1970s, Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, and Rick Guerin ran in the same intellectual circles. They analysed businesses together, shared ideas, and spotted undervalued opportunities in the market. By all accounts, Rick was every bit as sharp as his two famous friends.

All three were on a trajectory toward extraordinary wealth.

Then Rick disappeared from the story entirely.

Years later, famed investor Mohnish Pabrai sat down with Warren Buffett and asked the question that had been nagging at him:

“Whatever happened to Rick Guerin?”

Buffett’s answer is worth writing on a sticky note and putting on your monitor:

“Charlie and I always knew that we would become incredibly wealthy. We were not in a hurry to get wealthy; we knew it would happen. Rick was just as smart as us, but he was in a hurry.”

That single sentence contains a lifetime of financial wisdom.

But to truly understand what it means, you need to know what happened to Rick and why the same trap is swallowing investors today.

What Went Wrong: The 1973–1974 Crash and the Margin Trap

The early 1970s were brutal for markets. Between 1973 and 1974, the U.S. stock market plummeted nearly 70%. Companies that had seemed rock-solid saw their share prices collapse. It was one of the worst bear markets in modern history.

Rick Guerin had been using margin loans (borrowed money) to amplify his investment returns. When the market was rising, this strategy looked brilliant. But when the crash hit, the borrowed money became a trap.

To understand why, we need to briefly explain how margin works and why it is so dangerous.

What Is Margin?

Margin investing means borrowing money from your broker to buy more shares than you could with your own cash alone.

In good times, it supercharges your gains.

In bad times, it supercharges your losses and can wipe you out entirely.

Here is a simple example:

Say you have $10,000 and you want to buy shares in a company at $100 each. Without margin, you buy 100 shares.

With 50% margin, your broker lends you another $10,000, and you buy 200 shares instead.

When the stock rises 20% to $120:

• Your 200 shares are worth $24,000

• Subtract the $10,000 loan → your equity is $14,000

• That’s a +40% return on your original $10,000, double what you’d have made without borrowing

This is the part that gets people hooked.

But when the stock falls 20% to $80:

• Your 200 shares are worth $16,000

• Subtract the $10,000 loan → your equity is $6,000

• That’s a -40% loss on your original $10,000, again double the damage

  ---

And here’s where it gets truly dangerous. If the stock falls far enough, in this example, about 33%, your broker will issue what’s called a margin call. This is a demand to deposit more cash into your account immediately to cover your shrinking equity.

If you can’t meet the margin call in time, the broker forcibly sells your shares at whatever price is available. You don’t get a say. You don’t get to wait for a recovery.

Some brokers don’t even warn you first, they simply auto-liquidate your position the moment you breach the minimum threshold.

And here’s the truly catastrophic part: if the forced sale doesn’t fully cover what you borrowed, you still owe the broker the difference.

You can end up with zero shares and a debt.

This is how investors go bankrupt, not from bad stock picks, but from borrowed money turning a recoverable loss into a total wipeout.

Rick’s Reckoning

This is exactly what happened to Rick Guerin in 1973–1974.

When the market crashed nearly 70%, Rick’s margin loans triggered margin calls he couldn’t meet. He was cornered. To stay afloat, he was forced to sell his most prized asset, his Berkshire Hathaway shares, to Warren Buffett at under $40 per share.

Today, a single Berkshire Hathaway Class A share trades at over $700,000.

Rick didn’t lose his wealth because he was foolish or ignorant. He lost it because he was in a hurry and borrowed money to speed up the journey. When the inevitable rough patch arrived, the borrowed money gave him no room to breathe, no ability to wait, no choice at all.

Warren and Charlie, who carried no margin debt, simply sat on their hands and waited.

The storm passed.

Their shares recovered.

And they compounded their wealth patiently for the next five decades.

The Lesson That Every Investor Needs to Hear

This story isn’t just history. The same drama plays out in markets around the world today.

In 2026, record levels of margin debt have been flooding into surging South Korean memory chip stocks, with retail investors, including retirees, borrowing money at 150% margin to chase a rally already well underway.

When a market that has risen sharply meets a cyclical downturn. Memory chip markets have historically seen 50–60% drawdowns.

Those leveraged investors won’t just lose money. Many will be wiped out and still owe their brokers.

The pattern is always the same: markets rise, people get greedy, borrowed money flows in, and when the inevitable correction comes, the leveraged investors are forced to sell at the worst possible moment, exactly when they should be holding or even buying more.

The Two Lesson from Rick

Rick Guerin’s story leads to two simple but powerful investing rules:

1. Don’t short-sell. A stock can theoretically rise forever, creating unlimited losses for those on the wrong side of the bet.

2. Don’t buy on margin. Borrowed money removes your most powerful investing tool: the ability to wait. Without that, even the right investment at the wrong time can end your portfolio permanently.

Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger understood something that Rick Guerin and countless investors since learned the hard way: the market will always give you opportunities, but only if you survive long enough to take them.

Patience Is the Real Edge

There’s a reason wealth-building feels slow and boring when done correctly. Compounding takes time. The best investments often look uneventful for years before they explode in value. The difference wasn’t intelligence.

Berkshire Hathaway shares were available under $40 in the early 1970s. Today they’re worth more than $700,000 each. The entire gain was available to anyone who simply bought and waited, no leverage needed, no margin required, no hurry.

Rick Guerin had access to all of that.

He just couldn’t wait.

Warren Buffett once said the stock market is a device for transferring wealth from the impatient to the patient. Rick Guerin transferred his Berkshire shares to one of the most patient investors alive, at $40 apiece.

Don’t be Rick.

Disclaimer:
All information here is for educational purposes only. This is not financial advice. Please do your own research and speak with a licensed advisor before making any investment decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. How we invest may not suit your investment goals and risk management profile..

Dear Investors.

Zee here. For over two decades, SpaceX remained one of the world’s most secretive and valuable private companies. Founded by Elon Musk in 2002, it revolutionized the space industry by developing reusable rockets and building a global satellite internet network.

Yesterday, June 12th, 2026, SpaceX officially debut on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker symbol SPCX.

This is not a typical tech IPO. Investors bought into something far more complex and ambitious: a vertically integrated powerhouse that combines space exploration, artificial intelligence development, and social media all under one roof.

Join us on Wednesday, 17 June 2026, from 7:30–9:15pm SGT for our free live webinar.

We’ll cover:

* The resilient investing strategy that generated 44% returns per year in our public portfolio over the past 3 years

* Stock Analysis: SpaceX IPO - Trap or Generational Opportunity?

Join us if you’re looking to learn a clear method to invest in stocks, ETFs, and options without needing to be a “finance person”.

👉🏼 Click here to reserve a spot. (LINK)

WHAT IS SPACE X?

Before diving into the key IPO facts, it’s important to understand what SpaceX actually is today, because it’s more than just rockets.

SpaceX (The Core Business)

The original company, founded in 2002, builds and launches rockets. Its workhorse vehicle, the Falcon 9, has become the world’s most frequently launched orbital rocket. SpaceX also operates Starlink, a satellite internet network with thousands of satellites in orbit, bringing broadband to remote areas worldwide. For governments and private companies, SpaceX launches cargo missions, crewed spacecraft, and satellites. This division generated approximately $15-16 billion in revenue in 2025 and is expected to hit nearly $24 billion in 2026, making it the dominant revenue driver.

xAI (The AI Division)

In February 2026, Musk merged his artificial intelligence company xAI into SpaceX. xAI developed Grok, an AI chatbot designed to compete with ChatGPT and other large language models. This division also works on AI data center infrastructure and computing capabilities that could eventually power space-based operations. While smaller today, xAI represents Musk’s vision of integrating AI directly with SpaceX’s satellite and launch capabilities.

