Light is the new Copper
Explainer Blair Carey Explainer Blair Carey

Light is the new Copper

Photonics is already a trillion dollar industry holding up the AI boom. Quantum will borrow its supply chain

The easiest way to understand photonics is to look inside an AI data center rack. The expensive part is not the servers (although they are pricey), it is the spaghetti of fiber optic cables connecting them, and the transceivers at each end that turn electrical signals into light and back again. Those little metal plugs cost more per port than the silicon they connect to. That is the photonics industry in one image.

According to multiple sources, the global photonics market crossed roughly one trillion dollars in 2025. Consulting says the industry is around $1,094 billion, . By the count, core optics and photonics components alone reached $381 billion in 2024, underpinning a much larger market of products enabled by photonics. Lasers held about 38 percent of the market in 2025, by

So the photonics business is a mature, trillion dollar industry, and most people have never heard of it.

Read More
What is going on with the NIS?
Blair Carey Blair Carey

What is going on with the NIS?

In case you've been stuck in a bunker for the last 18 months (that's totally possible), you'll realize that the New Israel Shekel (NIS) had appreciated dramatically against its US counterpart the US dollar (USD). There have been a number of articles posted on X and other Social Media platforms as well as articles in CalcalistTech and Globes about the challenges of this rate. I was curious of the cause of this dramatic shift and as result, I did what most analysts would do, I looked at the numbers.

Read More
Part 2: The Retail Investor Feedback Loop
Jeff Maser Jeff Maser

Part 2: The Retail Investor Feedback Loop

Unlike professional fund managers, retail investors typically base their investment decisions almost entirely on recommendations from friends, colleagues, group members (social/sports clubs, community groups, etc.), family, trusted financial writers (journalists, newsletter writers), investment advisors (for those who can afford them) and—for momentum-oriented investors—social media influencers.

Read More
Part 1: Investor Relations in the Age of the Price-Setting Retail Investor
Jeff Maser Jeff Maser

Part 1: Investor Relations in the Age of the Price-Setting Retail Investor

Retail investors now hold the majority of the world’s publicly-traded shares (Indefi Research). This trend is expected to continue through 2030, by which time individual investors are expected to own over 60% of the world’s publicly-traded AUM.

Fueled by low/no commission platforms like Robinhood, investors are increasingly eschewing traditional advisors and mutual funds in favor of self-directed trading. The result: Retail ownership and influence continue to rise across market caps, with small- and micro-cap companies seeing the most pronounced increases.

Read More