The Bot Brief

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

- Victor Hugo

Bots in the News:

The past few Fridays have produced surprising results for investors. Huge volatility has rocked markets on an intraday basis throughout the weeks, but Fridays seem to have reflected institutional investors’ either concerns about being extended over the weekend or being on the sidelines if the ensuing two days produced some positive news. Clearly, the markets are extremely news sensitive with investors speculating on the course of tariffs, the economy, the consumer, labor markets, interest rates, inflation, the fate of ‘one big, beautiful bill’ and international events.

While the Bot Index slightly bested the S & P 500 this week by 50 basis points, it is obvious from our second chart, the bots have lost the momentum they have noted over the past nine years. Whether it is a reversion to the mean or ‘automation exhaustion’ the broad market has closed the performance gap over the past several months. As we go back in time to the euphoria of the ‘Nifty Fifty’ stocks of the 1970’s or the Dot-Com companies of the 1990’s, there is generally maturation of the ‘trend’ stocks and a fall in line with the broad market.

Six double digit declining stocks contributed to the 2.69% slide in the Bot Index. The worst performance was recorded by 3D Systems whose 13.27% drop was due to continuing weakness in sales as was reported by Stock Story who listed the company in 3 Small Cap Stocks Walking a Fine Line.

AeroVironment slid 11.55% after reporting a $3.10 million 3^rd quarter loss in earnings versus a $14.3 gain in the comparable quarter of 2024. Sales declined 10% in part due to Ukraine issues.

Member: American Economic Association, Society of Professional Journalists, United States Press Association. Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts, Robotic Industries Association (now A3 Automation), Member IEEE.

The Bot Brief is a weekly newsletter designed for economists, investment specialists, journalists, and academicians. It receives no remuneration from any company that may from time to time be featured in the brief and its commentaries, analysis, opinions, and research represent the subjective view 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 the material presented.