🗓️ This Week in The Markets
Macro/Market News
As of this morning, the US government carried out attacks on Caracas, Venezuela, and captured Nicolás Maduro. Trump plans on bringing him to the US and making him stand trial.
2025 has marked one of the best years for metals in history, with Silver up 160%, Platinum up 144%, Gold up 64%, Palladium up 89%, and Copper up 43% on the year.
Russian gas exports have hit a new low, with exports to Europe falling 44% in 2025. This marks the lowest level of exports we’ve seen since the 1970s!
US pending home sales rose by 3.3%, reaching the highest level we’ve seen since February 2023, marking a potential turnaround for the otherwise stagnant US real estate market.
Company Specific News
Facebook parent, Meta (Ticker: $META ( ▲ 0.16% )) is reportedly buying one of the leading AI agent startups, Manus for $2 billion, marking a move to correct course in AI development.
The founder of Lululemon (Ticker: $LULU ( ▼ 0.72% )), Chip Wilson, launched a proxy fight, nominating three board candidates to effect governance changes before a new CEO is named.
Apple (Ticker: $AAPL ( ▼ 0.81% )) CEO, Tim Cook, reportedly bought nearly $3 million worth of Nike (Ticker: $NKE ( ▼ 1.24% )) shares.
Semiconductor stocks rallied to kick off 2026, as ASML (Ticker: $ASML ( ▼ 1.29% )), Micron (Ticker: $MU ( ▼ 1.83% )), Intel (Ticker: $INTC ( ▼ 2.09% )), and Taiwan Semiconductor (Ticker: $TSM ( ▼ 0.8% )) all rose more than 5% on Friday!
🛒 What the Haul?
Out of 368 TikTok hauls analyzed, these companies appeared the most:
Zara - 31 Appearances (8.4%)
Shein - 30 Appearances (8.2%)
Hollister - 29 Appearances (7.9%)
Ugg - 25 Appearances (6.8%)
Lululemon - 24 Appearances (6.5%)
Victoria's Secret - 19 Appearances (5.2%)
Nike - 19 Appearances (5.2%)
H&M - 18 Appearances (4.9%)
Aritzia - 17 Appearances (4.6%)
Sephora - 16 Appearances (4.3%)
Garage - 16 Appearances (4.3%)
Adidas - 16 Appearances (4.3%)
Rhode - 15 Appearances (4.1%)
Brandy Melville - 15 Appearances (4.1%)
Target - 15 Appearances (4.1%)
Aerie - 13 Appearances (3.5%)
Bath & Body Works - 11 Appearances (3%)
Chanel - 11 Appearances (3%)
Fashion Nova - 11 Appearances (3%)
Primark - 11 Appearances (3%)
Pandora - 10 Appearances (2.7%)
Pacsun - 10 Appearances (2.7%)
American Eagle - 9 Appearances (2.4%)
E.l.f. - 9 Appearances (2.4%)
Louis Vuitton - 9 Appearances (2.4%)
Hello Kitty - 9 Appearances (2.4%)
Coach - 8 Appearances (2.2%)
Eos - 8 Appearances (2.2%)
Pink - 7 Appearances (1.9%)
Charlotte Tilbury - 7 Appearances (1.9%)
Juicy Couture - 7 Appearances (1.9%)
Old Navy - 7 Appearances (1.9%)
Cider - 7 Appearances (1.9%)
ASOS - 7 Appearances (1.9%)
Bershka - 7 Appearances (1.9%)
Aeropostale - 6 Appearances (1.6%)
Laneige - 6 Appearances (1.6%)
Ulta - 6 Appearances (1.6%)
Amika - 6 Appearances (1.6%)
Gucci - 6 Appearances (1.6%)
Amazon - 6 Appearances (1.6%)
Skims - 6 Appearances (1.6%)
Alo - 6 Appearances (1.6%)
Balenciaga - 6 Appearances (1.6%)
Sol De Janeiro - 6 Appearances (1.6%)
Urban Outfitters - 6 Appearances (1.6%)
Summer Fridays - 5 Appearances (1.4%)
Apple - 5 Appearances (1.4%)
Lush - 5 Appearances (1.4%)
Free People - 5 Appearances (1.4%)
Gap - 5 Appearances (1.4%)
Walmart - 5 Appearances (1.4%)
No Boundaries - 5 Appearances (1.4%)
Glossier - 5 Appearances (1.4%)
Huda Beauty - 5 Appearances (1.4%)
Lego - 5 Appearances (1.4%)
Levi's - 5 Appearances (1.4%)
Miu Miu - 5 Appearances (1.4%)
TikTok Shop - 5 Appearances (1.4%)
Key Takeaways
Hollister (Ticker: $ANF ( ▲ 1.47% )) has once again appeared in the Top 5, as the clothing giant’s explosive growth continues!
The historical run that Victoria’s Secret (Ticker: $VSCO ( ▼ 3.29% )) has been on might be coming to an end, as we see a slowdown in haul prevalence. Nevertheless, this holiday-favorite store has had an incredible quarter!
Nike (Ticker: $NKE ( ▼ 1.24% )) extends its time in the Top 10 as the athleisure giant continues to be incredibly prevalent in holiday hauls.
In the next week or so, we’ll be launching a Premium tier for Sentinalysis! Subscribing to Sentinalysis Premium will give you access to the following benefits:
A weekly, in-depth breakdown of the Top 5 brands, including what folks are buying, and what they have to say about the brands and their respective products.
Helpful data visualizations, starting with a weekly chart of the Top 10 brands over time (with more to be added in the coming weeks/months).
Monthly deep dives on public companies (minimum of 1 deep dive per month, potentially more if I see multiple high-conviction trades). Note: Free-tier subscribers will no longer receive weekly deep dives (It’s just way too hard to have conviction on a new company every week!).
Quarterly recaps of the most prevalent public companies in hauls (Beginning at the end of Q1 2026).
Keep an eye on your inbox in the coming week, as we’ll be sending out invites to try Sentinalysis Premium for one month for free! As always, you can earn a free month of Sentinalysis Premium by referring your friends (see below)!
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🤖 This Week in AI
OpenAI is reportedly hiring a “Head of Preparedness”. This role comes with a massive ~$550k salary and will be focused on mitigating risks presented by the AI systems that OpenAI is creating.
Google’s (Ticker: $GOOG ( ▲ 0.22% )) Gemini models are reportedly coming to Waymo, after a researcher discovered a system prompt within the Waymo App’s code!
xAI has reportedly purchased a third building near the existing Colossus campus, with the goal of adding more compute and reaching 2 GW of compute power in the race to AGI.