X (The Social Media Component)

Here’s the controversial part: xAI owns X (formerly Twitter), the social media platform Musk acquired in 2022. When you buy SpaceX stock, you’re also buying a stake in X. This platform has seen advertising revenue decline significantly while the company invests heavily in new features and AI integration. This is a major point of debate among potential investors.

The Structure

Think of it like Russian nesting dolls: SpaceX owns xAI, and xAI owns X. This integrated structure was finalized in February 2026 with a combined valuation of $1.25 trillion. While some investors see this as creating powerful synergies, others worry about the complexity and the inclusion of a struggling social media platform.

1. THE VALUATION IS HISTORIC AND EXTREME

SpaceX’s IPO is targeting a valuation of $1.8 to $2 trillion, with the company aiming to raise between $40 billion and $80 billion. To put this in perspective, this would be 3x larger than Saudi Aramco’s 2019 IPO, which previously held the record at $29 billion raised.

At a $1.8 trillion valuation, SpaceX would be valued at roughly 100-125 times its estimated 2025 revenue of $15-16 billion. By comparison, Apple trades at around 30-40 times revenue, and Amazon at roughly 2-3 times. Even if you believe in SpaceX’s growth story, this valuation assumes enormous future profits. Many analysts warn that even strong growth may not justify these multiples for years or decades.

You’re paying a premium price based on future potential, not current earnings.

2. ELON MUSK KEEPS CONTROL WHICH IS A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD

The IPO filing reveals that SpaceX will be a “controlled company,” meaning Elon Musk will maintain effective control through super-voting shares and other governance mechanisms even after going public.

The upside: A visionary founder with clear control can make bold, long-term decisions without constantly worrying about quarterly earnings. Musk has repeatedly made unconventional bets that paid off, from the Falcon 9 landing innovation to Starlink’s rapid expansion.

The downside: Shareholders have limited ability to influence major decisions. If Musk makes a strategic move you disagree with, like redirecting resources to xAI or X, you have limited recourse. There’s also the risk that his attention gets divided across too many ventures.

You’re not just buying a company; you’re buying into Elon Musk’s vision, for better or worse.

3. YOU’RE FORCED TO BUY TWITTER

Let’s be direct: if you buy SpaceX stock, you own a piece of X (formerly Twitter). There’s no way to separate them.

X has been losing money significantly. Advertising revenue fell by $100 million in the first quarter of 2026 alone after the company overhauled its ad technology. While xAI itself is a money-losing operation ($2.5 billion in losses over six months on minimal revenue), the hope is that AI integration will eventually make both entities profitable.

Some investors are excited about owning a stake in Musk’s AI ambitions and the controversial but influential social media platform. Others see it as an unnecessary anchor dragging down the otherwise promising SpaceX business. You don’t get to choose, it comes as a package deal.

Before buying SPCX shares, you need to be comfortable owning Twitter. If you’re not, this IPO might not be right for you.

4. THE IPO TIMING MATTERS

Historical pattern: Most IPOs see prices spike on day one as retail investors rush in, then pull back significantly within weeks or months. The record-setting IPO price is often not the best entry point. Companies like Alibaba, Facebook, and Snap all saw significant declines within 6-12 months of their debuts, despite strong businesses.

The 6-month rule: Professional investors often wait at least six months after an IPO to evaluate whether the stock settles at a rational valuation. Early investors are betting on momentum and hype, not fundamentals.

There’s no rush. If SpaceX is a good investment at $1.8 trillion today, it will still be a good investment next year, potentially at a lower price.

5. REVENUE GROWTH IS IMPRESSIVE, BUT PROFITABILITY QUESTIONS LOOM

Here’s the bullish case: SpaceX generated roughly $15-16 billion in revenue in 2025 and is expected to reach $23-24 billion in 2026. Some reports suggest SpaceX achieved $8 billion in profit in 2025, which would be an impressive 50%+ margin.

The challenges:

• Starlink is capital-intensive: While Starlink is the fastest-growing segment, it requires constant investment in satellites and ground infrastructure

• Government contracts are unpredictable: SpaceX relies heavily on NASA and Department of Defense contracts, which can be subject to policy changes

• International competition is heating up: European and Chinese space programs are investing heavily in reusable rockets and satellite internet

• xAI and X are money-losing: These subsidiaries are currently drains on cash flow, though they could theoretically become profitable with AI monetization

The core SpaceX business looks solid, but the overall company’s profitability remains uncertain once you factor in the losses at xAI and X.

THE BOTTOM LINE

SpaceX’s IPO represents something genuinely historic: a chance to own a stake in a company reshaping space exploration, satellite internet, and AI development.

The valuation is audacious, the business fundamentals are solid (for SpaceX proper), and Elon Musk’s control ensures bold strategic decisions.

But it’s also expensive, complex, includes Twitter as an unwanted package, and assumes enormous future profitability.

For conservative investors, waiting 6-12 months for the stock to settle might make more sense than buying at the opening bell.

If you’re uncertain, there’s nothing wrong with watching from the sidelines at least for now.

Disclaimer:

All information here is for educational purposes only. This is not financial advice. Please do your own research and speak with a licensed advisor before making any investment decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. How we invest may not suit your investment goals and risk management profile.

Dear Investor,

Zee here. When most people think of Meta, they think of Facebook, Instagram, or WhatsApp. But for investors, Meta has become much more than a social media company.

Over the past few years, the company has gone through major shifts from aggressive hiring and costly metaverse investments to mass layoffs, AI expansion, and record-breaking revenues.

Despite concerns about competition from TikTok, privacy changes, and slowing user growth, Meta has managed to remain one of the world’s most profitable tech giants.

Today, investors are paying close attention to how Meta balances three things at once:
(I) growing its advertising business
(II) investing heavily in artificial intelligence, and
(III) controlling costs after years of rapid expansion.

What Does Meta Actually Do?

Meta Platforms (Nasdaq: META) is the company behind some of the world's most-used apps: Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger.

More than 3.5 billion people use at least one of its apps every single day. Meta makes the vast majority of its money by showing ads to those users. More recently, it has been betting heavily on artificial intelligence and, earlier, on virtual reality.

Think of Meta as a giant billboard company, except the billboards are inside apps that billions of people use to talk, share photos, and scroll through news.

1. Revenue just had its fastest growth since 2021

In Q1 2026, Meta reported $56.5 billion in revenue, a 33% jump from the same period last year. That’s the fastest pace of growth the company has seen in nearly five years.

AI has quietly turbocharged Meta’s core advertising business: its ads are shown to more people (+19% more ad impressions) and each ad now earns more (+12% higher price per ad).

Earnings per share came in at $7.31, beating Wall Street’s estimate of $6.79.

Simply put: the business is firing on all cylinders right now.

2. Meta is swinging for the AI fences and spending billions to do it

Mark Zuckerberg has made AI the company’s defining obsession. In June 2025, Meta invested $14.3 billion for a 49% stake in Scale AI and poached its CEO, Alexandr Wang, to head a new internal team called Meta Superintelligence Labs.

In April 2026, that team released its first AI model, called Muse Spark, as Meta races to keep up with OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic.

Zuckerberg’s stated goal: deliver “personal superintelligence to billions of people.” Whether that’s vision or marketing, the money behind it is very real.

