New Fed Chair Kevin Warsh appears ready to give markets fewer signals. That may give the Fed more flexibility, but it also gives every data point more power to move markets.

Highlights from the week of July 10 – July 16, 2026.

​​Recent liquidity events related to portfolio companies in which PIF invests through its private equity holdings​.

The Trump administration is taking stakes in chip, defense, quantum, and rare earth companies that align with policy priorities. These “National Champion” stocks could see long-term competitive advantages that aren’t immediately apparent.

Lower income households are getting a raise, increasing capex estimates signal confidence, and small businesses are catching up in their use of AI.

Private credit redemption pressure and default upticks are not likely to affect well-diversified secondary private equity portfolios.

Jim Lydotes flips the timer on a retail energy deal, thinner consumer cushions, and how index rebalancing shows why investors should look beneath the market surface.

Last week, America's pre-birthday physical came back mixed. The labor market remains robust and spending is up. The number nobody wants elevated is inflation, which reached a three-year high. Factory orders are the bruise that looks worse than it is; blame aircraft.

The back half of 2026 may hinge on six themes: AI spending, uneven growth, labor supply, sticky inflation, uneasy central banks, and volatile bond markets.

Jim Lydotes flips the timer on our Grassroots Research on data centers, healthcare companies reinvesting AI dividends, and the breakdown in common value metrics.