Forbes' top editor Randall Lane was recently dishonorably discharged, after The New York Times (NYT) reported he took $6 million from RJ Shook, whose research firm has co-published the magazine's wealth adviser rankings since 2016.

Forbes' own standards bar staff from accepting compensation of any kind from companies they cover. Lane called the payment a gift for years of advice. You can always rely on financial writers to have a great command of the Thesaurus.

Perfect example of why we urge you all to look “beyond the headlines” — and why we provide trade ideas from analysts with strong track records, and commit to real transparency. Mainstream financial advice often has a silent partner.

— Brooks & The Street Sheet Team

What: Big Pharma has become a big short. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) and the State Street Health Care ETF (XLV) have flipped into negative correlation with AI chipmakers, per FactSet.

Why: Semis are hyper-cyclical. Healthcare is not. People need it regardless of what the AI build-out is doing. Now, with SMH recently trading at 22-30x forward earnings against roughly 18x for XLV, money fleeing expensive chips arguably has a cheap place to land. A decade ago both sat near 15x.

Watch: How the SMH-XLV correlation shifts as Federal Reserve policy becomes clearer. Healthcare beat semis by more than 30 points during 2022's rate shock, so the hedge has history of working, but as we all know, past performance can never guarantee future results.

What: ESG is back... sort of. US sustainable funds pulled in $3 billion in the second quarter, their first positive quarter since the start of 2022, per Morningstar, lifting assets to a record near $400 billion.

Why: Investors chased electricity, not ethics. First Trust's $12 billion Smart Grid Infrastructure ETF (GRID) alone took $5.5 billion through July, riding AI power demand, grid neglect, and energy security. Passive ESG strategies drew $6.5 billion while active ones bled $3.6 billion.

What Else: New look, same taste. GRID carries no sustainability mandate and no exclusionary screens, the Global Wind Energy ETF (FAN) holds 40% diversified names including gas utilities, and iShares Global Clean Energy (ICLN) bars coal and oil but permits gas. Invesco Solar (TAN) and iShares Energy Storage and Materials (IBAT) posted the group's best one-year returns without holding a fossil fuel name.

Watch: Third-quarter flow data decides whether $3 billion was a turnaround or a performance chase.

What: It’s not all surges and demand for power companies. Several of the biggest names expected benefit from the AI boom have slumped sharply in 2026. Constellation Energy (CEG) is down 23% year-to-date, Vistra (VST) 10%, and NRG Energy (NRG) 24%.

Why: Two markets turned. Texas Governor Greg Abbott halted new data center grid connections pending an audit, shelving a fast-track process that would have lifted prices for Vistra and NRG. Then, PJM, the largest power grid operator in the US, held a capacity auction that fell 6.8 gigawatts short for the 2028 delivery year.

What Else: PJM's fix adds procurement and steers data centers into direct contracts, so analysts expect capacity prices to fall, which would drain the one revenue line incumbents were counting on to rise.

Watch: Melius Research's James West says data center contract announcements could land any day, and Constellation expects co-location rules clarified by the second quarter of 2027. Whoever signs first sets the price for everyone else.