3. 8,000 jobs cut

In May 2026, Meta began laying off roughly 8,000 employees, about 10% of its global workforce in three waves.

Among those let go: workers on the content integrity team (the people who remove harmful content), cybersecurity staff, and content designers.

This follows a pattern Meta has repeated before: cut costs in some areas, then re-invest in AI. US workers received 16 weeks of severance plus two extra weeks per year of service.

For investors, leaner headcount can mean better profit margins but critics worry it hollows out safety operations at a critical moment.

4. 3.56 billion daily users but growth slightly missed targets

Meta's apps are used by an almost incomprehensible number of people every day, 3.56 billion as of March 2026, up 4% from a year ago. However, this was a slight dip from Q4 2025 (when the figure was 3.58 billion), and it missed analyst expectations of 3.62 billion.

Meta blamed two specific events: internet disruptions caused by the Iran conflict, and Russia's restrictions on WhatsApp access.

The number to watch isn't just the total, it's whether those 3.5+ billion users keep engaging deeply enough to see (and click) more ads.

5. 2026 outlook is strong but costs are enormous

For Q2 2026, Meta guided revenue of $58–61 billion, another strong quarter if achieved. The company expects full-year 2026 expenses of $162–169 billion, reflecting its massive AI infrastructure build-out.

With $81 billion in cash on hand and strong free cash flow, Meta can afford this spending. The key question for investors: will the AI bets eventually produce new revenue streams (beyond just better ads), or will the returns stay indirect?

For now, the market is rewarding Meta’s momentum but patience will be tested as those capital expenditures pile up.

Disclaimer:

All information here is for educational purposes only. This is not financial advice. Please do your own research and speak with a licensed advisor before making any investment decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. How we invest may not suit your investment goals and risk management profile.

Dear Investors.

Zee here. Not long ago, Robinhood was just the scrappy app that let you buy a slice of Apple stock without paying a broker’s fee. It ruffled feathers on Wall Street, got blamed for turning investing into a game, and became the symbol of a generation that wanted in on markets on their own terms.

Fast forward to today, and Robinhood is barely recognizable.

The platform now manages over $345 billion in customer assets, serves 27.4 million funded accounts, and has quietly built itself into something far more ambitious than a trading app. It offers banking, credit cards, AI-powered investment insights, cryptocurrency, and in its boldest move yet, lets everyday people bet real money on world events through prediction markets.

In the first quarter of 2026, Robinhood brought in $1.07 billion in revenue.

That’s not startup territory anymore. That’s a serious financial company.

Join us on Wednesday, 17 June 2026, from 7:30–9:15pm SGT for our free live webinar.

We’ll cover:

* The resilient investing strategy that generated 44% returns per year in our public portfolio over the past 3 years

* Stock Analysis: SpaceX IPO - Trap or Generational Opportunity?

Join us if you’re looking to learn a clear method to invest in stocks, ETFs, and options without needing to be a “finance person”.

👉🏼 Click here to reserve a spot. (LINK)

What Does Robinhood Actually Do?

Robinhood (ticker: HOOD) is a US-based financial super-app. It lets everyday people buy and sell stocks, ETFs, options, and cryptocurrencies, usually with zero trading commissions. Think of it as the app that made investing feel as easy as online shopping.

Today, it has grown far beyond simple stock trading, adding banking, AI tools, credit cards, and access to private company shares.

1. Revenue hit $1.07 billion, up 15% from last year

Robinhood’s Q1 2026 results showed steady growth, with revenues rising 15% year-over-year to reach $1.07 billion. More money is flowing in too, customers deposited a net $18 billion in the quarter, growing at a 22% annualised rate. That means people are not just opening accounts; they’re actively putting more money to work on the platform.

“Robinhood is increasingly positioned at the centre of our customers’ financial lives, just as we enter the early innings of the Great Wealth Transfer.” — CEO Vlad Tenev

The “Great Wealth Transfer” Tenev mentions refers to the trillions of dollars expected to pass from Baby Boomers to younger generations in the coming decades and Robinhood is betting it will be the platform those younger investors use.

2. Prediction markets are now Robinhood’s fastest-growing product ever.

Prediction markets let you bet real money on the outcome of real-world events: elections, sports matches, economic data releases, and more. Robinhood launched the feature roughly a year ago, and the growth has been staggering: over 11 billion contracts traded by more than one million customers.

In Q1 2026, prediction markets hit record trading volumes on the platform. April tracked towards roughly $3 billion in volume, the second-best month ever. Robinhood has gone so far as to acquire a licensed exchange (MIAXdx) through a joint venture to build proper infrastructure for this business.

“Robinhood is the largest retail brokerage firm in prediction markets.” — CEO Vlad Tenev, Q1 2026 earnings call

What does this mean for you as an investor? It’s a brand-new revenue stream that doesn’t depend on stock market swings or crypto bull runs, which could make Robinhood’s earnings more stable over time.

3. Robinhood Cortex: AI that reads the market so you don’t have to

Robinhood launched Cortex, its AI-powered investing assistant, and it’s already being used by nearly one million customers. Cortex delivers personalized “Digests”, think of them as a morning briefing tailored to your specific portfolio, written by AI in plain language.

The latest version, called Cortex Assistant, is rolling out across the app and offers real-time, AI-powered insights as you trade. It can flag unusual moves in stocks you hold, summarise earnings reports, and help you understand what market news actually means for your investments.

For investors who don’t have hours to parse financial news daily, Cortex could become a genuinely useful edge.

It’s bundled with Robinhood Gold, the platform’s premium subscription that now has 4.3 million members, up 36% year-on-year.

4. A big crypto stumble but an even bigger crypto roadmap ahead

Here’s the not-so-rosy part: crypto revenue dropped sharply in Q1 2026 after a record-breaking Q4 2024 ($358 million). This disappointed investors and sent the stock price down about 13% after earnings. When people trade crypto less, Robinhood earns less in transaction fees.

But management isn’t pulling back. Instead, Robinhood has announced a sweeping 2026 crypto expansion including wider access across the US and Europe, new trading products, and even plans to build its own blockchain network (Layer 2).

They’ve also invested $75 million in OpenAI, signaling ambitions to be more than just a trading app.

5. SpaceX, private markets, and the democratization of exclusive investing

One of Robinhood’s boldest moves is giving everyday investors access to deals that were once reserved for the ultra-wealthy. The platform is positioning itself as a key gateway for retail investors to access high-profile private company shares, including pre-IPO exposure tied to the anticipated SpaceX listing.

Robinhood Banking has also quietly crossed $2 billion in deposits from over 125,000 customers. And the platform now offers credit cards, financial advisory services, and professionally managed portfolios.

In short, it’s building everything you’d need from a financial services company in one app.

Disclaimer:

All information here is for educational purposes only. This is not financial advice. Please do your own research and speak with a licensed advisor before making any investment decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. How we invest may not suit your investment goals and risk management profile.

Dear Investor,

Zee here. Time of the month again, to share our monthly update on our portfolio. You can read last month’s portfolio update here.

Public Portfolio Update: May 2026

YTD performance: +15.94%

MTD performance: +3.10%

Cash left uninvested: Full cash

Note: No new additions to the portfolio.

Our Portfolio Review:

(I) The market is severely overbought (expensive) and have been trading 8% above the Moving Average 100 (MA100). Typically, anything more than 6% is considered overbought but 8% is way overbought.

