The stock market is fresh off a historically strong quarter.
Investors now find themselves at a critical juncture, with many of 2026's big macro forces undergoing a shift.
We asked nine investing pros how they would invest $10,000 right now.
The investing landscape looks completely different than it did a quarter ago.
The Federal Reserve has a new leader. A deescalation of Iran-war tensions has moderated formerly eye-popping oil prices. Within the AI trade, hyperscalers find themselves out of favor as traders pile into chipmakers.
These forces have put investors at a critical crossroads. It lines up perfectly with Business Insider's latest installment of "Where to Invest $10,000."
We spoke to nine investing pros to find out where they're seeing the best opportunities right now as markets deal with multiple competing storylines. If you have a chunk of money you're looking to invest, here's what they recommend:
Nelson Yu, head of equities at AllianceBernstein
Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images
Investing ideas: Power infrastructure, industrial automation, advanced manufacturing, and banks and financial services stocks
Nelson Yu, head of equities at AllianceBernstein, says the biggest problem in the market today is the need for capital. This has risen in importance as government spending soars, mega-IPOs come to market, and companies pour billions into AI infrastructure.
With that in mind, he says to put money to work in companies that are able to generate returns on invested capital that are higher than their cost of capital.
He pinpointed the four market themes above, which he says meet his criteria as "productivity enablers."
Focusing on these areas of the market also allows investors to diversify away from the mega-cap growth names that make up a large chunk of indexes like the S&P 500, he said.
Examples of funds that offer exposure to these trades include the iShares U.S. Power Infrastructure ETF (POWR), the Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF (BOTZ), the iShares U.S. Manufacturing ETF, and the Vanguard Financials ETF (VFH).
David Wagner, CIO at Aptus
NYSE
Investing ideas: Hyperscalers and quality small-cap stocks
David Wagner, the CIO at Aptus, sees a higher-inflation environment ahead, and said owning risk assets like stocks will be the only way to yield positive returns.
One of his preferred areas of the market is the hyperscaler firms — like Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet — because of their high operating leverage. That means that because their costs are fixed, and because of their economies of scale, it doesn't cost them much to acquire new customers, supercharging their margins.
Second, he'd look to high-quality small-cap stocks, which have underperformed their low-quality counterparts.
The First Trust Cloud Computing ETF (SKYY) and the Invesco S&P SmallCap Quality ETF (XSHQ) offer exposure to these trades.
Todd Brighton, head of direct investment portfolio management at Franklin Templeton
: Plexi Images/GHI/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Investing ideas: Banks and financials stocks
Todd Brighton, the head of direct investment portfolio management at Franklin Templeton, says these areas are particularly appealing right now because of the booming IPO market.
"These mega IPOs that we've seen for SpaceX, likely at least two more over the coming months and the rest of the year — this is all massive fee-generating revenue for the banks," he said.
There's also increased demand from companies to issue debt as they fund AI capex, and heightened activity in the mergers-and-acquisitions market, he said, both of which boost the bottom lines for banks.
Funds like the Invesco KBW Bank ETF (KBWB) and the Roundhill Big Bank ETF (BIGB) track the performance of financial-firm indexes.
Tim Ayles, investment director at The Mather Group
NYSE
Investing ideas: International and emerging market stocks, and a managed futures strategy
Tim Ayles, investment director at The Mather Group, says historically high valuations for US stocks have him bracing for 10 years of tepid returns. His concerns echo the lost decade fears that have gathered momentum on Wall Street.
Ayles recommends going outside the US and buying international and emerging-market stocks, arguing that they're lower valuations offer more future upside.
He also says he'd allocate a portion to a managed-futures strategy, which is a hedge-fund-like strategy that involves trading derivatives of several assets to drive returns that are uncorrelated to the stock market.
Examples of funds offering exposure to these trades include the iShares MSCI ACWI ex US ETF (ACWX), the State Street SPDR Portfolio Emerging Markets ETF (SPEM), and the iMGP DBi Managed Futures Strategy ETF (DBMF).
David Krakauer, vice president of portfolio management at Mercer Advisors
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Investing ideas: High-quality bonds
David Krakauer — VP of portfolio management Mercer Advisors, which oversees $110 billion — thinks high-quality fixed income is the right play because of ongoing uncertainty and tight credit spreads.
When spreads are tight, bad news can quickly impact bond values, especially for riskier bonds. This makes quality bonds essential for a traditional 60/40 portfolio, he said.
Krakauer notes that while many investors think they're playing it safe with bonds, they often assume more risk because of exposure to private credit and high-yield bonds.
The right amount of risk will help you navigate the opportunities and risks of AI, as companies try to find the sweet spot of AI spending, he said.
A bond ETFs that offer exposure to this trade include Vanguard's Total Bond Mark ETF (BND).
Gene Golden — CIO of Cetera Financial Group, which oversees more than $260 billion — says his investment posture in this market is both "cautious and constructive."
In order to achieve diversification, Golden says investors should avoid chasing the highly concentrated AI trade and instead look at "high-quality" areas of the market, like healthcare and industrial stocks.
On the bond-market front, Golden says investors should focus on short-term fixed-income investments with newly appointed Kevin Warsh driving uncertainty.
iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF (SHY) and PGIM's Short-Duration Multi-Sector Bond ETF (PSDM) are two potential ways to get exposure to the trade.
Lastly, amid midterm elections, a shaky US-Iran ceasefire, and a weakening consumer weakening lower-income consumer spending all posing threats, Golden recommends liquid alternatives or volatility hedges with managed features. He says he likes products designed to "zig when the market zags," even if they may be more expensive.
Investing ideas: The "AI food chain" (data centers, cybersecurity, robots), housing, financial services, and quantum computing.
Stephanie Link — chief investment strategist at Hightower Advisors, which oversees $324 billion — says to turn $10,000 into a mini-portfolio designed to invest in AI transformation while avoiding crowded mega-cap names.
First, she'd put half the money in the AI "food chain," which includes bets on picks-and-shovels firms, as well as cybersecurity and robotics.
Within the data center space, Link recommends Vertiv (VRT) and Dover (DOV), which manufacture heating and cooling components for data centers.
To play cybersecurity, Link says to buy Palo Alto Networks (PANW), and recommends Rockwell Automation (ROK) for robotics.
Second, Link says to put 25% in housing stocks, citing low prices and pent-up demand of millions of millennials looking to buy homes.
Third, she sees 15% as a proper allocation for financial services, given the recent surge in IPOs, dealmaking activity, and trading volume.
Lastly, Link says the remaining 10% should go towards quantum computing, a space where IBM is "the leader."
