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2026’s “Discounted” Properties Aren’t the Bargain They Look Like


James:
Deals are often evaluated on what they could make, but sometimes it’s more important to question on what they could cost you and is the juice worth the squeeze? Today, Kathy and I are opening up our portfolio and we’re talking about the deals that we’re doing today and the ones that we’re letting go and passing on. I’m James Dainard. I’m stepping in the host seat for day today with my good friend Kathy Fettke, and this is Beyond the Market Podcast. All right, Kathy, so I want to know most importantly, what deal have you passed on recently and why’d you pass on it? Because there’s so many opportunities getting thrown people’s way right now.

Kathy:
Yeah. I mean, we all know that multifamily is an opportunity right now. We’re seeing massive discounts, we’re seeing foreclosures. The banks are done extending and pretending. So many of these loans now are in default. It’s headline news everywhere. So one would think that there would be just a ton of multifamily deals out there if they’re down 20, 30, 40% from what they were. The problem is they’re just where they should be. And even if you’re getting a 20, 30% discount, you might not be getting a deal. And that’s what’s confusing because somebody just paid too much before. So the fact that you’re paying less now doesn’t mean you’re getting a deal. So it’s confusing, right? Are you seeing that too?

James:
I mean, right now, because there’s so few transactions going on in certain spaces, the opportunities just keep coming your way. But yeah, you look at it and you’re like, “As investors, we want to shift with the market.” And what’s coming across doesn’t make me want to. It’s like you engage and then you’re like, “Yeah, I’m good. I’m going to swipe right and moving on to the next deal.” There’s nothing that really jumps out at you, especially when you’re looking at the bigger deals. Now the smaller ones, we are seeing more opportunities. Kind of like when you’re in that 10 to 20 units, we call it no man’s land.

Kathy:
It is no man’s land. The institutional investors don’t want it. It’s too small for them.

James:
Yeah. It’s not worth their time and effort because it is a lot more work. When you’re trying to scale a portfolio of 10 to 20 units, it’s like flipping a house. You just run into all sorts of different issues. Yes. But yeah, nothing’s been that attractive. Do you remember in 2008, Kathy, when there was the bank tape where people could buy all these good deals on tape? Yes. And everyone’s like, “We’re waiting for this tape to come out.” Doesn’t multifamily feel the exact same way? It’s just not coming.

Kathy:
Yes, because we have a multifamily fund. We were prepared for this moment. We got the money ready because we though, boy, when that deal comes, you got to have the money. You don’t have time to syndicate, to raise the money. It’s got to be in the bank and ready to go. So we’ve been planning this and we have our fund ready, and we have been underwriting three or four deals a week. And these are not just any deal. They’re the good ones supposedly that are being brought to us. And we made offers, but we’ve had to negotiate the sellers down because it’s got to be hard to be the seller saying, “But I put this much into it,” or, “I paid this much for it. I can’t give you a bigger discount.” But on the buy side, you’re saying it’s not working. It’s just simply not working.
Once you add in the cost of finance, which is three times maybe what they had when they originally bought it, maybe double, just more. And then you’ve got the higher insurance rates and the higher costs and rents haven’t really gone up. They’ve gone down in some areas because there was so much new supply added. So when you add that up altogether and you forget about what the owner paid at the time, you just look at does this pencil, is this going to work? They don’t. They don’t. Back then when you’re talking about the tapes, they didn’t really work then either. Not at all.

James:
The

Kathy:
People bought them anyway with foresight thinking prices are low, they’re going to go up.

James:
It’s crazy because you’ll see some of these discounts they’re throwing on these multifamily, it’s like $10 million, $15 million less than these people paid a couple years ago for. And you still look at that discount and it doesn’t pencil out.

Kathy:
The other thing is that over the COVID boom, the apartment boom, investors weren’t necessarily doing apartment investing. This wasn’t buy and hold, they were flipping apartments. And a lot of investors didn’t understand that. These are not long-term buy and hold. This will never work. The only way this is going to work is because you think you’re going to fix it and sell it and raise rents and sell it for more. And if you can’t raise rents, you’re not going to sell it for more. And that’s exactly what happened. Then in addition, they had all these extra expenses, so it’s all gone whack and upside down.

James:
That was a blip in time where everything went up rapidly and people made a lot of money flipping their apartment deals. They really did. They did it right. And then they got more capital, more people talked about it, and all of a sudden you go out and that’s the problem with scaling. When you try to scale up, you buy more assets and then if you time it wrong, it can really come down the wrong way. And I think that’s what’s happening, but the deals just aren’t that good. Have you seen any where you’re like, I am going to buy this deal?

Kathy:
Yeah. Yeah. So we have made a lot of offers and we did tie up a property in Kansas City. The location was absolutely incredible right by a university, a new building. They had just built it three years ago during COVID. They paid way more. I mean, all the construction costs and everything, they put way more into it than we were offering. And it was all going to work. Actually, the numbers on this were great. They finally were at a point where they had to concede. Their loan is due. So either the bank’s going to take it or they take our offer. And they did. So then we were like, oh, finally, we got a newer grade apartment. It’s only a few years old. It’s by a student housing. It’s fully occupied. We could still raise rents. They haven’t raised rent. Everything was perfect about it until we got there.
And this is what is such a bummer. We talk to the tenants, they’re happy, they love it there. But then the inspector comes by and we’re there for the inspection. And he’s like, they didn’t put gutters on this thing. They ran out of money when they were building it because construction costs went up during COVID. So they had to cut corners, but they cut stupid ones. And one of the corners they cut was they didn’t put gutters on this building. And so when there was rain over the last three years, now the property has foundation problems. And that is not something I’m going to fix. I’m not doing that. We would have to put in new drainage and that would be fine and not too expensive. But what we don’t know is how much the building has settled. And the inspector thought it settled too much.
Every building settles, but when you don’t have gutters and now you have water, you can’t have water around your building. You got to keep the water away from your building. And they didn’t do such a simple thing. So we had to walk away because of their negligence.

James:
The way the market is, I know that’s what we’ve done in our offices. We just won’t buy certain things now because it’s easy to get blinded from a performer sometimes where everything looks beautiful on paper.

Kathy:
Oh, it was great. It was a great deal. Yeah, on paper. Yeah.

James:
And then you open it up and you’re like, oh wow, why did I buy this? But the paper and the performer told us to buy it. For us, that is one thing we’ve done when the market is more volatile or flat and there’s less upside where you can’t get that pop to cover for unexpected. We definitely get our buy box way more narrowed down. There’s certain long permit timelines. We won’t mess with them. There’s certain buildings now in certain cities in Seattle we won’t buy anymore because we know the tenant relocation is going to be expensive and take a long time, which slows down the deal. And so we’ve had to update our buy box with just not buying these certain things. Because this had foundational issues, is that just a no-go for you guys anymore in today’s market?

