*as of 9/8; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, GOLD

The U.S.'s top-20 hottest housing markets are all in the Midwest and Northeast, with Rockford, Illinois leading the way followed by Kenosha, WI, and Erie, PA. The rankings are measured by unique views per property and how quickly properties in a given market sell. While all top-20 markets are mid-sized metro areas, the biggest improvements among large markets belonged to Indianapolis and Boston. Meanwhile, the best seller’s markets are in the New York City suburbs of Long Island and Northern New Jersey. Those rankings are measured by how many more buyers than sellers there are in a given market.

➨ TAKEAWAY: Mid-sized cities and suburbs near major urban hubs are attracting buyers as they seek more affordable options still within commuting distance. Homes in the top-ranking areas sell far faster than the national average due to tight inventory and high buyer demand. As long as supply remains constrained compared to demand, these preferred markets will continue to see price growth.

In the newest episode of Smart Humans, Slava Rubin talks with Marques Colston about his journey from NFL star to fund manager, and investment opportunities across the sports ecosystem. Marques shares the story of The Champion Fund and its current portfolio, including Premier League club Ipswich Town FC.

📊 Small business optimism dips: The NFIB small business optimism index fell slightly in August from 99.8 to 98.7, though it remains slightly above the 52-year historical average of 98.0. Owners report reduced sales, inflation pressure and supply chain disruptions as their biggest concerns going forward.

🤖 Anthropic IPO update: The AI startup has reportedly pushed back its highly anticipated $2 trillion public offering to at least mid-October. Whenever the potential biggest IPO of all-time takes place, we will be holding an investor briefing just before to break it down.

🚀 Big AI infrastructure rounds: The week biggest funding rounds of last week all belong to AI infrastructure startups, led by Crusoe's $3 billion fundraise and Fluidstack's $1.5 billion private equity round. Crusoe has tripled its valuation from a year ago, while Fluidstack more than doubled its valuation from July.

🏢 Rental market update: U.S. apartment rents rose 0.1% in August and 0.9% annually, with most of the country staying positive but the South seeing a 0.5% decline. Similarly, occupancy lagged in the South and remained strongest in the Northeast and Midwest.

💰 Money managers targeting gold: Major asset managers worldwide are steadily rebuilding their gold positions following its pullback from all-time highs earlier in the year. However, gold becomes less desirable in higher interest-rate environments, and with the Fed likely to raise rates this year, demand for gold may wane.

🎨 Signac auction: Next month, Christie’s is starting the process of selling off 600 works from an anonymous single-owner collection, starting with Modernist masterworks led by paintings by pointillist master Paul Signac. The sales will continue through 2027 and are expected to generate more than $60 million.

We have written about the privacy coin Zcash quite a bit this year, and it continued its eventful run over the past week, rising nearly 50%, the most of any coin in the top-50 by market cap. ZEC is now in the top-10 by market cap and effectively reached its all-time high this week - it was higher just after its launch in 2016, but that was just a result of heavy volatility. One catalyst for Zcash’s rise in price was Grayscale’s Zcash ETF (NYSEArca: ZCSH) getting publicly listed in late August, and the rise accelerated due to a short squeeze. Overall, the token has more than quadrupled since in sank below $300 in June due to a potential exploit that was fixed, and it is up more than 2300% in the past year. Our own Slava Rubin recommended investors look into it in early June when it was below $500, but it may not be a value play after its latest surge.