May 5 — Tuesday
Iran Hits Tankers In The Strait, Brent $114, State Farm Hammered, Palantir Prints Records
Dow -557; Brent +5.8% to $114; 10Y at 4.44%. Adds: SLB 2%; CB 2%. Reinforces: XOM/CVX/COP/OXY +1% each; LMT/RTX/GD/HII; GLD 3%→5%; PLTR 2%→3%. Watch: CRBS, ALL, TRV. Avoid: SAVE.
May 5, 2026 · Tuesday Edition Read →
Specialty · Personal Journal
The Bezos Fashion Piece Is A Wealth-Leveraging Case Study
$500K/yr to CFDA → Met Gala co-chair. The mechanics scale to every wealth level. Four giving vehicles: direct, DAF, private foundation, CRT — matched to your scale.
Specialty · May 5, 2026 Read →
Specialty · Personal Journal
Spirit Airlines Bankruptcy: A Capital Wealth Traveler's Money Guide
Don't call the airline first — call your credit-card company. Five-step checklist for tickets, miles, and the BAC co-branded card. Plus the LUV / UAL portfolio read-through.
Specialty · May 5, 2026 Read →
Specialty · Geopolitics
Iran Hit Tankers In The Strait. Brent $114. Here's What We're Buying.
Strait of Hormuz escalation. Three scenarios for the next 90 days. Adds SLB; reinforces XOM/CVX/COP/OXY; raises GLD from 3% to 5% in conservative tier.
Specialty · May 5, 2026 Read →
Specialty · Insurance
State Farm's Wildfire Reckoning — What It Means For Your Premium
California regulators sample 220 wildfire claims, find unlawful behavior in half. Two-step homeowner playbook plus the rotation: CB add 2%, watch ALL and TRV.
Specialty · May 5, 2026 Read →
Specialty · Estate Planning
The Sewage Spill That's Re-pricing Coronado — And Your Estate Plan
265 days of unsafe water at Silver Strand; 129 days closed at Hotel del Coronado. Five estate-planning decisions for California coastal owners.
Specialty · May 5, 2026 Read →
Specialty · AI Policy
The AI Oversight Order: What It Means For Your Tech Holdings
Cybersecurity-focused EO contemplated after the Anthropic Mythos episode. Read-through for MSFT, GOOGL, AMZN, ORCL, NVDA, PLTR, and CRBS.
Specialty · May 5, 2026 Read →
May 4 — Monday
Emerging Markets Just Lapped The S&P, Spirit Folded, And A Personal Journal Story On Divorce
MSCI EM +14% YTD vs S&P 5.6%. Korea +57%, Taiwan +34%. Spirit Ch11. Adds: TSM 3%, EWY 2%. Reinforces: EEM 2%→4%, UAL 2%→3%. Personal Journal divorce piece is the read of the week.
May 4, 2026 · Monday Edition Read →
Specialty · Personal Journal
What Divorce Taught Real Families About Money — Five-Step California Playbook
Don't treat every issue as an emergency. Mediator vs dueling lawyers. House · retirement · kids · everything else. QDRO and beneficiary updates. Inspired by the Ebeling/Brown WSJ Personal Journal.
Specialty · May 4, 2026 Read →
Specialty · Markets
Korea +57%, Taiwan +34% — Emerging Markets Just Lapped The S&P
MSCI EM +14% YTD vs. S&P 5.6%. The AI buildout pays our suppliers. Adds: TSM 3%, EWY 2%; reinforces EEM 2%→4%. Three risks that would kill the thesis.
Specialty · May 4, 2026 Read →
Specialty · Retirement Policy
Trump Has An IRA To Sell You: Five Questions Before You Click Sign Up
TrumpIRA.gov rolls out as a federal portal. Five questions every saver should ask. Why your existing custodian is almost certainly already cheaper.
Specialty · May 4, 2026 Read →
Specialty · Real Estate
Foreclosures Hit a Six-Year High — And It's Insurance, Not the Mortgage
March foreclosures up 28% YoY. The mechanism is taxes + insurance, not P&I. California-specific picture and what to do if you're feeling escrow pressure.