Kathy:
It was fixable. The inspector told us what we could do and we just put in drainage. The problem is the settling, there was going to be more problems. We knew it. And problems that you can’t really see yet because the settling was so quick that first year and it didn’t have to be. I mean, again, buildings settle anyway. And this was a little bit of a different type of build. It was shipping containers. What? It was a shipping container apartment. Have you seen those?

James:
I’ve seen them. The whole apartment building was made of shipping containers.

Kathy:
Yeah. So I mean, I love the concept. I love new stuff, but there’s not enough research, I guess you could say, on what happens when these shipping containers settle too quickly. And can they handle that? It just was too unknown and we’re not going to take that risk. We have investors in this. We’re not going to give them that risk. So we walked away from something that could have been cool, but also could have been a nightmare.

James:
We’re going to take a quick break, but when we come back, Kathy and I will be breaking down the decisions shaping our portfolio. Welcome back to the On the Market Podcast. Let’s get back into our portfolio update. What deals are you actively looking? You have a bigger fund that is looking for deals. What’s Kathy’s buy box for a multifamily deal now? If you’re like, “Hey, this is the three things we need to hit,” or it’s not worth looking at when you may have looked at that earlier.

Kathy:
For sure. Well, we don’t want them too old. I’m not like you. I don’t have the guts that you have, James, to go get this old scary looking stuff. So we want newer product. I know that’s kind of what Ken McElroy’s been able to do is by work with builders who kind of similar situation as I was doing is they just spent too much money building it and now the numbers don’t work and now they got to get rid of it, but it’s fairly new and the new second owner gets to come in and get all the benefits. So we’d love that, but those go quickly. Then you’re competing against institutionals and the big boys. So we are looking, like you said, for something that’s out of their radar. So a hundred units or less, fairly new and in growth markets, the kind of the markets that I’ve been investing in for years, which is more the Midwest or Southeast.
But then those are the areas where there was overbuilding in general. So then you’re going to see softer rents in those areas.

James:
Yeah. And so you have to pad that out. And how you do that is you want a higher cap rate and you want a higher return going in because – Got

Kathy:
To get a better deal. Yep.

James:
Yeah, things are still sliding in certain, especially those high pop growth. I know we have Spokane and Washington, Eastern Washington. I love

Kathy:
Spokane. I went to school in Spokane.

James:
Oh, that’s right. Yeah, Spokane did

Kathy:
Great. I did.

James:
They got a serious pop on rent growth and units during COVID. Now it’s retracting because it just. I remember someone sent me a perform on a deal. It’s like three years ago. The rents were at three bucks a foot. I’m like, “This is Spokane. This is a $1.50 a square foot rent market. How are we up to three bucks?”

Kathy:
I saw that too, and I was questioning it as well because everybody’s kind of going over to Idaho through Spokane, to Coeur d’Alene. And so I get to go see my school hometown and I saw the same thing. How have these rents and prices and everything gone up so much? I don’t know if this is just sustainable, but if you got in there when it was cheap, then it would’ve been good.

James:
Yeah. And that’s what we’ve seen is they’ve gone back down to two bucks and that’s a big drop. And then a lot of units got built all at one time.

Kathy:
Yes.

James:
I mean, actually, if you like Spokane, Kathy, I’d look in Spokane. There’s some deals out there from new construction.

Kathy:
New construction where the builders were expecting higher rents and they’re not getting

James:
Money. Way higher rent. They’re in

Kathy:
Trouble.

James:
Yeah.

Kathy:
Okay. Thanks for the tip, James. We’ll go look.

James:
But those are the markets that are struggling. And it’s right, there is some new property, but yeah, the institutional and the deals just aren’t there. But you have to avoid falling into those numbers traps, which are the old buildings right now, those look the best on paper, but they are a nightmare inside the walls. And we don’t even buy old apartments. You

Kathy:
Don’t.

James:
No, we’re 1960s or ’70s or newer if we’re above 10 units because it is a nightmare. We’ve bought those properties for 50 grand a door and we thought they were worth 200 grand a door and the middle just made no sense. It takes too long. It costs too much. And then the thing is too, because it takes so long, you can’t really know exactly where your rates are. Is there going to be a war going on and energy cost is still high? There’s so many different moving parts and if you can’t launch the rate, the deal just, you can’t perform it outright. And so that’s definitely something we’re not buying is those old big buildings because there’s too many unknowns and unstable markets, you have to remove the unknowns.

Kathy:
Right now I’m doing a post burr, which is basically I’ve had a property for 10 years. I haven’t really done much to it. Now I’m fixing it up and we’re going to flip it. We’re going to sell it. So I’m kind of doing, you know what I mean?You’ve held it for a long time and the tenants were fine with it. Now it’s time to make it modern and nice and we’ll make hopefully money on the sale now. But of course this is a very old home and we’ve got to completely replace the furnace. So there’s an extra 10 grand that wasn’t originally told to me from the contractor that I feel like I hear James in my ears saying, “Well, you should have known. You should have known. If it’s an old house, it’s going to need a new furnace.”

James:
10 grand for a furnace. Where’s this house at?

Kathy:
Ohio.

James:
Oh no, I don’t like that number at all. 10 grand. Oh, we pay

Kathy:
Too much. Well, and AC. I don’t know.

James:
Oh, AC. Well, that doubles it. So then you’re closer. That makes more sense. It is a good time to be doing those little secondary upgrades. We’re actually selling a lot of homes or hedge funds right now and they’re choosing not to dust them up like you’re dusting them up. And they’re selling them for probably 15, 20% less than they could. They just don’t want to put any more money in these things. And doing what you’re doing is the right call because you can get that extra 10% to 15%, but you can’t put out a rental used house.

Kathy:
Yeah. We’ve had this thing, we paid 50 grand. I don’t know. It’s in the middle of Ohio somewhere. And somebody has rented it for 10 years. But then she left and my property manager said, “You could rent it again or we could put 20 grand into this and you could sell it for 100,000 more.”

James:
It’s

Kathy:
Like, “Okay, I’ll do that and I’ll just 1031 because this is kind of the nice thing about a post burr or a property you’ve had for a while. We can 1031 it. It doesn’t have to be a flip. I don’t have to pay those taxes and we’ll be able to buy a couple of newer properties.” So I’m like, “Yeah, let’s do it. Let’s do it.” So I think this is something people could look into is what does your portfolio look like? And can you just sort of make money on what you already have just by doing a few improvements?

James:
What are you guys like, “Hey, this is on.” In the next 12 months, you feel really confident, you’re like, “This is what we’re targeting and we know we’re going to get this.”

