Saran_Poroong/iStock via Getty Images By Brian Levitt, Chief Global Market Strategist and Head of Strategy & Insights When your background is in macroeconomic and market strategy, there’s an unstated expectation that you can opine on everything. For example, I wasn’t a microbiologist in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, although I often felt like I was struggling to play one on television. In muc...
Saran_Poroong/iStock via Getty Images By Brian Levitt, Chief Global Market Strategist and Head of Strategy & Insights When your background is in macroeconomic and market strategy, there’s an unstated expectation that you can opine on everything. For example, I wasn’t a microbiologist in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, although I often felt like I was struggling to play one on television. In much the same way, I’m not a military strategist today - nor an expert on the inner thinking of US President Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, or Iranian Ayatollah Mojtaba Khomeini. It’s probably for the best. When you convince yourself that you understand the motivations and goals of political and military leaders, markets would likely have a way of humbling you quickly. This past week was a reminder. At various points, markets signaled that the war was intensifying, then nearing an end, and intensifying again. 1 Trying to trade in reaction to each headline is a recipe for being whipsawed. In periods like this, we come back to what we do best. We focus on interpreting what markets themselves are telling us. Business cycle indicators have shown only gradual deterioration Let’s start with the business cycle. As we’ve been saying, our preferred cyclical indicators are trending in the wrong direction, but they aren’t pointing to disaster. Credit spreads have modestly widened, 2 inflation expectations have trended higher, 3 and the US dollar has modestly strengthened. 4 The rise in inflation expectations has led investors to expect further rate increases from the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, and even the Bank of Japan. 5 Taken together, this gradual - but not meaningful - deterioration in cycle indicators suggests that markets still appear to believe in an exit ramp and an eventual resumption of the expansion once near-term uncertainty fades. Global signals point toward a slowdown Tactically, the picture has softened. Our short-lived global expansion signal h...
Public Service Enterprise Group ( PEG ) is historically known as a utility company, but recently it has been exploring opportunities in the data center sector in order to supply the hyperscalers with the required energy for their data centers, specifically in the PJM region. PEG operates through two businesses. PSE&G is the infrastructure segment that generates stable returns and is responsible fo...
Public Service Enterprise Group ( PEG ) is historically known as a utility company, but recently it has been exploring opportunities in the data center sector in order to supply the hyperscalers with the required energy for their data centers, specifically in the PJM region. PEG operates through two businesses. PSE&G is the infrastructure segment that generates stable returns and is responsible for distributing and delivering electricity to customers, in addition to PSEG Power, which produces and sells electricity in wholesale markets and is the primary growth engine of its parent company. The company owns giant nuclear plants like Hope Creek and Salem 1 and 2, which produce together around 3,758 megawatts of carbon-free energy. What distinguishes nuclear energy is that it meets the needs of hyperscalers and the accelerating demand for AI, as it is clean and stable unlike other sources. Recent operational developments reveal that the large load inquiries on the PSE&G network reached approximately 11,800 megawatts , reflecting the eagerness of data centers for power. PSE&G is already developing the infrastructure for a data center in Kenilworth to bring 100 MW by 2027 and can scale it up to 300 MW in two years, which could lead the market to reclassify it from a utility company to an AI infrastructure play. The Capacity Problem The AI models require huge computing power and therefore an enormous amount of electricity. Morgan Stanley indicates that the global demand for energy will increase by over a trillion kilowatt-hours annually until 2030, as data centers represent 20% of this growth, and the U.S. alone will consume 130 gigawatts by 2030, which is equivalent to the consumption of 114 million homes. The challenge facing hyperscalers such as Meta or Amazon, etc., is securing a stable long-term energy source to fulfill the need for the AI revolution, as relying on renewable sources such as solar and wind is excellent but unstable because it depends on weather condit...
With gasoline prices averaging above $4 a gallon nationally, drivers are grappling with a sharp rise in fuel costs. How can you get the most out of every fill-up?
With gasoline prices averaging above $4 a gallon nationally, drivers are grappling with a sharp rise in fuel costs. How can you get the most out of every fill-up?