James McCann, senior economist at Edward Jones
Sven Hoppe/picture alliance via Getty Images
Investing ideas: Emerging markets, international stocks, mid caps, industrials
James McCann, senior economist at Edward Jones, says to look outside mega-cap tech, and notes that EM equities have already been outperforming this year amid strong earnings.
The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF, one fund that offers exposure to EM companies, is up roughly 20% year to date.
McCann doesn't say to get out of tech entirely — just look overseas, as well as at mid-cap stocks and industrials, which offer exposure without directly buying.
He says industrials are actually his team's favorite sector call right now, citing a new cycle beginning amid higher oil prices and strengthening manufacturing activity.
One funds offering exposure to this area is the Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLI).
Jose Rasco, CIO at HSBC Wealth Management & Private Bank
Bloomberg/Getty Images
Investing ideas: Utilities, industrials, value stocks, US Treasurys
Rasco said he remains bullish on equities and would put most of the $10,000 into strategic areas of the stock market. He sees particular opportunity in utilities and in industrials, which stand to benefit from the AI buildout.
Rasco said he would also hunt for good deals in the market, pointing to how value stocks have started to pull ahead of growth stocks in recent months. The Vanguard Value Index Fund, one fund that offers exposure to those companies, is up 13% for the year, compared to the 6% year-to-date gain in the Vanguard Growth Index Fund.
Further, Rasco adds that he would also allocate a small position to US government bonds. Assuming that inflation cools and rates eventually come down, Treasurys could appreciate in value, which he said was an opportunity for investors.
Funds offering exposure to these areas include the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLU), the Vanguard Industrials ETF (VIS), and the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT).
Mary Jane Copps, a conversation coach known as "The Phone Lady," said anxiety around phone calls is prevalent among young professionals.
Mary Jane Copps
Mary Jane Copps, a conversation coach, said phone call anxiety is prevalent among young workers.
Copps said young people lack practice in handling uncertain, spontaneous dialogue.
Copps said executives recognize the value of communication but often don't invest in training staff.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Mary Jane Copps, a communication coach known as "The Phone Lady." Copps has spent two decades coaching people at the workplace on how to be better communicators. The essay has been edited for length and clarity.
I've been "The Phone Lady" for 20 years.
When I started my company, phone anxiety wasn't something my clients talked about. Companies hired me to help their teams have better conversations, and for the first 12 years, those conversations mostly happened over the phone.
About eight to 10 years ago, that changed.
Today, I coach people of every generation who struggle with real-time conversations. I see it most often among younger employees entering the workforce, and the issue is more complicated than it seems.
The hardest part is uncertainty
People's reasons for phone anxiety can be deeply personal.
I worked with one man who grew up in a family that struggled financially. Whenever the phone rang, his mother refused to answer because it was usually someone they owed money to. He learned early that answering the phone meant trouble.
That's something I hear over and over again. People aren't afraid of talking. They're afraid of not knowing what will happen after they say hello.
One of the biggest reasons we don't get practice handling uncertainty anymore is that our phones aren't really phones anymore — they're computers.
When you send a text or an email, you can think about it, edit it, and reply whenever you're ready. In a phone conversation, you have to improvise. You have to think on your feet. Once you've said something, you can't take it back.
Older generations developed that skill naturally because they grew up with a phone hanging on the kitchen wall, but the younger generation didn't.
With the rise of social media, we're kind of in silos. We're not all watching the same news program in the evening. We have less in common when we meet a stranger. That prevents us from having conversations.
So talking became a skill instead of something we assume everyone knows how to do.
The conversation gap
Every year, I survey executives about workplace communication.
This past year, 98% of senior executives told me that the ability to have real-time conversations is vital to business success. Only 11% believed their organizations were doing it effectively.
I call that the conversation gap.
I also found that many tech companies want employees with strong communication skills, but aren't interested in training them. Instead, they're hoping to hire people who already have those abilities.
That's a problem because communication is often dismissed as a "soft skill." The term actually comes from the military in the 1960s, where organizational skills, writing, and speaking were labeled "soft," while operating machinery was considered "hard."
Unfortunately, the label makes communication sound optional when it's actually essential.
Leaders set the tone. If executives don't model good conversations or encourage real-time communication, their teams won't either. Organizations need to make it clear that these skills matter and that employees will be supported if they need help developing them.
Start with people you already know. Call your grandmother. Call your sister. If you're used to texting your friends, spend one weekend calling them instead. You might want to warn them first, so they actually answer.
When you're with friends, put your phone away. Focus on the conversation instead of constantly checking your screen.
Then start practicing small talk.
Many people dislike it, but when you begin a new job, attend a conference, or walk into a meeting, small talk is everywhere. Keep a few simple topics in your back pocket — vacations, movies, the weather — so you can practice having conversations without worrying about achieving a specific outcome.
One young salesperson I coached later told me he started using the techniques I'd taught at home with his wife. They began asking each other more open-ended questions over dinner, and he said it improved their marriage.
That's because conversation doesn't just make us better employees. It makes us better partners, friends, and family members.
I don't think we should point fingers at younger generations. Technology has changed all of us. We're overwhelmed, overscheduled, and constantly distracted. We even schedule phone calls with close friends and family because everyone is so busy.
If we want better relationships — at work and at home — we have to make time to practice talking to each other again.
Veteran truck driver Ingrid Brown said technology, from the cellphone to AI-powered dashcams, has made the job safer.
Motive
Ingrid Brown has been a professional trucker for nearly 47 years.
Brown said that the driver's job has evolved technologically to be safer over the years.
She's not yet sold on autonomous trucks and wants to see the technology validated first.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Ingrid Brown, a professional truck driver and operations manager at Blackjack Express LLC. It has been edited for length and clarity.
When I first started truck driving, I only had a CB radio.
There was no telephone, no communications, and no technology for anybody to know where I parked at night.
Especially as a woman, I thought about things like whether I was parked in a safe place. If I didn't move my truck in the morning, how is somebody going to know whether something's happened to me?
Now, AI and other technology can tell me if there's a deer in front of me. It can tell me if one of my drivers is dozing off or daydreaming. It can remind me to pay attention to the road.
Technology has gotten to a point where I'm accepting of it. It can help prevent what could go wrong next.
Autonomous trucks are different. I'm open to the conversation. But until it can prove to me that there will not be any type of loss of life, I'm going to sit back and watch it.
Truck drivers were their own patrol
I'm from Boone, North Carolina, and started driving trucks in 1979.
My first truck was a '79 Diamond Reo. Once I got a taste of going to different places and experiencing different cultures, I fell in love with 80,000 pounds of iron. My haul has included cows, steel, produce, and dynamite. The last time I counted, I had 5.7 million safe driving miles.
