It’s Nvidia’s world, we’re just living in a simulation of it

Jensen Huang became $10 billion richer today. [Bloomberg]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a means of diluting one’s exposure to Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - Nvidia stock [popped](. - Lula’s speech [flopped](. - Vestergaard [swapped](. - The Nikkei 225 [topped](. Death, Taxes and Nvidia For a moment there, it seemed like the world was going to implode if Nvidia didn’t beat earnings estimates. Or at least [a]( [lot]( [of]( [people]( [thought]( [so](: Luckily, that [didn’t happen](. Nvidia [posted]( 265% year-over-year revenue growth, to the relief of [guacamole lovers]( everywhere. But a lot of Americans did wake up to no [cell service]( this morning, which is probably just a coincidence. (I mean, definitely a coincidence. Almost certainly, at least. OK, how about very likely?) Our [emotional distress]( upon seeing “SOS” in the upper-right corner of our phones highlights just how tethered we are to our pocket-sized touchscreen devices. Without technology, where would we be? More to the point — not to go all Bloomberg on you — where would the US economy be? The Magnificent Seven stocks — five of which are tech or communication firms — account for a third of the S&P 500’s post-financial-crisis gain. AI — and Nvidia specifically — is driving that boom. Today alone, the chipmaker [added]( $277 billion to its market cap — the biggest single-session increase in value ever, obliterating Meta’s [recent record]( of $196 billion. “Few things are more certain than death, taxes, and Nvidia beats on earnings,” the Carson Group’s Ryan Detrick [told]( Bloomberg News. But if that’s the case, then what’s up with all those [ominous]( tweets [about]( the Most Consequential Moment in All of Space and Time? In less than 24 hours, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang became [$10 billion richer]( — a mind-boggling sum of money for mere mortals like you and me. If AI truly is a “tipping point,” as Huang believes, Lionel Laurent [says]( “productivity gains and economic growth will be felt beyond the billionaires’ club.” If it isn’t, however, there’s a distinct possibility that we’re running headfirst into a new [Gilded Age](, which was defined by all-conquering monopolist CEOs who colluded in their sleep. Given this increasing obsession with [a single stock]( — and a [tattooed man]( whose [leather jacket]( is a second skin — many cautious US investors are wondering whether it’s time to dabble in international equities. As tempting as it may be to jump ship and diversify, Jonathan Levin [says]( there’s really no reason for Americans to head overseas. “International stocks are mostly just a means of diluting one’s exposure to technology companies,” he explains. Plus, the whole narrative about the US stock market being absurdly expensive is a tad misleading. “On an apples-to-apples basis, US tech — for all the handwringing about its valuations — actually trades at roughly the same price-earnings multiples as its developed market peer group,” he writes. In other words: US tech stocks are [not]( *that* special! If only the [AI bulls]( knew that. When Presidents Should/Should Not Speak Up It’s a good rule for pretty much everyone, but especially for heads of state: Don’t compare anything to the Holocaust. I would have thought that this was obvious, but then I heard Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s [comments]( this past Sunday. At a summit in Ethiopia, the Brazilian president told reporters: “What is happening in the Gaza Strip and to the Palestinian people hasn’t been seen in any other moment in history. Actually, it did when Hitler decided to kill the Jews.” Which: No. You cannot say that, sir. Those are two very different things. Or, as Marc Champion [puts it](: Lula “was wrong on every count and has rightly outraged many in Israel.” For starters, “there was no Jewish equivalent of Hamas in the late 1930s that triggered a response from Hitler’s Germany through the deliberate slaughter, rape, and abduction of ordinary Germans. Nor are 6 million Palestinians being marched into gas chambers, as terrible as their plight is.” At the same time, Marc notes, “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct of the war has been self-defeating and inhumane.” A look at the numbers — admittedly estimates — demonstrates as much. To date, the IDF is estimated to have killed nearly 30,000 Palestinians — two-thirds of them