2026 Investment Picks for Size Lords
521: Fed Recalibration, Geopolitical Opportunities
Good morning guys. Hope everyone’s week is off to a good start.
2026 continues to be an absurd year and we’re like 15 days in. We have:
Regime change in Venezuela
The ICE protest and shooting that ignited nationwide protests
Highly volatile markets
Iran protests and riots
President Trump talking about taking Greenland
Fed Chair Jerome Powell answering allegations of corruption, perjury, etc.
The entire framework people were processing the world through is getting rattled day by day.
CPI for December 2025 is scheduled to be released this morning at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. This print covers inflation data through December and will be a key data point for markets and Fed expectations heading into 2026
Most are coming into this CPI print expecting a moderation in inflation, with consensus forecasts pointing toward a slight softening in both headline and core CPI compared to prior months.
Buckle up, going to be a wild week.
Today we’re going to go over the recent Federal Reserve drama and then dive into a refreshed look at my top equity picks across defense, AI, energy, storage, and tech for 2026. We will touch on crypto towards the end as well.
Markets
Well we got another curveball to start this week off. This time it wasn’t a special forces raid to take out a foreign dictator.
Social media and the internet blew up Sunday night when Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell released the video below:
Powell clearly believes the entirety of this is about him not giving in to President Trump’s desired rate cut/economic whims:
“The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Fed setting rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President”
And there’s probably SOME truth to this, I’m not entirely dense. OF course this is political, everything is. Trump and his camp want cuts.
But would it really surprise you if there was concrete evidence of Federal Reserve corruption? The Fed is certainly not as impartial as people want to believe. That is obvious from Powell’s behavior in the last administration: look at the timing. Rate cuts and liquidity injections just happened to arrive right when the Biden Harris economy needed a narrative boost. Markets ripped, asset prices inflated, and suddenly the headlines were about a “soft landing” instead of sticky inflation and falling real wages.
That was not some neutral academic exercise. It was obviously political in nature.
But Powell just did something much bigger than defend policy in his video. He turned this political fight into some sort of moral shield. By framing any investigation as retaliation, he is effectively saying the Federal Reserve should be untouchable. Beyond scrutiny. Beyond law enforcement. Beyond any accountability. Even if it is over something as benign as renovation figures or related perjury.
That can be dangerous.
Because if there is corruption inside the Fed, conflicts of interest, trading abuses, coordination with Wall Street, or preferential treatment of big banks, this posture guarantees it never sees daylight. You do not need to believe in conspiracies to see the risk. Institutions that declare themselves above investigation always rot, which has been the theme in the US for about 10 years now across all major organizations, government arms, and companies.
Now the collision is set for those that believe the Fed is not entirely innocent.
Trump is no longer just fighting Powell over rates. He is fighting an unelected financial caste that controls the most powerful lever in our global economy. If Powell keeps resisting cuts while the administration pushes for growth, this will definitely escalate. Hearings. Subpoenas. Inspector General probes.
A real attempt to strip the Fed of its political immunity. It will likely delay the transition to a new Fed chair as well, which could bring more market chop.
Markets should understand what this actually is. It is a regime change risk inside the world’s most important central bank.
And history is very clear on what happens when monetary regimes start to fracture. Volatility explodes and even more trust evaporates (a big theme globally now for years).
Hard assets, crypto, and real stores of value suddenly matter a lot more to people. To be honest surprised Bitcoin didn’t immediately rip off the new. Metals like gold and silver are holding strong.
This was never about a measly 25 basis points or how many cuts we get in 2026. This is about who controls the money and policy. Ego is involved. We shall see what happens next, my bet would be on a drawn out exit for Powell. Polymarket currently has the odds of Powell federally charged before June 30th at 12%. Would be pretty wild if that turned out happening.
JPMorgan Chase now no longer expects a Federal Reserve rate cut and now forecasts a rate hike in 2027
The current bill to ban members of Congress from trading stocks expected to advance this week (WatcherGuru)
Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Sam Altman are among top billionaires investing in “Freedom City” which is set to be built on Greenland (Unusual Whales)
Reports are indicating President Trump is set to interview BlackRock’s CIO Rick Rieder for the Federal Reserve Chair position
My 2026 Market Strategy Revisited
So what am I going to be buying this year? How am I going to ascend above all of this noise and print some bandos.
Now that we have an initial preview of what 2026 might hold, I have a better idea about where I am going to personally focus my investments and capital. Doesn’t mean any of the guides from last year are out the door (and a lot of this lines up with older thoughts) but it means based on what we know now I feel I higher conviction in some of these plays.
Do your own research, invest according to your own risk tolerance, and understand this is one man’s take. Yes, I have provided some absolute homers ( PLTR 0.00%↑ AVGO 0.00%↑ KTOS 0.00%↑ NVDA 0.00%↑ ) but markets are fickle, and it is impossible for me to get things right on the nose all the time.
Here is what I feel strongly about now across defense, AI, storage, crypto, and tech for 2026.