PUT IN WORK (1/12/2026)

We’re back with another issue! After last week’s breather, markets came out swinging in the first full trading week of 2026. The Nasdaq (QQQ) ended up a whopping 2.2%, while the S&P 500 (SPY) finished up 1.6%. The big themes were geopolitics that we briefly touched on last week and a Friday jobs report that gave the market a nice sendoff into the weekend.

Monday kicked the week off on a strong note, with all three major indexes jumping as investors reacted to the U.S. military’s capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro over the weekend. Oil moved higher in response and energy stocks benefited quite heavily. Bitcoin climbed back above $94k as well, keeping just about all investments on the positive side by market close.

Tuesday carried that momentum forward. The S&P 500 set another record, while “AI infrastructure” names stole the spotlight. Sandisk (SNDK), Western Digital (WDC), and Seagate (STX) all surged, while Nvidia (NVDA) and AMD (AMD) slipped.

Wednesday was where things cooled off a bit. The S&P 500 pulled back after hitting new highs, while the Nasdaq managed to stay slightly green. Oil eased, and rate expectations got a small nudge as labor indicators showed soft results. Intel (INTC) was a standout gainer, while some of Tuesday’s aforementioned AI winners gave back a chunk of their gains.

Thursday was mixed again: the Nasdaq slipped, and the S&P 500 was basically flat. Energy stocks rose briefly as oil surged in the afternoon, but AI stocks pulled down on tech at large. Defense stocks also perked up after Trump floated a much larger 2027 military budget, and Alphabet (GOOGL) pushed to an all-time high.

Friday was a pleasant end to the week. Stocks surged, with the S&P 500 closing at record highs after the jobs report showed a cooler hiring number, but a lower unemployment rate than expected. Intel jumped again after Trump referenced a meeting with its CEO, Meta (META) popped on power-related AI news. All in all, it was a strong week—especially considering how shaky sentiment looked just a week ago.

(Nasdaq ETF (QQQ) price from December 2024 - 2025 — each candle is 1 week. Chart provided by tradingview.com.)

PORTFOLIO UPDATE

While some of our stocks saw impressive gains, the majority only inched higher, putting us—overall—about at pace with the market last week. We plan to hold all currently owned stocks for the foreseeable future. As always, thank you for reading, and happy investing.