Worth The Call
6-28-26
Opening Comments
My last note was about my 900th newsletter. The most opened links were the #1 question ultra-high net worth families should ask a financial advisor and the Jimmy Fallon story about his ping pong match with Prince.
I am back in Park City, Utah. The weather is sunning! However, it was chilly Saturday night. I ate outside and it was 53 degrees and breezy. June in the mountains.
My week in NYC and Hampton was fun despite a couple days of rain. The prices remain offensive at every turn. However, this one set me off. There is a pop-up Equinox in Bridgehampton. Check out the pricing for a gym. $700-850/month if you are not an Equinox member. Are you kidding me?
Videos of the Day-Foreigners in US for World Cup Love America
Markets
Top Macro Risks
Data Center Boom Creating Inflation
Top Paid CEOs
Great Wealth Transfer
Morgan Stanley Incentives to Build in Dallas
The Miami Condo Building Challenges on Champlain Tower Site
Affordability Driving Adults to Live With Parents
Videos of the Day-Foreigners in US for World Cup Love America
With the World Cup being played in numerous cities in the USA, there are literally dozens of videos going around about how much Europeans are loving America despite being brainwashed by the media about how awful it is here. I am proud to be American and despite some of my frustrations with policies, I do not believe there is a better place to live in the world. America is better than expected. People have been lied to about America. Search social media and you can find dozens of these videos, and they are consistently supportive and positive of the greatest country in the world. The media lies. Shocker. Here is a Scottish fan giving America a glowing review. The Scotland fans took over Miami. I love it.
Worth The Call
This title is relevant for so many things in our lives, but in today’s note, I want to focus on the importance of making an effort to stay in touch with people who were once part of your life. When you work, you spend 10-12+ hours a day with people. It is more time than you spend with your family. In some cases, you become very close with your colleagues. They know everything about you and your personal life. All of a sudden, you no longer work with those people, and given how busy you are, the relationships dwindle.
I look back at my career, especially my time at Continental Bank, Chase/JPM, and Reef Road Capital, and think of the amazing relationships I developed. In many cases, I still keep in touch with people, but not all. I miss those connections and relationships.
An old friend, Ken Selle, had a retirement party on Wednesday night. I attended out of respect for a former trading partner I have since lost touch with. I saw over a dozen former colleagues, clients, and competitors from decades past. These were former friends, and it was so good to reconnect. It was yet another reminder of the importance of making an effort to keep in touch. Sadly, everyone is older, some retired, some grandparents. It is a stark reminder of the importance of living your life to the fullest.
It is not just former colleagues, but it is also people you meet along the way. I was walking up Lexington on Thursday evening and saw my old friend, Naseem Haffar. It had been years since I last saw him and I was thrilled to reconnect.
I was very close with my friend Eli Elifant, who I met through 3i. We spoke constantly and really hit it off. Given Eli's job, family responsibilities, and life, coupled with us living in different locations and my inability to put more effort into it, we lost touch.
I was in Utah in my condo, and my phone rang and showed Eli's face. My first emotion was excitement to hear from him, but it quickly moved to concern. Was he calling because something was wrong? We had not connected in over nine months. It turns out he was calling to reconnect. I had a big smile on my face, and we spoke for 30 minutes, catching each other up on our lives. Eli is an amazing person and a great force in the real estate world. I would love to spend more time with him and would jump at the chance to do a project together.
On Thursday night, there was a fantastic 3i Members event for the mentoring program, and I saw a bunch of people that I know and love including Eli. Jack and I went to dinner after the event with Alon Rosin, who runs the Oppenheimer Options Trading Desk, and it was fantastic to see him. When I ran my fund, I did a majority of my options trades through Alon.
As a result of Eli's call, I have reached out to a dozen people I have not spoken with in many months or years to reconnect. My point is simple: make the time to keep your connections strong. Reach out to those you have lost touch with and make contact. I know they would love to hear from you. I know that I sure enjoyed reconnecting with Eli.
