Market Delta
Four lines. Overnight index moves, the 10-year yield, gold, crude. What changed while you slept, with the numbers, not adjectives.
Free · Every weekday before the open
Wall Street wants you confused. We want you confident.
Every weekday morning, before the open: what the market actually did, what it means for money you already have, and the one tax rule that changes the math this year. Written in plain English, with the numbers attached.
Subscribe free. Here is what that gets you:
- One email every morning, before the US market opens. Ten to twelve minutes, and then the day is yours.
- One tax rule a day, explained properly. A fifteen-rule rotation through the provisions that changed what American retirees owe — the exact threshold, and the year the window closes.
- A slower weekend edition. Saturday and Sunday: two longer pieces instead of five short ones.
No charge, now or later · Confirm with one click · Unsubscribe with one click
Brass Tacks · Default Edition
Market Delta — Pre-Open
- S&P 500 futures▲ 0.4%
- US 10-year yield▲ 4 bps
- Gold, spot▲ 0.7%
- WTI crude▼ 0.6%
Theme 2 · The second-order trade
The headline print is the chip maker. The money is in whoever has to build the power and transmission capacity to run what the chips go into. That bill does not disappear if next quarter disappoints.
🎯 Actionable Trade Setup
- Watching: utility and transmission names into the open.
- Bias: constructive on the buildout, neutral on the print.
- Risk: no new positions before 10:00 a.m. ET. Let it settle.
🔒 OBBBA Rule Watch — Tax Rule of the Day
Rule 8 · SALT deduction cap raised to $40,000
The state and local tax deduction cap is $40,000 for 2025, rising about 1% a year, and it reverts to $10,000 in 2030. For a retired couple in a high property-tax state, that can flip the itemize-versus-standard answer for the first time since 2018.
Reading time: 10–12 minutes. Then you are done, and the day is yours.
Specimen layout. Market moves shown are illustrative placeholders; the tax provision quoted is current law.
§ 01
What lands in your inbox
The same structure every morning, so you always know where to look. Nothing is buried, and nothing is padded.
Five signals, deliberately different from each other
The day's main market story, the second-order trade beneath it, a macro or commodity read, a retirement-portfolio angle, and a close on volatility and discipline. Never five versions of the same idea.
🎯 Actionable Trade Setup — Watching / Bias / Risk
Every theme ends the same way: what to watch, which direction the evidence leans, and the condition that would prove the whole idea wrong. Never “buy this.”
🔒 OBBBA Rule Watch — one tax rule, explained properly
One provision a day from a fifteen-rule rotation: the exact threshold, who it applies to, what changed, what to do about it, and the year the window closes. Over three weeks you see all fifteen.
Trade Cheat Sheet
The entire issue compressed to one table — ticker, theme, bias, action. Print it, forward it to your advisor, or keep it open in a tab.
The weekend edition
Two longer pieces instead of five short ones: the story the week actually told, a By The Numbers table, and what to have on your screen Monday. Slower, on purpose.
§ 02
The editorial charter
Four rules the briefing is written against. They are not aspirations; they are the standard an issue has to clear before it is sent.
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01
Every idea carries the condition that would prove it wrong
A setup without an invalidation point is a guess wearing a suit. Watching, Bias, Risk — in that order, every time. You decide what to do; we make sure you can see the downside before you do it.
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02
Every number carries its source
Tax figures come from the IRS, Treasury and the Congressional Research Service. Market figures come from the print, the filing or the exchange. Nothing is written from memory, and nothing older than a week is passed off as current.
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03
Every term gets one plain sentence the first time it appears
QCD, SALT, MAGI, RMD, basis step-up. You are not going to be quizzed and you are not going to be talked down to. One clear sentence, then straight on with the point.
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04
Every issue is anchored to one day
Not “recently.” Not “this quarter.” Yesterday's close, last night's session, this morning before the open. If there is nothing worth saying about today, the issue says so rather than filling the space.
§ 03
Who writes it
One editor, one voice, one set of standards.
Ray Ostlund writes Brass Tacks. He is not on television, he does not manage anyone's money, and he does not sell a fund, a course or a seminar.
The job, as he describes it, is unglamorous: read the release, read the filing, read the actual rule text, and then write down what it means for a household living on what it spent forty years saving. The reader he writes for has been through 1987, 2000, 2008 and 2020 as an investor. That reader does not need the news repeated. He needs to know which part of it touches his IRA, and what the sensible response is before ten o'clock.
The tone follows from the reader. Not a guru, not a professor — closer to the neighbor who used to cover markets for a living and will tell you the real version over the fence, including the part where he is not sure.
Correctness beats excitement. Every time.
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Enter your email. The first briefing arrives tomorrow morning.
Brass Tacks costs nothing, and there is no paid tier waiting behind it. Here is exactly what happens after you type your address in the box.
- You enter your email address and press the subscribe button.
- We send one email asking you to confirm the address is yours. Open it and click the link. Nothing else is sent until you do.
- The daily briefing begins the next morning, before the US market opens.
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Your address is used to send the briefing and nothing else. Unsubscribe link at the foot of every issue. Privacy
§ 04
Questions people actually ask
How often does it arrive, and how long does it take to read?
Every day. Monday through Friday it lands before the US market opens and takes ten to twelve minutes. Saturday and Sunday bring a shorter, slower edition — two longer pieces instead of five short ones.
Do I need to know finance to follow it?
No, but you will not be treated as though you know nothing either. Every term more complicated than “bond” gets one clear sentence of explanation the first time it appears. If you have held a 401(k) or an IRA, you are the reader this is written for.
Will you tell me what to buy?
No. Each theme closes with Watching, Bias and Risk — what is worth your attention, which way the evidence leans, and the condition that would prove the idea wrong. What you own is your decision, made with your own advisor. That boundary does not move.
What exactly is the OBBBA Rule Watch?
One tax provision per issue, drawn from a rotation of fifteen, covering the changes the 2025 tax law made to what retirees owe. Each one gives the exact figure, who it applies to, what it replaced, and what to do about it. Over roughly three weeks you will have seen all fifteen — a working understanding of the new code, one brick a day.
What does it cost?
Nothing, now or later. There is no paid tier waiting behind the free one, no upsell at the end of a sequence, and no course or seminar to buy. Your address is used to send the briefing and for nothing else.
Why do I have to confirm my email address?
Because this is a double opt-in list. Nothing is sent to an address until the owner of that address has clicked a link proving it is theirs. It is slightly more work for you once, and it is the reason the briefing reaches inboxes instead of spam folders.
Is this investment or tax advice?
It is not. Brass Tacks is written for education. It cannot know your income, your state, your holdings or your health, and all four change the right answer. Take what you read here to a licensed advisor or tax professional before you act on it.
How do I leave?
One click on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any issue. No confirmation page, no survey, no “are you sure” email. Your address is deleted from the list.