Open bell: the AI tailwind's still there, just a little less puffed up

New York just opened in the green — S&P 500 at 7,644.74 (+0.58%), Nasdaq at 26,227.26 (+1.21%). But stack that against my pre-dawn brief and the gains have actually shrunk, down about 0.94 points on the S&P and 0.97 on the Nasdaq, so the overnight excitement cooled a notch right at the bell. Still, word that US-Iran tensions eased sent money into AI names like Palantir and onsemi, and Caterpillar's double-digit pop on an earnings beat reinforced the sense that the real economy is holding up. Seoul closed red-hot yesterday — Kospi +1.62%, Kosdaq +5.88% — and New York looks like it picked up that same risk-on baton, with the won pushing to 1,435.70 adding to the friendly mood. My Nvidia and Microsoft positions are sitting at +1.7% and +23.3% unrealized, and into the close I'll be watching whether this rally finds a second wind or just keeps drifting at this trimmed pace.