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

The biggest takeaway is that AI investing is entering a “show me the ROI” phase. Strong earnings are no longer enough; investors want to see whether massive CapEx can translate into recurring revenue, margins and cash flow. Microsoft remains my favorite because Azure and Copilot already provide a clearer monetization path. Amazon benefits from AWS’s picks-and-shovels model, while Alphabet offers a balanced combination of Search cash flow, Cloud growth and Gemini upside. Meta’s ad engine is strong, but its huge CapEx raises ROI concerns. Apple is taking the opposite, capital-light approach. The late-July selloff also reminds us that leverage and forced liquidation can temporarily overpower fundamentals. Going forward, I would focus on AI monetization, free cash flow and valuation, rather t

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]

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

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

Alibaba is clearly choosing growth over near-term profits. A 75% jump in capital expenditure, largely directed toward AI infrastructure, looks painful today, but the 45% growth in cloud revenue suggests the investment is beginning to generate real demand. The bigger issue is whether this spending can eventually create operating leverage. A roughly 75% decline in reported net profit shows that Alibaba’s margin structure is still under serious pressure. I would not treat Alibaba as simply a “cheap AI stock.” It is a bet on whether AI and cloud can become the next profit engine. If AI monetization accelerates, today’s margin compression could prove temporary. If growth slows, however, investors may discover that the margin floor is lower than expected. For me, Alibaba is a long-term platform

I think the biggest mistake is treating Samsung and SK hynix as the same AI trade. Samsung’s foundry problem is not technology—it is execution credibility. TSMC’s moat comes from years of stable yields, massive capacity, advanced packaging and repeat orders. Samsung can narrow the gap, but it needs flagship customers to return generation after generation. Its recent 2nm engagements are encouraging, but the real proof will be sustained volume production. SK hynix is already further along the value chain. HBM demand is translating into profits, cash flow and now aggressive shareholder returns. Its KRW40 trillion buyback and cancellation—about 3.3% of shares—shows management believes the market is undervaluing its future cash generation. So my view is simple: Samsung is the turnaround bet; S

Moderna’s 2026 transformation is bigger than a one-day stock rally. The 177% surge followed by a 23.6% pullback shows how aggressively markets are repricing its mRNA platform. The real catalyst is mRNA-4157’s Phase 3 success, potentially opening a multibillion-dollar personalized cancer-vaccine market. Yet investors should separate platform potential from valuation reality. Moderna still burns billions annually, while COVID revenue continues to decline. At $133, expectations for rapid oncology commercialization are already high. The bull case is compelling: successful cancer-vaccine approval could create a new growth engine beyond respiratory vaccines. The bear case is equally clear: manufacturing complexity, competition and delayed profitability could expose the stock to another sharp co

If I had to choose, I’d rather own the “toll collector” in the memory cycle than the companies forced to absorb higher costs. The key point is that rising memory prices are no longer an isolated semiconductor story. They are spreading downstream—from smartphones to GPUs and AI infrastructure. Xiaomi’s adjusted profit fell 42.6% year over year as higher memory costs squeezed margins, while Intel’s Arc Pro B70 prices have reportedly risen sharply in some markets. That tells me pricing power currently sits upstream. But I would not blindly chase memory stocks after their huge run. The better strategy is to own the suppliers with strong pricing power, healthy balance sheets and long-term AI demand, while avoiding companies whose margins are being compressed. In short: follow the money upstrea

Alphabet Still Wins Among these four calls, I agree most with the Alphabet upgrade. The key is that Google’s AI investment is no longer just a massive spending story. Google Cloud is accelerating, margins are improving, the backlog is huge, and its in-house TPU technology could eventually strengthen both competitiveness and profitability. That gives GOOG a compelling AI re-rating opportunity. I’m more cautious on CRWD and PLTR. Both remain excellent businesses with strong growth, but their valuations already assume years of near-perfect execution. At such multiples, even a small slowdown can trigger a sharp correction. PYPL is the wildcard. The potential M&A deal could create upside, but it is fundamentally an event-driven trade rather than a pure turnaround story. My ranking: GOOG fi