Data center builder Firmus Technologies Pty raised $505 million in an investment round led by Coatue Management LLC , part of a global push to finance artificial intelligence infrastructure. The deal values the Australian startup at $5.5 billion, Firmus said Thursday. Nvidia Corp. , the top maker of AI accelerator chips, also participated in the round. The cash will go toward rapidly deploying AI ...
Data center builder Firmus Technologies Pty raised $505 million in an investment round led by Coatue Management LLC , part of a global push to finance artificial intelligence infrastructure. The deal values the Australian startup at $5.5 billion, Firmus said Thursday. Nvidia Corp. , the top maker of AI accelerator chips, also participated in the round. The cash will go toward rapidly deploying AI hardware based on forthcoming Nvidia computer technology in the Asia-Pacific region. Firmus, which has data center projects in Australia and Singapore, has raised $1.35 billion in the last six months, including this latest transaction. Firmus is leading an effort called Southgate, a plan to build data center capacity in Australia that runs on renewable energy, starting with a site in Tasmania. That facility will house computers based on 36,000 Nvidia accelerator chips after its first two rounds of technology deployments. The powerful processors help develop and run AI models by bombarding them with data. Nvidia, often in partnership with venture capital investors, has invested billions of dollars in AI companies. It’s aiming to help cultivate an industry that has already fueled explosive sales growth and turned Nvidia into the world’s most valuable business. As with the Firmus funding, Nvidia is backing companies that also buy its products. Some investors have expressed concern about the circular nature of these deals, something Nvidia has pushed back on. Read More: A Guide to the Circular Deals Underpinning the AI Boom Coatue, which has more than $70 billion in assets under management, has made its own push into AI technology. The New York-based investment firm has backed computing infrastructure as well as service providers like OpenAI and Anthropic PBC. Read More: OpenAI Set to Raise $10 Billion From MGX, Coatue, Thrive Firmus is using Vera Rubin DSX, a design provided by Nvidia for building what it calls AI factories. Vera Rubin is the code name for a new generation of ...
(Bloomberg) -- Data center builder Firmus Technologies Pty raised $505 million in an investment round led by Coatue Management LLC, part of a global push to finance artificial intelligence infrastructure. The deal values the Australian startup at $5.5 billion, Firmus said Thursday. Nvidia Corp., the top maker of AI accelerator chips, also participated in the round.The cash will go toward rapidly d...
(Bloomberg) -- Data center builder Firmus Technologies Pty raised $505 million in an investment round led by Coatue Management LLC, part of a global push to finance artificial intelligence infrastructure. The deal values the Australian startup at $5.5 billion, Firmus said Thursday. Nvidia Corp., the top maker of AI accelerator chips, also participated in the round.The cash will go toward rapidly deploying AI hardware based on forthcoming Nvidia computer technology in the Asia-Pacific region. Fir
As the first full trading week of 2026's second quarter kicks off, what will Wall Street investors be most focused on in Big Tech and Magnificent Seven stocks?Argent Capital Management portfolio manager Jed Ellerbroek sits down with Yahoo Finance Markets and Data Editor Jared Blikre and Senior Reporter Brooke DiPalma to talk about the expectations from tech giants to justify their AI capex and mon...
As the first full trading week of 2026's second quarter kicks off, what will Wall Street investors be most focused on in Big Tech and Magnificent Seven stocks?Argent Capital Management portfolio manager Jed Ellerbroek sits down with Yahoo Finance Markets and Data Editor Jared Blikre and Senior Reporter Brooke DiPalma to talk about the expectations from tech giants to justify their AI capex and monetization strategies.
Team will not panic in wake of City and Southampton defeats Raya set to return in goal for Tuesday’s first leg at Sporting Mikel Arteta has insisted that Arsenal will not panic after losing successive games for the first time this season but admitted that they must rediscover their identity to get their campaign back on track. The Premier League leaders face Sporting in the first leg of their Cham...
Team will not panic in wake of City and Southampton defeats Raya set to return in goal for Tuesday’s first leg at Sporting Mikel Arteta has insisted that Arsenal will not panic after losing successive games for the first time this season but admitted that they must rediscover their identity to get their campaign back on track. The Premier League leaders face Sporting in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final in Lisbon on Tuesday after seeing their hopes of an unprecedented quadruple crumble with defeats by Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final and the Championship side Southampton in the FA Cup . Bukayo Saka and Jurriën Timber have been ruled out as they continue to struggle with injuries, although there was better news for Arteta with Gabriel Magalhães, Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard all expected to feature against the Portuguese champions. Continue reading...
