14# Signal 2 Noise

In today’s issue:

• Taylor Swift Phenomenon

• NVIDIA the AI industry workhorse

• Inflation pondering from the Fed and me

• US Mortgage Rates Jumped above 7% 

S2N Updates

I am absolutely determined to make the newsletter different from what most people are reading in all the other macro newsletters. To achieve this, I am going to go light on the narratives and focus on at least one unique piece per newsletter. 

By not worrying about taking the reader on too much of a journey right now, I will have more time to focus on getting my house in order.

Performance Review

Economic News Today

New Signals

So much to say here but simply not ready yet.

S2N Insights

Taylor Swift Phenomenon

I was discussing with my family the Taylor Swift craze. She is currently in Sydney, Australia, and there has been such Taylor fever. Her boyfriend just flew in today, and the media has been going crazy. The fact that he is part of a Super Bowl-winning team adds to the excitement. My wife asked me why.

My thinking is that she represents symbolically a generation of women who are grappling with their feminism. She is notorious for writing songs about her boyfriend’s breakups. 

Most girls can identify with heartbreak in love, and she is the quintessential symbol of girl power, making light and poking fun at the other sex. I think this is why her fame is largely among girls rather than boys. I am definitely a fan of her music, just not into her hype.

Now that we have discussed such important news, let us take a look at the markets.

NVIDIA the AI industry workhorse

The financial and technological world held their collective breaths Wednesday, awaiting the earnings release of the hottest stock on the markets. NVIDIA didn’t disappoint. The company that has 80% of the AI computation market shot the proverbial lights out. Its revenue for Q4 trebled the previous year’s quarter at $22 billion. It made a net profit of $12.29 billion in Q4. That is some serious profitability.

The CEO, Jensen Huang, said there is still huge growth expected as the industry hits a tipping point. What was also interesting is that they saw a significant drop-off in demand from China. I keep mentioning these subtle but worrying signs that China’s economy is in trouble.

Inflation pondering from the Fed and me

The Fed released its minutes from the last FOMC meeting yesterday. Only 2 of the governors were concerned that holding rates too high for too long was a concern. Most of the board are still concerned that inflation is still too high.

US Mortgage Rates jumped above 7%

This is the moment I have been waiting for all day to take a deeper dive here and produce something that I think is what S2N is all about.

If I told you all the drama I had today with S2N you would never believe me. I have done a very basic but interesting I think analysis. This will set me on a path to deliver more of these but with more detail. At this stage before the site crashes again and I lose what I posted again I will be brief. The press says Mortgage rates went above 7%. My data source has last updated a week ago and it is not quite at 7% but that doesn’t stop us analysing if above or below 7% is a big thing.

I bet you weren’t expecting these results. I am out of time.

The post 14# Signal 2 Noise appeared first on Signal2Noise.