Capital markets responded positively on Monday to reports surrounding a new U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at ending the recent conflict and reopening the Strait of Hormuz. The agreement called for halting hostilities and beginning a new round of negotiations covering Iran's nuclear program, free passage of naval traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, sanctions relief, and broader regional security issues.

In 2026, we expect investment in artificial intelligence (AI) in the U.S. to nearly double. This will bring AI infrastructure spending to roughly $760 billion, with spending expected to exceed $1.0 trillion next year, eclipsing the total budget for the Defense Department.

Private credit has become one of the fastest growing segments of global capital markets. Once viewed as a niche alternative investment strategy, it has evolved into a significant source of financing for small and middle market companies.

After spending the last 36 years in Pioneer Tower, this week, we moved into our new Portland office location just two blocks away in Fox Tower. This comes with significantly different views, and while the view out our window has changed, the economic landscape and investing environment we work in took scant notice of our change of address.

Bond markets have sold off sharply in recent weeks as investors react to rising oil prices, renewed inflation concerns and growing global fiscal pressures. The U.S. 30-year Treasury yield recently moved above 5.1%, reaching levels not seen in more than two decades and reigniting concerns about the impact of higher rates on both stocks and bonds.

Over the last seven weeks, the historic upward trajectory of semiconductor stock prices has given some investors flashbacks to the “bubble peak” of 2000. While these comparisons make dramatic news headlines, they largely neglect the backdrop that fueled the events of nearly 30 years ago.

The numbers coming out of the first quarter earnings season were, by any historical standard, staggering. Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft and Meta, the four largest cloud and technology platforms, accounted for $650 to $700 billion in capital expenditures (capex) for 2026. That is nearly double what the same group spent in 2025, and larger than the GDP of most countries. The AI infrastructure buildout is no longer a promise; it is a fact inscribed in balance sheets.

The 152nd Kentucky Derby is being run this Saturday, and earnings reports are coming in like Secretariat in 1973. Roughly 60% of the S&P 500 companies have reported to date and results so far have been strong.

Aside from the three-week extension of a brittle ceasefire in the Middle East, the news this week was focused on SpaceX’s pre-IPO filings, Kevin Warsh’s Congressional testimony, and blowout earnings among semiconductor companies.

Fifty years is a long time for a company to stay in business. For those in the technology industry, it’s an eternity. Entire categories have been born, scaled, and rendered obsolete in less than a decade.