Is gold setting up for another leg higher? The largest US Gold ETF, $GLD, recorded net outflows of -$1.9 billion over 21 days ending Wednesday last week, the highest since May. This marked one of the largest withdrawals over the last 5 years. The move also represented the largest reversal in history from the +$9 billion 21-day net inflows seen in September. After a healthy technical correction, gold flows are showing signs of capitulation. We expect more inflows ahead.

US data center construction plans are soaring: Data center capacity that is built, under construction, or in planning hit a record ~80 gigawatts in 2025. To put this into perspective, this much capacity could theoretically power up to 60 MILLION homes. Capacity has more than DOUBLED over the last year and is now 8 times higher than it was in 2022. This comes as planned projects make up ~65 gigawatts of the total, an all-time high. AI expansion will soon be ALL about energy.

Hedging costs for tech stocks are surging: The cost of hedging against a decline in the Nasdaq 100, $QQQ, versus the S&P 500, $SPY, reached ~6 points, the highest since September 2024. The relative cost of hedging has almost doubled since July. Protection costs for technology stocks are now close to the levels seen during the July 2024 market pullback. This comes after the Nasdaq 100 has declined -4% over the last 2 weeks. Meanwhile, the put-to-call ratio jumped to 1.04, the 2nd-highest reading since April. Fearful sentiment is opportunity for traders.