Hello reader, welcome to the latest issue of HX Weekly!

This week, as we head into the Fourth of July weekend, our own Enrique Abeyta shares thoughtful reflections on America’s upcoming 250th anniversary, what it means to be an American, and why a renewed sense of patriotism and civic responsibility remains so important today.

We’re also sharing his classic note from 2024, “America Kicks Ass,” which powerfully reminds us why the United States remains the best place in the world to live—and to invest.

In his signature style, Enrique connects these bigger ideas to the freedoms and opportunities we’re fortunate to have in our economic system—timely reminders for investors and traders who benefit daily from the strength and resilience of American markets.

We hope everyone is able to celebrate the holiday safely with family and friends, whether you’re firing up the grill, watching fireworks, or making those history-minded memories with the next generation.

Take a moment to enjoy both of Enrique’s notes, and from all of us at HX Research and Signal Trader Pro, have a wonderful and meaningful Fourth of July!

Fourth of July 2026

America 250

As we approach America’s 250th anniversary, I have spent a lot of time thinking about what it means to be an American.

Part of this, I suppose, is that my children are now at an age (13, 10, and 5) where we can begin teaching them about our history.

As part of my efforts, I am going to take advantage of living in the Northeast (Connecticut, to be precise) by planning “America 250” trips to Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.

They are already moaning about the “history” trip, but I am confident that when they look back in twenty years, they will appreciate it. Isn’t every parent? Ha, ha!

All of this has had me thinking about my own experience during the last major milestone — America’s 200th anniversary back in 1976.

I don’t remember much about it, as I was only 4 years old, but clearly I do remember it. Part of it might have been the immense amount of America-themed products that were put out during this time.

Remember these?

(Here is a great article from the NY Times talking about the Bicentennial commercialism. Worth a quick read! https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/05/01/arts/bicentennial-schlock-collection-america-250.html)

The buildup to this anniversary has not felt as big until just recently.

It may be a sign of the times, but I have not felt the same level of enthusiasm.

Although I will say that in the past few weeks, I have seen it building. Part of that might be the excitement about the World Cup and the success of Team USA. It also might just be that we are getting closer to July 4th.

As I was thinking about all of this, I thought to myself: what do I want to tell my children about what it means to be an American?

While thinking through that subject, a memory came back that I had long forgotten.

Our recent conflict with Iran got me thinking back to another major U.S. conflict in the Middle East: the August 1990 invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.

It may seem like a small event to most today, but back then it was very much in the forefront of the American psyche.

Especially for me, as I had strongly considered joining the military instead of going to university. The invasion happened right as I was beginning my first semester at the University of Pennsylvania.

My memory was how upset I was that I had not joined the military and would not be a part of our action in the region. I felt ashamed that I was not doing my part and living up to my responsibility as a young American man.

So much so that I remember a tearful call with one of my high school friends, Kristi, as she talked me down and told me I hadn’t let anyone down.

Again, I had not remembered this for many years, but it crystallized for me how I felt about being an American back then.

I was so upset that I couldn’t live up to a responsibility that I felt to fight for our country that I was literally crying. Now, a lot of that could be the overactive hormones of youth, but I was deeply emotionally moved by the situation.

I then thought back to that moment and thought to myself: how many young Americans would feel the same way today?

Mind you, I don’t know if I was the “exception” back in 1990. I don’t think I was. I think many young men may have felt the same.

Going back to World War II, there are stories of young American men killing themselves when they weren’t allowed to enlist because of medical issues.

Let that sink in — they literally killed themselves because they could not serve.

My situation was forty years later, but I clearly was influenced by that same thread of responsibility.

Again, maybe I was the exception, but thinking about young men today, I really think far fewer would feel that same sort of guilt. Again, I don’t know, but I feel pretty good about my conclusion.

Now, that isn’t an indictment. I don’t think any less of this generation. In fact, I look back and what I thought at the time was kind of nuts.

That doesn’t mean I don’t still feel that responsibility, but it is a lot to ask young people to feel the same.

Thinking on it, though, I think we should.

The problem, though, is not with the younger generations but with the older generations.

I simply do not think we have done enough to defend the spirit of American patriotism and responsibility.

We have become gilded by decades of peace and success. The wealth of our nation has dulled our spirit.

My grandfather’s generation served in World War II and understood the price of freedom directly. Their children, my father, saw the scars on them, and this responsibility felt very real.

My generation (“X”) was the bridge generation. We shared many of those feelings, and they were imparted upon us, but we never really had to feel them.

As a result, we have let the spirit of American responsibility fade away.

Previous generations had active battles they had to fight to preserve it. My generation was and is facing a passive battle. We need to take the initiative.

This is not just having to do with patriotism but also politics.

We have become apathetic and feel hopeless to make any changes. As a result, we don’t even try.

There has been a lot of talk about the success of the Democratic Socialists’ (DSA) candidates in recent New York primary elections. Most of the press is heralding it as a change, or evolution, in American political sentiment.