Quick Bites
Wednesday night, Micron reported soaring prices, and the stock was +16%. The stock was +265% coming into earnings! Qualcomm stock was +15% as well after chipmaker almost doubled projection for non-handset revenue. Oil broke $70/barrel, and I am perplexed based on the storage issues and the continued lack of volume out of the Strait of Hormuz. Whatever Trump and Vance proclaim, Iran takes the other side. It seems to me that the market is too optimistic about oil supply at this price. On Thursday, core inflation data came out and hit 3.4% in May, the highest reading since October 2023. This excludes food and energy. Iran attacked a cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz,pushing oil back up 2% to $72/barrel Thursday afternoon, but that was short lived and fell below $70. Markets were weaker on Friday, as the tech route was back in action in Asia overnight. Softbank was -12%. Treasury yields are down with oil, and the 10-year hit 4.51% this week and closed at 4.37%. On Friday, stocks were slightly lower. It was the 5th straight losing session for the Nasdaq Composite. Open AI is apparently delaying the IPO until next year due to the valuation. Of note, SpaceX was -16% on the week and closed just above the 1st trade level, while bonds are weaker in the secondary market. I made it clear that I felt SpaceX stock would come back down and not to chase it. On the week, the S&P was -2.0%, Nasdaq-4.6% and Russell +1.0%.
Apollo’s Torsten Slok outlined his top three macro risks: 1) Middle East: What are the implications if some tanks reach critical levels somewhere in the world, including distillate fuels in the US? See the first chart. 2) AI: What happens if companies start limiting their token budgets meaningfully because they are only seeing weak ROI, and as a result, compute demand either slows down or shifts to Chinese models? See the second chart. 3) Inflation outlook: With inflation trending higher, what are the implications for equity and credit markets if the Fed hikes in September and December, as currently priced in fed funds futures?
I thought this WSJ article about the data center boom sparking a third wave of inflation was interesting. President Trump’s trade wars have waned. The price of gas is finally falling. But inflation has a new catalyst: America’s massive artificial-intelligence build-out is beginning to push up prices on everything from smartphones to electricity. The question now is how widely that build-out might ripple through the economy, and how long it could keep inflation elevated. The answers will have big consequences for the economy. The money pouring into the AI arms race is unprecedented. Analysts peg capital spending at five of the so-called hyperscalers—Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Oracle—at $741 billion this year, according to FactSet, up nearly 75% from last year. With so much demand, prices are rising for many of the things that go into the AI build-out. And because those things are used for more than just AI, those price increases are spilling over into the broader economy. Memory and storage chips, for example, are used in a broad array of consumer-electronics products that includes everything from videogame consoles to cars. On a related note, Apple stock dropped 6% on MacBook and iPad price hikes by $200 or more due to the memory crunch. Also, Microsoft increased the price of Xbox consoles due to soaring component costs.
Top paid CEO compensation is the focus of this WSJ article. I am supportive of paying for performance. If you're at the helm of a company and it is consistently outperforming, I have no problem with a massive pay package. However, I have found cases that CEOs are grossly over compensated, as I highlighted for Zaslav at Warner Brothers Discovery a few months ago. The $100-million-plus CEO is back with a bang, just a year after nine-figure pay packages seemed to be fading. More U.S. CEOs last year crossed the once-rare pay threshold than in any year since 2021—and nearly a dozen topped $200 million. Their compensation looked like crumbs, of course, compared with Elon Musk’s $158 billion pay package from Tesla, which set a new record and is about 16 times the combined value for all 391 other chiefs in The Wall Street Journal’s annual CEO pay ranking. (Musk’s deal could ultimately be worth $1 trillion.) Still, No. 2 Shankh Mitra reached $821 million from Welltower, a real-estate investment trust focused on senior housing and healthcare. That lands him one of the biggest executive-pay packages for a public-company CEO over the past decade, data from MyLogIQ show. Just over half the CEOs making over $100 million last year ran companies outside the S&P 500, meaning they aren’t included in the Journal’s ranking. They include Dylan Field of design-software company Figma, at $864 million, and Kaz Nejatian of Opendoor Technologies, an online real-estate transaction platform, at $741 million. There are a ton of great charts and data in the link.
