QAV America Light Update — 21 September 2026

Happy Monday (Australian time), QAV America.

And welcome to all of our new members.

Today I’m listening to Shostakovich’s 7th Symphony. If you haven’t heard the story about this one, it’s crazy. He composed it in late 1941 during the Nazi siege of his hometown, Leningrad (aka St Peterburg). It was completely brutal. Lasted 872 days (1941-44), the most destructive siege in history and possibly the most deadly, causing an estimated 1.5 million deaths, from a prewar population of 3.2 million. Roughly the size of Brisbane. Half the people dead, mostly from starvation. The symphony was an act of defiance. When it was first performed in Leningrad (they had to round up as many musicians as they could, many of whom were deathly weak and fainting from malnutrition), they set up speakers and broadcast the performance to the German front lines as psychological warfare. The Soviet commander of the area bombed the German artillery position just before the concert to ensure they were quiet during the performance. One of the German generals supposedly turned to his troops after the concert, and said “we’re going to lose this war”.

And speaking of a siege… I wonder if anyone in Tehran is composing a symphony?

Not much to report in the markets beyond the obvious – oil supply and prices are obviously still a problem, bond rates are going up, interest rates are going up in the U.S.

But from our perspective, it changes nothing. The system keep running as it always does. We buy and sell according to the rules.

Market This Week (S&P 500)

The S&P 500 gained 0.7% for the week ending September 18, closing at approximately 7,651:

• The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to a target range of 3.75% to 4.00%, its first increase since 2023, citing inflation brought on by spiraling oil prices and other factors.
• The Fed’s updated projections showed median FOMC participants expect PCE inflation of 3.7% in 2026 and a federal funds rate of 4.1% by year-end, with most participants signaling at least one additional hike before the end of the year.
• The 10-year Treasury yield climbed above 5%, hitting its highest level since July 2007 earlier in the week, before snapping an eight-day rising streak on Thursday.
• The Dow shed 733 points for the week and the Nasdaq rose 2.6%, with the Nasdaq led higher by semiconductor stocks.
• Warren Buffett announced his resignation as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, with son Howard Buffett replacing him in the role while Warren remains on the board of directors.

All the best,
Cameron

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PORTFOLIO UPDATE

Drill down into the widget above to see different timeframes, or visit our live portfolio page.

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SELLS

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BUYS

And here’s my TikTok of the week.

** Please remember to review our Buying Guidelines to understand which cap bands you should be looking at and other important considerations.

DISCLOSURE

Please review our trading and disclosure policy.

FOR NEW MEMBERS

If you’re new to QAV Light, here’s a quick reminder on how it works.

1. We send you an email every Monday advising which stocks we are adding to our Light portfolio.
2. You can copy our trades, but please remember to review our Trading Guidelines to understand which cap you should be looking at and other important considerations. And consult a financial planner before making any decisions.
3. We don’t recommend that you add stocks which are already in our portfolio. Their position on our buy list might have changed since we recommended them. Just start with the stocks recommended after you become a member.
4. If one of the stocks we add breaches one of our sell conditions, we will sell it from our portfolio and you’ll get an email advising of the trade. Again, you can copy our trades, but seek financial advice before making any decisions. And please check your Rule #1 price (see Trading Guidelines).
5. If you come across any QAV terminology that you don’t understand (eg Rule 1, 3PTL, Possibles, etc), please review our terminology guide or just email us for clarification.

That’s it for today!

If we decide to buy or sell something, we’ll let you know.

Got a question?
cameron@qavamerica.com

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