Good Morning,
The weather around Michigan was pretty sweet this past weekend. It would be a real treat if we could get more of the same this week. I tried my best. Happy early Halloween!
Markets look poised to rebound this morning after a volatile week centered on AI infrastructure financing, execution, and investment returns. News broke this morning that Meta is reportedly raising roughly $95 billion through a new stock offering to help fund its AI expansion. Also making headlines, Anthropic, best known for its large language model Claude, has publicly filed for its IPO. Both developments reinforce the strong momentum surrounding the AI ecosystem.
It's a big week for earnings and the AI trade in general, with Microsoft and Alphabet reporting on Wednesday, followed by Amazon on Thursday. Ultimately, it's consumer resilience and the willingness to spend, especially as we approach the holiday shopping season, that garners the majority of my attention.
While the Fed is expected to keep rates steady on Wednesday, any commentary regarding the path forward will be analyzed closely. Despite all the AI headlines, the biggest catalysts, in my view, remain inflation and oil prices. Until we see meaningful progress toward a resolution with Iran, I believe the market is likely to remain range-bound.
Value has outperformed growth year to date, and I anticipate that market leadership will continue to broaden as we move toward year-end.
As always, please reach out with any additional questions or comments.
Attached is this week's Market Strategy Radar Screen Report from John Stoltzfus, Chief Investment Strategist at Oppenheimer Asset Management.
Have a great week!