Charts & Chat - May 10, 2026

This week, CEO Eric Boyce, CFA discusses:

1. consumer sentiment remains weak, even as earnings estimates and economic forecasts are moving higher. Investor sentiment moves higher, exacerbating the "K-shaped" economic situation

2. the government's role in the economy is increasing, making political changes a threat to growth - much of that growth is coming in transfer payments to individuals, including Medicare and SSA

3. AI capital spending expected to eclipse US national defense spending in 2027

4. Steel & cattle prices are a proxy for the dramatic rise in the commodity basket and a contributor to weaker sentiment

5. oil inventory levels will reach critical levels by September if nothing changes on Iran

6. wages moving lower, inflation moving higher puts real wage growth at risk

7. Education - the benefits of long term investment horizons on compounded rates of growth and average length of bull markets