(II) I am expecting the market to pullback 3-4% from current prices, given that earnings season is over.

(III) However, if the market continues going up parabolically, the bubble will burst.

(IV) According to Buffett Indicator, the Stock Market is Significantly Overvalued and likely to return -1.2% a year from this level of valuation, including dividends.

Announcement:

Starting June 2026, we will discontinue our weekly Thursday newsletters as we are doing more investing classes now, find out about our programs here. Nonetheless, we will still post every Saturday.

Disclaimer:

All information here is for educational purposes only. This is not financial advice. Please do your own research and speak with a licensed advisor before making any investment decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. How we invest may not suit your investment goals and risk management profile.

Dear Investor,

Zee here. After our deep-dive on Visa previously, several of you asked for the same on Mastercard, Visa’s quieter, arguably more interesting rival.

At first glance, the two companies look almost identical: both own payment networks, both earn fees on every transaction, both are absurdly profitable.

But spend a little time under the hood and the differences start to matter, especially right now, when Mastercard is making some of the boldest bets in its history on AI, stablecoins, and a future where software agents do your shopping for you.

What Does Mastercard Actually Do?

Every time someone taps a Mastercard at a shop, pays online, or moves money across borders, Mastercard’s network invisibly connects the buyer’s bank to the seller’s bank in seconds. For providing that connection, Mastercard charges a small fee.

Here’s what makes this business model special:

• Mastercard does NOT lend money or hold customer deposits, that’s the bank’s job

• Mastercard earns a small ‘toll’ on every transaction that crosses its network

• It operates in over 210 countries, processing billions of transactions per day

• The more global commerce grows, the more Mastercard earns automatically

Think of it like owning the road, not the cars. Mastercard doesn’t care whether you buy shoes or a car, it just wants traffic on its highway.

This ‘asset-light’ model means very high profit margins and strong, consistent cash flows.

1. Strong results but geopolitics caused a stock dip

Mastercard beat every target in Q1 2026.

Despite all this, the stock fell after the report. The culprit: cross-border travel spending.

When people travel internationally and spend abroad, Mastercard earns higher fees than on domestic transactions. The ongoing conflict in the Middle East dampened international flights and tourism, creating a meaningful dent in one of Mastercard's most profitable revenue lines.

2. Services now make up 40% of revenue and they’re growing twice as fast

Here’s the part of the Mastercard story that doesn’t get enough attention: the company has quietly become a financial technology services business, not just a payment processor.

These “Value Added Services and Solutions” (VASS), fraud tools, cybersecurity software, data analytics, digital identity verification grew 18% year-on-year and now represent approximately 40% of total net revenue. A decade ago, this number was negligible.

Why does this matter to investors? Two reasons.

First, these services are stickier than transaction fees, banks sign multi-year contracts and rarely switch.

Second, they're less cyclical: even if spending slows in a downturn, financial institutions still need fraud detection and cybersecurity. Services provide a buffer that pure payment revenue cannot.

3. A $1.8 billion bet on the future of money

In March 2026, Mastercard announced it would acquire BVNK, a company that builds infrastructure for stablecoins for up to $1.8 billion, including $300 million in performance-based payments.

If you haven’t heard of stablecoins, they’re digital currencies pegged to a real-world asset like the US dollar. Think of them as digital cash that can travel across the internet instantly, cheaply, and without a bank in the middle.

BVNK already powers stablecoin infrastructure for financial institutions across multiple markets. Acquiring it means Mastercard can now offer a complete bridge between traditional banking rails and the crypto world, letting clients pay out in stablecoins, settle cross-border invoices instantly, and accept digital assets alongside regular currency.

As regulatory frameworks for stablecoins come into focus, in the US, EU, Singapore, and the UK, the commercial opportunity grows. Businesses that want to pay international suppliers in stablecoins, or offer customers digital dollar wallets, will need infrastructure to do so. Mastercard wants to be that infrastructure.

4. Mastercard is building an AI

Most companies talk about using AI. Mastercard is doing something more interesting: building its own.

The company is developing what it calls a Large Tabular Model (LTM), its own foundation AI trained not on text or images like ChatGPT, but on billions of anonymized payment transactions. Working with Nvidia and Databricks, the model learns patterns across spending behavior, fraud signatures, merchant data, and authorization events.

Because all personal data is stripped before training, privacy is protected but the patterns remain. The model can learn to predict which transactions look fraudulent before the card is declined, which merchants are growing before the data is public, and which offers a cardholder is most likely to respond to.

Here's the key insight: unlike a general AI tool that any company can license, Mastercard's LTM is trained on data only Mastercard has. No competitor, not Visa, not any fintech, can replicate this without decades of equivalent transaction history. It is, in the truest sense, a competitive moat built from data.

5. AI is about to start spending money and Mastercard wants to be the trust layer

This is the most forward-looking story in Mastercard’s portfolio, and possibly the most significant for long-term investors.

We are at the early edge of “agentic commerce”, a world where AI assistants don’t just recommend things but actually buy them on your behalf. Imagine telling your AI: “Book me a return flight to Tokyo next month, under $1,200, aisle seat.” And it just does it — no checkout page, no card details, no confirmation to forward.

For this to work at scale, there needs to be a trusted payment layer that can verify: Is this AI agent authorized to spend? Was the purchase within pre-set limits? Is the merchant legitimate? That’s exactly what Mastercard’s Agent Pay programme provides.

Mastercard has already completed authenticated agentic transactions in Singapore with DBS and UOB, the first live, verified AI-initiated payments on its network. It has also announced an expanded partnership with OpenAI to accelerate these capabilities globally.

The commercial logic is straightforward: every AI agent that books, buys, or pays generates a transaction. Those transactions flow through Mastercard’s network. More AI adoption means more volume, more fees, without a single new human cardholder needed.

Disclaimer:

All information here is for educational purposes only. This is not financial advice. Please do your own research and speak with a licensed advisor before making any investment decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. How we invest may not suit your investment goals and risk management profile.

Dear Investor.

Zee here. For the first time in 60 years, Warren Buffett watched Berkshire Hathaway’s 2026 Annual General Meeting from the audience.

He didn’t chair the stage. He sat in the crowd.

It was a quiet, symbolic passing of the torch and yet, when he sat down with CNBC journalist Becky Quick afterward, everything he said felt as sharp as ever.

Here’s what stood out.

“I’m Smart in Spots”

When asked to reflect on 60 years in business, Buffett was characteristically honest: only about five of those years were truly exceptional.

The rest? Just staying in his lane.

He referenced an old quote from Tom Watson Sr., the founder of IBM: “I’m smart in spots and I stay around those spots.”

That’s Buffett’s entire philosophy in one sentence. Not genius. Not luck. Just relentless discipline about what you know and the courage to do nothing when you don’t.

That discipline is what explains Berkshire’s eye-watering $380 billion cash pile.

It isn’t a prediction that markets will crash. It’s simply the result of not finding enough good things to buy.

When the bar is high, cash accumulates. Simple as that.

The Church with a Casino Attached

This was the line of the day. Buffett described today’s financial markets as “a church with a casino attached.”

Both have grown. But the casino? It’s gotten a lot more attractive lately.

His specific concern was same day options trading financial contracts that expire within 24 hours. He was careful about how he described it.

Not investing. Not even speculating. Gambling.

The instruments exist, the platforms are slick, and millions of people are pulling levers without fully understanding the odds stacked against them.

The church, the serious, long-term allocation of capital to real businesses is still there. But it’s harder to hear the sermon when the slot machines are so loud.