Specialty · May 4, 2026 Read →
May 2 — SATURDAY
Iran War Hits Spirit, Pentagon Doubles Down On AI, And The Fed Just Pivoted Hawkish
DJIA 49,499 (+0.31%); NASDAQ 25,114 (+0.9%) records. WTI $101.94 (-3%); gas $4.39/gal — nine-week surge. Spirit Airlines liquidating; Pentagon signs eight AI vendors (GOOGL/MSFT/AMZN/ORCL/NVDA + xAI/OpenAI/Reflection); Anthropic shut out. EU auto tariff 15% → 25%. Fed shifts to "when do we hike". Reinforce: GOOGL, MSFT, AMZN, ORCL, NVDA, LMT, RTX, GD, HII, XOM, COP, CVX, OXY, JPM, WFC, GLD, F, GM. Add: VRT, ETN.
May 2, 2026 · Saturday Edition Read →
Specialty · WSJ Defense Desk
Pentagon Just Signed Eight AI Vendors. Anthropic Wasn't One.
Defense Department closes classified AI work with OpenAI, Alphabet (GOOGL), SpaceX/xAI, Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Oracle (ORCL), Nvidia (NVDA), and Reflection AI. Hegseth calls Anthropic CEO "ideological lunatic" after refusal on guardrails grounds. National-security pref for open-source models named explicitly. Reinforces our AI builder + data-center power thesis (VRT, ETN, CMI, VST).
WSJ A4 · Defense Read →
Specialty · Omar Abdel-Baqui
How YouTube Took Over The American Classroom
Investigation into Google's quiet capture of K-12 curriculum. Teachers integrate YouTube as core lesson delivery; questions about influence and oversight. Adds another moat to Alphabet (GOOGL) beyond search and cloud. Held inside our AI/Cyber/Data sleeve.
WSJ B1 · Business & Finance Read →
Specialty · WSJ Staff
The Key To OpenAI
Path to a public listing runs through one regulator. Profile of the IPO hurdles, governance complications, and the partnership map (Microsoft, Oracle, Nvidia). Reinforces ORCL counterparty and MSFT exposure to OpenAI compute economics.
WSJ B1 · Business & Finance Read →
Specialty · Peggy Noonan
How Not To Respond To Political Violence
Saturday op-ed on tone, restraint, and conduct in public life. Cultural framing for an unsteady political season. No portfolio action; long-arc reminder that we manage through cycles, not headlines.
WSJ A15 · Opinion Read →
Specialty · WSJ Sports
An Uproar Over Electric Cars In Formula One
Inside F1's identity debate: combustion vs. electrification. Competitive, technological, and brand implications. Cultural read on the broader EV adoption curve, with light read-across to industrial transition holdings.
WSJ Journal Report · R1-8 Read →
Specialty · WSJ Travel
A $1,000 Trip To Venice
Long-weekend in the City of Bridges that actually pencils out. Budget breakdown, off-season timing, and the case for shoulder-season travel. Tied loosely to retirement-income work — bucketing for travel inside a planning framework.
WSJ Off Duty · D8 Read →
Specialty · John Check
Musical Light In The Darkness
Review of a new book on music as cultural memory and resistance. Saturday review-section piece. No portfolio implications; the cultural read for the weekend.
WSJ Review · Arts Read →
May 1 — FRIDAY
AI Saved Q1, Venezuela Reopens, And The Debt Just Hit 100% Of GDP
S&P 7,209 (+1.0%); NASDAQ +0.9%; Russell 2K +2.2% led tape. April finished +10%. Q1 GDP 2.0% on AI capex; XOM/COP back in Caracas; PCE 4.5% on tariff pass-through. ADDs: HII, DG. Reinforce: GOOGL, AAPL, MSFT, AMZN, META, NVDA, AVGO, XOM, COP, SLB, LMT, RTX, GD, WMT, COST, CAT, GLD.
May 1, 2026 · Friday Edition Read →
Specialty · WSJ Editorial
WSJ Editorial — AI Saves The Trump Economy
$133B Q1 capex by GOOGL/MSFT/AMZN/META; group on path to $725B/yr. PCE 4.5% on tariff pass-through. Builders win, financiers under pressure. Reinforce GOOGL, MSFT, AMZN, META, AAPL, NVDA, AVGO; add DG.
