The Weight-Loss Race Just Found Its Front-Runner

A landmark FDA approval has pushed the weight-loss battle into a new phase, with the first oral GLP-1 pill clearing regulators.

The breakthrough hands its maker a decisive advantage over rivals and injects fresh momentum into an already red-hot growth story.

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Asset Management

The Infrastructure Power Move Hiding in Plain Sight

BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) is pushing deeper into Latin America’s logistics backbone, and the move has very little to do with ports or highways alone.

As global supply chains reset, logistics has become the layer that decides which projects move and which quietly stall.

This is where execution matters more than ownership.

If you cannot move oversized energy equipment, mining infrastructure, or industrial components on time, capital stops caring about demand forecasts.

Logistics Is Where Leverage Forms

BlackRock is embedding itself in specialized logistics tied to renewables, energy transition projects, and critical infrastructure.

These are complex systems built for precision, not volume, and mistakes here are expensive.

Once embedded, logistics stops being a background function. It becomes a control point that shapes timelines, risk tolerance, and project viability before money is fully committed.

Execution Is the Real Bottleneck

Latin America’s growth constraints are no longer demand-driven.

They are execution driven, especially for solar, wind, and grid expansion that rely on fragile transport corridors.

When execution works, capital flows faster and at scale. When it fails, projects freeze, and you see momentum disappear almost overnight.

By operating within execution layers, BlackRock gains early visibility into where capital pressure will next emerge.

That insight compounds over long cycles and sharpens future allocation.

For developers and governments, the signal is follow through. For us, we are watching BlackRock shift from asset ownership to owning how development actually gets done.

BLK currently trades at $1,089 and pays a dividend of $20.84 per share, a yield of 1.91%.

Retail

Home Depot Quietly Signals a Shift Big Retail Rarely Makes

Home Depot (NYSE: HD) is drawing renewed attention to a policy that most retailers abandoned years ago, staying open nearly every day of the year while formally reaffirming closures on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

At a time when chains chase nonstop availability, this choice stands out as intentional rather than nostalgic.

The company continues to pair long daily operating hours with a staffing model built around trained, trade-focused associates.

That combination is quietly being framed as a retention and reliability play, not just a customer service one.

Long Hours, But With Limits

Home Depot opens early and closes late across most of the year, reinforcing its role as a year-round utility for repairs and projects.

When schedules shift or something breaks, you know the doors will be open without having to check a holiday list.

The two holiday closures are not symbolic.

Running warehouse-sized stores on low-traffic days burns cash, and leadership appears comfortable trading marginal sales for operational discipline.

Skilled Staff Is the Real Asset

Unlike many retailers, Home Depot leans on associates with real product and trade knowledge.

That approach slows hiring but increases trust and changes how shoppers interact with the floor.

Providing those workers with guaranteed time off on major holidays helps protect morale and retention.

Over time, you see how consistency, staffing quality, and restraint reinforce each other, and why you keep coming back even when other stores blur together.

HD currently trades at $347 and pays a dividend of $9.20 per share, a yield of 2.65%.

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Healthcare

The Pricing Reset No One Expected This Fast

Merck (NYSE: MRK) is rolling out one of the most aggressive U.S. strategy shifts seen from a major drugmaker in years, touching pricing, access, and manufacturing at the same time.

Instead of treating affordability and supply as political headaches, Merck is folding them directly into how its business operates.

The change centers on control.

By reshaping how medicines reach patients and where they are made, the company is tightening execution in areas that used to sit outside the core playbook.

Pricing Gets Pulled Forward

Merck is launching a direct-to-patient pricing model that slashes cash prices on key diabetes drugs by about 70 percent for eligible patients. This is not a quiet test.

It creates a new channel that strips out pricing friction and gives the company direct oversight of access.

More importantly, affordability is being positioned upfront.

Future cardiovascular launches are expected to bake pricing into day one decisions, so you are not waiting years for relief after public pressure builds.

Manufacturing Comes Back Into Focus

Alongside pricing, Merck is accelerating its U.S. manufacturing expansion.

More than $12 billion has already gone into domestic facilities since 2017, with another $70 billion in combined capital and R&D spending planned in the years ahead.

New sites across Virginia, Kansas, and Delaware strengthen supply security and reduce exposure to global disruptions.

For the healthcare system, this signals a shift toward execution and trust.

For Merck, you are watching a company lock in relevance by aligning access, resilience, and innovation at scale.

MRK currently trades at $106 and pays a dividend of $3.40 per share, a yield of 3.19%.

MRP has increased its dividend to 75 cents, up 2.74%. Its new yield is 10.32%.

BBD has reduced its dividend to 0.3 cents, a 2.58% decline. Its new yield is 1.23%.

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Everything Else

• Almost a dozen U.S. and European pharmaceutical companies have signed an agreement with the Trump administration to lower the prices of their medicines for consumers. The group includes Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, GSK, and Novo Nordisk. 

• Dina Powell McCormick has resigned from the Meta board, effective immediately. The former Trump advisor served just eight months in the role.

• Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project has been forced to pause construction after the government raised national security concerns. 

• Ford has terminated its $6.5 billion battery deal with LG Energy Solution and cancelled another battery contract with SK On as the future of its EV models remains uncertain.