Tech companies big and small seem to be incorporating AI technology and crypto is reaping big gains

TL;DR

• The Fed chose to raise base rates by 0.25 percentage points, sticking to the script despite economic uncertainty from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank
• AI continues to make headlines as technology companies both large and small launch new products and features almost daily
• Crypto has been quietly recording big gains, and some believe the current economic swings may mean it needs to run further
• Top weekly and monthly trades

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Major events that can affect your portfolio

A month ago, it was virtually guaranteed that the Fed would raise interest rates by 0.25 percentage points at its meeting in March. Some analysts were even beginning to wonder if we would see a 0.5 percentage point increase, as inflation remains stubbornly high.

But after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, this sure thing suddenly became more uncertain. Predictions fluctuated wildly in the days leading up to the announcement. Goldman Sachs and Moody’s even predicted a total pause in rate hikes this month.

In the end, however, it was the original narrative that was followed with an increase of 0.25 percentage points to the base rate.

And it made sense. The risk that the Fed would have run by deviating from the existing plan is that it would have given the impression that they were much more concerned about the stability of the financial system than they were letting on.

So while a pause in hikes would have been done to provide respite for troubled banks, the reality could be the exact opposite.

For investors, the key was not the number, but the comments. Chairman Jerome Powell hinted that they could be moving closer to a change in their tightening policy, which is a big departure from previous announcements and a potentially welcome sign for investors.

The futures market is even pricing in a full percentage point rate cut by the end of the year, although Powell said a cut is not on their agenda for this year.

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The AI ​​race is well underway. From the moment ChatGPT was released into the wild, there has been a continuous stream of new products, features and announcements across the technology. The biggest tech giants in the world are getting into the game, as well as countless indie developers building micro products and plugins.

It’s the last gold rush, and just like the original, there are going to be some big winners, as well as a lot of losers along the way.

For investors, it’s actually a very challenging environment to invest in. The technology is disruptive, but this early in the cycle, it’s hard to know how much of the hype cycle is real. The main point is really that AI is not new. ChatGPT may have created a “wow” factor that brought it into the mainstream, but AI is used in almost every piece of technology we use on a daily basis.

Predictive text, which is really all ChatGPT is, has been around since the Nokia 3310. Companies like YouTube, Google, NetflixNFLX and Spotify have been using AI algorithms to recommend content for years. Q.ai has also used AI to help increase investment returns for years.

The very first version of the chatbot, which was to become Apple’s AAPL Siri, came out in 1993.

So for investors, it’s time to be wary. Much like other hype cycles we’ve seen like the dot com boom, there’s no way to know which AI projects have long-term value and which are doomed to failure.

This week’s top theme from Q.ai

While the banking sector has had (far) better months, mainstream finance’s loss could be crypto’s gain. For a long time, BitcoinBTC enthusiasts have touted the cryptocurrency as an alternative to the traditional financial system.

The financial system relies on trusted intermediaries, such as banks, to function properly. When they mess up, it can shake confidence in the system, which has ripple effects throughout the economy.

Bitcoin on the other hand is decentralized. It cannot be controlled by any organization or individual, as the network is operated by thousands of individual “nodes” around the world. Until now, mainstream adoption has been mainly limited to speculators hoping to bring about exponential price increases.

Some believe that the current economic environment could lead to hyperinflation in the United States, which would accelerate the adoption of Bitcoin as a world reserve currency. Pretty “out there” stuff. While we’re not convinced we’re about to see the fall of the US dollar anytime soon, the recent uncertainty has been a boon for crypto.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is up 20.84% ​​over the past 30 days according to CoinMarketCap and up 68% year to date. It’s a similar story for EthereumETH which has gained 47% so far this year, XRPXRP which is up 26% and CardanoADA which has jumped 44.57%.

For investors looking to hedge their exposure to mainstream financial assets like stocks and bonds, Q.ai’s Crypto Kit offers investment in all of these and more, using AI to automatically balance these holdings through the use of public crypto funds.

Top Trade Ideas

Here are some of the top ideas our AI systems recommend for the next week and month.

Texas Capital Bancshares (TCBI) – The Texas Capital Bank holding company is one of ours Top buys for next week with an A rating in our growth factor. Revenue increased by 23.7% in 2022.

Seagen (SGEN) – The biotechnology company is ours Top Short for next week with our AI, they rank an F in quality value. Earnings per share were -$3.30 in 2022.

Franklin Street Properties (FSP) – The property investment company is ours Top buys for next month with an A-rating in Growth and Technology. Gross profit margin was 47.2% in 2022.

IronNet (IRNT) – The online car dealer is ours Top Short for next month with our AI, they rank an F in quality value. Earnings per share were -2.81 USD in 2022.

Our AIs Top ETF trades for the next month is to invest in gold miners and consumer discretionary stocks, and short US momentum stocks and mid-caps. Top buy are the VanEck Gold Miners ETF, the iShares Global Consumer Discretionary ETF and the Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF and Top shorts are the iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF and the Vanguard Mid-Cap Value ETF.

Recently published Qbits

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