The Phones Go Quiet

So when does Buffett buy? His answer was almost poetic.

“The most likely time to buy things is when nobody else will answer their phones.”

The trading desks that boast endlessly about their capabilities and relationships, they go silent when markets seize up. The very moments that feel most terrifying are the ones when serious capital can be deployed at serious discounts.

The best opportunities don’t come from being clever.

They come from being willing to pick up the phone when everyone else has left the building.

Don’t Worry. Pay Attention.

On the topic of risk and fear, Buffett made a distinction worth writing down:

Worry does no good. Cognizance does.

The things that get openly discussed, the risks that fill newspaper headlines and conference panels, rarely become the crises people fear. Real damage comes from what nobody saw coming.

He pointed to Paul Samuelson’s economics textbook, a landmark work running nearly 900 pages. It contained no entry for zero interest rates, arguably the most consequential economic development of the past generation.

Nobody had it on their radar. That’s how risk actually works.

The Takeaway

Buffett’s message, stripped down, is this: the market has always had a gambling problem, but it’s getting worse. The antidote isn’t cleverness, it’s patience, self-awareness, and the willingness to act when others are paralyzed.

He’s 94. He sat in the audience instead of on the stage.

And somehow, in 25 minutes, he said more than most investors communicate in a lifetime.

The church is still open.

You just have to choose which door you walk through.

Disclaimer:

All information here is for educational purposes only. This is not financial advice. Please do your own research and speak with a licensed advisor before making any investment decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. How we invest may not suit your investment goals and risk management profile.

Dear Investor.

Zee here. Recently, my friend and also our student Jonathan shared a clever travel hack for the Marriott Bonvoy program: instead of the usual 50-nights requirement, he qualified for Marriott Bonvoy Platinum through a 16-nights challenge.

He then used a strategy of selling options (we teach this in our classes too) to offset the cost of those 16 nights, effectively letting the stock market help fund his hotel stays.

The payoff: Marriott Bonvoy Platinum status, unlocking suite upgrades (when available), lounge access, and a relaxed 4pm late checkout.

That got me digging into how Marriott structures its loyalty ecosystem and business model, and how programs like this are designed not just to reward travel, but to drive repeat stays and long-term brand loyalty.

Marriott International (NASDAQ: MAR) has delivered strong share price performance in recent years, with the stock rising more than 50% over the past year and over 140% over the last five years.

The gains have been supported by resilient global travel demand, particularly in higher-end and luxury hospitality segments, which have contributed to broader strength across the hotel industry.

During the same period, the broader hotel and motel industry gained roughly 23%, meaning Marriott has materially outperformed many of its industry peers.

How Does Marriott Make Money?

Here’s the thing most people get wrong about Marriott. They think it’s a hotel company as in, it owns hotels.

It doesn’t. Not really.

Marriott’s actual business is collecting fees. It manages and franchises hotels that are owned by other investors and real estate developers. Someone else builds the property, takes on the debt, and bears the construction risk. Marriott lends its brand: Sheraton, Westin, W Hotels, Ritz-Carlton, Courtyard, and more than 30 others and collects a percentage of revenue for doing so.

Think of it like a franchise system. A franchisee opens a McDonald’s, invests their own capital, and pays McDonald’s a royalty. Marriott works the same way, just with beds instead of burgers.

This “asset-light” model is what makes Marriott so interesting as an investment. When hotels do well, Marriott earns more in fees. When hotels struggle, the pain falls mostly on the property owners, not Marriott. The company gets upside exposure to travel, without carrying the full downside of owning physical real estate.

1. They Just Beat Earnings And Raised Their Outlook

Marriott’s Q1 2026 results came in stronger than Wall Street expected. Adjusted earnings per share reached $2.72, beating the analyst forecast of $2.55 by a meaningful margin. Revenue for the quarter came to $6.65 billion, up 6% compared to the same period last year.

The key metric for any hotel company is RevPAR, revenue per available room. It’s essentially a measure of how much money each hotel room is generating on average. Global RevPAR increased 4.2% during the quarter, helped by improvements in both occupancy rates and average daily room prices.

Following the beat, management slightly raised its full-year adjusted EPS guidance to $11.51 at the midpoint. When a company beats and raises, it usually tells you that demand is holding up better than feared.

2. Marriott Portfolio Is Growing Fast

One of the most underappreciated parts of Marriott’s story is how relentlessly it keeps adding new rooms to its system. More rooms means more fees. More fees means more earnings, without Marriott needing to spend its own money building anything.

Marriott added roughly 15,900 net rooms during the quarter, expanding its worldwide portfolio to more than 9,900 properties with nearly 1.8 million rooms.

Marriott’s development pipeline reached a record 4,107 properties representing nearly 618,000 rooms, with 43% of those rooms currently under construction. That’s future fee income already in the works and the company didn’t have to build any of it.

For long-term investors, this pipeline is the engine. Even in a year where travel demand softens, room growth compounds the fee base. Marriott has guided for net rooms growth of 4.5% to 5% for the full year 2026, a pace that quietly but steadily expands the business.

3. Bonvoy Is Becoming a Business in Its Own Right

Marriott Bonvoy is the company’s loyalty programme, it has over 271 million members. Most people think of loyalty points as just a marketing gimmick. But for Marriott, Bonvoy has become a genuine revenue engine.

The programme is linked to co-branded credit cards issued by banks like Chase and American Express. Every time a Bonvoy cardholder swipes their card, Marriott earns a royalty fee.

The headline catalyst for 2026 is a projected 35% jump in co-branded credit card fees, loyalty-linked products that collect royalties from card partners, driven by both a renegotiated royalty rate and continued high-spend growth across Marriott’s 34-card, 11-country Bonvoy program.

This is a meaningful diversification of income. Hotel fees move with travel demand. Card royalties move with consumer spending more broadly. It makes the business stickier and more resilient over time.

The Bonvoy app and platform also give Marriott direct access to its guests, reducing reliance on booking platforms like Expedia or Booking.com, which typically take a cut of every reservation.

The more guests book directly through Bonvoy, the more margin Marriott keeps.

4. The Middle East Is a Real Headwind Right Now

Not everything is going Marriott’s way.

The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has been materially disrupting travel across the region. The outlook assumes continued Middle East travel disruption, including an expected roughly 50% RevPAR decline in the region during the second quarter, which would reduce full-year global RevPAR growth by 100 to 125 basis points.

Management has assumed Middle East disruptions continue through the end of 2026. The Middle East accounts for about 3% of Marriott’s open rooms but around 7% of its development pipeline, meaning future growth in the region is also at risk of delay.

To put it simply: a 100 to 125 basis point drag on RevPAR growth is meaningful when you’re guiding for 2% to 3% total. It shaves a significant chunk off an already modest target.

The silver lining? Marriott’s international diversification means no single region can derail the business. The company added more than 7,300 net rooms in international markets just in Q1 alone, and Asia-Pacific in particular continues to post strong growth.

The Middle East pain is real, but it’s also contained.

5. They Are Returning a Lot of Cash to Shareholders

One of the privileges of an asset-light business is that it generates cash without needing to constantly reinvest in physical assets. Marriott has been putting that cash to work, returning it to shareholders through buybacks and dividends.

During the quarter, Marriott repurchased 2.1 million shares for approximately $700 million. Including dividends and buybacks, the company has returned more than $1.2 billion to shareholders so far this year through April 29.

