Washington’s portfolio has grown… The Commerce Department announced agreements this week with seven semiconductor companies for $874 million in CHIPS Act funding. In exchange for part of that support, the government is set to receive minority equity stakes in six additional chipmakers. That would bring Washington’s growing collection of corporate holdings to roughly 30 companies, according to a Cato Institute tally. And this portfolio stretches well beyond semiconductors. We’re talking steel, nuclear energy, rare earths, and other strategically important industries. There’s...

A Rough Stretch… For five straight trading sessions, Nvidia was effectively on trial. A single question hung over the stock: was the AI infrastructure boom being driven by genuine customer demand, or was Nvidia’s financing playing a bigger role than investors realized? Then Microsoft MSFT ( ▲ 16.63% ) reported earnings. Capital spending stayed enormous, cloud growth accelerated, and demand for AI infrastructure showed few signs of slowing. Microsoft shares surged more than 16%, Nvidia NVDA ( ▲ 1.9% ) climbed with them, and one of the market’s biggest questions suddenly looked...

Apparently, Wall Street’s Bullish On BLTs… If you’ve had enough AI headlines this week, Wall Street has a palate cleanser. This one comes with lettuce, tomatoes, and a ticker symbol. Jersey Mike’s is expected to price its IPO Wednesday at a valuation of up to $8 billion, after attracting demand for 10 times the shares available. No AI chips. No trillion-dollar data centers. No billion-dollar startup investments. Just 3,300 sandwich shops, a 13% sales-growth year, and a business investors apparently couldn’t get enough of. Here’s the full picture. ⇩ SPONSOR...

Building chips was just the beginning… If every road in AI runs through Nvidia…one more $5 billion bet hardly seems unusual. It started with a $500 billion-plus AI infrastructure partnership with SK Group. Then came a $1 billion investment in NAVER to expand Korea’s sovereign AI infrastructure. Then a $5 billion investment in Safe Superintelligence grabbed the headlines. In about a week, Nvidia invested in an AI lab, expanded one of the world’s largest AI infrastructure partnerships, and was pursuing more than $750 billion in potential AI agreements. One headline is news....

Apple Is Back On Top… The AI race has largely become a contest of who can spend the most. Apple AAPL ( ▲ 1.17% ) quietly chose a different game. While Nvidia has reportedly guaranteed a $250 billion investment tied to OpenAI infrastructure, Apple’s AI strategy has centered on a partnership reportedly worth about $1 billion annually. The result? Apple reclaimed the crown as the world’s most valuable company while its own AI capital spending declined for three consecutive quarters. Here’s the full picture. ⇩ SPONSOR BREAK presented by MarketWise* 1 Stock to Own by July...