The midterms may move markets on headlines. Active investors can find opportunity where political perception diverges from company fundamentals.

Election noise can distort market signals. Jim Lydotes looks beyond the headlines at consumers, AI infrastructure, and defense demand.

Utilities may be a fat pitch, policy curveballs may miss banks, and markets are differentiating the contenders of AI adoption.

AI companies face a trust test, cost pressure is spreading, and the Fed’s blunt tool may not reach the real bottlenecks.

Small caps just got cheaper, energy still looks compelling, and defense stocks haven’t caught up to a wave of major contract wins.

Is a home décor boom hiding inside the housing market freeze? Plus data center NIMBYs creating an opening for new winners in the AI trade, and slimming corporate margins.

Are consumers becoming more tolerant of roaches, or simply less tolerant of rising costs (even for pest control)? Plus, hunting for the next leg of AI winners.

Low-volatility stocks look cheap, AI may be helping hiring, and banks are turning higher rates into a tailwind.

Lower income households are getting a raise, increasing capex estimates signal confidence, and small businesses are catching up in their use of AI.

Jim Lydotes flips the timer on a retail energy deal, thinner consumer cushions, and how index rebalancing shows why investors should look beneath the market surface.