Joe 90 was there 55 years ago. Apple spent a fortune on developing the mega-hyped VisionPro mixed reality headset – and it comes with a battery pack??? WTF! It won’t sink the company, but may remind us its mortal.
What does £5.40 a coffee tell us about the economy? That inflation is sticky. Do we face a stagflationary bust or a reflationary boom? Either will mean Central Banks have failed. At the heart of today’s economy are a succession of issues to resolve – not least is the need for a reset on corporate behaviours to drive stable growth.
Big Tech is so yesterday. Prices peaked last year, but there are limited reasons to expect they will ever become so dominant again. They are too big, under the regulatory cosh, and increasingly under competitive pressure. They are heading the same way as the dinosaurs.
Big Tech “growth” stocks suffered a price-check this week as economic reality bit, but they face much more pressure than just short-term cost and sales problems. Long-Term, new businesses and opportunities are evolving to eat their lunch, and leave them behind.
Global Markets have nosedived – the UK’s confidence crisis is one trigger alongside rising recession risks, crashing consumer spending and host of indications we ain’t near done on higher interest rates as inflation becomes embedded into economies and dollar strength continues unabated.
There is nothing like a dead cat bounce to cheer up the already doomed, but the real issues are inflation and dollar strength. Both can be addressed, and the treatment will hurt. Smile and get used to it.
BP will use some of its windfall Ukraine Oil Spike profits to fund a stock buy-back. Stock buy-backs are appropriate is some limited circumstances, but generally they distort the way capitalism is supposed to work, undermining good companies and sound corporate governance.
In bonds there is truth: Apple’s Jumbo $5.5 bln corporate bond deal hints of a firmer market to come. A clear divide between US Recovery and European Slowdown is increasingly apparent – a weaker Euro will further add to European problems.
Despite US inflation hitting a 40 year high, US growth stocks rallied – reflecting the belief inflation and recession will be short and sharp. It’s a fair bet – but go back into growth stocks eyes-wide-open, and don’t be fooled by the most dangerous myth surrounding Tech – Personalities!
April 2022 will go down in market history as the month it all became obvious.. But what? That the global economy is in need of repair, markets are overly euphoric and consumers can’t consume when they are broke.
