OECD Forecasts US 2026 Growth Of 2.2% (Vs 2.0% In June), 2.1% In 2027 (Vs 1.8%) - World 2026 Growth Of 2.9% (Vs 2.8% In June), 3.0% In 2027 (Vs 3.1%) - China 2026 Growth Of 4.5% (Unchanged), 4.2% In 2027 (Vs 4.3%) - Euro Area 2026 Growth Of 1.0% (Vs 0.8% In June), 1.0% In 2027 (Vs 1.2%) - Japan 2026 Growth Of 0.8% (Vs 0.6% In June), 0.7% In 2027 (Vs 0.8%) - UK 2026 Growth Of 1.1% (Vs 0.9% In June), 1.0% In 2027 (Vs 1.1%)

Last wk, S&P/Nas/Mag7 +0.4%/+0.1%/-0.8%. Cooler inflation (CPI, PPI) & economic data (consumer sentiment, retail sales) but +5% oil steepened the yield curve but lowered odds of a rate hike. Looking forward, I continue to believe the impact of Agentic AI with the advent of OpenClaw on January 30th has at least a year to run: 1) Token production has gone up roughly ~7.5x from the end of January more than offsetting the nearly 50% token cost reduction seen since open-weight model usage started to take off in May. 2) Combined annualized run-rate revenues for OpenAI and Anthropic which ended last year at $29B seems to be around $100B currently with Anthropic getting profitable in Q2. 3) Capex from the Big6 hyperscalers accelerated from 84% y/y/ in CQ1 to 92% in CQ2 with forecasts for nearly 100% in Q3. But this is being supported by cloud revenue growth at the 3 Big Public cloud vendors of $AMZN $MSFT $GOOGL accelerating from 23% y/y in Q1:25 to 35% in Q1:26 to 43% in Q2:26. Arguable more important is public cloud operating margins expanded from 34% to 37% and 39% during those time periods. 4) The $500B financing deal backstopped by up to $125B from $NVDA adds even more lower cost money to fund AI capex spend for the non-hyperscaler players. Nvidia gained 0.5% last week. 5) The liquidation of Situational Awareness and retail accounts during July cleared out some of the frothiness in the AI related names In terms of negatives: 1) The cost of money (yields on government bonds) remain near the highest levels for the 30 yr tenor at 5.3% since 2007. 2) Given large scale offensive US military actions are seemingly off the tablein favor of financial sanctions, probably driven by current election polls, I now believe Iran is likely to hold the Strait of Hormuz hostage until past the US mid-terms. This would be akin to them releasing the US hostages in 1981 (they were held for 444 days) just hours after President Reagan was sworn in replacing Carter. There were severe financial sanctions then also. 3) Since 1990, which happens to be the Gulf War, from the end of July through November 9th, which covers the reaction to all mid-term results, the performance is worse than non mid-term years. For mid-term years the median S&P500 gain from 7/31-11/9 is 0.9% with gains 56% of the time but the median peak loss from 7/31 is 6.2% (intra-period median peak loss of 9.9%.) For non mid-term years the median gain is 2.7% from 7/31-11/9 with gains 59% of the time and the median peak loss from 7/31 is 3.5% (intra-period median peak loss of 5.2%.) This year with the momentum seen by the Socialists which are not big business friendly, I see more risk than normal. 4) The easy money on the AI technical rebound from oversold levels on 7/29 due to the forced sale by Situation Awareness is probably over. There were negative stock reactions to headline beat and raise earnings on both revs & EPS for AI infrastructure winners $CSCO (-8% for the week but still up +45% YTD), $AMAT (-6%/+97%) and $COHR (-14%/+77%). While negatives can always be found, their biggest crime was arguably their recent bounce from 7/29-8/7 of 8%, 24% and 71% respectively and their market beating YTD gains. In summary, I remain bullish. Even from the end of July through November 9th during mid-term years since 1990, the S&P has an additional median gain of 4.2% to its peak before giving some of that back closer to the election. Given some of the negatives, especially the reaction to solid earnings data, I would add some hedges back on further market gains and get more selective. Consumer discretionary hedges should also make sense if oil is higher for longer. I believe value should continue to accrue to the infrastructure layer which includes 1) the public cloud vendors such as Amazon, Microsoft, Google and 2) the semiconductor companies. $INTC, my favorite semi company, still gained 0.8% last week despite: 1) a $20B equity offering which causes ~5% dilution and 2) being up 178% YTD. This clears the funding overhang. All the best in the week ahead.

