Good morning.

Stocks are mixed this morning while … on a related note … investors find themselves a bit “mixed up” … as the administration’s “on again … off again … on again” threats regarding tariffs continue.

A few strategists … viewing recent gains in stocks … are claiming success surrounding the tariff moves and Nomura Securities was quick to state that … contrary to forecasts … the numbers have shown “… no widespread impact from tariffs on goods prices.” But it might not yet be time to relax as the group continues to feel we will witness “… a significant pickup in price pressures ahead” … a position shared by economists at Barclays.

There are also some who think that lower inflation growth could have been helped by a slowdown in consumer spending … as Bank of America reported a drop in credit and debit card purchasing … possibly due to “stockpiling” in anticipation of tariff-caused higher prices.

We are all quite aware of AI by now … but it could be quite important to recognize they (meaning different sites) are not all the same, by any means.

This is highlighted in an interested chart put together by Visual Capitalist as … using a scale by Mensa IQ … it shows Grok-3 Think to have an IQ of 60 (duh), while popular Bing CoPilot shows an IQ of 86 … well under the average American. Meanwhile, OpenAI o3 comes in with an IQ “genius level” 135.

So why doesn’t everyone use the higher level Artificial Intelligence sites?  Cost. And that is a problem.

We have a growing issue in this country with “gaps” … income gaps and wealth gaps in particular.

It stands to reason that the “wealthier” among us can better afford the “pro” version (at $200/month) as it promises to provide the “best answers to hardest questions,” while cheaper versions obviously don’t provide the touted “best answers.”

Thus, those who can afford this have a distinct advantage over those who can’t … and the gap widens further.

Okay, I’m off my soapbox for now.

Meanwhile, a friend who just returned from a trip contacted me … sharing stories of his recent trip to Alaska.

He told me he became convinced that things were so beautiful that he actually thought he was seeing things and went to see a local eye doctor.

Turns out it was an optical Aleutian.

Have a great day,

Joseph G. Witthohn, CFA

Have any questions? Please contact info@teamemerald.com

A Look At The News | June 12, 2025 As of 11:03 AM today: The CEO of Nvidia gave the opinion that robotics and autonomous vehicles will continue to grow in popularity … and it is hard to doubt his view (CNBC) https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/12/nvidia-ceo-this-is-the-decade-of-robotics-and-autonomous-vehicles.html   As we age, fears of our demise are probably not as concerning as losing our minds … literally … but if we follow some rules it might help (CNBC) https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/11/rules-for-a-longer-happier-life-sharper-brain-from-am-aging-expert.html   … even so … those trying to get back their youth by using cannabis products could be putting themselves at risk … as use does not appear as “safe” as often touted (Gazettextra) https://www.gazettextra.com/news/nation_world/as-cannabis-users-age-health-risks-appear-to-grow/article_3f54b2c0-5df0-550a-96ab-4a51adeb5160.html   Do you have a box or two of old dishes that you are thinking of trashing?  Before you do, it might be a good move to review what is in the box … as some could be quite valuable (USAToday) https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/retail/2025/06/11/pyrex-casserole-dishes-ebay/84137790007/   It seems almost everywhere you go, people are on smart phones … but the tide might be turning as a few college kids are turning them off … and enjoying the world around them (USAToday) https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2025/06/06/gen-z-flip-phones-college-smartphone-detox/84031732007/   … but one thing related to the iPhone is kind of needed (and exciting) as a program coming out soon could cut down on the number of annoying spam calls (TechRadar) https://www.techradar.com/phones/iphone/i-get-annoying-spam-calls-all-the-time-so-i-cant-wait-for-the-call-screening-feature-in-ios-26 The statements above are supplied for educational purposes only. The statements depict the viewpoints and opinion of the author and are not necessarily the views of Emerald Asset Management or its affiliates. The information described herein is taken from sources which are believed to be reliable, but the accuracy and completeness of such information is not guaranteed by us. Emerald Asset Management PA, LLC | 717-556-8900 | 3175 Oregon Pike, Leola, PA 17540 Want to change how you receive these emails? You can unsubscribe from this list. ———————————————————————————- The statements above are supplied for educational purposes only. The statements depict the viewpoints and opinion of the author and are not necessarily the views of Emerald Asset Management or its affiliates. The information described herein is taken from sources which are believed to be reliable, but the accuracy and completeness of such information is not guaranteed by us.