News and my thoughts from the past week (11Aug25) China’s ton-class drone delivers supplies to offshore oil platforms 150km off the coast. A great leap in efficiency: 8 hours by ship compared to less than 1 hour by drone. China’s exports defy trade war headwinds in July as growth surges to 7.2% China’s exports beat market forecasts in July as rising shipments to Europe, Africa and Latin America offset the impact of US tariffs - SCMP Image The US economy is splitting in two. There’s a rip-roaring AI economy. And there’s a lacklustre consumer economy. - Macro: Last quarter, spending on AI outpaced the growth in consumer spending - Stocks: In the last two years, ~60% of equity returns have come from “AI-related” companies, esp the hyperscalers like Microsoft and Meta (per JPM) - Micro: Accord

Thematic investing—once a niche corner of the market—is rapidly evolving into one of the most influential forces shaping portfolio construction today. Far from simply buying slices of established sectors or geographies, investors are increasingly casting their nets over big-picture megatrends: everything from artificial intelligence and clean energy to aging demographics and food security. What was once the domain of boutique managers has burst into the mainstream, with a tidal wave of exchange‐traded funds (ETFs) and mutual funds sponsoring portfolios built around disruptive technologies, social change, and even whimsical concepts like “pets & animal welfare.” As the global economy reorients in the post‐pandemic era, thematic investing has matured from marketing gimmick to legitimate

My Investing Muse (11Aug25) Layoffs & Closure news Two years into his tenure, Bayer has reduced its headcount by more than 12,000, with little slowdown in the pace of dismissals. - FiercePharma Multiple Kentucky Whiskey Distilleries File for Bankruptcy - NewsWeek National transport and logistics company XL Express has gone into liquidation after 35 years in business. It has collapsed owing almost $42m in estimated debts, with about 200 employees to be left without jobs. - Yahoo Finance (AU) The US lost 37,000 manufacturing jobs in the last three months. Trump’s trade wars & tariffs are allegedly about bringing manufacturing jobs back to America. And US labor force participation is 62.2%. So… 37.8% of Americans are not working! - X user S.L. Kanthan From the 800,000 people who lost