AI Cops & Robbers, Pizza's Out of Reach, and More Investing News
Let's scan through the headlines for the stories of the week that speak to our Pro Portfolio holdings.
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Artificial intelligence is powering hacks and dangerous scripts. And AI-tech is also being used to help first responders. At the same time, CFOs say they use the tech in one way or another for fiance purposes. These are just a few of the news stories we've collected this week that speak to our Pro Portfolio investments. We've also uncovered concerning stories about a lack of senior housing and how the good old pizza might be too pricey for some.
If you’ve come across a signal we should know about, be sure to drop a link in the Comment section below.
Aging Population
According to NIC MAP data, which includes 19 years of industry leading market data, the U.S. is facing a 550,000-unit shortfall in senior housing by 2030, representing a $275 billion investment shortage and requiring the industry to more than triple its current development pace to meet surging demand from the 80+ population. Read more here
The entire baby boom generation will be 65 or older by 2030, but as we’ve watched this generation’s march into retirement and beyond for many years now, the housing industry is still falling short. Senior housing construction starts recorded an all-time low in the first quarter of 2025, according to NAIOP, with just 1,287 new starts compared to a high of more than 12,000 in the first quarter of 2018. Post-pandemic staffing shortages, high inflation, and high interest rates are among the causes for this lopsided supply vs. demand. Read more here
Position: Labcorp (LH) ; Welltower (WELL)
Artificial Intelligence
CFOs have high hopes for AI. As it stands, 100% of executives surveyed report using some advanced form of it for at least one finance task. But they’re taking a relatively cautious approach for now. While many are using the technology for monitoring and maintenance, they are far more hesitant to use it for high-judgment or cross-system jobs. Read more here
OpenAI has begun rolling out GPT-5.2, saying the new model is designed for professional knowledge work and unlocks “even more economic value for people.” GPT-5.2 is better than its predecessors at creating spreadsheets, building presentations, writing code, perceiving images, understanding long contexts, using tools and handling multistep projects… Read more here
Shopify this week introduced its Agentic Storefronts to put merchant products directly into the AI chat interfaces, where many shoppers now begin their product searches. The feature lets merchants publish their catalogs to artificial intelligence platforms such as ChatGPT, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot so that shoppers can ask questions, compare items and complete purchases in a single thread… Read more here
Position: Alphabet (GOOGL) , Amazon (AMZN) , Arista Networks (ANET) , Axon (AXON) , Meta (META) , Microsoft (MSFT) , ServiceNow (NOW) , SuRo Capital (SSSS)
Cash-Strapped Consumer
According to the November Survey of Consumer Expectations, median one-year-ahead inflation expectations remained unchanged at 3.2%, with three-year and five-year horizons steady at 3%. Within key spending categories, consumers anticipate sharper cost increases. Expected year-ahead medical care inflation reached 10.1%, its highest reading since January 2014, and rent expectations rose to 8.3%. Read more here
Beyond the seasonal surge in travel spending, the report shows that higher-income and younger consumers are driving increased adoption of both BNPL and credit card installment plans. Households earning more than $100,000 annually are 57% more likely to use card installments and 71% more likely to use BNPL than the lowest-income consumers. These users are not turning to pay-later options for budget relief alone. Read more here
Pizza, with its gooey cheese, sometimes topped with crisp, glistening rounds of pepperoni or bright strips of green peppers, has long played a quintessential role in American households. It is a comfort food for uncomfortable times that traditionally could feed an entire family relatively inexpensively. But now, as the national average price of a large cheese pizza has crept up to nearly $17, according to Slice, an online ordering platform for pizzerias, sales are slowing. Competition from other restaurants on popular delivery apps and shifting eating habits are partly responsible, but it is also an indicator that some consumers are struggling. Read more here
With 30% of healthcare visits incurring out-of-pocket costs, many younger Americans are holding off on getting treatment—a move that could hurt their health now and their bank accounts down the line. Read more here
Position: Amazon, Costco (COST) , TJX Companies (TJX)
Cybersecurity, Data Privacy & Digital Identity
Offensive AI is beginning to thrive: Google’s Threat Intelligence group has tracked new and maturing AI-fueled attack methods including AI tools that can bypass safety guardrails, generate malicious scripts, and automatically evade detection. Anthropic has observed what it calls the first known use of AI-based orchestration to stitch together different pieces of malware to perform network reconnaissance, discover vulnerabilities, move laterally across a target network, and harvest data. Read more here
