30 Portfolio Signals Across 8 of Our Investing Themes

Signals

The dream of owning a home is becoming just that -- a dream -- for many Americans. Cyber attacks are reportedly taking aim at the nation's water and energy services as well as hospitals. And Meta (META) is eyeing subscription smart glasses, while Google (GOOGL) and Microsoft (MSFT) figure out data center capital spending plans. These are a few of the headlines we've gathered in this week's roundup of news signals that speak to our Pro Portfolio investments.

If you’ve come across a signal we should know about, be sure to drop a link in the Comment section below.

Aging Population

Aging population and longer life expectancies in the U.S. are fueling demand for independent living, assisted living and memory care housing to manage complex and acute health care needs, per JLL’s Spring 2026 Seniors Housing and Care Investor Survey and Trends Outlook. Read more here

National Healthcare Properties is moving closer to the public markets after filing for a U.S. initial public offering. The senior housing-focused real estate investment trust is aiming to capitalize on favorable demographic trends, particularly the growing elderly population in the United States. Read more here

Position: Labcorp (LH) ; Welltower (WELL)

Artificial Intelligence

The “Global AI Adoption in 2025” report found that 16.3 percent of the world’s population used generative artificial intelligence tools in the second half of the year, up from 15.1 percent earlier, underscoring rapid growth for a technology still in its early stages. Read more here

Canary Technologies, the global leader in hotel guest engagement technology, today released Navigating AI: Hospitality Shifts From Exploration to Execution, a global research study examining how hoteliers view AI’s impact and adoption across the industry. Based on insights from hospitality IT decision-makers, the report shows a clear shift: hotels are moving beyond exploring AI solutions and into implementation. Read more here

Artificial intelligence company Ambience Healthcare has launched Chart Chat for Nursing through a pilot partnership with Cleveland Clinic. Chart Chat for Nursing is an AI tool developed specifically for nurses and designed to integrate with electronic health records. The tool allows nurses to ask questions about a patients’ current status, pulling from documentation, labs, hospital policy and physician progress notes to populate responses. The tool also offers citations so nurses know the specific source of the information. Read more here

Fliggy has introduced flyai, a travel-focused AI skill designed to extend artificial intelligence applications beyond traditional productivity tools and into end-to-end travel planning and booking. The launch reflects a broader shift in how AI is being integrated into consumer-facing travel services, positioning travel as a key vertical within evolving AI ecosystems. Read more here

Using artificial intelligence to do your taxes, answer your questions and eliminate all varieties of tedium from your life has its appeal. However, the benefits to consumers might seem more uncertain when it's AI that is deciding what insurance will pay for your home repairs or whether your surgery will get covered. At this stage, AI’s role in insurance is already spawning lawsuits and battles over its regulation, as well as a lot of anxiety about its role in the future. Read more here

Position: Alphabet (GOOGL) , Amazon (AMZN) , Arista Networks (ANET) , Axon (AXON) , Meta (META) , Microsoft (MSFT) , Palantir (PLTR) , ServiceNow (NOW) , SuRo Capital (SSSS)

Cash-Strapped Consumer

For the second month in a row, food commodity prices have increased largely due to higher energy prices, according to the United Nations. Overall food prices increased 2.4 percent in March compared to February; those same items are up 1% year over year. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) attributes the increases to the higher price of fuel, specifically oil. Read more here

The U.S., Israel, and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday, but the sticker shock you’ve been feeling every time you go to the grocery store will get worse if the war continues. One of the first places you’ll feel it will be the produce aisle… Read more here

About a third of the world’s fertilizer supply passes through the Strait of Hormuz, and its effective closure is causing shortages and price spikes for fertilizer during the crucial spring planting season. That has led to fears of elevated food prices and lower crop yields. Read more here

Position: Amazon, Costco (COST) , TJX Companies (TJX)

Cybersecurity, Data Privacy & Digital Identity

A vaguely worded warning from the Trump administration on Tuesday said that hackers backed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps had begun a series of cyberattacks on water and energy systems across the United States, presumably in retaliation for American and Israeli strikes over the past five weeks. But the warning, issued by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, known as CISA, did not name specific American facilities that had been struck or say whether any damage had been done. It said only that the attacks were focusing on equipment made by a major American producer of computer controllers, in an effort to make government agencies and utilities lock down their systems before the Iranian hackers can disrupt more systems. Read more here