WSJ A14 · Editorial Read →
Specialty · Eagle & Vela
National Commission On The U.S. Navy — A Generational Rebuild
Four-part call: autonomous systems, faster ship repair, scalable weapons, expanded maritime industrial base. Add HII (1.5%); reinforce GD, LMT, RTX, NOC, AVAV, KTOS. Defense holds 18%.
WSJ A14 · Letter Read →
Specialty · WSJ Editorial
WSJ Editorial — Albany Demands A Climate Sacrifice
Hochul seeks delay on 2030 climate law as compliance cost rises to $4K/household + $2.23/gal. Tilt utilities to Sun Belt; reinforce gas-as-bridge: EQT, WMB, KMI, CEG, VST.
WSJ A14 · Editorial Read →
Specialty · Kimberley A. Strassel
Kimberley Strassel — Lessons For Anna Paulina Luna
Luna's farm-bill federalism case gets the federalism backwards. Regulatory unpredictability favors largest, most diversified consumer-staples operators (WMT, COST, KO).
WSJ · Potomac Watch Read →
Specialty · WSJ Editorial
WSJ Editorial — Charges Of A Covid Coverup
DOJ indicts former NIH official David Morens for obstructing origin investigations. Hold UNH and large-cap diversified healthcare; avoid binary single-product biotech.
WSJ A14 · Editorial Read →
Specialty · B10 · April 28
Quantum Computing's IPO Rush — Eight Pure-Plays In One Year, A New Watchlist Is Born
Bousquette's WSJ B10: 3 quantum IPOs already in 2026, 5 more announced, Nvidia ships open-source quantum AI models. New Capital Wealth Quantum Watchlist: IONQ, RGTI, QBTS, QUBT + Infleqtion, Xanadu, Horizon Quantum + IQM, Pasqal, Terra Quantum, Seeqc, Quantinuum. Speculative sleeve only — cap at 5% of total account.
WSJ B10 · CIO Journal Read →
April 23 — THURSDAY
Spirit Bailout, Boeing Beat, Tesla Turns, Google's In-House Chip — And A Counter-Drone Theme Is Born
S&P 500 at 7,137.90 (+1.05%, 8th record 2026); NASDAQ at 24,657.57 ATH. Iran-Hormuz stalemate holds oil bid; Defense + Energy stay overweight. ADDs: HAL, SLB, BA, AVAV, KTOS, TXN.
April 23, 2026 · Thursday Edition Read →
Specialty · Heard on the Street
Dan Gallagher — Big Tech's AI Capex Is Now A Macro Variable
2026 hyperscaler AI capex on track to exceed $400B, larger than entire U.S. utility sector annual capex. ADD TXN (analog/power-mgmt proxy). Maintain NVDA, AVGO, GOOGL, MSFT + Power/Infra (ETN, VST, GEV).
WSJ · Heard on the Street Read →
Specialty · Editorial
WSJ Editorial — Iran's Drone Doctrine Tests The West
Shahed-class drone costs $20K; Patriot interceptor costs $4M. Asymmetry demands a new sleeve. Counter-Drone theme born today. ADD AVAV, KTOS; RTX/LMT/NOC benefit too.
WSJ A18 · Editorial Read →
Specialty · Op-Ed
Karl Rove — Democrats Court Their Own Peril
Coalition-not-tactics argument. If cycle resolves early, capex visibility accelerates in Energy + Defense. Reinforces overweights: XOM, CVX, COP, HAL, SLB + LMT, RTX, NOC, GD, BA.
WSJ A17 · Op-Ed Read →
Specialty · Op-Ed
Matthew Continetti — Why Democrats Cannot Quit Israel
Donor class vs activist base; primary fight coming. Aid-package politics remain bipartisan — Defense primes win either way. Stay overweight LMT, RTX, NOC, GD, HII, BA.
WSJ A17 · Op-Ed Read →
Specialty · Op-Ed
Sadanand Dhume — Pakistan's Quiet Pivot Toward Israel
Expanded intel-sharing with Israel is public surface of year-long realignment. FMS pipeline expands if it holds. Reinforces Defense overweight: LMT, RTX, NOC.
WSJ A17 · Op-Ed Read →
Specialty · Editorial
WSJ Editorial — RFK Jr., The Oncologists And The FDA
HHS accelerated-approval reforms face organized cancer-center pushback. Hold UNH, LLY; avoid speculative oncology biotech until pathway resolution is clearer.
