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Economic Data Pointing in Right Direction, for Now (Szn 6, Epsd 14)Podcast episode coverart

Economic Data Pointing in Right Direction, for Now (Szn 6, Epsd 14)

Published August 21, 2024

Feat Colin White, Verecan Capital

Colin White of Verecan Capital Management joins the podcast to discuss his views on the economy and why he considers the likelihood of a ‘soft landing’ to have increased…

This podcast was recorded on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024 and made available for premium subscribers the following day. More information on premium subscriptions is avalailable on our Substack page..

Content Highlights

  • Economic indicators are pointing to increased chances of a ‘soft landing’… (1:10);
  • The Federal Reserve (and other central banks) have ‘bullets in their gun’ in the form of interest rate cuts, should the need arise. Another reason for confidence (3:27);
  • Employment numbers are the most important datapoint to watch right now (6:41);
  • The Age of Finfluencers and dangers it has wrought (14:32);
  • Central banks have a responsibility to act in the best interests of the general public. If they stray from that responsibility, the structure that governs central banks can change (19:29);
  • Background on the guest (23:31);
  • No, real estate is not always a good investment (34:11);
  • AI discussion (37:41).

More on the Guest

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Bonds Poised for More Upside. Tech Stocks Too: Chad OlivierCover art feat Chad Olivier

Bonds Poised for More Upside. Tech Stocks Too: Chad Olivier

Published August 6, 2024

Chad Olivier of Baton Rouge, La.-based The Olivier Group joins the podcast to discuss his view of markets and why he is bullish about bonds and technology stocks.

This podcast episode was recorded July 30, 2024 and was made available to premium subscribers the following day — without ads or announcements. More information on premium subscriptions is available here.

Content Highlights

  • The view of the bond market has changed with the Fed (1:18)
  • The Olivier Group started adding bond exposure through ETFs in the first quarter and expects to add to it… (3:18);
  • The 10-year yield should drop to the 3% range “by this time next year” (4:43);
  • Small caps have recovered lately but the guest is less bullish there (9:31);
  • Technology stocks are much better positioned than in previous cycles (10:56);
  • Municipal bonds may also present an opportunity… (15:41);
  • Background on the guest (20:05);
  • Oil markets could present another opportunity, especially large cap, dividend-paying companies (23:58);
  • The political outlook and its impact on markets (25:51).

For more information on the guest visit the website OlivierGroup.com.

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The Search for ‘Undiscovered’ AI Chip Stocks

Published May 21, 2024

This blog post was originally published as part of today’s Daily Contrarian.

Recent market activity shows investors don’t want to wait for Nvidia (NVDA) earnings tomorrow to bid up AI chip stocks. Marvell Technology (MRVL) was one of the biggest winners yesterday. Smaller AI names like Soundhound AI (SOUN) also put in rallies, as did the usual suspects AMD (AMD), Micron (MU), Super Micro Computer (SMCI), Broadcom (AVGO), and Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM).

AI bull

Here’s an idea for an ETF: small AI hardware names. Limit it at, say $5 billion market cap companies. The focus on hardware would (presumably) allow for a margin of safety. It would also weed out names like the aforementioned Soundhound, C3.ai (AI), FARO Technologies (FARO), and others including companies that just plaster the term ‘AI’ all over their marketing materials to attract attention.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t leave much. The Contrarian did a preliminary search and found just a few such companies, almost all of them suppliers to the semiconductor industry. Of course, ‘undiscovered’ is a bit of a misnomer here. Investors have picked through any and every stock even remotely related to AI. Still, it’s fair to say these securities are certainly under-covered by Wall Street.

Names include ACM Research (ACMR), Camtek (CAMT), FormFactor (FORM), Ichor Holdings (ICHR), Kulicke and Soffa Industries (KLIC), Photronics (PLAB), Ultra Clean Holdings (UCTT), and Veeco Instruments (VECO).

It’s likely the AI hype story is already priced in to these stocks (didn’t check). But it may be worth putting these names in an index to track them, to the extent that somebody hasn’t done it yet. If nothing else this could give us an idea of stocks to buy when (if) there is a pullback in AI chip names.

There are obviously private companies as well, including Anthropic (OpenAI rival), Graphcore, Cerebras, SambaNova, Groq.

The Contrarian does not hold any of these stocks.

Update June 4, 2024: ACM Research will be removed from this list as the company does most of its business in China.

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