Barron’s (March 31)
“AI has yet to cure cancer or drive a car cross-country. But it has upended corporate strategy and spending plans, and opened the door to an age of rapid problem solving, enhanced productivity, and machine-driven creativity.” Still, it’s unclear where AI’s potential leads. “The AI hype cycle has entered a new phase, with investors looking for a payoff. As some of the early enthusiasm fades, tech stocks have entered a correction.”
Tags: AI, Cancer, Car, Corporate strategy, Correction, Creativity, Cure, Enhanced productivity, Enthusiasm, Hype, Investors, Payoff, Potential, Problem solving, Spending plans, Tech stocks, Unclear, Upended
Wall Street Journal (March 25)
“Annual issuance of U.S. Treasurys has exploded, nearly doubling since the pandemic began. The government sold a record $23 trillion worth in 2023.” This makes people “nervous” because “rapid growth in markets from tech stocks to mortgage bonds has ended badly in the past.” Given their ubiquity and potentially “unforeseen consequences,” any instability in the Treasury market “could rapidly spread” to other markets.
Tags: $23 trillion, 2023, Doubling, Exploded, Government, Issuance, Mortgage bonds, Nervous, Pandemic, Tech stocks, Treasurys, U.S., Ubiquity, Unforeseen consequences
Financial Times (November 15)
“One of Asia’s sleepiest investment sectors has outperformed tech stocks.” Share prices have soared at Japanese banks and their earnings now “confirm the prescience of that rally…. Earnings at Japan’s five biggest banking groups rose 56 per cent to a record of about ¥2tn ($13bn).” Higher spreads and buybacks are part of the equation, “but the biggest driver of the rally has been rising hopes that the central bank may end its ultra-easy monetary policy soon.”
Tags: Asia, Banks, BOJ, Buybacks, Earnings, Investment, Japan, Outperformed, Rally, Share prices, Soared, Spreads, Tech stocks