WSJ A18 · Editorial Read →
Specialty · Heard on the Street
Jonathan Weil — Private Credit's First Real Stress Test
Default rates cross into mid-single digits for first time at scale. Large BDCs reporting non-accruals that look like the syndicated loan market. Reinforce avoid.
WSJ · Heard on the Street Read →
Specialty · Streetwise
Spencer Jakab — Meme Stock Era Is Not Over, It Has Moved
AVIS, SAVE, regional banks squeeze pattern. Keep on special-situation watchlist for tactical sleeves only — tiny sizing, not core.
WSJ · Streetwise Read →
Specialty · Editorial
WSJ Editorial — The Supreme Court's Gerrymander Mistake
Rucho (2019) produced exactly the state-court chaos critics predicted. Policy uncertainty favors large-cap quality + dividend coverage; avoid policy-binary mid-caps.
WSJ A18 · Editorial Read →
Specialty · Review & Outlook
Barton Swaim — The Real Story Behind The Latest SCOTUS Leak
Leaks now signal internal coalitions, not just outcomes. Three current cases (Chevron, 340B, in-house ALJs) touch names we own. Use volatility on opinion days.
WSJ · Review & Outlook Read →
Specialty · Op-Ed
Andrew Cuomo — How New York Should Rebuild Penn Station
MSG lease is the obstacle, not the design. Watch midtown-west REITs + infrastructure primes if procurement turns real. Modest sizing until contract awards arrive.
WSJ A17 · Op-Ed Read →
Specialty · Greater New York
Ray Kelly — What's Next For Greater NY
Two-tier recovery: trophy buildings at/above pre-pandemic, B/C class at structural vacancy. Stay concentrated in trophy REITs; avoid B/C office.
WSJ · Greater New York Read →
Specialty · Bookshelf
Henry Hitchings — Shakespeare's Other Inheritances
The vocabulary of money — collateral, premium, dividend — entered English through the plays. A reminder: vocabulary is what scares clients into inaction.
WSJ · Books / Bookshelf Read →
Specialty · Bookshelf
Clarence Page — Robert Reich At 50: A Reckoning
50-year intellectual arc as a lens on the Democratic coalition. Long-arc perspective piece for client conversations about political climate.
WSJ · Books / Bookshelf Read →
Specialty · Houses of Worship
Joseph Bottum — The Cheeseburger And The Soul Of America
Small pleasures as unifying institutions. Not a trade — a values piece for Q1 client touchpoints.
WSJ · Houses of Worship Read →
April 22 — WEDNESDAY
Warsh Grilled, Iran Talks Stall, TMUS-DT & SpaceX/Cursor $60B — Oil Back At $92
Senate grills Fed nominee Warsh; Tehran rejects talks; three mega-deals. All 7 themes hold; proposing 11th theme — Telecom Consolidation.
April 22, 2026 · Wednesday Edition Read →
Specialty · Business World
Holman Jenkins — From The 2019 Impeachment To Iran
Jenkins traces how Democratic tactical choices keep handing Trump strategic wins — Ukraine, Gaza, now Iran. Energy 18% + Defense 16% stay. CVX, XOM, HAL, RTX, NOC, LMT.
WSJ A15 · Business World Read →
Specialty · Bookshelf
Julian Baggini — Clairvoyance And Control (Véliz's Prophecy)
The real AI hazard is not that predictions are wrong but that they become self-fulfilling. Healthcare Innovation 4% theme stays; tilt AI/Cyber toward audit-trail names. PANW, CRWD, NET.
WSJ A15 · Bookshelf Read →
Specialty · Politics & Ideas
William Galston — The Upper Middle Class American Dream
Real wages up 38% in the 80th–95th percentile since 2000. Median household up 6%. Two-track economy. Consumer Disc quality only; WMT, COST.
WSJ A15 · Politics & Ideas Read →
Specialty · Leisure & Arts
Randy Maniloff — Major League Baseball At 150
Not a direct portfolio call. Adjacent read: Entertainment & Live Events. MLB betting handle up 22% YoY. DKNG, FLUT, MSGS.
WSJ A15 · Leisure & Arts Read →
Specialty · Foreign Policy
Tom Tugendhat — The Price Beijing Pays For Backing Tehran
China's Iran subsidy is costing it the Gulf and ASEAN. Defense 16% tilts to Pacific primes (LMT F-35, NOC B-21, RTX Aegis). Gulf energy wins twice.
