0:10
📉🫨 NVDA’s $1T Slide
Happy Wednesday all,
Humphrey here! Just got back from Norway last week and had an excellent time relaxing, hiking, and visiting Geirangerfjord: one of the places I had wanted to visit ever since I was a teenager. Back then, I found out about it from a desktop wallpaper pack that I downloaded. Here’s a pic that I took (with the long exposure setting on):
Now, it’s time to get back to work. Exciting videos upcoming on the channel, including an updated version of 401(k) balances by every age group, for 2026. I hope you tune in this week!
Enjoy this week’s Hump Days!
- Humphrey & Rickie
Minutes from the Fed’s June 16-17 meeting under new Chairman Kevin Warsh revealed that a few officials explicitly argued for raising rates at that meeting, though the committee ultimately voted unanimously to hold.
More broadly, the minutes showed policymakers increasingly concerned about inflation even as labor market worries receded slightly, where nine of nineteen now see at least one rate hike this year and six expect at least two.
The Fed laid out two key scenarios: if inflation moderates, rates stay put or eventually fall; but if elevated AI-driven demand, high energy prices, and tariffs keep inflation hot, “some policy firming would likely be warranted.”
Those concerns were validated a week later when the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, the PCE index, came in at 4.1% year-over-year, the hottest reading since April 2023.
The next key data point is June CPI on July 14, the same day Warsh testifies before the House Financial Services Committee for the first time as chairman.
Markets are currently pricing in one to two quarter-point rate hikes before year-end.
The U.S. launched strikes on more than 80 sites in Iran overnight, deploying nearly 40 fighter jets and drones against air defense systems, command networks, and coastal radar installations.
Trump said further strikes were likely and threatened to reimpose the naval blockade on Iranian ports that was lifted as part of the interim peace deal, as well as potential strikes on desalination and power infrastructure.
The U.S. also revoked the oil sales waiver it had granted Iran, effectively ripping up a key economic concession from the June memorandum of understanding.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry declared the interim deal “ineffective,” and an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader promised an “immediate response.” Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it struck U.S. military bases in Kuwait and Bahrain in retaliation.
Negotiations are also currently suspended as Iran holds a weeklong state funeral for Supreme Leader Khamenei, who was assassinated on the first day of the conflict in February.
Nvidia’s stock has fallen 16% from its May all-time high, erasing roughly $1 trillion in market value and leaving the company trading at just 18 times forward earnings, cheaper than the S&P 500 (20x) and the Nasdaq 100 (23x), and the lowest valuation since before the AI boom began in early 2019.
Wall Street has actually been raising earnings estimates, and Nvidia still commands a staggering 97% share of the server GPU market. Instead, the AI trade has rotated.
Investors have shifted their enthusiasm toward memory chip makers like Micron (up 229% this year) and SK Hynix, as well as rivals AMD and Intel, which have both doubled or tripled in 2026.
For investors, the disconnect between Nvidia’s valuation and its fundamentals is striking. The company is projected to deliver $228 billion in profit on $393 billion in revenue in fiscal 2027, growth of roughly 90% and 82% respectively.
4:03
Hack With Dora
Hey, I’m Dora, and welcome to another edition of GWY Weekly!
Something interesting has been happening over the last year or so.
A lot more people are talking about AI.
Fewer are actually building with it.
And that gap becomes very obvious, very quickly.
Because reading, watching, and even experimenting a little
feels very different from sitting down and actually shipping something real.
That’s the shift we care about.
So alongside the fellowship, we’re doing something a bit more intense:
DoraHacks 2.0
Got an idea…
but people say you’re “not technical enough” to build it?
Or maybe you can build…
but don’t have a team to actually launch it right?
Well, that ends now.
Hack With Dora 2.0 is a global, fully remote hackathon where you go from idea → working product using AI + no-code tools.
What it actually looks like:
Build & scale an AI-powered product in 72 hours
Launch it publicly on Product Hunt, not just for your resume, but for real authority
Get real users, real feedback, real traction
and and the best part , you’ll be building alongside a global community,
with 50+ mentors (Google, OpenAI, Microsoft, Amazon, NASSCOM, Lovable , Cursor , Gemini and more….) helping you ship something real..
the kind of folks who’ve already been building in this space.
How do teams work?
You can apply solo or with a team(2-5).
