I was looking at Parkway Life but it seemed relatively stable, maybe because it was in the healthcare line and has a different sort of exposure in relation to the Iran US conflict. However there were some moments when it slid when I expected otherwise, guess I am not cut out for this [Cry]

It is not just oil rebounding 3% that can be discounted as a minor plot development, it is Iran making things difficult and risking the wrath of the Donald. If somehow he believes that this is an egg on his face and that Iran simply will not obey, Mr. Trunp might just decide to press the proverbial button and "wipe out a civilisation" just to look like a big boy, then the jitters and gains now will look like specks of dust on the wind, so small and so inconsequential.

I have a lack of faith in Openai, and believe they will struggle to ipo with a bang. At work, the whispers are going around the Claude is simply better and that Chatgpt is coasting on being the bigger name and the first big player. But results will gradually speak for itself, as corporate users become the market that these AI companies fight for. Aside from that, there is the constant need to keep ahead of the competition, whether by buying the newest Nvda chips and further eating away at profits, or looking to improve the model (and paying the engineers? Or do they trust their AI to code its future iteration [Thinking]). Then there is the spending on energy to run data centres, to produce the results requested by users. And that part has been hit hard by the Usa Iran conflict, so is th

There is only so much users that can make use of these AI models all while populations are gradually shrinking in developed nations (who are more technologically focused and using AI as a tool), and you simply have too much competition to try and charge users a hand and a leg, or slow boil them by gradually cranking the prices. Then there is the factor of the media constantly keeping track of which company has the best model, and users are particularly sensitive about getting their bang for the buck, so if you are expensive and yet do not produce the goods, they will jump ship. In my workplace there are multiple subscriptions provided, but everyone knows that corporations simply will not be willing to incur overlapped spend on these AI models, eventually the head honchos will want to tri

I think part of Pltr success is the undue hype like Tsla, both have similar meme/yolo status in the eyes of a portion of investors. This factor results in the stocks being overvalued and prone to shocks. Ironically, both companies have leaders that seem to have questionable ethics and seem to have money as their top priority. Greed will always be fueling the gains, the unending want of greater wealth, even through unscrupulous means. (They are happy to sidle up to leaders around the globe, who have a lack of morals, and profit off less tax, and off human suffering. Pltr through encouraging police brutality and war, Tsla through poor quality and dangerous FSD mode that kill users, and musk creeping around dismantling democracy)

As expected, the ceasefire was fragile and Iran started to float the news that Hormuz will remain shut Does not look like the us president is taking action yet, but oil prices has started climbing again I would think if Iran does not make it work, the Donald will follow through on his initial plans after market closes in the states on Friday. After all his playbook is to splash good news before markets open for the week, and wreck havoc after market closes for the week.

Isn't that wonderful, any rally could be cut in half by another disruption, but the rally came in so hard and so quickly that investors might just want that to scrape out good value. I felt that the war had minimal impact, the stock market was waiting on any "good news" from the man in the white house, so it could start climbing. By the time the ceasefire was agreed, it felt like nothing too significant happened since everyone already was recovering. I wonder if the ceasefire does not hold, and the reaction of the market, would there even be a big slide The Hormuz chokehold will indeed not be going away any time soon, so what are we really rebounding so quickly for...

Assuming the vouchers was brought forward to help with cost of living issues, is there going to be an added round? Also diesel is out of control, the pinch is not only hitting industrial and commercial vehicles (delivery trucks, vans, etc.), but drivers who thought a diesel engine would have brought huge savings. The costs will be going up for everyone and will come down too slowly.

It almost feels like Iran is playing along with Trump (who wants to prop up the markets), by allowing news of a possible ceasefire to come out. Knowing how things went for the past couple of weeks, the market likely over reacted and shot upwards. Only for that hope to be popped hours late by Iran (the reporting before that seemed so convincing, on the cusp of a 45 days ceasefire? Wow!). I still believe that Iran has some clout through their approach via assymetrical warfare. They cannot truly wipe out the usa, but they can fire random missiles and drones to harass and occasionally hit surrounding infrastructure that are of value (e.g. middle east amazon data centres). There will be more action to be had: unstoppable force meets small but immovable object.

Done!

