Saxo Market Call

Today - a market wrap after another big downdraft in AI names and even the broader market this time, as Amazon and Intel results sent chills and on the fear and loathing on the risks of the Iran War resuming in force. But most of all, a very long form take on the US mid-term elections next Tuesday, with thoughts on what could be at stake for both markets and US politics, not to mention the longer term outlook and important durable themes. Today's pod hosted by Saxo Global Head of Macro Strategy John J. Hardy.

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The slide deck for the US mid-terms.

Specific US mid-term elections where the issue of data centers is in play.

The SCMP on US tipping culture gone out of control - also whether it is a part of the creeping cost of living problem in the US and whether it is getting picked up in official measures of inflation. I have noticed this on travels back to the US in recent years - very annoying. Shouldn't businesses pay their workers a living wage rather than harassing customers?

Thoughtful Saxo Market Call podcast listener Mat Casey sent in his own vibe check of the American voter, especially on the issue of AI in his travels across America.

Michael McNair ponders whether the Binance hack could have been due to an employee compromised by blackmail linked to AI hacking tools. In other words, nasty operators can gain access to the corporate and other systems by hacking individuals' lives to use their online activity to blackmail them into surrendering their credentials.

Read daily in-depth market updates from the Saxo Market Call and the Saxo Strategy Team here.

Please reach out to us at marketcall@saxobank.com for feedback and questions.

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DISCLAIMER
This content is marketing material.
Trading financial instruments carries risks. Always ensure that you understand these risks before trading. This material does not contain investment advice or an encouragement to invest in a particular manner. Historic performance is not a guarantee of future results. The instrument(s) referenced in this content may be issued by a partner, from whom Saxo Bank A/S receives promotional fees, payment or retrocessions. While Saxo may receive compensation from these partnerships, all content is created with the aim of providing clients with valuable information and options.

Today, the market ended Wednesday on a positive move as the FOMC proved semi-dovish, at least according to market impressions, while the vibe changed sharply after the close on Alphabet's earnings miss relative to expectations, though most of the sentiment damage seems limited. ServiceNow got fewer headlines but was down 18.5% on its earnings report, triggering contagion across SaaS stocks. Elsewhere, we break down the FOMC event yesterday, today's ECB and the focus on a successor for President Lagarde as she announced today she will leave her post in February. This and much more on today's pod, which is hosted by Saxo Global Head of Macro Strategy John J. Hardy.

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John's The FX Trader from today.

Aswath Damodaran takes a stab at assessing Anthropic's market value, wild assumptions and all, ahead of its IPO. Yes, the assumptions for his model inputs may prove way off, but once we know more in the quarters ahead, we can plug some of the new figures into Damodaran's still useful overall model. Other voices are certainly sceptical.

The SCMP covers the EU weighing in on ditching Chinese suppliers, which European businesses are not happy about. Sovereign control of supply chains versus the hoping that China will remain a reliable supplier without imposing conditions - which side wins out?

An Italian advisor to Italy's Ministry of Defence argues that critical mineral stockpiling would be a mistake and that countries need vertically integrated supply chains to secure critical materials supply chains. (use Grok translate if you don't read Italiano).

WSJ covers wild demand to take a very difficult, very classics- and fiction reading intensive Humanities 10 course at Harvard - does this reflect a rebellion against what AI is doing to us all cognitively?

Read daily in-depth market updates from the Saxo Market Call and the Saxo Strategy Team here.

Please reach out to us at marketcall@saxobank.com for feedback and questions.

Click here to open an account with Saxo.

Intro music by AShamaluevMusic

DISCLAIMER
This content is marketing material.
Trading financial instruments carries risks. Always ensure that you understand these risks before trading. This material does not contain investment advice or an encouragement to invest in a particular manner. Historic performance is not a guarantee of future results. The instrument(s) referenced in this content may be issued by a partner, from whom Saxo Bank A/S receives promotional fees, payment or retrocessions. While Saxo may receive compensation from these partnerships, all content is created with the aim of providing clients with valuable information and options.

Today, covering the strong session yesterday and overnight in Asia for much of the AI hardware space, although Seagate Technology was a notable exception overnight and wondering how much of the story is linked to the incoming Anthropic IPO. Certainly an important test for the AI trade as three Mag7 hyperscalers are reporting today (Microsoft and Alphabet and tomorrow (Amazon.com). Lots going on in central bank landing as all G3 central banks are set to meet today through Friday, so it feels like a pivotal timeframe for nearly everything. This and more on today's pod, which is hosted by Saxo Global Head of Macro Strategy John J. Hardy.

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Saxo webinar covering the US mid-term election and possible market impact (hosted by John and Raphael Olsynza-Marzys of J. Safra Sarasin). Scroll to bottom of page to the Previous Webinars section.

WSJ with a long form profile of Google's top AI guy Demis Hassabis and why he believes the world is set to change radically (not sure how much it delivered on the latter, but Hassabis is an excellent communicator worth listening to).

A well-written review of the Nathan Fielder documentary of Elizabeth Holmes. Aren't self delusional sociopaths fascinating? And are there some other CEO's out there, amybe some atop AI companies, that share 10-20% or more of the Holmes profile, especially because self delusion can dovetail so temptingly with financial self interest?