Did you know, however, how many people actually voted in those primaries?

Only 530,000 people voted in the primaries in New York City. This is out of 5.3 million registered voters. Approximately 17% of registered Democrats voted.

In a city that is dominated by a single party, that pretty much decides the election.

This means that less than 10% of voters essentially decided everything.

The reason the DSA has been so successful is that they did a great job of mobilization.

It was the mainstream Democrats who did not bother to vote that handed the election to the DSA.

It isn’t that the DSA candidates don’t have real resonance with voters. They do.

It is that more measured voices are essentially being shouted over by more fringe voices.

Not because they are louder, but because they showed up.

The challenge for American democracy is not what we are doing or trying to do... it is what we are not doing at all. Participating. Trying...

What does all of this have to do with the stock market?

Well, I think that we take for granted the opportunity and freedoms in the American economic system.

We all are beneficiaries, but that system will be under attack if we don’t defend it.

Losing a couple congressional districts in New York City to some fringe candidates may not seem like much and is unlikely to have a material impact.

The way they won those elections — the apathy of the many — is the problem.

If we don’t actively go out and defend our beliefs and our system, it will be taken away from us.

If we don’t teach our children the importance of feeling a sense of responsibility to work for and defend our country, they will lose it.

It is up to us to fight and work to continue to make this country an incredible success.

On America’s 250th anniversary, I am committing myself to picking up my efforts. I hope you do the same.

Have a great Fourth of July, everyone!

Enrique’s reflections on America’s 250th anniversary and the importance of renewing our sense of patriotism and responsibility feel especially powerful this holiday weekend.

For even more inspiration on what makes this country exceptional—both as a place to live and as the world’s greatest market for investors—we’re republishing one of his most popular notes from 2024.

Enjoy “America Kicks Ass!”

America Kicks Ass!

Our Perspective on this Fourth of July

In celebration of the Independence Day holiday, I wanted to take this week to remind everyone that America is one of the best places on Earth to live...

And for our purposes in HX Research, it's also the best place to be as an investor.

Longtime readers know I have a very "American" story.

My grandfather's family – a combination of Pueblo Indian and Spanish – has been in this country since the late 17th century. The Pueblo have been there for about 7,000 years, and the Spanish date back to 1692 in New Mexico.

My grandmother's family were Scottish and German immigrants from the Midwest and West.

This family grew up very poor, with a long history of substance abuse. My father had six brothers, two of whom died before they turned 35 and one more who's about to pass away.

My mother's family was from Uruguay—immigrants from the Basque country and Brazil—and was much better off. My grandfather was the CEO of the country's utility company and one of the founders of the most prominent liberal political party in the 1970s.

Unfortunately, his timing wasn't great as a military dictatorship took over the country. My uncle was jailed for seven years as a "terrorist," and my family's house was regularly strafed with machine-gun fire by the "milicos."

My mother got stuck here in the early 1970s. She would have been jailed if she had returned to her home country. Instead, she met my father at a hair salon – he was a successful hairdresser – and they got married to keep her here.

We had it very rough as my father's legacy trauma continued to haunt us and led to a volatile life, including living in dozens of places, going bankrupt multiple times, and briefly experiencing homelessness.

My first blessing, however, was my mother. She was an absolute rock and fought hard to get the two of us out of our terrible situation.

My second blessing was being born in America.

Back in Uruguay, my mother would have been imprisoned and probably have died... not to mention, the health care she received here also saved her life many times versus what she would have received there.

Despite the volatile environment my father created, America allowed my mother to have a career, it allowed me to get an excellent education, and it allowed us to pull ourselves out of poverty and violence.

A lot of people talk about how life is better in other countries. And I'm not saying the U.S. is the only great country in the world. But I don't think there's another place where we would have had the opportunity for my mother to survive and thrive and for me—a poor Hispanic kid from Phoenix—to go on to become a successful Wall Street investor for more than two decades.

And while we could debate whether the U.S. is the best place on Earth, there's no debating that it's the best place to invest.

We compared the S&P 500—the benchmark U.S. index—to other major stock indexes worldwide, using Bloomberg's data.

We used the STOXX Euro 600 Index as a proxy for Europe, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index for emerging markets, the Nikkei 225 for Japan and the Hang Seng Index for China and Hong Kong, and

Let's look at how the S&P 500 performed against each...

Going back more than 35 years, U.S. stocks have more than quadrupled the performance of European stocks...

They've also outperformed emerging markets by more than quadruple across the same period.

The same as their performance against Japanese stocks going back to 1990...

The Hang Seng Index is not the best measure for China, but the S&P 500 has outperformed that by more than three times!

The data is clear: Over a significant sample size, U.S. stocks have been the best place for long-term investors.

While it's impossible to know whether past performance will indicate future performance, this Independence Day holiday, I want to remind you that the U.S. remains a great place to live and invest.

We hope that you’ve enjoyed this week’s issue of HX Weekly…

Do you have any thoughts, questions, or feedback? Tell us more in the comment section or at [email protected].