Alternative Investing Report - July 15, 2026

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*as of 7/14; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, GOLD

Sotheby’s highly anticipated sale of “Gus,” a 38-foot long Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton, beat expectations with a $50.1 million final price tag, becoming the most expensive dinosaur skeleton ever sold at auction. It is one of the three most complete of 32 T-Rex skeletons ever discovered, with 183 different bones making up the 61% intact skeleton.

➨ TAKEAWAY: The pre-sale estimate was $20-30 million, so it was a strong result, though the last comparable sale of a Stegosaurus went for $45 million. The fact that Gus’ price exceeded that result is not a big surprise, with the massive cultural popularity of the T-Rex. While an outlier item like this just reaffirms the value of scarcity, it does not say much about the state of the collectibles market other than that high-end rare items continue to outperform expectations.

Vincent's Slava Rubin is joined by Sacra's Jan-Erik Asplund to explore the rapidly growing AI infrastructure market, focusing on Fluidstack and other key companies alongside technological trends and investment opportunities. They discuss the energy demands of AI, the business models of neoclouds, and the risks and rewards of investing in this dynamic space.

📊 CPI reports: The consumer price index (CPI) report showed inflation dropping 0.4% last month, reducing annual inflation to 3.5%, with a bigger decline than expected due to falling gas prices. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy costs, was flat on the month, and the annual rate clocked in at 2.6%. The chances of a Fed rate hike at this month’s meeting fell, but with the Iran War still unresolved, the decline in gas prices may just be temporary.

🏡 Hottest housing markets: The Hartford, CT metro area remained the hottest housing market in the country according to Realtor.com, based on views per property, and the median days a listing spends on the market before selling. Fifteen of the top 20 markets are in the Northeast, with the remaining five in the Midwest. In the top 20, the average listing attracts three times the views compared to the national average, illustrating the stark divide between the most desirable markets and the rest of the country.

💵 AI agents beat 60/40: AI agents deployed by JPMorgan successfully beat the traditional 60/40 stock/bond portfolio over a backtested 20-year simulation. The top performer beat the benchmark by 0.7% annually with lower volatility. The strong results may herald an era of agentic investing.

🤖 LimX dynamics fundraise: The Chinese humanoid robotics startup raised $200 million at a $2.2 billion valuation, in advance of a planned Hong Kong IPO. The company’s valuation has increased 4-5x since its Series A two years ago.

🏈 Record NFL team sale: The Seattle Seahawks sold for $9.6 billion to tech VC Vinod Khosla and his family, a new all-time record for a full franchise sale. The transaction comes as PE has been snapping up stakes of NFL teams, with the most recent deal valuing the Las Vegas Raiders at $11 billion.

🎨 Sotheby’s record sales: The first half of the year was good for the auction business, as Sotheby’s recorded $4.4 billion in sales, a new high for the house and a 58% year-over-year gain. Auction sales in particular grew by 59% and art auction sales grew an estimated 88%.

One of the top performers in the crypto market in the last week has been Arbitrum, the provider of the technology stack behind the newly launched Robinhood Chain. The trading app is offering tokenized stocks, onchain lending, and AI agentic trading, and is attracting significant trading volume, with volume of more than $3 billion over the past week. Arbitrum receives 10% of all fees generated on the Robinhood Chain, with 80% of that going towards its treasury. Reportedly, the fees generated are already on pace to exceed $1 million monthly, well above expectations, and if that keeps growing, demand for Arbitrum will broaden as well.