SOLOMON GREY
CAPITAL

By John Ian Lau Contributing Editor Almost one week into January 2026, the U.S. economy demonstrates remarkable resilience, with Goldman Sachs forecasting robust 2.6% real GDP growth for the year — well above the consensus estimate of around 2.0% — driven by tax cuts, easing tariff impacts, and supportive financial conditions. This optimism aligns with a broadening bull market, where Goldman Sachs targets the S&P 500 at 7,600 by year-end, implying roughly 11-12% total returns

By John Ian Lau
, Solomon Grey Capital 
January 5, 2026 In the early hours of January 3, U.S. special forces executed a swift raid on Caracas, capturing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and effectively ending his 13-year rule. The Trump administration framed the operation as a decisive step toward restoring democracy and securing access to Venezuela’s immense oil reserves—estimated at over 300 billion barrels, potentially valued at $17.3 trillion. Yet, as the dust settles

By John Ian Lau
, Contributing Editor, Solomon Grey Capital January 5, 2026 In the high-stakes arena of global geopolitics, few connections appear as improbable yet strategically potent as the one linking Caracas and Tehran. With the dramatic U.S.-led operation that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro over the weekend, Washington’s aggressive push to reclaim influence over the world’s largest proven oil reserves—estimated at over 300 billion barrels—has suddenly thru

By John Ian Lau, 
Contributing Editor January 4, 2026 Happy New Year! Artificial intelligence continues to command the spotlight in global equity markets as 2026 gets underway, with institutional strategists broadly endorsing the theme even as bubble warnings persist. Bloomberg’s aggregation of more than 60 investment outlooks reveals near-universal optimism: Fidelity International describes AI as “the defining theme for equity markets” in 2026, while BlackRock’s Investment I