Oil prices surge to two-week winning streak as Iran supply fears grip markets
Nvidia (NVDA) will be our grand finale after the market close today. I must add that Nvidia has been acting well this week, almost like investors can smell imminent sales and earnings surprises, plus positive guidance. Additionally, what bodes well for Nvidia is that our data center-related stocks all beat and guided higher due to rising order backlogs.
In Tuesday’s State of the Union speech, President Trump called for the energy demand for data centers could “unfairly” drive up utility costs for many Americans. Trump proposed a “rate-payer protection pledge” that would require technology companies to provide their own power needs and “build their own power plants.” Obviously, this is great news for Bloom Energy (BE) and GE Vernova (GE), who can generate electricity via natural gas fuel cells and turbines when there is a direct natural gas line to data centers.
As spring arrives, consumers should cheer up, since many are struggling with the severe winter weather that has impacted the northeastern U.S. A good sign is that the Conference Board announced on Tuesday that its consumer confidence index in February rose to 91.2, up from a revised 89 in January. Economists were expecting consumer confidence to come in at 87.1, so this was a surprise. The expectations component rose to 72 in February, up from 67.4 in January, so that was a green shoot.
The global interest rate collapse is continuing. The latest example is that the Bank of Thailand voted 4 to 2 on Wednesday to cut its key interest rate to 0.25% to 1%. The central bank noted that it’s important to safeguard “medium-term financial stability as well as preserving limited monetary policy space amid heightened uncertainties.” The Bank of Thailand added that it views the current interest level as being aligned with the economic outlook.
Thailand’s economy has struggled to return to pre-pandemic levels of growth, weighed down by high household debt, weak consumption, and a slow tourism recovery. Furthermore, like all of Asia, demographics from an aging society continue to impede overall economic growth.