| | Good morning and happy Monday. The 2026 Winter Olympics officially wrapped up in Milan yesterday, with the US placing second in the medal count behind Norway. The Nordic juggernaut broke its own record for most gold medals at a winter games with 18, four years after earning 16 in Beijing. Living among vast, glaciated mountain ranges and 12 million hectares of forest seems to have helped: All but one of Norway's golds came in skiing events. But it takes more than good fjord-tune to make a winter winner, as proven by US athletes from warm-weather climates who contributed to their country's best-ever 12 gold medals. Double gold-winning figure skater Alysa Liu hails from the Bay Area, and her team event colleague Amber Glenn is from Plano, Texas. Golden bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor was raised in subtropical Douglasville, Georgia. And Auston Matthews, who captained the USA to its first gold medal in men's ice hockey since the 1980 Miracle on Ice, grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona. Now, let's see Norway field a surfing team in LA's 2028 Summer Games. | | | | | | *Presented by Rad Intel. Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 4 pm ET. | | | | | | The Supreme Court didn't stop the trade war; the justices just changed how it's being waged. By striking down the Trump administration's use of broad emergency powers, the Court forced a pivot from a global 'carpet bombing' approach to a series of surgical strikes. But that still leaves billions of Liberation Day levies in legal limbo. Burden of Being Small Last year, the US government collected $287 billion in tariff revenue, a 192% increase from 2024, according to the Richmond Fed. Up to $175 billion in illegally collected tariffs could now be eligible for rebates, Penn Wharton economists estimate. This could entail a Trump Tower-sized administrative headache. The court offered no guidance on how or if tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which justices rejected, should be returned, a sort of "have fun figuring that out" between the lines. "It is unlikely to be straightforward, particularly where the economic burden has been shared across the supply chain, so there could be disputes at a contractual level," said Justin Whitehouse, a managing director at Alvarez & Marsal's tax practice. At a Friday press conference, President Trump hinted his administration may also fight rebates, stating: "I guess it has to get litigated for the next two years." Any legal action and paperwork would amount to a "particularly unfair burden for smaller importers that lack the resources to litigate tariff refund claims yet never did anything wrong," said Cato Institute economist Scott Lincicome. Then there's what's coming next: - Trump said shortly after the Supreme Court's decision that he was placing a 10% tariff on global imports using Section 122 of the Trade Act, and on Saturday said he plans to increase that levy to the maximum 15% allowed under the law. The catch: Section 122 requires congressional reauthorization after 150 days.
- Section 122, combined with Section 301 investigations into unfair trade practices, is likely a temporary bandage for the president's unyielding longer-term tariff ambitions. Trump said he has "great alternatives" that will be rolled out soon.
"The Trump administration will quickly pivot to different legal grounds for replacement tariffs while deficits go higher in the interim," said LPL Financial equity strategist Jeff Buchbinder. He and other analysts said Friday that lower tariffs could cool inflation, encouraging more Fed rate cuts and unleashing economic activity (as would Friday's poor 1.4% fourth-quarter GDP growth reading, which badly missed estimates).   What for Equities? Friday's bounce was muted, just a 0.5% rise on the S&P 500. Eric Diton, president of The Wealth Alliance, said the "ruling and subsequent market reaction lead me to believe that this decision was mostly priced in." High court justices telegraphed their skepticism of Trump's tariffs during oral arguments in November, leading many investors to see this one coming. The obvious immediate beneficiaries are in the online retail sector, where imports make up a large share of offerings: Amazon rose 2.5% on Friday, Etsy 8.4%, Wayfair 2.4% and Temu-parent Pinduoduo 2.9%. Written by Sean Craig | | | | | | | | | Photo via Rad Intel | RAD Intel's SEC-qualified Reg A+ round is open at $0.85 per share, but that price is set to change soon. Since acquiring Atomic Reach, RAD has grown from a $10M valuation at merger to $225M+, raised $60M+, and attracted 15,000+ investors. The company is backed by multiple Fidelity funds, was selected by the Adobe Design Fund, and holds recurring seven-figure enterprise contracts with Fortune 1000 brands. RAD also just formalized its holding company structure and launched 2 AI-driven marketing divisions to meet demand across creators, audience insights, and performance-driven, go-to-market execution. Sales contracts doubled from 2024 to 2025, and the Nasdaq ticker has been reserved as $RADI. If you're evaluating entry, this may be the last window at $0.85. Review the offering before the price changes.* Share price changing soon — lock in at $0.85.  | | | | | In the world of hedge funds, New York Mets owner and Point72 Asset Management founder Steve Cohen just hit the equivalent of a World Series-winning grand slam. His payday last year totaled $3.4 billion, beating his fellow highest-earning hedge fund managers for the top spot on Bloomberg's annual listing for the first time. As for the runner-ups, David Tepper of Appaloosa pocketed $3.2 billion, Izzy Englander of Millennium earned $3.1 billion and Chris Hohn of TCI took home $3 billion. Cohen's more-than-$9-million-a-day earnings weren't the only factor that made Point72 one to watch in the hedge fund Big Leagues. The firm ended the year with an 18% gain — significantly higher than the returns of Citadel's flagship fund (10%) and Millennium (11%). Pod Shop Powerhouses Global hedge fund industry capital jumped $642.8 billion in 2025 to end the year at a record $5.15 trillion, according to data from Hedge Fund Research (HFR). It was the best year of performance since 2009, when the Great Recession wreaked havoc on the industry and caused massive fund closures. Most of the largest top-tier funds (Point72, Citadel and Millennium among them) are multi-strategy funds, which diversify their strategies to generate returns while reducing risk. These "pod shops" have been the largest-growing segment of the market in recent years, becoming the go-to strategy as volatility has investors turning away from single-manager funds. Point72, which manages $45.7 billion in assets, has expanded the number of trading "pods" to 190, per Bloomberg. It's building out a private credit operation, prepping for its first venture fund and considering a commodities unit. Multi-strategy funds are not slowing down any time soon: - A recent survey by Alternative Fund Insight and Citco found that 86% of industry participants expect multi-strategy funds to remain the fastest-growing corner of the hedge fund market, following their strong performance and inflows in 2025.
