Automakers spent the past decade telling us EVs are the cars of the future. We finally got one that actually looks like it.

Last week, Hyundai's luxury brand Genesis revealed the GV90, a three-row electric SUV with coach doors that swing open into a pillarless gap, front seats that rotate 180 degrees to face the second row, and an airbag for the glass roof.

The company says a hidden roll cage of high-strength steel tubes and structural foam matches conventional crash performance. That claim will hinge on regulators, not just press releases.

Still, in an age of EV pessimism, with rivals recalibrating toward affordability and profitability, it’s refreshing to see an automaker living in fast lane.

— Brooks & The Street Sheet Team

What: Investors spent last month treating Chinese open-weight models as a threat to everyone in the AI trade. Alphabet (GOOGL) fell 10% after Moonshot AI's Kimi K3 landed, dragging Microsoft (MSFT) and Amazon.com (AMZN) down with it. But investors may be reading a tailwind as a headwind.

Why: Cheaper deployment does not mean less deployment. If open-weight models cut the cost of running AI, usage may well expand to eat the savings. That’s per the the Jevons paradox, the economic principle that says more technological efficiency typically leads to more consumption, not less. And free to download does not mean free to run.

What Else: There’s also the probability question. There’s no obvious way to make money giving models away, which is why venture capital has steered clear of open-weight firms. The technology is instead heralded largely by big tech loss leaders and state-backed Chinese companies.

Watch: Earnings commentary from Nvidia (NVDA), due next week. Its executives have argued that open models expand chip demand rather than shrink it. We’ll look to see if the results support that hypothesis.

What: High fashion now trades at a discount to tennis socks. LVMH's (LVMUY) forward multiple below Ralph Lauren (RL), erasing a premium that used to be the entire argument for owning European luxury.

Why: Ralph Lauren grew sales 13% in the June quarter, its seventh straight quarter above 10%. Coach, Tapestry's (TPR) main handbag brand, added 14%. Their edge is the opposite of pricing power: pricing intelligence. In contrast to the “higher cost is higher fashion” model of LVMH and Gucci-parent Kering (PPRUY), these affordable luxury brands remain relevant by understanding exactly what prices their customer base will pay, then adjusting their margins to match.

What Else: This isn’t just the “bifurcated economy” all over again. Middle-class shoppers didn’t stop buying — they just stopped buying new. Entry-level Louis Vuitton bags cost 50% more than in 2019, against 5% real wage growth. But at secondhand luxury retailers like The RealReal (REAL), sales rose 17% last quarter.

Watch: Will luxury mainstays like LVMH follow the trend or dig in their heels? Gucci recently unveiled its Generation Gucci line, priced 27% under the brand's older bags. In this economy, cutting prices may cost less than waiting for wages to catch up.

What: The Northwest Passage may have been a myth. But arctic shipping offers real efficiency gains, and China is the first nation to take advantage.

Why: The China-Europe Arctic Express is running its maiden voyage with nearly 2,000 containers, Ningbo to the UK, on a lane it intends to sail weekly. The trip takes just 20 days, while Suez takes about 40, and the Cape of Good Hope 50. Halving transit cuts pipeline inventory, frees working capital, and lets each hull run more voyages per season. It also routes around the Red Sea and Hormuz.

What Else: Russia supplies the water, the escorts, and dozens of nuclear icebreakers. China supplies cargo, capital, and shipyards. UCLA Professor Christopher Tang argues the US answer is not one ship order but four moves: coordinated tariffs and carbon fees on Arctic-routed goods, an accelerated Polar Security Cutter program, a deepwater port at Nome, and shorter supply chains through Mexico and Canada.

Watch: The US Army Corps’ ongoing Port of Nome Modification Project, which would give the US its only Arctic harbor deep enough to handle oversize cargo ships. However, ports and ice-class fleets take about a decade to build, affording China quite the head start.