Crude oil (WTI) has declined to near $80/barrel, and Brent oil to $84/barrel as the U.S. announced that it has shifted toward economic sanctions against Iran rather than military action. Will this work? We have been at war for six months and much longer than most expected, so maybe this is a better alternative. It's certainly a lot cheaper.

McDonald's is the world's largest restaurant chain, with more than 45,600 fast-food restaurants in over 100 countries. Approximately 95% of McDonald's restaurants worldwide are owned and operated by independent local business owners. The company has 150,000 employees. The shares are a component of the S&P 500.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. provides Chinese and international e-commerce platforms, logistics, and ancillary services. The company operates in four segments (Alibaba E-commerce Group, AI Cloud & Compute Services, AI Labs &Applications, and All Others). Key marketplaces include Taobao, a consumer marketplace; Tmall, a third-party platform for brands and retailers; Alibaba.com and 1688.com, online wholesale marketplaces; Alipay, for online payments; and Lazada, for Southeast Asia e-commerce.

Netflix’s relatively simple business model involves only one business, its streaming service. It has the biggest television entertainment subscriber base in both the United States and the collective international market, with more than 325 million subscribers globally. Netflix has exposure to nearly the entire global population outside of China. The firm has traditionally avoided a regular slate of live programming or sports content, instead focusing on on-demand access to episodic television, movies, and documentaries. The firm introduced ad-supported subscription plans in 2022, giving the firm exposure to the advertising market in addition to the subscription fees that have historically accounted for nearly all its revenue.