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Self-Evident Truths, Tech Selloff, Inflation in Our Future, One Ball, and "in the Arena"

  • Writer: Doug MacGray
    Doug MacGray
  • Jun 28
  • 6 min read

June 28, 2026


250 YEARS: As we approach our country's 250th birthday, the anniversary of "this bold experiment" and the birth of what became "a republic, if you can keep it" (Benjamin Franklin), I thought I'd share a picture I took in the summer of 2020 when we took advantage of Washington, D.C. with no lines and easy parking. This is the Jefferson Memorial, with an excerpt of the words penned by him, and edited by the rest of the committee (John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston):


We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men. We...solemnly publish and declare that these colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent states...and for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honour.


A TECH SELLOFF CAUSES A NEGATIVE WEEK: It was not a good week for tech and AI stocks especially in semiconductors, memory chips, and mega-cap growth stocks. Whenever there is a general concern that stock values have gone too far, too fast, they are always susceptible to this kind of pull back caused by profit-taking. A perfect example of what happened was with Broadcom. Over the past three years, it has been averaging 67% returns. Early last week, it announced its recent earnings indicating a 48% jump in year over year sales and a whopping 143% surge in AI chip revenue driven by demand for AI accelerators and AI computing. Broadcom's announcement indicated that it anticipated a rise in AI revenue by 200% in the fiscal third quarter to $16 billion, up from $10.8 billion. And what happened? Broadcom stock fell. Analysts had estimated a third quarter increase to $17 billion (not $16 billion). Due to rising costs, Broadcom indicated that its profit in the next quarter will be 74%, not the expected 77%. Despite these highly positive numbers, investors had anticipated better, and so the stock sold off, down over 11% for the week. Again, the theme of the year, diversification, remains relevant. Small cap stocks, represented by the Russell 2000, were up 1.02%, and bonds rallied a bit.



LONGER-TERM PERFORMANCE: Below are the annualized three-year and five-year numbers for these same indices.



AI AND INFLATION: With oil and gas prices coming back down, used car prices down 2% from a year ago, moderating food inflation, we can easily begin to get optimistic about near-term inflation, but wait. AI companies are growing quickly, and they are also spending massively. That drives up demand which tends to drive up prices. Last Thursday, Apple announced a 15-25% price hike on Mac computers and iPads. Apple CEO Tim Cook said the jump in costs was "unlike anything he had seen in any area in over 40 years." Blame the rapid expansion of AI data centers which have created a massive surge in demand for memory and storage causing component prices to rise. Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and Oracle are projected to spend over $700 billion this year in capital spending, up an astounding 75% from a year earlier. AI data centers need sophisticated equipment to keep operations cool, stable, and reliable. This also requires fiber-optic cables and backup generators. According to one estimate, the AI buildout could cost around $8 trillion over the next six years. This demand increases prices which trickles down to components on consumer products such as tablets, gaming consoles, smart phones, and computer software. Electricity costs are also being impacted as data centers will likely account for about half of U.S. growth in power demand throughout the rest of the decade. One projection I read this week had electricity prices increasing by 6% per year in the next couple of years.


DURABLE GOODS ORDERS DROP IN MAY, BUT...: New orders for durable goods in the U.S. fell by 4.5% in May. If you removed commercial aircraft, durable goods orders were up 1.3% and up 10.2% from one year ago, the largest annual gain in four years. Other than transportation, all major categories rose in May. Orders for computers and electronic products are up at a 22.5% annualized rate over the past six months, the largest such gain in that category in 20 years.


NUCLEAR POWER: The first nuclear reactor to produce electricity for a grid occurred in 1954 in the Soviet Union. By 1960, there were 17 such reactors in four countries. In 1970, there were 90 reactors in 15 countries. Rapid growth occurred in the 1970s, and by 1980 there were 253 operating nuclear power plants. The 1979 Three Mile Island accident and the 1986 Chernobyl disaster slowed growth considerably. However, growth continued to occur, and today there are 415 reactors in 31 countries, including 94 in the United States. 18.2% of the U.S. power grid is powered by nuclear energy. China generates 4.5% of its electricity with nuclear power, but it is currently building 35 reactors. The U.S. has one under construction. The U.S. is growing its nuclear capacity by refitting and refurbishing previously closed reactors that will come back online in a few years. The Palisades plant in Michigan is set to add 789 megawatts of electricity to the grid (enough to power 800,000 homes) by the end of this year. With massively growing needs for new sources of electricity, expect to see more activity, and controversy, in this industry.


KEEPING UP, BARELY: The monthly PCE (Personal Consumption Expenditures) report was released last week, and it shows that private sector wages have grown by 4.1% over the past year, just keeping pace with inflation. Purchasing power, therefore, has remained unchanged for the average consumer who depends on private sector wages. Private sector wages increased by 0.4% last month while spending on goods increased by 0.9% and spending on services increased by 0.6%. The personal savings rates stayed at 3.0% (way too little). The PCE inflation rate rose 4.1% year over year.


FIRST TIME EVER!: I golfed 18 holes at a course down in Powells Point, North Carolina while on vacation just over a week ago. I had a new sleeve of balls (three). I put two in the slots in the golf cart, and put one in my pocket. As usual, I had a bunch more balls in the bag in case I, as usual, lost a bunch in the woods and water. I got to the ninth hole and told my golf partners, "I don't want to press my luck, but I have used the same ball all nine holes." Well, I kept it up, and ended up doing all 18 holes with the exact same ball. A first (and maybe a last?) for me.



Have a great week!


Our purpose is to honor God by helping our clients see the objective, find the path, and navigate past the obstacles to a more prosperous future.



Douglas R. MacGray, J.D., C.F.P. ®

President

Stonecrop Wealth Advisors, LLC

Direct | Cell | Fax

(610) 628 4545




"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; . . . who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly." Theodore Roosevelt*


" Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." Ephesians 4:2 (NIV)


*In commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the United States, I am finding a quote from a president each week, in order. This is the 26th week, and Theodore Roosevelt was our 26th president.


SOURCES:

A TECH SELLOFF CAUSES A NEGATIVE WEEK: https://www.fool.com/investing/2026/06/23/broadcom-stock-drops-strong-earnings-time-buy/ AND https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/u-s-stocks-down-as-ai-fears-offset-fuel-price-relief-61c76586?mod=stocks_news_article_pos3

(c) 2026 Anno Domini, Stonecrop Wealth Advisors, LLC, All Rights Reserved Investment advisory services offered through Stonecrop Wealth Advisors, LLC, a Registered Investment Advisor with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.


SDG

*S&P 500: This is a measure of the performance of the 500 largest companies in the United States, and it a common index to track the performance of U.S. equity markets, especially the large cap markets.

*MSCI All Country World Index X US: This is a broad measure of the performance of worldwide equity markets excluding the United States.

*Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate: This is a measure of the U.S. bond markets.

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