S&P 500 Hits 7,165: Why 5 VAP Earnings Beat Got Sold Off Anyway
Week ending Friday, April 25, 2026 | Berk on Value | VAP Wealth Advisors TL;DR Five VAP holdings reported earnings this week. All five beat. Three got hammered anyway. The headline S&P 500 record close at 7,165 hides what is actually moving the tape. Intel printed a blowout Q1 , with Data Center & AI […]
Medpace’s 20% Crash: Why the Earnings Beat Couldn’t Save the Stock
Ticker: MEDP | Event: Q1 2026 earnings release, April 22, 2026 | Stock reaction: ~20% drop TL;DR Medpace posted Q1 2026 revenue of $706.6 million, up 26.5% year-over-year, yet the stock dropped roughly 20% after hours because forward indicators collapsed. The net book-to-bill ratio fell to 0.88, the weakest reading in more than a year […]
Inside Andy Jassy’s 2025 Amazon Shareholder Letter: AI, Capex, and the Future
TL;DR Amazon closed 2025 with revenue of $717 billion, up 12% from $638 billion the year before, with operating income climbing 17% to $80 billion. Free cash flow collapsed from $38 billion to $11 billion, driven by a $50.7 billion year-over-year jump in property and equipment spending tied to AI infrastructure. Jassy committed to roughly […]
How AI is Breaking Executive Pay: The Shift to Moonshot Compensation
Executive compensation changed dramatically in early 2026. Meta and Tesla are betting billions that all-or-nothing pay packages are the only structure that can compete in the AI talent market. TL;DR Meta issued stock options to top executives for the first time since its 2012 IPO, with strike prices requiring the company to reach a market […]
Will AI Capex Save the S&P 500 from the 2026 Stagflation Trap?
The Oil Shock, the Stagflation Trap, and the Only Force Keeping Markets Afloat March 2026 | David Berkowitz, | ValueAligned Partners TL;DR Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, choking off 20% of global daily oil supply and sending WTI crude above $100 per barrel for the first time since 2022 [Al Jazeera] The BEA slashed […]
How the $8.8 Trillion AI Spending Boom and Iran Conflict Impact Your Portfolio
The American Spending Boom, the Great Rotation, and What the Iran Conflict Means for Your Portfolio TL;DR The U.S. is in the middle of a massive business investment cycle. Announced private and foreign investments have reached roughly $8.8 trillion, driven by artificial intelligence infrastructure and domestic manufacturing. The stock market is broadening. The equal-weight S&P […]
The Agentic Playbook: Surviving the $830B Software Crash
Robert Smith’s Blueprint for the $1 Trillion Software Boom Five Filters to Separate Software Winners from Losers After the $830 Billion Crash TL;DR The software sector lost $830 billion in six trading days after Anthropic launched new AI tools that spooked investors about the future of paid software. Robert Smith, CEO of Vista Equity Partners, […]
What does Markel Group’s 2025 shareholder letter teach long-term investors about compounding wealth?
Published: March 4, 2025. By David L. Berkowitz | VAP Wealth Advisors | Red Bank, NJ About the Author David L. Berkowitz — Investor and Financial Advisor. Nearly 40 years of experience — from trading and research at a $250 million hedge fund, to two decades as a portfolio manager, to now helping individuals and […]
How Permian Resources (NYSE: PR) Grew Free Cash Flow 72% While Oil Prices Dropped
Five counterintuitive strategies from PR’s 2025 earnings that every energy investor should study Published: February 27, 2026. Red Bank, NJ — VAP Wealth Advisors TL;DR Permian Resources Corporation (NYSE: PR) reported Q4 2025 earnings on February 26, 2026, posting record oil production of 188,600 Bbls/d. Free cash flow per share rose 72% from 2023 to […]
VAP January Newsletter
January 2026 market review: AI deployment, semiconductor strength, and a broad expansion, and what each one changes for a long-term owner.
