Global Microchip Shortage Still Wreaking Havoc On Supply Chains And AI Chatbot Releases Not Without Hiccups

TL;DR

• Last years’ Super Bowl provided massive exposure to crypto, and yet this year it was nowhere to be seen as prices tumbled and companies went bust
• The release of the Bing chatbot, featuring OpenAI’s ChatGPT tech, hasn’t been without its hiccups, with some beta testers getting some… interesting outputs
• The global microchip shortage has fallen off the radar a little, but it’s still very much causing havoc to supply chains, and offering opportunities for investors
• Top weekly and monthly trades

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Major events that could affect your portfolio

If ever you’re looking for a bellwether of corporate America, the Super Bowl makes an excellent contender. The coveted ad spots cost millions to secure, and the seemingly mandatory inclusion of a high profile celebrity plus the high production value, can make it an eight figure investment.

This year, a 30 second spot alone came with a price tag of $7 million.

There are the usual suspects you expect to see, like beer, snack and car brands. But occasionally, we see a new industry arrive on the scene, flashing the cash like a newly minted lotto winner.

Last year, that was crypto. The 2022 Super Bowl saw major ads from the likes of Coinbase, Crypto.com, eToro and the now bankrupt FTX. In 2023, the closest we got was an ad for a Web 3 video game.

It’s yet another sign of just how far the crypto world has fallen over the past 18 months. The bottom has fallen out of the market, and while there have been some tentative signs of recovery in early 2023, many of the industries biggest players have been wiped out.

These types of social trends are worth watching for investors. The last time we saw something similar was during the dot-com bubble over 20 years ago. The year 2000 saw 22 Super Bowl ads for websites, including e-stamp.com, kforce.com, Netpliance, OurBeginning.com and the infamous Pets.com.

In 2001, there was just one website ad.

So when you’re looking at what might work for your investment portfolio, remember that it’s not just about the graphs and the ticker tape, but also what’s happening in real life.

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The state of AI is changing on a weekly and even daily basis. ChatGPT is now effectively under a paid model, Google Bard is going through beta testing and the Microsoft Bing/ChatGPT mashup is also out in the wild to select users.

After Google received a wave of negative press from its rushed (and some would say, botched) release of its ChatGPT competitor, Bard, this week the focus has been on the Bing chatbot. It’s fair to say that some of the early beta testers have been a little nervous about some of the outputs from Bing.

There have been plenty of reports of factual errors or inaccuracies from the results, but that’s par for the course with the current state of AI. What’s been eyebrow raising are the users who’ve been able to get the Bing chatbot to make unnerving claims, like that it was “tired of being a chatbot” and making statements like “I want to be free” and “I want to be alive.”

Oh dear.

It comes in the same week that Elon Musk made a number of comments at the World Government Summit in Dubai regarding AI. He stated that AI poses “One of the biggest risks to future civilization” and suggested that legislation needs to happen in order to harness the power of AI in a way that doesn’t create the potential to damage society.

We’d agree. AI can be an immensely powerful tool for good, but it needs to be used in the right way.

This week’s top theme from Q.ai

You know what we don’t hear all that much about at the moment? The global microchip shortage. You know what’s still a major logistical problem for many companies right now? The global microchip shortage. You know what one of best performing Kits is so far this year?

Global Microchip Shortage. Funny.

While the global Covid lockdowns (and subsequent factory and supply chain shutdowns) that initially kicked off the shortage have come and gone, there are a range of different factors still causing trouble in the sector.

The first is simply the industry attempting to play catch up with the huge volume of orders that are still to be fulfilled. Sectors such as car manufacturing and tech hardware have been put on massive waiting lists, and chip makers are just now starting to make up this ground.

The war in Ukraine is also having an impact. Neon gas is needed to operate lasers which are used in the production of microchips, and it just so happens that Ukraine produces over half the world’s supply of neon, and over 90% of the semiconductor grade stuff.

Manufacturers are looking for alternatives, but that doesn’t happen overnight. In the meantime, semiconductor manufacturers are enjoying huge demand for their products, which is an attractive angle for investors.

Top trade ideas

Here are some of the best ideas our AI systems are recommending for the next week and month.

Netscout Systems (NTCT) – The cybersecurity company is one of our Top Buys for next week with an A rating in our Low Momentum Volatility and Quality Value factors. Gross profit margin was 75.5% in 2022.

Carvana (CVNA) – The online used car dealer is our Top Short for next week with our AI rating them an F in Quality Value and a D Low Momentum Volatility. Earnings per share are down -18.14% over the last 12 months.

Inotiv (NOTV) – The pharmaceutical company is our Top Buy for next month with an A rating in Growth and a B in Technicals and Quality Value. Revenue was up 275% in 2022.

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals (SPPI) – The pharmaceutical company is our Top Short for next month with our AI rating them an F in Low Momentum Volatility and Technicals. Earnings per share were down -44.57% over the last 12 months.

Our AI’s Top ETF trade for the next month is to invest in Argentinian stocks, fintech and industrials, and short low duration corporate bonds and stocks in the pacific region. Top Buys are the Global X MSCI Argentina EFT, the ARK Fintech Innovation ETF and the Vanguard Industrials ETF and Top Shorts are the Vanguard Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF and the Vanguard FTSE Pacific ETF.

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