Go For the Golf & Views, Not the Food

4-27-25

Opening Comments

My last note outlined a major professional setback early in my career and how I responded. The note was titled, “You are Only As Strong As Your Weakest Link.” The most opened links were gnarly Ozempic feet and the three hour window to exercise to lower the risk of heart disease.

I had a funny typo in my last note. My editor has been away at his wedding and honeymoon. When a reader sent this to me asking if it was intentional, I did not even see the typo for a minute. I had this picture generated using Deep AI and I did not see the word “strong” was spelled wrong. What is even crazier is I had Deep AI do about a dozen creations and found spelling errors in every one of them, and did not catch this one. Embarrassing! Let’s just say, not all AI is ready for prime time.

• Video of the Day-1980s Hairstyles

• Go For the Golf & Views, Not the Food

• Quick Bites

  • Markets

  • The Rich Get Richer

  • Palantir Fellowship

  • AI/Robotics Taking Over Classrooms and More

• Tariffs

• Politics

• Middle East

• Other Headlines

• Health

• Real Estate

  • Florida Condo Sales Falling

  • Manalapan, Florida-Hot Market

  • $225mm Naples, FL House Sale

  • Existing Home Sales Down & Inventory Up

Video of the Day-1980s Hairstyle

• Growing up in South Florida in the 1980s was crazy, and this short TikTok video shows some funny (BIG) hairdos from the 1980s. I vividly recall girls in my high school with huge hair. The boys had some pretty big hair as well. My mullet from 1986 is pretty legendary. The rock bands of the 1980s sure used a lot of hairspray as well.

  

Go For the Golf & Views, Not the Food

The Palm Beach Par Three course in South Palm Beach is a great place to have a fun afternoon. The course was recently named the #10 public access par-3 and non-traditional course in the country by Golfweek magazine. Over the years, residents have donated money to rebuild the course and clubhouse, and it is a great destination for the public. Famed golfer Ray Floyd redesigned the course.

I have taken the kids multiple times to play, and we always have a blast. The 18-hole course offers holes from 81 to 211 yards, and multiple holes are on the intracoastal or ocean. Lots of water views, and the prices are reasonable, especially if you are a Palm Beach resident. I enjoy walking the course and grabbing lunch at the restaurant after the round.

My wife and I were planning dinner with our close friends, Bill and Nan, and were struggling to get a reservation at any of our favorite places. Shockingly late in the season for every restaurant to be booked. We got into Al Fresco at the Palm Beach Par 3 for dinner on Friday night. The traffic was awful, and Waze sent us up on A1A the entire way, which made for a beautiful drive. Some amazing homes have been built, and the foliage is stunning.

The night was beautiful but windy, and we sat outside looking over the Atlantic Ocean. The manager had the wind shades down, which took away from the view and made pictures challenging. However, the setting was lovely. The place was packed with every table booked to capacity.

The restaurant offers a varied menu with pizza, pasta, as well as entrees of fish, chicken, and beef. I love escarole and cannellini beans so I started with that as my appetizer. The dish was fine, but not overwhelming or memorable. The pieces of escarole were a bit too large and lacked any real punch. For my entrée, I had the highly recommended chicken parmigiana. Despite a solid presentation, again, it underwhelmed. There was nothing special about it.

We also ordered the margherita pizza, but it wasn’t anything special. I am not a huge pizza person, but if I take a piece, it better knock my socks off, and this missed by a mile.

I highly recommend walking the golf course with friends and family and enjoying the stunning setting. After, I would grab lunch or a drink. Would I go back for dinner? I suppose, but focus on the setting and scenery, rather than the food, and you will be fine.

