The Fed held rates, inflation is still above target, and uncertainty is rising — that means the "buy anything AI" trade is over. Smart money is rotating fast toward the companies actually building AI infrastructure: chips, cloud capacity, and mission-critical data tools. Big Tech alone is projected to spend $635B–$665B on AI in 2026 — and not all of it is going where most investors are looking.
We've identified 9 AI stocks worth watching right now — including a lesser-known chip name tied to U.S. AI infrastructure, a cloud player with improving setup, and a data analytics company with government exposure. This isn't hype. It's about following where capital is actually being deployed.
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Meta’s Teen-Addiction Trial Heads Toward a Mid-Game Deal
Meta and a coalition of U.S. states are reportedly discussing a settlement in the middle of a closely watched trial over allegations that the company’s platforms contribute to teen addiction and related harms. Mid-trial talks are a tell: both sides are feeling the risk of letting a jury write the narrative.
For Meta, a settlement is less about the headline number and more about the operating constraints that can come attached: product design changes, data disclosure, monitoring, and future compliance costs that don’t show up neatly in a quarterly EPS beat. For the states, it’s about landing something enforceable and public-facing, not just a check.
This case matters because it’s part of a broader shift from “privacy fines” to “product liability logic.” Once you’re in that lane, the debate stops being abstract and starts sounding like tobacco, opioids, and other industries that learned the hard way that legal risk can become a permanent line item.
🥃 Cole's Take: Meta can afford settlements. What it can’t afford is a consent-decree style deal that hard-codes slower growth into the product. If you own the stock, watch for non-monetary terms and ongoing oversight, because that’s where the real cost lives.
Nvidia Pops Again: The AI Spend Isn’t a Rumor, It’s a Budget Line
Nvidia shares jumped after earnings and guidance reassured investors that AI infrastructure demand remains strong. The market’s reaction wasn’t just a relief rally; it was a reminder that the AI buildout is being funded by real capex plans, not just keynote slides.
The bulls see a familiar pattern: when customers are fighting for compute, the best pick-and-shovel supplier gets paid first and asked questions later. The bears, fairly, will keep pointing to competition, pricing pressure, and the risk that cloud giants bring more silicon in-house.
But here’s the key: the durability of this cycle is increasingly tied to utilization. If the models keep getting used, the GPUs keep getting reordered. If usage slows, the story changes fast, and the market will sniff it out before the earnings call ends.
🥃 Cole's Take: This is still the cleanest way to own the AI buildout, but don’t confuse “dominant” with “invincible.” I’d rather size it like a core winner with a trailing leash than chase it like a meme—because the day guidance cracks, it won’t be polite.
📎 CNBC
Image via MarketWatch
Salesforce Lights Up Software: AI Isn’t Killing SaaS, It’s Getting Bolted On
Salesforce earnings helped spark a broader software-stock rally, pushing back on the idea that AI will vaporize traditional SaaS businesses overnight. The message from the numbers and the commentary was straightforward: customers still pay for systems of record, workflows, compliance, and the unglamorous plumbing that keeps revenue moving.
The more interesting angle is partnerships. If major model operators are willing to work with legacy vendors, that’s a signal that distribution, data access, and enterprise relationships still matter. In plain English: the AI layer may be new, but it’s landing on top of old problems that companies already budget for.
For investors, this reshapes the question. It’s less “Which software company gets disrupted?” and more “Which ones can monetize AI without blowing up margins or confusing customers with pricing gimmicks?”
🥃 Cole's Take: I’ve been through enough tech cycles to know this: the winners are the ones who make adoption feel boring. If Salesforce can turn AI into a measured upsell instead of a science project, the stock deserves a higher-quality multiple than the doomsayers want to admit.
Image via GOLF.com
Scheffler’s Home Money Matches Sound Like a Private Hedge Fund With a 7-Iron
A fun little dispatch from the golf world: Scottie Scheffler isn’t just tough to beat on Tour—by the accounts in this story, he may be even more dominant in home money matches against other pros. The quotes paint a picture of a guy who competes like it’s oxygen, even when the cameras are off.
There’s a reason golfers love these stories: money matches strip away sponsorship polish and bring everything back to nerve, shot-making, and that quiet pressure of knowing you’re paying in real time. If the best player in the world is still hunting edges in his backyard, that tells you something about why he’s staying on top.
It’s also a reminder that “dominance” isn’t magic. It’s repetition, discipline, and treating the untelevised reps like they count—which, in golf and in wealth, they do.
🥃 Cole's Take: Scheffler’s real advantage is that he doesn’t turn it off. That’s the same mindset that builds durable portfolios: do the boring work, manage your misses, and keep showing up when nobody’s clapping. Also, never agree to a money match with a man who looks calm over every putt.
📎 GOLF.com
Image via Car and Driver
Bentley’s First EV Is a Signal: Luxury Will Go Electric, Just Not Cheap
Car and Driver’s early ride in the 2028 Bentley Torcal prototype offers a preview of how the brand intends to enter the EV era: with presence, refinement, and a focus on the experience rather than spec-sheet chest-thumping. The takeaway isn’t that Bentley is chasing Tesla; it’s that Bentley is trying to make “electric” feel like “Bentley.”
For the luxury segment, the transition has always been about more than powertrains. It’s about whether an EV can deliver the same sense of effortlessness, isolation, and long-haul comfort that high-end buyers expect—without turning the cabin into a rolling touchscreen demo.
From an investor’s seat, luxury EVs are a branding test and a supply-chain test. Batteries, software, and charging ecosystems don’t care about heritage. But heritage still sells, if the product meets the moment and the ownership experience doesn’t get sloppy.
🥃 Cole's Take: The ultra-luxury buyer will adopt EVs when the car feels finished and the service experience feels bulletproof. Bentley’s opportunity is to make electric quiet feel like a private club, not an airport lounge. If they nail that, the margins will follow.
Image via The Whiskey Wash
Whisky Cask “Investments” Get Another Black Eye as a Scam Firm Is Shut Down
A UK High Court shut down a whisky cask firm accused of operating a scam, highlighting a problem that keeps resurfacing: people pay thousands for a cask, receive paperwork that looks official, and later discover they may not own anything enforceable at all. The story is a harsh reminder that “alternative investments” often come with alternative ways to get ripped off.
Cask whisky can be legitimate, but the legitimate version is unsexy: verified title, reputable bonded storage, clear chain of custody, transparent fees, and a realistic view of liquidity. The scammy version is all upside charts and urgency, with ownership certificates that don’t stand up when you actually need them.
If you’ve earned enough to explore collectibles and spirits, good. Just treat it like you’d treat a private deal: trust is not a control, and pretty paper is not proof.
🥃 Cole's Take: If you can’t independently verify title and storage, you don’t own a cask—you own a story. Buy whisky because you love it, and only “invest” through structures that survive a lawyer’s questions. The best protection is boring documentation and the willingness to walk away.
That’s the Brief. Protect the downside, let the winners run, and don’t sign a certificate you haven’t pressure-tested—whether it’s a term sheet, a title, or a cask. See you next issue.
— Cole Hargrove