Million+ Layoffs, Canada Looks Past U.S. for Defense, More Investing News

One layoff tracker counts more than a million job cuts so far this year. Canada is looking to nations other than the U.S. for defense needs. Around 45% of Americans under age 65 don't think they have enough to retire on. These are just a few of the headlines we spotted this week that speak to our Pro Portfolio investments. Others include Walker & Dunlop explaining why senior housing is poised for rapid growth ahead and how S&P sees the need for greater grid power. And of course we've got more news on AI data centers and demand. 

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

And if you haven’t watched this week’s TheStreet Stocks & Markets podcast, here’s a helpful link so you can.

Aging Population

More than four-in-ten U.S. adults under 65 (45%) aren’t confident they’ll have enough income and assets to last through their retirement years or say that they won’t be able to retire at all. Among those who are worried when they think about what their life will be like in their 70s and beyond, financial concerns are one of the most commonly cited reasons for this feeling. Read more here

The research conducted by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine indicates that bloodstream infection rates may increase more substantially in men than women across six of eight bacteria monitored by European surveillance networks. The most dramatic increase is projected among older age groups, particularly those over 74 years, highlighting the intersection of demographic change and public health challenges. Read more here

Senior housing is positioned for a period of rapid growth. The US population age 80 and older is expected to rise by more than four million, to 18.8 million, by 2030. At the same time, annual inventory growth for senior housing has dropped below 1%. Compared to 2024, the market has done a 180, says Alex Vice, senior director at Walker & Dunlop. Read more here

Position: Labcorp  (LH) ; Welltower  (WELL)

Artificial Intelligence

New research from TikTok in partnership with NewtonX reveals a significant gap in advertisers' ambitions for AI automation and its actual implementation. The study reveals that nine in 10 advertisers and executives expect AI-driven automation to help drive future business growth, and 93% believe it will improve their own job performance. However, only one fifth (19%) have fully integrated AI into their core operations and invested at scale. Read more here

…we’re announcing that more than 1 million business customers around the world are directly using OpenAI—the fastest-growing business platform in history. This includes all organizations that actively pay OpenAI for business use—either through ChatGPT for Work, or through direct consumption of our models through our developer platform. Read more here

According to a Thryv survey, U.S. small and midsized businesses’ AI usage more than doubled from 39% in 2024 to 55% in 2025, a 41% year-over-year increase. A McKinsey report shows globally 78% of companies now use AI in at least one function, with companies with 10 to 100 employees moving from 47% to 68% adoption in one year, indicating that SMBs are approaching enterprise adoption levels faster than previous technology waves predicted. Read more here

Our latest survey shows a larger share of respondents reporting AI use by their organizations, though most have yet to scale the technologies. The share of respondents saying their organizations are using AI in at least one business function has increased since our research last year: 88 percent report regular AI use in at least one business function, compared with 78 percent a year ago. But at the enterprise level, the majority are still in the experimenting or piloting stages (Exhibit 1), with approximately one-third reporting that their companies have begun to scale their AI programs. 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

Year-to-date job cuts have exceeded 1 million, the most since the pandemic, according outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Last month alone firms announced 153,000 cuts, the most for any October since 2003. Read more here

Over half of consumers (54%) have changed their consumption habits to save money, according to YouGov. This shift has created a downward chain reaction in which higher- and middle-income consumers are trading down to less expensive restaurants, while many lower-income consumers have stopped dining out altogether. Read more here

"It's really tough because prices have just been rising and a lot of consumers don't feel as though their salaries have kept up to the same pace as that"… To save money, customers are ordering smaller, less expensive meals or choosing to order from the kids menu. Many diners are also sharing meals due to large portion sizes. Read more here

Seven in ten are spending more on food at home and less on dining out and travel. Four in ten have put off a vacation, or a big-ticket purchase like an appliance, car or home renovation. But the growing areas of cutbacks are streaming services (39% have canceled one in the last six months, up from 31% two years ago) and home and car repairs (also 39%, up from 27%). Read more here

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

Cybersecurity, Data Privacy & Digital Identity

International authorities have dismantled three massive credit card fraud and money laundering networks, linked to losses exceeding €300 million ($344 million) and affecting over 4.3 million cardholders across 193 countries. The November 4th joint action, dubbed "Operation Chargeback," included investigators from Germany, the USA, Canada, Singapore, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands. The operation was led by German prosecutors and the Federal Criminal Police Office, and coordinated by Eurojust and Europol. Read more here

Hyundai AutoEver America is notifying individuals that hackers breached the company's IT environment and gained access to personal information.The company discovered the intrusion on March 1 but the investigation revealed that the attacker had access to the systems since February 22nd. … Regarding the types of information exposed, the letter sample only mentions names, but the Massachusetts government portal also lists Social Security Numbers (SSNs) and driver’s licenses. Read more here

Russian state-backed hacker group Sandworm has deployed multiple data-wiping malware families in attacks targeting Ukraine's education, government, and the grain sector, the country's main revenue source… Unlike ransomware, where the data is typically stolen and then encrypted, wiper malware is used purely in sabotage operations. Read more here