Great CNBC article about the massive wealth transfer taking place. The largest transfer of wealth in modern history is underway, and the heirs set to inherit trillions of dollars in family fortunes are preparing to use the money very differently from the generations that built it. Over the next two decades, an estimated $83.5 trillion is expected to pass from baby boomers and older entrepreneurs to their children and grandchildren, according to UBS. “The world is entering a historic intergenerational wealth transfer,” UBS told CNBC. Billionaire families alone are expected to transfer about $6.9 trillion by 2040. “The first generation were ‘builders,’” said Elizabeth Hart, CEO and founder of Legacy Wealth Advisors. “Their wealth is usually tied to a single asset class they understand deeply, often a family operating business or local blue-chip shares.”
By contrast, younger heirs tend to “view wealth through a global lens,” Hart said, adding that they are more open to diversified investments across asset classes and markets. A Natixis Investment Managers survey found that millennials are far more likely than older investors to seek exposure to private assets, with 53% expressing interest. They are also more likely to discuss cryptocurrencies with advisers, with 62% doing so, while 44% plan to increase or begin crypto investments within the next year. Lots of interesting information in the link.
Middle East
U.S. strikes Iran after Trump accuses Tehran of ceasefire violation in Strait of Hormuz
U.S. Central Command said its aircraft “struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations and coastal radar sites.” I continue to feel that we are not as close to a deal as Trump continues to assert. At every turn, Iran disrespects Trump and America. I just do not believe the Iranians will abide by any deal. Trump lost his opportunity and Iran has called his bluff. Of note, the administration waited until after the stock market close to announce the attacks to limit the impact on the market. Then on Saturday, Iran fired drones at Bahrain and an oil tanker was hit in Hormuz. So much for the ceasefire I have been so critical of. Trump issued more dire warnings about the fate of Iran, but we know those tend to be hollow. Trumps told us he was bombing Iran into the Stone Ages and ending civilization and backs down every time.
Israel and Lebanon sign framework agreement with US in ‘first step’ toward peace, Rubio says
Iran Estimates $40 Billion Windfall From Reopening Hormuz With Gulf States
Deal to unblock global energy funnel gives Iran say in its future management, and route to riches. “Everyone needs to know that management of the strait will never return to the way it was before,” said Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. On a positive note, 70 ships crossed the Strait on Wednesday, about 50% of the levels prior to the war.
Read the troubling account of a 24-year-old Israeli man raped by men. These Hamas fighters are barbaric and must be stopped at all costs.
Just one in four Americans believes the Iran war was worth its costs
Politics
Hegseth Cuts Army Commander’s Storied Career Short as Part of Broader Shake-Up
More general and flag officers could be squeezed out of other coveted jobs with a list expected to reach the Joint Staff next week. The WSJ article is critical of Hegseth.
I wrote about my views last week. America is obese and we need to make dietary changes.
Trump threatens 100% tariff on countries putting ‘Digital Services Tax on American Companies’
Ex-Trump advisor John Bolton pleads guilty to retaining national defense information
Palestinian Aber Kawas has won her seat for NY State Senate.
NY-13 nominee Dariazila Avila Chevalier is a founder of CUAD. The org’s stated goal? (her comments are pictured below).
Kawas said 9/11 was America’s fault due to “capitalism, racism, white supremacy, and Islamophobia.” Here she is waving a Hamas headband. You cannot make this up. 25 years after the tragedy of 9/11 where nearly 3,000 Americans were killed, we are electing people who hate America. What in the hell is wrong with people? Move to Gaza if you don’t like America. I hear Iran is nice this time of year.
Mayor Brandon Johnson declares a ‘transfemicide’ crisis, ignores hundreds of black deaths
I am going to lose it. Johnson declared a “Transfemicide State of Emergency. Transfemicide is the targeted killing of a transgender woman motivated by transphobic and misogynistic hatred. In fact, only one trans person was killed in Chicago in all of last year — and the incident appears to have been a matter of domestic violence unrelated to their trans status. Let’s look at the murder rate in Chicago with charts below. Which issue should get a state of emergency?
