Markets Enter a High-Stakes Week Last week’s pullback was less a breakdown than a warning: expensive equities are becoming increasingly sensitive to interest rates. With the 30-year Treasury yield near 5.3% and U.S. debt above $40 trillion, investors are demanding a higher risk premium. This week could decide the next direction. The July PCE inflation report arrives Wednesday, while Fed Chair Kevin Warsh speaks at Jackson Hole Friday.  If inflation remains sticky and Warsh sounds hawkish, yields could rise further and pressure high-growth stocks. But the biggest equity catalyst is Nvidia’s earnings on Wednesday. Wall Street expects roughly $92–95 billion in revenue, making the report a major test of whether AI spending can justify today’s valuations. My view: stay selective rather th

Singapore Stocks: Defensive Strength Meets a Stronger Economy The STI slipped 0.95% last week to 5,688.96, but the pullback looks more like consolidation than a breakdown. Gold-related names led the market, while Sembcorp, shipbuilders and selected Chinese SDRs remained resilient. The bigger story is Singapore’s economic backdrop. Q2 GDP growth was revised to 5.9% YoY, while MTI raised its 2026 growth forecast to 4.5%-5.5%, supported by strong AI-related investment and manufacturing demand. This week, investors should watch inflation and industrial data closely. July headline CPI came in at 2.2%, while core inflation was 2.0%, both below expectations—potentially easing pressure on monetary policy. For stocks, the key themes remain banks, gold, utilities and AI-linked infrastructure. The S

Yes—but I think the more interesting question is why Wall Street is upgrading them. The latest analyst moves suggest investors are no longer simply chasing “AI winners.” They are looking for companies positioned to monetize the next stage of the cycle. Apple is the clearest example. Redburn upgraded AAPL to Buy and lifted its target from $260 to $400, betting on a stronger product cycle and AI-driven opportunities. Meanwhile, BMO’s bullish coverage of NVDA, AMD, AVGO, MRVL and MU shows that AI spending is still spreading across the entire infrastructure stack—not just GPUs. For me, that is the key takeaway: the market is moving from “Who builds AI?” to “Who captures the profits?” Personally, I pay more attention to repeated upgrades, earnings growth and cash flow than any single price tar

Own the Toll Collector, Not the Toll Payer I’d rather own Nvidia than the companies paying the higher AI bill—but only if its pricing power proves sustainable. Rising memory costs are turning AI infrastructure into a margin test: Nvidia can pass costs downstream, while server builders and cloud providers face heavier capex. The bigger question is whether AI demand remains strong enough to absorb those increases. If customers keep spending aggressively, Nvidia’s pricing power strengthens. If budgets tighten, higher server costs could eventually slow deployments. So for me, Nvidia remains the “toll collector,” but valuation matters. I’d rather buy on meaningful pullbacks than chase strength ahead of earnings. @Marktomarket [微笑]

I’d pick Ivan_Gan’s view as the most actionable. Bitcoin and gold offer clear technical levels, but macro policy is still the bigger driver across asset classes. If Fed hike expectations continue to fade, liquidity-sensitive assets like QQQ and SPY could remain supported even if markets stay range-bound. That said, gold’s breakout deserves attention. A short squeeze may explain the speed of the move, but sustained strength would suggest deeper institutional demand rather than just positioning. For Bitcoin, $67K is the key confirmation level, while $57.8K remains the line bulls cannot afford to lose. Personally, I’d rather wait for the breakout than chase the middle of the range. @WallStreet_Tiger [你懂的]

My Pick: Visa I’d go with B) Payments & Brokerage, and if I had to choose just one stock, Visa (V) would be my pick. Copper has a compelling long-term story. Electrification, AI data centers, grid investment and limited new mine supply could support higher copper demand for years. But after the huge rally in BHP, SCCO and FCX, I think the market is already pricing in a lot of good news. The risk is no longer the fundamental story—it’s valuation and expectations. Visa is different. Its business benefits from structural growth in digital payments, cross-border spending and value-added services. The BioCatch acquisition also strengthens its fraud-prevention ecosystem, adding another growth engine beyond transaction fees. For the next 30 days, V would be my candidate to set another ATH f

My Take: NVDA for Growth, PRU for Income If I had to pick one stock from this week’s list, NVDA would be my top choice. The setup is attractive, but expectations are extremely high. Wall Street expects Q2 EPS around $2.09, up roughly 99% YoY, with revenue near $92 billion. The real test is not simply beating EPS—it is whether Blackwell demand, hyperscaler capex and the Vera Rubin roadmap can support another leg higher. For a more conservative dividend play, I prefer PRU. Its August 25 ex-dividend date carries a $1.40 quarterly payout and roughly 4.6% yield, offering a much different risk/reward profile from AI stocks. My watchlist: NVDA for growth, MRVL for AI infrastructure momentum, and PRU for income. The key is to avoid chasing a strong EPS number if guidance fails to justify the valu

My Pick: D — Eaton & Vertiv I would choose D: Eaton and Vertiv. The AI power bottleneck is no longer simply about generating electricity; it is about delivering, managing and cooling that power efficiently. Bloom Energy offers exciting growth potential, while CEG and VST provide established generation assets. But Eaton and Vertiv have a key advantage: they can benefit regardless of whether data centers ultimately rely on nuclear, natural gas, fuel cells or the traditional grid. As AI workloads become more power-intensive, every new data center needs more switchgear, power distribution, backup systems and cooling capacity. In my view, D offers the best balance between structural AI growth, diversified demand and execution visibility, making it my preferred route into the next phase of

Wall Street’s latest upgrade wave is sending a more interesting signal than simply “buy AI stocks.” The real opportunity may be the expansion of the AI ecosystem. Apple’s jump from Neutral to Buy with a $400 target is notable, but the thesis goes beyond the iPhone: premium devices, services and a potential AI strategy reset could create a new growth cycle. Meanwhile, upgrades across Nvidia, AMD, Broadcom, Marvell and Micron reinforce continued confidence in AI infrastructure. Yet I would pay particular attention to Marvell. Its partnership with Google could generate up to $120 billion in revenue through fiscal 2033, highlighting the growing importance of custom AI chips. My takeaway: the next phase of AI may not be about finding “the next Nvidia,” but identifying the companies supplying t