• Food-6.3

• Ambiance-8.1

• Price-Reasonable

• Wine List-Weak

Quick Bites

• Thursday, markets rallied as Amazon and Nvidia executives said they only see power demand rising, as AI data center demand is not slowing down. On Thursday evening, Alphabet announced strong revenue and earnings, and the stock popped 2%. On the week, the S&P 500 gained 4.6%, while the Nasdaq climbed 6.7%. The Dow has underperformed but is still cinched a one-week advance of 2.5%. Despite hitting 4.43% on the 10-year Treasury early in the week, it finished at 4.25% helped by the likelihood of lower tariffs. Investors were cautiously optimistic that trade talk progress was being made. The US$ relative to the basket (DXY) rebounded from the Monday lows (97.92) and closed at 99.63, but is well off the 110 levels from January. However, the US$ is poised for the worst first 100 days since Nixon. I thought the second chart on Trump-related news articles was interesting. Make no mistake, the market stabilized this week and Treasury rates came back down.

  

• The rich get richer, according to this WSJ article outlining the $1 trillion of wealth created for 19 US households in 2024. It took four decades for the top 0.00001% of Americans’ share of total U.S. household wealth to grow from 0.1% in 1982—when 11 households made up that rarefied group—to 1.2% in 2023, according to an analysis by Gabriel Zucman, an economist at the University of California, Berkeley and the Paris School of Economics. In one year, by the end of 2024, the share of total U.S. household wealth for the modern 0.00001%—those 19 households—jumped to 1.8%, or about $2.6 trillion. That is the biggest one-year increase on record, according to Zucman. Total U.S. household wealth stood at about $148 trillion at the end of 2024, according to a measure Zucman used that subtracts the value of big-ticket items such as appliances as well as unfunded pensions from the Federal Reserve’s estimate of household wealth. The average net worth of all groups has climbed since the third quarter of 1990 as the U.S. economy has grown. The growth in wealth of the richest Americans has far outpaced that of all other U.S. wealth groups. A household in the top 0.1%—roughly 133,000 households each worth at least $46.3 million—accumulated an average $3.4 million a year since the third quarter of 1990, in 2024 dollars, according to an analysis of Federal Reserve data by Steven Fazzari, an economist at Washington University in St. Louis. In comparison, the wealth of the rest of the top 1%—roughly 1.2 million households each worth at least $11.2 million—grew by an average $450,000 per household, per year.

• I have written extensively about the costs of a four-year college degree and the fact that many who attend college should be going in another direction. I recently wrote about the brilliant high school kid who was rejected from most colleges despite his amazing resume and instead took a high paying job as a Google engineer. I was excited to read that Palantir Technologies ($200bn market cap) recently unveiled a new program. Palantir launched a "Meritocracy Fellowship" this week aimed at high schoolers or recent graduates who want to "get the Palantir Degree," and "skip the debt" and "indoctrination." The role(s) will be earned "solely on merit and academic excellence." This article outlines a fellowship that hopes to help kids avoid the “indoctrination” of college. I have written about merit and believe the best candidate, regardless of race, religion, age, sex, or sexual orientation, should get the job. Check out this CNBC story about student debt. This Fortune article suggests nearly 50% of Gen Z and millennials suggest college was a waste of money and AI is making degrees obsolete.

  

• David Game College in London is making waves with the launch of the UK’s first AI-led classroom, where traditional teachers are replaced by technology. The pilot initiative, called the Sabrewing Programme, began in September 2024 with just seven GCSE students, but the school plans to expand. In this new model, AI systems lead students through subjects like English, Math, Biology, Chemistry, and Computer Science, adapting lessons in real-time to suit each student’s needs. Students wear virtual reality headsets for immersive, hands-on learning experiences. While AI handles the majority of academic instruction, human teachers still oversee subjects like art and sex education—areas where emotional intelligence and creativity are crucial. Each class also includes “learning coaches” who support students’ motivation, mental health, and areas where AI still has limitations. Check out this story of a Texas private school and the learning improvements thanks to AI. IMPRESSIVE. In 10 years, how many jobs will be replaced by AI or robots? What does the workforce look like in 2035? I loved this chart that shows the number of people in S&P 500 companies to generate $1mm of revenues fell from eight to two since 1985. What does it look like in 2035? I am guessing fewer than one person to generate $1mm in revenue. Waymo reported 250,000 paid robotaxi rides per week in the USA (+50,000/week) since February. How many driver jobs will be replaced by 2030? This 45 second video shows robots folding clothes. This story outlines how an Australian radio station had an AI host for six months before listeners questioned the identity. Yikes. The future will be very disruptive.

