So far in 2025 the Magnificent 7 have been lagging behind. They’re actually last behind all the others.
Edward Jones via Spilled Coffee
2. Another Stat on Concentration of Market…The Number of Growth Stocks Shrinking
Rare Growth: Another interesting angle on US markets is how undiversified things are becoming, especially on the growth side — the chart below shows the Russell 1000 growth index down to a record low 394 names mid last year, while the Value index at a record high 871 (much more diversified). And as for concentration within that, “the top 10 weights of the Russell 1000 Growth Index comprise 61.0% of the index, compared to the Russell 1000 Value Index at 17.2%.” Stark stuff.
Glenmede
3. Small Cap Close to Record Amount of Days Below Highs
Equities: Here is the number of days the Russell 2000 has remained below its previous high.
Daily Shot
4. Airbus vs. Boeing
Abnormal Returns
5. Amazon Passes Walmart in Revenues
Sherwood
6. 2025 Daily Market Data
Ryan Detrick
7. Commodities Leader Glencore Chart New Lows
StockCharts
8. Tech Stock AKAM Back to 2023 Levels
StockCharts
9. Russia/China Trade
Russia’s leader briefed his Chinese counterpart on recent talks with the US, underlining their close ties even as Washington purportedly seeks to draw Moscow away from Beijing. The telephone conversation Monday afternoon came as The Wall Street Journal noted that the two countries’ militaries are “working together as never before,” accelerating the pace of joint military exercises in the Pacific, from near Alaska to the Philippines. The US strategy of prying the pair apart will be challenging, the Journal’s chief foreign-affairs correspondent noted, pointing to China and Russia’s deepening relationship that ranges from military and intelligence cooperation to economic support, and the potential cost for Washington of alienating its allies in Europe.
Semafor
10. We Have Power
Via The Daily Stoic: Epictetus’s most powerful line teaches us that it’s not events that upset us, but what we think about those events that causes our distress.
His insight reveals that our perception of an obstacle, disadvantage, or trial—our subjective understanding—holds more power than the objective reality itself.
Consider this: if you convince yourself that inadequate teachers are the reason you’re not as smart as others, you’ll struggle with learning throughout your life. While your teachers may indeed have been subpar, the limiting story you’ve chosen to believe is the real obstacle. Someone who reframes the same experience differently—“I rose above my underperforming schools through my hunger for learning” or “My street smarts compensate for gaps in my formal education”—will achieve far more in life.
As Epictetus said:
“Sickness is an impediment to the body but not to the will unless the will wants to be impeded. Lameness is an impediment to the leg, but not to will. If you tell yourself this every time, you will find the impediment is to something else but not to yourself.”
Remember, he spoke these words as someone with a crippled leg (sustained during his time as a slave, no less). He refused to let his physical impairment define his identity. Rather than embracing a narrow, self-pitying narrative about being broken or deprived, his teachings consistently reflect a more empowering story: he had discovered his true strength, and no one could diminish his spirit, no matter what they did.
This is the narrative we should embrace. Yes, we have problems, but we are not the problem. We have flaws but we are not flawed. We may act foolishly at times, but that doesn’t make us fools. We determine what things mean. We choose what truly counts as an obstacle.
S&P 500 TTM operating EPS are on pace to hit another record high (75% of companies have reported Q4 earnings), up 9.5% over the past year.
Biello
2. Largest 50 Stock XLG Sideways Channel…Which Way Will It Break?
StockCharts
3. BuyBack Window is Wide Open
GS noted, “We now estimate ~80% of the S&P 500 are in open window with ~85% in open window by the end of the week. We are expecting open window to run for another month.”
4. From Dave Lutz at Jones Trading
39% of February FMS investors say a recessionary trade war is the biggest ‘tail risk’, overtaking inflation causing Fed to hike (31%), and followed by AI bubble (13%).” – BofA Fund Manager Survey.
BofA
5. Natural Gas +23% Year to Date -UNG
StockCharts
6. MSCI Europe Up 2x U.S. 2025
Nasdaq
7. Chinese Internet Stocks Stop Right at October Highs…
StockCharts
8. Housing Market—Toll Bros -33% from Highs…Earnings Yesterday
StockCharts
9. Lowest Rents for Singles
NYT
10. Warren Buffett and Mark Cuban Agree: This Is the Best Investment You Will Ever Make
Buffett and Cuban certainly value investing in and owning businesses, but both agree this investment makes an even bigger difference.
Via INC: Plenty of people ask Warren Buffett for investment advice. No surprise, since over his lifetime—and as a result, at least in part due to what he calls the Methuselah effect—Buffett has turned a $10 million net worth at age 30 into an estimated $147 billion.