For the full year 2026, gross fee revenue is guided to rise 8% to 10% in 2026, with adjusted EPS growth projected at 13% to 15%, materially above the revenue growth rate, reflecting operating leverage and a meaningful reduction in share count from over $4.3 billion in planned capital returns.

That last part is worth pausing on. EPS growing faster than revenue is a classic sign of buyback leverage, fewer shares outstanding means each remaining share earns a bigger slice of the pie. If management executes on that $4.3 billion return target, shareholders benefit even if revenue growth is modest.

Bottom line

Marriott is a genuinely well-constructed business. The fee model insulates it from the capital-heavy risks of owning real estate. The Bonvoy loyalty platform is becoming an asset in its own right. The development pipeline is compounding quietly in the background. And the capital return programme rewards patient shareholders.

The risks are real too, a heavy debt load of $16.5 billion, sensitivity to geopolitical disruption, and a valuation that prices in a lot of continued growth already. This is not a “screaming bargain” stock. It is, however, a high-quality business that serious investors should understand.

Disclaimer:

All information here is for educational purposes only. This is not financial advice. Please do your own research and speak with a licensed advisor before making any investment decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. How we invest may not suit your investment goals and risk management profile.

Dear Investor.

Zee here. It is May 2026. The S&P 500 has clawed back most of its losses from the US-Iran war sell-off earlier this year.

Markets are rising again, sentiment is improving, and the financial headlines are turning cautiously optimistic.

Which makes right now exactly the right moment to ask an uncomfortable question: Are we paying too much?

What “too high” actually means

When investors say a market is “overvalued,” they usually mean one thing: you are paying more for a dollar of corporate earnings than history suggests is reasonable.

The standard yardstick for this is the Price-to-Earnings (P/E) ratio, simply the price of the market divided by the earnings of its companies. If the S&P 500 trades at a P/E of 20, you are paying $20 for every $1 of annual profit. The higher the number, the more expensive stocks are relative to what businesses are actually earning.

Think of it like buying a rental property. If you pay $1,000,000 for a flat that earns $50,000 in rent per year, your “price-to-earnings” is 20x. If you pay $2,000,000 for the same flat, it’s 40x. The building hasn’t changed, only the price you’re willing to pay for it.

Here are the numbers

The S&P 500’s current trailing P/E sits at roughly 32x earnings, depending on which measure you use. The long-run historical average is closer to 16–18x.

But the more revealing figure is the Shiller CAPE ratio, a smoothed version of P/E that averages inflation-adjusted earnings over ten years, ironing out short-term noise.

Robert Shiller, the Yale economist who called both the dot-com bubble and the 2008 housing crisis, developed it precisely because single-year earnings can be distorted.

As of 8th May 2026, the Shiller CAPE stands at approximately 42x. The long-run average is 17x.

So is a crash coming?

Not necessarily, and this is where nuance matters.

High valuations do not cause crashes. They simply mean that future returns are likely to be lower than they would be if you bought at cheaper prices. The market can stay expensive for years. It did through most of the late 1990s, right up until it didn’t.

There are also legitimate reasons why today’s market might deserve a premium over its historical average. The S&P 500 is now dominated by large technology and software businesses, companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia that are structurally more profitable and faster-growing than the manufacturers and industrials that dominated the index decades ago.

Higher-quality businesses arguably deserve higher prices. Net profit margins climb as companies increases their prices.

Then there is the AI Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) story and it is genuinely staggering. In 2026, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta are collectively on track to spend $725 billion on capital expenditure, up 77% from last year’s already-record $410 billion. Almost all of it is going into AI infrastructure: data centres, chips, and networking. Amazon’s CEO has said AI capacity is getting monetised “as fast as we install it.” Google Cloud just posted 63% year-on-year revenue growth.

This matters for valuation in two ways.

#1 This compresses near-term margins all that spending makes the market look more expensive on current earnings than it might actually be.

#2 If the bet pays off and AI drives a step-change in corporate productivity over the next five to ten years, earnings could grow fast enough to justify today’s prices in hindsight.

The CAPE ratio, which smooths earnings over a full decade, would be slow to reflect that kind of structural shift, potentially making the market look more overvalued than it truly is.

The takeaway

The US stock market is currently expensive by almost every historical measure. That is a fact, not a prediction.

Whether that expensiveness leads to a painful correction or gets resolved gradually through years of steady earnings growth, nobody knows.

The sensible path: time in market beats timing the market

Disclaimer:

All information here is for educational purposes only. This is not financial advice. Please do your own research and speak with a licensed advisor before making any investment decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. How we invest may not suit your investment goals and risk management profile.

Dear Investor.

Zee here. Most people still think of Axon as the company that makes Tasers. That's understandable, they invented the modern stun gun and put a body camera on virtually every police officer in America.

But in 2026, Axon is building something far bigger: a full AI-powered operating system for public safety.

From the moment someone dials 911, to the moment a verdict is read in a courtroom, Axon wants to own every step of that journey with software, data, and artificial intelligence doing the heavy lifting.

What Does Axon Actually Do?

Think of Axon as the technology backbone of modern law enforcement. Most people know them as the company behind the TASER, the non-lethal device used by police worldwide. But today, that’s just one small piece of a much bigger story.

Axon builds an end-to-end ecosystem for public safety. This includes body cameras worn by officers, cloud software to store and manage all that video evidence, digital tools for police departments to run their operations, and, increasingly, artificial intelligence layered across all of it.

Their flagship software platform, Axon Evidence, is like a secure “Google Drive for law enforcement,” storing millions of hours of body cam footage and connecting it to investigations and court cases.

In short: Axon wants to be involved in every moment of a public safety event, from the first 911 call, all the way to the courtroom verdict.

1. The Numbers Are Getting Better

Axon just wrapped up 2025 on a very strong note. In Q4 2025 alone, the company brought in $797 million in revenue, a 39% jump compared to the same quarter a year earlier. For the full year, revenue hit $2.78 billion.

But here’s what really stands out for investors: bookings (essentially, contracts signed for future revenue) topped $7 billion for the full year, a 40%+ increase. Q4 bookings alone surged over 50%. Think of bookings as a window into future revenue; when they grow this fast, it tells you customers are committing to Axon for years ahead.

Their software and services division, the highest-margin part of the business, grew 40% year-over-year, which is a key signal that Axon is successfully transitioning from a hardware company into a recurring-revenue software powerhouse.

2. Axon Is Going All-In on AI

At their annual Axon Week conference in April 2026, the company unveiled three new AI-powered tools aimed at transforming how emergency agencies work:

• Axon Vision: An AI layer that processes live video feeds and sends real-time alerts to officers and dispatchers.

• Axon Assistant (expanded): A voice and data assistant, now available across more devices, that helps officers access information hands-free in the field. It’s built to comply with strict law enforcement data privacy standards (called CJIS compliance).

• Axon 911: A completely reimagined emergency dispatch platform powered by AI, connecting the moment a 911 call comes in all the way through to when an officer closes the case.

The big idea: today’s police departments are drowning in data, hours of video, thousands of 911 calls, mountains of reports.

Axon’s AI tools aim to turn that data overload into real-time intelligence that helps first responders act faster and smarter.

3. Axon Is Reinventing 911 Through Acquisitions

One of the boldest moves Axon has made recently is its push to own the 911 call center experience. In late 2025 and early 2026, they made two major acquisitions:

• Prepared: An AI startup bringing livestreaming, real-time translation, and smarter dispatch tools to emergency call centers (reportedly ~$800 million deal).