Kathy:
There’s a couple of things. So this is not a I’m doing by myself thing, but we do syndicate. And when we syndicate, we can do bigger deals. And then the risk is shared by all those who are investing, but the reward is shared too. One of the things that we’re seeing is obviously a great need for new housing. A great need for new housing, certainly everywhere, but also in California where it’s hard to build. I won’t build anymore. We’ve built subdivisions in California and the demands are just so high. It’s so hard. Just school fees alone and all the fees. I mean, you’re in 150,000 just in fees and probably more now. So we don’t really want to do more building in California, but we have a team that’s very good at land entitlement. And for those who don’t know what that means, it’s taking raw land and getting approval to build something on it by the city or by the county.
And that’s a, I guess, riskier thing because it’s political. You’re dealing with neighbors who maybe don’t want that developed, or you’re dealing with the city council that may be slow growth or pro growth or whatever. Or you’re dealing with a city council who wants it, but then there’s an election and new people come in and then they don’t want it. So it’s more of a political play, but that is what’s needed. And that’s supposedly what this new housing bill is trying to help, is trying to make the process of building easier. Well, we have for 15 years been doing entitlement projects. My partners are 40-year veteran land developers, and we’ve been doing a lot of land entitlement. So we just got some land in Truckee, which is a fast-growing area. A lot of the tech moguls are moving there. It’s right in Tahoe. And so Truckee has.
I love Truckee and that it has just grown to be very bougie, kind of like Park City style where you take an old town and make it gorgeous. And this parcel is walking distance to downtown, but it’s Truckee and it’s California and they’re slow growth. They don’t want new development. So of course I put my feet on the brakes here. We got to make sure the city really wants this, that the people want this. So of course, one of the things you do is you make sure that a large portion of it is affordable. And that’s partly how you get it through is don’t you want a place for teachers? Don’t you want a place for firefighters? It’s Tahoe, you need firefighters to be living locally. So we need to have housing for them. And as long as you carve that out
And the city wants it, and it’s already approved as a housing subdivision. So it’s not like we’re having to go through that whole process. It’s already that far. Somebody else took the 10, 20 years to get it to that point, so we’re taking it over. So we like doing that because then we don’t take on the risk of building. We already have a buyer, a national builder who wants those lots. So land and title. But that’s not something you do on your own. You got to know what you’re doing if you’re going to do that.

James:
We’re taking one more quick break. We’ll be back on more deals that we’re pursuing, passing on, and why? This is the On the Market podcast. Let’s jump right back in. It’s funny, that’s what I’m seeing the best deals on too, is anything that has to do with land development or dirt moving because builders are getting beat up right now. Rates are really high on your hard money loans. Costs are still rising. We have this energy problem. I mean, I though construction was coming down, then it went the other way again. Things are more expensive. Things are taking more to transport out. And the absorption rate on new construction is not great in a lot of markets, especially for that starter. I remember we have two units in Kirkland, Washington, great market to be in. We sold the first two for 1.5 million. 290 days later, we have our third unit listed for 1.3 million.
Same units, same location. The difference is one went up for sale a month after the last sale. That’s all that is. And so there’s a lot of opportunity there. But the good thing about entitlements, and this is why I like dirt deals too right now, I don’t actually want to build them either. I want to flip the lots off, is it takes some time. And because there’s so much pain in the building community with their deals they’re trying to get out the door.

Kathy:
Yeah, they don’t want to do the entitlement.

James:
Well, and the demand for dirt has just dropped. Yes.

Kathy:
Yes.

James:
People’s backyards and lots, it’s worth a lot less now. If you had some land, it’s worth a lot less than it was two years ago.

Kathy:
Well, let me give you an example. We’re tying up this trucky land for three million. It’s worth 12. It would’ve been. So yes, great deals on quality land. That’s why you see a lot of the billionaires buying it up.

James:
Well, and it’s funny, the last couple of years we’ve been talking about multifamily. This is coming, this is coming. It’s actually a lot of development opportunities. I remember 2008 too, same thing. There were so many vacant built lots that had foundations in them and they were spinning them off for like 25 grand. And I feel like actually the opportunities are going to get better in this space.Because the difference between multifamily in distress, they can do capital calls, they can try to get this deal back under control. The rents, they can get more efficient, create more profit. But dirt, inexpensive money, there’s nothing. You can’t fix that problem. You can’t build your way out of it in today’s market. And that’s why we’ve seen a lot better deals. And the nice thing about entitlements, and as soon as you said that, I was like, that’s exactly what I’m looking at right now.
It’s like, how can I spin off not big ones, but how do I spin off two townhome lots in the back of a unit? Because the prices came back too much and I’m permitting three right now where I’m permitting two town homes on each lot on each site. But it takes 15 months in the city of Seattle to get these permits. So the good thing about entitlements is you get to miss the crappy market that we’re in. Because it’s so volatile, people aren’t transacting. By the time your permit’s issued, the market’s going to be different. Hopefully it’s better. In theory, it should be better. And so that’s where you can get this giant pop on the exit because land, if it can drop 50% like you were just talking about or more, it can also pop back up very, very quickly. And that’s how you hit a home run.

Kathy:
All you need is some lever to move, whether it’s interest rates or wage growth. Eventually we’re going to be in a different market. I just spoke in Danville, California at an investor group, which was so full circle because that’s the very first place I was invited to speak 20 years ago. My first time speaking was in Danville, California. So it was fun being there. Very high net worth area outside of San Francisco. And I stayed with my mentor. So then he took me on a tour of some of the things he’s doing in this very high net worth area. He paid two and a half million dollars for a tear down basically. I mean, I think it was a perfectly fine home, but he tore it down, paid two and a half million dollars for it, but he chose it because it was a big enough lot to subdivide.
And he’s able to sell the other half for about that amount. So he’s basically at a zero basis on the house that he’s rebuilding. It’s brilliant, right? This is the kind of land deals you could do out there if you can get enough land or get in an area where land like that is so desirable.

James:
Everyone’s saying there’s no opportunities out there. This is where it is. And I think even us the beginning of the year we’re like, “Hey, we’re going to go get more multifamily deals.” And we did actually, we got some really good multifamily buys, but they’re a little bit heavier operated ones where they’re still newer, but they have some issues that you got to get through. And we’ve been buying the 15 to 25 units in Seattle, have been kind of in our wheelhouse. And we found some good deals, but there’s also not as many of them. And land is coming our way. And what I love about this is, Kathy, we always talk about how we’re opposite on investing. You’re like, oh, you’re crazy. You like to work too hard, you’re too stressed out. But if you look at our buy box right now and what the deals that we’re actually moving forward, we’re buying the same things.
We’re not buying old, and we’re looking at land because it’s the best opportunity. And there is so many things that you can actually look at in today’s market. And like you said, that lot that you’re looking at is almost 70% less than it was worth three to four years ago. That’s madness on pricing.

Kathy:
In a very hot, desirable area. It’s amazing. And the way we structure these, this is what’s cool about raw land, is that we have a purchase agreement and we put down the deposit, but we have a three-year close date. So we have to make payments every month towards that date, but that gives us three years to get the entitlements in place. And then we do a double close at the end.