Ingrid Brown by her truck in 2002.
Ingrid Brown
Back then, safety really depended on the person behind the wheel. It depended on how well you did pre-trips or safety inspections before you hit the road. It depended on how well you chose to drive, how well you understood the hours you should be running, and how many hours you actually physically can run to keep everything safe. You were your own patrol. You were your own self-discipline.
Of course, we had rules. For example, we followed designated hours of service. But that was partly on you. You logged your hours on paper. I can tell you that back then, I may have rewritten the life of a day.
We only had each other to rely on. That's how we learned this business. There was no technology to say it.
The phone changed my whole world of safety
The first piece of technology that really changed my job was the phone.
It was a connection to me. I would call to get directions. I would call to see if my appointment time was good.
If something went bad, that phone was there for me to call and say, "Hey, I've got this load on me. I'm in traffic. I'm going to be 30 minutes late." And the time saved was unreal.
I'm all about adapting. I was never a computer girl because I'm a '61 baby, but I wasn't letting myself fall behind.
My first resistance to technology was with Motive, a fleet technology company, back when it was still KeepTruckin. The company provides electronic logs, tracking, maintenance, driver coaching, and AI-powered dashcam systems.
At the time, I didn't want to be monitored. Nobody needs to know when I stopped to go to the bathroom. I didn't want someone telling me how to do my job.
Later on, I found it to be a good helpmate. It took a lot off me. For example, I didn't have to sit up during my breaks to do paperwork.
The camera system also protects drivers when things happen because it tells the true story.
That's the kind of technology I look for. I don't just want to know what went wrong before. I want something that's going to prevent something from going wrong next.
I'm still watching autonomous trucks
I've worked with some autonomous trucking companies because they've come to me as a sounding board to ask questions.
I have some questions too, before I can give my full opinion on autonomous trucks.
I'll say that there's a lot of unpredictability that truck drivers are accustomed to.
I can see a car half a mile or a mile in front of me, and I can watch it and predict what it might do. If he turns left, I'm going to slow down prior to that. If he turns right, I can move left way ahead of time.
I haven't been shown yet that an autonomous truck can do that before a situation is already in motion.
But I want to learn more. My experience with other technology made me realize I need to quit being closed-minded because I could be missing a lot.
In a world where autonomous trucking is validated, I could see them handling local hauls or short-run jobs. As far as the long hauls, I'll gladly stay behind them.
Also, I've been a trucker for almost 47 years. I've got employees who drive the trucks I run, and I still drive myself.
I wouldn't want to see people who have lived their lives and are giving their lives to the trucking industry go without a paycheck because somebody created something they think is bigger and better.
This is where I'm talking about the empathy, the thought, the concern, and the care. Why would you want to take people's jobs away from them?
Truckers don't need to go anywhere. They need the tools and the help, along with what they already have within themselves, to make sure every single person around them is as safe as they are.
A guard patrols the newly built fence along the Russia-Finland border in Finland's North Karelia region.
Alessandro RAMPAZZO / AFP
NORTH KARELIA, Finland — Bears, wolves and moose still cross the frontier freely, but for the border guards patrolling this stretch of fields and forest, this is where NATO ends.
A line of wooden poles and painted markers cuts through the light green grass, separating Finland from Russia along the alliance's longest border with Moscow — 1,343 kilometers (835 miles) of increasingly militarized territory. The crossing has been closed since 2023, the year after the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. On the other side lies land Finland lost to the Soviet Union when it was left to fight largely on its own in the early months of World War II.
Reporters from Axel Springer's Global Reporters Network traveled to three exposed stretches of Europe's eastern frontier — Finland's forested border with Russia, Poland's fortified line with Kaliningrad and Belarus and Lithuania's vulnerable edge near the Suwałki Gap — to see how ready NATO's frontline states are for the possibility that Moscow will attack the alliance.
What we observed was a continent racing to harden its eastern edge against a threat it can no longer assume Washington will handle. As US President Donald Trump questions old security guarantees and looks to reduce America's military footprint in Europe, the countries closest to Russia are building fortifications, expanding reserves, buying tanks and drones and preparing for the possibility that the first days of any conflict may be theirs to fight largely alone.
Since his reelection in 2024, Trump has repeatedly called into question Washington's commitment to NATO's Article 5, the foundational clause under which an attack on one member is treated as an attack on all. The uncertainty only deepened after the war in Iran, when the president and his team threatened to reassess US membership in NATO in response to European allies' refusal to join the conflict.
"You have to be careful when you sleep next to a bear.Col. Matti Pitkäniitty
Meanwhile, satellite imagery shows that Russia has built up its armed presence along its border with Finland and other EU countries, building barracks and staging military vehicles in what the head of Swedish military intelligence has described as preparation for a possible confrontation with NATO.
"Russia is a superpower, and we're a small country," said Col. Matti Pitkäniitty, commander of Finland's North Karelia Border Guard District, while driving to the border. "You have to be careful when you sleep next to a bear."
Finland never forgot the lessons of what it calls its Winter War, when it halted an unprovoked attack in 1939 by the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin but lost roughly a tenth of its territory. While much of the rest of Europe spent the decades after the Cold War cutting armies and cashing in the peace dividend, Helsinki kept conscription, maintained vast reserves and built its defenses around the assumption that Russia might one day come back.
"In the Winter War, Finland felt very alone, with very little help from other countries," said Pitkäniitty.
A dozen Finnish defense officials, military officers, lawmakers and analysts interviewed for this article described their nation as unsurprised by Russia's 2022 assault on Ukraine. And even after Finland joined NATO in 2023, Helsinki has continued to view the alliance as a reinforcement of its own defense, rather than a substitute for it.
"We're happy to be in an alliance, but we still understand that we will take the first blow alone, before NATO's Article 5 is activated," said Jukka Kopra, a Finnish lawmaker who chaired the parliament's defense committee, referring to the mutual defense clause that underpins the alliance.
"We trust the US as our ally, a member of NATO, but we realize they have crucial interests elsewhere," Kopra said.
Finland: 'Total defense'
A US Chinook helicopter carrying British paratroopers took part in NATO exercises, led by the Finnish military, at a training ground less than 30 miles from the Russian border.
PA Images via Reuters Connect
Over decades, Finland built its preparedness around the concept of "total defense" — a mobilizable population, civil resilience, shelters and a military designed to keep fighting with or without allies. The country can mobilize nearly 870,000 reservists out of a population of 5.6 million, a figure set to reach one million by 2031.
