The World Looks Upside Down...But It Isn't

Markets, the author argues, feel as if they’ve been flipped “upside down,” with September inflation data looking bad even as Treasury yields fell sharply, and with AI and data-center stocks posting strong results but getting hit by fears about cash that haven’t materialized. The piece links today’s tension to uncertainty around the U.S. midterms ending soon, and to the waning of Chinese “anti-AI bots.” It claims the U.S. dollar remains strong on GDP growth and relative social stability. Key corporate updates cited include Apple’s latest-quarter revenue up 12% to $114.48 billion and operating earnings up 14% to $2.10 per share, plus fiscal-year free cash flow rising by $136 billion. Palantir reported third-quarter revenue up 96% to $2.31 billion. It also notes higher AI spending pressure on cash flow at Amazon, Google, and Meta, which the author says could benefit chip and memory names.