Schroder's asks whether the titanic US pension system is a hidden risk for global equity markets, both due to AI and passive investing. Certainly, passive investing is arguably what drives the "wealth pump" in Peter Turchin's framework and is the single most important thing to follow in how our market system will either continue to provide strong returns or suffer a profound reset.

Read daily in-depth market updates from the Saxo Market Call and the Saxo Strategy Team here.

Please reach out to us at marketcall@saxobank.com for feedback and questions.

Click here to open an account with Saxo.

Intro music by AShamaluevMusic

DISCLAIMER
This content is marketing material.
Trading financial instruments carries risks. Always ensure that you understand these risks before trading. This material does not contain investment advice or an encouragement to invest in a particular manner. Historic performance is not a guarantee of future results. The instrument(s) referenced in this content may be issued by a partner, from whom Saxo Bank A/S receives promotional fees, payment or retrocessions. While Saxo may receive compensation from these partnerships, all content is created with the aim of providing clients with valuable information and options.

Today, we look at the market's enthusiasm for the coming Anthropic IPO, which took an important step closer with the release of their S1 prospectus yesterday. The floating of the company will prove a massive test for the AI trade. Elsewhere, plenty more to discuss as the Euro is coming under pressure again despite a bid for French sovereign debt yesterday. This and much more on today's pod, which is hosted by Saxo Global Head of Macro Strategy John J. Hardy.

Links

The UK Autumn Budget is incoming tomorrow from Chancellor Healey. There is talk of a more pragmatic approach from Burnham's government. Here is a thorough look at UK finances and perspective on what might be needed in this budget to stabilize the outlook for the UK's finances from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research commentators.

Michael McNair warns on how Anthropic's cost side may have been underestimated and warns very thoroughly with a rare, general bear market call, mostly based on concerns related to a cybersecurity event, for which an AI company could be found liable.

Louis Gave of GaveKal comments on the French debt situation and how real solutions are not meaningfully being discussed in this MacroVoices podcast (starting about 49 minutes in). Very interesting discussion of the three-way split in France's socioeconomic groups!

A WSJ article links the US midterm elections with the prospect for data center buildouts proceeding in key states as political risk is an important part of the AI trade.

Read daily in-depth market updates from the Saxo Market Call and the Saxo Strategy Team here.

Please reach out to us at marketcall@saxobank.com for feedback and questions.

Click here to open an account with Saxo.

Intro music by AShamaluevMusic

DISCLAIMER
This content is marketing material.
Trading financial instruments carries risks. Always ensure that you understand these risks before trading. This material does not contain investment advice or an encouragement to invest in a particular manner. Historic performance is not a guarantee of future results. The instrument(s) referenced in this content may be issued by a partner, from whom Saxo Bank A/S receives promotional fees, payment or retrocessions. While Saxo may receive compensation from these partnerships, all content is created with the aim of providing clients with valuable information and options.

Today, a look at another US equity market session Friday marked by huge market divergences as we also look into what may be driving this phenomenon. Elsewhere, we preview a very busy week ahead, with the big three central banks all set to meet this week and an ongoing blitz of incoming earnings reports, with three of the Mag7 reporting. Perhaps most importantly, we remind of the terrible overhang of geopolitical uncertainty as Israel and the US are posturing with significant force build-ups in the Middle East. This and more in today's pod, which is hosted by Saxo Global Head of Macro Strategy John J. Hardy.

Links

Michael Every highlighted this article from the FT on the EU having its own wakeup moment on critical material supply chains and taking equity stakes in new ventures.

Albert Bridge Capital talks about the profound short-termism of traders and investors active in the US equity market as having shades of both the tech/telecom bubble and the Nifty Fifty era in the 1970's, and about the potential longer term opportunities this could bring.

This one went really viral: a retrospective on the 2028 AI Bubble crash, written as if the year is 2030. I didn't note on the podcast that the piece also has a positive on how AI will impact the economy, even if a bubble would be harmful for investors. Think the railroad and internet backbone boom/busts. 

Torsten Slok uncorks some stark language on AI, saying that non-Mag7 corporations are essentially getting nothing out of their spending on it.

Two long-form podcasts for you today, one with Vincent Deluard talking his bearish call on equities and understated inflation, and another one with Richard Mullin on the potential for a secular commodities bull market and more.

Read daily in-depth market updates from the Saxo Market Call and the Saxo Strategy Team here.

Please reach out to us at marketcall@saxobank.com for feedback and questions.

Click here to open an account with Saxo.

Intro music by AShamaluevMusic

DISCLAIMER
This content is marketing material.
Trading financial instruments carries risks. Always ensure that you understand these risks before trading. This material does not contain investment advice or an encouragement to invest in a particular manner. Historic performance is not a guarantee of future results. The instrument(s) referenced in this content may be issued by a partner, from whom Saxo Bank A/S receives promotional fees, payment or retrocessions. While Saxo may receive compensation from these partnerships, all content is created with the aim of providing clients with valuable information and options.