WSJ A17 · Foreign Policy Read →
Specialty · Upward Mobility
Jason Riley — The Biggest AI Risk Is Foolish Policy
The real threat is not extinction — it's licensing regimes that lock in incumbents. AI/Cyber 20% tilts toward productivity-layer: PLTR, SNOW, DDOG. Open-source exposure via META Llama.
WSJ A17 · Upward Mobility Read →
Specialty · Op-Ed
Sekerke & Hanke — How To Ease The Fed Off QE
Proposed: Treasury-managed Resolution Fund auctions Fed legacy holdings in tranches. Short long-duration; own the belly. Financials 16% benefit from curve steepening. JPM, BAC, WFC, GS.
WSJ A17 · Op-Ed Read →
Specialty · Review & Outlook
R&O — Oncologists vs. The FDA And RFK Jr.
Practicing oncologists break with FDA on accelerated-approval immunotherapy. Healthcare Innovation 4%: LLY, VRTX, REGN, ISRG. UNH Q1 beat (+5%) is the set-up.
WSJ A16 · R&O Read →
Specialty · Review & Outlook
R&O — When Warren And Trump Agree (On The Fed)
Populist left and right converge on Fed critique. Gold 12% conviction holds; long-end Treasurys underweight stays. Dollar structural underweight. Favors EFA, VEA, EWJ.
WSJ A16 · R&O Read →
Specialty · Review & Outlook
R&O — A Quiet U.S. Favor For Xi Jinping (IMF Quotas)
IMF 16th quota review expands China voting share with no reciprocal concessions. China underweight holds. Frontier/EM debt reprices wider; EMB at risk. Defense offsets.
WSJ A16 · R&O Read →
Specialty · Personal Finance
Ashlea Ebeling — Unwed Couples Face A Messy Legal Landscape
Three documents close the worst gaps: will/trust, beneficiary designations, durable POA + health-care directive. CalSTRS/CalPERS survivor-election is permanent at retirement. Planning agenda item this quarter.
WSJ A11 · Personal Finance Read →
Specialty · Science Of Success
Ben Cohen — Advice To Apple's Next CEO (John Ternus)
Cook doubled AAPL market cap twice. Ternus inherits Monday. Three jobs: finish India, reach AI parity, settle EU DMA. AAPL hold don't chase at 32x fwd. MSFT, GOOGL relative winners if Apple fumbles.
WSJ B1 · Science of Success Read →
April 20 — MONDAY
Iran Endgame Uncertain, Oil Grinds Back Toward $90, And A Stealth Manufacturing Boom Gets Its First Headline
Iran cease-fire expiring Tuesday. All 7 themes hold; proposing 10th theme — Healthcare Innovation.
April 20, 2026 · Monday Edition Read →
Specialty · Capital Account
Greg Ip — America's Stealth Manufacturing Boom
Factory production +2.3% YoY, shipments +4.2%, Boeing deliveries +72%. Ip argues 50 years of decline is ending. Three baskets: Defense (LMT, RTX, NOC, GD, BA, TXT), Power/Infra (ETN, PWR, VRT, GEV, EMR), Semi Equipment (AMAT, LRCX, KLAC, ASML, TXN).
WSJ A1 · Capital Account Read →
Specialty · Inside View
Andy Kessler — Viz.ai And The AI Healthcare Pathway
Viz.ai reads stroke CT scans in under 6 minutes. Medicare reimburses $1,040 per scan. Deployed at 1,700 hospitals. Trigger for our new 10th theme: Healthcare Innovation / Oncology (RMED, BMY, AMGN, LLY, RXRX).
WSJ A13 · Inside View Read →
Specialty · Streetwise
James Mackintosh — Why The S&P Rally Rests On One-Offs
Strip tariffs, AI capex, and dollar weakness out of S&P EPS and growth looks closer to 4% than 12%. Defensive sleeves that earn their keep: short-duration Treasuries (SGOV, JPST), Gold (GLD, NEM), staples (PG, KO, MCD, WM, VZ).