"It's fair to say Finland is more ready to fight alone than other frontline countries. The US wind-down doesn't impact its readiness," said Eoin Micheál McNamara, a postdoctoral fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs.
Finland spends nearly 3 percent of its GDP on defense and, in line with its commitments to NATO, it intends to raise that figure to 5 percent by 2035. Its air force expects to receive US-made F-35 fighter jets in the coming months. Like most European militaries, the Finnish armed forces are still catching up on drone warfare, but on land they have one of Europe's largest artillery arsenals.
"Stalin called artillery the god of war," said McNamara. "Unlike a lot of Western countries, Russia never forgot about artillery. Finns never forgot either."
One of Finland's greatest military assets is the land itself. An army invading from the east would have to move through a country of few roads, dense forests, deep snow and freezing temperatures, with little light in winter and almost none of the darkness that conceals movement in summer. In the woods, long, slender gray-white trunks stand so close together that it is impossible to see more than 50 meters ahead. In spring, when the leaves turn bright green, visibility drops even further.
Finland's army relies on artillery like this 155mm self-propelled howitzer.
STOYAN NENOV/REUTERS
Even without the US, it's unlikely Finland would have to fight entirely on its own. Several European countries have an interest in keeping Russia off NATO's northern flank, according to Charly Salonius-Pasternak of the Helsinki-based Nordic West Office think tank, referring specifically to Norway, Sweden and the UK.
Still, Finland would face a Russian army with more manpower and a willingness to use sheer numbers in ways the alliance cannot easily match. "Since the Winter War, the very basics haven't changed," said Pitkäniitty, the border guard commander. "We have to be able to use the terrain, operate the environment better than anyone else — then, we have leverage," he added. "Is the forest a typical Russian battle environment? I would say no. Their lessons are learned in more open environments."
Finland is now trying to teach its NATO allies how to fight on that ground. In May, two multinational exercises in southeastern Finland — Northern Star 26 and Karelian Sword 26 — were designed in part to show troops from countries including France and the United Kingdom how to operate in Northern Europe's forests, lakes and swamps. US soldiers from the Virginia National Guard also took part.
Karelian Sword — conducted in Finland's Vekaranjärvi region — involved some 10,000 soldiers in a simulated invasion of the country. One main takeaway from days of drilling in the woods was that armored vehicles and drones are ill-adapted for Finland's forests. "It's also very hard for commercial drones to find Finnish troops in the forest because of the leaves, unless you have a thermal camera," according to Col. Ari Määttä, the Karelian brigade's deputy commander who commanded the exercise.
The Nordic country is also preparing to add another obstacle. Alongside Poland and the three Baltic states, Helsinki withdrew last year from the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel landmines, arguing that Russia never joined the treaty and is already using the weapons in Ukraine.
Several Finnish military officers confirmed to the Global Reporters Network that the country's defense forces plan to purchase anti-personnel landmines in the coming months. The mines would not be deployed in peacetime, they said, but would be available if the threat of a Russian invasion became more imminent.
"We have quite a long border with Russia," said First Lt. Terra Tevajärvi, a 33-year-old reservist and trained mechanized infantry officer who works as a filmmaker. Standing in a clearing, with the sounds of gunshots in the distance, he added: "Landmines would help slow [an attacker] down and make our lives easier."
Nuclear gap
France has proposed deploying jets like the Dassault Rafale fighter, which is capable of carrying a nuclear-armed cruise missile, to allied countries.
Stephane Mahe/REUTERS
There is one domain where geography, conscription and military readiness offer little protection: nuclear weapons. While Finland has practiced for a conventional defense for decades, it is only since it joined NATO three years ago that it has had to incorporate nuclear deterrence into its calculations.
Since joining the alliance, Helsinki has participated in its Nuclear Planning Group, taken part in nuclear exercises and begun rewriting laws that still reflected its long history outside the alliance. In June, Finnish lawmakers lifted restrictions on the transport and storage of nuclear weapons on Finnish territory, a legacy of its non-nuclear posture before NATO membership.
Changing that framework had proven more contentious than the discussion about joining NATO itself. Opposition parties resisted lifting the restrictions, while officials and analysts argued that Finland could not be a full participant in NATO defense planning without understanding how nuclear deterrence works. "Readiness in that regard is being learned," said McNamara. "You hear the phrase: 'Finland needs to upgrade its nuclear IQ as a society.'"
Finland's nuclear debate highlighted an uncomfortable truth. While the country is better positioned than most frontline countries to defend its territory without American ground forces, it's no more able than the rest of Europe to replace Washington's nuclear umbrella.
While the US has not publicly questioned that guarantee, the Trump administration's unpredictability has pushed Helsinki and other European capitals to examine whether Europe can build a stronger deterrent of its own.
After meeting with France's top general in the Finnish capital in June, the country's Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen acknowledged talks with Paris about French President Emmanuel Macron's proposal to broaden his country's nuclear deterrent to include other European countries. The French president, who officially proposed the idea in March, has left what he means by it purposefully ambiguous. Paris has floated joint exercises and temporary deployments of nuclear-capable French fighter jets, but not a formal European nuclear guarantee. For Finland, it is still unclear what participation in the scheme would mean.
In the meantime, Helsinki is hoping that hosting troops from two nuclear-armed allies — France and the UK — will add another layer of deterrence, even if the force itself is conventional. Paris and London have expressed interest in participating in a NATO battalion that will be based in Sweden but operate in northern Finland. Designed to strengthen the alliance's presence in the high north, the force will be led by Stockholm, another formerly neutral government that joined the military alliance after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
"We'll be on high alert, with high readiness to act," said Col. Daniel Rydberg, who leads Sweden's NATO mission in northern Finland. Along with Finnish border guards, NATO troops would be among the first responders if Russia decided to test Finland, he said in a phone interview the day before the force's inauguration in June. "The message to Russia is deterrence," he said.
Just what that would mean in the case of an attack by the Kremlin will depend on people like Nuutti Kurikka, a 20-year-old conscript whose great-grandfather fought in the Winter War.
Deep in the Finnish forest, Kurikka, a platoon leader, stood in front of a tank. The lesson of that war, he said, is "a mentality that we can overcome very hard things."
Unlike officials in many European capitals, he is not anxious about the Trump administration's ambiguity regarding NATO. "It's not good that the relationship is a bit shaky, but Finland is prepared to defend itself alone if needed," he said. "We did it before in the past."
Poland: 'Eastern Shield'
A Polish Army tank fires during an exercise near the Suwałki Gap in June 2026. Poland depends on force size to deter neighboring Russia.