  

Tariffs

On Friday, Time magazine published comments from Trump that said he would consider it a “total victory” if the U.S. has high tariffs of 20% to 50% on foreign countries a year from now. But his Tuesday comments published Friday also said the president expects announcements on many deals to be coming “over the next three to four weeks.” President Donald Trump claimed he's already "made 200 deals" on tariffs and said he's spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping. China representatives responded: “China and the United States have not consulted or negotiated on the tariff issue. The United States should not confuse the public.”

There has been a lot of market turmoil and disruption from tariffs, and I am not convinced the issues are worth the benefits based on the awful rollout. However, this chart outlines the growth in related revenues.

• Trump insists bond market tumult didn’t influence tariff pause: ‘I wasn’t worried’

  • I don’t believe Trump on this statement.

• India may be first to sign trade deal, says US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent

• Apple to Shift All American iPhone Assembly from China to India

  • 60mm iPhones are sold in the US each year, and the expectation is to have the production in India in 2026. Seems like an aggressive timeline.

• Fox Reporter Says the Trump White House Is Giving Wall Street Executives Inside Info on Tariff Negotiations

  • If this is true, it is horrible.

    

• Orders for big-ticket items like autos and appliances surged 9.2% in March in rush to beat tariffs

• Buy now, stock up or delay: Here’s what consumers are snapping up or putting off in face of tariffs

• Ken Griffin Criticizes Trump Tariffs: ‘These Jobs Are Not Coming Back’

  • “These jobs are not coming back to America,” Griffin said. “And to be clear, with an unemployment rate of 4%, America has moved on.” I am in complete agreement with Griffin on this topic.

Politics

Various polls have come out recently that show Trump’s approval rating is going in the wrong direction. Pew Research is the first two graphs and Fox News poll on the first 100 days is the last one (great charts). This Politco article also goes over recent polls and economic concerns.

• Americans Overwhelmingly Side with Trump on Deportations

  • Fifty-six percent of likely voters say it is “very important” to deport migrant criminals while just five percent say it is “not at all important,” according to a poll by Rasmussen Reports.

• FBI arrests Milwaukee judge, alleging she interfered in immigration operation

• Trump Organization sells ‘Trump 2028’ hat and shirt, fueling questions about third term bid

  • President Trump, STOP. Your approval rate is below Biden at the same point. Think about how hard that is given his long list of issues. The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution sets term limits.

    

• Judge halts parts of Trump’s overhaul of US elections, including proof-of-citizenship requirement

  • I do not understand why this is even a discussion. I need an ID to drive, fly, rent a car, get a hotel, open a bank account, rent a house, buy alcohol or cigarettes, apply for Social Security, Medicaid, welfare, a marriage license, donate blood, and more.

• Trump meme coin surges 50% after top holders offered dinner with the president

  • The President dining with the largest investors of his cryptocurrency seems to cross the line. How is this allowed? The coin went from $9 to $13 on the news. On a related note, DJT stock traded at $80 last March, and I was livid. The company lost hundreds of millions in 2024 and is now trading at $26, but is still valued at over $5bn. Senators are demanding an ethics probe on this dinner.

    

• Former Rep. George Santos sentenced to more than 7 years in prison

• DNI Gabbard refers intel officials to DOJ for prosecution over alleged leaks of classified information

• Trump poised to offer Saudi Arabia over $100 billion arms package

• I had seen stories suggesting the White House was lifting some sanctions on Russia. This tweet from Rubio suggests otherwise.

  

• Hegseth's chief of staff is ousted, the latest sacking at the Pentagon

  • Joe Kasper, Hegseth’s chief of staff, is the fourth top official to be ousted in the last week amid turmoil over the use of the messaging app Signal for military purposes.

• Trump administration looking at $5,000 'baby bonus' to incentivize public to have more children

  • Fertility rates in the US have crashed from 3.76 kids to 1.62 since 1957. Yes, we have a major problem. However, I do not like a $5k incentive for a baby bonus, as I feel it does not begin to cover the costs of having a child. Gives the wrong incentives. This article suggests it cost $300k to have a child until age 18.

