"Live everyday like the man your kids believe you are."
As most of you are aware, I was extremely blessed and fortunate to start my new role as Father/Provider/"Dada" March 27 of this year and can tell you everything you need to know about being a dad: nothing matters as much as your new baby girl.
Don't get me wrong, I am still learning everything I can about how to do this new job and am proud to be at 1% out of 100% in terms of my learning and capability just after 9 months. This is definitely going on my LinkedIn as I believe it's an incredible skill and if you could all go endorse that "Good Enough Dad" skill on my profile that would be great.
Our sweet baby girl Parker in the most cliché way has totally changed me. I used to hear that phrase from so many new dads but without going through becoming a new dad myself, I just didn't know until it happened. And as it applies to our fantastic work and service to clients, I realized one important truth: I cannot be Superman at work and Superdad at home without help. Before Parker, I was completely okay with wearing every hat and doing everything myself. I wanted to do that but found out that doing that with 10x more to do is completely unsustainable.
So with growth and a million more things to handle as a firm and business owner, my to-do list kept growing more than Wemby's potential as an MVP candidate this year. Facing two choices of sacrificing on the Homefront and not being Superdad or sacrificing on the work front and not being Superman to clients, I talked it over with the team and decided to choose a 'third' door and hire someone amazing to pick up on the 'things falling through the cracks' at work.
I'm overly pleased to announce that we made the easiest choice ever in finding the best person for Client Success, Macy Manselle. Not only is Macy the best person I know in coordinating all client tasks, organizing a million to-do items, and making every client have a true VIP experience, but she also happens to be my sister. I'm lucky to say I've known Macy her whole life, and now working together is a huge full circle moment where most people who know her are probably saying, "I bet she's the CEO in 2 years." This hire was like adding Kevin Durant to the 2016 Warriors who went 73-9 in the regular season. Big things are coming in 2026…
In April and May, investors were given a real gift with a sizable pullback in the market during what I'd call the 'Great Tariff Scare of 2025.' The world started to freak out at threats from our administration that eventually got walked back to more reasonable levels. At Baskets, we saw the volatility as a true opportunity without knowing the full extent of how long the pullback would ensue. We took the approach we always do with buying opportunities: "cautious optimism." If I were the smartest investor in the world, I would have liquidated enough to keep us very active and poured all our dollars into the market at the exact 'bottom.' But since I'm not, we only started deploying capital in pieces during the following weeks. I want to be very clear that I am not perfect, but I'm pleased with how we navigated those opportunities.
Now, the biggest question many have asked and probably still are wondering about is the so-called "AI bubble" that has created a choppier Q4 of valuations and prices than expected in several AI and 'AI Adjacent' companies. My short answer is: there is no 'bubble' if you're expecting something like 2001 with internet/tech stocks. However, I believe a pullback is warranted for several companies and could likely happen very soon, which of course would drag the sector down with it. There are some companies that look very overvalued, ones that have had a great run up in 2025 but lack several financial fundamentals like true growing free cash flow, expanding operating margins, and large reserves matching growing clients. Those are interesting to watch, but we're not interested unless there is a massive valuation change and improvement in fundamentals.
In terms of understanding whether there is an "AI bubble," we are still witnessing double-digit rate increases in capex and spend from the monster hyperscalers, with some doubling their entire spend in 2025. This differs from what happened in 2001 with many internet companies just catching 'hype' waves with guesses and forecasts of increased revenue and no actual increase in revenue or earnings. What I mean is: massive companies are spending tons of money into 'AI,' and thus some of those AI or 'AI Adjacent' companies are showing actual revenues and earnings that are not 'hype.'
There is real hype in the Baskets Capital office as we are tearing through earnings reports and 10-Ks because we are convinced there are so many new opportunities. It is, however, crazy difficult and extensive going through hundreds of companies to find just one worth holding. We're also practicing what we preach and eating what we buy, because we are implementing so many new AI tools to help us find companies that match what we look for in our evaluations. To explain: imagine there is a Costco the size of Lake LBJ and we're looking for the right pair of shoes. Previously we would have to go through the majority of the store, or at least the places where we knew we could find some of the shoes we'd even be interested in looking at. Now we have a tool that's so much better, almost like a drone that flies through the store and brings back all of the shoes we want to research. This is so much more than a 'stock screener.' It's an entire calculated format that Braden and I have been working on for a long time through the use of my favorite tool, fiscal.ai.
Let me be clear: AI does not do any of our research, due diligence, or analysis. It's nowhere close to doing so. But it's saving us hundreds of hours in finding the companies that would even capture our attention to begin with.
We have big news in 2026 to continue this trend, so please reach out if you have questions or want to jump ahead in line on what we're working on.
I'm grateful for this year and for you trusting us with your own investments and money.
Let's get to work in 2026!!!
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