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Palantir closed at a 52-week low yesterday, but what we’re more interested in is this review of their blue chore coat from the self-proclaimed “lifestyle brand.” According to The Atlantic’s Saahil Desai, the jacket, which has a message from Palantir’s CTO sewn into the lining, is “the most comfortable and practical garment” he owns, though nothing about the jacket “makes any sense.” Next month, the defense data and corporate AI software company is releasing boxing gloves and a tennis skirt, for the defense tech girlies. 

The S&P 500 finished flat yesterday, though the equal weight S&P 500 rose, as losses were concentrated in megacap tech. Despite all Magnificent 7 stocks closing lower, the Nasdaq 100 posted a gain, thanks to a rally in chip stocks. 

Micron — the most heavily traded stock on Robinhood* — rewarded its holders on Thursday, with shares soaring over 15% in the wake of its stellar Q3 results and Q4 outlook released after the close on Wednesday.

In the meantime, Micron’s margins are the rest of the tech world’s headache, and they’re responding by calling on you for Aspirin. On Thursday, Apple rolled out wide-ranging price hikes on many of its offerings (including Macs and iPads, but crucially not iPhones just yet). And Microsoft called out “storage and memory prices” in announcing its third increase to Xbox console prices in a little over a year.

Thursday’s price action — and the announced price hikes — show that Micron’s success comes at a cost.

It’s a pointed reminder, coming on the heels of recent primary and secondary market issuance from megacap tech companies, that the AI boom is no longer being financed by some Magic Hyperscaler Money Tree. It’s being financed by you.

*Robinhood Markets, Inc. is the parent company of Sherwood Media, an independently operated media company.

Investors often break the AI value chain down into its individual links — but the reality is a vast, interconnected ecosystem. 

Rather than focusing on a single segment, the Global X Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF (AIQ) takes a comprehensive approach. 

The fund seeks exposure to key areas of the AI ecosystem including: AI Developers, Artificial Intelligence-as-a-Service (AIaaS), Artificial Intelligence Hardware, and Quantum Computing.  With hyperscalers projected to spend over $500 billion on AI capital expenditure in 2026, the infrastructure buildout has the potential to be just the beginning.¹ 

By investing across the full value chain, AIQ seeks broader AI-related exposure beyond single-themes. Explore AIQ and see how a diversified approach could offer exposure to evolving AI-related trends.

Want the inside look on the stats, data, and insights going on in sports? Looking for the numbers behind the biggest stories in the World Cup? Interested in prediction markets and how to make money there? Check out Snacks’ newsletter Scoreboard. For instance, in yesterday’s Scoreboard:

In most World Cup matches, the better team has the highest chance at the win, with the odds of a draw a more distant possibility. (Welcome to how sports work!) But things change when you get into the type of scoreboard-watching we described in yesterday’s newsletter, where gaming out certain scenarios matters more than playing to actually, you know, win.

We may see an example of that on Saturday, with Algeria and Austria, where both teams have 3 points already and would each likely advance if nobody wins. There, “Tie” is the prediction market favorite to, well, win. For decades, the World Cup has scheduled simultaneous kickoffs for the final match of group stage play in order to ward off collusion, but the newly expanded tournament, which will see some but not all third place group finishers qualify for the knockout rounds, has re-opened that problematic possibility. 

It’s the end of the group phase today and tomorrow, and today in particular has a wild slate of games.