Several counties are warning residents about a cyberattack to the CodeRED emergency notification system. The Becker County Sheriff’s Office says it was a nationwide hack and data breach… The compromised data includes contact information of CodeRED users, including names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers and associated passwords. Read more here
Cyberattacks against the automotive sector have surged 225% over the past three years, turning everyday repair and service operations into high-value targets. In the past year alone, 68% of auto service shops have been successfully attacked—proving that no business is too small to attract attention. Read more here
Germany said on Friday it had identified two Russian cyber operations, targeting air traffic control and February’s general election, and that it had summoned the Russian ambassador. A foreign ministry spokesman said: “We can now clearly attribute the cyberattack against German Air Safety in August 2024 to the hacker collective APT28, also known as Fancy Bear.” “Second, we can now state definitively that Russia, through the Storm 1516 campaign, sought to influence and destabilise the most recent federal election,” Read more here
Position: Alphabet, First Trust Nasdaq Cybersecurity ETF, Microsoft
Digital Infrastructure
AI requires bandwidth, security, speed and energy that legacy infrastructure can't keep up with. Just 28% of organizations believe their infrastructure can handle AI workloads, according to the Cisco AI Readiness Index 2025, released in October, based on a survey conducted in August. On the other hand, companies that have infrastructure and business processes in place to properly exploit AI reap rewards. "The same survey showed that among AI 'pacesetters' — the 13 percent of companies that are fully prepared for AI — 91% are already increasing profitability," Read more here
As AI adoption explodes, neoscalers are rapidly building out their compute environments—massive clusters of GPUs and specialized infrastructure designed to train and deploy increasingly complex models. But GPUs alone aren’t enough. To deliver AI services at scale, these compute systems must be connected to each other, to cloud and colocation sites, and to the end users and applications they support. That connectivity requires the right network. Read more here
Positions: Arista Networks, Marvell (MRVL) , Nvidia (NVDA) , Qualcomm (QCOM)
Digital Lifestyle
Google launched Android Emergency Live Video on Wednesday, which allows people to stream video when contacting emergency responders. This feature could help give first responders extra context in circumstances like car accidents, fires, or medical crises. Read more here
Pinterest plans to extend its performance advertising capabilities to connected TV (CTV) by acquiring CTV performance advertising platform tvScientific… The acquisition will enable Pinterest to bring to CTV the high-intent audiences it identifies on its platform, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) systems to deliver personalized recommendations and shopping experiences based on users’ activity, according to the release. Read more here
Position: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta
Homebuilding & Materials
US homebuilders’ confidence barely rose this month as they struggled to lure cautious buyers off the sidelines with costly sales incentives. An index of market conditions from the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo ticked up 1 point in November to 38. A value below 50 means more builders see conditions as poor than good. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg estimated sentiment to hold at 37. Read more here
Safety & Security
It’s not quite at RoboCop or Knight Rider levels, but Kennewick police will get a big technology upgrade in the new year. An amended 10-year, $10.6 million contract with Axon Enterprises means the department will have access to a whole new slate of law enforcement technology. That includes * New Taser 10 weapons and virtual reality training * AI-powered report drafting, language translation technologies, and body and fleet cameras livestream camera access technology * Enhanced public records management * U.S. -made drone and de-drone technology. Read more here
Public safety’s use of artificial-intelligence (AI) technology is expected to increase significantly during the next five years, according to a survey of more than 1,000 first responders conducted this summer by Lexipol that was released last week by Verizon Frontline. Only 15% of respondents report their agencies have implemented AI today, with 12% saying they use AI on a daily basis and only 6% saying they “rely on” AI during emergency-response operations, according to the survey, which has been conducted during each of the past five years. However, another 40% report that their agencies are starting to use AI or are researching the use of AI. Read more here
Position: Axon Enterprise (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.
CHIPs Act – Capturing the reshoring of the US semiconductor industry and the $52.7 billion poised to be spent on semiconductor manufacturing.
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.