James:
Yeah. And so to unpack that real quick, you guys, entitlements are great because when you have a land seller that wants a bigger number, even if they’re coming down. Kathy, if you call a bank, who wants to finance that deal right now?

Kathy:
No one’s financing

James:
That

Kathy:
Deal.

James:
And not unless you’re putting 50 to 60% down and that’s not going to work.

Kathy:
The holding costs will kill you. That’s why we get the land deals because people put too much, they get too big a loan that’s a hard money loan. They don’t get the entitlements done in time. We come after they’ve done all the work and get it for big discount.

James:
Yes. You guys, for everyone listening, don’t buy land in hard money. It’s not a good idea.

Kathy:
Don’t do it because I’m going to come and take your property after you’ve done all the work. That’s just how it works. You’re going to run out of money and have to sell it, fire sell

James:
It. If you have to finance at expensive rates and wait for permit costs, there’s way too many unknowns in the city. Destroy your deal. And what Kathy’s talking about doing, you guys, is just terms work. Offering the term to the seller, they’re going to get paid off. They can then look for a 1031 exchange or what they want to move their money to. And typically you’re making payments when you hit benchmarks. Exactly. And so Kathy can hedge her risk as soon as she goes, “Okay, I’ve hit the next phase in my development and we still have a green light going through.”
Then you make your next deposit. But the beautiful thing is you can structure to where your cash out of pocket isn’t that heavy. And by the time Kathy goes to sell that in three years, the market is going to look substantially different. And this deal could go right back up to being worth 20 million. It should be worth more with entitlements and a home run can happen. And that’s what we’re seeing too on a small scale, that’s the big scale. But if you’re in any kind of market, you can do the same principle with a backyard lot, especially if you’re in an expensive city, Austin, Seattle, LA. A lot of daddu lots are a big deal right now. Because dirt has gone down, there’s a lot of opportunities to buy a burr, sit on it, rent it out, cut the lot off and sell it.
And you’re going to be able to sell that in a better market, which is going to get you the pop. And that is exactly the deals that I’m in right now too. I’m looking at a lot of bigger lot houses. I just bought a big one that I could put three houses on and I’m getting this thing fixed. I think I’m going to keep it as a rental and then carve the three lots off. And the lots have gone down so much in value, I’m going to wait for two years until it shoots back up because it’s in a primo street. And so the good thing is you don’t need to take out expensive debt, just go start looking for the right type of land deals and getting them entitled, but work with the right team. You got to have the right feasibility team.

Kathy:
Yeah. If I were starting out, I would look for a big lot with a house on it and I would get the financing because you’re buying a house, cash flow of that house, rent it out so you have a way to hold this property while you’re trying to subdivide it. I’m sure that’s what you see all the time.

James:
And Kathy, that’s why I think me and you need to do a trip to Austin.

Kathy:
Let’s go. But

James:
It’s not going to be a big one. We’re just going to get a backyard lot. I think we’re going to have big FOMO if we don’t do this.

Kathy:
Okay. It has to be after my daughter’s wedding.

James:
We need to do this before the end of the year. How about that?

Kathy:
Yes.

James:
And then if we don’t do this, what happens?

Kathy:
Yeah, we’re going to talk about it here that we’re just big losers.

James:
Okay. Well, for everyone out there who doesn’t think that there’s deals, there is deals. It’s just not maybe where you’re thinking. Actually, the deals that I thought I was going to be doing the beginning of the year, Kathy was also looking at. We also didn’t get a whole lot of them done, but I didn’t think land was going to be on my buy box. And it really is right now. And you don’t need to build, you can flip it off. So there’s opportunities everywhere. And it’s funny, me and Kathy, we’re pretty opposite. She’s calm, collected, well-spoken. I’m a little bit nuts, but we’re doing the same deals.

Kathy:
That makes me feel better. Yeah. Maybe I do eat stress. A little stressed for breakfast too.

James:
Well, Kathy, I love that we’re doing the same types of deals. We’re looking for the same things because a deal is a deal and you got to shift with the market. And it’s been kind of fun talking about, because people are talking about how there’s no deals out there. I love hearing that you are looking at container boxes that might to bogging down a hill because of lack of drainage, but you pulled out at the right time and then you’re also crushing it in the secondary markets. I do think vacation, secondary home areas with development dirt, that there is great opportunities there right now.

Kathy:
The bottom line is there’s always opportunity. So if you’re saying there isn’t any, you have a narrow focus.

James:
No. Yep. You got to always open your eyes and talk to everyone and see what’s working for them and what terms they’re offering. Because if you did the same deal that Kathy’s looking at right now a different way and you bought it with hard money, the deal’s probably not going to pencil out. So find the right opportunities, do the right turns. And how you do that is make sure you follow the on the market whenever you want to get any updates on what we’re doing and what we’re buying, because there’s always an opportunity out there, you got to subscribe to our YouTube channel and make sure you get the update on all the news because it is crazy what’s going on. There’s so much volatility in the market, you got to stay on top of it.

Kathy:
Absolutely.

James:
Well, thank you, Kathy, for coming out. Hopefully me and you just get to chop it up more. I love hanging out with you.

Kathy:
Me too.

James:
We have one-on-one time. So hopefully we do this more. And I’m James Daynard and thanks for listening to the On the Market podcast. We will see you next time.

Help us reach new listeners on iTunes by leaving us a rating and review! It takes just 30 seconds and instructions can be found here. Thanks! We really appreciate it!

Interested in learning more about today’s sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Email [email protected].

Sam Altman’s OpenAI publishes brutal critique of Apple lawsuit: ‘Apple is getting this wrong’


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IT’S ALL A BIG MISUNDERSTANDING!

OpenAI says ‘Apple is getting this wrong’

Apple’s lawsuit against OpenAI, in which the iPhone company claims OpenAI staff stole its trade secrets, is based on a series of comical misunderstandings, OpenAI said in a blog post yesterday titled “Apple is getting this wrong.”

“Apple had claimed that they contacted OpenAI in February and that we didn’t respond,” OpenAI said. “They now admit that their outside lawyers emailed the wrong person after confusing two Asian last names—only after we brought this to their attention. Apple also claimed they had a discussion with our General Counsel, which they now concede never happened.”

Sam Altman’s company also complains that the ex-Apple staff who work for him only accessed Apple information after they left the company because Apple asked them to, after it failed to access the files in their absence. Read the whole thing—including the text messages and emails—here.

ONE BIG THING

Ukrainian soldiers have business-like KPIs for killing Russians—and they’re working, RAND says

Russia’s war on Ukraine has become a grinding tally of raw numbers, and Kyiv is executing its strategy with the ruthlessness of a corporate efficiency expert, according to the RAND think tank.

In a note last month, researchers Gian Gentile and Andrew Radin pointed out that Ukraine has gained the upper hand via attrition: wiping out more of an opponent’s troops and weapons than you lose.

