Daily Brief Thematic (Sector/Industry): Ohayo Japan | Marginal Gains and more

• The S&P 500 managed a marginal gain to secure its sixth consecutive record close, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.3%
• Germany and France criticized the EU-US trade deal imposing 15% tariffs, calling it damaging despite averting a trade war, as the euro fell over 1% against the dollar.
• Sakura Internet slashed its FY2026 net profit forecast by 93% to 200 million yen due to termination of large-scale generative AI projects. S

Each week, I’ll share five intriguing investment ideas that recently caught my attention. These ideas are meant to spark your research and help you kickstart the week ahead with fresh insights.

Because these ideas are the result of my first-level idea generation process, they require more in depth research. Therefore, the ideas will often be concise, with occasional references to valuable work from other practitioners that I encourage you to explore.

If you have something fascinating to share that could benefit me and the wider community, don’t hesitate to send it my way—I’d love to hear from you!

• Markets liking the EU pledges to buy US energy products and military equipment as part of recent deal.
• Power-Semi related higher with TXN buoyed by call that multi-year inventory correction is almost over.
• Tesla emerges as Samsung’s mystery fab customer, is a dramatic turn around for their recently ailing foundry business.

• Flexible workspaces now form nearly 10% of India’s commercial office stock and are projected to grow at a 20% CAGR, supported by demand from GCCs, startups, and Tier II expansion.
• A shift in office demand trends, driven by hybrid work, rising occupancy in managed spaces, and premium-grade infrastructure, is pushing flexible workspaces into the mainstream corporate strategy. 
• Once seen as temporary or startup-specific, flexible workspaces have become critical infrastructure for enterprises, redefining how businesses approach office space, cost, and employee experience.

• High frequency data on LLR for US banks suggests very good credit metrics
• There is no decline of LLR on banks’ balance sheet and LLR YoY growth is benign
• At the same time, assets less liabilities remains at 18.6% of total loans, a good buffer