If you’re coming in solo, we’ll help you find your people before the hackathon begins,
so no one is stuck building alone unless they want to.
What’s the timeline?
– Applications close: 10th August.
– Hackathon goes live: 20-22nd August (72 hours)
– Final showcase + outcomes: right after
We’re seeing this again and again,
the people who ship early are the ones who move fastest.
If this feels like something you want to experience, you can check it out here:
And if not, that’s completely okay too.
Either way, this is a good time to stop sitting on ideas
and start putting them into the world.
Hit reply and tell me what you think
about hackathons, about building in public, or about what’s stopping you from shipping your first AI product.
I read every one.
Cheers,
Dora
( @connectdoradao )
P.S. If you’ve been waiting to feel “ready” before building,
this is usually where people realise they already are.
6:31
Australia Agrees to Sell Uranium to India During Modi Visit
So, you know how India's been looking to boost its nuclear energy program? Well, during Narendra Modi's visit to Australia, the two countries agreed to a deal that'll see Australia sell uranium to India. The deal's worth around 1.5 billion Australian dollars, which is roughly 1 billion US dollars. This is a big move for India, as it's been looking to reduce its reliance on coal and fossil fuels, and nuclear energy's a key part of that plan.
Now, it's worth noting that this deal's been in the works for a while, but it's still a significant development. India's been trying to get its hands on more uranium for years, and this deal should help it meet its growing energy needs. Plus, it's a big win for Australia, which is looking to boost its uranium exports.
The deal's also a sign of the growing ties between Australia and India. The two countries have been working closely on a range of issues, from trade to security, and this deal's just the latest example of that. And, as a side note, it's interesting to see how India's nuclear energy program is shaping up – they're planning to build a bunch of new reactors in the next few years, which should help reduce their carbon emissions.
For listeners who want low-fee crypto exposure, our markets partner Kraken supports Bitcoin — link in show notes.
8:02
At work, being creative is a luxury some workers don’t have
Creativity at work is often framed as something important. But is the opportunity to actually be creative available to everyone?
Employees with more autonomy, seniority, or schedule flexibility may have greater room to step back, think laterally, and develop new ideas. By contrast, some experts say other workers—women, parents, caregivers, junior-level staff—may face tighter schedules, heavier workloads, and fewer chances to take part in creative problem-solving or brainstorming.
Fast Company talked to workplace experts who explained that, while time for unstructured thinking is great, it’s actually a privilege reserved for few people in an organization—and also what leaders can do to change that.
Workers who are higher up tend to have more control over their own schedules, and “often have more opportunities to step back, think strategically and explore new ideas,” says Fernanda Anzek, managing director at HR services platform Insperity in Houston. “Meanwhile, employees managing high-volume workloads or execution-focused responsibilities may have less time and fewer opportunities to do the same,” she adds.
Senior-level roles are often by nature built for more macro thinking and top-level strategy, which often demands creativity and an ability to think outside the box. But it creates an imbalance. To address this imbalance, organizations should prioritize broader access to creative exploration and implementation.
“Organizations that want to foster innovation need to recognize that creativity depends on both time and permission,” Anzek says. “If only certain employees have the space to think beyond day-to-day responsibilities, companies risk overlooking valuable ideas from the people closest to the work.
“The expectation for creativity and innovation should be clear across all roles,” she continues.
Earlier-career employees and those in execution-focused roles often spend much of the day responding to immediate priorities, she explains; meanwhile, parents and caregivers may also have less flexibility for informal brainstorming or after-hours collaboration. “These realities can limit opportunities for the uninterrupted thinking that often leads to innovation.”
Furthermore, for some women, parents and caregivers, the barrier isn’t imagination—it’s margin, according to Liz Holtzinger, a professor of communication, rhetoric, and leadership at Pennsylvania State University.
“When work pressures and home responsibilities tug in opposite directions, the low-risk move is usually to handle what’s immediately in front of you, not to spend the extra time, attention, and energy that original thinking often asks for,” Holtzinger says.
That’s why organizations need to be intentional and mindful creating opportunities for all types of workers—particularly “during the workday rather than relying on extra time or informal interactions,” Insperity’s Anzek explains.
Another factor that keeps creativity inaccessible to all is an aversion to risk.
“New ideas fail all the time, and plenty of workplaces don’t exactly hand out rewards for challenging how things have ‘always’ been done,” Holtzinger says. “So people make sensible choices based on the conditions they’re dealing with.
