The AI boom is no longer just about a handful of U.S. tech stocks.
Eurozone manufacturing PMI rose to 52.9 in September, Korea posted its fastest export growth in more than 15 years, and Taiwan’s PMI climbed to 56.7.
AI and semiconductor demand are showing up across the global manufacturing cycle.
I’m starting to see AI less as a “large model trade” and more as a global capex cycle.
If that view is right, the opportunity set should be much broader than just the model companies.
U.S. payrolls rose by just 29,000 in September, well below the 90,000 expected.
Unemployment also moved up to 4.2%.
And the Nasdaq still gained 1.19%.
That’s markets for you: weak economic data doesn’t automatically mean lower stocks.
The market was trading the idea that softer jobs data could mean a less aggressive Fed.
Don’t just ask whether the news is “good” or “bad.”
Ask what the market is actually pricing in.
$QQQ
Amazon is reportedly looking to sell about $8B worth of Nvidia AI chips to outside investors — and then lease them back.
In simple terms: it still wants the compute, just not all the assets sitting on its balance sheet.
At this stage of the AI capex boom, the question isn’t just who is buying the most GPUs.
It’s who can finance this spending — and eventually earn a return on it.
$AMZN