😀 The 2026 Global Al Brain Race Report – Ranking The Top 30+ Countries Shaping The Next Generation of Al Leaders

🟡The U.S.A. ranks #1 with a final score of 82 cut of 100, leading in R&D, economic integration, and infrastructure, and supported by 26 top Al universities with a strong global average score.

🟡China has over 4x as many top Al universities as the United States. While the U.S. ranks #1 overall, China has 107 top Al universities compared to 26 in the U.S.

🟡The UK ranks 5th with a final score of 33, less than half of the U.S. (82) and far behind China (59), highlighting the clear dominance of the two global Al superpowers.

🟡Only one EU country ranks in the top 10. Germany places #10 with a final score of 28, well behind the U.S. (82) and China (59), highlighting Europe's widening Al competitiveness gap.

America rules AI development (and continues to subsidize energy for it), if not adoption. China is the only near competitor: their relevant education is widespread and their models are strong. This is all consistent, but against prior rankings, India has dropped 3 places to #6 (decent talent, weak infrastructure/governance).

Singapore & South Korea fill out the leaders in the world—half of the top tier is Asian. Switzerland is the standout in Europe (notably not in the EU)...but the question remains: is all of this worth it?

🔥 I N T E L R U N N E R ⚡️

🌍 The Final Medal Count at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan

🥉 Italy 🇮🇹 10 gold, 6 silver, 14 bronze

🥉 The Netherlands 🇳🇱 10 gold, 7 silver, 3 bronze

🥈 United States of America 🇺🇸 12 gold, 12 silver, 9 bronze

🥇 Norway 🇳🇴 18 gold, 12 silver, 11 bronze

It's technically a tie for third at 10 golds. If preference total medal count, Italy takes third. If you preference number of silvers over number of bronzes, the Netherlands gets third.

Personally, all I care about are gold rankings, and that's tie.

⛸ I N T E L R U N N E R 🏔

🇺🇸 Equity Factors This Past Week

Large cap value and mid cap growth did alright this week.

Conversely, mid and small cap value had a rough week, and large cap growth did as well.

🟥 I N T E L R U N N E R 🟥

🇺🇸 U.S. Average 30-Year Fixed-Rate Mortgage

The 30Y rate fell to 5.98%, marking the first time it's been under six since 2022.

🏠 I N T E L R U N N E R 🏠

🇮🇷🇮🇱🇺🇸 Locations of Bombing on Saturday in Iran...

The United States and Israel launched what President Donald Trump described as "major combat operations" against Iran on Saturday, bombing multiple locations.

Today has only been an escalation, outside the resumption of negotiations—which says a lot.

✈️ I N T E L R U N N E R ✈️

🇺🇸 The Brent-West Texas Intermediate Spread Evaporates At Open, Recovers

Any oil on a ship is great oil on a ship in these conditions.

The spread collapsed briefly. For a while, light & sweet WTI was trading $2.50 over Brent. We've flipped back to $2.75 the other way...

🛢 I N T E L R U N N E R 🛢

🇺🇸 USS Abraham Lincoln

It's a nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier that serves as a mobile airbase, launching combat, surveillance, and support missions worldwide.

It sails with 3 Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers: the USS Spruance, USS Michael Murphy, and the USS Frank E. Peterson Jr. (who the hell?).

It carries F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers, MH-60R/S Seahawks, F-35C Lightning IIs, and a E-2D Hawkeye.

The crew is 5,680 people, it holds 90 aircraft, it's 1,092 feet long, and it goes 35mph.

🛳 I N T E L R U N N E R 🛳

🇺🇸 The major defense contractors are up, of course.

Lockheed Martin ($LMT) is up 2.56%, $RTX (formerly Raytheon) is up 2.52%, and L3 Harris ($LHX) is up 2.64%...

This suggests markets see this as more than a flash in the pan.

I'll note they've been screaming upward this year. Wonder how much Congress is holding.

🛵 I N T E L R U N N E R 🛵

🇮🇷🇮🇱🇺🇸 Will the Iranian regime fall within the first half of this year? [Polymarket]

We're up to a 42% chance.

Iran is not Libya or Syria. Collapse will require somebody's boots on the ground.

It's clear Israel is attempting to generate that by striking the Iranian government near separatist regions/forces. They would have to seriously degrade their armed forces to enable this route.

Let's hope we aren't leaving American servicemen as sitting ducks all over the place for casus belli reasons, but it wouldn't be the first time...

🇮🇷 I N T E L R U N N E R 🇮🇷

🇮🇷🇮🇱🇺🇸 Casualties in US-Israeli and Iranian attacks

Above are the confirmed casualties across the 12 countries that have been subject to attacks.

Due to the rapidly evolving situation, all figures may change as more information becomes available...

☠️ I N T E L R U N N E R ☠️