“Creativity isn’t only about generating ideas. It’s also about judgment, knowing when to press, when to adjust, and when a different method is worth the added effort,” she adds.
But in an era of constant layoffs and AI disruption, creativity isn’t as prioritized as much as simply staying afloat is.
Organizations see stronger results when they make it clear that everyone has a role in identifying opportunities, solving problems, and improving how work gets done, Anzek says. It’s about seeking creative solutions from everyone—not just those privileged with enough time, permission, or resources to do so.
“Employees closest to the work often have valuable insights that can lead to meaningful improvements,” she says.
Leaders can help shift the dynamic. By seeking input, recognizing ideas from every-level staff, and encouraging employees to speak up, they make creativity an expectation for everyone, not just management.
“Creating a more innovative culture starts with making creativity part of everyone’s job,” Anzek adds. That means designing roles that include opportunities for problem-solving, managing workloads so employees have time to think beyond immediate tasks, and building flexibility where possible.
Employee engagement helps drive a company’s momentum and success, so encouraging creativity is an all-around win.
“Creativity doesn’t thrive when people are exhausted or overwhelmed,” says Jonathan Alpert, a psychotherapist and author based in New York and Washington, D.C. “It usually emerges when people have enough breathing room to think beyond the next task.” So give people room to think, he suggests.
13:20
Long-Short SMAs Aim to Keep the Tax Losses Flowing
$4 trillion in SMA assets—about half of advisors now run separately managed accounts. That’s the backdrop for a growing tweak: long‑short SMAs that keep loss‑harvesting alive whether markets rise or fall.
The idea is simple. When a stock you’re short on climbs, the short position can be closed for a tax loss; when a long‑held stock drops, that loss shows up on the long side. By holding both sides, advisors can stretch the period over which they capture loss potential, rather than waiting for a prolonged bear market.
One pilot SMA posted roughly 15 % loss harvest in its first year, then settled into about 5 % annually. The upside is the extra loss runway, but the downside is added complexity, leverage costs, and a more involved unwind plan.
Bottom line: it’s a tool for high‑net‑worth clients with concentrated holdings, but it works best when paired with a coordinated tax, estate, and financial‑planning team.
14:26
Apple Edges Closer to Dethroning Nvidia After $30B Broadcom Chips Deal
Apple just locked down a $30 billion deal with Broadcom, one of the biggest US manufacturing deals in company history. This brings Apple closer to reclaiming the title of biggest US company by market cap – it's now just $300 billion behind Nvidia. Apple's shares have climbed nearly 1% on the news, and the company's stock has gained over 15% this year.
The deal's a big win for Apple's patient and cost-conscious approach to the AI era. Broadcom will supply custom radio connectivity chips and components for Apple devices, and the company's committing to invest $600 billion in US manufacturing over the next four years. This includes a $1.5 billion expansion of a Broadcom facility in Colorado, which will produce 15 billion chips and support hundreds of jobs.
Apple's also looking to reshore the primary logic chips powering its devices. It's already committed to buying chips from TSMC's Arizona fab and Intel. The company's working with the US administration to create an end-to-end silicon supply chain in America.
It's worth noting that Apple hasn't completely abandoned its China-based supply chain. It's lobbying Washington for clearance to buy memory chips from a Chinese firm, and it's raised prices on some devices due to an AI-related crunch on memory and storage.
For listeners who want low-fee crypto exposure, our markets partner Kraken supports Bitcoin — link in show notes.
On the markets — Kalshi traders have been actively repricing this story in the last day.
16:10
Delta Introduces Business Class on a Budget
The premium side of the airplane curtain is getting cut up into more classes than ancient Rome as airlines seek to squeeze extra dollars out of travelers’ budgets.
Delta, which is reporting earnings before the bell tomorrow, is introducing three new ticket types: two basic versions of business and first class fares, along with another option closer to the main cabin. Basic Business and First Basic tickets are geared toward fliers who want a bigger seat near the front of the plane and not much else. The tickets will be cheaper than their premium counterparts but come with trade-offs including no lounge access and no seat selection. There are also added fees for changing or canceling flights, similar to Basic Economy fares. Basic Business will be offered for lie-flat seats on long-haul flights while First Basic will be available for shorter domestic flights that typically don’t have business class.
