Wall St. Down Under

Issue #23 | Sunday, 11 October 2026

New Highs, an Unmoved 10-Year, and a Household That Is Not Celebrating | Week Ending 9 October 2026

The S&P 500 finished the week near a record with the 10-year still at 5.24%, after a minutes-day high near 5.36%. Most Fed officials want another hike this year. The Aussie rose about 0.7%, so an unhedged holder kept roughly 0.5%, not the 1.2%.

Portfolio Diversification: The Only Free Lunch in Investing

In September, the Dow fell 4.3%, the Nasdaq rose 1.9%, the equal-weighted S&P 500 fell about 5%, bonds sold off and gold dropped — all in one country. Diversification can reduce risk without automatically reducing expected return. Here is how it works, where it fails, and a four-question audit.

AI Picks and Shovels (Arc 2: Wiring the Mind): Equinix (NASDAQ: EQIX) — The Home

Every AI chip needs a building, power and neighbours. Equinix owns the building where those neighbours already live. A REIT at about 24 times cash earnings in a 5.2% bond market — connectivity, not concrete. In pension phase the 2% cheque is closer to 1.7% after US tax that cannot be refunded.

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