• Carbyne: A cloud-native platform that handles how 911 calls are received and routed, serving agencies that protect over 250 million people worldwide (valued at $625 million).

Together, these became the foundation of Axon 911, their new integrated emergency communications product.

This is a massive expansion of Axon’s addressable market, the 911 infrastructure space is large, largely outdated, and ripe for modernization.

4. Analysts Are Bullish on the fundamentals

Despite the good fundamentals, Axon’s stock has faced some pressure in 2026. The share price has declined roughly 22% year-to-date (as of Q1 2026 reporting), partly due to broader market volatility and concerns about margin pressure from heavy investment spending.

Analysts are projecting a 125% swing in earnings per share compared to a loss in the same quarter last year.

If Axon can beat expectations again, it could be a catalyst to close the gap between where the stock trades and where analysts think it should be.

5. A $1.3 Billion New HQ

Axon is building a massive $1.3 billion new headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona. This signals long-term confidence from leadership in the company’s growth trajectory. But the project has run into legal challenges, with lawsuits contesting parts of the development plan.

This isn’t an existential risk to the company, but it does introduce some uncertainty around costs and timelines.

Investors should keep an eye on how quickly Axon resolves these hurdles, unexpected construction delays or cost overruns could put modest pressure on cash flow in the near term.

The Bottom Line for Investors

Axon is no longer just a TASER company. It is building a comprehensive, AI-powered operating system for public safety, one that ties together devices, software, communications, and data under one ecosystem.

Their revenue growth is strong, their bookings pipeline is exceptional, and their AI product push is ambitious.

The risks to watch: margin pressure from heavy R&D and acquisition spending, legal challenges around the new HQ, and a stock that has re-rated lower amid broader market turbulence.

Disclaimer:
All information here is for educational purposes only. This is not financial advice. Please do your own research and speak with a licensed advisor before making any investment decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. How we invest may not suit your investment goals and risk management profile.

Dear Investor.

Zee here. The most underrated skill in investing isn't finding an investing opportunity, it's knowing when to leave one on the table. Especially important as the markets grow sky high.

Earlier this quarter, Netflix reached into Warner Bros.’ cookie jar and pulled out a $2.8 billion termination fee after David Ellison Jr. (Oracle’s founder son) decided he wanted the deal more. Netflix had been in the running to acquire Paramount, and when the price crept beyond what made sense for the business and its shareholders, they walked.

It’s easy to gloss over this. In the day-to-day noise of earnings calls and market moves, a deal that didn’t happen barely registers.

Co-CEO Ted Sarandos put it plainly on the earnings call:

Read that again. They framed a deal they didn’t do as a benefit. Not a loss. Not a near-miss. A test of discipline and they passed it.

Why this is harder than it looks

Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) processes have a gravitational pull. The longer you’re inside one, the due diligence, the lawyers, the internal champions, the press speculation, the harder it becomes to exit cleanly. Sunk costs start to feel like commitments.

Walking away can feel like failure, even when it’s the right call.

This isn’t unique to corporate boards. Every investor knows the feeling: you’ve spent weeks researching a stock, you’ve told your friends about it, you’ve watched it rally slightly, and now the valuation doesn’t quite work the way it did when you started.

Do you buy anyway? Most people do. The research itself becomes a reason to commit.

Netflix didn’t.

That matters.

Three lessons for investors

Lesson 1: Know your number before the process begins

Netflix clearly had a ceiling, a price at which the deal stopped making sense. They likely had it before Ellison entered the picture. The ability to walk away starts with having a predetermined exit point. As a portfolio investor, that means setting a target valuation before you buy, and revisiting it when the story changes, not after you’re emotionally committed to being right.

Lesson 2: Emotion is a cost, not just a feeling

Sarandos explicitly named ego as something that had to be set aside. That’s rare. Most executives and most investors don’t acknowledge that ego is a factor at all. But the desire to be seen as decisive, to “win” a deal or a trade, to not look like you hesitated these are real forces that distort judgment and cost money. Naming the emotion is the first step to not paying for it.

Lesson 3: Discipline compounds just like capital does

Netflix didn’t just avoid a bad deal. They built evidence, for themselves, for their board, for their shareholders, that their decision-making process works. In investing, a track record of disciplined passes is as valuable as a track record of good picks. Every time you avoid an overpriced entry or a panic-driven exit, you’re strengthening a muscle that pays dividends for decades.

What to watch for in management teams

When I evaluate companies, I pay close attention to how management talks about deals they didn’t do. A team that can articulate why they passed and frame that pass as a success, is a team that’s thinking clearly about capital allocation. That’s rare.

Most investor calls are about what was won. This one was about what was wisely left on the table.

I’ll take that signal seriously.

Only time will tell whether Netflix’s ultimate M&A strategy plays out, but the discipline on display here gives me real confidence in the people running the company. And in this environment, confidence in management is one of the most undervalued assets you can hold.

As always: the best investment you don’t make is still a good investment.

Disclaimer:

All information here is for educational purposes only. This is not financial advice. Please do your own research and speak with a licensed advisor before making any investment decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. How we invest may not suit your investment goals and risk management profile.

Dear Investor.

Zee here. Every time someone taps a card, clicks “pay now,” or sends money across borders, there’s a good chance Visa had something to do with it. With over $4.5 trillion processed in a single quarter, Visa isn’t just a payments company, it’s the invisible infrastructure beneath the global economy.

But Visa isn’t standing still.

Beneath the steady earnings beats and reliable dividend, something bigger is happening: the company is quietly repositioning itself for a world where AI agents do your shopping, digital dollars move across borders instantly, and the very definition of a “payment” is changing.

Join us on Wednesday 6 May 2026 (7:30-915pm SG Time), for our live Free webinar, where we cover:

* Our resilient investing strategy that we use in our public portfolio

* Stock Analysis: Will Visa be disrupted by AI?

Attendees will also get preview our new AI Powered Stock Market Simulator game where you’ll learn about your investing strengths and weakness.

👉🏼 Click here to reserve a spot. (LINK)

First, What Does Visa Actually Do?

Think of Visa as the world’s most important toll road, but for money.

When you tap your card at a coffee cafe, Visa doesn’t give you the money or lend it to you. What it does is act as the trusted “middleman” that connects your bank to the merchant’s bank in a fraction of a second, making sure the transaction is secure, fast, and reliable. For every transaction that passes through its network, Visa earns a small fee.

Multiply that by trillions of dollars in purchases every year across more than 200 countries, and you start to see why Visa is one of the most profitable businesses on earth.

Visa doesn’t take on credit risk (that’s the bank’s job). It just owns the rails that money travels on, and those rails are used billions of times a day.

1. The Growing Business

Visa’s most recent quarterly results (Q1 of its fiscal year 2026, covering October–December 2025) were outstanding.

Revenue hit $10.9 billion, up 15% from the same period a year ago and that beat what Wall Street analysts had expected. Earnings per share came in at $3.17, also ahead of forecasts.

Payment volumes, the total dollar value of all transactions on Visa’s network, grew 8% to roughly $4.5 trillion in just one quarter.

What’s driving this? Strong consumer spending, a busy holiday shopping season, and surging cross-border transactions (people travelling and spending abroad), which grew 11%.

The CEO described Visa as a “payments hyperscaler”, a company whose infrastructure scales effortlessly as more spending flows through it. Management expects “low-double-digit” growth to continue for the rest of the year.

For investors, this is a business that consistently grows, beats expectations, and generates enormous amounts of cash.

