Alternative Investing Report - March 16, 2026

*as of 3/15, Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, GOLD

The much-anticipated series of auctions of the late Jim Irsay’s memorabilia collection kicked off late last week and did not disappoint, generating $93.6 million in sales and breaking numerous records. The three most expensive guitars ever and five of the top ten came from the centerpiece auction on Thursday, including the new #1, a black Fender Stratocaster once owned by Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour that sold for $14.55 million. That was more than three times its high estimate and much more than the $3.975 million that Irsay paid for it. The new #2 is a custom electric guitar that belonged to the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia that sold for $11.56 million, and the new #3 is Kurt Cobain’s guitar from the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” music video that sold for $6.91 million. Another notable sale was for Jack Kerouac’s famous “On the Road” scroll, which sold to country singer Zach Bryan for $12.1 million, well above its high estimate and the $2.43 million Irsay paid for it in 2001.

➨ TAKEAWAY: The “On the Road” sale set a new record for the most expensive literary work ever sold, and Kerouac’s “Dharma Bums” scroll also smashed expectations and sold for $1.65 million. Those sales, the guitar sales, and the numerous other seven-figure music memorabilia sales, all of which exceeded their high estimates, show the power of truly rare one-of-one items. The auction results also continues the trend of music and entertainment memorabilia becoming legitimate asset classes at the high end, joining other long-standing collectibles categories such as sports memorabilia and sports cards.

📊 PCE inflation report: The Fed’s preferred measure of inflation, the Personal Consumption Expenditures index, rose 0.3% in January and was up 2.8% annually, meeting expectations, but still higher than the Fed’s 2% target. The core PCE index, which excludes food and energy costs, was up 0.4% monthly and 3.1% annually. The Fed meets this week, and is not projected to cut interest rates, with this report unlikely to change any minds.

🚀 February’s new unicorns: There were 27 startups that eclipsed the $1 billion valuation mark in February, with six coming from the robotics sector and six coming from the semiconductor sector, as AI-related hardware companies led the way.

🤖 Another robotics unicorn: And on cue, March brought one more robotics unicorn, as the household robot startup Sunday raised a $165 million round at a $1.15 billion valuation.

🏡 Home listings tick up: In the past month, new listings of U.S. homes for sale rose 0.5% year over year, the first increase since last November. This coincided with mortgage rates dipping below 6% for the first time since 2022, though they have risen above that mark since the beginning of the Iran war.

🎨 Art sales report: The global art market saw a 4% increase in sales last year, according to the new Art Basel/UBS art market report. The growth was led by two opposite poles - works above $10 million and those below $500,000, with mid-market items showing a decline.

🪙 BlackRock launches staked ETH ETF: Now that regulators have paved the way, the asset manager is launching an Ethereum ETF that offers investors yield, the iShares Staked Ethereum Trust (ETHB).

This week: The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament begins with the First Four on Tuesday, with the first full day on Thursday - get those brackets ready!

Tuesday: St. Patrick’s Day holiday; pending home sales report; homebuilder confidence index released.

Wednesday: The Fed will announce its interest rate decision, which is overwhelmingly likely to be no change; Producer price index (PPI) and core PPI inflation reports released.

Thursday: Fanatics Collect Premier Auction, featuring an Aaron Judge/Shohei Ohtani one of one card that has already surpassed $1 million; new home sales report released.