u/-Monty_Carlo-

Decided to do a themed chart for a special occasion.

Happy July 4th and burn up those dollars in style, will ya?

Chart shows annual total consumer and public display fireworks spend for the USA, sourced from APA (American Pyrotechnics Association). 2026 data extrapolated based on avg annual increase (~4.2% yoy).

No AI was harmed during the creation of this chart, all done by myself.

Stark parallels - a media conglomerate that is also a Telco business (first and foremost) with high debt loads and waning conumser base (Cord Cutters etc). spins off it's table silver...

Anyone else getting the "T spinning off Warner Bros vibes" or just me?

Methinks the NBCU people have the same long-winding road ahead them as it was for the Warner Bros people - before the spinoff that got us here.

Question is how good or bad is that for the "core company" (that is likely to be the dividend-yielder going forward after the spinoff) and how well does the spun off company fare?

Here's the announcement for anyone who hasn't seen it yet (out of the horse's mouth).

The Top 10 largest companies by market cap carry 34% of the index weight in the S&P 500 as of June 26, 2026.

That's some heavy lifting in the biggest global stock market.🏋️‍♂️

Note: If SpaceX were included, it would displace Eli Lilly from Top 10 (they just entered again this week FYI) - and place 6th with the June 26 valuation. SPCX would have been 2nd – 3rd a few days ago and approached Amazon in total valuation. With the recent downturn in all of these names there was loads of shuffling while I made that chart.

Generally, U.S. indices are not as top-heavy as the South Korean KOSPI 200 (see my other chart), but I'd argue for an index of 500 stocks to have only ten stocks carry ~35-40% is just as unhealthy as having Top 10 carry 73% in 200 with two stocks doing most of the lifting there.

Note: SPCX is not a S&P 500 component due to them not having changed their index inclusion rules, as opposed to Nasdaq100 and others like the "All-World" indices who'll likely include them soon.

The share of the Top 10 companies in the index has gone down pretty significantly (roughly 5%) in recent weeks from a previous "all-time high" of 40%.

The S&P is a staple in many 401(k)s and other savings plans, making a top-concentrated allocation in these. I am not arguing "for" or "against" index investing - it's just the facts that one should be aware of.

Yet, the index looks pretty "calm" despite some severe shedding in top names.

Why? MAG 7 decline as money flows to other sectors inside the same index.

This can be deceptive if you just look at S&P 500 index and judge the health of market internals - so that's an argument for index investing right there as the rebalancing will take care if these shifts in the long term.

Yummy pie chart of the TOP 10 heaviest stocks by market cap in the KOSPI 200, the Korean main stock index, as per June 25, 2026.

The Top 10 stocks comprise 76% of the market, with a whopping 63% of the market hinging on just two stocks right now:

Samsung Electronics (33.94%) and SK Hynix (29.85%).

This is an even higher concentration than observed in S&P with roughly ~40% TOP 10 stocks, and weighs even heavier because of the weight being carried by just two "valuation behemoths".

AI/Semi/HMB trade is the driving force and can make or break the KOSPI now.

Recently a taste of a -10% "index drop" could be observed as the two semi trades buckled on June 23.

(Data sourced here - CompaniesMarketCap.com)