Delta’s move mirrors what rival airlines are doing, creating more upsells to tempt travelers who want to upgrade from their knees hitting the back of the seat in front of them but don’t want to splurge on the full first-class experience.
The travel industry’s struggling to spread its wings during a $40 billion downturn. US tourism missed out on more than $16 billion last year and is heading down the runway toward an additional $21 billion deficit this year, Tourism Economics estimated.
Stateside travel has hit turbulence, too:
- Several surveys have found that Americans plan to travel less this summer than usual. Facing high fare costs, some vacationers are trading down and looking for ways to take a summer vacay on a budget (road trips, national parks). Airlines like Delta are leaning into the newfound frugality, betting that higher spenders may be more willing to trade down by skipping the lounge than by giving up their lie-flat seats.
- United pushed the multi-tier strategy into premium cabins this spring, announcing Polaris Base tickets that let fliers splurge on premium seats but save a few (hundred) dollars by skipping out on perks like accumulating miles.
Cruising Altitude: Over the years, major airlines have created different tiers of their economy class to capture customers who may want to spend on extra legroom or a window seat. But budget travel isn’t where the money’s at. As budget airlines see their planes turning tarmacs into yellow graveyards (ahem, Spirit), carriers are increasingly counting on champagne-sippers to lift their profits.
The post Delta Introduces Business Class on a Budget appeared first on The Daily Upside.
19:01
Investors Find a Fashion Faux-Pas in Levi’s Upbeat Earnings
Sometimes, markets can be a harsher judge than the fashion police.
Levi Strauss & Co. reported top- and bottom-line figures Wednesday that beat Wall Street’s second-quarter forecasts, hiked its earnings guidance and increased its dividend. Shares in the jeansmaker nonetheless fell 5% in after-hours trading. With demand for denim steady, why did investors react like it’s cheap rayon?
Denim Doubters
Under CEO Michelle Gass, who took the top job in 2024, Levi Strauss has pursued a multifaceted turnaround, pivoting to a higher-margin, direct-to-consumer model to offset reliance on wholesalers. This has included moving Levi’s distribution to a combination of owned and third-party locations from a purely owned-and-operated setup, something that will lead to the closure of a Kentucky distribution center, and the loss of some 300 jobs, next month. Most importantly, it’s working: DTC grew 10.5% in the company’s 2025 fiscal year, and 11% year-over-year in this year’s second-quarter results reported Wednesday.
It’s also gaining broader momentum: Companywide, revenue climbed 3% in Gass’ first year, then 4% in 2025 to $6.3 billion. In the most recent quarter, sales rose 8% to $1.6 billion, and profit of $87 million increased 30% from a year ago. All of these things bested analyst expectations, but the price of success is that investors start to expect more:
- Levi’s raised its sales growth forecast for the fiscal year ending November 29 to 7.0% to 7.5%, up from 5.5% to 6.5% previously.
- The company expects earnings of roughly $1.46 to $1.52 per share, with a $1.49 midpoint just below the $1.51 forecast from analysts surveyed by FactSet. That narrow miss was enough to send the stock careening, with investors making like Richard Blackwell on a bad morning.
Riding Higher: Levi’s hiked its quarterly dividend by 14% to 16 cents per share, or 64 cents a year, delivering an annual yield of about 2.6% based on the stock’s Wednesday closing price of $24.37. That’s better than the S&P 500’s roughly 1% and within the Goldilocks range that financial advisors consider relatively stable.
The post Investors Find a Fashion Faux-Pas in Levi’s Upbeat Earnings appeared first on The Daily Upside.
21:30
Should Advised Clients Automatically Become Accredited Investors?
It’s open season on private markets.
A new proposal introduced last week would recognize clients working with advisors as accredited investors and potentially give millions more Americans access to private equity, private credit and other alternative investments, previously reserved for institutions and wealthy individuals. The Informed Investor Access Act, introduced by Rep. Troy Downing (R-Mont.), fits neatly with a broader push by the Trump administration and congressional Republicans to expand access to private markets. “Building wealth should not be reserved only for those who are already wealthy,” he said in a statement.
But many advisors see a catch: More investor choice could also mean more liability and more opportunities for clients to get hurt. “Just having an advisor doesn’t make you qualified,” said Tara Unverzagt, president of South Bay Financial Partners. “Your advisor is very possibly not qualified to help you with private investments any more than you are.”
