Weekly Market Review
Michael Acho
Guardian of the Wealth of the Most Productive People on Earth | Creating, Protecting and Distributing Wealth for Clients
?Good afternoon,
?Readers sometimes ask how I come to include various topics in the WMR each week. The short answer is that if I come across something that I think would be interesting or funny or thought provoking and warrants inclusion, I write it down. “the faintest ink is more powerful than the strongest memory.” – Chinese proverb.
I have a file, currently 46 pages long, of topics/ideas/thoughts/notes/quotes/etc. that I can refer to for inspiration. The file grows and contracts as I add or subtract potential subject matter. I mention that because with regard to this week’s first topic AI, artificial intelligence, I’ve been gathering data for months.
?AI = the intelligence of machines or software as opposed to the intelligence of humans or animals. Combines computer science and datasets to enable problem solving.
Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri are powered by AI. Ever wonder why you see the ads you see or video suggestions curated for you? That’s AI.
BTW, Siri stands for “speech interpretation and recognition interface.” Now you know.
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Here is where I could insert the joke that some intelligence, even if it’s artificial, is better than no intelligence. Because I’m reminded, more often than I admit, of this George Carlin observation,
?I can’t cover every aspect of AI, there’s way too much happening, but if you’re not paying attention to it, you should start. It’s coming, it’s coming quickly and it is going to do far more than suggest advertisements. Some people are calling it the newest revolution and think it could change everything. We had the industrial revolution, then the computer revolution and now AI is poised to be next. I think that’s accurate. In my opinion, AI will disrupt scores of jobs and industries. Some are easy to predict, law, finance, engineering, medicine, etc. Any industry that relies on gathering, interpreting and manipulating data. AI can do that light years faster than people. In my own industry, for one simple example, we won’t need actual people to run portfolios. AI will do it faster, cheaper and more accurately. That doesn’t mean that markets won’t still do what markets do, but AI will construct portfolios, do the trades, rebalance, manage for gains/losses and tons of other stuff that could/should be automated. It’ll write content. It’ll compose emails. It’ll send invitations for a workshop. It’ll power the chatbot on the website. And a zillion other things, many of which we haven’t thought of yet. And that’s just in the financial services business.
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It's going to do as much or more in hundreds of other industries. It will not, because it cannot, replace some jobs. Like landscaper, or contractor, or tailor, or personal trainer, or chef, or surgeon, or barber, or any number of other careers which require physical work. It will, however, impact those jobs. Things like research, design, technique, scheduling, and so forth will benefit. Meanwhile, if your job is highly reliant on data, you might want to evaluate your options.
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Right now, AI is only as good as its underlying programming, so it can have biases and inaccuracies. See the Google AI launch debacle from a few months ago. But as it begins to teach itself, that should get better. And let’s remember that AI can only decipher what is already out there in the universe. For now. Sure it can read every book ever printed and spit it back out, but there are things it cannot do. A human baby doesn’t learn to read for at least a few years, and yet it is certainly learning, becoming more intelligent, before it can read. Can AI do that? Maybe not yet, but it will.
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AI scams will become more prevalent. Bots that sound like friends or relatives will ask you for money. Email and text phishing will get more sophisticated. You won’t know if what you’re seeing online or on social media is real or a well-executed AI deep fake. Will AI ultimately be a good thing or a bad thing? That’s a great question. It seems too early to tell, but there are signs pointing both ways.
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“Mike, you just told us a lot without really telling us anything. What do we do now? Should we invest in AI? Should we unplug the system before it becomes Skynet and takes over? Give us a solution please.”
I don’t really have a solution. The AI genie is out of the bottle and it’s not going back in. Pay attention to how AI can/might/will impact your life/job/education/relationships. Go on ChatGPT or one of the other systems and start playing around. You’ll discover, quickly, how impactful AI could become. As for investing opportunities, give me a call personally and let’s discuss it.
?IYKYK.
?Here’s an observation from the “only in California” file.
Unintended consequences? Or intended?
Remember not that long ago when the governor mandated that all new cars sold in CA will be electric by 2035 or whatever. Then a few days later, you can look this up, he told residents not to charge their EVs because the grid couldn’t handle it. Well, they’re at it again.
The California legislature recently passed a $20/hour minimum wage for many (most?) food workers. To the cheers of all the various equal outcomes people. I’ll happily discuss this topic some other time, but minimum wage jobs were never intended to support a family. They’re starter jobs for youngsters to learn people skills, responsibility and a work ethic. Or part time jobs for workers wanting to supplement their primary income. But I digress.