U.S.-CANADA TRADE TENSIONS THREATEN GROWTH UBS warns escalating U.S.-Canada trade tensions could undermine Canada’s economic recovery by weakening business confidence, consumer spending and investment. The bank cut its 2026 Canada GDP growth forecast to 0.9% from 1.0%. While direct export exposure remains limited, UBS says broader supply-chain disruptions, weaker demand and investment uncertainty could amplify the economic impact.

U.S. FACTORY ORDERS BEAT EXPECTATIONS U.S. factory orders rose 0.9% in July, beating expectations for a 0.6% increase and rebounding from June’s decline. Orders excluding transportation climbed 0.6%, while orders excluding defense jumped 1.0%. Durable goods orders were confirmed at +1.1%, while nondurable goods orders increased 0.7%. However, computers and electronic products orders fell 1.1%, reversing June’s 3.1% gain. Overall, the data points to stronger U.S. manufacturing demand in July, despite weakness in the technology segment.

CHOOSE YOUR FIGHTER Warren Buffett vs Stanley Druckenmiller Buffett stepped down as Charman of Berkshire Hathaway $BRK.B today. Druckenmiller has never had a losing year in more than 30 years. Here are their full portfolios as of Q2 2026. BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY - Apple $AAPL: 22% - American Express $AXP: 17% - Google $GOOGL: about 12.6% across both share classes - Coca-Cola $KO: 11% - Bank of America $BAC: 9.2% - Chevron $CVX: 4.7% - Occidental $OXY: 4.3% - Chubb $CB: 3.9% - Moody's $MCO: 3.7% - Kraft Heinz $KHC: 2.6% - DaVita $DVA: 2.1% - Delta $DAL: 1.8% - SiriusXM $SIRI: 1.2% - VeriSign $VRSN: 0.8% - Kroger $KR: 0.7% - Liberty Live $LLYVA: about 0.6% across both share classes - Ally $ALLY: 0.4% - Lennar $LEN: 0.4% - New York Times $NYT: 0.4% - Capital One $COF: 0.2% - Louisiana-Pacific $LPX: 0.1% - Nucor $NUE: 0.1% - Macy's $M: 0.1% - NVR $NVR - Jefferies $JEF - D.R. Horton $DHI DUQUESNE FAMILY OFFICE - Natera $NTRA: 17% - Insmed $INSM: about 5.7% in shares and calls - Taiwan Semi $TSM: 5.4% - Brazil ETF $EWZ: about 5.1% in shares and calls - Amazon $AMZN: about 4.6% in shares and calls - STMicro $STM: 4.5% - S&P 500 Equal Weight $RSP: about 3.7% in calls and shares - Fox $FOXA: about 2.8% across both share classes - YPF $REPYY: 2.7% - CDW $CDW: about 2.7% in shares and calls - BBB Foods $TBBB: 2.3% - Google $GOOGL: 2.3% - Seagate blockstack:native: 2.3% - United Airlines $UAL: 2.1% - Sea $SE: 2.0% - NewAmsterdam Pharma $NAMS: 2.0% - Russell 2000 ETF $IWM: 1.9% in calls - Sandisk $SNDK: 1.5% - Revolution Medicines $RVMD: 1.4% - S&P 500 ETF: 1.3% in calls - Bitdeer: 1.2% - CRH: 1.1% - Delta: 1.1% - Tesla $TSLA: 1.0% in calls - Fluor: 1.0% - D.R. Horton: 0.9% - Coupang: 0.9% - AMD: 0.8% - Palo Alto Networks: 0.8% - Cleveland-Cliffs: 0.8% - Hut 8: 0.7% - Caris Life Sciences: 0.6% - Argentina ETF: 0.6% - Woodward: 0.5% - Meta: 0.5% in calls - Nuvation Bio: 0.5% - Protagonist Therapeutics: 0.5% - Roku: 0.5% - Cavco: 0.5% - ADMA Biologics: 0.4% - Hyperliquid Strategies: 0.4% - Rambus: 0.4% - Rhythm Pharmaceuticals: 0.4% - Champion Homes: 0.4% - Daktronics: 0.4% - PureCycle: 0.4% - Southern Copper: 0.4% - Linde: 0.4% - Entegris: 0.4% - Teva: 0.4% - Unity: 0.4% - Aeva: 0.4% - Riot Platforms: 0.4% - Qnity Electronics: 0.4% - Equinix: 0.4% - Lam Research: 0.4% - Definium Therapeutics: 0.3% - Belite Bio: 0.3% - 10x Genomics: 0.3% - Wabtec: 0.3% - Eli Lilly: 0.3% - Xenon Pharmaceuticals: 0.3% - Olema Pharmaceuticals: 0.2% - Repligen: 0.2% - Rocket Companies: 0.2% - Baidu: 0.2% - Arm: 0.2% - Carvana: 0.2% - Reddit: 0.2% - Alcoa: 0.2% - Thermo Fisher: 0.2% - Danaher: 0.2% - F5: 0.2% - Vista Energy: 0.2% - Skeena Resources: 0.2% - JBS: 0.1% - Monte Rosa Therapeutics: 0.1% - Relay Therapeutics: 0.1% - DBV Technologies: 0.1% - CCC Intelligent Solutions: 0.1% - UWM Holdings: 0.1% - Navitas Semiconductor: 0.1% - Solstice Advanced Materials: 0.1% - FTAI Aviation: 0.1% - Beam Therapeutics: 0.1% - Aurora Innovation: 0.1% - IREN: 0.1% - Grupo Financiero Galicia: 0.1% - Wave Life Sciences: under 0.1% Both own Google, Delta and D.R. Horton. Neither owns Nvidia $NVDA.

