Bill Ackman vs. Chris Hohn: Inside the $10B Microsoft Stock Trade
In the same quarter, Bill Ackman built a $2.1 billion Microsoft position, and Chris Hohn’s TCI sold $8 billion. Same business. Opposite trades. The fact pattern that decides which one is right is sitting in plain sight in Microsoft’s filings. Here is the math, the misread, and the framework you can copy. TL;DR Two billionaires […]
The week the S&P 500 stayed quiet while everything else got loud
TL;DR Oil jumped almost 12% after fighting near Iran shut down a key shipping lane, and U.S. crude closed at $105.90 a barrel. Prices for shoppers rose to 3.8% over the past year, the hottest reading since May 2023. The Senate confirmed Kevin Warsh as the new Federal Reserve Chair by a 54 to 45 […]
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 […]
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 […]
