U.S. Investors Continue to Sniff Out an "Off Ramp"

Rising mortgage rates push the homebuilding stocks into a severe bear market (but are ignored given the resumption of the AI and chips mania).

Key Takeaways

• Chips Boom, Consumer Gloom: The boom in the chips sector and AI data center construction may know no bounds, but it seems pretty clear that the seeds of a consumer recession have been sown (though it is interesting that one area where consumers are not cutting back on is in the fast-food industry, given the solid sales results coming out of the likes of McDonald’s and Burger King — then again, it’s probably cheaper buying value meals than filling up the cart at the local grocery store).