For more than a month, the market has found itself in AI-fueled “doom loop,” flip flopping between fears that the hundreds of billions of dollars being spent on AI will not pay off and worries that industries from software to wealth management and logistics will be rendered obsolete by the same technology. Bloomberg writes that … Read more
Markets were quietly volatile yesterday. There are ample cross currents. Is AI the panacea for deficits and the elixir for robust profits or will it crush the workforce and corporate balance sheets? Is Bit Coin a possible safe haven asset or is it an over owned risk asset? Are jobs plentiful or is the labor … Read more
January’s CPI largely met expectations, defying concerns for a bigger jump and boosting expectations that the Federal Reserve will deliver more interest rate cuts. January inflation readings have been strong in recent years, often beating expectations as companies tend to raise their prices at the start of the year. Many had called for an even … Read more
January’s jobs report was stronger than expected. Payrolls rose the most in more than a year and the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell even with an increase in the Labor Participation Rate (LPR). The report suggests that the labor market is find its footing after a year of nominally rising unemployment and minimal hiring. Has the … Read more
Retail sales unexpectedly stalled in December, suggesting consumers provided less fire power to the economy as the year drew to a close. The data indicated that there are signs discretionary spending is less robust for lower income Americans, the result of a higher cost of living that may not be accurately measured in the data. … Read more
The NASDAQ is spooked by the massive amounts of monies the four largest technology companies– GOOG, AMZN, META and MSFT –are planning to spend on AI infrastructure. According to Bloomberg, these four companies have projected 2026 AI capital expenditures at around $650 billion up from about $365 billion in 2025 and up from the initial … Read more
The NASDAQ has experienced its worst three-day rout since the April 2025 tariff induced selloff. The broader market, however, has advanced. Bit coin continued its decent falling to the lowest levels since October 2024. Its value has been almost cut in half since October. Silver fell another 13%. Unlike in April, there is no obvious … Read more
Will the upcoming earnings releases from mega tech GOOG and AMZN stem the slide in Magnificent Seven and the technology/software sector? The NASDAQ declined another 1.5% while the broader market held steady. Is there any correlation between the continued rout in bitcoin to the tentative rotation out of tech? Bitcoin fell another 3% yesterday with … Read more
Led by the software companies, the NASDAQ fell about 1.5%. A narrative is beginning to emerge that AI will begin to replace software. Is this a realistic concern? Bloomberg writes that of the software companies that have released results, 67% have exceeded expectations. That compares with 83% for the overall tech sector. Will this narrative … Read more
Equity markets were bolstered by optimism in the manufacturing sector which unexpectedly expanded in January by the fastest pace since 2022. The data surpassed all estimates provided by Bloomberg. A 10-point increase in a gauge of new orders was a major reason for this reading. Order backlogs expanded for the first time since 2022 while … Read more
