Chambers Financial Group

10/23/2026

We hear Amazon is automating, adding robots like crazy.

Here's a look at Amazon's employee headcount vs. revenue over last 5 years.

Amazon (2021 to 2025):

• Revenue: $470B up to $717B (+53%)

• Global Headcount: 1.61M down to 1.58M (-2%)

• Revenue / Employee: $292k up to $455k (+56%)

Significant increase in operating efficiency.

If AI = Robots, as we have heard, seems likely some of this increase would be attributable to AI?

Source: Amazon annual reports 2021 to 2025.

10/22/2026

Is Space X a rocketry company?

Or an AI company? Or an internet technology company?

I know I have been guilty of thinking of it as a non-gov't NASA type thing.

But according to Space X's latest earnings report (Q3 2026), here's where revenue came from:

AI: $7.6B (52%)

Starlink / Internet Connectivity: $5.2B (36%)

Space / Rockets: $1.8B (12%)

So only about 12% of revenue came from its Space biz!

Interesting that a company best known for launching rockets now gets most of its revenue from AI and internet connectivity.

I guess Flat Earthers can safely invest in Space X LOL.
Source:

Source:

EX-99.1 Space Exploration Technologies - Live Earnings Release1SpaceX Reports Third Quarter 2026 Results•Delivered revenue of $14.6 billion, up 161% year-over-year, fueled by our Super Intelligence (SI) segment and accelerated growth in Connectivity •Achieved income from operations of $2.8 billi...

10/21/2026

If you worry about money, did you know that's good?

Yes, according to a study by Fenton O'Creevy and Furnham (2023) called Personality and Wealth.

They found the trait most associated w/ success in accumulating assets (i.e. retirement planning) is conscientiousness.

When I firstt read the paper, I thought what is conscientiousness? It's discipline, responsibility, planning ahead.

But I think it is related to worry.

Worrying about retirement, the future, which likely leads to attention to savings, investments, and finances.

Study:https://oro.open.ac.uk/88582/8/88582.pdf

10/20/2026

The Borg: Meta. Amazon. And today we look at Google.

My idea as to why smallcap stocks (Russell 2000) have underperformed the S&P 500 over the last 20 years:

Are the best small caps getting bought by the Mega caps and thus reducing Russell 2000 performance? 🤔

We may still see Google as a search engine. But here's just a partial list of the companies Google (now Alphabet) has aquired (assimilated?):

Android (2005) ~$50M
YouTube (2006) $1.65B
DoubleClick (2007) $3.1B
Postini (2007) $625M
AdMob (2009) $750M
ITA Software (2011) $700M
Motorola Mobility (2012) $12.5B / who is Motorola?
Waze (2013) ~$1B
Nest Labs (2014) $3.2B
DeepMind (2014) ~$500M
Dropcam (2014) $555M
Apigee (2016) $625M
Looker (2019) $2.6B
Fitbit (2021) $2.1B
Mandiant (2022) $5.4B
Wiz (2026) $32B

Partial list.

Some were private. Others public.

So Android, YouTube, Waze, DeepMind. Companies that might have grown independently (perhas as Small Caps) now part of Google/the Borg.

Image: Marcin Wichary / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

10/19/2026

Why have small cap stocks underperformed the S&P 500 over the last 20 years🤔

Remember the Borg from Star Trek Next Gen?

Could the extra growth we would have historically had from small caps (Russell 2000 index) instead be showing up inside the Mega caps that are gobbling them up?

Earlier I looked at Meta.

Today see Amazon:

We think of Amazon as a giant online retailer. But look at who they have "assimilated:"

• IMDb (1998)
• Audible (2008) $300M
• Goodreads (2013) [Oh no, I thought Goodreads was independent!]
• Twitch (2014) $970M
• MGM (2022) $8B [MGM, we hardly knew ye]
• Zappos (2009) $1.2B
• Quidsi (2010) $545M
• Kiva Systems (2012) $775M
• Souq.com (2017) $580M
• Eero (2019)
• Zoox (2020) $1.2B
• Whole Foods (2017) ~$14B [We already know about this one]
• Ring (2018) ~$839M
• PillPack (2018) ~$753M
• One Medical (2023) ~$4B

Partial list.