Andrzej Iwanczuk/NurPhoto
In November 2024, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk visited the small village of Dąbrówka, near his country's border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, to inspect the first stretch of a new fortification system known as the Eastern Shield. Standing before reinforced concrete anti-tank barriers known as hedgehogs, Tusk delivered a message aimed at both Poles and Moscow. "I don't have to explain to anyone that this border must be guarded exceptionally carefully," he told reporters.
At the time, Polish television reported that the first section had been completed ahead of schedule. And yet, a year and a half later, with the project roughly halfway to its 2028 deadline, the hedgehogs still stand behind Dąbrówka — but only a few hundred meters farther on, the visible fortifications end abruptly. A local resident said the activity around the border surged before Tusk's visit, then disappeared. "Before the prime minister's visit, dozens of trucks, cranes and troops passed through here day after day, week after week," the resident said. "After the visit, complete silence. The operations simply stopped."
If Finland's answer to uncertainty is national readiness, Poland's is concrete barriers, sensors, drones and one of Europe's fastest-growing armies. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Warsaw has recast itself as NATO's frontline state: buying weapons at a pace few allies can match, expanding its army, and pouring billions into new defenses along its borders with Belarus and Kaliningrad.
While Germany has long focused on quality, Poland stands for mass and speed.Prof. Carlo Masala
The message is meant to be unmistakable — to Moscow, to Washington and to Europe — that Poland is preparing not for a distant theoretical threat, but for the possibility that war could come sooner than many Western capitals assume. Yet along parts of the very frontier where that deterrent is supposed to take shape, the gap between Poland's military ambition and the physical reality on the ground remains visible: fortifications appear, then stop; materials sit in warehouses; and local residents say the building frenzy has given way to quiet.
Poland is the largest country on NATO's eastern flank and the alliance's biggest defense spender by share of GDP. Warsaw had already exceeded NATO's 2% target before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine; this year, it is set to spend 4.8% of GDP on defense even as its economy continues to grow.
At the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, Poland sent more than 300 tanks from its own stocks to Ukraine, then moved to replace and expand its arsenal with off-the-shelf tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, support vehicles and rocket artillery from the United States and South Korea. Its army is NATO's third largest, behind the US and Turkey.
Border guards patrol a section of Poland's border with Belarus during a high-profile visit in June.
Wojtek RADWANSKI / AFP
The sheer mass of the Polish military, combined with Warsaw's role as one of the world's largest buyers of US weapons, has earned Warsaw a reputation in Washington as a model ally. Even US President Donald Trump, while berating other European countries over defense, has regularly praised Poland. The US keeps thousands of troops in Poland, the vast majority on a rotational basis, an arrangement the Polish government is keen to keep as a deterrent to any Russian attack.
The country's importance to NATO is not just a matter of spending. Its size and location make it the alliance's central frontline state in any potential confrontation with the Kremlin. During the Cold War, West Germany was NATO's conventional bulwark against the Warsaw Pact. Today, Poland plays a similar role on NATO's eastern edge.
"While Germany has long focused on quality, Poland stands for mass and speed," said Carlo Masala, a professor at the University of the German Federal Armed Forces in Munich and one of Germany's most renowned security experts. "Because Warsaw does not rule out having to fight tomorrow. It is what is called 'fight tonight.'"
Tusk's Eastern Shield project is Warsaw's attempt to reinforce its defenses along its 800-kilometer (500-mile) frontier with Belarus, a close ally of Moscow's, and Kaliningrad, the heavily militarized Russian territory wedged between Poland, Lithuania and the Baltic Sea. Designed as a network of obstacles meant to slow an attack, channel Russian forces and buy time for NATO to respond, the system includes anti-tank and infantry trenches, concrete barriers, bunkers, drones, thermal cameras, mines and nearby military units, while also using natural obstacles such as swampy terrain. When completed, it is expected to cost about €10 billion ($11 billion) according to Poland's defense ministry.
Poland's military buildup is part of a large-scale, multi-billion-dollar new deterrence and defense system along NATO's eastern border. Known as the Eastern Flank Deterrence Line, it is planned to stretch from Finland to Romania. Brig. Gen. Thomas Lowin, deputy chief of staff for operations at NATO Land Command in Izmir, says the alliance will build up much larger stockpiles of weapons, ammunition and equipment in border states, while establishing an "automated zone" of sensors and robotized weapons to help halt Russian forces early in any attack.
Cezary Tomczyk, Poland's deputy defense minister and the official overseeing the project, called his country's part of the effort the largest fortification effort in Europe since World War II. "We are building a border that sees further, reacts faster and makes it harder for the enemy to act at every stage," he said. "Russia must know one thing: Every kilometer of potential aggression will cost more time, more equipment and more resources. The Eastern Shield is intended to raise the price of aggression to an unacceptable level."
At the end of the world
A section of Poland's border with Russia is laid with anti-tank obstacles, seen here in 2024. But along a farm nearby, the only obvious protection is a simple concertina-wire fence.
Marek Antoni Iwanczuk/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
So far, however, along parts of the border, the Eastern Shield is still more promise than reality. Polish officials are reluctant to discuss delays, and not every element of the system is meant to be visible. But large sections of the border are not visibly fortified. A military facility near Dąbrówka warehouses large numbers of hedgehog anti-tank barriers, but since Tusk's visit to the village, none have been placed along the border.
Poland's defense ministry told the Global Reporters Network that engineering troops, using pre-positioned material from warehouses, would be able to erect fortifications along the entire border within seven to 14 days. But a logistics expert who has held senior military positions said some elements cannot be moved into place so quickly.
"Laying one kilometer of reinforced concrete hedgehogs takes anywhere from several weeks to several months, depending on terrain conditions," said the logistics expert, who was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive defense matters. "It took the army three weeks to fortify a relatively short section."
A short distance from Dąbrówka, an agritourism farm named "At the End of the World" welcomes visitors looking for a rural retreat. At the Russian border, less than 100 meters away, the only obvious protection is a simple concertina-wire fence and a scattering of warning signs.
The owner, Wioletta Bornejko, does not want the new fortifications to reach her meadow. "I hope they don't put up those concrete hedgehogs here," she said. "Even barbed wire scares away tourists. A neighbor recently closed down a similar business." Others in the area say the constant talk of war has already hurt local businesses.
The quiet is deceptive. Travel east from Dąbrówka and you'll reach the so-called Suwałki Gap. Ben Hodges, a retired general who served as the commander of US Army Europe, has described this short stretch of Polish and Lithuanian territory separating Kaliningrad from Belarus as NATO's Achilles' heel. The fear is that a Russian attack could try to close the corridor from both sides, cutting Poland and the rest of NATO from the Baltic states to the north.
