Everything That Matters Between Now and 2027
578: Four Months That Could Change Everything
Morning kings.
Today is August 18th 2026, there are 135 days left in the year. If it’s market picks you are after this week make sure to catch up with our guide from last week, 5 Industries That Could Mint Millionaires.
Today, however, I want to review the most important themes across markets, society, politics, and life to give an idea of what we can expect for the duration of 2026.
It’s funny the way the grander mind share game works isn’t it?
In terms of the bigger “happenings” most of us have endured:
→ The Covid Pandemic
→ The rise of political insurgencies (blm/antifa/etc.)
→ The next step of insane money printing
→ An wild crypto bull market
→ High stakes political elections
→ Violence escalating in politics & society (Trump assassination attempts)
→ The War in Ukraine
→ Immigration becoming a MAJOR global issue
→ Government corruption/lies fully exposed (Epstein, etc.)
→ Crypto pullback
→ Soaring costs, brutal housing market
→ The AI & Defense, and Tech revolution
→ The War in Iran
→ US socialism support soaring
→ A hyper fixation on the job prospects, equity markets/bubbles, wealth gaps
This is not an exhaustive list of course but as someone who makes a living online commentating and making content on all of this and more, I can’t help but notice we are in a weird kind of holding pattern. Most of the events above, at one point or another, created massive discussion, backlash, and shifts in our timeline.
Right now we are kind of waiting for the next one while those of us locked in are just grinding through our work and watching out stock portfolios go higher and higher. Like a cat to a nice little sack of cat nip.
But it’s an understatement to say the Overton Window has shifted in the last several years.
Not only do those who rule us continue to condition us to accept more extreme and unjust things as the norm, things continue to just keep getting more and more dystopian in society. I find myself not caring much about the next headline. Maybe I am alone but it’s like my receptors to hysteria and surprise have been fried.
Nothing surprises me anymore.
One of the difficult positions you can find yourself in these days is:
What do I focus on to maximize my self awareness, financial success, and ability to navigate this new world?
Markets have gone insane, it seems like costs just keep rising. Politicians are getting more and more extreme. Society seems to be reverting every month and most people are just trying to figure out what the next big “theme” is so that they can benefit, make money, and hopefully secure their ticket to the “I made it” kingdom.
We can’t control who wins an election or curb the concerning rise in support for socialism ourselves. AOC is the front runner on polymarket for Democratic Presidential Nominee in 2028……
You can’t control interest rates from Warsh (or fake out headlines from Citadel). You sure as hell cannot control the development of AI, whether markets god crash on the next Iran headline or whether another war breaks out.
What you can control kings is how prepared you are for whatever comes next.
That means paying attention without allowing yourself to be consumed by the noise. Building skills that become more valuable as the world changes. Owning assets instead of simply watching their prices rise. Taking calculated risks while you still have the ability to recover from them. Maintaining your health, relationships and community while increasingly powerful forces compete for your attention.
And perhaps most importantly, remaining adaptable enough to actually admit when the world has changed and your assumptions need to change/bend with it.
But the real question is have you started to position yourself to act, invest, and prepare accordingly.
Today we will cover:
A few investment themes worth watching
Predictions for the end of 2026 and beyond
Social, political themes worth paying attention to
Distractions preventing you from channeling all your energy into your goals
The general direction of culture
No time to waste kings.
Concepts To Internalize If You Want To Truly Understand What Comes Next
Some of these are predictions, others are simply themes I am watching become more and more important to monitor (they are already happening whether you choose to acknowledge it).
Below are a handful of the major trigger points/conflict/investment themes I see being most relevant before the end of 2026.
We focus quite a bit on the micro, so let’s just zoom out a bit on the ones with the most impact to investments, society, and what ends up shaping culture moving forward.