$Tiger Brokers(TIGR)$ the weather has been a little dry and hot for a few days now and the spring time Qing Ming rain is a good respite, both for myself and the plants I see while walking around. Got caught by a random downpour though, so that was a little annoying. The Good Friday/Easter Sunday combo is also a nice break, and whether you observe the holiday, the fun side of enjoying various chocolate is a thing for all ages. I have been enjoying some self made chocolate egg myself.

$POP MART(09992)$ has been in total anarchy. Despite posting reasonable numbers, it seems the market has determined that Labubu falling off the hype train is a killer blow and started dumping the shares, leading to constant slides. Maybe it was exacerbated by the chaotic global environment due to the Iran US war, but it likely will keep taking a beating until morale improves, or somehow Pop Mart strikes gold. I believe there's an avenue for Pop Mart to pursue collaborations with known and popular IP to create a win-win scenario, but that would not be as significant.

There will be more pain ahead, if Iran was the tired party and USA can thump its chest saying that it has won, maybe it will be a start of something good, because everyone is still so beholden to the US markets. Embarrassingly enough, Iran has been stubborn enough and USA looks to be an extremely frustrated figure, constantly having to declare that they have won, will win, yet still continue fighting. There will now be a more problematic Iran in the region who will not hesitate to lash out at anyone. The biggest curiosity I have is how the markets will react if it is obvious that the US did not win, will it simply celebrate the war ending and go up, or will it worry about further shakiness and stay anaemic.

Also, with rising energy costs, AI stocks will take a hit because they guzzle on electricity. They are struggling to even make money, and constantly have to burn cash to keep up with the latest chip to have the best computing power. The next few quarters will start to reflect a spike in expenditure for energy and the market will not respond kindly. Openai might just be dead in the water even before they get listed.

I see some light tremors going through the market now, oil prices are slowly creeping back up, diesel is truly up to concerning levels, concerns about fertilisers (urea production in the gulf countries) for the next planting season... the dominoes will continue falling. As it is, everything is pricier due to hormuz being choked, but further stoppages will directly impact food prices (not just through the increased cost of transportation) if fertiliser availability for the window is affected (although I remain unconvinced that even if the war stopped today, everything can continue as it was without any hiccups). I don't see why there should even be any optimism for the market to be in the green, because the war ending is not a guarantee.

Am I the only one waiting for the next big meltdown? I simply do not believe that Iran will back off easily. They will use everything in their arsenal (including cheaper shahed drones) to batter USA and Israel, and surrounding gulf states to ensure maximum pain for everyone. The strait of hormuz is a reflection of the war, USA may be stronger in sheer force, but they are helpless if Iran does not play ball. Once the market truly abandons faith in the beautiful words by Trump, everything should take a huge dive then it is time to buy.

It is ridiculous that despite the chaos sowed by the us president, the world is still so beholden to the usd and to the us treasury bonds. So much so that gold faces a slide while the war rages on. All because gold does not gain interest, but the war holds interest rates up and therefore it was deemed better to head back into us markets because interest rates will not be coming down any time soon.

$PDD Holdings Inc(PDD)$  it is a little shocking to see that PDD missed estimates and yet made a rally on the market. Maybe there is strong optimism on the market for their future, especially with the Xi and Trum0 summit still to come, which could allow for better business opportunities for chinese companies. Then again, chinese stocks have been making some gains through the Iran war, so on some level, the positivity reflected could be related. I would be skeptical about how the prices spiked, albeit with the opening and closing being reasonably close, because there is nothing absolutely concrete that can be a reason for the wild prices being paid on the day.

Ah didn't make the poll in time, but I would gave expected an increase of less than 3%. And would have been wrong. Interesting how wildly the prices swung, I am surprised by the interest and will read up their earnings, there has to be good prospects ahead and solid fundamentals to attract some wild buys.

There is absolutely no way I would invest in spacex, not with the overly inflated valuation and the dead weight that comes along with the rocket part of the business. Mr. elon does whatever he likes, handing toxic assets back and forth between his businesses to line his own pockets, how investors can see that and be comfortable putting their money on a dishonest operator is bewildering. Also, are we seriously still sprouting the mars line? The guy said it because he knew it be on the headlines, with his ability to splash the cash, if he truly wanted to reach mars and stay there, he could, and it not having happened is testament that it is a load of bull.