Weekly Bot Brief on Robotic Research and Investment Review 10-5-2018

"There is no force on earth more powerful than an idea whose time has come"         Victor Hugo

Bot Index Highlights:

The above heading should have been more accurate if it had read “Bot Index Lowlights”. Never since the Resistance led by John Connor against Skynet in the Terminator movies have the robots been so systematically dismantled as in last week’s trading. The Bot Index experienced its worst week since mid-April, falling some 4.11%. Out of the thirty-stock index only three companies eeked out positive returns and they were all less than 1%. Among the rare bright spots was Lockheed Martin whose .36% gain was probably in response to USA Today’s report that the company has developed a lunar lander that can carry four astronauts and 2,000 pounds of cargo to the moon and back. With the new movie First Man set to hit the box office together with stimulus from the Administration’s Space Force and successes by Elon Musk’s SpaceX program, investors found some lunar excitement. The two other gainers included Northrop Grumman and the Japanese company OMRON Corp.

Since we led off the Highlights column with a discussion of the Terminator movies, what more fitting lead looser for the week than Cyberdyne, whom shares the same name as the fictional creator of Skynet. Both Cyberdyne Inc. and the Chinese electric car manufacturer NIO Corp. experienced double-digit declines. Cyberdyne fell 13.17% to a multiyear low of $6.99 as the company has struggled since attaining a February high level of $17.49 The 10.32% drop in NIO carried it to the exact level of its September 11, 2018 initial public offering. Other components of the Bot Index with near double digit declines included: Hiwin Technologies down 9.7%, Cognex Corp. off 9.39%, AeroVironment fell 9% and Faro Technologies slid 8.10%. None of the losers had any accountable news but were simply swept up in a risk-on investor backlash to rising interest rates.

Member: American Economic Association, Society of Professional Journalists, United States Press Association. Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts, Robotic Industries Association.

The Bot Brief is a weekly newsletter designed for economists, investment specialists, journalists and academicians. It receives no remuneration from any companies that may from time to time be featured and its commentaries, analysis, opinions and research represent the subjective views of Balcones Investment Research, LLC. Due to the complex and rapidly changing nature of the subject matter, the company makes no assurances as to the absolute accuracy of material presented.