Wall Street has just ended its worst week since October last year, albeit off record highs. The fate of Wall Street remains tied to the big tech companies, though unexpectedly strong jobs market data over the weekend did shift some of the focus onto interest rates, and the potential for hikes in coming months.

The question for investors is that if interest rates in the US rise, will that crimp the trillions of dollars in AI spending expected over the next few years?

Another market tied to big tech is the Korean market. It is up 94 per cent so far this year, on the back of a rally in tech companies like Samsung and SK Group. That compares to the ASX200, which is down one per cent, year-to-date.

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Greed-o-meter

Bunnings was the most trusted brand in the last 12 months, according to Roy Morgan's latest survey. And on the other side of the ledger - Optus has displaced Woolworths at the top of the most distrusted list.

Source: Roy Morgan

Fear & Greed Q+A today

The AI boom isn’t just about software. It’s also about where all that data actually lives:

 

"Ten years ago a lot of businesses could afford to have their own data centres on premises and manage them internally with IT managers.

 

But as businesses grow and the demand for data grows, they’re looking at ways to optimise and provide scalable options with data centres.

 

I almost look at data centre demand as our housing problem in Australia. We have a lot of houses, but there still isn’t enough. So do we build 10,000 houses, or do we build high-rise dense apartments where it’s more efficient in terms of energy and scalability?

 

That’s how people are starting to think about data centres now — how do we make them denser, more energy efficient and more scalable while still utilising some of the legacy infrastructure that already exists?"

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News in brief

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the country’s first female PM Julia Gillard have come out in support of Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan after a barrage of misogynistic attacks against her, including billboards around Melbourne appearing calling to “Ditch the Witch”.

China has moved past Japan to become the biggest car supplier to Australia, with imports from companies such as BYD accelerating to a record high, powered by demand for electric vehicles.

New research from the Reserve Bank shows that investors in the housing market are typically higher income earners, are better repayers than owner-occupiers, and most of them only have one investment property.

There has been a 40 per cent rise in nicotine consumption since 2017 in Australia, pretty much all due to the surge in illegal cigarettes sales, which now account for 80 per cent of the market.

Artificial intelligence has been used to develop a "fundamentally new" type of vaccine that could protect against large swathes of viruses and prevent pandemics.

Fear-o-meter

The New York Times on Elon Musk's record of achieving stated goals

“Elon Musk has laid out hundreds of goals over the years for what he plans to achieve at his businesses. Mr. Musk, 54, has said his rocket company, SpaceX, will build a colony of humans on Mars. He has said that Tesla, his electric carmaker, will incorporate fully autonomous driving abilities into all of its cars. And he has promised to show that humanoid robots made by Tesla are dexterous enough to thread a needle. None of these have happened.

“Ahead of SpaceX’s planned initial public offering this month, The New York Times analyzed statements that Mr. Musk has made about his businesses on social media or during investor calls over the last 15 years. He delivered only some of what he said he would, when he said he would, the analysis found.

“Of the 600 claims:

• Musk has achieved his goals 19 per cent of the time.
• He was late or failed to deliver 35 per cent of the time.
• About a third of his goals were too vague to determine whether they were met.
• Another 13 per cent have deadlines in the future.”

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