WSJ B1 · Streetwise Read →
Specialty · Americas
Mary Anastasia O'Grady — The Trouble In Trump's Venezuela
Venezuela is the inverse-Iran oil trade. Chevron licensed back but PDVSA infrastructure has decayed. Iran/Venezuela/Saudi triangle is the marginal-barrel story of 2026. Energy theme stays at 18%: CVX, XOM, COP, EOG, FANG, OXY, SLB, HAL.
WSJ A13 · Americas Read →
Specialty · Sports
Jason Gay — How Should LIV Be Remembered?
Sports is business. LIV took the players but never built a sticky audience; PGA Tour + PIF framework agreement re-centered elite golf. Read-through: live rights compound (DIS, CMCSA, NFLX, AMZN), sports betting (DKNG, FLUT, CHDN), league equity (MSGS, MSGE).
WSJ A16 · Sports Read →
Specialty · Life Science
Allysia Finley — The Life-Science Political Risk Map
IRA second-wave drug pricing is live; FDA stable but cautious; psychedelic and rare-disease pipelines are the bright spots after Trump's EO. Backs our 10th theme: RMED, BMY, AMGN, LLY, RXRX, SDGR, RLAY.
WSJ A15 · Life Science Read →
Specialty · Opinion
Roland Fryer — The Economics Of Religion
Fryer quantifies trust networks: one-sigma increase in attendance correlates with 8-12% higher earnings, controlling for income, geography, education. A planning piece, not a trade — but one that reframes how we talk to clients about community and legacy.
WSJ A15 · Opinion Read →
Specialty · Review & Outlook
WSJ R&O — Yale Takes Itself To Reform School
Yale rolls back some DEI overhead; Ivy admissions re-requires SAT/ACT for 2026-27; institutional neutrality re-adopted. Endowment-flow read-through: PE (BX, KKR, APO), asset managers (BLK, TROW, BEN), for-profit education (LRN, CHGG, STRA).
WSJ A14 · Review & Outlook Read →
Specialty · Bookshelf
D.G. Hart — Bookshelf Review Of Sutton's Chosen Land
Long-horizon framing for generational wealth planning. Estate tools ($27.22M exemption, 30% AGI rule, DAFs) plus the Gold sleeve as a 20-year hedge.
WSJ A13 · Bookshelf Read →
April 18 — WEEKEND
Iran De-Escalates, Hormuz Opens — Records Stretch, Oil Cracks 11%, 8th Theme Proposed
Oil cracks 11% on the week; Nasdaq best run since 2020. Proposing 8th theme — Nuclear & Critical Minerals.
April 18, 2026 · Weekend Edition Read →
Specialty · Intelligent Investor
"It's Getting Harder To Tell Investing From Gambling" — Jason Zweig's B1 Column
The WSJ weekend Intelligent Investor column names the blurring line between speculation and allocation: Kalshi, Polymarket, 0DTE options, single-stock-leveraged ETFs, and re-platformed gambling apps have created genuinely ambiguous territory. Zweig's ask of advisors: "If you can't tell a client whether their position is an investment or a bet, you haven't done the work." Our client-book guidance: separate the bet sleeve from the allocation sleeve and size it honestly. Bring the question to your next review.
April 18, 2026 · WSJ Weekend Read →
Specialty · Tax Report
You've Filed 2025. Now Here's What Matters For 2026 — A Capital Wealth Planning Read
Laura Saunders's Tax Report lays out the 2026 limits: 401(k) at $24,500, IRA/Roth at $7,500, SS wage base at $176,100, HSA family at $8,750. Four planning levers shift materially for CalSTRS/CalPERS/ households: 403(b) payroll update (do in April), backdoor Roth, QCDs ($108K cap), and 529-to-Roth rollovers. Checklist inside.
April 18, 2026 · WSJ Weekend Read →
Specialty · A13 Op-ed
"To Beat China, Embrace Open-Source AI" — Ramaswamy & Perault On The Platform Question
A13 op-ed argues the US AI lead is a deployment lead, not a compute lead — and deployment requires open weights. Investment map: META strengthens (Llama platform), NVDA wins either way (GPUs run both stacks), MSFT/GOOG face real margin questions, cyber/infrastructure (VRT, CRWD, PANW) stays defensive. Our sleeve stays platform-diversified.