California businesses responded very predictably, as might be expected, by finding other ways to lower costs. Automation is one option. Replace live workers with robots that don’t call in sick, who don’t need time off, or a lunch break or other perks for real people.? If the business can’t lower costs, then prices would go up and higher prices usually leads to fewer purchases. Fewer purchases equals no more business. Economics 101. #mathwins
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Well the California legislature apparently can’t do math, so they have a new attempt at controlling behavior. Turns out customers often prefer a real person to a kiosk, so the CA pols are going to mandate that certain businesses, grocery stores initially, cannot use self-checkout lanes. They must provide a live person. And of course that person must make at least $20/hour.?
I wish I were making up this nonsense.
Hmmm. I wonder what the rational business owners will do then? I suspect many of them will leave California.
?Full disclosure, I lived in SoCal for a few years back in the early 90’s during my previous life and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Aside from the perfect weather and beautiful women, what’s not to like?
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Sebastian Maniscalco knows his way around a self-checkout lane,
领英推荐
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?This week’s comedian review is Rachel Feinstein’s latest Netflix special “Big Guy.” I was not familiar with Rachel, but she showed up in my “you might like this” feed. Speaking of that, my daughters have been staying with me for a couple of weeks in between finishing school for the semester and their upcoming summer internships. This was their question as they log on to my Netflix account in the family room, “Dad, why is your entire Netflix feed comedians and documentaries??” Because that’s pretty much all I watch on Netflix. There’s also some car enthusiast videos. The Amazon prime feed is similar. “Soooo boring. You’re such a nerd!”? Yep, probably to most people. Back to Rachel’s special, I enjoyed it. She’s been around a minute but I had never seen her before. She’s a younger Jewish mother from a Jewish family who married an Italian Catholic man who works as a firefighter in NYC. So many of her jokes were cliché and stereotypical. But they were also funny. I liked the first half of the special better than the second half, but overall it was fun. She’s talented with a lot of energy and she appeared to be enjoying herself onstage. Some profanity and a bit crude at times, but not cringy or over the top. Check her out if you’ve got an extra hour for some giggles.
?Here's another topic my girls and I discussed. Which kind of fruit has which kind of personality? Or more specifically, what personality does each type of fruit possess? And then, for people that we know, what kind of fruit would they be?
That was the discussion over dinner. A rather lengthy discussion as we debated various traits that we would ascribe to various fruits and then various corresponding people we know. Not sure how this topic came up, but it kept us very entertained for the better part of an hour.
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This list doesn’t exactly correlate to our interpretations, but is a good start.
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“Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is classified as a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.”
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This week’s chuckle is 5 minutes of Brian Regan. Someone at a party suggested that animals are smarter than people. He disagrees.
Safe for work.
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LF30 – “I know that I am intelligent, because I know that I know nothing.” – Socrates.
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Have a great week and stay healthy.
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This material is for informational and educational purposes only. Opinions and forward-looking statements expressed are subject to change without notice.? Links to external content are provided for your convenience and for informational purposes only. They do not constitute an endorsement or approval by Lincoln Financial Advisors (LFA), nor does the firm receive compensation or remuneration for your access to such content. LFA bears no responsibility for the accuracy, legality, or substance of the external content or for that of any links within such content. The opinions expressed are those of Michael Acho and not necessarily those of Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp. CRN-6654073-052924
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Michael J. Acho, MBA, CFP? Private Wealth Advisor --------------------------------------------------- Lincoln Financial Advisors/Sagemark Consulting 20505 West 12 Mile Road Southfield, MI? 48076 248-948-5100 direct 248-948-5101 fax 248-933-4339 cell
947-258-0289 texts [email protected]
If you do not want to receive future emails, please call me at 248-948-5100, or email me at [email protected] or write me at 20505 West 12 Mile Road, Southfield, MI? 48076. Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp. and its representatives do not provide legal or tax advice.? You may want to consult a legal or tax advisor regarding any legal or tax information as it relates to your personal circumstances. Please do not send any trading or transaction instructions through this e-mail. They will not be honored or executed. Should you require immediate assistance, please call the Lincoln Financial Advisors Trade Desk at 1-800-237-3813. Michael J. Acho is a registered representative of Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp. Securities and investment advisory services offered through Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp., a broker-dealer (member SIPC), registered investment advisor and an insurance agency. Insurance offered through Lincoln affiliates and other fine companies.
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