In this issue of the peel:

• 😎 The market took a bit of a breather after six straight days of taking straight W’s.

• 🤼‍♂️President Trump and the GOP are battling it out over the SALT Bill.

• 🤵 Google launched a new fancy AI service, and no surprise, it’s gonna cost ya.

Market Snapshot

Feature: Scott L. Bok, Chairman of Greenhill & Co.

Last week, Scott Bok, Chairman and longtime CEO of Greenhill, spoke to our WSO Academy students about his experience on Wall Street. We highly recommend you read his book, “Surviving Wall Street.”

Dive into this riveting memoir as he chronicles four decades on Wall Street. From the firm's ambitious inception to its landmark IPO and eventual sale, Scott offers a firsthand account of navigating the volatile tides of the financial industry.

Experience the behind-the-scenes of major M&A deals, the challenges of financial crises, and the intricate dance of power within corporate boardrooms.

Go behind the scenes of significant mergers and acquisitions, navigate the complexities of financial crises, and witness the delicate power dynamics within corporate boardrooms.

Check out Scott’s book here!

Banana Bits

• Google is charging customers $250 for its new VIP AI subscription service.

• Warby Parker’s stock jumped on news that it plans to partner with Google to get its little slice of the AI pie.

• President Trump is duking it out over the proposed tax bill with House GOP members.

• Elon Musk says he plans to do “a lot less in the future” when it comes to political spending.

• The tide of the market rises and falls depending on where Nvidia goes.

• Unlike Walmart, Home Depot kept its “G” and decided not to use tariffs as an excuse to raise prices.

Apple Is Coming for the Smart Home — And Fast

Apple’s rumored Face-ID door lock and smart display hub are more than just new products. It’s a clear signal: they’re going all-in on smart home automation.

The tech giant is doubling down on the smart home, the $158B industry that’s growing 23% annually.

And with Apple’s entry, investors are looking for the next breakout company - and potential acquisition target.

They’re chasing Google (acquired Nest, $3.2B) and Amazon (acquired Ring, $1.2B).

History shows: when Apple plays catch-up, they go big.

And there’s one startup perfectly positioned to benefit.

With 10+ patents, distribution in over 100 Best Buy stores, and a Home Depot launch in 2025, RYSE is built for a breakout.

Early investors in Ring and Nest saw life-changing returns.

Now, RYSE is open at just $1.90/share.

Invest today and unlock up to 25% in bonus shares

_{Past performance is not indicative of future results. Email may contain forward-looking statements. See US Offering for details. Informational purposes only.}

Macro Monkey Says

GOP Leaders Get Salty

We’ve got taxes, Trump, and a salty GOP feud. Literally. 

The latest debate in the House has been about the SALT cap, which is short for “State and Local Tax” deduction. 

Back in 2017, Trump’s tax reform capped how much state and local taxes people could deduct from their federal taxes, maxing it out at $10,000. That hit high-tax states like New York, New Jersey, and California square in the wallet. Blue-state Republicans weren’t thrilled. Wealthy homeowners were even less thrilled.

Fast forward to 2025: President Trump is looking to get this codified, pushing the “Big Beautiful Tax Cut Act,” which aims to extend the 2017 tax cuts and toss in some new goodies. But the SALT cap? Still there and causing drama.

Some House Republicans, especially from those high-tax states, want to raise the cap or scrap it entirely. Their voters are tired of footing massive tax bills without the break they used to get. But others in the GOP are like, “Hold up, that just helps rich people and blows up the deficit.”

Recently, Trump has backed off the idea, downplaying any SALT cap relief and leaving House Republicans to duke it out among themselves, knowing he’ll likely get a deal done sooner or later.

The problem is, the GOP’s House majority is razor-thin. They can’t afford to lose votes, but they also can’t agree. It’s a classic party tug-of-war: fiscal hawks vs. suburban survivalists. And if Trump doesn’t take a clear stance soon, it might stall his whole tax bill before it even gets rolling.

The Takeaway?

The SALT fight isn’t just about deductions—it’s about identity. Can the GOP be the party of tax cuts and fiscal discipline? Can Trump please both red-state hardliners and blue-state donors? Or will this whole thing end in a salty stalemate? One thing’s for sure: tax season just got way more entertaining.

Career Corner

Question

I have a Superday coming up in two days and want to show extra thoughtfulness to my interviewers. Is it better to write an email to them beforehand, introducing myself and expressing my excitement to meet them in person, or afterwards, thanking them for their time? I am afraid the former might be a bit of an overkill.

Answer

Write a nice thank-you note afterward. Don’t email beforehand!