Plenty of people also ask Mark Cuban for investing advice. Not necessarily for the stock market, but as a longtime panelist on Shark Tank, for investing in startups and small businesses.
Those are clearly different forms of investing, but what does each say when asked to name the best investments they’ve ever made?
Warren Buffett’s Best Investment
Buffett doesn’t feel investing in stocks, or even businesses, is the best investment you can make.
As Buffett says:
Generally speaking, investing in yourself is the best thing you can do. Anything that improves your own talents; nobody can tax it or take it away from you. They can run up huge deficits and the dollar can become worth far less. You can have all kinds of things happen.
But if you’ve got talent yourself, and you’ve maximized your talent, you’ve got a tremendous asset that can return 10-fold.
Improving your skills, gaining experience, broadening your perspective, expanding your network—unlike many other investments, those things don’t depreciate in value. Inflation doesn’t lessen their value.
Once you gain a skill, it can never be taken away from you—and on the flip side, can be leveraged for the rest of your life.
Mark Cuban’s Best Investment
Here’s what Cuban said when asked by Men’s Health to name some of the best investments he’s ever made:
Some of the best investments I’ve ever made were investing in myself, first and foremost. When you’re first starting, you may or may not have a job. You don’t have any money. You’re at a complete uncertainty about your career.
What I learned early on is that if I put in the effort, I can learn almost anything. It may take me a long time, but by putting in the effort I taught myself technology, I taught myself to program … it was time-consuming, painfully so, but that investment in myself has paid dividends for the rest of my life.
I learned that learning truly is a skill … and that by continuing to learn to this day, I can compete and get ahead of most people, because the reality is most people don’t put in the time to learn.
And that’s always given me a competitive advantage.
Knowledge, once gained, can never be taken away—and can be applied to the rest of your life, for the rest of your life. Investing in yourself will produce better long-term results than any other investment you can make, if only because investing in yourself is one of the few investment outcomes you can almost totally control.
Learn to sell—a skill Cuban feels is crucial to business success—and you can forever generate revenue. Learn to understand the basics of accounting and finance—a skill Buffett feels is crucial to business success—and you can forever analyze and improve your business.
Put in effort. Get a return. Guaranteed ROI. No wonder investing in yourself—your knowledge, your skills, your experience—is the best investment you can make.
Weekly ETF flows. “Over past week, U.S. large-cap equity ETFs had most outflows (nearly $2.8B) while agg bond funds had most inflows (nearly $2.2B).
Arbor Data via LIz Ann Sonders
3. Bonds During Recent Stock Drawdowns
Capital Group
4. Euro Stock Large Cap 50 Breaks Out to New Highs
StockCharts
5. FinTech VC Activity Higher…Back to 2022 Levels
PitchBook
6. The End the “de minimis” Duty-Free Import Provision Hits Shein IPO Valuation
Shein faces investor pressure to slash valuation to $30 billion ahead of London IPO, Bloomberg News reports
Via Reuters: Online fast-fashion retailer Shein is under pressure to cut its valuation to about $30 billion ahead of its London listing, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Its shareholders are suggesting that an adjustment is required to help get the potential initial public offering in the UK over the line, Bloomberg News reported.
A spokesperson for Shein declined to comment.
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Earlier this month, Reuters reported that Shein was set to cut its valuation in the potential London listing to around $50 billion, nearly a quarter less than the company’s fundraising value of $66 billion in 2023, amid growing headwinds.
Shein is aiming to go public in London in the first half of this year, assuming it secured approvals from regulators in the UK and China, Reuters reported.
The Financial Times reported last week that Shein’s listing was likely to be postponed to the second half of this year after U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to end the “de minimis” duty-free import provision.
7. Walmart Sell Off Yesterday…Back to 50-Day
StockCharts
8. U.S. Superstores Good Start to Year
Business Insider
9. Four Ways to Get More Deep Sleep over 50
Via The Telegraph: While many of us tend to assume poorer sleep is a natural part of ageing, Dr Sabia urges over-50s to do everything they can to strive for more deep sleep.
“There are so many reasons for us not to get enough quality sleep – we live in a society where it isn’t prioritised,” she says. ‘But it is essential for brain health.
1. Get into daylight every morning If we do one thing to improve our sleep, she advises: “Get up at the same time every day and get outside into daylight to regulate your circadian rhythm.”
Studies have shown that bright light therapy, in which people with dementia sit in front of a light box for 30 minutes every morning, can help reduce their sleep disturbances by reinforcing their body clock. Scientists are currently exploring whether this kind of therapy could be used to prevent the disease.
