April 2023

Has AI Replaced the Blockchain Craze?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a crowd-pleaser and is taking oxygen away from crypto and blockchain.

What has initiated this trend?

Sam Altman and Open AI’s ChatGPT.

Altman wanted to create a non-profit that would use AI technology for the greater good of humanity. His mission was backed by Tesla’s Elon Musk and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, thereby ensuring the success of its genesis.

Upon its launch, in just one week, one million users quickly signed up.

ChatGPT can create persuasive marketing messages, ad copy, and complex computer programs.

Altman’s venture may be even considered a challenge to the most established tech giants, such as Google (GOOGL). At a $29 billion valuation, Chat GPT is grabbing attention. Venture capital firms are already in negotiations to acquire a stake in OpenAI.

Despite the NASDAQ’s decline, OpenAI has achieved unprecedented success and a remarkable valuation.

Is ChatGPT only for the sophisticated investor?

No, you can invest in this space via a publicly traded fund that has indirect exposure to ChatGPT. Deep pockets are not necessary.

Microsoft (MSFT) has recently made a $13 billion investment in Open AI, which will cement the tech giant’s partnership. This new alliance will provide critical funding to OpenAI and enable could computing power to run increasingly complex models. Microsoft plans to use OpenAI’s technology in a variety of products, including Bing’s search engine and Microsoft Design.

Nvidia Corporation (NVDA) plays a pivotal role in the tech industry. It is best known for its production of top-end graphics chips, which serve as an important source for AI software models, but its role in the technology space may evolve rapidly as it expands into the developing AI industry.

Although we are in the early stages of the AI movement, many businesses have already grabbed AI and strapped it to their core business. It has become a growing trend and is making those businesses a ton of money. AI is growing far faster than anyone realized and the impact on corporate earnings will be enormous.

BigBear.ai Holdings Inc. (BBAI) has seen its share price increase fivefold because of its use of AI to assist clients in data analysis.

A media company called BuzzFeed Inc. (BZFD), saw its stock price increase more than 300% in just two days after announcing its plan to integrate AI-based content into its “core business.”

C3.ai Inc. (AI) is one of the top-performing software makers, with a 77% rally last month, driven by customers like Raytheon Technologies Corp (RTX) and Baker Hughes Co (BKR).

Another company, LivePerson Inc (LPSN), is attracting much notice with its plans to integrate generative capabilities from OpenAI, causing its shares to surge by as much as 19%.

Baidu (BIDU) also has plans to launch its own version of Chat GPT, but its stock price isn’t impressed yet.

ChatGPT offers impressive advances in the field of AI, which can be helpful in performing various personal and professional tasks. Growth and innovation in this area is certain.

AI technology is powerful, useful, and beneficial for our modern society if used responsibly.

Investment in this area should be done thoughtfully and after much careful research. Microsoft (MSFT) and Nvidia (NVDA) would be excellent choices to start your investment in this space.

April 17, 2023 - Quote of the Day

Diary, Newsletter, Quote of the Day

“If Lake Tahoe doesn’t cure what ails you, I will bury you at my own expense,” said the 19^th century humorist Mark Twain.

April 19, 2023

Jacque's Post

(APPLE LAUNCHES ITS OWN SAVINGS ACCOUNT WITH A 4.15% INTEREST RATE)

April 19, 2023

Hello everyone,

An Apple laptop, an Apple iPad, an Apple iPhone and now we are being lured to purchase an Apple Card with a savings A/C attached and an enticing interest rate.

The card requires no minimum deposit or balance, and users can set up an account from the Wallet app on their iPhones.

Users must have an Apple Card to open the savings account.

In a press release the company stated that all daily cash reward earned through the Apple Card will automatically be deposited to the savings account. Daily Cash is the Apple Card reward program that offers up to 3% back on purchases. Users can change where their Daily Cash is deposited at any time and can also add funds from their bank account to build on their earnings.

Apple is launching the Savings Account through Goldman Sachs.

APY on savings accounts, on average, are quite low. Some even offer as little as 0.40%. Other institutions like credit unions and online banks and brick and mortar banks offer customers an attractive APY.

For instance, CIT Bank offers a savings account with a 4.75% APY when customers deposit a minimum balance of $5,000. Capital One’s savings account has no minimum balance, and users can earn a 3.5% APY. Vio Bank offers a savings account with a 4.77% APY with no minimum balance.

Apple Card savings users can manage their accounts through a dashboard that will appear in the Wallet app, where they can track their interest and their account balance or withdraw funds.