Farther east, Poland's border with Belarus stretches some 420 kilometers (260 miles). There, the limits of the current defenses are even more evident. "I don't see any other fortifications here," said one soldier from a brigade serving on the border.
Much of the border is protected only by a 4-meter-high (13-feet-high) fence built in 2022. Erected to stop migrants from crossing into Poland, it would offer little protection against tanks. Poland's defense ministry told the Global Reporters Network that it currently "has material resources that allow it to secure border sections with a total length of over 140 kilometres" — less than a third of the length of the frontier.
Drone wall
A February exercise showcased counter-drone systems that are part of Poland's drive to build a so-called drone wall.
STR/NurPhoto
Tanks and other traditional forces aren't the only thing Poland would have to worry about in case of a Russian attack. Anti-tank measures are of limited use when the weapons of choice fly far overhead and are cheap enough to exhaust conventional air defenses. And so the country is busy developing an anti-drone system it calls SAN.
Its development gained urgency after 19 Russian drones entered Polish airspace last year, forcing NATO aircraft to shoot them down with missiles from F-16 and F-35 jets — a response that cost millions of euros against drones worth a fraction of that. SAN is meant to allow Poland to defend against drones without relying on fighter jets. The system, sometimes described as a "drone wall," could cost up to €4 billion — accounting for about 40% of the entire Eastern Shield. "Russia is watching Ukraine," said Tomczyk, Poland's deputy defense minister. "So are we. We draw our conclusions faster."
Tomczyk said SAN would be Europe's largest and most advanced anti-drone effort. Within 24 months, he said, the Polish army is expected to receive 18 battery modules, including about 700 combat vehicles, radars, sensors and effectors, and roughly 350 systems to detect and counter aerial threats.
"It is not a single system," he said. "It is an entire architecture for drone defense." Construction of SAN began at the start of the year and is scheduled for completion by the end of 2027, after which it will be permanently deployed on Poland's eastern border.
For Masala, the security expert, the drone wall and the Eastern Shield are part of the same strategy: to slow a Russian attack long enough for NATO to react. "It is clear that the USA is withdrawing from Europe and that the Europeans currently lack deep-strike capabilities," he said. "So we have to ask ourselves which strategies make sense in the event of conflict."
"One is to aim at delaying the Russians. This is possible with the installations that Poland is building," he added. "The lesson from Ukraine is that not everything always has to be at 150 percent, but that 80% is sometimes enough."
Lithuania: 'The Baltic Defense Line'
German soldiers cross a path lined with anti-tank dragon's teeth during a June exercise in Lithuania.
Kay Nietfeld/picture alliance via Getty Images
In the office of Raimundas Vaikšnoras, Lithuania's chief of defense, a map of the country lies spread across a table. Marked on it are the positions of German and American troops near the Belarusian border — a reminder that, for Lithuania and its Baltic neighbors, national defense depends on allies being close enough to quickly join the fight.
Vaikšnoras, who has led Lithuania's armed forces since 2024, does not think a Russian surprise attack is likely. NATO warning systems, he said, make large troop movements difficult to hide. Lithuania watches rail hubs, logistics sites and when Russia and Belarus hold military exercises across the border, its armed forces respond in kind. "We organize exercises with equally strong or even stronger forces," Vaikšnoras said. "We mirror the movements of the other side."
Lithuania's chief of defense, Raimundas Vaikšnoras, said his country matches or exceeds the scale of Russian military exercises held nearby as a deterrent.
Carsten Hoffmann/picture alliance via Getty Images
But if Finland is preparing to fight alone if it has to and Poland is building an army capable of doing the same, the Baltic countries do not have that luxury. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are too small, too exposed and too close to Russia and Belarus to trade territory for time. Connected to the rest of NATO by the roughly 65-kilometer-wide (40-mile-wide) Suwałki Gap, they are vulnerable to being cut off by a lightning assault.
Their defense rests on a narrower calculation: make sure that NATO comes to their rescue. That makes them the most vulnerable to the Trump administration's unpredictability. And so the Baltic states have set out to bind their security as tightly as possible to the rest of the continent — through border fortifications, pre-positioned obstacles, allied troops on their soil and, above all, a German brigade meant to ensure that any Russian attack would immediately become a European war.
In any conflict in the region, the Kremlin would enjoy a clear advantage. Russian troops would be fighting virtually on their own doorstep, while NATO reinforcements would have to move across Europe — and in some cases across the Atlantic — before reaching the front. Kaliningrad compounds the problem. One of Europe's most militarized areas, the Russian territory is packed with air-defense systems, missiles and surveillance technology. In wartime, Russian military units based there could threaten NATO supply routes in the Baltic Sea and along the Polish-Lithuanian border.
Lithuania's vulnerability is on display near the village of Lavoriškės, where a red sign warns Lithuanian citizens not to travel across the frontier: "Do not risk your safety — do not travel to Belarus. You may fail to come back." The government closed the crossing in early 2024 on national security grounds. The border is lined with dense coils of razor wire, and rows of triangular concrete blocks — known as dragon's teeth — stand ready to stop enemy tanks.
The fortifications are part of the Baltic Defense Line, a joint defense project by Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Along NATO's eastern frontier, the three countries are preparing anti-tank ditches, bunkers, defensive obstacles and — more controversially — minefields. Like Finland, the Baltic countries have moved to leave the Ottawa Convention, which prohibits such weapons.
"These obstacles make it harder for an attacker to simply roll through," said Ralph Thiele, a retired colonel and chairman of the Political-Military Society in Berlin. "They have to stop, bring in combat engineers and clear a path."
If Russian forces break through, they would have "open terrain," Thiele added.
Forward defense
US soldiers trained with allies at Lithuania's Pabradė Training Area in May.
Sgt. Nicodemus Taylor/US Army
Vaikšnoras, Lithuania's chief of defense, does not pretend his country can defend itself alone. The border fortifications are intended to slow Russians down, channel enemy forces onto predictable axes of advance and buy time for a response.
The defense of the Baltics relies on how long they can hold out — and, crucially, how quickly NATO can reinforce them.
There are already about 3,000 soldiers from other NATO countries in Lithuania, he said in February, including German, Norwegian, Dutch and American troops. Since then, however, the rotational deployment of more than 1,000 US soldiers has ended. Unlike previous rotations, no follow-on force has yet arrived, as Washington reviews its military posture in Europe.
This, again, underscores the role European allies are playing on NATO's eastern flank. The most important addition is the German brigade, due to be permanently stationed in Lithuania by the end of 2027, when it is expected to consist of around 5,000 personnel.