In the meantime, research has proved that making efforts to regulate our circadian rhythm, including exposure to natural light in the daytime, avoiding blue light from screens before bedtime and blocking out light at night using an eye mask or blackout blinds, can help us get better-quality, deeper sleep.
2. Keep naps short It’s tempting, following a restless night, to try to catch up the following day, but this doesn’t offer the same brain benefits as night-time sleep, says Dr Sabia.
“Napping doesn’t result in the same deep cleaning as happens during the night,” she says. “It can also interfere with good quality nighttime sleep, particularly if you enter deep sleep during the nap as this means getting less deep sleep at night.”
3. Try pink noise Sleep researchers at the University of Cardiff are working on sounds that may help to boost deep sleep, including soft “clicks” played to sleepers as they approach the peak of their brain activity during slow wave sleep. Their research has shown this can increase deep sleep.
Until the technique is marketed as a gadget we can use at home, it’s worth trying pink noise. A small recent study by researchers in Zurich found that playing pink noise, which includes sounds such as falling rain, a flowing river, crashing ocean waves or rustling leaves, enhanced slow wave brain activity during deep sleep in some participants.
4. Limit alcohol in the evening Moderate drinking has not been linked to an increased risk of dementia, but research has proved a link between alcohol and diminished sleep quality.
Drinking tends to increase slow wave sleep in the first half of the night, but in the second half, all stages of sleep are disrupted, leading to frequent wakings. Ideally, it’s best to avoid alcohol for three hours before bed. Avoiding caffeine for at least seven hours before bedtime is also recommended, as it significantly reduces slow wave sleep.
10. Martial Arts Training Can Help You Change Your Mind
Key points
Martial arts training can have widespread holistic health benefits.
Changes in brain activity patterns related to mindfulness and meditation occur even with 12 weeks of training.
Martial arts training stimulates neuroplasticity benefiting health, function, and creativity.
Via Psychology Today: When I was an undergraduate in the late 1980s, I did several research projects on the physiology of martial arts. At that time, there were only a handful of published scientific research on physiology, psychology and martial arts. There are now hundreds appearing every year. Often such studies are cross-sectional, meaning a group that do some martial arts are assessed on various measures and contrasted with “control” folks who don’t. There are far fewer experimental studies, especially related to measures in exercise neuroscience, which is why a recent study caught my eye.
Young Adults Kung Fu Fighting Are Also Fast as Lightning
Min Wang, Kurusart Konharn, Wichal Eungpinichpong, Sawitri Wanpen, and Paramaporn Sangpara from Huzhou University in China and Khon Kaen and Rajabhat Mahasarakham Universities in Thailand wanted to know if there were measurable changes in electroencephalographic (EEG) power bands arising from martial arts training. To answer this question, they conducted an intervention study that saw young (18-22) adults train tai chi forms for about 45 minutes, three days per week for 12 weeks. The comparison age-matched non-intervention group maintained their activity levels. Before and after the intervention, resting state EEG power bands were assessed along with measures of physical capacity including handgrip strength, explosive leg power, balance, and flexibility.
Much Ado About Brain Power
The key outcome from this study was that alpha band (8-12 Hz) power increased in the martial arts but not in the non-intervention group. Alpha band power is associated with performance of skilled motor acts, creativity, meditation, and mindfulness. As such, the martial arts training led to measurable changes associated with a calm and focused mindset. The authors also note that “….alpha band have been associated with the relaxation response, which is the body’s natural counterbalance to stress….” and thus martial arts training may contribute to overall holistic health. It is also important to point out that often studies of tai chi in particular are done with older populations. These results are important to emphasize the important role of martial arts as lifelong health activities.
Neuroplasticity Spills Over to Other Activities
That tai chi training, even for only 12 weeks, can enhance physical fitness and alpha-band power in college students highlights possible health benefits. Additionally, the authors of this study suggest that, since alpha band power was enhanced after training, it “may contribute to the experience of ‘flow’ or being in the zone during exercise. Flow is a state of optimal performance characterized by deep focus, heightened awareness, and a sense of effortless action. Alpha band have been observed in individuals experiencing flow states during various activities.”
This observation underscores an important characteristic of health benefiting activities—that they apply to other things. Martial arts training not only improves health related to the trained activity but may enhance capacity in many other activities. This nicely highlights my all time favorite martial arts quote from the 16th-century Samurai Miyamoto Musashi: “The true science of martial arts means practicing them in such a way that they will be useful at any time, and to teach them in such a way that they will be useful in all things.”
Martial arts training can clearly enhance many aspects of holistic health. So, if you are already training, please continue, or if you are considering giving martial arts a go, please do so as well. Many benefits for body, brain, mindfulness, and creativity await.
