Chart of the Week
Custom AI vs. High Style Beta Value
Last week's Charting the Course opened on a personal note, and an important one. Ryan dedicated the session to his mother-in-law Debbie, who passed away last week after fighting cancer. He shared why the name on the door matters to us. Significance is about the mark you leave on other people. And the most precious thing any financial plan can buy is more time with the people you love. It is not often we pause on the personal side of the work, but weeks like this one remind us it is the entire point.
On to the chart of the week. This one pits our custom AI basket against the big cyclical leaders in value, the materials, energy, and financial names with the most horsepower. Think of it as a heavyweight bout. Not growth beating up on laggards, but the champ from each side of the market in the same ring. The ratio peaked at the end of October 2025, right when mega cap leadership peaked. Then it fell hard into the March lows, staged a monster comeback, and stopped nearly to the day at the old October highs. Markets remember their reference points. It's why we map the extremes in the first place. Since late May the whole thing has gone sideways in a tight range.
Our take is simple. The market is deciding between two regimes and hasn't picked one. The standard growth versus value ratios already rolled in value's favor. What's left is the main event, whether the strongest AI names hold the lead or give it up to the commodity complex, where record free cash flow is already piling up for a lot of producers. The break, whenever it comes, could set market leadership for a year or more. Until then we'll take the range at its word. Undecided, and worth respecting.