EVENTS:   Best Equity Short Ideas Conference Call 12 - Zach Shannon/Corto Capital Advisors & Craig Huber/Huber Research Partners & Thomas Beevers /Forensic Alpha & Ed Steele/Iron Blue Financials & Bill Campbell/Paragon Intel - 12 Nov 25   Will AI Deflate the World? Macro Lessons from Three Industrial Revolutions and China - Manoj Pradhan/Talking Heads Macro - 13 Nov 25     ROADSHOWS: Forest Products Sector Equity and Commodity Research With Expertise in Distressed Debt - Kevin Mason /ERA Research   •   London   12 - 14 Nov 25       Buyside to Buyside Forum and Expert Calls across TMT, Consumer, Healthcare and Fintech - Andrew Peters /Revelare Partners   •   London   17 - 19 Nov 25       Fundamental US Healthcare Short Ideas - Dr Elliot Favus /Favus Institutional Research   •   London   17 - 19 Nov 25      

Fortnightly Publication Highlighting Latest Insights From IRF Providers

Company Research

Outside of AI, why invest in the US?

View from the Peak

US equities remain the world’s most important market, but passive benchmarks are distorted by AI concentration risk. Durable alpha lies in structural themes beyond AI. Power infrastructure (Constellation, Duke, NextEra) will benefit from grid bottlenecks as data centres drive demand. Re-industrialisation (Caterpillar, Honeywell, Rockwell) reflects reshoring and automation. The energy transition (Dominion, Enphase, ExxonMobil) requires trillions in capex. Housing scarcity (D.R. Horton, Home Depot, Lennar) is a structural imbalance. Healthcare innovation (Abbott, Eli Lilly, UnitedHealth) rides longevity and med-tech advances. Cybersecurity (Cisco, CrowdStrike, Palo Alto) is non-discretionary. Generational wealth transfer (BlackRock, Morgan Stanley, Schwab) reshapes capital flows. The AI productivity super-cycle is real, but thematic allocations across these shifts offer broader, smarter US exposure.

Edition: 220

- 19 September, 2025


Charles Schwab (SCHW)

Financials

Smart Insider

Six insiders spent a total of $4.8m buying stock at ~$57 per share. Gregory Norden (CEO) splashed out $3m. John Adams (Non-Exec) purchased $297k of stock in his largest buy and his first since 2016. Stephen Ellis (Non-Exec) spent $379k - his only purchase in the last 10 years. Furthermore, Peter Crawford (CFO), Richard Wurster (President) and Todd Ricketts (Non-Exec) all bought stock for the first time. While this is likely a co-ordinated cluster of buying post SVB's collapse, these are material purchases. Stock Rank +1.

Edition: 156

- 17 March, 2023


Charles Schwab (SCHW)

Financials

Holland Advisors

Andrew Hollingworth provides an update to his bull thesis having previously described the company as the “Amazon of finance” - it offers customers "no-trade-off" between good service and super low pricing. His early analysis revealed how SCHW would become extremely cash generative whilst continuing to grow. That day has now come - its arrival being delayed by its merger with TD Ameritrade. This piece focuses on what Andrew believes investors are missing and why Mr Market’s forecasts remain much lower than his own - 2023E EPS is $5.62 (vs. consensus at $4.80) and 2025E is $8.69 (vs. $6.30). TP $155 (100% upside).

Edition: 148

- 11 November, 2022