Welcome to Tuesday Thursday Saturday! I share a snapshot of trending stories across business, tech, and culture three times a week. Subscribe and tell me what you want to hear about next! - KP

The Big Story: The Invisible Structure of Everything

I’ve always been a words person. Words are how I make sense of the world, how I connect with people, how I solve my problems. I am guilty of sending an episodic cascade of voice memos here and there.

That said, I decided to shut my yapper for once and spent most of Sunday reading. I’ve been on an Alan Watts kick for a while now and was digging into a chapter in The Book that discusses his philosophical viewpoint on matter and space. Watts talks about how we fixate on the visible stuff in the universe but often do not appreciate the emptiness that gives it shape. 

The thing is, people tend to notice the solid and ignore the space that allows the solid to exist. We perk up at the sound, but not the silence that gives it meaning. And yet, without space, matter has no form. Without silence, sound has no rhythm. The visible depends on the invisible. The presence depends on the absence!

The concept, while painfully obvious, reminded me of how much I resist space in my own life. I don’t like silence, nor do I enjoy stillness. I am incapable of meditation. I would much rather fill space than sit in it. 

So, this idea that silence and space aren’t voids, but rather structure, fascinated me. Space, indeed, is what gives everything else its shape.

This principle shows up everywhere. Watts points out that without rests in music, there’s no melody. In design, whitespace is what allows the eye to focus. Negative space guides attention, creates hierarchy, and brings elegance. Good design doesn’t cram in more; it knows what to leave out. Without whitespace, everything feels cluttered. The same logic applies to how we build our schedules, run meetings, and even think. Space brings clarity and gives the brain room to breathe.

In negotiation, silence is a tactic. Chris Voss, a former FBI negotiator, teaches the effective pause: say your piece, then stop talking. That moment of quiet creates pressure. Most people (myself included) are uncomfortable with silence, so they fill it — oftentimes revealing more than they intended. (By the way, an easy tell that someone is lying? Offering up far more details than what was asked of them!)

Psychologists understand this, too. Carl Jung believed that healing often requires solitude and silence, providing a chance for unconscious material to rise to the surface. Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, who coined the term “flow,” found that deep creativity happens when distractions fall away and we become immersed in a single task. “Flow states,” when you lose track of time and feel fully present, require quiet. 

There’s even something emotive about space. “Distance makes the heart grow fonder” captures a real truth: absence, separation, and — yes — silence can bring people closer. Just like in physics, where matter can't exist without space, relationships need room to breathe.

In corporate strategy, there’s the art of doing nothing. Strategic “white space” isn’t wasted time; it’s where innovation happens. The decision not to immediately chase the next shiny thing often results in deeper insight. Some of the best ideas emerge not when you’re pushing, but when you’re pausing.

The same is true in investing. Right now, markets are volatile. The temptation is to act, and for you, that may be the right call. But other times, the best decision is restraint. There’s power in not reacting immediately and then moving with intention. 

All of this made me think about the final scene in The Graduate, which came out just a few months after Watts wrote The Book. The film ends with a beautiful shot of two people who have just run off together. I love this scene so much: I love the song in it, I love the cinematography, and I love how the characters interact. In the scene, the two characters are sitting in the back of a bus, laughing and smiling at first, and then slowly … nothing. Complete silence. Simon & Garfunkel’s “Sound of Silence” plays in the background.

When you look at the lyrics to the song, it’s all about the power that exists when people are unable or unwilling to communicate. Sometimes, space signals a precursor to some eventual “matter” that’s in development. But in this film, the space is the story itself — they are questioning everything.

Silence is uncomfortable. But it’s also essential. It builds tension, shapes what comes next, or gives you the room you need to grow.

Daily Rip Live Recap: Tariff Drama, Misinformation (Temporarily) Moves the Market, and the Psychology of a Sell-Off

Every weekday, Shay Boloor and I run down the biggest market news and events on Stocktwits’ morning show, The Daily Rip Live. Here’s what we recently covered:

• 3:05 | Shay Boloor's open letter to POTUS goes viral; it got 1M+ views over the weekend, and Bill Ackman quoted it before offering his own criticism, which he walked back within 24 hours.