Two percent of @perpltrade's entire reward supply is sitting in a bucket only @tread_fi users can touch. It empties in fourteen days. Then it's gone for the remaining fourteen weeks. Don't fuck this one up. 👇 1. The supply is fixed. The room is still empty. 50,000 mPoints get minted every week whether 300 wallets trade or 30,000. Access codes came off three days ago. A point you earn now pays exactly what a point in week 16 pays, and right now you're splitting it with a fraction of the crowd that's coming. 2. @tread_fi users get 10,000 mPoints a week on top, for two weeks. 20,000 mPoints reserved for one terminal's users. Your edge over a frontend trader with identical volume is 1 + 0.2 x (Perpl's volume / Tread users' volume). If Tread runs 5% of Perpl's flow, you earn five times the points per dollar traded. 3. Perpl charges makers 0.9 bps to open and nothing to close. Opening $1M of notional on the book costs $90. Taking that same $1M off the book costs $690. Institutional market makers are excluded from mPoints, and that's the only exclusion the docs list. 4. Your floor is guaranteed before you deploy a dollar. $500,000 is committed regardless of what Perpl trades. Divide by 1,000,000 mPoints and every point is worth at least 50 cents, with the extra tiers pushing it toward a dollar. You can price your worst case today. Name another farm that lets you do that. Use my ref to get 5% points boost: SvSmBR8yYfX Fourteen days. After that you're one more wallet splitting 50,000 with everyone who shows up in September.

MiniMax H3 Fashion Lookbook | Anime Character Reveal + Editorial MV Prompt🔥 Made this high-saturation anime PV with 13 fast visual beats in 15 seconds. A few years ago, this would’ve been days of AE work. Now? Prompt → generate → refine. Prompt 👇 Create a **15s, 16:9, 24fps anime character reveal trailer** with **13 fast visual beats**. Style: **Japanese anime opening × premium AAA motion graphics × fashion campaign**. The video should feel **explosive, sexy, stylish, bold and high-impact**, with **80% motion graphics and 20% character action**. ## CHARACTER LOCK — HIGHEST PRIORITY AO is a **young adult East Asian anime woman** with a sexy, confident Japanese anime aesthetic. She has: * small refined face * sharp expressive crimson eyes * glossy lips * confident, teasing gaze * slim feminine curvy figure * long elegant legs * stylish, cool, alluring presence Keep her identical throughout: * chin-length vivid red bob with messy bangs * crimson-red eyes * black choker * fitted red cropped top * short white cropped jacket, worn open * black mini skirt or fitted shorts * red belt detail * black thigh strap * white-and-red platform sneakers * subtle silver accessories Preserve the same face, body proportions, hairstyle, outfit, materials and colors in every shot. **Never redesign AO. Never change her face or outfit. If a shot becomes too complex, simplify the action first.** ## VISUAL STYLE Palette: **vivid red, crimson, white, black, silver**. Use: giant kinetic typography, red circles, diagonal slashes, manga speed lines, split screens, halftone dots, barcode strips, UI ticks, freeze frames, RGB flashes, impact shakes, poster layouts and graphic wipes. Every beat should feel: **fast, sharp, sexy, explosive, graphic and iconic**. Keep typography bold and readable. Editing: hard cuts, aggressive snap zooms, whip pans, speed ramps, freeze frames, impact shakes and foreground wipes. ## 13 VISUAL BEATS **01 | 0.0–1.0s** White field. Massive red circle slams into frame. Black bars slash across. UI ticks flicker. Giant **A**, then **O**, hit with heavy impact shake. **02 | 1.0–2.0s** The O becomes a circular frame showing an extreme close-up of AO’s crimson eye and glossy lips. She gives a teasing side glance. RGB flash. Circle bursts into red-and-white fragments. **03 | 2.0–3.1s** Black background, huge white **AO**. AO enters fast, turns sharply and power-slides beneath the typography. Red speed streaks trail behind her. Whip-pan out. **04 | 3.1–4.0s** Three red/white/black vertical panels. AO appears in three poses: hip turn, hair touch, over-shoulder stare. Huge vertical **FULL SPEED** moves behind her. **05 | 4.0–5.1s** AO jumps through a rotating typography ring reading **NO BRAKES / ALL EYES ON ME**. One clean mid-air spin. Snap zoom into her confident face. **06 | 5.1–6.0s** White editorial