For years, NATO's presence in the Baltic states was largely based on so-called tripwire forces — that is, multinational units whose purpose was to ensure that any attack on the region would automatically draw the entire Alliance into the conflict. Today, NATO relies on forward defence. The aim is to defend every inch of Alliance territory from the outset. Still, the strategy continues to rely on reinforcements. It is unlikely that the troops stationed in Lithuania at present will be able to fight on their own indefinitely. How long they could hold out depends on how quickly additional NATO troops arrive, as well as on the scale and nature of a possible Russian attack.
The German presence is important because the old NATO assumption — that the US would automatically lead any response to a Russian attack — is no longer one Europe can take for granted. "I very clearly feel that we have strong allies by our side," Vaikšnoras said. "The fact that Germany has assumed a leadership role in NATO here is an important signal, including to our own population."
German Army troops moved through smoke during the Freedom Shield 2026 exercise in Lithuania.
Kay Nietfeld/Kay Nietfeld/dpa
What such a leadership role could mean in practice was revealed by the outcome of a wargame conducted late last year by WELT, part of Axel Springer Global Reporters Network, together with the German Wargaming Center at the Bundeswehr University in Hamburg. The exercise tested how Germany would respond if Russia used a post-Ukraine ceasefire to threaten Lithuania — and if Washington declined to play its traditional role as NATO's leader.
For one day, former senior politicians, military officers, intelligence officials and security experts took on the roles of the German government, its allies and the Kremlin. The scenario began with Russian troops remaining in Belarus after an exercise instead of withdrawing as announced, then concentrating near Lithuania's border.
The result was sobering. While Team Russia moved quickly toward a limited invasion, the German side held crisis meetings and focused on recruiting allies and building political support — rather than preventing Moscow from achieving its military objectives.
The new NATO
Brig. Gen. Christoph Huber of the German Army emerges from a Puma infantry fighting vehicle during the Freedom Shield 2026 exercises in Lithuania in June. Germany plans to station a brigade in Lithuania by 2027.
Kay Nietfeld/Kay Nietfeld/dpa
In the old NATO, German hesitation would have mattered less. The US would have been expected to take command politically and militarily, moving troops, aircraft and ships while European governments aligned behind it. But as the US reduces its role in Europe, the defense of the eastern flank increasingly depends on a question the alliance has not yet fully answered: Is Europe ready to fight on its own?
Hodges, the former US Army Europe commander, has warned that, in a worst case — if NATO is caught by surprise and Polish troops are unable to provide support — the Baltic countries could have to fight for up to two weeks without additional reinforcements from more distant allies. That is the window of time in which their allies would have to react. German and Lithuanian officials reject the notion that such a scenario would come as a surprise. A Russian attack, they say, would be preceded by visible military preparations, allowing NATO reinforcements early on. Which indicators would trigger such a response is classified. According to that logic, however, reinforcement would require political leaders to act before an attack has actually started.
"What we are witnessing is the dissolution of NATO," Anders Fogh Rasmussen, a former NATO secretary-general, has argued. Europe must rethink its defense plans and build the capabilities to act without waiting for Washington. Europe needs "new defense plans and new military capabilities," he said.
That calculation is already shaping defense planning across NATO's eastern flank. Finland is making itself more difficult to invade. Poland is building up its military forces, fortifications and drone defense. And the Baltics are working to ensure they won't be left to fight on their own. Europe may not yet be ready to defend itself alone. But on its eastern frontier, it is already preparing for the day when it may have to start.
In Finland, Col. Ari Määttä, the Karelian brigade's deputy commander, was asked whether, with America's disengagement, NATO needs to become more European. "That's not a concern I have for my brigade," he said. "I focus on military preparedness. Ask the politicians."
Laura Kayali, Senior Defense Correspondent at POLITICO's Paris office, reported from Finland. Marcin Wyrwał, a journalist with Onet, and Philipp Fritz, Warsaw Correspondent for WELT, reported from Poland. Carolina Drüten, International Security Correspondent at WELT, reported from Lithuania.
The Axel Springer Global Reporters Network harnesses the resources of the company's newsrooms to publish ambitious scoops, investigations, interviews, opinion pieces and analysis. It allows journalists — including those from POLITICO, Business Insider, WELT, BILD, Onet and Fakt — to collaborate on major stories for an international audience of hundreds of millions across platforms: online, print, TV and audio.
Rilla's CEO offers an $18K housing stipend to help employees live close to the AI startup's office.
Rilla is working on offering a gym, sauna, and cold plunge within its Williamburg office building.
Employees at the startup typically work 12 hours a day for six days a week.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Sebastian Jimenez, the CEO and cofounder of Rilla, an AI startup based in New York City that builds speech analytics software for in-person sales teams. Rilla relocated to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in 2026. The essay has been edited for length and clarity.
I started Rilla in 2019 because I became fascinated with the creative process.
I used to do stand-up comedy in college, and I loved the idea of trying something, failing, getting feedback, and improving. That's what building a startup feels like.
That same mindset is part of why we now offer employees an $18,000 annual housing stipend if they live within about a 10-minute bike ride of our Williamsburg office. We want to remove friction from people's lives so they can spend more time in the flow.
We're one of the fastest-growing AI startups, but we're not trying to replace people. We're building what I like to call an Iron Man suit for salespeople.
That same philosophy shapes how we think about our own employees.
The flow state
Rilla has what many people would call an insanely hardcore culture.
I was deeply influenced by the book "Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience." The central idea is that one of life's purposes is to spend as much time as possible in a state of complete focus and immersion. That's what we optimize for.
We believe at Rilla that we need to create an environment where our employees are in the flow almost 100% of the time.
Our employees typically work 12-hour days and come into the office six days a week. We don't clock people in or out, and we don't force anyone to work here. We select people who want this kind of environment. Many of them are former Division I athletes, entrepreneurs, or people who have always pushed themselves to perform at a very high level.
I think those hours help cut out a lot of the extra fat in life. When you spend that much time working, you become much more intentional about how you use the rest of your day.
The new office space
Rilla signed a 10-year lease for a penthouse office space at 25 Kent in Williamsburg.
Rilla
As we grew to around 120 employees, we realized something was working against us: our office.
Most commercial buildings have sealed windows, which means CO₂ builds up throughout the day. Once CO₂ levels climb high enough, studies have shown cognitive performance can fall significantly. People think they're tired at 3 p.m., but often it's because they're breathing stale air.
That realization led us to hire Dr. Joe Allen from Harvard, one of the world's leading experts on healthy buildings. We toured around 20 offices looking for one with exceptional ventilation.