Google's Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) has identified a major shift this year, with adversaries leveraging artificial intelligence to deploy new malware families that integrate large language models (LLMs) during execution. This new approach enables dynamic altering mid-execution, which reaches new levels of operational versatility that are virtually impossible to achieve with traditional malware. Read more here

Position: Alphabet, First Trust Nasdaq Cybersecurity ETF, Microsoft

Digital Infrastructure

“The demand for compute has never been greater as every major breakthrough in business, science, and society now relies on access to more powerful, efficient, and intelligent computing.” Read more here

According to a letter seen by Handlesblatt, Google will be revealing a major data center and infrastructure project in the country on November 11 with Germany's Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil. The project will see the construction of new data centers and infrastructure, expand Google's existing facilities in Munich, Frankfurt, and Berlin, and include projects for the use of renewable energies and waste heat, the letter said. Read more here

The data center construction boom has entered a new chapter. AI adoption is accelerating, and the floor of potential demand is rising, according to Bain’s latest global data center forecast through 2030. The early scramble of generative AI–driven demand is giving way to a more disciplined, selective, power-constrained, and execution-focused phase of growth. Hyperscaler tech companies are absorbing compute capacity, large enterprises are scaling up production-grade AI, and data center construction patterns are starting to form around clearer plans for continued growth and demand. Although the capacity growth rate isn’t certain—due to variability in AI adoption and developers shopping around for the best sites to build on—there are clear signs that momentum and growth will remain strong. Read more here

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Tuesday called for tripling the government spending on projects for expanding artificial intelligence infrastructure and technology in a budget speech. Read more here

Positions: Arista Networks, Marvell  (MRVL) , Nvidia  (NVDA) , Qualcomm  (QCOM)

Digital Lifestyle

Deloitte found that 41% of surveyed consumers said watching both social media videos and streaming services are forms of “watching TV.” Meanwhile, about 50% Gen Z and Millennials combined said they spend more time watching social media videos and streaming services than watching legacy television. Almost two thirds (66%) of streaming households now use ad-supported platforms, with Gen X and Boomers leading the shift — forcing marketers to rethink how they spend their budgets when viewers are willing to trade ads for cheaper access, mirroring the flexible, social-style ad experience, according to the report. Read more here

The migration of viewers from linear TV to streaming is a global phenomenon, but in some markets the transition is occuring faster than others. In Germany, a new report from digital trade association Bitkom has found that the proportion of German adults who watch streaming services (87 percent) has overtaken those who watch linear TV (86 percent) for the first time. Read more here

A shift in consumer behavior has emerged ahead of the 2025 holiday season. A survey conducted by Zeta Global in September 2025 found that 83% of respondents who use AI tools at least weekly plan to rely on algorithms to assist with their holiday shopping decisions this year. Read more here

Position: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta

Energy Pain Point

Data centers proliferating across the US will require 22% more grid power by the end of 2025 than they did one year earlier and will need nearly three times as much in 2030, according to the most recent forecast from 451 Research, part of S&P Global. Read more here

Ameren, which supplies electricity and gas across Missouri and Illinois, boosted its outlook after seeing a spike in electricity demand, especially from data centers… A Department of Energy-backed study says US data centers could triple their electricity use within three years—potentially eating up 12% of the nation’s power supply and prompting utilities to pursue higher rates. Read more here

Position: Eaton  (ETN)

Homebuilding & Materials

In markets across the US, homebuilders sitting on unsold inventory are subsidizing mortgage rates so heavily they sometimes match the record lows last seen during the Covid-19 pandemic. That’s in addition to perks like free appliances, finished basements and zero closing costs… These aren’t the perks of a healthy housing market. They’re the tactics of an industry trying to get the attention of buyers as tariffs, a government shutdown and artificial intelligence add to feelings of job insecurity. Read more here

America’s biggest builders are struggling to sell homes even when they offer buyers a 4% mortgage. Their experience suggests rate cuts alone won’t be enough to boost weak sales in the wider housing market. The number of completed but unsold new homes has reached levels last seen in the summer of 2009, data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis shows… Profit margins have taken a hit from the rising cost of these incentives, so builders have decided to slow construction and wait for demand to recover. Read more here

Safety & Security

Canada is trying to wean itself from the United States through an ambitious multibillion-dollar project to build a defense industrial base and expand partnerships with other allies as its relationship with Washington grows increasingly shaky and unpredictable. Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday released details of his C$64 billion defense budget, a C$9 billion boost from last year and a signal of his intent to overhaul Ottawa’s defense spending. Read more here

Lee also called for lawmakers to approve a planned 8.2% increase in defense spending next year, which he said would help modernize the military’s weapons systems and reduce its reliance on the United States, as the allies’ military chiefs met in Seoul for annual security talks. Read more here

The Duluth Police Department was ahead of the curve when it rolled out body cameras back in 2014, being the first department in the state to do so. Now, they’re taking things a step further. The department is testing new body camera technology powered by artificial Intelligence, designed to cut down on the time officers spend writing reports. DPD is planning to have this AI technology fully in effect come Jan. 1. Read more here

Germany will invest €35 billion ($41 billion) in space-related defense projects by 2030, stepping up the country’s technological independence and ability to protect its assets in orbit amid an increasing militarization of outer space, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said. 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.