April 18, 2026 · WSJ Weekend Read →
Specialty · A11 Essay
"America Loses Its Will To Work" — Barton Swaim's Labor-Force Essay
Prime-age labor participation still short of 2019 despite 4.2% unemployment. Swaim argues a meaningful share of the gap is cultural rather than economic. Planning impact for our book: lower dual-income re-entry probability to 30%, flag Social Security credit gaps for households supporting non-earning adults, add caregiver-lost-earnings to LTC conversations.
April 18, 2026 · WSJ Weekend Read →
Specialty · Cross Country
"Water, Water Everywhere—Except In California's Reservoirs" — Ring On Water Infrastructure
California reservoirs at 68% of average despite a wet spring. Ring's Cross Country column frames the gap as structural, not climatic. Our water/infrastructure sleeve names: XYL (picks-and-shovels), AWK (regulated utility), WTR, WMS. For California-resident clients, a hedge on household cost-of-living as much as a portfolio holding.
April 18, 2026 · WSJ Weekend Read →
Specialty · Declarations
"Trump Meets His Match In Pope Leo" — Peggy Noonan On The American Pontiff
Noonan's A13 Declarations column frames Pope Leo XIV — the first American Pope — as a figure whose quiet moral authority is reshaping political discourse. Not an allocation story, but a civic one worth reading. Client-letter folder, not portfolio folder.
April 18, 2026 · WSJ Weekend Read →
April 17
Day 5 Post-Blockade — Blockade Goes Global, Private Equity Takes the Pentagon, Mega-Layoffs Arrive
Iran widens the blockade; records across the board. Seven-for-seven on themes. Adds: TSM, MP, ALB, PEP.
April 17, 2026 Read →
April 16
Fed Chief in the Crosshairs — Pentagon Opens Its Books to Detroit
Trump moves on Powell; Pentagon courts GM, Ford, GE, OSK for wartime munitions. Two defense adds.
April 16, 2026 Read →
April 15
S&P Hits Record 7,022 — Banks Crush, ASML Raises, Strait Still Shut
S&P 500 breaks 7,000. Morgan Stanley posts record quarter; utilities pledge $1.4T grid overhaul for AI.
April 15, 2026 Read →
April 14 — NEW
Day 2 Post-Blockade — Gold Hits Record as Allies Split
Gold at $4,761 all-time high. Full scenario analysis and portfolio playbook.
April 14, 2026 Read →
Week 7 — Blockade
Blockade Day — The Strait of Hormuz Becomes a Battlefield
Navy orders Hormuz blockade. Brent at $100, gold at record. Playbook for the phase that began.
April 13, 2026 Read →
Q1 2026 — NEW
Q1 2026 Portfolio Report — Full Performance Review
CW Aggressive +13.4% vs S&P −2.1%. 35 positions, sector allocation, Q2 strategy.
April 3, 2026 Read →
Halal Investing
Sharia-Compliant Portfolios — Eid Mubarak Edition
Halal-screened portfolios across energy, AI, defense, and real assets.
March 2026 Read →
March 28 — Latest
Where to Invest Now — Iran Conflict Market
Day 28 of the conflict. Three scenarios, sector playbook, portfolio strategies.
March 28, 2026 Read →
Real Estate
Refinancing, ARMs & Mortgages — What You Need to Know
Fixed vs. adjustable, when to refinance, and how Iran-conflict rates affect your home loan.
March 2026 Read →
Income Strategy
Replacing Bonds With Dividends
Why dividend equities may outperform fixed income. Yield, risk-adjusted returns, tax efficiency.
March 2026 Read →
50 Stocks — NEW
50 Best Stocks to Own in 2026 & Forward Projections
WSJ-researched, CW-validated. Thesis, 12-month targets, Q2–Q4 sector projections.
April 3, 2026 Read →
Recession-Ready
Recession Portfolio — Dividends, Defense & Real Assets
3-tier defensive portfolio — dividend funds, defensive growth, cash hedges. Any market.
April 2026 Read →
2026 Taxes
2026 Tax Numbers — What Changed & What It Means For You
Brackets, retirement limits, SALT caps, CalSTRS/CalPERS guidance. Plain English.
2026 Tax Year Read →
Retirement Planning
9 Ways Your Retirement Planning Changes in 2026
401(k) up to $24,500, Social Security COLA +2.8%, new 60–63 super catch-up.
AARP · 2026 Read →