The hospital Signature Healthcare in Brockton, Massachusetts, diverted ambulances and canceled some services after a cyberattack disrupted operations. Pharmacies couldn’t fill prescriptions, though urgent care and walk-in services remained open. Read more here

CERT-EU attributed a European Commission cloud breach to the TeamPCP threat group, revealing that data from at least 30 EU entities was exposed. The incident was publicly disclosed on March 27 after inquiries confirmed that the Commission’s Amazon cloud environment had been compromised. Read more here

Cybercriminals have allegedly stolen a large amount of sensitive internal documents from the Los Angeles Police Department and leaked the data online. The stolen data included police officer personnel files, internal affairs investigations, and discovery documents that can include unredacted criminal complaints and personal information, such as witness names and medical data, according to the Los Angeles Times. Read more here

U.S. victims lost nearly $21 billion to cyber-enabled crimes last year, driven primarily by investment scams, business email compromise, tech support fraud, and data breaches, the Federal Bureau of Investigation says. The figure continues the year-over-year record trend as it is up 26% compared to 2024, when Americans lost $16.6 billion to cybercrime. Read more here

Position: Alphabet, First Trust Nasdaq Cybersecurity ETF, Microsoft

Digital Lifestyle

The living room has become a central battleground for YouTube, as more people turn to television screens… The push comes as YouTube rolls out new features aimed at the living room, including AI-powered voice search on TVs. It is also working on a second-screen “TV Companion” feature that lets viewers interact with videos from their phones, and has introduced “Stations,” 24/7 linear streams, as reported by The Verge. Last month, YouTube struck a partnership with FIFA around the FIFA World Cup 2026 to offer what it described as an “immersive” viewing experience across devices. The efforts come as the platform’s presence on TV continues to grow, with YouTube now accounting for 12.5% of all TV viewing. Read more here

Short-form video platforms such as TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts have transformed how audiences consume content. In an increasingly crowded video landscape, viewers can scroll through an endless stream of clips at any moment of the day… Among adults aged 16-24, short-form video consumption is widespread. Read more here

Meta announced on Tuesday that it’s launching two Ray-Ban smart glasses that are designed for prescription wearers. While many people already use Meta glasses with prescription lenses, the company says these new ones support nearly all prescriptions and are built to better serve people who rely on all-day eyewear. Read more here

Position: Alphabet (GOOGL) , Amazon (AMZN) , Apple (AAPL) , Meta (META)

Digital Infrastructure

TikTok will invest €1 billion ($1.16bn) in building a second data center location in Finland. Announced by TikTok on April 7, the plans come shortly after TikTok was reportedly scaling back its data center capacity in Ireland. The second data center project is set to be located in the Kiveriö district of Lahti, Finland, located northeast of Helsinki and west of Kouvola, where TikTok is already developing a data center. Read more here

Google is set to begin work on its $15bn data center projects in Andhra Pradesh later this month. As reported by the Economic Times Telecom, the land for the projects has been handed over to Google's subsidiary Raiden Infotech India Private Limited, and groundbreaking is expected for April 28, 2026. Read more here

Microsoft has pledged a $10 billion investment in AI and cloud capabilities in Japan through the end of 2029. Revealed in a recent company blog post, this is one of several investment commitments the company has made in Asia of late, including $5.5bn in Singapore and $1bn in Thailand. The investment will span a four-year period, and according to Microsoft… Read more here

AI research lab Anthropic announced Monday that it signed a new agreement with Google and Broadcom for increased processing and compute capacity to power its Claude AI models. This reworking of its compute deals comes as demand for its AI models continues to soar. The deals would expand Anthropic’s use of Google Cloud’s tensor processing units, or TPUs, the company’s advanced AI chips, and is an expansion of the deal the companies struck in October 2025 for more than a gigawatt of compute capacity. Read more here