Russia, of course, has a larger population and military than Ukraine. So Kyiv has opted for a simple, albeit grim solution: kill Russian soldiers faster than they can be replaced, according to Gentile and Radin.

Ukraine has KPIs for the military—just like corporations, which use them to track output from employees or subsidiaries.

Ukraine’s KPIs call for killing 200 Russian troops for each square kilometer of territory seized and eliminating at least 50,000 each month. It includes an “ePoints” competition, thought to be the first of its kind anywhere, in which drone operators are awarded points for high scores on the battlefield.

THE MARKETS

Stocks rally across the globe as the price of oil declines

  • S&P 500 futures were up 0.13% this morning. The index rose 1.48% yesterday. 
  • In Europe, the Stoxx 600 was up 0.37% in early trading and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 was up 0.19% before lunch.
  • Asia: South Korea’s KOSPI was up 1.62%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.32%. India’s Nifty 50 was down 0.64%. China’s CSI 300 was up 1.27%. 
  • Brent crude was $85 per barrel this morning up from a low of $82 yesterday.
  • Bitcoin was $63.4K.

MORE FROM FORTUNE

From Porsche penthouses to Nobu lofts: Inside the $67 billion boom in luxury branded residences – Zahra Tayeb

The NFL’s previous push into Europe lost $400 million. Why it’s trying again – Sam Birchall

OpenAI’s Greg Brockman gave $5.5 million to protect the home of an internet-famous bald eagle named Jackie – Sydney Lake

How Zohran Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax exposed an epidemic of ‘ghost cars’ instead – Catherina Gioino

Ray Dalio on the AI bubble nearing 1929, 2000 levels and the lesson people always forget: ‘wealth is not the same as money’ – Nick Lichtenberg

The AI race isn’t about models, it’s about infrastructure—and the U.S. is still far ahead – Alex Capri

NOT A BUBBLE

In epic earnings call, Palantir’s Karp—pounding the table—says ‘people finally believe us’

When it was Alex Karp‘s turn to speak on Palantir’s second-quarter earnings call Monday evening, the CEO could barely contain his excitement. Grinning as he repeatedly pounded his pen on the table—and taking jabs at unnamed Silicon Valley AI competitors who “eat vegetables” and don’t support the U.S. military—a pugnacious Karp reveled in what he saw as a landmark moment for the AI software company and a vindication of its approach of selling customized AI services to businesses.

“Obviously, we are loving these results and loving what they mean for our customers and, broadly speaking, the West,” Karp said.

In the quarter ended June 30, Palantir delivered one of its strongest quarters yet. Revenue surged 93% year over year to $1.94 billion, easily topping analysts’ expectations of $1.801 billion. The company reported net income of roughly $1.1 billion, or 41 cents per share, ahead of Wall Street’s estimate of 35 cents.

AI

$1 trillion in AI capex coming down the pipe this year …

A much, much larger amount of money than previously estimated will be invested in AI this year, according to Joseph Briggs and Sarah Dong of Goldman Sachs: $1.019 trillion globally and $581 billion in the U.S. That is such a staggeringly large amount that it will shift U.S. and global GDP upward by nearly 3% at the high end. “AI capex will rise from 1.8% of GDP in the U.S. (0.9% globally) in 2026 to 2.5% of GDP in the U.S. (1.3% globally) in 2027, with a further increase to 2.8% (1.4% globally) in 2028,” they said in a note.

… Not all of it wanted

Over at Morgan Stanley, they’re worried about the quality of the debt issued to support all that spending. The credit market is demanding higher yields on AI-related debt, even when it is coming from investment-grade companies. “Hyperscaler debt is pricing at yields roughly 5–10 basis points wider than the median investment-grade issue despite higher ratings, and lower-quality debt is a full 30 basis points wider amid renewed questions about circular financing,” Lisa Shalett and her team said in a note seen by Fortune.

“[Debt] issuance has also turned a bit more chaotic, with two surprise $25 billion deals from players tangential to the ecosystem. This indigestion is not only driving relative underperformance for the sector within [investment-grade debt] but raising debate around cash flows.” 

IRAN

Iran and Oman may be carving Trump out of the deal he wants for the Strait of Hormuz

No one knows what is really going on between President Trump and Iran. Yesterday, the president said he had called off a round of attacks because the Iranians had asked for talks. By the end of the day, Trump had called Tehran “duplicitous” and admitted that no talks had taken place. 

Trump did say that Iran and Oman were discussing a deal to handle the Strait of Hormuz. That opens the prospect of both countries reopening the Strait by charging fees for shipping, without the consent of the U.S. That would give the White House the uncomfortable choice of either leaving the Strait in the hands of Tehran (which would at least bring down the price of oil and restart export commerce in the region) or use its naval blockade to target ships trying to pass through.

Last night, Trump told reporters, “This is a last chance for them to sign a good document” that would end the conflict, and he said talks are “going on right now” with various mediators.

For its part, Iran has repeatedly insisted it is not talking to the U.S.

Meanwhile, a Liberian ship in the Strait was struck by an unidentified missile and traffic through the seaway remains very low.

NUMBER OF THE DAY

77%

The percentage of S&P 500 companies that beat expectations among the 307 that have reported Q2 earnings so far. “The EPS beat rate is at its highest level since 2021,” according to Bank of America’s Savita Subramanian and Victoria Roloff.

THE FRONT PAGES TODAY

Revolut chief Nik Storonsky sued by broker over €350mn superyacht – FT

BP profit more than doubles as Trump blasts Big Oil for ‘making too much money’ – CNBC

Cyclospora outbreak causes first two deaths – Axios

The AI Boom Is Transforming the American Economy Beyond Recognition – WSJ

SpaceX’s First Earnings Offer a Chance to Reverse Stock’s Plunge – Bloomberg

A Currency Trader at Heart, Bessent Bets on Japan’s Yen – NYT

ONE MORE THING

What if SpaceX’s much-criticized corporate governance is good for investors?

SpaceX reports its first-ever post-IPO quarterly earnings tonight, and on August 6 the company’s insiders and employees will be freed from the lockup period that prevents them from selling their stock. That might not offer them much comfort, as the stock opened at $114.53 this morning, down 15% from its IPO price of $135.

Elon Musk’s company has been slated by corporate governance critics. They say that the fact that Musk controls 80% of the stock’s voting rights and is the CEO, CTO, and board chairman is “catastrophic,” according to one Danish pension fund. Nell Minow, the veteran corporate governance observer, said SpaceX’s IPO “extinguishes shareholder rights entirely, all but eliminating the right to bring a lawsuit for failure to meet fiduciary standards.”

But over at Jefferies, analyst Aniket Shah advises investors to ignore all that. 

“The data is clear that there is no clear direct evidence that chairman-CEO separation always leads to better performance,” he told Bloomberg. “A check-list approach where dual-class shareholder structure is bad, chairman-CEO separation is good, shareholder concentration is bad — is overly simplistic and can result in making bad investment decisions.”