I want laws to ban Congress from trading. How does he have time to do thousands of trades? He wants to tax billionaires.
California’s wealthy are trading the Golden State for the Golden Nugget
From a proposed exit tax to mansion taxes and a wealth tax ballot measure, successful families are weighing options. Economically, staying in California makes no sense when you factor in the tax savings and cost of living. 76% of likely Democratic voters support the billionaire tax with overall support at 54%. However, Governor Newsom is opposed, and begging Californians to vote “no” on the tax. Despite is awful governorship, he is smart enough to realize that the tax will push more wealthy residents to flee.
Video shows Michigan lawmaker touring daycare tied to $1.1M in taxpayer funds with no sign of kids
I have written extensively about fraud and waste.
Good luck to the landlords and the banks who will eventually own these units due to moronic laws. NOTHING could get me to own a rental unit in NYC. The ramifications of these policies are dire for landlords and lenders. The cost to run a building goes up with salaries, insurance, taxes, and maintenance costs, and you are stuck with the same under market rent revenue. You cannot run a business with these rules. Rent-stabilized housing insurance soared 10.5% in 2026 year over year, while fuel and maintenance rose 11% and 6%, respectively.
Gavin Newsom spent $57K jetting around Europe on tab of wealthy donors, robotaxi firm
This is not me picking on Newsom. I want harder rules on donors picking up the tab for this stuff for BOTH parties.
This is a VERY troubling video of a group of migrants who beat a 17-year-old boy to death in France.
Open borders have consequences. They stomped on his head and left him to die.
Ukraine unleashes one of its heaviest drone bombardments of Russia
660 drone attack in 12 Russian regions. I cannot believe this war continues.
Other Headlines
I often write about policies and the impact on the economy. This chart is telling in terms of the change in the share of global GDP. Note how the European countries and Japan are all sharply lower, while the US and China are growing. The post-war rise of Japan, the American technology boom of the 1990s, and China’s WTO accession in 2001 all reshaped global growth trajectories. Today’s transition is driven by different forces: the divergence in demographic momentum, the concentration of high-value innovation in the United States, the scaling of China’s industrial capacity, and the relative stagnation of key European economies.
JPMorgan Chase unveils $50 billion buyback, Goldman Sachs raises dividend after Fed stress test
JPMorgan names Doug Petno and Troy Rohrbaugh co-presidents as longtime exec Marianne Lake exits
The memory shortage shaking Apple and Microsoft is ‘existential crisis’ for smaller players
Oracle stock has worst week since 2001 dot-com bust as AI financing concerns escalate
SK Hynix surges 11% after filing for blockbuster Nasdaq listing
The No. 1 trick I always teach to build unshakeable confidence—it worked for Beyoncé and Adele
Death penalty for parents? Who does this to a child?
Louisiana pastor Tony Spell attacked neighbor who allegedly threatened to rape and kill wife
The pastor beat the hell out of the kid who threatened his family.
“We live in fear of being disciplined and having our future ruined if we even accidentally use a pronoun someone doesn’t like,” Jackson Barrick, a University of Minnesota student said.
USA World Cup soccer team learns likely Round of 32 opponent, and draw looks favorable
France records hottest day ever as Europe suffers brutal heat wave
Red alerts were also in place in Britain, Germany, Austria and Switzerland as the extreme early summer heat forced school closures, travel disruption and alarm about climate change. Air conditioning is not as prevalent in Europe. Be careful.
Venezuela earthquake death toll tops 1,400 -- with rising soccer stars confirmed dead
The official death count is 900, but the suggestion is it will rise sharply.
For $4,500 a Week, AI Can Tutor Your Kids in the Hamptons
Alpha School is offering summer classes in the Hamptons, teaching academics with AI and afternoon activities with guests like chefs and athletes, for $4,500 a week.
Luxury spending now driven by experiences and ‘inheritourism’
The report also cites the rise in “inheritourism,” in which wealthy families travel together and Gen Zers adopt the travel tastes and preferences of their parents.