frame. Huge black **HOT** with a red slash. AO crosses the frame with a runway-like step, one hand at her waist. Typography compresses and rebounds. **07 | 6.0–7.0s** Bright red field with black diagonal stripe. AO performs one smooth fast turn. Three ghosted freeze positions trace the movement. Giant outlined **TURN** rotates behind her. **08 | 7.0–8.0s** Words hit one per beat: **HOT / FAST / WILD / RED** AO changes pose with each word: direct stare, hair toss, hip shift, confident forward lean. **09 | 8.0–9.0s** Black frame with manga perspective lines and a graphic grid. AO steps forward and freezes in a strong hero pose. Red circular target graphics lock around her. **10 | 9.0–10.1s** AO moves toward camera through three red-and-white graphic panels. Each panel shatters as she passes. Large **A O** fragments appear behind her. Finish with a hair or leg foreground wipe. **11 | 10.1–11.1s** Rapid poster montage: four frames of the same AO — close-up stare, walking, side pose, hands at waist. Add **01–04**, barcodes, halftone dots and sharp Japanese poster graphics. **12 | 11.1–13.0s** Hero moment on a clean white background. AO lands in a powerful fashion pose: one leg forward, one hand at her waist, chin lifted, direct eye contact. Huge red shockwave rings explode behind her. Typography fragments and speed lines burst outward. Hold an iconic confident freeze. **13 | 13.0–15.0s** Final identity card. Huge black **AO** on a bright white field. AO stands relaxed and alluring in front of the letters. Red circles, halftone, technical arcs and sharp speed accents surround her. Final red pulse flashes through the frame and ends on a hard stinger. ## ANIME STYLE Premium modern Japanese anime rendering: * clean cel shading * sharp linework * polished highlights * cinematic close-ups * dynamic perspective * fashion-editorial full-body framing * smooth hair and fabric motion AO must look like a **stylish adult anime heroine**, not chibi and not childish. ## AUDIO Hard-hitting **electro / future bass / anime-opening style music**. Use: heavy drums, bass hits, risers, glitch fills, synth stabs, typography slams, whooshes and shutter impacts. Build continuously. Peak at Beat 12. End with a sharp electronic stinger. ## PRIORITIES 1. AO identity consistency 2. sexy adult anime character design 3. red-black-white outfit consistency 4. maximum visual impact 5. readable typography 6. premium anime rendering 7. fast beat-synced editing Avoid: childlike proportions, chibi style, blue clothing, face changes, outfit changes, extra characters, unreadable typography, weak motion, dull compositions or generic schoolgirl styling. Final result: **explosive, sexy, red-hot, premium, graphic-driven and visually unforgettable.** Try MiniMax H3 on Ima Studio 👉 #MiniMaxH3# #MotionDesign# #Anime# #AIVideo# #ImaStudio#

The Q2 2026 Letter from Ron is here. Our Founder and CEO @RonBaronAnalyst shares his thoughts on: · @MSCI_Inc and the case for investing in long-term opportunity over near-term profits · @Tesla's robotaxi economics · @elonmusk's discussion with Jamie Dimon about leadership · A conversation with Claude on this year's Conference theme: "I think you should..." Read the full letter here: -- Information and services provided on independent websites are not reviewed, guaranteed by or endorsed by Baron Capital or its affiliates. Please be aware that this independent website’s terms and conditions and other legal information may be different than those of Baron Capital’s website. Baron Capital is not liable for the content appearing on it, or for the content appearing on it, or for technical or systems issues arising from the use of this independent website. Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of the Fund carefully before investing. The prospectus and summary prospectus contain this and other information about the Fund and can be obtained from the Fund's distributor, Baron Capital, Inc., by calling 1-800-99-BARON or visiting Please read them carefully before investing. Risks: All investments are subject to risk and may lose value. Portfolio holdings as a percentage of net assets as of June 30, 2026 for securities mentioned are as follows: Tesla, Inc. - Baron Fifth Avenue Growth Fund (3.9%), Baron Focused Growth Fund (6.4%), Baron Global Opportunity Fund (1.5%), Baron Opportunity Fund (4.7%), Baron