  • Speaking of chaos, an errant report shared on X, which alleged that the WH would be pausing tariffs for 90 days, temporarily caused stock prices to soar before it was redacted.

• 15:15 | Retail investors poured $4.7B into markets in the market last week, according to JPMorgan. They’re buying the dip, all right! $JPM ( ▼ 0.45% )  

• 20:30 | Is the bright spot in tech ... cybersecurity? Why Wedbush Managing Director Daniel Ives thinks cybersecurity players like CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks may fare better than other techs as they are mission-critical to modern business operations. $PANW ( ▲ 1.67% )  $CRWD ( ▲ 2.62% )  

• 23:20 | CNBC released the results of a new CEO survey which found that 1/3 expect job cuts in 2025 if tariff trends hold.

• 27:50 | We also dug into the psychology of a sell-off, especially in a world where social media accelerates the spread of information. Why is 2025 unlike 2008, and even 2020?

• 31:30 | What’s the corp strategy impact of a shaky market? No CEO or CFO wants to stick their neck out on CapEx right now.

• 44:40 | Trickle-down impact of tariffs on SMBs: This isn’t just about stuff you buy on Amazon that comes from China. We discuss supply chain impacts that reverberate even in instances where the core biz is US-based.

• 58:30 | Earnings to watch this week — we’ll get consumer spending signals plus a read-out from the big banks: $PLAY ( ▲ 0.78% ) , $LEVI ( ▲ 0.75% ) , $KMX ( ▼ 0.99% ) , $BLK ( ▼ 0.94% ) , $BNY ( ▼ 0.2% ) , $MS ( ▲ 0.36% )  $JPM ( ▼ 0.45% )  

Hear Shay and I yap about the markets every weekday at 9 a.m. ET on X (@stocktwits), YouTube, LinkedIn, or in your Stocktwits app. Follow me there — I’m @stocktwitsKP!

Now Here’s a Chart

A big component of the tariff situation rests on the desire to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S., which have been steadily declining since America reset its trade policies and began to assert dominance in tech in the late 1990s and 2000s.

But here’s the question: Do humans actually occupy all of these jobs in places like China, which has historical levels of automation in so-called ‘dark factories’? Reshoring also requires upskilling workers to take on newly created roles. Some estimates suggest a large gap between manufacturing job openings and Americans who are willing (or able) to work such jobs. All of this indicates that the challenge goes deeper than building a few factories.

Reading List

• BlackRock’s Larry Fink: CEOs Think ‘We Are Probably in a Recession Right Now’ (WSJ) $BLK ( ▼ 0.94% )  

• U.S. Steel Stock Rises as Trump Orders Review of Nippon Deal (Barron’s) $X ( ▲ 0.99% )  

• Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke: AI is now a ‘fundamental expectation’ for employees (Fast Company) $SHOP ( ▲ 2.1% )  

• Bitcoin Price Breaks Below $75,000 as Global Tariff War Roils Risk Assets (Decrypt) $BTC.X ( ▲ 0.57% )  

• Musk’s war against the trade war (Politico)

• Trump tariffs based on massive error, conservative think tank says (Axios)

🎧 Now playing: “Space Song” - Beach House

Tuesday Thursday Saturday is written by Katie Perry, owner of Ursa Major Media, which provides fractional marketing services and strategy in software, tech, consumer products, professional services, and other industries. She is also the co-host of Stocktwits’ Daily Rip Live show.

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Disclaimer: The contents here reflect recaps and summaries of pre-reported or published data, news, and trends. I have cited sources and context for the information provided to the best of my ability. The purpose of the newsletter is to inform and educate on larger trends shaping business and culture — this is NOT investment advice. As an investor, you should always do your own research before making any decisions about your money or your portfolio.