The feature is rolling out inside the Apple Wallet app on iPhones now.

Wishing you all a healthy and prosperous week.

Cheers,

Jacque

“Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.”

Trade Alert - (BAC) APRIL 21, 2023 - EXPIRATION AT MAX PROFIT

Trade Alert

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Trade Alert - (IBKR) APRIL 21, 2023 - EXPIRATION AT MAX PROFIT

Trade Alert

When John identifies a strategic exit point, he will send you an alert with specific trade information as to what security to sell, when to sell it, and at what price. Most often, it will be to TAKE PROFITS, but, on rare occasions, it will be to exercise a STOP LOSS at a predetermined price to adhere to strict risk management discipline. Read more

April 19, 2023

Tech Letter

Mad Hedge Technology Letter
April 19, 2023
Fiat Lux

Featured Trade:

(NETFLIX WORTH A TRADE)
(NFLX), (YOUTUBE)

Netflix Worth a Trade

Tech Letter

Netflix (NFLX) missed expected subscribership by 24% and that used to never happen with the old NFLX.

NFLX was that one company among a handful like Microsoft, Google, and Apple that always beat whatever gaudy estimate that was thrown at them.

Times are different.

Tech has essentially been told to eat some humble pie.

Gone are the days of yore when a big tech firm could hire tech workers and give them a fake job just to keep “talent” away from other big tech firms.

Those were the golden years of 0% interest rate policies from the Fed and now the Fed has stopped subsidizing NFLX subscriber numbers.

The truth is that the company and its content aren’t that great especially nothing better than what is on Google’s YouTube which is free with ads.

No surprise that NFLX has rolled out an ad-tier version of its service which is another underwhelming strategy for a firm that used to be the torchbearer of digital content.

Netflix, which broadened its crackdown to include countries like Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, and Spain, in addition to the test countries of Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru, revealed it's planning "a broad rollout" of the policy this quarter that will include the US.

The ad plan, dubbed "Basic with Ads," comes at a cost of $6.99 a month in the US and serves as a complement to Netflix's existing ad-free tiers — the Standard plan ($15.49 a month) and the Basic plan ($9.99 a month.)

The company, which revealed the ad tier now has about 95% of the same content as ad-free plans due to new licensing deals.

It’s funny to see NFLX hype up its own password crackdown strategy.

When they had the mentality of abundance, they didn’t really care if whole villages were using the same password.

Now they suddenly care because growth is harder and harder to come by because the product has heaps more competition than ever before and its content doesn’t stick out as it used to.

Even Walmart and Target absorb write-downs for all the theft it experiences annually and theft still happens at a high rate.

Netflix going after password sharing as if it is some type of growth strategy underscores that its business model is more like in the 8^th inning of a 9-inning game.

Where are the great ideas?

Management needs to answer to that instead of talking about their core businesses like it’s the fringes.

The stock dropped from $700 to $170 in late 2021 until mid-2022 and alarm bells were ringing inside of NFLX’s offices.

The rebound back to $320 was just a reversion to the mean because of an oversold position.

The next question is if NFLX really has a lot of juice left and I feel we are at another inflection point when the business model is weakening.

However, with interest rate cuts forecasted for later in 2023, I do believe the path to $400 per share exists along as we avoid global financial contagion or an invasion of Taiwan.

The stock is still too beaten down and I can easily visualize traders pumping up the stock to $420 only for investors to realize that a password-sharing ban is not a growth strategy and the quality of content not better than free YouTube isn’t improving by 30% every year.

This would be a good buy-the-dip candidate in the very short term.

nflx

Quote of the Day - April 19, 2023

Tech Letter

“The AI technology will keep you out of harm's way. That is why we believe in an AI car that drives for you.” – Said CEO of Nvidia Jensen Huang

April 19, 2023

Diary, Newsletter, Summary

Global Market Comments
April 19, 2023
Fiat Lux

Featured Trade:

(FRIDAY, MAY 19, 2023 BOCA RATON, FLORIDA STRATEGY LUNCHEON)
(WATCH THE JOHN THOMAS LIBRARY OF CONGRESS INTERVIEW)
(PLEASE USE MY FREE DATABASE SEARCH)

CLICK HERE to download today's position sheet.

Watch the John Thomas Library of Congress Interview

Diary, Newsletter

This is part of a Congressional effort to support veterans. I ramble onward about my career of fighting in seven wars over 55 years. Please excuse the beard, it was still early in the pandemic. Now you know why I still set off metal detectors. It’s official! Now, even the US government considers me a museum-worthy relic.

John Thomas Interview