Partners Fund (14.1%*), Baron Technology ETF (3.2%), Baron First Principles ETF (12.4%), Baron Risk Optimized Large Cap ETF (2.1%); MSCI Inc. - Baron Asset Fund (1.0%), Baron Durable Advantage Fund (3.0%), Baron Focused Growth Fund (5.0%), Baron Generational Growth Fund (19.5%), Baron Partners Fund (3.9%*), Baron Financials ETF (3.6%), Baron First Principles ETF (4.5%), Baron SMID Cap ETF (1.9%), Baron Global Durable Advantage ETF (2.3%), Baron Risk Optimized Large Cap ETF (0.9%). *% of Long Positions Portfolio holdings are subject to change. Current and future portfolio holdings are subject to risk. The discussion of market trends is not intended as advice to any person regarding the advisability of investing in any particular security. The views expressed in this email reflect those of the respective writer. Some of our comments are based on management expectations and are considered “forward-looking statements.” Actual future results, however, may prove to be different from our expectations. Our views are a reflection of our best judgment at the time and are subject to change at any time based on market and other conditions and Baron has no obligation to update them. BAMCO, Inc. is an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Baron Capital, Inc. is a broker-dealer registered with the SEC and member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA). © Baron Capital 2026. All rights reserved.

China macro is turning into an extreme dispersion trade. Headline GDP is becoming almost useless.. Japanification, but with geographic arbitrage both domestically and internationally is my closest mental model for what comes next Maybe this is what the last inning of industrial and geopolitical catch-up looks like: hyper-competitiveness abroad, household retrenchment at home. Export strength no longer translates cleanly into household income or confidence; youth unemployment remains elevated at ~16%, even after excluding students. China may be entering a long cycle of Japanification, but with much more room for geographic arbitrage, both within China and across its supply chains. Externally, China looks almost unstoppable: June exports +27% YoY, H1 high-tech manufacturing +13.3%, IC manufacturing +67.3%. Manufacturing PMI crawled back above 50. AI-linked demand and high-end exports are doing the heavy lifting. But some of this demand is borrowed from the future. AI capex is partly a game of musical chairs and future capacity lock-in, while the export surge contains tariff front-loading. Neither is a durable substitute for domestic consumption. Inside China, the picture is almost inverted. Retail sales fell 0.6% YoY in May and grew only 1.0% in June. H1 fixed-asset investment fell 5.7%, property investment fell 18%, and new-home sales value fell 13.6%. The price chain does not look good either: producer input prices +6.4%, factory-gate prices +4.1%, CPI only +1.0%. Costs are moving downstream much faster than consumer pricing power. Many downstream firms have to absorb the gap through thinner margins, intensifying the rat race. Even consumption itself is dispersing. Urban retail was -0.9% in May vs rural +1.5%; in June, +0.8% vs +2.1%. But rural outlets are only ~14% of total retail, and the rural print is policy-sensitive, wont be able to carry the entire economy Japan after the 1980s bubble offers a strong parallel: stagnation from the early 1990s, then persistent deflation from the late 1990s into the early 2010s. But China has a continental shock absorber Japan never had at this scale: a vast interior homeland where housing and daily life are far cheaper, while infra and digital services have narrowed the quality of life gap with tier 1 cities. The option to leave tier 1 cities and return home has become a popular choices for many, this can lower household burn rates and may soften the social transmission of stagnation Writing this, NF’s Hope started playing in my head: Thirty years of running, thirty years of searching Thirty years of hurting, thirty years of pain For China, make it almost fifty. Almost fifty years of running from scarcity since Reform and Opening, searching for modernity, and avg citizens absorbing the pain of remaking an entire society at impossible speed Maybe that is the eternal paradox of industrial catch-up: a country can arrive frontier before its people feel they have.