What to Expect in the Second Half of the Year

How to Play the “Big Data Gold Rush” [Image]( Wednesday, July 5th, 2023   What to Expect in the Second Half of the Year By Matthew Carr   A dangerous heat wave is scorching the U.S. Many places across the country are getting blasted by triple-digit temperatures. But the real fire has been in equities in 2023. In fact, the Nasdaq just closed out its [best first six months]( of a year in four decades! Tech stocks – led by those high-flying artificial intelligence (AI) darlings – soared 31.7% from January to the end of June. The S&P 500 rallied 15.9% during the same stretch. With the S&P hovering around 4,450, it’s already flown past many of Wall Street’s year-end forecasts. So, will the second half of 2023 be the tale of Icarus? Or is this merely the halfway point on the path to new highs in the months ahead? Well, one of the biggest headwinds facing stocks is the Federal Reserve. And this afternoon, the minutes from last month’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting were released. Was this the cold water ready to douse equities’ scorching run? For the afternoon, at least, it was… Now, we already know that the Fed decided to skip a rate hike in June. But investors priced in an 80% chance of a Fed rate hike in July… and expectations are to see at least one more before the year’s end. In the minutes, every Fed member committed to that 2% inflation target. And they all agreed “restrictive monetary” policies would be needed to reach that goal. Even more telling… there were no dissenters in June’s pause. The FOMC release may have caused some momentary turbulence, but it failed to clip this market’s wings. Onward and upward… Sun be damned.   This 30% Decline Was Just the Beginning… 2023 is off to a fantastic start for the markets. Both the S&P and Nasdaq sit comfortably in the green. But there’s one sector not only struggling – dropping 30% already – it’s threatening to erase a significant portion of its $21-trillion value. This collapse has been 15 years in the making. But the fire is burning hotter than ever. Why? There’s $1.5-trillion-dollars’ worth of debt due for repayment within the next 28 months... [See which sector one chief economist called a “slow-motion train…coming down the tracks” – and how you can turn it into an opportunity of nearly unprecedented scale.](..   AI and the Blockchain Are Creating Massive Opportunities in the “Big Data Gold Rush”... The World Economic Forum estimates AI will replace 14 million jobs in the next five years alone. If you believe your job is safe, consider this: if you can teach someone else to do your job, AI can learn it too, and it'll outperform you at a fraction of the cost. But here's the silver lining: the same [AI that threatens to replace one in five salaries]( also presents an opportunity to amass life-changing wealth. If you play your cards right, you won't even need one by the time AI comes for your job. The key to this goldmine is the blockchain. [Here's why...](   How to Tell Whether an AI Stock Is Worth Your Money… There’s no shortage of companies out there claiming to “leverage the power of artificial intelligence” to bring their shareholders billions. The truth is [so many of them are going to turn out to be vapor]( - the “Pets.com” or “Webvan” of the 2020s. Folks who own these are doomed to lose, big-time, whereas the people who own the right companies will be in line for life-changing wealth. With billions at stake, Shah Gilani [is going to show you how to spot the difference between empty hype and the real thing…](   Get More Money Morning Our experts offer special actionable investing and trading research to their subscribers every week [Subscribe Now]( [Image]( You are receiving this e-mail at {EMAIL}, as part of your subscription to Money Morning. To remove your email from this list: [unsubscribe here](. To cancel, or for any other questions or requests, please contact our Customer Service team: Online: [Customer Service Form]( Phone: 888-384-8339 (North America) 443-353-4519 (International) Mail: Money Morning | Attn: Member Services | 1125 N Charles Street | Baltimore, MD 21201 Fax: 410-622-3050 Our Customer Service team is available Monday ­ Friday between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM ET. © 2023 Money Morning LIVE. All Rights Reserved. Nothing in this email should be considered personalized financial advice. 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