- However, the strategy now "demands a higher level of sophistication than ever before" with managers facing three core challenges: managing complexity across multiple strategies and legal entities, maintaining robust risk management and competing for talent, Declan Quilligan of Citco Fund Services said in the report.
Funds' Fixations: Global hedge funds were recently loading up on stock from Asian developed and emerging markets, buying a record amount in the week to Friday, Feb. 13, according to a note from Goldman Sachs reviewed by Reuters. The funds were particularly focused on Korea, Taiwan and China, with "modest selling" in India. They're certainly not as bullish on luxury stocks like LVMH and Kering, the parent company of Gucci, which are struggling amid a slowdown driven by AI-related fears and hedge funds' short sales. Written by Mallika Mitra | | | | | | | | | Photo via Plancorp | Even smart investors overlook opportunities or let things lapse. Plancorp's free financial plan analysis, now updated for 2026, delivers confidential insights and pinpoints blind spots in your plan. Built by a CNBC Top 100 firm with 40+ years of experience helping investors grow and protect their wealth. Give your plan a gut check.** | | | | | One of the biggest FAST (that's Free Ad Supported TV) providers is fast becoming one of the biggest winners of the streaming age. In its fourth-quarter earnings call last week, Roku announced its platform revenue — which includes ads sold both on its Roku Channel FAST service, as well as display ads on its home screen — grew 18% year-over-year to reach $1.2 billion, pushing total growth for the entire year to a similar 18% and total revenue of $4.1 billion. It's a sign the connected TV (CTV) ad market is maturing — though experts told The Daily Upside it's still far from mature. Service Industry Marketers chase eyeballs. Somewhere between the fading world of linear TV and the booming world of performance marketing across search and social platforms like TikTok and Instagram sits CTV, the connective tissue of the streaming era, spanning FAST networks and subscription platforms like Netflix and Hulu. While CTV often blends the best of both worlds — combining the commanding nature of living room TVs with the data-driven, programmatic ad delivery capabilities of social advertising — marketing budgets had until now been slow to adapt. As that changes, Roku has emerged as a primary beneficiary: - While CTV accounts for roughly 30% of all digital media screen time for US consumers, it accounts for only about 10% of total digital advertising spend, Moe Chughtai, global vice president of strategy and partnerships at adtech platform MiQ, told The Daily Upside. "Ad dollars follow eyeballs, and they are way behind eyeballs," Chughtai said.
- In its earnings call, Roku cited data from Standard Media Index that showed its ad growth in 2025 outpaced the broader CTV and digital media markets. Meanwhile, industry members believe Roku accounts for 15% to 20% of all ads served across the CTV ecosystem, Third Bridge sector analyst John Conca told The Daily Upside.
Channel Surfing: While Roku doesn't break out ad revenue for its FAST service from sales of display ads on its homescreen, Conca said it's likely the majority of cash comes from the former. That's unsurprising, given that the Roku Channel has quietly turned into a streaming juggernaut. In January, it accounted for 3% of all CTV screentime in the US, according to Nielsen. That puts it behind only YouTube (12.5%), Netflix (8.8%), Disney (4.9%), and Amazon Prime Video (4.1%) — and notably ahead of Peacock, Paramount, HBO Max and Tubi. Turns out, it's more than just the tile on your Roku screen that you never click on. Written by Brian Boyle | | | | | - Bye, America: US-based investors are pulling money out of the country's stock markets, and moving it to Europe, Japan and emerging markets, at the fastest clip in more than a decade.
- Caught Green, White and Red Handed: A trio of Silicon Valley engineers, two of them former Google employees, were indicted in the theft of rade secrets passed to Iran.
- Your Charts Are 3 Days Behind. A.I. just flagged 5 stocks signaling explosive moves within 72 hours. VantagePoint teaches you to spot predictive signals before they show up on traditional charts in a free live session. Claim your seat.***
*** Partner | | | | Disclaimers *This is a paid advertisement for RAD Intel made pursuant to Regulation A+ offering and involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. The valuation is set by the Company and there is currently no public market for the Company's Common Stock. Nasdaq ticker "RADI" has been reserved by RAD Intel and any potential listing is subject to future regulatory approval and market conditions. Please read the offering circular and related risks at invest.radintel.ai. **For informational purposes only; should not be used as investment tax, legal or accounting advice. Plancorp LLC is an SEC-registered investment adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training nor does it imply endorsement by the SEC. All investing involves risk, including the loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Plancorp's marketing material should not be construed by any existing or prospective client as a guarantee that they will experience a certain level of results if they engage our services, and may include lists or rankings published by magazines and other sources which are generally based exclusively on information prepared and submitted by the recognized advisor. Plancorp is a registered trademark of Plancorp LLC, registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. | | |
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