civilians. Residential neighborhoods have been utterly destroyed. Snipers have shot at people trying to evacuate. Patients have died amid the rubble of a destroyed hospital. It might not be a Holocaust, but it is a nightmare — one that needs to end swiftly. “[A deal]( the US, Egypt and other Arab nations are pressing would do more for Israel and its long-term security than launching an assault on Rafah, the last refuge for the strip’s Palestinian civilians, ever could,” Marc laments. US President Joe Biden should be making this abundantly clear. Thus far, he has carefully tip-toed his way through the war, [condemning]( the civilian death toll in Gaza while simultaneously [sending]( more arms to Israel. Stephen Mihm agrees, [writing that]( “Biden should take a more forceful stance,” much like President Dwight Eisenhower did in 1956, when he successfully defused the Suez Crisis. “If Israel proceeds with an invasion of Rafah,” Stephen says, “it will unleash a refugee crisis that could rupture the tenuous peace Egypt and Israel currently enjoy. Eisenhower would not have let such a thing happen. Neither should Biden.” While Lula needs a lesson in keeping his mouth shut, Biden needs to speak up before it’s too late. Telltale Charts This [Bloomberg News investigation]( about the recent spike in malaria infections had my jaw on the floor. I suggest you read the whole thing, but I’ll give you the Sparknotes version. Insecticide-coated bed nets, which cost just $5 a net, are responsible “for 68% of the reduction in malaria cases since 2000,” Bloomberg’s editorial board [writes]( (free read). In about 2012, however, a Swiss company that makes bed nets, [Vestergaard](, switched to a cheaper coating that’s less potent — and failed to tell the World Health Organization about it until at least 2017. In Papua New Guinea alone, malaria cases rose 88% in 2022. “Researchers found that nets made before 2012 were all effective in killing or incapacitating mosquitoes. But only 17% of those manufactured in the past decade did the same,” the editors write. It’s a tragic example of how a single business decision can have devastating consequences. The last time Japan’s most famous stock index set a new record, Taylor Swift was just 16 days old. Now, 34 years later, the Nikkei 225 [did it again](. “It’s undeniably a big moment,” John Authers [says](. But the world has changed a lot since December 1989. Not only are there now 14 Taylor Swift albums, but the [Japan hype]( of yore has mellowed. “No matter how bullish foreign investors might be on Japanese stocks today, no one thinks a country that just saw its gross domestic product [surpassed]( by Germany is on course for global dominance,” Gearoid Reidy [writes](. Yet there’s still reason for hope. Gearoid points to [a whole fleet]( of stocks — from Toyota to Nintendo — that have stood the test of time. Maybe the first all-time high in more than three decades is cause for celebration. Further Reading Free read: It’ll be tough, but the planet [can survive]( another Trump term. — Mark Gongloff and Liam Denning Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito doesn’t want gay rights to [upstage]( religious ones. — Noah Feldman Russia’s scariest [new threat]( is underwater, not in space. — James Stavridis India’s central bank is worried about [online merchant fraud](. — Andy Mukherjee Singapore’s new rules for [sustainable aviation]( aren’t very innovative. — Tim Culpan Europe’s [heat-pump bubble]( is struggling to stay afloat. — Chris Bryant Trump is a master at [exploiting]( voters’ fears and resentments. — Mary Ellen Klas Argentina’s influential [political movement]( faces a reckoning. — Juan Pablo Spinetto ICYMI Reddit [finally filed]( for an IPO. Joe Biden’s dog is on [a biting spree](. College grads [aren’t using]( their degrees. Vice’s [site]( and [workforce]( may not survive. [Fake Spring 2.0]( is coming for New York City. Kickers A24 wants to be less [cringe](. The boss [pumps perfume]( into your cubicle. Weddings are now glorified [brand events](. [Indie crosswords]( are cooler than you. Gen Z is afraid of [notifications](. Sorry, Ashley. You’re [an old person]( now. Your local [grocery store]( is the new Sephora. Notes: Please send broccoli florets and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Threads](, [TikTok](, [Twitter](, [Instagram]( and [Facebook](. Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Opinion Today newsletter. 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