We eventually signed a 10-year lease for the entire penthouse floor at 25 Kent in Williamsburg because it has what Dr. Allen told us is the best ventilation system he'd seen in New York City. Clean air may sound boring, but if your business depends on creativity and focus, it matters.
Our benefits pay off
Every benefit we offer has one purpose: helping people stay healthy and spend more time doing meaningful work.
We're not trying to coddle people. A lot of companies offer perks that end up distracting employees. We ask ourselves, "Can this help someone get into the flow?"
That's why we pay for three meals a day. It's why we're building a gym with a sauna and cold plunge. And it's why we offer employees an $18,000 annual housing stipend if they choose to live within about a 10-minute bike ride of the office.
Commuting is one of the most annoying parts of people's day. If someone works 12 hours, sleeps eight hours, and works out for an hour, they don't have much free time left. I'd rather they spend that time with family, reading, or doing something meaningful than sitting on a subway.
Altogether, we spend roughly $37,000 per employee each year on housing, meals, and fitness benefits before you even include healthcare, retirement benefits, or equity.
We're fortunate that we can afford to invest that much because we're an extremely capital-efficient business. Each engineer generates roughly $4 million to $5 million in annual recurring revenue.
The housing stipend is optional, but about 80% of our employees take it.
Our goal isn't simply to get people into the office. It's to build an environment where they can do the best work of their lives. And if they stay at Rilla long enough, they usually end up pretty ripped, because they're eating well, working out, and spending their days in a culture that takes performance seriously.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics published new results from the 2025 American Time Use Survey, showing how many hours a day, on average, were spent doing different primary activities.
Americans from young adults to Gen Xers devoted large chunks to sleeping, work-related activities, and leisure. Teens spent more time a day on educational activities than other groups, while people who were at least in their mid-60s spent more time than others on household activities. Men spent more time than women working, while women spent more time on household activities.
You can take the quiz below to see how your day compares to the survey results.
On average, personal care took up the most time; this category includes activities such as sleeping, showering, and hair care. Slightly more time was spent on this on the weekend and holidays than on weekdays — at 10.44 and 9.53 hours respectively. Household activities averaged about 2 hours a day, with food preparation and cleanup taking 0.7 hours. These averages include those who didn't participate in activities.
The new data also shows how workers spend their day. They're spending just as much time on personal care as on work. Full-time employed people spent 8.45 hours on a weekday and 5.49 hours on a weekend day working. People with at least a bachelor's degree spent fewer hours working than those with other educational attainments.
On days worked, employed full-time people spent about 3 hours a day on average on leisure and sports, about an hour on household activities, and about an hour on eating and drinking.
Women spent more time a day on average than men on housework, food prep, and caring for children. Meanwhile, men spent more time on lawn and garden care, working, and sports, exercise, and recreation.
As age rose, so did hours spent alone. Unemployed people spent more time alone than those working, 7.11 waking hours and 6.63, respectively.
Japan has emerged as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the AI infrastructure boom.
Bloomberg/Getty Images
AI's biggest winners extend far beyond Silicon Valley's household names.
Hardware suppliers are soaring as spending on AI infrastructure accelerates.
Asian manufacturers dominate the world's best-performing non-US stocks.
The AI trade has spread well beyond Silicon Valley.
While Nvidia and the Magnificent Seven dominate headlines, many of this year's biggest stock winners are the companies supplying the hardware that powers artificial intelligence — and many of them are based in Asia.
"The current phase of AI development is overwhelmingly infrastructural," Allianz Research said in a recent report, as hyperscalers, governments, and corporations race to build AI infrastructure and expand computing capacity.
Many of those companies occupy critical positions in the AI supply chain. Theymake the components that allow advanced chips to store data, process information, and communicate at high speed.
The AI infrastructure boom has spilled over into equity markets. Despite volatility driven by tariffs, geopolitical tensions, and recession fears, investors have piled into manufacturers of memory chips, electronic components, and circuit board materials. Those moves have propelled stock markets in South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan to fresh record highs, outpacing gains in the US market.
These stock markets have been volatile in recent weeks, shaving gains off the three booming markets, but analysts remain upbeat.
"We think the semiconductor memory supercycle is still not fully priced in the North Asian markets of Korea and Taiwan," Goldman Sachs analysts wrote in a note on emerging markets, which doesn't include Japan, this week.
The bank expects South Korea and Taiwan to post the strongest earnings growth through 2027, though retail trading and shifting sentiment around AI could drive further market volatility.
These were the five best-performing non-US stocks tracked by MSCI's All Country World Investable Market Index during the first half of 2026:
1. Samsung Electro-mechanics
Unlike Samsung Electronics, which is best known for smartphones and memory chips, sister company Samsung Electro-Mechanics specializes in the behind-the-scenes components used in AI hardware.
The company produces semiconductor substrates that connect advanced chips to circuit boards and multilayer ceramic capacitors that help deliver stable power to high-performance servers.
As demand for AI accelerators has surged, so has demand for these components, helping lift the company's shares 660% in the first half of 2026.
2. Kioxia Holdings, Japan
Shares of Japanese memory-chip maker Kioxia climbed about 631% in the first half of 2026 as booming demand for AI data centers drove record earnings.
Spun off from Toshiba in 2017, the memory business was sold the following year to a Bain Capital-led consortium for about $13 billion before being rebranded as Kioxia in 2019.
The company makes NAND flash memory and storage products used in AI servers and cloud data centers.
As AI training and inference required ever more high-speed storage, investors bet demand would continue to outpace supply, helping Kioxia become Japan's most valuable company by market capitalization, around $300 billion.
3. Kingboard Laminates
Hong Kong-listed Kingboard Laminates' shares jumped about 535% in the first half of 2026 as investors bet on rising demand for AI hardware.
The company supplies materials used to make printed circuit boards, which allow chips and other electronic components to communicate with one another.
As AI data centers require more powerful servers that process and move larger amounts of data, demand has grown for higher-performance circuit boards and the materials used to make them.
4. Yageo Corporation
Shares of Taiwan-listed Yageo climbed about 357% in the first half of 2026 as investors bet on rising demand for AI hardware.
Earlier this year, the company completed its acquisition of Japan's Shibaura Electronics, adding temperature sensors that can help monitor heat in AI servers and data centers.
Yageo is also one of the world's largest manufacturers of capacitors and resistors, components found throughout AI hardware.
5. Unimicron Technology
Taiwan-listed Unimicron Technology's shares climbed about 345% in the first half of 2026 as demand for advanced AI chips surged.
The company makes printed circuit boards and IC substrates, which connect powerful processors to the rest of an AI server.
As chipmakers develop more powerful AI processors, demand has risen for these increasingly sophisticated components.