On Tuesday, Amazon announced that Uber was expanding its contract for AWS cloud services to run more of its ride-sharing features on Amazon’s chips. Uber will particularly expand its use of AWS’s Graviton (a low-power, ARM-based server CPU) and start a new trial testing Trainium3, AWS’s Nvidia competitor AI chip. Read more here

Position: Arista Networks (ANET) , Broadcom (AVGO) , Eaton (ETN) , Marvell (MRVL) , Nvidia (NVDA) , SuRo Capital (SSSS) , United Rentals (URI)

Homebuilding & Materials

The start of the spring homebuying season appears to have stalled as both buyers and sellers wait for positive signals… The latest batch of weekly housing market data suggests that while these shifts are not huge, demand does seem to be cooling. "This market is trying to grow, but there are a lot of affordability hurdles in the way," Compass Chief Economist Mike Simonsen said in his weekly YouTube update. One of the hurdles that's becoming increasingly harder to clear: mortgage rates. Read more here

Is the American dream of homeownership still realistic? Perhaps not, according to many Americans. In a recent survey of more than 2,000 consumers, The Harris Poll found that many believe the dream is slipping further away. Across generations, respondents said that homeownership was too hard to break into – and that once achieved, it was too challenging, expensive, or both, to maintain. Read more here

One thing about today’s housing market is that demand isn’t the problem. Americans are continuing to move out on their own, grow their families and even choose to live independently for longer. While mortgage rates and inventory influence the direction of any market, household formation is at the forefront of the conversation. Recent data from both Realtor.com and the National Association of REALTORS® shows that household growth is steady but supply is still catching up. Read more here

Twenty-five housing researchers warned in an open letter released Friday that a policy on build-to-rent homes included in the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act would “significantly decrease the nation’s housing stock.” Read more here

Safety & Security

Body-worn cameras are becoming a common retail tool to protect customers, associates and profits. Look no further than Walmart, Kroger, Target and other major national brands that have already tested or started to roll out the technology. Read more here

The Denver City Council approved a contract with Axon to replace the city's controversial Flock license plate reader cameras on Tuesday, passing the measure by a single vote just hours after Flock finished removing its more than 100 cameras from city streets. Read more here

Fortunately, technology is evolving to help campuses adapt. AI-augmented video surveillance analytics platforms can now filter out false alarms, flag genuine concerns in real time and sharpen team focus. By reducing noise, these systems allow security teams to respond more efficiently while respecting campus values of openness and civil liberties. Read more here

Position: Axon (AXON) , Palantir (PLTR)

The Strategies Behind Our Thematic Models

Aging of the Population - Capturing the demographic wave of the aging population and the changing demands it brings.

Artificial Intelligence – Software, chips, and related companies that facilitate the collection and analysis of large data sets and autonomous generation of solutions given non-machine language prompts.

Cash-Strapped Consumer - Companies poised to benefit as consumers stretch the disposable spending dollars they do have.

Cybersecurity - Companies that focus on protecting against the penetration of digital networks and the theft, ransom, corruption, or destruction of data.

Data Privacy & Digital Identity - Companies providing the tools and services that verify authorized users and safeguard personal data privacy.

Digital Infrastructure & Connectivity -The buildout and upgrading of our Networks, Data Storage Facilities, and Equipment.

Digital Lifestyle - The companies behind our increasingly connected lives.

Digital Payments - This model focuses on companies benefiting from the accelerating structural adoption of digital payments and financial technology (FinTech).

Energy Pain Point - Companies poised to prosper from rising power demand.

EV Transition - Capturing the transition to EVs and related infrastructure from combustion engine vehicles.

Guilty Pleasure – Companies that produce/provide food and drink products that consumers tend to enjoy regardless of the economic environment and potential long-term health hazards associated with excessive consumption.

Homebuilding & Materials – Ranging from homebuilders to key building product companies that serve the housing market, this model looks to capture the rising demand for housing, one that should benefit as the Fed returns monetary policy to more normalized levels.

Luxury Buying Boom - Tapping into aspirational buying and affluent buyers amid rising global wealth.

Rebuilding America - Turning the focused spending on rebuilding US infrastructure into revenue and profits.

Safety & Security – Targeted exposure to companies that provide goods and services primarily to the Defense and security sectors of the economy.