NBA prospect suffers draft humiliation as he crashes out of first round of draft
He wore $4mm in diamonds to the draft and was not selected in the first round.
Caitlin Clark urged to quit WNBA
I agree. The league has done NOTHING to protect her from jealous players out to injure her. Leave the WNBA and go to Europe. You will be treated like a queen. Check out the throat punch that got everyone talking about Clark’s mistreatment by refs. No foul, of course. Refs want Clark to be murdered.
Health
I will be starting a protocol of various peptides in coming weeks and will be reporting my findings. Are they effective? Will I notice a difference? I am not sure, but I am giving it 90 days. The process is a bit cumbersome and will need to give myself numerous shots each week. I am excited, given the people I have spoken with about these peptides.
I’m an oncologist — 5 cancer symptoms people dismiss as normal aging or stress
Five Things an Orthopaedic Surgeon Does to Avoid Golf Injuries
Warm up, protect your spine, treat early pain, think beyond swing speed, respect recovery.
Real Estate
Great article about Morgan Stanley getting incentives to build a $1.3bn tower in Texas. Policies matter and more major companies are expanding outside of NYC due to the hate of wealth and capitalism, plus vilification of big business. I love to see companies and individuals make smart choices and leave NYC. Dallas lawmakers signed off Wednesday on a $18.5 million incentive package to lure a $1.3 billion Morgan Stanley office tower to the city, The Post has learned — and this week’s stunning victories by far-left New York pols could expedite the exodus of businesses. Officials at the Dallas City Council unanimously rubber-stamped the deal 15-0 that would give the New York-based bank a special economic grant and up to a decade of property tax abatements, according to a municipal filing reviewed by The Post. In exchange, the Wall Street giant would build a major regional office downtown and shift nearly 5,000 jobs to the city — the latest coup for the booming Texas financial corridor known as “Y’all Street” which beckons New York moneymen looking to flee Zohran Mamdani’s ‘tax-and-spend’ left-wing policies. “Morgan Stanley’s engagement with Dallas speaks to the strength of our financial services ecosystem, and I look forward to welcoming the firm to Y’all Street. We have worked hard to make Dallas America’s most pro-business city,” said Big D Mayor Eric Johnson.
Damac Properties, one of the most prolific developers in the Gulf, is trying to develop luxury condos in South Florida on a rare, undeveloped stretch of white sand. It faces a major obstacle: it plans to build on the Surfside site where 98 people died when a condo tower partially collapsed five years ago. Damac has yet to sell a single condo unit more than a year after the sales process launched. The Dubai firm has made inquiries about selling the site (though a spokesman said the property isn’t currently for sale) and it is now looking to find a partner. The collapse of Champlain Towers South marks its fifth anniversary today. It was one of the deadliest structural failures in U.S. history. Since then, Dubai developer Damac Properties has struggled to gain traction on turning the site into a luxury condo tower, the firm’s first project in the U.S. A year and a half after Damac launched the sales process, not a single unit has sold. I cannot imagine how this project gets off the ground considering nothing has sold. Meanwhile, a few blocks away, units at the Surf Club, areselling for $6,000 a foot and there is almost no inventory.
Concerning article outlining the growth in adults under 35 years old living with their parents primary due to affordability. More Americans under 35 are living with their parents, but it’s not because they don’t have jobs. That’s according to a new Realtor.com analysis, which found roughly 1 in 3 young adults — a record 25.2 million — were living at home in 2025. After ticking down from its pandemic peak, the share of 18- to 34-year-olds living with their parents has climbed back to 33 percent, up 6 percentage points over the past two decades. But employment challenges don’t appear to be the main driver. Roughly 70 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds living at home are employed, a share that has remained relatively stable over the past 25 years, the report said.
Instead, the trend is “likely primarily fueled by a housing affordability crisis,” according to Hannah Jones, senior economist at Realtor.com.
© 2026 The Rosen Report LLC. All rights reserved. Does not constitute investment, financial, legal, or tax advice. Consult with your lawyers and professional financial advisers. Rosen Report™ #901 ©Copyright 2026 Written By Eric Rosen.
