Election noise can distort market signals. Jim Lydotes looks beyond the headlines at consumers, AI infrastructure, and defense demand.

Highlights from the week of October 9 – October 15, 2026.

Last week, investors took a closer look at the AI spending boom and decided they needed better answers than “trust me, it’ll pay off.” Was it Jane Wickline’s wicked turn as Anthropic’s Dario Amodei on SNL Weekend Update? (“I urge you to urge me to stop.”) Who can say. What we do know is that investors spent the next week questioning the gap between AI’s long-term promise and its near-term price tag.

The recent selloff has brought back the key question: Can revenue grow fast enough to support all this spending?

​​Recent liquidity events related to portfolio companies in which PIF invests through its private equity holdings​.

To evaluate is human; to document the process, divine.

Success in small caps increasingly depends on position sizing, as concentrated winners amplify the cost of underexposure.

Last week, America eased into October as Wall Street eased into earnings season. Both tend to start on an optimistic note; what happens after that depends on whether reality decides to cooperate.

Stable value funds play a critical role in DC plans, historically providing principal preservation, consistent positive returns, liquidity for benefit payments, and financial confidence for participants.

A home run may grab attention. But for bond investors, the better test is how consistently a manager adds value without taking unnecessary risk.