This is what the robot fund that beats the S&P 500 is now investing

Shares of the video game retailer are up 23% in premarket trading after Monday’s wild session. For some, this brings back memories of the dot-com boom and failure, and the fear may repeat itself.

Maybe someday it will be easier if the robots can think for us. Which brings us to our call of the day, which comes from the DataTrek Research blog, which questions whether a fund that relies on artificial intelligence for ideas investing and is currently heavy in tech stocks knows something we don’t know.

DataTrek notes the AI ​​Powered Equity AIEQ,
+ 0.86%
exchange-traded fund is up 12% so far, versus 2.6% gain for the S&P 500 SPX,
+ 0.36%,
and for 2020 it was up 25% from an increase of 18%, respectively. It has gained 101% from the pandemic lows of COVID-19 in March, versus a 72% gain for the S&P.

Electric car manufacturer Tesla TSLA,
+ 4.03%,
Solar Solutions Group SunPower SPWR,
+ 0.25%,
chip group Advanced Micro Devices AMD,
+ 1.44%,
energy technology group Enphase Energy ENPH,
-4.40%,
and tech giant Alphabet GOOGL,
+ 0.09%
are the five largest companies.

What DataTrek found was that the fund’s top picks are technically tougher than last October, when stocks with a more cyclical flavor, such as the healthcare group Pfizer PFE,
+ 2.00%
and car manufacturer Ford F,
-2.00%
made the top 10.

“AIEQ appears to have picked up a decent market signal over the past 12 months, so the fact that it alleviates cyclicals at the top of the list and maintains / increases its exposure to disruptive tech names (TSLA, SPWR, ENPH) is interesting,” says DataTrek.

What could it mean? A human manager currently withdrawing from cyclical factors could be a sign of cold feet about the progress of the introduction of the COVID-19 vaccine.

As the DataTrek folks say, the games of this AI ETF mirror those of a successful 1990s hedge fund manager – “well-known stocks playing well-understood themes. Perhaps the real power of AI-powered investing is simply not overthinking. ”

The markets

Stock Futures YM00,
+ 0.24%

ES00,
+ 0.11%

NQ00,
-0.07%
are a bit mixed, while European stocks SXXP,
+ 1.14%
are higher. China’s CSI 300 000 300,
-2.01%
and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI,
-2.55%
lost more than 2% each. That’s after the People’s Bank of China, in a surprise move, pulled funds from the financial system and reportedly warned of bubble risks.

The tweet

From Alexis Ohanian, husband of tennis star Serena Williams and co-founder of Reddit:

The buzz

Reporting prior to the open market, shares of conglomerate General Electric GE,
-1.08%
increase as sales exceed forecasts, and Johnson & Johnson JNJ healthcare group,
+ 1.49%
posted profits and growth in drug sales. Financial services provider American Express AXP,
-3.96%
Is yet to come. After closing, technology giant Microsoft MSFT,
+ 1.58%,
coffee group Starbucks SBUX,
-0.44%,
and chip companies Advanced Micro Devices AMD,
+ 1.44%
and Texas Instruments TXN,
+ 0.06%
report.

Shares of e-commerce website Etsy ETSY,
-2.24%
are up 9% in premarket. That step seems to coincide with a comment on Twitter TWTR,
-0.46%
by Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk, who said, “I like Etsy a little bit.”

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index, the S&P Case-Shiller house price index, and consumer confidence are all leading the way.

BlackRock BLK,
-1.64%
Chief Executive Larry Fink says companies must formulate environmental goals or they must be divested.

European Union officials had a tense conversation with pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca AZN,
+ 1.43%

AZN,
+ 1.05%
Monday about COVID-19 vaccine delays, and have threatened export controls on vaccines produced in the region.

Alternative asset manager Apollo Global Management APO,
-1.18%
Chief Executive Leon Black will step down in July.

Lawmakers are continuing to impeach former President Donald Trump.

Shares of Chinese technology conglomerate holding Tencent 700,
-6.26%
retreated, following its 11% rise on Monday that brought it close to a $ 1 trillion valuation. And the chief of the central bank of China struggled to respond to a question about digital payments group Ant Financial, whose IPO has been delayed.

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