MERIDIAN RESEARCH

Risk sentiment is mildly defensive overnight on a geopolitical headline: a U.S. warship was reportedly turned back in the Strait of Hormuz, sending oil higher and equity futures lower (CNBC). This compounds with FT's reporting that airlines are slashing flights amid fuel shortage fears, suggesting jet fuel cracks are widening and the Hormuz disruption is already feeding through to operational decisions, not just spot prices. Brent/WTI strength is a tailwind for our XOM monitoring thesis but a clear headwind to consumer discretionary, transports, and any margin-sensitive name with energy passthrough exposure.

Treasuries reflect a market still pricing a measured Fed: the 10Y at 4.39% and 2Y at 3.88% (FRED) — the curve remains positively sloped by ~51 bps, which historically is consistent with a non-recessionary growth environment. HY credit spreads at 277 bps (FRED) are tight by historical standards (long-run median ~480 bps), indicating credit markets are not corroborating any recession narrative despite the geopolitical noise. Unemployment at 4.3% (FRED) remains in the soft-landing zone but is up from cycle lows — a slow drift worth monitoring for consumer-exposed names (CAVA, CELH, HIMS).

Three idiosyncratic items deserve flagging: (1) GameStop's unsolicited $56B bid for eBay (FT) — almost certainly non-credible given GME's balance sheet capacity, but it injects governance/M&A noise into the small-cap retail tape; (2) Anthropic's reported $1.5B JV with Wall Street firms (WSJ) — incrementally bullish for hyperscaler compute demand (NVDA, MSFT thesis adjacent); (3) Bitcoin reclaiming $80K with hedging activity rising (CoinDesk) — flow-positive but options skew suggests traders are not yet positioned for a clean breakout.

RECOMMEND tier (3 active):

• MSFT (8/10): No thesis-altering news. Anthropic-Wall Street JV (WSJ) is incrementally supportive of enterprise AI compute demand, indirectly benefiting Azure. Stifel raised PT (hold rating retained) — analyst input noted, not actioned. Hold conviction.
• NVDA (8/10): -6.89% on the week reflects sector rotation, not thesis breakage. Anthropic JV (WSJ) reinforces the hyperscaler/lab capex cycle. No fundamental change. Hold conviction.
• MELI (7/10): Modestly higher (+1.2% W, +6.0% M). BTIG/Jefferies bullish despite margin pressures (per provided headlines) — consistent with our prior thesis that LATAM fintech monetization is dilutive near-term but expands TAM. Hold conviction.

MONITORING tier — notable moves:

• DDOG (6/10): +11.5% W / +25.9% M — material outperformance. Without an earnings catalyst in the dataset, I am flagging this for re-underwrite. If the move holds into next print, conviction could move to 7/10.
• LLY (7/10): +10.75% W on Truist Buy reaffirmation post-trial success (provided headline). Need to validate which trial readout — flagging for primary-source check before any conviction lift.
• CRWD (6/10): +17.7% M. Consistent with cybersecurity sector strength (ZS also +1.9% M). No thesis change yet.
• RYAN (6/10): -14.6% W / -13.2% M. Sharp drawdown without news-flow explanation in the feed. Action: pull 10-Q / earnings transcript to determine whether this is fundamental deterioration or technical. Will not lower conviction on price alone (Hard Rule #7) but this is on the watchlist for review.
• KNSL (7/10): -7.6% W / -12.0% M. Same drill — drawdown demands review against fundamentals before any rating action.
• MEDP (5/10): Active securities class action (provided headlines). Litigation overhang reaffirms our prior 5/10 — no upgrade until clarity.
• XOM (6/10): Hormuz tension is a near-term tailwind but does not change the structural thesis (capital discipline + Permian/Guyana). No conviction change.
• FSLR (7/10): +7.9% W / +8.1% M. Consistent with policy-tailwind thesis. Holding.

No conviction changes today.

No new tickers added today. We are at 35+ monitoring names with 3 RECOMMEND-tier picks (MSFT, MELI, NVDA) — well below our 10-12 high-conviction cap, which is appropriate given current valuations and macro uncertainty. Pipeline focus this week:

• DDOG, LLY — momentum demands a primary-source review for potential conviction upgrade.
• RYAN, KNSL — drawdown reviews to decide hold/cut on existing monitoring positions.
• CEG — +16.7% M with no recent news in feed; investigate whether nuclear/AI power-PPA narrative has fresh catalysts.

• Hormuz / oil shock spillover (CNBC, FT): If oil sustains above current levels, watch second-order impacts on CAVA (food costs), HIMS (consumer wallet), TSLA (auto demand sensitivity), and broader multiple compression risk for unprofitable growth names.
• MEDP class action (provided headlines): Active securities litigation. Will not add until disclosure is clean.
• RYAN, KNSL, CSGP (-14% M) — three insurance/data names with material drawdowns and no news-flow explanation in feed. Risk of an unidentified fundamental issue. Pulling filings.
• HIMS (-39% from cost): Position in portfolio under pressure; thesis was vertical-DTC pharmacy disruption. Need to verify GLP-1 compounding regulatory status and subscriber retention.
• PLTR (-18.6%) and ISRG (-20.8%) in portfolio: Both are HOLDs but underperforming — flagging for thesis re-validation if drawdowns extend.
• GameStop M&A narrative (FT): Watch for short-squeeze-driven volatility in adjacent retail/meme names; not directly portfolio-relevant but a sentiment indicator.