Together with Public

We did it!

We survived the Trump tariff tantrum — the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq-100 are back in the green year-to-date (up +21% off their April-lows). This relief rally was further solidified by the Trump Administration sharing a press release alongside the Chinese government sharing a 90-day pause on the triple-digit reciprocal tariffs.

A quick breakdown — in case you don’t have the time.

Walmart plans to pass on some tariff-related expenses to consumers.

According to a Wall Street Journal article published this morning, Walmart plans to pass along some of their tariff-related expenses to their consumers. The company also decided not to share a profitability forecast with investors as they’re still navigating what they’ve dubbed “a dynamic and fluid environment.”

The chart above illustrates Walmart’s operating margin over the last decade. As you can see, for every $100 in sales Walmart generates only about $4 is left over to be realized as “profit.” From this 4% operating margin, the company then has to service their debt, reinvest into the business (employee raises, e-commerce infrastructure, etc.), and pay a dividend to their shareholders.

As tariff-related costs get passed to them from their suppliers, Walmart then has to make a decision to pass along a portion (or all) of that additional cost to their customers. According to the WSJ article, the cost of bananas has risen from $0.50 to $0.54 per pound, or about +8%, as their suppliers raise prices on them.

Walmart said more high-income households in the U.S. chose the retailer for groceries, and shoppers embraced its low-price store brand and “rollbacks,” or temporary deals.

This article comes two days after the Consumer Price Index (inflation) for the month of April was published — hitting a 4-year low at an annualized +2.3%. As you can see below, inflation hasn’t been this low since the beginning of 2021.

This has to be the coolest thing we’ve ever seen. Our friends at Public have created a way for everyday investors to build sophisticated strategies. Let’s be real, we’re smart people — which means we have good investing ideas! But coming up with an idea is only half the battle — the other half is figuring out what specific companies align with the idea we just came up with!

With Public’s “Generated Assets,” anyone can turn an idea into an investable index.

Literally tell Public's generated assets what you want to invest into and it'll build a portfolio for you as well as back test the performance over the last several years so you have some clarity as to what it might perform like going forward.

For example, maybe you want to invest into companies whose CEOs are active on social media. Or maybe you want to invest into companies with a crazy high "revenue per employee" ratio. Or maybe you want to invest into companies who are powering the rise of AI agents.

Check out their "Top List" section! This is a robust list of the top-performing strategies created by others. I published my strategy, revenue per employee ratio, and we'll see how it goes!

Here’s a video I made further explaining how it works!

👉 Episode 117: Financial Freedom by Fall — This Summer’s Rich Habits

In this week’s Monday-morning episode of the Rich Habits Podcast (linked here) — Austin and Robert shared their five favorite summer rich habits to help you reach financial freedom by fall.

Here’s what they talked about:

👉 Q&A: Multi-Level Marketing Schemes, Turn-Key Real Estate Investing, & High-Interest Student Loans

Here’s a link to the Q&A episode that was posted this morning.

We answered questions from: Juan, Brandon, Zach, Rudy, Jordan, Truett, & Shoosh

You can submit questions for these episodes by asking them inside of the Rich Habits Network, replying to this email, or sending us a DM on Instagram.

The Rich Habits Podcast is available on Spotify, Apple, iHeart, YouTube, and wherever else you get your content!

Credit card delinquencies are hitting multi-decade highs.

As of Q1 2025, 16% of low-income Americans (ages 20–64) have credit card debt that’s 90+ days overdue — the highest rate in 22 years, per the St. Louis Fed. Even among the highest-income earners, 6% are seriously delinquent — the worst in 21 years.

Overall, 11% of Americans in this age group now have seriously delinquent credit card debt, and 12% are 30 days late — an all-time high. Financial distress is clearly rising across the board.

The share of people 30 days delinquent on their credit card debt has trended upward since the first half of 2021, and that trend was widespread among all four geographies examined by the Fed. Additionally, the trend is more notable in the lowest-income 10% of ZIP codes than it is in the highest-income 10% of ZIP codes. From the second quarter of 2021 to the first quarter of 2025, their delinquency rates grew by 63% and 44%, respectively, in relative terms.

The “fear index” just had a record-setting reversal.

We clearly weren’t kidding when we said that 2025 was going to be a VERY volatile year! Just three weeks ago, the Volatility Index skyrocketed and fear was everywhere in the markets. Today, trade deals are getting done, Trump is traveling the world soliciting US investments, and investors are feeling greedier than they’ve felt the entire year.

What’s my point in calling this out? It’s to remind you that DCA’ing is truly the best way to invest. It’s 100% impossible for you to predict how all of these market moves will unfold. We knew the market was reaching an inflection point, and we stuck to our consistent approach of adding to our winners and identifying undervalued positions.

This doesn’t mean we’re fully out of the woods though. The VIX very well could jump right back higher at a moment’s notice. Either way — you need to train your mind to be disciplined as an investor and don’t let emotions steer your investing.

Identify opportunities, continue to listen to the Rich Habits Podcast, and be a long-term investor. Volatility can drive you insane — please don’t let it!

Share this newsletter with 1 person and you’ll be sent our Financial Planning Workbook. Share it with 2 people and you’ll also be sent our video module explaining how Austin and Robert Analyze New Stocks.

It just takes a few moments — enjoy the resources!

Below is a list of our featured partners that we’ve vetted — with whom we have a personal relationship. Browse these exclusive offers curated just for you:

Disclaimer: This is not financial advice or a recommendation for any investment. The content is for informational purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.