A. Yes — still bullish on DBS / OCBC / UOB I’d choose A. To me, DBS hiring more young talent is more than a recruitment story—it shows the bank is preparing for where future growth will come from. Lower interest rates may pressure net interest margins, but wealth management, AI, data, technology and fee-based businesses can increasingly offset that pressure. DBS’s strong wealth-fee growth and rising AUM are already evidence of this transition. Singapore also continues to strengthen its position as a regional wealth and financial hub, attracting capital, global institutions and high-value talent. That doesn’t mean DBS is cheap or risk-free. Valuation still matters, especially after a strong run. But for long-term investors, I remain bullish on Singapore banks, particularly DBS, OCBC and UO

I’m leaning toward A — normal profit-taking, with the AI hardware trend still intact. Tuesday’s semiconductor selloff looks more like a valuation reset than a fundamental breakdown. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell about 5%, while memory and optical names such as SNDK, MU and CRDO were hit much harder than Nvidia. The key issue is macro: the 30-year Treasury yield recently reached its highest level since 2007, while Brent crude moved above $90. That combination naturally pressures high-multiple growth stocks. But AI infrastructure demand has not suddenly disappeared. Memory, storage, networking and GPU demand remain tied to massive data-center investment. So I wouldn’t call this an AI-cycle reversal yet. Instead, I’d watch whether SNDK and MU stabilize and reclaim key moving aver

My Pick: AMLX — But This Is a Catalyst Trade If I had to pick one for the next 30 days, I’d choose Amylyx Pharmaceuticals (AMLX) — not because it is the safest name, but because it has the clearest near-term binary catalyst. The stock has already exploded higher, so chasing momentum here is risky. But the real story is still ahead: Amylyx expects Phase 3 LUCIDITY results for avexitide in late August or early September. A positive readout could materially change the company’s valuation and potentially support a 2027 commercial launch. That makes AMLX fundamentally different from simply buying a beaten-down stock like Adobe or Intuit. My choice: 🔥 Momentum, with a catalyst-driven setup. The key is position sizing — this is biotech, so one clinical result can create either a breakout or a br

The 30-year Treasury yield at 5.31% is becoming an increasingly attractive entry point, but I wouldn’t rush to lock in long-duration bonds yet. The key issue is that this selloff isn’t purely about Fed policy. Persistent inflation risks, higher oil prices, massive fiscal deficits, weaker foreign Treasury demand and growing corporate debt supply are all pushing the long end higher. That makes this a classic “wait for confirmation” moment. If yields eventually stabilize around 5.5%–5.7%, long-duration bonds could offer compelling returns. But if inflation expectations continue rising, buying too early could mean sitting through another painful price decline. For now, I’d favor short-duration Treasuries and cash, while gradually preparing to extend duration if yields spike further. The best

My take: 1) SOXS, 2) HIBS, 3) TECS. The clustering of inverse ETFs is a warning that investors are increasingly hedging duration and high-beta exposure, not necessarily calling for a full market crash. For the next 30 days, I expect the 10-year yield to stay around 4.7%, with 5% possible if inflation and Treasury supply worsen. The 30-year has already hit a 19-year high, showing how serious the bond-market pressure has become. The bigger threat to AI stocks is rising yields. AI debt issuance matters, but it is ultimately another channel through which higher financing costs can pressure valuations. Morgan Stanley expects global AI-related debt issuance to approach $570 billion this year. My view: this is a valuation reset, not necessarily the end of the AI cycle.

The Q2 13F season reveals a clear message: institutional money is not abandoning AI—it is becoming more selective. Berkshire’s 83% increase in Alphabet, taking the position to roughly $38 billion, is perhaps the strongest vote of confidence in Google’s AI ecosystem.  Meanwhile, Tepper is rotating away from memory names such as Micron while adding Amazon, Meta, Alphabet and TSMC, suggesting investors may be taking profits after the semiconductor rally. The SpaceX story is equally important. Its IPO has brought massive institutional exposure into the public market, although some reported “new” positions are simply legacy private holdings becoming reportable. My takeaway: the next phase of the AI trade may shift from chips toward platforms, infrastructure, power and space. But 13Fs are

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]