Anyone following those rules would have been prevented from investing in Facebook or Tesla, he noted. 

Still, the stock has been hammered by traders since it went public. It was once worth $201 per share but is now trading at just 55% of that value. Maybe Musk can turn it around tonight. Some traders think he can: The stock rose 5.68% yesterday and rose another 2% overnight.

BMG acquires Wolfmother frontman Andrew Stockdale’s publishing and recorded rights


BMG has acquired Andrew Stockdale‘s publishing, recorded music royalties, and neighboring rights interests in the catalog of Australian rock band Wolfmother.

The deal, revealed on Tuesday (August 4), brings all three rights types under BMG.

BMG has published Stockdale globally since 2016, and the acquisition adds his recorded music royalties and neighboring rights to that relationship.

Stockdale co-founded Wolfmother in Sydney and is the band’s vocalist, guitarist and songwriter.

The band’s single Woman won the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 2007.

Stockdale said: “Heath Johns is a legend of the Australian music industry with an extensive reach across international markets.

“His enthusiasm for Wolfmother‘s music has been there from the original demos to Joker being played at huge sporting events.

“We appreciate the amazing syncs BMG has created over the years, helping cement Wolfmother‘s music in popular culture, and we’re looking forward to seeing what opportunities await with the great team at BMG.”

Andrew Stockdale, Wolfmother

“I couldn’t think of a better place to have my share of the catalog than BMG.

“We appreciate the amazing syncs BMG has created over the years, helping cement Wolfmother‘s music in popular culture, and we’re looking forward to seeing what opportunities await with the great team at BMG.”

Heath Johns, BMG‘s President for Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia, said: “Few Australian bands have built a catalog with the global reach, cultural impact and enduring influence of Wolfmother.

“I signed Andrew to his first publishing deal in 2005, before the band took over the world and two years before they won a Grammy. I still have that original demo CD with Woman, Joker And The Thief, Dimension and White Unicorn on my desk.

“Acquisitions with long-term clients are about more than transactional investments, they’re a reflection of partnerships built on creativity, trust and consistently delivering beyond expectations.”

Heath Johns, BMG

“For Andrew to entrust BMG with his publishing and recorded rights more than 20 years later is a great honor and an incredibly proud moment for the team. Acquisitions with long-term clients are about more than transactional investments, they’re a reflection of partnerships built on creativity, trust and consistently delivering beyond expectations.”

The acquisition is BMG‘s latest under a catalog-investment strategy funded by parent company Bertelsmann‘s Boost program.

BMG completed 30 catalog acquisitions in 2025, and has invested more than USD $1.5 billion in music rights since the Boost program launched in 2021.

BMG describes its $250 million acquisition of Jason Aldean‘s recorded catalog, completed in September 2025, as its largest to date.

Recent purchases also include the publishing and recordings of UK new wave band A Flock of Seagulls in March 2026, and the catalog of German rock band Liquido in December 2025.

BMG reported revenue of EUR €900 million (USD $1.02bn) for 2025 in annual results published by Bertelsmann, a figure down year-over-year on a reported basis following divestments in its Live segment.

Its catalog investment rose to EUR €358 million ($405M) in 2025, up from €243 million ($263M) a year earlier, while its EBITDA margin reached 31.5%.

“2025 was a transformational year for BMG, defined by disciplined execution under our BMG Next strategy,” said CEO Thomas Coesfeld of those results.

“We sharpened our focus on music publishing and recorded music, strengthened our digital capabilities, and supported that focus through our Boost investments and cutting-edge technology, including the integration of AI across our workflows.”

Under the BMG Next strategy, Coesfeld has brought BMG‘s digital distribution in-house and shifted physical distribution to Universal Music Group.

BMG is also merging with Concord. Bloomberg first reported the talks in January; the companies confirmed a definitive agreement in April, under which Bertelsmann will own approximately 67% of the combined company and affiliates of Great Mountain Partners approximately 33%, alongside a one-time cash payment of $1.16 billion. US and German regulators cleared the merger in June, and it is expected to close in Q4 2026. MBW has reported the combined entity is valued in the region of $15 billion.

Coesfeld is due to become Chairman and CEO of Bertelsmann in January 2027, while continuing to lead BMG until the Concord merger closes.

Wolfmother‘s 2005 self-titled debut was certified five-times platinum in Australia and gold in the United States, Canada and Germany.

Its 2009 follow-up, Cosmic Egg, debuted at No. 16 on the Billboard 200.

The band won three ARIA Awards in 2006, including Best Group and Best Rock Album, and the APRA Songwriter of the Year award in 2007.

According to BMG, Wolfmother‘s music has appeared in film, television and video-game titles including The Hangover, Ted Lasso, Guitar Hero and the Madden NFL series.

The band has toured with AC/DC and Guns N’ Roses, and performed at Led Zeppelin‘s 2006 induction into the UK Music Hall of Fame.

BMG, founded in 2008 and wholly owned by Bertelsmann, represents more than 3 million songs and recordings.Music Business Worldwide

Amazon Back-to-School Sale: Save $10 When You Spend $50 on Select Items


Amazon Back-to-School Sale

This article contains Amazon affiliate links.

Amazon is offering a new back-to-school promotion that takes $10 off a qualifying $50 purchase on select school and office supplies.

The deal includes more than 200 eligible items, with products such as glue sticks, highlighters, markers, dry-erase supplies, pencil sharpeners and other classroom essentials included in the promotion.

Keep in mind that Amazon offers free shipping on orders of $35+, or free next-day shipping on all orders with Amazon Prime. Prime members can also share benefits with a Household member. Students and all 18-25 year olds as well as EBT/SNAP/Medicaid cardholders can get a discounted Prime membership.

Offer Details

To receive the discount:

  1. Visit the Amazon promotion page.
  2. Add at least $50 in qualifying products to your cart.
  3. Make sure the items are sold by Amazon or otherwise listed as eligible.
  4. The $10 discount should apply automatically at checkout.

The $50 requirement is based only on qualifying items. Taxes, shipping and noneligible products generally will not count toward the spending threshold.

The promotion page currently includes products from brands such as Elmer’s, BIC, EXPO, Sharpie and Bostitch. Prices and qualifying items can change during the promotion.

PROMO PAGE

Guru’s Wrap-up

This is a good promotion for families stocking up on school supplies before the new school year. The $10 discount works out to 20% off when spending exactly $50 on eligible products.

Try and build a cart as close to $50 as possible and make sure that every item counts toward the promotion before checking out.

 

Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases made through this article. Using links on the site for Amazon purchases is the best way you can support the site as you normally can’t earn cash back for these purchases. But, you should still check shopping portals such as Rakuten, TopCashback, RebatesMe, ShopBack and others for possible cashback. Your support is always greatly appreciated!

Slow housing market largely ends need for buyers to write personal letters to sellers




As part of their offer on a Toronto homelast month, Jarrod Armstrong asked his clients to write a personal letter to the seller. 

