☕ What's ahead for the rest of the year and into 2026?

Good morning! 👋 

It’s Hayley here while Keith enjoys some family time ahead of Thanksgiving. 

Meanwhile here in the UK we’re… not doing that. Our version of Thanksgiving is usually a chilly Thursday, a cup of tea, and someone saying “could be worse” while it rains sideways. 😅 

All three major indexes are in the green this morning, which sets a surprisingly upbeat tone for a short trading week. Weeks like this often reveal more than people think, because the weak hands step aside and the strong hands show their cards. 

And that brighter tone links nicely to something Keith talked about yesterday with his good friend Scott “The Cow Guy” Shellady.  

They were chatting about whether this calmer backdrop could set the stage for a Santa Claus rally and why the mood feels a little different right now. (Watch) 

Historically the Santa Claus rally is not a myth. The S&P 500 has finished higher around 80% of the time during the last five trading days of December and the first two of January. When markets head into that period with improving sentiment, the odds usually get even better. 

They also spent a moment talking about 2026, which both of them see as a potentially powerful year once rate cuts work their way through the system and the next leg of innovation takes hold. 

The part Keith really wants you to internalise is this. 

Most people are hardwired to fear the unknown and to play not to lose. It’s human nature, coming from millions of years of instinct. We latch onto headlines, look for shadows, and imagine the worst possible outcome. 

But markets are shaped by people who play to win. They look at what could go right. They focus on where the money is flowing, not where the fear is swirling. And they move early. 

• Innovation has always been the spark. 

• The spark creates optimism. 

• Optimism creates profits. 

It’s not just us saying that... this pattern has held through every major leap forward in human progress. 

Across the last century, the strongest market runs followed periods of major innovation, including electricity, semiconductors, the internet, and the smartphone. Each cycle delivered years of outperformance as money chased the next wave of productivity. 

And right now, we are standing at the edge of another one. 

AI is pushing us into what Keith and people like Peter Diamandis call an ‘age of abundance’. It is messy and uncomfortable at first because we do not yet know how to define it. But it will reshape everything from healthcare to work to money to productivity to identity. 

The shift is already visible.  

• Morgan Stanley estimates that fully adopting AI could save companies close to $1T a year. (Read) 

• Stanford’s latest data shows that 78% of global enterprises are now using AI in their operations, up from 55% just a year earlier. (Read) 

• Companies using generative AI are seeing some of the highest returns in technology. McKinsey’s survey found that businesses are getting almost $4 of value for $1 invested. (Read) 

These figures may actually now be a tad too low by our way of thinking. 

Don’t chase yesterday’s trends. Instead, position for tomorrow’s inevitabilities. 

As always, let’s MAKE it a great day. 

You got this, I promise! 

Hayley E 😀