Tuesday, April 28, 2026

The Morning Call---the beginning of the end for Open AI?

 

The Morning Call

 

4/28/26

 

The Market

         

    Technical

 

            Monday in the charts.

            https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/calm-storm-markets-go-nowhere-ahead-event-risk-heavy-week

 

Summary: Despite a tsunami of headlines (politics - Trump shooting and redistricting, geopolitics - US-Iran on again off again talks/proposals, macro - inflation upside and growth downside fears from supply chain disruptions, micro - AI 'throttling' and DeepSeek price cuts... to say the least) markets generally did a whole lot of nothing today as they endured the calm before the storm this week. Oil up, Stocks meh, Bond yields up a smidge, Dollar down. Bitcoin hit hard... but most of all - Semis down for the first time this month.

 

            Monday in the technical stats.

            https://www.barchart.com/stocks/momentum

            https://www.barchart.com/stocks/market-performance

            https://www.barchart.com/stocks/sectors/rankings

            https://www.barchart.com/stocks/signals/new-recommendations

 

            Bulls are back.

            https://www.bespokepremium.com/interactive/posts/think-big-blog/bulls-charge-back

 

Tuesday morning setup: US equity futures are lower, dragged by tech, following a report that OpenAI missed revenue and user targets and there growing internal pushback against Sam Altman's notorious aggressive spending (the company has $1.5 trillion in commitment it won't be able to meet), which is hitting semiconductors and the broader supply chain. AS of 8:15am ET, S&P futures are down 0.7% and Nasdaq futures dropped 1.2% as concerns resurfaced over whether the vast amounts of investment in artificial intelligence will pay off. In pre-market trading, Semis and Mag7 are under pressure. Defensives are leading Cyclicals ex-Energy. SoftBank, a key backer of ChatGPT’s owner, plunged 9.9% in Tokyo. US-based OpenAI partners including Oracle and CoreWeave fell in premarket trading. Nvidia was poised to drop 2.9% from a record high. Meanwhile, Brent rose above $111 a barrel, with the Strait of Hormuz still shut. Bond yields are 2-4bps higher as the yield curve flattens and USD appreciates, following the price of oil. Commodities continue to be led by Energy with WTI rising above $100/bbl after Trump signaled he was unlikely to accept Iran’s latest proposal to end the conflict which included a proposed a plan that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz while leaving questions about its nuclear program for later negotiations. There is material weakness in precious metals with silver’s underperformance possibly tied to Tech weakness. Today’s macro data focus is on weekly ADP, home price data, regional Fed activity indicators, and Consumer Confidence (though spending has de-coupled from sentiment). US economic data calendar slate includes weekly ADP employment change (8:15am), February FHFA house price index, S&P CS home prices (9am), April Richmond Fed manufacturing index and Conference Board consumer confidence (10am) and Dallas Fed services activity (10:30am)

 

    Fundamental

 

       Headlines

 

              The Economy

 

                        US

 

The April Dallas Fed manufacturing index was -2.3 versus forecasts of -0.8.---but not as bad as it looks.

                         https://www.advisorperspectives.com/dshort/updates/2026/04/27/dallas-fed-manufacturing-business-conditions-mixed-perceptions-april-2026

 

                        International

 

The March Japanese unemployment rate was 2.7% versus predictions of 2.6%.

 

                        Other

 

                          Some perspective on recent economic data.

                          https://www.advisorperspectives.com/commentaries/2026/04/27/where-random-walk-data-lead

 

                          Q1 GDP set to rebound but Gulf War clouds outlook.

                          https://www.capitalspectator.com/q1-gdp-set-to-rebound-but-gulf-war-stalemate-clouds-outlook/

 

            Iran

 

              Overnight news.

              https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/iran-offers-new-proposal-reopen-strait-trump-open-sealing-deal-phone

 

              Is the war now a ‘phoney war’?

  https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2026-04-27/iran-war-s-new-normal-is-becoming-a-phoney-sitzkrieg?utm_source=website&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=copy

 

 

            Monetary Policy

 

              Money supply and credit availability continue positive.

              https://bonddad.blogspot.com/2026/04/updating-long-leading-indicators-money.html

 

           

            Fiscal Policy

 

              A solution for the social security shortfall.

              https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/5845641-fix-social-security-now/

 

A great solution to the budget deficit problem. Six percent may not be the right number but the principle is spot on.

              (3) Rand Paul’s “Six Penny Plan” to Balance the Federal Budget in Five Years

 

            Tariffs

 

              Trade deficits didn’t drain US wealth; they made more of it.

  https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/04/27/trade-deficits-are-making-us-wealthier/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNzc3MjYyNDAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNzc4NjQ0Nzk5LCJpYXQiOjE3NzcyNjI0MDAsImp0aSI6IjFlMjMxYzMwLTllZTEtNGVkZC1hZjQzLTgwZDY5N2UzYTA2ZiIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9vcGluaW9ucy8yMDI2LzA0LzI3L3RyYWRlLWRlZmljaXRzLWFyZS1tYWtpbmctdXMtd2VhbHRoaWVyLyJ9.znFd5VNea_HK3jZfxCrPpkLFfvCSN4xIQN5iZ3HNo_0

 

                        The Financial System

 

              Private credit funds are working precisely as they were designed to do.

              https://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2026/04/27/private_credit_funds_are_working_precisely_as_designed_to_1178670.html

 

     Investing

 

            The beginning of the end for Open AI?

            https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/openai-misses-revenue-user-targets-cfo-fears-15-trillion-commitments-cant-be-paid

 

Why the market is shrugging off the oil shock---a less negative view of the future impact of oil price/supply.

            https://www.advisorperspectives.com/commentaries/2026/04/27/hormuz-why-markets-shrugging-oil-shock

 

            Another less negative view.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2026-04-27/us-stocks-will-keep-ignoring-the-iran-war?utm_source=website&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=copy

 

 

            The growing exposure to concentration risk.

            https://www.carsongroup.com/insights/blog/101460/

 

            Enjoy this bull market while it lasts.

            https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2026/04/an-all-time-bull-market/

 

            Semis dislocated from ISM survey.

            https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/semis-have-completely-dislocated-ism-readings-gap-always-closes-one-way-or-another

 

Summary: Investors are chasing the theme, regardless of how the stretched-looking rally has pushed the SOX Index into bubble-like territory. Not only has the index scaled the most overbought levels in over five years, it has also completely dislocated from the ISM Manufacturing reading, a gap that historically tends to close, one way or another.

 

            How to build a portfolio.

            https://www.morningstar.com/personal-finance/how-build-portfolio-what-own-what-skip-why

 

    News on Stocks in Our Portfolios

 

 

 

What I am reading today

 

           

 

 

Visit Investing for Survival’s website (http://investingforsurvival.com/home) to learn more about our Investment Strategy, Prices Disciplines and Subscriber Service.

 

 

 

No comments:

Post a Comment