2. Visa Is Betting Big on AI-Powered Shopping

Here’s the most exciting development for the future: Visa is positioning itself at the centre of “agentic commerce”, a world where AI assistants don’t just recommend products, but actually buy things on your behalf.

Imagine telling your AI assistant, “Book me a flight and hotel for my Tokyo trip,” and it just handles everything, finding, comparing, and paying, without you lifting a finger. For that to work safely, there needs to be a trusted payment layer. That’s where Visa comes in.

Visa has launched its Intelligent Commerce platform and a Trusted Agent Protocol, essentially a set of rules and tools that allow AI agents to make payments securely on behalf of consumers at over 150 million Visa-accepting merchants worldwide.

This week, Visa unveiled Intelligent Commerce Connect, a new solution helping businesses plug into AI-powered commerce.

Visa research shows that 47% of US shoppers already use AI tools for at least one shopping task. The company believes that by the 2026 holiday season, millions of consumers will use AI agents to complete purchases.

By building the infrastructure now, Visa is ensuring it remains the trusted payment layer, even as how we shop is fundamentally transformed.

3. Stablecoins: Visa Is Already Ahead of the Curve

You may have heard of “stablecoins”, these are digital currencies pegged to real-world currencies like the US dollar. Unlike Bitcoin, they don’t fluctuate wildly in value. Think of them as digital dollars that can move instantly across the internet.

Visa has been quietly building a major position here. It already supports over 130 stablecoin-linked card programmes in more than 50 countries, and its stablecoin settlement volume has reached a run rate of $4.6 billion globally. In simple terms: real money is already flowing through Visa’s stablecoin infrastructure.

Why does this matter for investors?

Stablecoins could eventually allow faster, cheaper international payments and Visa wants to be the trusted bridge between the old financial world and this new one, rather than be disrupted by it. As stablecoin regulations become clearer (especially in markets like Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan), Visa’s early investments could translate into significant new revenue streams.

4. A Long Legal Saga Is Finally Clearing Up

For over 20 years, Visa has been tangled in lawsuits from merchants over interchange fees, the small percentage businesses pay every time a customer swipes a card. Merchants argued these fees were unfairly high and anti-competitive.

The good news: this legal overhang is substantially resolving. Visa have recently settled the final interchange fee claims from about 65 major retailers in a New York case, including big names like Nike, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Crate & Barrel, and Amtrak.

In total, Visa has paid out $4.2 billion from its litigation escrow between 2023 and early 2026.

A broader class-action settlement covering millions of merchants is still working through court approval, and a separate injunctive case continues in Brooklyn. There’s also a litigation provision of $707 million that hit Visa’s earnings this quarter. But the direction of travel is clear, the biggest legal clouds are lifting, reducing one of the key risks that has hung over the stock for years.

5. Earnings Update: Visa reported its fiscal Q2 2026 results on April 28, 2026

Visa posted $11.2 billion in quarterly revenue, up 17% from a year ago. The growth was broad-based, driven by more people spending on cards, more international trips, and more online purchases. When a company of Visa's size grows this quickly, it signals genuine demand momentum rather than accounting tricks.

CEO Ryan McInerney devoted significant time on the earnings call to what the company calls "agentic commerce", which are AI assistants that shop and pay on your behalf, without you lifting a finger. Visa has already completed hundreds of secure AI-initiated transactions with partners and launched a "Trusted Agent Protocol" to help merchants verify whether it's a legitimate AI agent or a malicious bot making a purchase.

Visa’s management sees this as a structural growth driver: more AI agents buying things means more transactions, more microtransactions, and more fees flowing through Visa's network.

Disclaimer:
All information here is for educational purposes only. This is not financial advice. Please do your own research and speak with a licensed advisor before making any investment decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. How we invest may not suit your investment goals and risk management profile.

Dear Investor.

Zee here. The man who steered America’s economy through a pandemic, a rate crisis, and a war is handed over the keys yesterday, April 29th 2026.

Most people have never heard Jerome Powell speak. But every time they pay for groceries, take out a loan, or check their mortgage rate, his decisions are behind it.

Yesterday, after more than eight years steering America's economy through its wildest chapter in decades, Powell chairs his final meeting as Federal Reserve Chairman. This is the story of what he did, what it meant, and who takes over from here."

Join us on Wednesday 6 May 2026 (7:30-915pm SG Time), for our live Free webinar, where we cover:

* Our resilient investing strategy that we use in our public portfolio

* Stock Analysis: Will Visa be disrupted by AI?

Attendees will also get preview our new AI Powered Stock Market Simulator game where you’ll learn about your investing strengths and weakness.

👉🏼 Click here to reserve a spot. (LINK)

Who is Jerome Powell?

Jerome Powell is the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, which is America’s central bank. Think of him as the person in charge of the country’s economic thermostat. His main job?

Set interest rates to keep inflation low and people employed. When he raises rates, borrowing gets more expensive (slows the economy). When he cuts them, borrowing gets cheaper (stimulates growth). Since 2018, Powell has been the most powerful economic voice in the world.

Jerome Powell Timeline

2018 — Takes charge

Powell is confirmed as Fed Chair by Trump, replacing Janet Yellen. He was seen as a steady, pragmatic choice.

2020 — COVID crisis

The economy collapses almost overnight. Powell slashes rates to near zero and floods the system with emergency cash to prevent a depression.

2022 to 2023 — The great rate hike

Inflation hits a 40-year high. Powell triggers the fastest rate hike cycle in modern history, 11 hikes in a row, bringing rates to 5.25–5.5%. Critics called it too slow; others called it too fast. He held the line.

2024 to 2025 — Cutting begins

With inflation cooling, Powell pivots to cuts. But geopolitical turbulence, including the war in Iran — forces a cautious approach. Rates settle at 3.5–3.75%.

April 29, 2026 — Final press conference

Yesterday, Powell wraps up his final FOMC meeting as Chair and holds his last press conference as head of the world’s most important central bank.

What’s happening right now?

Yesterday night was a historic one. Powell is chairing his final Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, the regular gathering where the Fed decides what to do with interest rates.

As expected, rates are being held steady at 3.5% to 3.75%. No cut, no hike.

The Fed is essentially pressing pause while it watches how the Iran conflict plays out, higher oil prices are pushing up inflation, which makes cutting rates risky right now.

Enter Kevin Warsh

Powell’s successor is Kevin Warsh, nominated by President Trump. Warsh is a well-known figure in financial circles, he served on the Federal Reserve Board during the 2008 global financial crisis as Ben Bernanke’s right-hand man, which earned him deep credibility on Wall Street.

The last hurdle to his confirmation, a Justice Department probe into Powell over a headquarters renovation, was cleared over the weekend.

With holdout Senator Thom Tillis now on board, Warsh is expected to be confirmed by the Senate Banking Committee today and officially takes over from Powell in May.

What to watch for next

1. Powell’s final words: Will he confirm whether he’ll stay on the Fed’s Board of Governors (his governor term runs until 2028)? Staying on could create tension with Warsh’s agenda.

2. Warsh’s direction: He’s expected to shake things up, possibly eliminating the Fed’s ‘dot plot’ forecasts and reducing press conferences.

3. Rate cuts in 2026? Markets only price in an estimated 20% chance of any cut by year-end. The Iran war makes the path forward murky.

Disclaimer:

All information here is for educational purposes only. This is not financial advice. Please do your own research and speak with a licensed advisor before making any investment decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. How we invest may not suit your investment goals and risk management profile.