    

Middle East

• 'Post' reveals: Why and how Israel missed its chance to strike Iran's nuclear sites

  • JPost reveals for the first time the full extent of the debates between Israel's political and security echelons over striking in Tehran.

• Iran’s Negative Response to Nuclear Inspector’s Request Puts Into Question Utility of Any American-Iranian Deal

  • I do not trust the Iranians for a second. Their leadership hates America and Israel. “Death to America and Israel” chants happen with regularity. The fact that we have allowed Iran to enrich uranium and move towards a nuclear weapon is absurd.

• Massive explosion at Iranian port kills 14 and injures hundreds

• Far-right shift on anti-Semitism sparks unease, even among Jews

• Trump to let Putin keep land seized from Ukraine

• Jewish students aren’t allowed to walk through Yale’s campus anymore!

  • Watch the short video. Yale did ban Yalies4Palestine’s Club status. Here is one Jewish student’s take on his experience and he was called scum. How are these not hate crimes? What are the consequences for this behavior?

• Columbia vows to tear down tent encampments, have disruptors arrested as school braces for renewed anti-Israel protests

• Harvard, Launching Campaign To Drum Up Cash, Finds Its Wealthiest Alumni Hanging Back

  • Harvard is selling a $1bn private equity portfolio to raise cash. I wonder where it sells relative to where they hold it.

    

• Harvard Is an Islamist Outpost

  • For decades it nurtured resentful leftists, and antisemitism united them in a common cause. This is an opinion piece from the WSJ written by a former Harvard professor.

Other Headlines

• One of Wall Street’s Biggest Bulls Slashes View as Tariffs Bite

• Data-Crunching Wall Street Skeptics Sit Out the Turnaround Trade

  • The suggestion is that there is considerable impact to economic activity and there is fear that last week’s market rally is a head fake.

    

• Andurand Hedge Fund’s Losses Worsen to 52% After April Turmoil

• World’s largest sovereign wealth fund reports $40 billion loss in first quarter on tech downturn

• American Consumers Serve Up Bleak Outlook on Economy

  

• As Recession Fears Rise, ‘No Buy’ Takes On New Urgency

• Federal Reserve Board announces the withdrawal of guidance for banks related to their crypto-asset and dollar token activities and related changes to its expectations for these activities

  • I would have thought this would have led to a bigger price increase in crypto. BTC up to $95k, I thought it would have been $100k+.

• Chipotle is seeing a ‘slowdown’ in consumer spending as 2025 gets off to a rough start

• Intel issues weak guidance, says it will slash expenses this year - Stock -5%.

• Shares of Gucci-owner Kering drop after first-quarter sales slump

• Merck lowers profit outlook, partly due to $200 million expected tariff hit

• Uber warns it may have 'no choice' but to leave Colorado ahead of rider safety bill

  • A Colorado bill would require Uber drivers to have continuous audio and video recording of rides

• California overhauling self-driving vehicle regulations. Tesla shares climb 10%

• Pro-Woman Advocates Slam Nike Over Alleged Funding For Puberty-Blocker Study

• Ex-New Mexico judge, wife arrested for allegedly harboring illegal Tren de Aragua member

• Diehard Luigi Mangione fans rally outside NYC courthouse as he pleads not guilty to murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson

  • What is wrong with people? Mangione murdered someone in cold blood. He should not have a fan base.

• Virginia Giuffre, one of Jeffrey Epstein's most prominent abuse survivors, dies by suicide

  

• Florida Woman Posed as ICE Agent to Detain Ex-Boyfriend's Wife

• Driver, 30, plows SUV into crowd at Vancouver Filipino festival, killing at least 9 people

• 42% of Americans under 30 say they’re ‘barely getting by’ financially, Harvard survey finds

  

• Fewer Americans are planning summer vacations. Costs aren’t the top reason

• Private jet demand declines as tariffs spook would-be buyers

  • Nearly half (46%) of participants said that customer interest in buying business jets had deteriorated since March

• Scientists issue warning after observing alarming shift in great white sharks: 'We saw things happen that we'd never expect'

  • I do not like sharks. I am scared of them when I surf. Far too often, they eat the fish I am trying to catch as well.