My Net Worth is ₹5 Crores. Started with ₹10,000 Salary in IT



From ₹10,000 Salary to ₹5 Crore Net Worth: Investment Strategy, Financial Freedom & Stock Market Lessons

⏰ Time Stamps
00:00 – Highlights
00:51 – How did your career and salary journey begin?
09:09 – What is your net worth and asset allocation?
14:18 – What advice would you give to someone earning ₹40,000 to ₹50,000 per month?
18:11 – What is your framework for investing in mutual funds and stocks?
26:05 – How often do you review and rebalance your portfolio?
27:42 – What was your family’s relationship with money while growing up?

In this episode of The Net Worth Show, we sit down with Boosan Babu M, a Software Engineer by profession, and finance content creator who built a net worth of over ₹5 crore.

Boosan shares his journey from earning less than ₹10,000 per month to achieving financial freedom through salary growth, disciplined investing, high savings rate, smart asset allocation, and passive incomes. His story is a practical guide for anyone looking to understand personal finance in India, how to build passive income in India, and how to create long-term wealth through the stock market, mutual funds, equity investing, debt, gold, silver, and international investments.

This conversation covers investment strategy in India, stock market India lessons, financial independence, FIRE, portfolio management, passive income, risk management, and wealth creation strategies for investors.

💡What you will learn
• How to achieve financial freedom in India through salary growth, investing, and disciplined money management
• Why savings rate matters more than chasing high returns in the stock market
• How to build multiple income sources and passive income in India
• How to create a long-term investment strategy
• How beginners can start investing in the stock market in India without taking unnecessary risk
• Why emergency funds, health insurance, term insurance, and loan repayment are important before aggressive investing
• How to think about asset allocation, portfolio rebalancing, and risk management
• Why income generation is more important than stock picking in the early years
• Practical personal finance lessons for wealth creation, financial independence, and long-term investing

📌If you’re looking to build long-term wealth, achieve financial independence, understand investment strategy, or learn how successful investors think about money, this conversation is packed with practical insights.

Subscribe to The Net Worth Show for more conversations with India’s top investors, founders, business leaders, fund managers, and wealth creators.

#MutualFundsIndia #SIPInvestment #StockMarketIndia #indmoney

source

Best High-Yield Savings Rates for August 3, 2026: Up to 4.15%


High-yield savings account rates held steady and even increased going into August. With the Fed holding rates steady, banks are using this opportunity to capture savers.

As of August 3, 2026, some online banks are still offering interest rates up to 4.15% APY. This is still much better than the average of 0.38% APY, according to the FDIC.

Banks and credit unions are constantly adjusting their annual percentage yields (APYs) as markets react to Federal Reserve policy and inflation data, so staying up to date can make a real difference. Here’s where the best savings rates stand today — and what you should know before moving your money.

💰 Today’s Best Savings Rates At a Glance

Here are the best bank and credit union savings accounts rates today:

Bank or Credit Union

Top APY

Balance Requirement

EverBank

4.15%

$1

NexBank

4.15%

$1

CIT Bank

4.10%

$2,500

Always.bank

4.10%

$0

Pibank

4.10%

$0

1. EverBank – EverBank is one of the oldest online banks and currently is offering up to 4.15% APY in partnership with Raisin. They’re also offering up to a $1,200 bonus for new deposits. Read our full EverBank review.

2. NexBank – NexBank is the largest privately held bank in Texas and currently is offering up to 4.15% APY in partnership with Raisin. They’re also offering up to a $1,200 bonus for new deposits. 

3. CIT Bank – CIT Platinum Savings a two-tiered savings account. 

Open an account with promo code CITBoost and you’ll earn 4.10% APY* on balances of $5,000 or more for the first six months* — that’s 10x the national average savings rate.

After 6 months, you’ll return to the regular rate of 3.75% APY* with a $5,000 minimum balance. Otherwise you’ll earn 0.25% APY. See website for full details. Read our full CIT Bank review.

4. Always.bank – Always.bank is the digital banking arm of 22nd State Banking Company, they’re currently offering a competitive 4.10% APY with no minimum balance requirements.

5. PiBank – PiBank is the online brand of Intercredit Bank, N.A and offers 4.40% APY with no monthly maintenance fees and no minimum balance requirements. However, lots of consumers complain about only being allow to withdraw via wire transfer. Read our full Pibank review.

You can find a full list of the best high yield savings accounts here >>

How High Yield Savings Accounts Work And Why Rates Matter?

High-yield savings accounts function just like traditional savings accounts, but they pay a much higher annual percentage yield (APY) — often 10 to 15 times more. You can see how these rates compare to the savings rates at the 10 largest banks in America – and these rates put them to shame.

“The Fed held rates steady again last month, but banks have been slightly increasing their rates lately. The top accounts are all solidly above 4.00% APY.” – Robert Farrington

The banks and credit unions on this list typically always have above-average rates, so even if the Federal Reserve lowers rates and these accounts lower their rates, you’ll still be head. 

For example, a $10,000 balance earning 4.00% APY will generate about $400 in interest per year, compared with less than $20 at a big-bank rate of 0.20%. That gap makes it worth tracking rate changes regularly and switching institutions if your current bank stops staying competitive.

However, we expect more rates to dip below that 4.00% level in the coming weeks.

What To Know Before Opening An Account

Before opening a new account, review the key details that determine how much you’ll earn — and how easily you can access your funds.

  • Watch For Intro Or Promo Rates: APYs can rise or fall at any time. But a strong introductory rate doesn’t guarantee long-term performance. None of the rates listed here are introductory, but some referral codes may only be temporary rates.
  • Transfer Limits: Federal rules no longer cap savings withdrawals at six per month, but many banks still impose limits.
  • Safety: Confirm that the institution is FDIC- or NCUA-insured, which protects up to $250,000 per depositor, per bank or credit union.
  • Access: Many top-yield accounts are online-only. Make sure you can deposit via mobile app and link external accounts for easy transfers.

These details help you separate truly high-performing savings options from accounts that look appealing but may include hidden limitations or slower rate adjustments.

How We Track And Verify Rates

At The College Investor, our goal is to help you make smart, confident decisions about your money. To create this list, our editorial team reviews savings account rates daily across more than 50 banks, credit unions, and fintechs. We verify data using each institution’s official website, rate disclosures, and regulatory filings.

Only accounts available to U.S. consumers and insured by the FDIC or NCUA are included.

Our coverage is independent and editorially driven – we never rank accounts based on compensation. While we may earn a referral fee when you open an account through certain links, this does not influence our recommendations or reviews. Our opinions are our own, based on a consistent evaluation of usability, fees, yields, and customer experience.

FAQs

How often do savings account rates change?

Banks can adjust rates daily or weekly based on market conditions.

Are online banks safe?

Yes — as long as they’re FDIC-insured. Verify coverage on the FDIC’s BankFind site.

