Postcards from the Florida Republic, May 16, 2023

Kids Shows, AI's Rise, and Preparing for SVB Capital in Washington

Good morning,

Boy… children’s television shows have changed. My daughter was watching Sonic on Netflix. Last night I overheard a character – in the second sentence of the opening sequence – explain that there’s overwhelming evidence of climate change.

Heavy topic. But this morning, she watched Sonic again and then entered my office: She asked: “Daddy, what’s extortion?” I checked… and that word was in the next episode. So, without coffee, I explained extortion and blackmail to a five-year-old.

This Dad of the Year is canceling Netflix (NFLX) this afternoon.

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Since the Machines Don’t Feel, the Nasdaq is now at its widest split from the Dow Jones to start the year since 1991. AI has driven all the gains in the market this year. NVIDIA (NVDA) and Microsoft (MSFT) valuations suggest exponential growth.

New bull market? Momentum? Or something a little more nefarious.

Maybe AI-driven algos are betting on a massive displacement of labor due to a pending recession, a dramatic replacement of humans …