Some were private, which given time maybe would have become small caps. Others indeed were publicly traded.

Regardless of reason for the change in small cap performance, in reviewing this list I conclude Amazon are the Borg (sic).

Photo: Matt Brown CC 2.0

10/16/2026

Why have small cap stocks underperformed the S&P 500 over the last 20 years, and only about matched it over the last 50? 🤔

I wonder if it could it be many of the best small companies are getting bought by the Mega caps?

Like Google, Amazon, Meta, Apple, etc.

An example would be Amazon's purchase of One Medical, which was a small cap.

Just an idea. But I think of some of these Mega caps as more a conglomeration of companies.

10/16/2026

Lately I've been puzzling over why small cap stocks (Russell 2000) have underperformed large caps (S&P 500) so much and so uncharacteristically over the past 20 years...

I have an thought.🤔

Maybe the best small caps are getting bought up by the megas?

So the growth we would have expected from small companies is still present perhaps but is showing up under a different name plate: mega cap stocks.

Consider Meta.

When we think of Meta, we probably think of Facebook. But Facebook was just the start.

Here's just a partial list of companies Meta has acquired over the years:

Friend Feed (2009) — $48 million

Beluga (2011)

Instagram (2012) — $1 billion

Face.com (2012) — ~$55 million

Parse (2013) — ~$85 million

Onavo (2013)

WhatsApp (2014) — $19 billion

Oculus VR (2014) — $2 billion

Live Rail (2014) — ~$400–500 million

Wit.ai (2015)

MSQRD (2016)

CrowdTangle (2016)

Bloomsbury AI (2018)

Chainspace (2019)

CTRL Labs (2019) — reportedly $500 million–$1 billion

Beat Games (2019)

Scape Technologies (2020) — ~$40 million

Mapillary (2020)

Ready at Dawn (2020)

Big Box VR (2021)

Kustomer (2022) — ~$1 billion

Within (2023) — ~$400 million

Play AI (2025)

Rivos (2025)

Only a partial.

* Dollar amounts are approximate reported acquisition values, not market cap.

** Many of these were private cos went bought also, not small caps.

Just a thought.

10/15/2026

Over the last ~ 50 years, small cap stocks (Russell 2000) have about matched performance of the S&P 500.

(Although over the last 20 years, small caps have lagged significantly.)

The historical smallcap stock premium, the idea that smaller companies should deliver higher returns over time, doesn't seem present.

I don't see a small cap premium over this longer period.

Source: CME Group

https://www.cmegroup.com/insights/economic-research/2025/are-us-small-caps-undervalued-relative-to-larger-sp-500-peers.html

10/14/2026

Today's CPI report showed Inflation up to 3.7% in September, from 3.4% in August. *Includes food and fuel.

Economists expected the increase. Not sure why that changes anything or somehow makes the higher inflation okay?🤔

There's help for retirees since Social Security just said there'll be a 3.6% cost of living adjustment for 2027, more than the 2.8% in 2026.

That means an average increase of about $900 annually for those getting SS. That's good news, though everyone else will have to cope.

My take is 3.7% seems a bit high, but historically inflation runs 3%, and it has always seemed to me closer to 3.5% So perhaps a bit of an indicator, but not a huge deal IMO.

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10/14/2026

The S&P 500 has way outperformed the Russell 2000 (small cap stocks) over the last 20 yrs.

It's said small cap stocks carry a long term return premium. That is, over time we would expect small caps to have higher returns. Higher risk = higher expected return.

But not over the past 20 yrs anyway.

Source: Curvo

https://curvo.eu/backtest/en/compare-indexes/russell-2000-vs-sp-500