At present, an individual accredited investor has to have a net worth of over $1 million or make more than $200,000 a year consistently, according to the SEC, to gain access to more sophisticated investments like private funds. However, some Americans already technically have stakes in private equity because they’ve started their own business or funded the launch of one owned by a friend or family member. Do they need protection from investing in a private equity fund? “The question comes down to who should have the right to take risks in their investments,” Unverzagt told Advisor Upside. Still, those positioned to take higher risks don’t always choose to do so:
- About 13% of the US population qualify as accredited investors, primarily based on net worth, according to the Financial Planning Review from CFP Board.
- However, less than 5% of those millions of people report owning private market securities.
From Enron and the 2008 financial crisis to Bernie Madoff and the 2023 regional bank failures, many Americans have become less willing to let traditional financial institutions decide what they can and can’t buy. “Investors have seen too much corruption and fraud on Wall Street, and they want to be able to make their own decisions,” said veteran securities lawyer Bill Singer, who expects some version of the legislation to eventually pass.
He also sees downsides. Private investments can be lucrative for advisors, but they also invite scrutiny. “We’re seeing an increasing amount of lawsuits involving private investments,” he said. “That means advisors would get sued, too.”
Wouldn’t It Be Nice? Not everyone thinks broader access solves a real problem. Alvin Carlos, a CFP with District Capital Management, argued that a diversified, low-cost portfolio focused on public markets is more than enough to build wealth. He added that his clients, mostly in their 30s and 40s, aren’t clamoring for private assets. “That said, someday, it would be nice to have a low-cost private equity ETF or something like that,” he told Advisor Upside.
The post Should Advised Clients Automatically Become Accredited Investors? appeared first on The Daily Upside.
25:01
BlackRock Takes On Invesco, State Street With New Nasdaq-100 ETF
Three might just be a crowd.
The iShares Nasdaq 100 ETF (IQQ), launched by BlackRock, is expected to begin trading as early as today. With the new wrapper, BlackRock joins State Street, which introduced a similar fund two weeks ago, in competing with Invesco’s QQQ, long the only exchange-traded fund tracking the index. Now that three asset managers are offering nearly identical funds, advisors have a bevy of options for exposure to the index and its newest entrant, the aerospace and AI giant SpaceX. For many, the choice may come down to fees and brand recognition, but experts agree that Invesco certainly has the incumbent advantage.
“The Qs are, outside of SPY, probably the second-most famous, most well-known ticker,” said James Seyffart, a senior analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. “That’s still what most people and traders are going to use for their exposure, but for long-term, buy-and-hold investors and advisors, they’re going to be seriously considering these other products.”
Fees are among the main differences between the funds. For investors looking to gain new exposure to the Nasdaq, choosing a fund with a lower fee could make sense. But for those who already hold QQQ, or Invesco’s lower-fee index offering QQQM, a difference of a couple of basis points probably won’t be enough to move the needle, said Athanasios Psarofagis, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. “Let’s say all these launched at the same time, then I think the price would matter,” he said. “But trying to come in and go head to head with a product that’s so well established, it’s just harder.”
Fees for each Nasdaq-100 ETF are as follows:
- Invesco’s QQQ has the highest fee at 0.18%. QQQM’s fee is 0.15%.
- BlackRock’s IQQ will cost 0.12%, but the issuer is offering a waiver that brings the fee down to 0.10% through the end of next July.
- State Street’s SPDR Portfolio Nasdaq 100 ETF (QNDX) has the lowest fee at 0.10%.
BlackRock’s fee waiver has raised some eyebrows in the analyst community. “I don’t get what their approach is to try to do this temporary waiver, and then go back up to 12,” said Psarofagis. “Just come in at 10 basis points, like State Street did.”
All About LiQQQuidity. Invesco’s fund may cost more, but it also has more liquidity. “As the cornerstone of the Nasdaq-100 ecosystem, a half a trillion dollars of options are tied to QQQ, offering deep liquidity that will be difficult to displace,” Brian Hartigan, Invesco’s global head of ETF and Index investments, said in an email.
That liquidity matters, especially for institutional investors and short-term traders, said Bloomberg’s Seyffart. “You’re not even going to be considering these other ones, despite the lower fee.”
The post BlackRock Takes On Invesco, State Street With New Nasdaq-100 ETF appeared first on The Daily Upside.
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