Carnegie Market Blog

Harvard Endowment Poor Performance and A.I.

Posted by Brent Luce on Sep 29, 2016 4:06:02 PM

A.I. Story of the Week

If I wrote the blog more than once a week or so, I would call this the story of the day. Every day, there are new stories about new developments and advancements in artificial intelligence and related technologies. One story that grabbed my attention this week (Click Here to Read It) discusses how Hanover, a Microsoft machine learning project, is using A.I. to help treat cancer. With hundreds of cancer drugs and new research being published constantly, along with the uniqueness of each patient and their likelihood to respond to a given therapy, it is impossible for doctors to know everything there is to know in order to best treat the patient. A.I. can come up with insights without being specifically programmed to do so by “reading through” research papers, clinical trials, medical records, radiology reports, etc. This is amazing technology, and we are just scratching the surface of its potential. RELATED: Why Deep Learning is Suddenly Changing your Life - this is a good intro to A.I. and deep learning.

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Topics: Apple, Artificial Intelligence, Harvard Endowment, A.I.

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise

Posted by Brent Luce on Apr 28, 2016 4:26:46 PM

Mega-Cap Tech Stocks

In the past week, Microsoft, Apple and Google all had weak earnings reports and were punished accordingly. Since their recent highs, these stocks have lost roughly $200 billion in market capitalization. Put another way, that is more than ten times the total value of all residential real estate in Cleveland or, perhaps more interestingly, 50 Freedom Towers in New York could have been built with this money.

On a positive note, another huge technology stock, Facebook, released earnings today and is moving to new highs. With today’s move, Facebook has a larger market capitalization than healthcare giant, Johnson & Johnson. MORE: Facebook is Everywhere and Planet Facebook

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Topics: Apple, Google, Remoeling Boom, Facebook, Earning Surprises, Microsoft

Three Themes for the Future

Posted by Brent Luce on Jan 13, 2016 5:02:52 PM

Apple

With Apple down about 25% from its highs, concern is mounting related to slowing iPhone sales and questions are arising related to their ability to come out with new and innovative products. Apple has always been great at “seeing around the corner” and coming up with incredibly innovative products that consumers did not even know they wanted or needed. As Henry Ford said, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said ‘faster horses’”. With the shares trading at a 10 P/E ratio and 5x EV/EBITDA, the market certainly thinks that with Steve Jobs gone, the company’s ability to “see around corners” has diminished. Time will tell whether this is true or not. But even if it is not true, Apple currently has almost $150 billion in net cash on their balance sheet. It might be that their next big idea will not be related to what they know, but who they know. Perhaps they will use that cash to invest in another company that is still seeing around the corner.

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Topics: Apple, Stock Market