Picks and Shovels Still Rule the AI Tech Trade
The AI trade has definitely become more fraught. But at least one constant remains: Investors are choosing the companies on the receiving end of big tech's spending spree.So far, 2026 has been a rough year in general for tech stocks. By Friday's close, the Nasdaq composite logged a 1% loss, compared with a 4% gain for the Dow. Even more telling, the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index is up around 5%, compared with a 1% gain for the standard S&P 500. The equal-weight index essentially nullifies the outsize influence of eight tech giants, whose combined market capitalization takes up more than a third of the S&P 500's total.The declines have been driven by what can only be described as a schizophrenic mood regarding artificial intelligence. New AI coding tools from companies such as Anthropic have made investors question the future of software companies, while the tech giants that are spending vast sums to enable those tools are also being punished.The only somewhat safe place is proving to be t