Head Mentor, WSO Academy

Check out WSO Academy!

What's Ripe

Warby Parker (WRBY) 15.6% 

• Warby Parker got a case of major FOMO. They decided to spruce up the business model with some AI. 

• The company is partnering with Google to create a set of intelligent AI glasses products. That's right, even a run-of-the-mill eyewear/glasses company somehow figured out how to get in on the AI hype train. Are we at the peak bubble yet? 

Cheap Retailers: Dollar Tree, Dollar General (DLTR, DG) 4.6%, 4.1%

• Walmart might be raising prices in response to tariffs, but Dollar Stores are standing on business and keeping costs low. 

• Both Dollar Tree and Dollar General's stocks rose as investors expect a bump in sales from price-sensitive customers seeking more affordable options. It really makes you wonder whether companies like Walmart really have to raise prices in response to tariffs, or whether that’s just a convenient excuse. 

What's Rotten

Cruise Lines: Viking Holdings, Norwegian (VIK, NCLH) 4.9%, 3.9%

• The cruise lines are getting hit, and it’s all on Viking Holdings’ earnings report. In all fairness, they weren’t that bad, with a narrower-than-expected Q1 loss and a 25% revenue increase. 

• Despite it all, the stock fell due to investor concerns about the company's vague management commentary and the absence of financial guidance. Analysts also noted a slowdown in advance bookings for 2026, indicating potential challenges in sustaining pricing growth.

Airbnb (ABNB) 3.3%

• It’s Airbnb vs Spain. The company’s stock took a hit after the Spanish Government ordered it to remove nearly 66,000 listings that violate regulations for tourist accommodations, citing issues like missing license numbers and unclear ownership status. 

• The crackdown comes amid growing public concern over housing affordability and over-tourism, as Spain saw a record 94 million foreign visitors in 2024, a 13% increase from the previous year.

Thought Banana

Google’s VIP Service 

So, Google just dropped something… interesting at the I/O 2025 conference. It’s a new premium AI subscription called Google AI Ultra, and let’s just say… it’s not for your average casual user messing around with chatbots. It’s for the serious folks. We’re talking $250 per month serious.

This new offering is basically Google’s VIP club for AI enthusiasts, developers, creatives, and everyone who wants to live on the bleeding edge of artificial intelligence. If you’ve got the budget and a wild imagination, AI Ultra might just be your new favorite subscription (sorry, Netflix).

For $250 a month, first off, you get access to Gemini 2.5 Pro with Deep Think, which is just a fancy way of saying: “this AI can think deeper, reason better, and probably outscore you on the SAT.” It's built for complex tasks—think building apps, writing code, and maybe even planning your next indie film.

Speaking of films, Veo 3, Google’s new video generation model, is part of the deal too. It doesn’t just turn text into video now, it adds audio, which means your wild story ideas can turn into short films in minutes. Toss in Flow, a cinematic AI storyboard tool, and you’re basically directing with bots.

Then there’s Project Mariner, a mysterious research prototype that's all about agentic AI—think super smart digital assistants that do the thinking and the doing. Still early-stage, but AI Ultra members get first dibs.

You’ll also get 30 terabytes of storage (enough for all your ideas, your ideas’ ideas, and a backup of your college mixtape), and YouTube Premium is thrown in—because hey, ad-free cat videos are important too.

The Takeaway?

Let’s be real—$250/month is steep. This isn’t for your uncle asking ChatGPT to write dad jokes. It’s for the developers, the filmmakers, the power users—the people trying to do some real damage (in a good way) with cutting-edge tech.

Google AI Ultra is part flex, part toolbox, and part “look how cool our AI is.” It’s a bold move in the AI arms race and a signal that Google wants to own the high-end market. If you’ve got big ideas, a decent budget, and a taste for the futuristic, Ultra might just be worth the splurge.

The Big Question: Is AI becoming a luxury product—reserved for those who can afford to experiment?

Banana Brain Teaser

Previous

Tanks A and B are each in the shape of a right circular cylinder. The interior of Tank A has a height of 10 meters and a circumference of 8 meters, and the interior of Tank B has a height of 8 meters and a circumference of 10 meters. The capacity of Tank A is what % of the capacity of Tank B?

Answer: 80%

Today

City X has a population 4 times as great as the population of City Y, which has a population twice as great as the population of City Z. What is the ratio of the population of City X to the population of City Z?

Send your guesses to [email protected]

How Would You Rate Today's Peel?

Happy Investing,
Chris, Vyom, Ankit, Mithun & Patrick

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