• Florida home shockingly found two alligators at front door

• U.S. Open: 14-Year-Old Posts Incredible Score, Advances to Final Qualifying

• Brooklyn Girl Scout bests snack-slinging Manhattan rival to become new top cookie seller in NYC for 2025

  • Sold almost $18k worth of cookies.

Health

• I’m a heart surgeon and gut health expert. Here are the 5 healthiest vegetables I eat every day—no matter what

• Researchers may have finally found the reason for the alarming spike in colon cancer among young people — and it could be linked to childhood

• Eating this surprisingly small amount of chicken a week can increase your risk of dying by 27%

• Whooping cough cases are rising again in the US

• Just 17% of Americans under 30 feel they have deep social connections, new Harvard survey shows

• 3 common eye problems may indicate dementia years before a diagnosis

Real Estate

• I have written extensively about the Florida condo market being under pressure. Overbuilding, new condo regulations on structural issues for older buildings, and insurance costs are making the condo market challenging. Florida is contending with a condo crisis, and the ballooning costs of ownership are a big reason why. Condo prices in the state of Florida overall have fallen between 1% and 6% each month annually since July 2024, according to Florida Realtors. In February, prices were down 3%. The selloff is particularly concentrated in older properties. Even in South Florida, prices for buildings 30 years or older have depreciated 22% in the past 24 months, according to ISG World, a South Florida real-estate firm. By contrast, condos less than 30 years old have appreciated an average of 12% over the past decade. The deadline to comply with the new regulations came at the end of last year, but fewer than a quarter of the condominium associations in the state have indicated compliance, according to data from the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Florida is home to about 20% of all U.S. condominiums, according to the Census Bureau. As of 2022, more than half of them were at least 30 years old, the UF Bergstrom Center for Real Estate Studies said.

• The Superrich Have Turned the Tiny Florida Town of Manalapan Into the Next Palm Beach. Manalapan, a roughly 2.4-square-mile town with a population of about 400, is just south of glitzier Palm Beach. While Manalapan has long drawn moneyed residents such as the singer Billy Joel, it has historically lacked the prestige—and price tags—of Palm Beach. That has changed dramatically over the past five years, however, thanks to a series of major home sales. In 2022, for example, Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison paid $173 million for a historic Manalapan estate. And David MacNeil, the founder of the automotive-accessories manufacturer WeatherTech, has spent a combined $94 million over the past year on a pair of neighboring sites, with plans to build a megamansion there. On South Ocean Boulevard, Manalapan’s most affluent corridor, about 21 homes have traded for more than $20 million each since 2020. At least six have sold for $40 million or more, up from only one in that price range during the previous five years. In 2021, eBay billionaire Jeffrey Skoll bought an ocean-to-Intracoastal estate for $89.9 million, while Joel’s home sold last year for $42.6 million.

• A $225mm house sale in Naples sold recently. It was listed for $295mm and spans 15 acres. It is the 2nd highest US home sale ever and behind Ken Griffin’s purchase of 220 Central Park South for $238mm. The article goes into detail of a bunch of high-end South Florida recent sales, especially in Miami Beach.

• Higher mortgage rates and concern over the broader economy are making for a weak start to the all-important spring housing market. Sales of previously owned homes in March fell 5.9% from February to 4.02 million units on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis. Sales were 2.4% lower than March of last year. Sales slumped across all regions month-to-month, but fell hardest in the west, down over 9%. That is the priciest region of the country. The west, however, was the only region to see a year-over-year gain, due to strong activity in the Rocky Mountain states where job growth is strong. This Market Watch article goes into more detail. The pace of home sales was the slowest for the month of March since 2009, during the depths of the global financial crisis. Affordability issues persist, with the median price of $403k.

© 2025 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™ #781 ©Copyright 2025 Written By Eric Rosen.