Good morning. There are some days when it is difficult to determine that session’s catalyst for market movement, so we will mention both items being considered as reasons behind the positive move seen so far today. Last night we had a major tech company, Nvidia, reporting results that were better than expected and … while not spectacular … pointed out by an HSBC analyst as being “good enough to avoid disappointment.” And, as the AI excitement continues, Nvidia is seen as one of its main drivers. We also had courts weighing in on tariffs … as a court (the “U.S. Court of International Trade”) determined that President Trump overstepped his authority and the court announced a “permanent halt” to most of the tariffs, according to CNBC. But, let’s face it, there are many other things to try … and other courts in which to file an appeal (including, eventually, “the Supremes”) … so this is probably far from over. Even so, investors seem to be celebrating for the moment. There has also been an upward revision to GDP for the first quarter (with another possible revision to follow), but … while still negative … did show slight improvement over what had previously been reported. We also had a bit of shocking news yesterday (I don’t mean to show my bias here) as Secretary of State Rubio announced that the U.S. will “aggressively” revoke visas of many Chinese students. I don’t know how deeply the knife will cut on this one, but there are some pretty big U.S. companies with American-educated Chinese or Taiwanese CEOs … including Nvidia and AMD (Stanford and MIT, respectively) … and … according to the L.A. Times there are over a quarter million Chinese students presently studying in the U.S. Obviously, displacement would create quite a dent in the pocketbooks of our schools. On a final note … and included below … it seems cannabis might not be as “safe” as many have claimed. One issue is how “powerful” it has become in terms of THC content. Friends talk about “the good old days” in college when usage seemed to be … well … everywhere (even though it was then illegal). The THC content in what friends inhaled years ago (not me, of course) was somewhere around 2%, according to National Institutes of Health (“NIH”). I feel this is what many boomers remembered and used as a basis when voting for legalization. Today’s “product’ is around 10 times more powerful … with some strains higher … and health reviews are just now being completed. While more studies need to be done, one scientist concludes it is not cannabis that causes heart and health issues at all … … it’s the Doritos. Have a great day, Joseph G. Witthohn, CFA Have any questions? Please contact info@teamemerald.com
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