Is interest on savings accounts taxable?

Yes. You’ll receive a 1099-INT if you earn $10 or more in interest.

Should I move my money if rates drop?

It depends on the difference in APY and your transfer limits, and frequent rate chasing can reduce returns if transfers take time.

Disclosures

CIT Bank

For complete list of account details and fees, see our
Personal Account disclosures.

* Platinum Savings is a tiered interest rate account. Interest is paid on the entire account balance based on the interest rate and APY in effect that day for the balance tier associated with the end-of-day account balance. APYs — Annual Percentage Yields are accurate as of July 1, 2026: 0.25% APY on balances of $0.01 to $4,999.99; 3.75% APY on balances of $5,000.00 or more. Interest Rates for the Platinum Savings account are variable and may change at any time without notice. The minimum to open a Platinum Savings account is $100.

* Platinum Savings APY Boost Promotion Terms and Conditions

This is a limited time offer available to New and Existing customers who meet the Platinum Savings APY Boost promotion criteria.

Accounts enrolled in the Platinum Savings Annual Percentage Yield (APY) Boost promotion will receive a 0.35% APY boost on the Platinum Savings current standard APY tiers for 6 months following the opening of a new account or when an existing Platinum Savings account is enrolled in the promotion. The Platinum Savings APY boost will be applied on account balances up to $9,999,999.00. Account balances above $9,999,999.00 will earn the standard APY. If the standard-published APY should change during the promotion period, the APY boost will move with it, offering an account APY above the standard rate.

The Promotion begins on February 13, 2026, and ends August 31, 2026. Customers enrolled in the promotion prior to the end date will receive the APY boost for the 6-month period outlined in the terms and conditions.

The promotion can end at any time without notice. 

Editor: Colin Graves

Reviewed by: Richelle Hawley

The post Best High-Yield Savings Rates for August 3, 2026: Up to 4.15% appeared first on The College Investor.

What to Consider Before Giving Advice on a Global Team



<p>Research on communication styles among American, Chinese, and Indian employees shows how they can interpret the same guidance in dramatically different ways&#8212;and lose trust as a result.</p>

Better Neocloud Stock: CoreWeave vs. Nebius


Nebius Group (NBIS +11.64%) and CoreWeave (CRWV +19.49%) both provide specialized cloud infrastructure for training and running artificial intelligence (AI) models. CoreWeave scaled rapidly through leased infrastructure, large customer commitments, and extensive debt financing. Nebius is smaller, but it designs and develops its own cloud software, storage, networking, and workload-management tools.

Image source: Getty Images.

The better stock depends on whether CoreWeave’s scale and backlog outweigh its financing burden, or whether Nebius can turn its stronger financial position into better shareholder returns.

Revenue visibility

CoreWeave generated revenue close to $2.1 billion in the first quarter (ending March 31, 2026), up 112% year over year. The company also had more than 1 gigawatt of power capacity operating across its data centers.

CoreWeave Stock Quote

Today’s Change

(19.49%) $13.99

Current Price

$85.76

CoreWeave ended the first quarter with $99.4 billion of revenue backlog. These figures show that it already operates at substantial scale and has strong visibility into future revenue. However, much of that backlog will not become revenue until the company delivers the promised computing capacity and makes the service available to customers.

Nebius is a smaller company, but its first-quarter revenue soared 684% year over year to $399 million. The company has also secured access to more than 4 gigawatts of power for its data center expansion. However, much of that future capacity still needs to be built and brought into operation.

Nebius Group Stock Quote

Today’s Change

(11.64%) $22.17

Current Price

$212.58

Nebius’ commercial pipeline generation was about 3.5 times the previous quarter’s level. The company has also signed multiple large customer contracts. For instance, Microsoft has agreed to pay up to $17.4 billion through 2031, subject to Nebius installing the promised graphics processing unit (GPU) systems and keeping that computing capacity available. Microsoft can also purchase another $2 billion in services or capacity, potentially increasing the contract’s total value to roughly $19.4 billion.

Meta Platforms has agreed to purchase $12 billion of dedicated capacity over the next five years. The company is also required to purchase up to $15 billion of additional capacity if Nebius cannot sell specified capacity to other customers. These agreements reduce the risk that Nebius will build expensive data centers without enough customers to use them.

Heavy financing burden

CoreWeave’s 56% adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) margin looks impressive, but its adjusted operating margin was only 1% after accounting for depreciation and amortization. Its debt-funded expansion also resulted in $536 million of net interest expense, contributing to a $740 million net loss. CoreWeave ended the first quarter of 2026 with $25.1 billion in debt and $10.1 billion in operating lease liabilities. As a result, depreciation, interest payments, and long-term lease obligations currently leave much less of CoreWeave’s revenue available to benefit shareholders.

Nebius has invested about $2.47 billion in property, equipment, and intangible assets during the first quarter. Although operating cash flow reached $2.3 billion, that figure includes a $3.2 billion increase in deferred revenue. This largely reflects customer payments received before Nebius delivers future services. While those prepayments can help fund expansion, they are not recurring free cash flow.

CoreWeave is the better operating business today. But Nebius’ lighter financial burden and focus on owned data centers could enable it to deliver better long-term returns for shareholders. Hence, Nebius appears to be a better stock, although investors should monitor whether it can bring new capacity online without excessive debt or dilution.

Citi Refreshes American Airlines Executive Card ($695 Annual Fee & New Benefits)


Citi has refreshed the American Airlines executive card. The changes are as follows:

  • $695 annual fee (was $595)
  • $500 credit for American Airlines vacation packages. Semi annual (one $250 credit January through June and another July through December) (new)
  • Omni Hotels (new):
    • Omni Hotels Champion status
    • Omni Hotels Free Night Credit (must complete an eligible stay of two nights first)
  • Avis President’s Club Status
  • $10 monthly GrubHub credit has been removed
  • Loyalty bonus points after loyalty point thresholds. 
    • 10,000 after 50,000 earned (same as before)
    • 10,000 after 90,000 earned (same as before)
    • 10,000 after 165,000 earned (new)
    • 10,000 after 240,000 earned (new)
  • $15 Lyft credit after you complete three Lyft rides that month (was $10)
  • Mastercard Legend (was Mastercard Elite)
  • American Airlines 25% in flight discount replaced with $100 inflight and Admirals Club credit
  • Card earning rates:
    • 12x on eligible hotels and car rentals booked through American Airlines (was 10x)
    • 4x on American Airlines purchases
    • 1x on all other purchases

Our Verdict

I don’t really see an extra $100 in value here and I already thought this card had undervalued benefits. Vacation credit would have been more interesting if it was a flat $500 but two $250 credits are extremely hard to get value from. It’s laughable that you need to complete three Lyft rides to unlock a $15 credit on a card with a $695 annual fee. 

I got excited for the Omni free night certificate until I saw you needed to complete a two night stay first.