Wednesday, June 3, 2026

The Morning Call--AI: the turning point?

 

The Morning Call

 

6/3/26

 

The Market

         

    Technical

 

            Tuesday in the charts.

            https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/bitcoin-battered-black-gold-bid-job-openings-battle-hormuz-closings

 

Summary: surge in job openings (and plunging quits) combined with continued upbeat earnings sparked a notable decoupling between stocks (higher) and oil (higher) as traders parsed discordant signals on the prospects of a US-Iran peace deal. Bond yields tracked oil (and JOLTS helped) but ended unch-ish, with both gold and the dollar roller-coastering to end unch also. Bitcoin was clubbed a baby seal, completely decoupling from tech stocks.

 

            Tuesday 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

           

Wednesday morning setup: US equity futures are mixed as oil prices, bond yields, and USD move higher in response to the latest overnight attacks in the Middle East with no public progress on a deal. As reported previously, the US struck Iran’s Qeshm Island, which was then met with retaliatory Iranian strikes on US bases in Kuwait; explosions were also reported in Saudi Arabia, and air sirens were set off in the UAE. US Centcom said that the Iranian drone attacks were “successfully defeated.” As of 8:00am ET, S&P futures were down 0.1% but off session lows: absent the now daily gamma squeeze, the S&P is poised to halt a nine-day rally; Nasdaq futures rose 0.2% with semis bid premarket led by MRVL, INTC, AVGO, and AMD as Mag7 names are weaker. Some pockets of tech exuberance are seen in the US pre-market with Marvell adding 12% to Tuesday’s near 33% surge. Tech enthusiasm was once again on display in Asia with the MSCI APAC index hitting yet another record high. Mag7 have been used as a funding trade to buy Semis and to make room for deals, according to JPM. Cyclicals ex-Energy are lagging Defensives. Brent rose 2.3% to top $98 a barrel. The yield on 10-year Treasuries climbed four basis points to 4.48% as crude prices stoked concerns about inflationary pressures; the yield curve is bear flattening with yields up 3-4bp as USD is poised for its strongest week since mid-May. Data calendar includes May ADP employment change (8:15am), S&P Global US services PMI (9:45am), and April factory orders and May ISM services index (10am). Fed speaker slate includes Barr (9am) and Logan (4pm), and Beige Book is slated for 2pm release.

 

    Fundamental

 

       Headlines

 

              The Economy

 

                        US

 

Weekly mortgage applications declined 2.5% while purchase applications were off 2.9%.

 

Month to date retail chain store sales were up 9%, a similar rise as the preceding week.

 

April job openings (JOLTS) totaled 7.62 million versus consensus of 6.88 million.

https://bonddad.blogspot.com/2026/06/april-jolts-report-confirms-low-hire.html

 

May light vehicle sales totaled 16.1 million versus projections of 16.0 million.

 

The June small business optimism index came in at 42.5 versus estimates of 44.5.

           

                        International

 

                          April EU PPI was reported up 0.6% versus expectations of +0.4%.

 

The May Japanese services PMI was 50.0, in line; its May composite PMI was 51.0, also in line; the May German services PMI was 48.1 versus 47.8; its May composite PMI was 48.8 versus 48.6; the May EU services PMI was 47.7 versus 46.4, its May composite PMI was 48.5 versus 47.5; the May UK services PMI was 49.3 versus 47.9; its May composite PMI was 49.7 versus 48.5.

 

                        Other

 

            Overnight News

 

Even as the piles of capital secured have grown ever larger, the ability to deploy it in the artificial intelligence race has become less certain. Supply-chain backlogs, permitting fights and availability of power supplies are among the issues that have caused the construction of data centers to fall behind targeted timelines, with the gap growing wider in recent months.

 

Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh has tapped two outside associates (Paul Winfree and Daniel Heil) to advise him while he settles into the job, one of whom previously helped write a conservative blueprint that recommended a radical restructuring of the central bank.

 

Federal Reserve watchers expect Kevin Warsh to begin revamping the central bank’s rate guidance as soon as this month, as the newly appointed chair embarks on a sweeping overhaul of the institution. Several former top officials said that they expected Warsh, whom President Donald Trump swore in to succeed Jay Powell as Fed chair in May, to begin rolling back the central bank’s “forward guidance” on interest rates as soon as the mid-June Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

 

            Iran

 

              Overnight news.

              https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/major-iranian-attack-kuwait-international-airport-leaves-one-dead-63-injured

 

            Fiscal Policy

 

              The fiscal inheritance of Gen Z---we can only hope that the author is right.

              https://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2026/06/02/a_great_fiscal_inheritance_for_gen_z_and_an_even_bigger_opportunity_1186036.html

 

 

            Inflation

 

              EU inflation assures rate hike.

              https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/euro-area-inflation-tops-30-first-time-2023-cementing-ecb-rate-hike

 

            AI

 

              The turning point?

              https://alhambrapartners.com/weekly-market-pulse-the-turning-point/?src=news

 

              AI will create more jobs, not fewer.

              https://www.apollo.com/wealth/the-daily-spark/ai-will-create-more-jobs-not-fewer

 

            Tariffs

 

              Trump proposes new round of tariffs.

              https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-team-proposes-new-tariff-round-60-countries-over-forced-labor-practices

 

     Investing

 

            Is the S&P rising too fast?

            https://politicalcalculations.blogspot.com/2026/06/is-s-500-rising-too-much-too-fast.html

 

            The S&P is in rare territory.

            https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/outside-recession-rebounds-sp-hasnt-done-right-1987s-black-monday

 

Summary:  Global equities have seen remarkable strength given the current array of risks, with the S&P 500 up +16% in two months. But since WWII, the S&P 500 has only seen a two-month gain that fast coming out of a recession (like the GFC and Covid-19) or before a major crash like Black Monday 1987. . Along similar lines, credit spreads also remain historically tight, even as warning signs on the consumer are building. . Nevertheless, this resilience to geopolitical risk in equity and credit markets still isn’t reflected among sovereign bonds. 10yr Treasury yields have continued to trade almost entirely in line with oil prices over the last month, even as other assets have decoupled. Despite the Strait of Hormuz staying closed longer than initially anticipated, the oil futures curve has been remarkably contained in the last two months.

 

            Update on valuations.

            https://www.advisorperspectives.com/dshort/updates/2026/06/02/p-e10-and-market-valuation-may-2026

 

            Five investment themes to watch.

            https://giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/actions/redeem/b7a261ee-4a73-4ade-813e-2f3b7e7e3522

 

            Stop chasing fund performance.

            https://behaviouralinvestment.com/2026/06/02/please-stop-chasing-fund-performance/

 

    News on Stocks in Our Portfolios

 

 

 

What I am reading today

 

            Consumer sentiment and politics.

            https://stayathomemacro.substack.com/p/consumer-sentiment-isnt-politics

 

                        Creating abundant risk free information at no cost.

            https://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2026/06/02/creating_abundant_market_information_in_a_risk-free_way_1185733.html

 

            Inside the thrilling chariot races in ancient Rome.

            Inside the thrilling chariot races of ancient Rome’s Circus Maximus | National Geographic

 

 

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