Douglas Rissing The March 2026 Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data released on February 3 delivered a surprise, as the U.S. economy added 178K jobs compared to the expectation of 60K, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics . The report came after the economy lost 133K jobs in February, with most gains seen in sectors like health care, construction, and transportation and warehousing, while feder...
Douglas Rissing The March 2026 Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data released on February 3 delivered a surprise, as the U.S. economy added 178K jobs compared to the expectation of 60K, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics . The report came after the economy lost 133K jobs in February, with most gains seen in sectors like health care, construction, and transportation and warehousing, while federal government employment continued to fall. The next employment situation for April is scheduled to release on Friday, May 8, 2026. However, this stronger-than-expected data led to a shift in rate cut expectations across the market. Following the March report, the CME FedWatch Tool indicated that markets priced in a 99.5% probability that the Federal Reserve would keep interest rates unchanged at 3.50%–3.75% at the April 29, 2026, meeting, with only a 0.5% chance of a hike. April Meeting: Feb Rate Cut Probability (CME Group FedWatch Tool) This outlook also changed Wall Street forecasts. According to a note dated April 3, Citigroup delayed its rate-cut timeline and now expects cuts of ~75 basis points in September, October, and December, instead of the earlier June, July, and September expectation. At the same time, Wells Fargo Investment Institute, as reported by Reuters , stated that it no longer expects the FED to cut rates in 2026 due to inflation uncertainty and geopolitical issues from the Middle East. However, a contrasting view emerged from the White House. Economic adviser Kevin Hassett told CNBC that a supply shock driven by capital spending and higher productivity from artificial intelligence could reduce inflationary pressure. He added that such conditions could allow the Fed to cut interest rates. Reportedly, he also indicated that rate cuts would be more likely if Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump’s nominee for Federal Reserve chair, assumed the position. In the market, Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) and altcoins like Ethereum ( ETH-USD ), XRP ( XRP-USD ), Solana ( SOL-...
Getty Images Alphabet stock: super-investors love it at $313 I last covered Alphabet Inc. ( GOOG , GOOGL ) on Feb 23 with an article titled " Alphabet: SpaceX IPO, 100-Year Bond, And My New Understanding Of Its Moat .” As stated in the title, the article was triggered by Google’s SpaceX ( SPACE ) holdings and also new bond issuance, and it rated the stock as Buy. Since then, there have been a few ...
Getty Images Alphabet stock: super-investors love it at $313 I last covered Alphabet Inc. ( GOOG , GOOGL ) on Feb 23 with an article titled " Alphabet: SpaceX IPO, 100-Year Bond, And My New Understanding Of Its Moat .” As stated in the title, the article was triggered by Google’s SpaceX ( SPACE ) holdings and also new bond issuance, and it rated the stock as Buy. Since then, there have been a few new developments worth noting. In the rest of this article, I will focus on two of them: the latest changes in professional fund managers’ holdings and also the latest AI traffic data. These changes, when combined, suggest the stock’s growth potential is discounted, thus offering a favorable return/risk ratio and leading to a reiteration of my Buy rating. Let me start with the changes of the so-called super-investors’ GOOG holdings. In my experiences, I benefited more from observing these investors’ transactions than following the overall market. The reasons are simply twofold in my mind. For these investors, A) their decisions are less biased by herd thinking, and B) their investment timeframe tends to be longer. With this background, the following screenshot shows the latest holdings of GOOG stock among super-investors tracked by DataRoma . As seen, GOOG currently ranks top 2 in terms of ownership and top 3 in terms concentration (i.e., percentage allocation in their portfolios). Overall, a total of 29 super-investors has a GOOG position, the stock makes up more than 2.2% of their accounts, and their current hold price is ~$313. The current market price for GOOG is about $296 as of this writing, which is quite close to their holding price (about 5.5% lower) and makes their decision of particular interest. Next, I will explain why these investors see a good deal at $313 and the return/risk curve is even more favorable at the current price of $296. DataRoma GOOG stock: growth outlook and return potential Before going into any further details, let’s me start with a broader p...